The early sunlight filtered weakly through the dusty curtains of the Ramshackle lounge, casting long, soft shadows across the mismatched furniture and scattered blankets. A faint chill clung to the air — the kind of morning stillness that came just before the storm of childlike chaos.
The fire had gone out in the hearth.
Lotus stood in the kitchen with her sleeves rolled up, quietly preparing breakfast. Her hair, loosely tied at the nape of her neck, shimmered like ink under the dim lighting. The sizzle of the pan masked the quiet shuffle of feet behind her.
Jack, the smallest of the group at the moment, stumbled in rubbing his eyes and dragging a blanket behind him like a tail. Cheka followed on his heels, nose twitching at the smell of food.
Cheka climbed up onto a kitchen stool, yawning dramatically. "Gooood morning, Big Brother Lotus~!"
Lotus glanced over her shoulder and muttered, "Morning, your highness. Sit properly before you fall."
Jack growled sleepily but obediently sat down. "I'm not a baby. I can eat by myself."
"You spilled soup on your shirt yesterday," she reminded dryly, placing a bowl of porridge in front of him anyway.
Behind them, the remaining shrunken housemates began to emerge — Trey first, with quiet footsteps and a half-buttoned shirt. Azul followed, adjusting his too-large glasses with practiced dignity that clashed hilariously with his round cheeks. Jamil trailed last, moving slower than the others and unusually quiet, eyes still thoughtful from the night before.
Lotus served the bowls without fanfare, moving like clockwork. She neither fussed nor lingered, her motions efficient but oddly maternal.
Cheka chattered as he ate. "Big Brother Lotus, I dreamed of that nightingale again! It sang and sang! The king cried and gave it a hug!"
Lotus paused mid-step but didn't turn around. "…That so?"
Azul studied her carefully from behind his spoon. "Where did you learn that story, anyway?"
"It's from a book," she answered smoothly, placing tea down in front of him. "I like the ones that people forget."
Azul's eyes narrowed slightly. Books people forget… or books most people here have never read? He filed it away without comment.
Across the table, Trey watched the way she moved — how naturally she crouched to wipe a spill without reprimanding Jack, or how she nudged Jamil's hand toward a clean spoon without a word. Her expression rarely changed, but she was paying attention to all of them.
Even Jamil seemed off this morning, quietly stirring his porridge without eating. His gaze flicked once to her back.
Azul broke the quiet with a thoughtful tone. "If the king hadn't let the bird go, it would have died in its cage, right?"
Lotus's reply came almost too quickly. "A song isn't beautiful because it's yours. It's beautiful because it's free."
That silenced the table.
Then Cheka spoke again brightly, "Big Brother Lotus should be a teacher! I want Unca and Big brother Lotus to teach me magic!"
Lotus turned to him with a teasing smile. "If I ever am, you'll be the first one I expel."
Cheka pouted. Jack snorted.
Jamil's lips quirked. But in his mind, he was still thinking about the voice that told that story — calm, unhurried, and strange. That kind of tale didn't come from books in Scalding Sands, not ones his family would own. Not ones Kalim would ever read aloud.
Where have I heard it before…?
He couldn't remember.
But he wanted to hear it again.
…..
The week came and passed like a blink of an eye. The morning was bustling like always. She did some chores then got to work: classes, clubs, chatting with Yuu and the other freshmen. Just another day.
That's right…..
Just another day…
Finally fed up, she tossed her scroll into the air and stretch as she grumbled, "UGH! Still no lead on a new ingredient!"
Lotus's room was filled with books and experiment equipments for alchemy. Ever since her poison started acting up, she's been researching and researching and RESEARCHING!
However, there was no lead to her condition aside from the poisonous ingredients she had used to concoct her medicine. She researched what she had, cross sectioned her library, cross sectioned the RSA's library, and dissected NRC's library! Is the only way really through more traveling?
She thought back to all the places she's traveled thus far: Queendom of Roses, Afterglow Savannah, Shaftlands, Briar Valley…
She had even gone to Azul's home country which was literally underwater!
At this rate, she's gonna go mad!
She sighed as Ying Hui spoke to her mind, "You've been doing nothing but stay cooped up in your room, of course you can't come up with anything!"
Lotus pouted. It was really times like this where Ying Hui and Xiao Li resemble each other. They just love to state the obvious.
Assuming she was bored, she frowned and asked aloud, "Well, what do you want to do?"
There was a knock on the door to which she ignored. Yet, it didn't stop the door from opening and revealing a disgruntled face, "Who are you talking to this time, Lotus?"
It was Rollo.
She huffed, "One of my familiars. Haven't you decided on a club already? Won't you be late?"
Rollo took the chance to persuade her to allow him the opportunity to join a club. Knowing his interest with plants, she had a feeling he'd go to the same club as Rook and Trey, but he decided to petition for both the Gargoyle club and her club: the science club. This was a special condition and needed him to prove to at he could manage his time and effort well. Thus, he was given a trial week. Although Lotus could handle the work load, Rollo was just a regular human. It was just the other week he received the okay from both her and the headmage. So it piqued her curiosity how he came here despite it being the time where he should be in the Science Club.
Rollo grumbled, "Hunt went on a long lecture and created a chemical explosion in the Laboratory. Clover sent us back to our dorm early to discuss the matter with Mister Crowley."
Ah…
Lotus frowned as she pouted, "Again?"
Suddenly, Ying Hui's voice screeched in her ears, "I WANNA GO OUT! I WANNA GO OUT! I WANNA GO OUT!!!"
Lotus scowled clutching her head as grumbled, "Before that, Rollo, cover your ears."
Confused, Rollo did as he was told and she snapped her fingers creating a tightly sound proof barrier within the room. With a wave, she tossed Ying Hui out of her ring and onto her bed where she continued to throw a tantrum. Ying Hui hit the bed in a flurry of silk and sparkling smoke, her small form barely taking up the center of the blanket. Her twin tails flared like angry wings, and her voice echoed like a child throwing the worst kind of fit.
"I WANNA GO OUT! I WANNA GO OUT! I WANNA GO OUT—!!"
Lotus rubbed her temples with both hands. "I said STOP SCREAMING!"
But Ying Hui only doubled down, slamming her tiny fists into the blanket. "You said we'd go out when it was warmer! It's been WEEKS! I'm bored! I'm dusty! I'm gonna combust from boredom!"
Rollo watched the tantrum in deadpan silence, his hands still covering his ears, but it didn't stop him from being able to hear everything through them.
Once the screaming subsided to sniffling and muttered complaints, he lowered them and gave Lotus a long-suffering look.
"So that's the voice that's been driving you mad?"
She sighed. "Ying Hui. Weapon spirit. Younger twin of Xiao Li, my spatial ring familiar. Talks more than Xiao Li and ten times louder."
"I HEARD THAT!!"
"Good," Lotus replied dryly.
Rollo stepped around the bed cautiously, giving the spirit girl a wide berth as if she might explode if he got too close. "You said she's your familiar?"
"She is," Lotus nodded, folding her arms. "And before you ask—yes, familiars communicate telepathically. And yes, she really was shouting in my head."
Rollo pinched the bridge of his nose. "No wonder you're behind on your research. That voice alone would be enough to kill the will to live."
Ying Hui sat up indignantly. "Hmph! If you're going to insult me, you should at least formally greet me! You're Lotus's student now, aren't you? That makes me your big sister!"
Rollo knew she was following the line of foreign etiquette between teacher and student, but Lotus immediately waved her hand in dismissal. "Ignore her. She's being punished for throwing a tantrum. You're free to call her baby sister until she earns her place back."
"Excuse me?!"
Rollo smirked. "Baby sister it is, then."
Ying Hui practically combusted. "LOTUS!!"
"I'm not changing my mind," Lotus said with finality. "Your brother seems to be in agreement too."
Rollo chuckled, clearly finding amusement in the chaos for once. "Though… I have to ask. A weapon spirit? What does she turn into, exactly? Something dangerous?"
At that, Lotus's gaze grew serious. "Don't underestimate her. She can take a solid form. Right now, she can only manifest as a chain due to my current strength, so she's relatively harmless… unless I use her for stealth missions."
Rollo's smile immediately faded. "Stealth missions… You do remember what the former headmage of Noble Bell warned you, don't you?"
"Moderation," Lotus muttered, clearly reciting a lesson she'd heard too many times. "Yes, yes, I know."
Ying Hui was now sulking with her back turned and arms crossed, pouting like she'd just been told her birthday was canceled.
"Then," Rollo said briskly, adjusting his scarf as if preparing to flee, "maybe it's time you took a break. You got that invitation last week. The Tapis Rouge event in Shaftlands, remember?"
Lotus blinked. "You want me to go to that?"
"I want you to get out of this dust-covered alchemist dungeon before your familiar drives us both insane," he said flatly.
Lotus hesitated. "I haven't been back to Shaftlands since I was a child…"
"Well," Rollo shrugged, "your baby sister seems desperate for sunlight."
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"
Lotus stared at the cracked ceiling for a long moment before sighing. "…Fine. If it gets her to shut up, I'll go."
"Yay—Wait. That's your reason?!"
"Don't push it."
So, Lotus had used her position as assistant to the Nobel bell headmage to send herself out of school to attend matters back in her kingdom with promises of compensation for the trouble, which expectedly satisfied Crowley. Rollo having learnt of this nature was thoroughly displeased, but he didn't complain as he understood he was in no position to voice his opinion.