The Other Side of Darkness

From Bad to Worse

Prologue: Chapter 11~13

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A few hours later, Lev left the infirmary. Her hands had been cleaned and bandaged, with blisters forming on several of her fingers. Luckily, the burns themselves weren't too severe. 

However, she still had to be careful while picking stuff up and touching things. Because she couldn't do much physical work, Crowley allowed her to stay in the library until the end of the school day when she'd have to watch Ace and Grim while they cleaned windows.

Sitting in the library was actually very calming. It was quiet and there wasn't very many people. Students would occasionally come in to study or quietly socialize. Most didn't pay her any heed. Some would ask her about her bandages or just try to strike up a conversation. She tried to keep these interactions to a minimum, not wanting another Ace situation to play out. 

A few hours of reading and relaxing later, a large bell sounded, signaling the end of the school day. She stood up, stretched, and started walking towards the cafeteria. 

When she got there, most of the students had left, leaving the cafeteria mostly empty. She found Grim slumping on one of the tables.

"Hey, Grim," Lev greeted.

Grim groaned. "You look so refreshed. I'm already beat from cleaning all day...and now I have to wash 100 windows, too...Ugh, you're so lucky." He glared at her bandaged hands, which she quickly hid by crossing her arms.

"I'm sorry. I feel really bad about leaving you to do this on your own, I really do," she apologized, and it was true! "If anything, it was your fault you went and got in a fight! If you didn't we wouldn't be in this situation."

Grim puffed out his cheeks in annoyance, too prideful to admit she was right. 

"Where's that Ace guy?" he decided to complain. "Who does he think he is? Making me wait!" Lev didn't say anything.

They waited for around fifteen minutes, and Ace still didn't show up.

"I get the feeling he's trying to ditch us," Lev said, picking at her bandages. "Or he might've gotten sick or something."

"I don't care what happened!" Grim growled. "This is too late! He must've tried to skip out!"

Lev sighed and stood up. "I think we should go look for him before we get in even more trouble."

"For once, I agree!" the monster shouted. He jumped up on Lev's shoulder and pulled on her braid. "Let's go, girlie! We're gonna catch Ace and make him do all the window washing!"

"Um, ow?!" Lev complained. "Gentle with my hair! And for the last time, I have an name!" 

"Just go," Grim urged. Lev sighed and quickly walked out of the cafeteria. 

They searched all the classrooms, hallways, and even the library, but they couldn't find Ace anywhere.

"Maybe he went back to his dorm," Lev suggested. 

"Yeah, that must be where he is!" Grim hissed. "Uhh...where are the dorms?"

After talking to a couple students and paintings, they found their way to a room full of mirrors. Each had a symbol representing the dorm a mirror led to above the short hallway leading to the mirror. There, they finally found Ace, walking towards a mirror that was labeled Heartslabyul.

"No way I'm washing a hundred windows," he muttered to himself. "I'm gonna head on home..."

"HEY! YOU!" Grim screamed at the top of his lungs.