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“—Which is why I require yours, as well as your Vice-Housewardens assistance!”
The Housewardens of Night Raven College look at the Headmage as if he suddenly sprouted a second head. Even Idia’s tablet doesn’t look impressed with Crowley.
“Yeah, how about no?” Kalim says, surprising most of the attendees. Usually the Scarabian Housewarden waits until either Riddle or Azul starts arguing with Crowley, opting to wait before voicing his opinion. “I’d rather not have anybody in here facing Boggart. Or our vices, for that matter. Actually, nobody period should have to face a Boggart in school.”
“I have to agree with Kalim here,” Riddle takes over the argument, “do you even realize how many students here have traumas? And I bet that for some of us, the Boggart would take the shape of someone Overblotting, be it ourselves or somebody else. It’s a bad idea.”
“But what if we ever encounter a Boggart while we’re out and about?” Azul asks, fixing his glasses on the nose, “isn’t it better to figure out how to defeat one while in a controlled environment?”
“Okay, fine, but what Headmage proposes is our public execution, you idiot,” Leona is less than pleased about the whole thing, “I ain’t doing anything like that.”
“Besides, you’re only saying this because you want blackmail on us,” adds Riddle, “did you forget you’re supposed to take part in it too, Azul? And trust me, if we all will need to do it because of you, you can rest assured I’ll make you go first.”
“Ha! It doesn’t really matter to me either way. My fear is something small and silly, and while quite embarrassing for me, it’s nothing unusual. Why? Are you afraid of how your Boggart will look like?”
“Azul…”
“Why did you even agree to host that whole thing without asking us, Headmage?” Vil asks and lifts one perfect brow, leaning back on his chair and piercing Headmage with his sharp eyes. “And where’s the paperwork? You surely can’t spring a Boggart on us without our explicit permission.”
Kalim looks at the banter between Azul and Riddle with amusement, and then at Vil ‘politely’ asking Crowley some very uncomfortable questions.
“What a pain in the ass,” says Leona and yawns, “say Kalim, usually you’re on board with whatever, so what’s all that about?”
“Ah, I just know what the Boggart would show me and you know… I’d rather not.”
“Yeah, I get it alright.”
“—in any case it doesn't matter, because I’ve made the entire experience a huge part of your grades in Creature Studies, and we also got permission from the government! I’ve got the paperwork here.”
“WHAT?!”
“So you don’t have any choice here! If you want to pass your Creature Studies, you have to face off against a boggart!”
“There is no way this is going to end well…”
~*~
“Excuse me, what?”
“Sorry Jamil, we did try to protest, but you know the Headmage. And he already had the paperwork done, too! I checked twice, no loopholes whatsoever, I’m afraid we’ve gotta take part in it.”
Jamil sighs heavily and flops on Kalim’s bed.
The heir is scarily good at finding loopholes and murky language in the contracts and paperwork — makes sense since he is slated to inherit a huge fortune one day, as well as the family business — so if Kalim couldn’t find anything, then there’s nothing to be found. Period.
“Uh, at least we were able to convince him to give us a test run first before making it into a public show?” Kalim winces, “hopefully it will make him reconsider.”
“Tch, what even are the others going to fear? Azul losing all his money? Leona realizing he’s not able to nap anymore?”
Jamil’s joking of course, but Kalim swallows and laughs nervously.
“Ah, if it were so easy, then I wouldn’t have to worry… Not that I’m worrying!”
Jamil looks up at him suspiciously, but decides he doesn’t feel like opening this particular can of worms that’s Kalim’s whole life.
He takes a closer look at the other teen.
Kalim sits at his windowpane, with the setting sun illuminating him from the side, and despite the slight nervousness in his voice, Kalim’s body looks relaxed against the pillows.
It’s entirely unfair how Kalim can look so effortlessly beautiful.
Jamil, of course, has always known Kalim is pretty, he has eyes after all, but ever since his Overblot, he is finally able to stop trying to deny it. The teen looks positively ethereal in partial light, with how the sun makes his skin look like a velvet gold, beautifully contrasted by the white tattoos. And as Kalim stares at the sunset, his eyes are set ablaze, not unlike the rubies he is so fond of wearing. The headscarf and the circlet offset Kalim’s pure-white hair, fluffy and soft and looking like river stones.
Viper pinches himself. This is literally not the time to pine after Asim, he can do it later. Like, much later. Preferably when he can’t be caught staring at him and slowly melting over Kalim’s prettiness. He should worry about what shape Asim’s Boggart would be instead, if it concerns his master this much.
What is Kalim afraid of? He always laughs over his kidnappings and poisonings, so he can’t be afraid of that. Maybe getting a ban on parties? No, that sounds ridiculous even to Jamil.
What could make the heir so nervous?
As for Jamil, his fear is obvious. The Boggart will take shape of—
Suddenly, Jamil doesn’t feel so good about the whole experiment.
“Kalim.”
“Hm?”
“The moment my Boggart will change into a mass of insects, just so you know, the NRC will burn.”
“Isn’t that a bit extreme…?”
“Burn.”
~*~
The day of reckoning has arrived.
The Housewardens together with their Vices stand in front of the Headmage’s office, all of them in various stages of nervousness and anger.
None of them wants to be here. None of them want to take part in the whole spectacle.
Thankfully, they are going to go in pairs, and not a whole group, which makes Jamil feel somewhat better about the whole situation. The last thing he wants is for Azul to see how Viper is ready to burn the whole place down the moment he sees the Boggart. He might even try to set the ashes on fire, just to be throughout.
Kalim should be able to stop him from doing any lasting damage though. Hopefully. Jamil is about 80% sure Kalim will stop him from setting this place on fire. The teen couldn’t care less about insects crawling all around his body after all, no matter how creepy it sounds to Jamil.
The office doors finally open, and a familiar man walks out of it, together with some other guy dragging the biggest suitcase Jamil has ever seen in his life.
“Ah, good, good, you’re all here! So, ready for an adventure?” Crowley asks like an insane maniac.
“We wouldn’t even be here if you didn’t blackmail us.”
“Ah, don’t worry, I’ll be here with you the whole time to make sure nothing bad happens,” says the man with the suitcase. “ Well met, boys. I am a licensed monstrumologist, and my name is Randall Bogeyman.”
Something doesn’t fit well with this guy for Jamil. The squinting eyes and harsh face lines makes him immediately unlikeable, despite the timid voice, which somehow sounds fake. The man is so pale that his skin looks purple, with deep shadows under his eyes, and to complete the look, the man has purple hair going into blue at the ends, which only further accentuates his sickly paleness.
Jamil doesn’t like him one bit.
“Alright, the whole thing will take place in one of the rarely used classrooms, in the rarely used wing, just as you asked for. Follow me.”
And with that, the Headmage is off, Randall is trailing just behind him and doesn’t seem to have any problems with dragging the suitcase. The teens however—
“Really, next time we should blackmail him back.”
“Yeah? With what exactly?”
“The overgrown bird seems to be very fond of the money—”
“The only guy here who would be able to do anything with money is Kalim, and I thought we talked about this already and why it’s a bad idea—”
“We’re not supposed to bribe him, we’re supposed to threaten him, remember? Let’s just blow up his office.”
“As much as I would like to do just that, arson within school premises is forbidden. School rule nr 387, page 187, paragraph 12.”
“They have a rule about that?”
“Apparently some guys have tried to set Crowley’s office on fire before, and after that he put it in the rules so he can kick out whoever feels brave and vengeful enough to try something like that again.”
“Dammit. There must be something.”
“If you come up with something, then please share with the rest of us.”
“Hey, Jamil?”
“Yeah?”
“Let’s go in there as fast as we can. I really don’t wanna be here.”
Jamil looks at how Kalim bites his lower lip.
“You wanna go in there first?”
“Haha, no, I couldn’t deprive Riddle of his fun.”
Jamil raises a brow, but Kalim only sticks his tongue out. He huffs.
“Fine, we’ll get in there after whoever is gonna be first, if it’s possible. The faster we’re over it, the better.”
They finally reach the classroom, and Randall goes inside first once Crowley opens the room. The Housewardens turn to Azul with truly predatory smirks.
“Well, well, well, remember the deal, Azul?”
“I didn’t sign any deal with any of you about going in first—”
“Oh, you didn’t have to,” Riddle looks absolutely elated, “just know that if you don’t go in there first, I will be taking your magic privileges until the end of the school year.”
“You can’t do that!” Azul screams in protest.
“Huhu, I certainly can. After all, there’s nothing in the rules that I cannot,” Riddle’s smile is positively evil when he pushes Azul towards the door that were just opened.
“Oh, we have a volunteer! Please, do come in, together with your friend. Headmage?”
“Sorry Jade for being the collateral.”
“Ah, not to worry, Kalim,” Jade smiles, and it sends shivers down Jamil’s spine. How can Kalim even entertain a motion of being Leech’s friend? “I had a feeling it might’ve ended up this way when Azul told me what happened during the last meeting, and rest assured, I’ve made my opinions very clear to him that day.”
The amount of teeth Jade just showed would make a lesser man tremble in fear, but Kalim only laughs over it.
“If you say so, Jade!”
And with that, Jade walks into the classroom.
They wait for ten minutes first. Then twenty. And finally, when the rest was getting really impatient, the door has opened, and a very pale Azul comes out with Jade positively oozing the serial killer aura.
“If the Headmage thinks he can throw a Boggart on us in front of the public… hehehe…”
Randall shows his head from the room, looking positively maniacal.
“So, who’s next?”
Jamil and Kalim look at each other and nod.
“Let’s get this over with.”
They walk into the dark classroom and close the door behind them.
“Alright boys, a quick introduction. Boggarts are one of those finicky amortal monsters. You can’t kill them, but you certainly can drive them away, and to do that, you need to laugh at them. So that means making your fear into something funny.”
Jamil has known the theory before, but it still makes no goddamn logical sense to him. Laughing at your own fear? There’s a reason it’s a fear in the first place.
He checks on Kalim.
The teen has paled considerably and looks about ready to bolt out of the classroom, but somehow stays put.
Just how bad is his fear?
“—the incantation is Riddikulous,” Randall continues as if everything is alright, “just remember to make the fear look funny! If you fear clowns for example—”
“That would make it hard to learn in this school, when half of the people here are clowns, together with Crowley,” Jamil whispers towards Kalim, and the teen smiles faintly at Jamil’s attempt at humor.
“—then you should make the clown wear something ridiculous, or to drench it in water. Whatever you think it would make it funny. So, which one of you wants to go first?”
Kalim takes a deep breath, and before Jamil can so much as protest, the heir is already standing in front of the suitcase.
“Well, I’ll count to three, and I’ll release the Boggart. Please prepare.”
Kalim takes out his magic pen, and Jamil can clearly see how he struggles to relax.
“One.”
Kalim points the pen towards the suitcase.
“Two—”
Another deep breath.
“And three!”
Randall opens the suitcase, and some weird thing flies out of the suitcase, just for it to suddenly flop on the floor and—
And Jamil has never smelled this much blood before.
The pile of bodies is spewed across the room, some of them already rotting, some freshly dead, but all of them covered in blood.
All of them, Kalim’s family. Well, for the most part — from what he can see, there’s also him and Najma in the middle of the corpses.
No wonder Kalim was so nervous about facing Boggart, when even Jamil feels vaguely sick.
This is a living nightmare.
“You failed, Brother. You let us get killed.” Kalim’s sister is whispering to the heir, “if you only were there, if you didn’t die, then we would still be alive!”
“N-no…”
“The bloodshed that happened is all your fault!”
Kalim is trembling, and Jamil can’t take it anymore. He might be scared shitless of insects, but it’s gonna be better than seeing the mounting corpses of Kalim’s loved ones, especially since he can easily set the slimy little creatures on fire, just like promised.
Jamil pushes the Housewarden away from the Boggart, and suddenly the scene changes.
This is so much worse than the insects.
There lies Kalim. His body covered in deep cuts and purple bruises, eyes open and dimmed, face twisted with pain. The blot surrounds him and slowly spreads on the floor like a puddle of blood, thick and oily with such a strong smell Jamil almost gags.
Cockroaches and ants are walking on the corpse uncaringly, and a sudden buzzing of flies reaches Jamil’s ears, and it makes him sick to the stomach.
And as if it wasn’t all of Jamil’s nightmares come true in one nice gory gift tied with a bow, there is one thing, this foreboding feeling that the one singular person directly responsible for Kalim’s death is—
Jamil himself.
He killed him.
Jamil screams.
Suddenly somebody yanks at his arm, and he sees a magic pen with a brilliant red stone aimed at Kalim’s body.
“Oasis Maker!”
A water jet sends the body away, straight into the suitcase, which closes violently, and suddenly, Jamil can breathe again.
“I told you it’s a bad idea, Headmage!” Kalim screams, and Jamil doesn’t think he has ever felt so relieved to hear his master’s resonant voice.
They both are still trembling, barely standing. Jamil grabs Kalim’s shoulder when his knees suddenly get weak, and the heir immediately accommodates for it. He quickly puts up his hood, and hides his face in Kalim’s arm.
He’s alive. Oh dear Seven, he’s still alive.
“We’re getting out of here, and if you think you can force us to do this again, then you will be sorely disappointed! Duel this thing yourself, because we are not doing it again!”
And with that, Kalim gently, but firmly leads Jamil out of the classroom, still holding his arm like a lifeline, keeping the teen close, and for once, Viper is grateful for it. The Housewarden almost breaks down the door on his way out with how forcefully he opens it, but Jamil really couldn’t care less.
Like through a fog he hears Kalim telling the rest of the Housewardens and their Vices to get out of here if they knew what’s good for them, and even the walk back to Scarabia feels like a fever dream.
Kalim takes them to his room, closes the door quickly and leads them both to sit on the bed.
Despite the hotness of the Scarabian dorm, Jamil still feels so cold.
“You weren’t ready for what you’ve seen either, huh?” Kalim asks gently, as if it doesn’t bother him what he himself just saw. He can’t fool Jamil, though, the trembling hands are enough of a clue that the Housewarden is not nearly as unbothered as his voice would indicate.
“But you knew from the beginning what you’re gonna see,” Jamil whispers, still shaken from the entire experience.
It is one thing to get your known fears thrown into your face — it’s a completely different matter when you don’t even know what the full extent of the fear ends up being.
“Knowing and seeing are two different things. I—I am terrified what will happen if I die suddenly. Best-case scenario, Farah will survive and be able to lead the family in my stead, everybody stays alive and carries on with their lives. Worst-case scenario…”
Kalim swallows, his Adam’s apple moving visibly.
“Worst-case scenario, the bloodbath will take so many. I am terrified of that. I don’t want my family, I don’t want for you to die just because I failed to survive.”
The Housewarden takes a deep breath, presumably to calm down.
Now that Jamil pays proper attention, he notices how Kalim is still pale and looks rather unnerved by the whole situation. Not that Jamil is much better.
Kalim reaches out and pulls Jamil into a hug, and puts his chin over Jamil’s shoulder. Viper sights into Asim’s shoulder and circles his arms around him, gripping the material of Kalim’s clothes like a lifeline.
“You’re not so easy to kill, Kalim, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” he murmurs into the teen’s shoulder.
“What was your fear about, though? Just my death?”
Should he explain that what scares, no, terrifies Jamil isn’t so much his death, but rather Jamil’s own involvement in it?
Maybe later.
“Cockroaches were an unpleasant touch.”
Kalim sniggers, because he finds the strangest things amusing. Like Jamil’s suffering, apparently.
“Fine, keep your secrets then,” he says and pulls them both down to lay on the bed.
Dammit, if it weren’t for what happened literally an hour before, Jamil would’ve been able to appreciate more he’s cuddling on the bed with the guy he may or may not have a crush on.
Kalim cradles his fingers through the loose part of Jamil’s hair, and starts softly singing. Music has always calmed the heir down like nothing else, it makes sense he would resort to it again after the Boggart incident.
“And my eyes sweep a shore that was always there, a blood-red line through the sonisphere—”
It’s definitely a good thing that Kalim has such a pleasant singing voice too.
Jamil grabs Kalim just a tiny bit harder.
“Do you think that your nightmare would have happened if—if I managed to kill you during my Overblot?”
Kalim stiffens. Jamil refuses to look at him, instead opting to snuggle his head under Kalim’s chin.
If he turns his head just a little, he would be able to kiss his neck—
Seriously, this is so not the time to pine after Kalim.
“Hm, when you Overblotted, I wasn’t thinking about that,” the teen answers carefully, and resumes brushing Jamil’s hair with his hand, “I was thinking about how much pain you were in, you know? Heh, if it weren’t for Azul and the twins, I would’ve probably died not because you wanted me dead, but because I wouldn’t get out of my guilt spiral fast enough to evade your attacks. But you’re right.”
Kalim sighs and hides his face in Jamil’s hair.
“The only thing I would be able to do then is to pray that the only casualty would be me.”
It’s unfair how used to death Kalim is. He talks about it with such ease, as if it wasn’t an important part of what terrifies Jamil to his very bones.
He relaxes his grip a bit, but doesn’t move his hands.
When Jamil doesn’t respond in any way, Kalim has resumed his humming and singing.
He closes his eyes.
But maybe, just maybe, their nightmares don’t matter much in the little piece of heaven they found for themselves.