SHUT UP!

Deuce jumped in bewilderment before nervously listing stuff out, "W-Well-! Ah! F-For one, there were mutations caused on the mandragoras, which affected the gene pool! A-and- Oh right! Those who consumed potions made from the mandragoras from this growth had symptoms of side effects ranging from being mute to being in a daze for an unknown period of time! Oh! And, finally! Although they were considered pests to mandragora farmers, the pests who consumed these plants directly suffered under the same symptoms but more severe and this effected the ecosystems around the farms and on the farm lands! Um... That's... all I remember..." 

 There was a moment of silence before it was interrupted by Crewel, "That's correct. Though the potion worked, it had also affected the cultivation of future mandragoras when the Shaftlands launched the project. Those who consumed it lost their voice or other senses and, in worst cases, could not function mentally in a proper state for a prolonged period of time. Although most problems ended there, another soon emerged and that was the erosion of wildlife around the farms. After launching an extensive research with many alchemists, it was soon discovered that the effect of the potion on the mandragoras also affected the pests who intruded into the farmlands and stole the crops resulting in loss of senses. Their future generation would later inherit this trait in a variety of different symptoms and would struggle to maintain their way to survive in the wilderness. Thus, contaminating their ecosystem... Good boy! It would seem you have prepared a great deal as of late."

 "Ah!" Deuce was stunned before he smiled proudly upon hearing this, "Y-Yes!"

 "It was a cheap alternative to pesticides and thought to be less harmful to humans." Crewel continued, "However, it wasn't until just three years after using the product that people started voicing concerns and alchemists were brought in to research the problem. Today, you will experiment the effects of mandragora affected by the potion and compare it to the the control mandragora."

After detailing further instructions, he opened his mouth with a stern expression, "Each of you will be paired with a sophmore and you are to follow his instructions. Those who fail to follow these simple tasks will be retained in for detention!"

Like that, he paired the students up before sending them to prepare for the experiment and to write the report. Lotus found herself paired with Azul, much to her surprise.

"I see we've been paired up this time. Quite an interesting turn of events." Azul smiled, "Do let me know if you encounter any problems. I'll be happy to offer my assistance to you."

Despite his friendly demeanor, Lotus simply opened her mouth as she responded curtly, "Hello. Shall we begin?"

Hearing this, Azul was stunned! He muttered in bewilderment as Lotus simply ignored him and made her way to the cauldron, "Did something happen? His character is sudden so cold."

Hearing this, Deuce put aside the accomplished feeling he had felt earlier and quickly warned Azul in a hurried whisper, "Ah, he would sometimes get a little temperamental, but it's much worse this time."

Azul turned to Deuce with a confused expression as he implored, "Do you perhaps know what had happened, Deuce? This is giving me flashbacks of Floyd all of a sudden."

Deuce shook his head, "Floyd-senpai's demeanor would usually change drastically without warning, but Lotus's character would turn cold after a certain period of time. After that, he goes back to being himself again. This time, however? It's extremely bad… Please be careful not to irritate him, Azul-senpai. He could get scary without needing to raise a hand. During practice yesterday, Ace got scolded coldly for causing a ruckus even though it was the usual banter…"

"Seriously?" Azul muttered nervously as he noticed she had already picked the instructions and was reading through it. He pushed his glasses in place before muttering to himself in disbelief, "Just what did I get myself into this time?" 

"Are you ready, Azul-senpai?" She called out to him calmly with a calm manner different from her usual sly nature.

Despite this, Azul could feel the scary feeling from her as he hesitated before finally giving a hand. He took in a deep breath and let it out before putting his glasses back in place from sliding off, "Sure. Then, let us begin…"

As Azul instructed her with each step, she followed it all quietly as she wrote all of the notes down and the research papers. Finally, she was done as Crewel dropped by and received the report with a look of surprise, "Done? Already?"

He examined the paper and realized it was already completed with Azul looking rather hesitant as it was the first time he had ever felt like having been dragged through a research group as if he was dead weight. Despite having desperately thought for ways to keep up, Lotus was much faster in thinking and nearly took over the entire research. He looked to Lotus in confusion. According to his information, she has lays remained at the top of her class and always finished her work before others with great efforts. However, there was nothing like that today. Instead, she seemed to have not used any efforts while doing her share of the work. Just what was she planning today?

Luckily for him, he was more or less used to this behavior coming from Floyd on a daily basis, but the situation was different for Lotus as he did not display any such behavior like this till now!

Azul muttered in disbelief as Lotus then finished putting away the equipment and began to read quietly to herself. Shocked and confused, the freshmen did their best to ignore her as the other sophmores looked on in disbelief.

…..

Not long after class ended, she came across Malleus waiting for her arrival by the statue of the seven. He was standing by the statue of Mo Li as she frowned and walked over to him, "You weren't doing a very good job of hiding. Even grim would be able to find you in a heartbeat."

Surprised, Malleus hesitated, "I wasn't exactly hiding."

"Then why stand out of sight?" She questioned curiously before she pouted irritatingly, "Did you think I wouldn't get mad if I don't see you?"

"O-of course not!" Malleus shook his head curiously.

Disbelieving him, she huffed before shaking her head, "I was thinking of stopping by Ramshackle dorm, but I guess we should return home. Let's go back to Diasomnia dorm."

She grabbed Malleus's wits and dragged him along the steps as other stare at her in disbelief and shock. Malleus, the strongest amongst them all was being dragged away by a magic-less human?!

"How is Silver?" She asked as they neared the Hall of Mirrors.

"He's doing better." He replied calmly, "Despite his allergy reaction, he has regained the ability to eat solid food again."

Lotus nodded, "He probably still has the cough, I guess."

Malleus nodded, "It won't be long before he has to perform at the gala."

It was known that, despite his recuperation process, he still insisted on joining the training and managed to learnt how to walk fashionably for the gala. Infact, that scenario in itself was quite an interesting turn of events.

…..

"Okay, STOP." Vil ordered firmly before reprimanding Jack and Silver with a scowl, "How many times must I remind you? You're not simply moving your legs. You must picture yourself placing your pelvis over your thighs."

Jack's ear drooped as he muttered nervously, "...Sorry."

"This is hard." Silver noted in frustration.

Vil sighed in annoyance as he grumbled, "I need to step out and handle some dorm business. I expect you to keep practicing in the meantime. I'll gauge your progress when I get back. Remember: I'll know if you've slacked off."

As Vil walked out, Ace watched on from the side across the room as he shook his head hesitantly, "...I'm startin' to wonder if they've gonna get it together in time. We gotta wow the queen with this show, but so far all we're gonna get is "wow, that was disappointing.""

"You can say that again…" Lotus huffed in disappointment. Due to Silver's persistence to practice, she was forced to leave Huo Wei's side and stay there with Silver throughout the day, much to her irritation. 

 "Yes, it looks like quite the struggle. Fun to watch, of course."

 Ace looked up in surprise as he saw Lilia floating over Ace with a curious look as Lotus did not bother to even look up as she responded, "Good afternoon, Lilia-senpai."

 "WHOA, GEEZ! ...Lilia? How long have you been there?" Ace sighed in deep breath as he tried to compose himself. 

 "Khee hee hee, apologies. I wasn't trying to startle you." Lilia sneered as he explained with a wide smile, "I've had my hands full with all the frigid students in my dorm. This is the first free moment I've had since this whole thing started. I was hoping to pop by and cheer Silver on during his rehearsal."

 Hearing this, Lotus chuckled as she gave him a side glance while the guy floated onto the ground. 

 "You mean left them shivering around the fire place." She chuckled, "Out of all the place to leave them, it turned out to be the freezing lounge instead of the sweltering hallway."

 "Do they prefer being half-naked in the hallway?" Lilia said with a hesitant look before he smiled calculatingly, "They're free to do see if they wished."

 "Wow. You could've just kicked back and enjoyed your break, but you came over here instead. You're a nice guy, huh?" Ace sneered upon hearing this with a devilish idea in mind. 

 "I could say the same about you. You've been utterly absorbed in their practice. Filled with concern, eh?" Lilia smirked back playfully.

 "Well, yeah, why wouldn't I be? We're all in the same boat, whether we like it or not." Ace sighed in disappointment. 

 She smiled, "So, what do you think about their progress?"

 "Look at the way Jack's moving. I dunno if it's tension or what, but it's hard to believe how awful he's doing considering how athletic he is." Ace responded instead. 

 "Who asked for your opinion?" Lotus sighed irritatingly, "We've heard your opinion for the last half hour. Are you trying to compete against Grim over who has more to say?"

 "Seriously? What's gotten into you today?" Ace grumbled in disdain upon hearing this, "You've never been this difficult to deal with before."

 Before Lotus could throw another insult, Lilia cut in as he watched the two practice, "Hmm, yes... His movements remind me of something. What was it...? Oh, yes, I remember! He's like a bird that's smacked headfirst into a window!"

 "Oh man. I've never seen that happen, but I can imagine it." Ace chuckled a laugh as he thought of the scenario with Silver and Jack. 

 "A bird lookin' all serious while toddling around on wobbly legs..." Lilia snickered upon the same thought. 

 "Actually, now that you've mentioned birds, he reminds me of the flamingos from our croquet games when they get all dizzy." Ace added teasingly.

 "Flamingos, hm? I could see the resemblance when he's embarrassed. He turns an adorable shade of pink."

 "Yeah, there you go! That's Jack all right, totally shy." Ace sneered.

 "Nothing wrong with that! It's delightfully sweet and innocent. In fact, now I'm noticing that Silver's legs are all wobbly. He's not used to standing that way at all. It reminds me of when he was a little tyke. Oh, I could watch this for hours."

 Hearing everything loud and clear, Jack scowled angrily as he muttered irritatingly to Silver, "Tch... Get a load of the peanut gallery. They're just eating this up."

 Silver hushed nervously as he struggled to keep his balance, "Don't get distracted, Jack." 

 Jack nodded with a grimace as he concurred, "Right. Gotta tune it all out and keep my head in the game... Okay, this time I'm gonna get it. Extend the knee and picture gracefully resting my pelvis over my thighs..."

 "You okay there, Jack? If ya can't walk straight, I could give you a shoulder to lean on!" Ace teased shamelessly. 

 "Your expression's terribly stiff, you know. You're supposed to smile at a fashion show! Go on, turn that frown upside down!" Lilia added with a chuckle. 

 Jack took a deep breath and muttered to himself almost insistently, "Tune it out... Just tune it out..."

 "Oho, what avant-garde choreography. You're moving your right arm at the same time as your right leg. If you moved in tandem with Silver's stilted motions, it would look like you were doing the robot. Is that your intention?" Lilia snickered. 

 "Dude, you guys are stiff as a board! You gotta loosen up!" Ace shouted. 

 "Yes, and remember, don't forget to smile! No one's going to pay good money for a scowl-o-rama. I demand a refund! Not that I've paid a single thaumark." Lilia added as if he was at a tavern show. 

 "Yeah, you heard him! Pay me back the money I lent you to buy a notebook that one time!" Ace added fire to the fuel relentlessly. 

 "SHUT UUUP!"