Into the World of Twisted Wonderland Pt 2

🐍 Schemer of the Scalding Sands: Chapter 40🐍

The next day, Angel and Grim walked back to the dorm, with Jamil providing her with the clothes she originally wore cleaned and mended, in which Jamil looked away, deducing that he did everything and she thanked, with Jamil giving a snarky remark back, which she only laughed at. She wanted to return the clothes that Kalim provided her, but he happily said that she could take it, knowing that it wouldn't get any use in Scarabia, and she obliged, not trying to hurt her upperclassman feelings. As they walked back to the dorm, the cold wind reminded that that it was still winter, something they forget when they were in Scarabia, and braced themselves, secretly enjoying the cool air compared to the hot, dry air of Scarabia. They stopped in front of the gate, seeing that Ramshackle stood tall, despite the snow covering the roof and sighed in relief, happy to be home after for what felt like a week, being held hostage and Jamil's overbolt and all. "Phew...We finally made it back to our own dorm," Grim says as he looks at the dorm.

"We've been out for a while, huh?" Angel says as she opens the gate and step through, finally feeling that she was home. "It's good to be back," she says as Grim jumps off her shoulder and stretch his legs.

"Hey, you two!" Casper calls out to the two as he hovers to them, Adam and Benny following.

"Heh," Grim chuckles. "These ghosts are a sight for sore eyes."

The ghosts hover around the two, giving what appears to be hugs to Angel and Grim. "You've been gone for so long, I started to wonder if you were GONE gone, you know?" Benny says as he looks at the two in relief. "We worried ourselves half to death! Get it? Hee hee hee..."

"But hey, glad to see you're okay," Adam says with a smile.

"We took care of tending to the fire fairies in the cafeteria fireplace while you were out," Casper says.

The statement reminded the two about their 'special' job from Crowley. "Myah?! Oh crud, I totally forgot about that!" Grim says in shock, forgetting about their job.

"Hey, nobody wants to spend the holidays frozen over," Benny states as the two sigh in relief, happy at the fact that they have a warm place to stay for the remainder of the break.

"By the way," Adam starts. "There's a bunch of food waiting for you here, courtesy of the headmage."

"Mya-hah!" Grim happily cheers. "Didja hear that? We're getting out feast! C'mon, Angel, let's go check it out!" He says as he runs inside, the ghosts quickly following after. Angel sighed at Grim's antics and smiled, following them inside the dorm. Before she took another step towards the dorm...

"Ah, you're back," A familiar person says with a smile as he suddenly appeared before her, upside down in the air.

"Gah!" The encounter surprised her as she takes a step back, almost falling, but something held her up as she looks at the person in surprise. She looked behind her, seeing that nothing was behind her and slowly look at the person smiling at her, right side up, waiting for her to calm down from the scare. "You scared me!" She said in a panic, trying to calm her heart from the scare. That almost gave me a heart attack!

"Khee hee hee," he chuckles. "With a reaction like that, I could make a habit out of spooking you. I am Lilia Vanrouge, vice housewarden of Diasomnia," he says. Angel thinks back on when she met him, the thought coming to her as she remembered that he helped with the plan for the Spelldrive tournament. "I came to deliver a holiday greeting card from a certain somebody," he says as he hands her an envelope, leaving her confused as she slowly takes it, hoping it's not another scare from Lilia. He looks at her skeptical look and just smiles at her, showing that the envelope was harmless. She slowly opens the envelope and, as Lilia said, inside was a card with a picture of a castle in the background with the words 'Happy Holidays' on the front. She looked at the card in confusion, wondering who would send her a greeting card, especially through a vice housewarden of a dorm during holiday break. "He's a bit peeved that once again nobody invited him to any festivities this year..." Lilia says with a sigh. "So if you happen to hold any with your friends, it'd be nice if you extended him an invitation too," he says with a smile, leaving her more confused at who he was talking about. "Anyway, that's all I came for. I bid you all a pleasant holiday," he says as he suddenly disappears, leaving Angel alone as she processes what just happened. She looked at the card and envelope, trying to figure out who would send her a card like this. She could rule out anyone in Heartslabyul and Savanaclaw: it's not their style, at least, to send a card like this. It couldn't be anyone from Octavinelle or Scarabia, she just left from them and if they wanted to give her a card, they would have done so already. Her eyes catch some writing on the envelope, seeing two letters in what seems to be cursive.

"The sender's name is...M.D.?" She says out loud, curious about the initials. Who does she know have the initials of M.D.? She thinks back on everyone's names. Riddle Rosehearts...Ace Trappola...Deuce Spade...Cater Diamond...Trey Clover...Leona Kingscholar...Jack Howl...Ruggie Bucchi...Azul Ashengrotto...Jade and Floyd Leech...Kalim Al-Asim...Jamil Viper...She groans in frustration. None of the names she could think of matched the initials. So...who was M.D...?

"Hey, Angel!" Grim shouts, getting her attention. "You better step on it, or I'm gonna eat the whole feast without you!" She looked at Grim in shock as she quickly heads in the dorm, knowing well enough that Grim wouldn't leave any food for her, card in hand.

"Ho ho ho! Happy holidays!" Adam says as he shut the door, letting the duo's holiday official start.