Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Greetings, and welcome to; The Well! An outdoor shopping centre, that embraces the nature surrounding it, as much as it embraces its guests! Inspired by the tale of the Beautiful Princess making wishes through the wishing well in her castle’s courtyard, wishing for all her dreams to come true, we hope all the same for you during your time at this establishment. Please enjoy your experience at this brand new environmentally conscious space, thank you!”

“Huh. What a weird way to say ‘mall’…”
You muttered out, squinting your eyes away from the blindingly white smile reflected on the screen, that was far too cheery for this morning.

After quite… an eventful few weeks, and with the added return of the school’s notorious other prince, you decided it’d be nice to get away with your friends, enjoying some time out of the pressures (and overblots) of school, and finally breathe.

A ‘Bestie Day’ one could call it.

And hey, what better way to spend a bestie day, than at the newly opened mall on the big-island, just a 30-minute ferry away from Sages Island?

It seemed like nearly everyone else from school had the same idea though, considering all the familiar black uniforms you saw on the ferry here, along with the larger clusters you saw once you stepped inside.

Everyone else must’ve heard of the ‘Grand Opening’ from Magicam you guessed…

Which brought you back to your current time and place.

Standing in front of a big glass screen which you’d hoped to be the malls map, but instead delightedly showcased the smiling face of international celebrity Neige LeBlanche, who waved right back to you and your group of first years.

“Just tap on him again, I’m sure you’ll get the map.”
Jack tried, only for you to turn around, shooting him an annoyed look.

“No. I already did that, and all that got us was him replaying that stupid message again!”
You shot back, incredibly hangry from deciding that sure, you’d leave with your friends first thing in the morning and get food at the mall, only to run into the damn thing you thought was supposed to be a map guiding you to your salvation (the food court), which of course, turned out to be your doom with this damn message replaying over, and over again!

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down, we’re all getting hungry too, but it’s not our fault we don’t know where the food court is-“
“Oh, it isn’t?”
You shut Deuce up, turning your gaze over to Ortho, who visibly tensed, holding his hands in defense.

“I-I already mentioned! I scanned the website, and database of The Well’s systems, but they haven’t uploaded any public access to the map yet! Only my brother can give me access to look any further!”
“Then have you asked him?”
“Dude, we all know he’s not even awake yet.”
Ace answered for you, slurring his words a bit, so still probably half-asleep himself, considering how he drooled on your shoulder the whole way here, despite the intense rocking of the boat on the choppy water making you nauseous.

“Fine. Fine, what other options do we have then?”
You looked back to the little robot, until someone else piped up.

“I mean… we could keep wandering ‘til we find it, or we could try to find a help desk?”
Epel dared to ask, then chose to revert his gaze to the ground in fright, as if he was speaking up to his own Housewarden.

“Really? A help desk? Don’t you think we would’ve run into one at this point?”
You gestured to the surrounding area.

“To be fair… this is only the first floor…”
Deuce muttered while your brow twitched, all until you realized something.

A certain fluff for brains had yet to voice his opinion yet.

“Grim…”
You breathed out, your hanger now replaced with worry.

“Oh, calm down, he’s right here-“
Ace started then stopped, once he noticed the little grey guy was in fact not with the group.

“Grim!”
You yelped, heart racing, when you nearly shoved your way to the other side of the crowd, eyes zipping around for any trace of grey fur or a forked-tail, but none were visible.

“Ortho-“
“Scanning for Grim.”
He answered you, a blue ray scanning the visible area, but a resoundingly depleted beep, followed by a flashing red light answered your next question.

“No lifeforms similar to Grim’s are detectable within close proximity.”
“Grim…”

You gasped, your whole body coursing with adrenaline.

“Can you remember what he was doing last?”
Jack asked, coming closer, hoping to calm you down, only for you to dodge it, going over to a nearby bench.

“He was sitting right here, playing on my phone…”
Your mind could practically still see him there, replaying the scene of him playing some stupid colourful mobile game, that was no-doubt equal to dangling keys in a toddler’s face, and tapping away at various microtransactions that he came across.

Not only were you now lost in this labyrinth of a mall, but you now lost your Grim and your phone.

“Hey, we’ll find him, we always do.”
Jack came over to put a large hand to your back, which had crumpled under the weight of severity that’d suddenly been brought upon you.

“He’s probably nosing around some store close by anyways, he couldn’t have gotten that far.”
Deuce confided, coming to your other side, and giving you a reassuring look.

“If it helps, we could split up ‘n take a look around. Bet we’d cover more ground that way.”
Epel added, but far enough away where he felt safe you wouldn’t maul him for one reason or another.

“Yeah, let’s split up and we’ll meet back here in an hour if we find him, then we’ll look for the food court, sound good?”
Ace looked to you for confirmation, a hint of fear also still hiding away in his voice and overall body-language.

You nodded though, giving a quiet ‘Yes’ as a response, the rest of your friends letting out a gentle ‘huff’ of relief.

“Great, why don’t you sit tight for a minute, and we’ll be back with Grim, got it?”
Deuce stood up, while you gave another small motion of agreement before waving your friends off, deciding that you truly needed to take a breather before you gave yourself a panic-induced ulcer.

The boys huddled together in a small group, choosing which ways they’d split off, each one diverging onto a different path, leaving you alone to close your eyes, and bask in the ambience of the mall.

All of which lasted for a solid two minutes until you realized the most horrifying fact: Grim was lost with your phone.

Chapter Text

You tried to remember which way everyone went, you really did, but honestly?

The entire mishmash of lack of sleep, confusion, anger, disorientation, and especially hunger were starting to ferment into an evil brew, similar to something you’d make in Crewel’s class, something no-doubt evil that gave you a bonus headache mixed with churning stomach.

So rather than try to scavenge for anything left of your memory to even attempt at remembering who went which way, you instead chose to follow the path straight ahead, and hope you’d stumble across someone you knew.

Passing through the rest of the fast fashion sections of this entry ground-level, you gazed mournfully into the baby clothes store, sadly reminding you of how you’d planned on getting some more clothes for Grim since he’d just torn his last onesie.

He’d just gotten over a terrible cold recently, so soon that there were still lemon-flavoured throat lozenges in your pockets, and you thought it’d be a good chance to surprise him with a new outfit here today…

He’d even mentioned wanting to get a new bow for ‘special occasions’ whatever that meant, but with no Grim in sight, your eyes welled up while you stared into the shops window, some offended mother’s shooting you glares.

As you continued on, you couldn’t help but think of how it would truly be sweet if one of your friends happened to appear out of the blue with your precious not-cat at their side, bringing him around to you like a victorious prize.

Almost as sweet as the baked goods you smelled up ahead, waking you from the state you’d found yourself in, only to lull you into another, following the scent much like a cartoon character to a pie sitting atop a windowsill.

You didn’t even know there was a café at this level, and it honestly felt like an oasis in the desert when you eyed the welcoming glass display that opened out to a little terrace outside, tables filled with others enjoying a nice morning coffee and treat, chatting in groups, and enticing you to hobble on in.

Once your feet stumbled into the little shop of baked goods, you were met with an incredibly familiar sight, warming your heart ever so slightly more, hope rising.

Inside the little baked goods cafe, sat Cater, Trey, and Riddle, each one of them enjoying a treat, whilst chatting about the dorm, the dorm leader and vice sat facing the terrace where other patrons dined outside, while the influencer faced the entrance.

“Yes, I do think it to be the case. He was caught breaking rule 468, never wear plaid on Wednesday of an odd month, and smeared red paint over his dorm uniform when he fell into the rose bushes while we were preparing for the last croquet match!”
Riddle sounded off, proceeding to take a rather large bite of his slice of strawberry tart.

“I know it was a real mess he caused, but I still don’t think you should’ve ‘beheaded’ him on the spot, you’re supposed to be working on that, remember?”
Trey tried to counter, setting down his pain au chocolat.

“For real! You’ve been having great progress Riddle, don’t let a silly ‘lil accident ruin all that just because someone broke some minor rules.”
Cater boosted, taking a nibble at his own piece of spicy chilli sourdough.

“I… suppose you’re right… it was a rather miniscule infringement… But I would still like him to write an essay apologizing for his crimes.”
“Uh, how about we shorten that to a paragraph...?”
Riddle sighed in defeat, only for Trey to pipe in, attempting to minimize the punishment further, for whichever poor student lost his head.

“Oh, hey Prefect! I totally didn’t notice you there!”
Cater waved you over to join the small table, the other two looking over their shoulders to see you at the entrance of the shop.

“Hey guys!”
You waved back, starting to calm slightly at seeing your other Heartslabyul friends chatting away.

“Morning Prefect, did you come by for a snack?”
Trey questioned you, adjusting his glasses briefly, although the rumbling of your empty stomach to answer for you.

“Well... I guess I could use something.”
“Great! It’s on me!”
Cater announced, jumping from his seat to go up with you to put in an order.

“Oh, you really don’t have to!”
“I insist! Besides, I need something sweet to add on my Magicam!”
He winked towards you, making you laugh, knowing you’d never catch him dead or alive eating a sweet treat that wasn’t tampered with a certain someone’s magic.

He brought you up to the front of the shop, planting you in front of the menu, giving you a second to give it a once-over.

“I’d suggest the coconut cream cold brew, I’ve heard good things about it.”

“You have?”
You weren’t all that surprised to hear from him about various popular items that’d trend around Magicam, he had quite a knack at keeping you updated in this Worlds’ Pop-Culture; albeit whether or not you were willing to.

What you heard next, did manage to cast a give you a slight shock.

“Yeah! I actually just got a text from Kalim not too long ago, he said the coconut cream cold brews here are to die for!”
The foxy ginger then shoved his phone in your face, showcasing a selfie of Kalim who’s smile shone bright as the sun, holding up said drink, while Jamil already seemed exhausted in the background of the photo, proving that for once he heard this personally from word of mouth, rather than someone’s aesthetically pleasing blog.

Upon hastily ordering the tastiest thing you saw on the menu, Cater threw his thaumarks the cashiers way, roped you over to the waiting area, then went back to tapping at his phone once more.

“I also happen to know they have an amazing black drip coffee, but someone is cutting me off.”

He childishly stuck his tongue out to Trey, who tried his best to defend himself.

“Hey, you’ve had plenty caffeine. I’m used to dealing with the first-years and their sugar rushes, but you and caffeine are a serious no-go. Look, you can barely text with how bad your hands are shaking…”
Trey gestured to Cater’s trembling hands, shakily trying to send a misspelled message to the Pop Music Club groupchat.

“Puh-lease, I’m fine! Aren’t I Prefect?”
He teased you, giving you a light shove, that possibly because of the caffeine made him hit a little too hard.

“I dunno… You’re a little… Off…”
You said, staring into his squirrely, jittery eyes.

“Psh, I’m great! I feel fantastic! Hey! Why don’t we come by here sometime, just ourselves? You wouldn’t cut me off, would you?”
He narrowed his eyes, leaned in, and batted his eyes.

“Uh…”
You looked to Trey for help.

He did nothing.

“I have your order for you.”
The café employee shoved your bagged snack and drink your way, you picking it up, ready to take a vicious, feral bite, like a beast in the wild, when a quick flash went off.

“Cute! Got my pic! Let’s sit down!”

Cater grabbed you once again, sitting you down beside him, you facing opposite Riddle, although between bites of the sweet pasty, you noticed immediately took notice of his strained face.

Riddle seemed put off by something.

“Uh… Riddle…? Are you ok…?”

You questioned softly, your ‘kind Prefect’ senses starting to come back to you after eating.

“You… haven’t any tea or lemon…”
He mumbled dryly, slumped to the back of his chair.

“Oh… Sorry…”
“It’s nothing… Still something I’m working on I supposed.”
Riddle sighed, white-knuckling the edge of the table so hard you swore he was about to burst a blood vessel.

He was probably still upset about his own misbehaving student that you’d heard before you came it, therefore you breaking the rules on dining was probably about to make him blow.

“Well, if it helps, I have something lemon flavoured…”
You posed, his grip lessening for the moment.

“Oh…? That may help…?”
He worded as more of a question, watching you pull the last lemon throat lozenge from your pocket.

The last evidence of Grim you had left…

Sticking it out for your friend, you popped it into your mouth and forced a smile.

“See? Lemon! It’s good! It’s… great…!”
Your eyes grew wet, forcing you to look away from the boy, him growing curious, if not completely concerned.

“Sorry… I just, I really miss Grim… I miss him a lot…”
You sighed

“Whatever do you mean? If he isn’t with you, who else could he be with?”
Riddle probed out of you, brow raised, trying to spot any grey fur nearby.

“Ah, I do remember Ace and Deuce said something before we left about your group coming by today. But, we haven’t met them yet.”
Trey then also looked to you for an answer, fetching a napkin for you to dry your eyes where thankfully no tears spilled (yet).

“Yeah, something came up…”
You spoke under your breath, suppressing a sniffle.

“Really? What happened?”
Trey asked, raising a brow in concern.

“We lost Grim…”
“What?! And you didn’t tell us sooner?!”

Cater immediately looked panicked, nearly dropping his fourth coffee, making Trey grab it and place it far away from him, deciding based on his reaction he’d had way too much caffeine now.

“I couldn’t if I wanted to… He… kinda has my phone…”
You looked down sheepishly, waiting for Riddle to hound your for being irresponsible or the like.

He didn’t get the chance though, not when Cater basically threw himself at you to hand off his phone.

“Here! HERE! Take my phone and call him! Now!”
Cater panicked, much more than he would’ve ever normally, Trey turning to throw Cater’s abandoned fourth coffee into the trash.

Swiping through his phone to find your number, you pressed and dialed, waiting for your sweet boy to growl at you to come pick him up wherever he was.

Until it went straight to voicemail, the familiar thrum of your own voice telling you that you missed the prefect and to call back later.

Using Cater’s phone provided no use, meaning one thing.

Your phone was now dead.

"How strange... When he came by not too long ago, he mentioned going back to find you."
Riddle pondered, drawing you in.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. He came by and you said nothing?!"
You almost yelled at the tiny ginger.

"In all fairness we thought he found your group, and you might've paired off is all! But I did see him headed towards the escalator..."
Trey hummed, glancing behind you, where you saw the escalator.

It went down.

Meaning one, final thing.

Well, looks like you'd be exploring more of the mall just like you'd wanted...