A Family of Siblings

"Has the trembling finally stopped? That shouldn't be the titans, right?"

Yuu turned to Vil and the others hesitantly after saying this.

"Perhaps. However, my instincts are telling me that might not be it..." Rook responded hesitantly after much thoughts.

"No matter." Vil clarified, "It doesn't change the fact that we must be careful right now, anyway."

"True. But it still makes me more nervous." Epel responded with a discomforted frown, "Let's hurry and reach the bottom quickly and stop Idia from opening Tartarus!"

Suddenly, the ground shuddered again followed by a thundering holler.

"Jupiter!!! Where are you?!?!"

"Everyone, in place!" Vil grimaced, "Yuu, get behind us. Let me know when to strike!"

"Okay!" Yuu nodded firmly as he gritted his teeth and clung to the rails of the stairs.

As the quakes grew stronger, a large moving mountain appeared before them as it climbed the sides of the pit.

"JUPITER!!!" It hollered.

"Attack!" Vil commanded.

Rook and Epel quickly began to strike at the enemy as Vil began to aim with a large lance-shaped like a lightning bolt and emitting electricity and static in the air. As the monster lifted a foot to inch closer, Rook quickly flanked it with an attack before it stumbled back. It shot out a wave of dark ink blot at them to which, they swiftly jumped out of the way just barely missing the attack. As the monster gave out a loud holler, Epel raised his wand and shouted fiercely, "Eat this! Ha!"

He summoned a large jet of water aimed straight into its opened jaws! Shocked by this unexpected barrage of attacks, the monster staggered backward in confusion.

"Now!" Yuu shouted.

"Take this!" Vil shouted and used his magic on the lance to shoot a powerful bolt of lightning on the enemy!

The powerful wave of electricity was so powerful, it shot the titan off the stairs and back down the pit once more!

Seeing that the enemy had fallen again, Epel sighed in relief as he shook his head breathlessly, "A-Are we finally almost there now?"

Rook looked to the map and nodded, "Oui..."

After sitting back down, Yuu looked to the spear that they put in the lab to charge and a thought came to him as he turned to the three. After learning who was responsible for the attack and the kidnap of Grim, the group disobeyed the school and the temporary acting headmaster, Mister Trein, to go find everyone. At first, Rook was strangely adamant that he and Epel should remain at school as he goes to travel all of the way Island of Woe with his unique magic, "I see you". "I see you" allows him to track any target that he marked with his magic. He can identify their current position regardless of distance, but if the target enters a region that blocks off magic completely, he won't be able to track it allows him to track any target that he marked with his magic. He can identify their current position regardless of distance, but if the target enters a region that blocks off magic completely, he won't be able to track it. Back during the battle, he used it to mark one of the humanoid anti-magic robot that took Grim and it brought them to where they are now. According to Idia, had he not stepped in, they would've perished on the spot as it was part of the order to eliminate anyone that finds this location without authorization.

They were here for only a couple days after Rook handed Ortho the container of make-up to be handed to Vil as the formerly overblotted group was imprisoned in separate rooms with the necessary equipment and furnishing to make it habitable and them well-fed. So, though it was imprisonment, it wasn't an actual prison. However, the feeling was still the same. During the lock down due to Idia defecting to Ortho and his ambition to release all of the overblot from Tartarus, Vil used the magic make-up to help him escape from his room and free the others in their room. Yuu and Epel followed Rook to an escape passage in their guest hall to be led down into a passageway where they saved one of the staff researchers from those humanoid robots that have been controlled to attack and drag all personnel away. With the awakening of Epel's unique magic, they were able to leave the area unharmed and found their way to the main office where all the other personnel and the escaped people gathered.

It was confirmed that Grim was there but he went missing during the forced lockdown. They agreed to help the scientist to fend off the three titans from escaping Tartarus using the emergency mechanism called Thunder Spear. Though, the weapon looked more like a lance than a spear.

As a thought came to him, he turned to Rook during their break and questioned, "Rook? Since you have that barbecued meat in bamboo containers you gave us on our way here, then Lotus knew that Idia and the other scientists were the ones who took Grim?"

"Barbecue meat? Bamboo and Lotus?" Vil raised a brow and turned to Rook, "Rook, what does he mean?"

"This..." Rook hesitated to himself as Vil stared at him seemingly trying to see if he would lie or one of those sorts, "Oui. Monsieur Snow Fox knew that Roi de Chambre was the one responsible for everyone capture. According to him, he suspected that so many overblots would draw the attention of S.T.Y.X. and that he would not be able to keep the prefect and Epel from leaving the school in search of our companions. So, he had prepared the lunch and told me and Monsieur Multi to keep watch of everyone."

"But, how..." Vil looked to him in disbelief before shaking his head, "No... This is that potato we are talking about. It wouldn't be a surprise if he knew many secrets of high society."

"He also told me..." Rook added, "That to forget ever coming to Island of Woe, Monsieur de Chambre and the other scientist may require us to consume a special liquid called Lethe water. Drinking that will make us forget everything about this place and what we did here. Even if everyone didn't wish for it, it is part of their procedure to maintain secrecy of the projects and experiments here."

"That just sounds dangerous..." Vil frowned in dismay but sighed, "But, the people here are doing special experiments to help find out more about the blot. Something like this should've been within our expectations. But... How could he know so much about this? Prefect, Yuu is your student. Surely, you must know more about him since he is your only human student."

Yuu shook his head, "Lotus... He's our best student. He also acts as our cook and is our tutor. When it comes to skill, he has many, but he doesn't like to connect with others."

Hearing this, Epel looked to him in confusion, "Huh? But he seems fine while talking to us. He isn't withdrawn like Idia-senpai..."

"Explain." Vil demanded.

"Lotus has no problems talking to others, but he doesn't usually approach others to talk with them." Yuu explained, "When it's not important, he is often thinking to himself. When it is like now, he would take action on his own. Even now, he takes action without telling anyone. Perhaps he has no confidence in our abilities, but, when I question him over the role of prefect, he always tells me that I was better fit for the prefect role for some reason. Yet, he always breaks the rules and pretends to be fine when he's hurt."

"Wait, Lotus is hurt?!" Epel exclaimed in shock.

Vil frowned, "So, you know..."

"Eh?"

Epel looked to them in confusion as Yuu nodded, "There's a possibility that Lotus is involved in something dangerous. Knowing him, he didn't want to get us involved and pretended that everything was well the next day. Every night he disappears and almost every morning I find the bandages in the infirmary is missing. Each week, the nurse has to replenish the number of bandages."

"Then, what do you plan to do?" Vil questioned him with a frown.

Yuu shook his head, "All I can do is what I do now. If I push it, I can imagine I won't be able to see him the next day anymore."

"Then, what about his condition?" Vil sighed, "Rook?"

Rook shook his head and frowned, "I can't say."

"Why not?" Epel questioned in bewilderment.

"It's not that he doesn't want to say, Epel. He is unable to say it." Vil sighed, "Looks like he's put you in a bind too. Who'd have thought that you'd be trapped by your own prey..."

"Oui." Rook sighed, "I underestimated him."

"Lotus is very smart." Yuu shook his head in disappointment, "He's the only one capable of controlling Grim when he tries to sneak out of his studies. As for me, it would take a little more convincing from me to get him to do what I say."

"Then, why not tell him what to do? You're still his housewarden in the end." Epel said with a look of confusion.

Yuu nodded, "That's true. However, he only listens to me know because he wants to."

"As a housewarden, the students must listen to you or you give them a reason." Vil said with a frown, "Their actions reflects on the dorm too."

"This is why I question being the prefect." Yuu sighed as he leaned back against the wall of the facility, "The reason why I was able to be the prefect was because Lotus had no interest in the position and didn't want the responsibility that came with it. Instead, he wanted to stay up past the curfew and do what he wants. Because he is the type to not want to socialize, I worry that he has problems connecting with others, so the three of us decided to act as a family of siblings. Doing this can bring the three of us closer and give him a reason for me to make sure he doesn't get into trouble."