She turned around looking for the source of the movement, but could not find it amongst the black miasma.
"Could it be a phantom?" Maisey questioned hesitantly.
Phantoms are the manifestation of a person's overblot. Back when Leona overblotted, there was the torn up figure of a lion behind him. That form was the manifestation of his blot or as the correct term for it, a phantom.
"No." Peony shook her head, "If it was a phantom, it would know that it had been spotted and tried something by now to agitate us further. Phantoms aren't afraid to show their abilities upon being discovered as well. That's when they know that the joke is done and they can't continue to play around. Perhaps... This isn't a phantom..."
"But, aside from the students, there are researchers and phantoms."
Peony frowned, "No, there's someone else, or did you forget, Maisey?"
"Someone else?" The fairy thought hard in confusion before it came to him, "You mean-!"
She nodded and gathered her spiritual energy into one of her contracts, "Grim, come. Now."
It was then that they heard a snarling growl as something appeared from the miasma with dark startling blue eyes and sharp teeth. It was Grim standing on two feet as he struggled to approach her away from the fog.
"A demonic cat..." Maisey shivered in fear at the sight of the angry eyes and figure of a beast larger than he was.
Peony watched as it struggled in vain to break free from her control. Trying to calm it, she utilized her powers to hypnotize him into making herself look like Lotus in his eyes and frowned, "There's no way you can escape or harm me unless you want to take yourself out of the picture too. The contract is recognized by the world and only I can release you from your binds. However, if I do that, you'll only go around and causing more havoc in your sleep."
The demonic black cat snarled at her angrily and eyes full of hostility refusing to back down. Peony sighed in disappointment, "Little Jun and the others weren't as aggressive as you when they were under my contract. Rather, you're the only one being so aggressive."
Her spiritual presence leaking out from her quickly intimidated the cat as Grim finally stopped snarling at her or baring his teeth. However, his eyes did not show any signs of relenting. Peony shook her head in dismay before she opened her mouth and a firm voice echoed in the cat's ears, "Grim! Wake!"
Suddenly, a warm air gathered around him as the cat's eyes blink for a brief second. Then, a more focused pair of blue eyes appeared with a jolt of the body, "Nyagh! What was that all about? Hm? Lotus? What are you doing here, Lotus?"
Peony sighed and shook her head in dismay, "Looking for you and the dorm leader, but you got into another of those fits when I found you."
"Fits?" The cat looked to him in confusion, "What's going on and where are we?"
"You're in the Isle of Woe's research facilities." Peony responded with a sigh, "You had too much of those black stones and went on pure instinct. Berserk, you can say."
"Those black stones?" Grim said with a look of shock and grief, "Y-You mean, those black stones I ate are the reason why I suddenly attacked Yuu?!"
"Oh, so you do remember that." Peony sighed, "Yes, you attacked him, but that doesn't mean he didn't understand your reason for it. More so, he was upset that you didn't listen to him than you attacking him. He's still waiting for your apology for both, though. This place researches overblot and those black stones you ate are basically a strong concentration of blot crystalized into a stone. Naturally, since you aren't human, you would start going on a rampage if left unchecked. So, the research facility took you away using those robots so they can monitor you and see what was wrong with your body."
"The, Yuu is willing to forgive me?" Grim cried tearfully, "When I get better, I can go back?"
"Naturally." Peony responded, "He never planned on kicking you out to begin with over a single scratch. In fact, you took so long, that he came looking for you instead!"
"He did?!" Grim looked up in bewilderment.
"Aside from you, the others who had overblotted before are also here, so he hitched a ride with Epel and joined with Pomefiore's group to come here and see how you're doing."
Grim sniffled emotionally upon hearing this, "Yuu..."
"However, this place isn't a hospital and there are no visits allowed, so Yuu and the others can't come to see how you or the others are doing. Not to mention, your case is so different and new to them that they had to house you in a room away from the others."
"But, I'm out right now!" Grim pointed out, "Can't I go see him now?"
"You can. I can tell you where he is, but I need you to do me a favor." Peony responded.
After ingraining what she wanted him to do, she guided him to Tartarus and pointed down the path, "Follow this road and it should lead you to Yuu. But, remember to be very careful. Blot may have a pleasant scent to you and the better it does, the more dangerous it is. Stay in it for too long and you could lose control of yourself again."
"I hear ya!" Grim smiled before noticing something and looked to her in confusion, "What about you?"
"I have something to do, so I need you to go help Yuu." Peony responded, "Now, go on and be careful."
Having been urged to go looking for Yuu, Grim hesitated, "But, don't you want to go with me and help him too? Let's go together!"
"I'm going to help him in my own way." Peony explained, "Also, I'm not as fast as you, so we won't get there fast enough together. Don't worry. I'll be all right. I have a trick up my sleeve too."
"Huh? Well... All right." Grim nodded hesitantly before turning and running down the staircase path on all fours.
Once he was gone, Maisey popped out from behind with a look of uncertainty, "So, that was Princess Peony's last contract beast. He's a lot different compared to other demonic beasts."
"Grim has the drive to become the strongest magician in the world as a creature. However, he also has a knack for mischief, even if they stemmed from good intentions." Peony responded, "After graduation, I'm thinking of starting a business."
"Eh?" Maisey looked to her in surprise, "What made you want to suddenly take this path?"
Peony smiled, "You know, seeing everyone connect with one another despite their background and lineage made it very interesting. Father and mother will also dabble more in the political affairs with the other countries and ally themselves with Briar Valley as our benefactor. However, there will still be bigger problems along the way and our home won't be able to stand on their on in political battles for long. Gathering information is the first step in building a defense and I believe that with our current resources and the big demand for fairy dust, we could do rather well. But, to do that, there must be regulations in place first so no one tries to harm our people for fairy dust. Then, when all things are said and done, I want to move Grim into one of our stores and live there with us."
"But, to do that, you need a lot of preparations." Maisey said with a frown, "Why not take him home and introduce him to the other fairies?"
"Didn't you notice that he can use fire?" Peony pointed out, "Our home has a lot of wood structure and leaves. The chances of him burning something of value could affect him in turn and I don't want to restrain him that tightly in our own house. So, Grim can't stay in the kingdom with me. After a few more years, father and mother can take care of the majority of the political affairs with their retainers. I'll remain on this end and help gather information to help them before I have to leave. Aside from that, the last time I tried to bring a cat home, father and mother made me put her back where I found her and I ended up finding her a new home instead."
"That's because that cat was a normal cat that liked to chase small things and you scared the wits out of Piper before having to convey a very sincere apology or he'd play a very mean prank back at you in the name of silent justice." Maisey reminded her with a frown, "You know, the guy was scared of cats and yet you still pleaded with him to let you keep it!"
"All right, I get it." Peony responded with a sigh, "I was really bummed out that I couldn't help him conquer his fears, though. Still, he is not someone to be messed with."
"And yet, you still messed with him." Maisey rebuked with a sigh, "Don't you try to say it was an accident again. In the end, you still got pranked with a week's worth of nightmares being chased by a giant cat."
"Don't remind me..." Peony sighed in dismay.
She looked around the vicinty known as Tartarus. The place was massive with a tunnel down so deep that they can only see the glowing pit that housed the greatest phantoms and now, those phantoms were on the lose wrecking havoc as they made their way up to escape!