The status as the only heir of a major political and magical family would definitely cause people to go crazy. No wonder his parents seemed completely insane when Aayla saw them during move in day. They lost all that power when they were cast out of the family and Daren was taken away. A red blush crept up on Aayla's cheeks. She buried her head in the papers in front of her.
"Oh. Sorry, I guess I was living under a rock at the bottom of a well when I was abroad."
Chris nearly lost his composure again. Junius noted that Miss Glowery had quite the sense of humor and has the decency to apologize. Working with her shouldn't be too bad this time around. But their problem is quite troublesome to deal with.
"Lysander's family, the Foryl clan, is a minor magical family under the Sarrasak clan that controls the capital city, Sarrasak. That's why he can walk all over most people here. Though, his family has been in decline for a long time, so they're desperate to prove their worth to their backers. If Chris or Daren get involved, things could get nasty if Lysander decides to pull tricks to stay close to them."
The meeting continued on. They discussed how they were going to handle Lyse going forward before he became an even more serious problem. Many of the freshman and those living near him already couldn't handle the stress.
As the one in charge of the Men's Wing and the problem named Lysander Foryl, Theo talked the most with Junius and Renee while Daren and Chris added in some details from time to time. Aayla slowly came back to life as her embarrassment died down. Sometimes she glanced at Daren and hoped that he wasn't mad. She'll ask Dormi to give him some of today's cookie batch as an apology.
While Chris and Junius argued about whether Daren should actually get involved, there was an urgent knock on the door. When Aayla opened the door, a nervous Jacki nearly fell inside when she tried to push the door in.
"Hey Jacki, what's going on?"
"Lysander Foryl! That idiot's gone too far with his prank war with the gremlins. They're getting really angry this time."
"What did he do?"
Startled, Aayla jumped a bit. Since when did Junius move? Jacki's eyes widened when she realized who Junius was. The Disciplinary Committee was a group that most didn't want to encounter their entire time at Nafriton University.
"Oh, Di-Disciplinary Cha-Chair Ahroyor. It's a pleasure to meet you. Um, someone saw him kicking around some of the gremlins outside the stone wall. Apparently, he's been doing this secretly for a while."
Junius face blackened. Though they were tiny, gremlins were still magical creatures. No matter their size, tormenting any magical creature with violent methods is never a wise idea. They might just go after everyone in sight if they go berserk. Void take that idiot Lysander Foryl. He turned to Aayla.
"Miss Glowery, you've been handling the gremlins, right? Is there some way to calm them down?"
"What? Yes, I have. If they're just grumpy or annoyed, then giving them sweets should work. If they're mad, then sweets won't work. At that point Dormi just throws them out of the building until they've calmed down."
"Renee, take Miss Glowery and round up the gremlins that aren't outside yet. Keep them occupied until the situation outside. Mr. Lawlor, keep all of the residents inside and send a message to security. Mr. Vear and Mr. Forolan, you're coming with me. That's an order as the Disciplinary Committee Chair."
Chris and Daren followed Junius outside while Renee, Aayla and Theo began their work inside.
**********
It was time for Operation Gremlin Distraction 2. Aayla led Renee down into the basement. She quickly pulled the game out of storage while Dormi prepared possibly the most sickeningly sweet desserts ever created. Gremlin diabetes was guaranteed with long term consumption. Renee awkwardly stood by while Aayla set up the first round of the game. She knew little about gremlins and even less about cooking.
"Miss Glowery, what is that?"
"A memory game. You need to press the buttons in the same order as the flashing lights. You win if you can get enough correct in a row. Gremlins love anything flashy, sugary or fun. They're also competitive. If we set this up in their nest in the basement, then they'll start congregating there. Dormi can keep them contained fairly well in the basement. Oh, Dormi's the artifact spirit, by the way."
The walls seemed to lightly shiver, as if humming in response.
"I've got this, Miss Parlow. Dormi will manage everything when I get this downstairs, so you can help Theo get the residents inside."
The relieved Renee just nodded and left to help gather the residents. Finally, something that she actually knew how to do. Aayla picked up the game and hauled it into the back room. Many grumpy gremlins angrily protested when the noise and lights woke them up. They were soon distracted by the familiar flashing lights and scent of sweet, sweet sugar.
When Aayla arrived back upstairs, she found a loud and chaotic situation on the verge of a breakdown. Panicked students rushed inside through the front door. They shouted trying to find roommates and friends. Others tried to keep wings and floors together for a role count. Theo was guiding people inside.
"Stay calm! Please enter in an orderly fashion. Stay in the dining hall or lounge and group together based on floor and room."
"Theo, what's going on? Why is everyone freaking out?"
"Oh, Aayla! The gremlins started going crazy outside. I'm not sure what happened, Lysander ran inside the gate and locked it. A few of the crazy gremlins got inside then they all started going crazy. Miss Parlow and the rest of the upperclassman are dealing with them, but not that many are here today."
Aayla turned pale when she looked outside. Branches and roots were attempting to contain enormous furry gorillas. They angrily roared in denial and attacked whatever was in their way. Lightning, fire, wind, ice. Nature just seemed to be going crazy. Even worse, the non-crazy gremlins became enraged upon hearing those roars. Eventually they morphed and grew in size until they also became like the frenzied gorillas.
Renee was desperately dragging Lysander around the yard to keep him alive and the gorillas away from everyone else. There was no sign of his friends. Aayla could see faint flashes of light and hear faint bellows of rage from outside the gate.
"Did you call security yet?"
"Yeah, but they're going to take a few minutes. The Disciplinary Committee too. The nurse on duty is taking care of the injured, but that's all that we have."
Darn it. Why did things always have to go wrong on Shade Day? They only had one adult wizard on Shade Day. Aayla massaged her temples in frustration. The situation was getting worse as more gremlins joined in. Wait, maybe there was a way to stop the rest from getting angry.
"I have an idea. I'm going to see if I can lure some of the calm gremlins away before they get angry."
She ran off before Theo could respond. Aayla pushed passed the people into the dining hall. The noise was intense as roommates tried to find each other. Everyone was packed like sardines in a can. She could barely squeeze through. If things don't calm down soon, then students might get trampled or squished to death.
When she opened the door to the kitchen, the mob of students overflowed into the room. She opened the pantry and began pulling out boxes of cookies and cakes. The mob stared at her confused while she handed boxes to random students.
"Here! Hold these for me."
"Uh, I don't think that it's the right time for a snack."
"These are for the gremlins. Not us."
"What? To beg them not to eat us or something?"
Aayla exasperatedly sighed and whipped around.
"No. Gremlins like anything sweet and are easily distracted by anything shiny or flashy. I'm going to lure as many of the normal gremlins into the basement where they can be contained before they go crazy. So shut up, look pretty and hold those boxes for me."
She continued going through the pantry to drag out everything that she could. When she turned back around, the boxes had mysteriously multiplied and residents were handing them out to those in the dining hall. They had started throwing the boxes out of the windows. Some students cast colorful spells to create a light show. The few gremlins had already begun to happily feast on their new treasure trove while giggling excitedly at the lights. Aayla pointed to the new boxes.
"How did these get here?"
The student gave Aayla a strange look. Isn't the basic duplication spell common knowledge?
"There's a spell that duplicates simple objects. Most of us learn that by our second year."
Right. There's magic. Aayla grabbed some boxes and started pushing through the crowd to the nearest open window. The pile of happy gremlins was growing quickly. Every so often, a few would twitch in rage after they ran out of cookies. The students would throw out another box or cast colorful spells to keep
Aayla took a deep breath and leaned out of a window. The gremlins here seemed peaceful. She couldn't see any battles or gorilla gremlins in the distance. It was now or never.