"He made me clean the windows like my arms were giant wipers. My arms and back are killing me." Deuce grumbled in dismay.
"Cleaning is pretty hard work when you have to take it so seriously." Kalim nodded in agreement.
"I'm so hungry." Epel muttered wearily.
"Me too, y'know." Grim cried out in dismay.
"Good job today, everyone." Lotus responded before stuffing a slice of honey lemon in Grim's mouth to shut him up.
"That was some Spartan training." Yuu shivered as he recalled the training.
"Hah hah hah!" Rook laughed and explained, "There was a point to making everyone clean like that. Cleaning windows or the floor with a cloth works to beautifully train your back muscles. It's a very Vil-like regime to help keep the practice area and your bodies beautiful."
"Rook, you have a very good understanding of how Vil thinks." Jamil pointed out with a frown.
"I don't know if I'd call it an understanding. Feels more like he just validates everything Vil does." Ace grumbled in dismay.
"Beautiful people and things make me a wealthy man just with their very existence." Rook clarified unabashedly, "Beauty has this power to it. Sometimes seeing it can save you. Other times, it will drive you mad. But at the same time, it is fleeting and fragile. You lose it the moment you look away. That is why, to the best of my ability I try to protect and nurture that beauty."
"You're talking about Vil like he is a flower or a work of art." Jamil muttered in disdain when he heard this while regretting ever speaking up, "Sure, he's an attractive guy. But… I can't say I think of him as someone who is so fleeting or fragile that he's in need of protection."
"Me too. To me, Vil is like a diamond, tough and unbreakable." Kalim agreed in confusion.
"You're correct. Vil has no need for my protection." Rook nodded with a frown, "If I was to reach out my hand to assist him, he'd take those thirteen centimeter heels of his and kick my head right up into the ceiling. So what I'm trying to protect isn't Vil himself, but rather the "beauty" that he possesses."
"Oh man. He's totally lost me." Ace shook his head in dismay.
"Pomefiore residents really are strange." Deuce agreed with a heavy sigh.
"I may be in Pomefiore too but even I don't get it...I guess?" Epel tilted his head in confusion displaying a picture of innocence.
"Then there's nothing else we can do, but throw in the towel, y'know." Grim shook his head as he joined the group after spatting out that piece of lemon.
Rook chuckled, "The day will come when you understand. There will be a time when dazzling beauty illuminates your life. Then you will understand."
Watching the others leave, Lotus frowned before turning to Rook and muttered, "Beauty is a fleeting thing, but every beauty has its ugliness. Can we prevent beauty from taking it's natural course down that path? Rather… Can you keep them from continuing it's natural course?"
Hearing this, Rook turned to her with a frown and sighed, "We can only do our best…"
However, his answer clearly did not satisfy her as she responded with a huff of dismay, "If he harms a single hair of them… You are the only who understands this far better than the others… After all, you have to face against such sides almost on a daily basis, don't you?"
Hearing this, Rook remained quiet as a tense atmosphere weighed over the pair. Finally, Lotus spoke up and said, "Do you have time next week?"
"Next week?" Rook raised a brow when he heard this.
Lotus nodded, "I want permission to hold a small spar next week with Epel. However, it's clear that Vil wants him to be around so he can use him. That's why I need the two of you to be there to help supervise the spar."
"You want to spar against him?" Rook raised a brow, "But your magic-"
"I don't need it to defeat a freshman student, such as Deuce." Lotus responded bluntly.
.....
That night, after a healthy meal and argument against Ace and Deuce who tried to sneak some sweets into their system with Grim tagging along, Rook and Vil sat down in his room with a look of confusion over the dorm leader's face.
"A spar... with Epel?" Vil responded with a frown, "At this time of year?"
Rook nodded, "It would seem that he wants to show Epel something after hearing what both of you discussed this afternoon."
"Hm..." Vil raised a brow, "It sounds like you don't want me to reject it."
"I'm just as curious after hearing about it." Rook responded, "According to the rumors, Lotus was highly praised by Dorm Leader Rosehearts after the incident of the spiders, after all. Meaning, he must be the creator of the antidote."
"Hm?" Vil raised a brow as he recalled the incident. He couldn't even pull out an antidote as swiftly as Azul and Leona could grab their own filthy hands on it.
"You mean to say that he's the creator of the antidote?" Vil raised a brow in surprise, "If that really is true, then it's no wonder that Mister Crewel highly praised him as his best student."
"If he has another talent aside from that, then wouldn't it be quite interesting to witness first hand?"
Vil hummed to himself as he recalled the conversation he had today with Epel, "Dancing is no longer as discriminate as it had been many years ago. To call ballet 'girly' is an insult to the art of dance itself... Fine. I'll watch over the fight, but we are stepping in as soon as he crosses the line."
"Understood." Rook said with a wide smile.
.....
Lotus was in her room peaking in Yuu's with her senses. The mysterious figure of a mouse appeared once more shocking Yuu as he began to hold a clear conversation with him. However, that had been all cut short after he noticed that Grim was missing and the mirror's magic disappeared. Seeing this an unsettling feeling came through her as she muttered quietly, "Just what is that mouse... Could it have something to do with brother Yuu's world?"
Lotus continued to wander quietly as she thought about this.
"Master..." Zhang Li quietly called out from the side, "We've confirmed that the enemy is hiding one more person inside the mirror of Diasomnia. The one in Ignihyde was the one we caught that night. The one in Pomefiore is scheming something. That mysterious person hiding in Diasmonia will inhabit Ignihyde in the meantime."
Lotus waved a hand, "Enough. Our plan does not change. Those people can not hide for long. For now, gather information on that person in Ignihyde. If something happens to the student there is no way I can reconcile with myself otherwise."
"Yes!"
"Also, keep a close eye on brother Yuu's room while I'm away."
"Yes!"
Lotus laid on her bed and sighed. She had been cultivating and researching again and again, but it was clear that her relapse this time had caused some problems and will need to recover before she can continue.
"Master..." Zhang Li whispered with a look of deep concern, "Are you sure you want to fight the young sir Epel? You only recently relapsed... Your body..."
"I know my body better than anyone." Lotus sighed, "Epel is young as well and needs a wider horizon. He is clearly a country boy who doesn't know anything more than cultivating the field and basic education... He has never seen the otherside of the world. If he doesn't learn about this now, this will affect those who sees him in the future. He is someone who also clearly has potential despite his young age. However, he just needs the drive for it. This is another reason why I require a week's time. Within this week, I predict that Deuce will offer a helping hand to Epel to overcome this hurdle together."
"Young Deuce?" Zhang Li looked to her in confusion.
Lotus nodded, "Because the two of them are just so alike. If not for their appearance, they would've begun to clash for being so similar."
.....
However, despite this, she didn't expect something else to occur as she turned to Rook and Vil with a raised brow, "Epel and Deuce had gone missing?"
"That's right." Rook responded breathlessly, "I saw the two vanish on a magic bike and left the gates..."
As expected of Rook's strong senses...
Vil frowned, "Let the headmaster know of this right away!"
"And notify Dorm Leader Riddle as well." Lotus responded calmly before putting her scarf and mittens back on as she turned back to the building, "I'll meet with Epel at five."
"Eh? Five?" Vil looked to her in confusion as she stared at the branches before her and hummed in thought, "Why not tonight?"
"It won't work."
Lotus responded before returning into the dorm as the sun began to set.