Aftermath of The Missing Skirt

Aayla quickly ran to the lounge after Matcha told her about someone undressing in the lounge. Really? Had someone managed to sneak in alcohol again? That was specifically against regulations. Theo, Renee and Marc were already managing the situation when Aayla arrived.

"Move it people! Go back to your rooms and study! The new professors assigned tons of extra homework, and I know that most of you probably won't be able to finish until the last minute. Stop wasting time and start working!"

Renee and Marc pushed people away from the Women's Wing staircase. Several tried to crowd around to see the young lady who fled upstairs. Theo kept trying to calm everyone down. Unfortunately, everyone wanted to know what happened.

Stuck at the side of the crowd, Aayla couldn't push her way through or find out what was happening at all.

"Step aside! I need to get through!"

The residents just ignored her, the puny little first year. Frustrated and a bit angry, Aayla grabbed the rest of her cookies out of her bag. She waved the bag in front of Matcha's face. Instantly several other gremlins materialized out of thin air.

"Do you all want some yum yum cookies~?"

The gremlins quickly nodded and widened their eyes to look as cute and innocent as possible. Aayla's mouth pulled itself into a sly grin.

"Well, if you want the yum yum cookies then you need to put on a lovely singing performance for the residents, okay~? As loud as possible for a minute. Oh, and make sure to spread yourselves throughout the crowd so everyone can here you."

\(>A<)>* -- We gladly accept the mission! --

The gremlins scampered into the crowd. Aayla covered her ears and stepped back. Hmph. The residents asked for this so don't blame her, okay? Within seconds, the most horrible singing that she had ever heard rang out through the crowd. It was like nails on a chalkboard combined with the worst karaoke ever.

The students covered their ears and yelled in surprise. Some tried to magically protect their ears, but the horrendous singing forced its way passed their spells. Aayla easily pushed her way through the distracted crowd, with little Matcha singing 'beautifully' on her head.

Within a minute, the gathered residents were all quiet and calm. Some had come from downstairs to stop the noise. Residents had heard the gremlins' performance from the next floor up. A collective gasp of relief could be heard when the gremlins stopped.

Aayla held Matcha in her arms and gently stroked her fur after giving her a cookie.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I hope that you enjoyed the wonderful performance of our residence hall's gremlin choir. Can we all be calm now, or would you like to hear an encore?"

"No!"

"Absolutely not!"

The crowd erupted with cries of refusal. Those in front warily stared at the green furball in her arms. Aayla turned to Theo.

"What happened?" she whispered.

"A female resident suddenly lost her clothing in front of the Men's Wing."

"Seriously? Was it on purpose or involuntary?"

"I don't know. They've already run back up to their room."

"Which student was it?"

"None of your business."

"Our most prominent troublemaker."

Marc and Theo both answered at the same time. Marc gnashed his teeth and glared at Theo, who just shrugged off the glare. Aayla's eyes lit up in recognition. He must be referring to Vanessa Landrienne. She gave her bag of cookies to Matcha, who scampered off with it. The other gremlins swiftly pursued her.

Aayla turned back towards the crowd.

"All right, there's nothing to see here people! Go back to studying, dining or whatever else you were doing. The Women's Wing is going to be closed for a bit."

The crowd refused to budge, so Aayla increased the stakes.

"Well, I suppose if you all are interested, I could arrange for an encore of the gremlin choir."

The crowd evaporated in an instant. Aayla nodded her head. That's what she thought. Footsteps came down the stairs behind her.

"What's going on?"

"Corrine? Go back upstairs and look after the lady."

"It's fine. She's settled down with Enid and the girls. What happened? Lady Vanessa was so upset."

Marc's face changed into a variety of colors. Red, green, blue and white. If the incident wasn't so shocking, the changes would be very impressive. Before Marc could speak, Renee did.

"Ms. Landrienne tried to force her way into the Men's Wing when her skirt suddenly disappeared. Well, disintegrated would be the correct term."

Corrine gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. She quickly lowered her gaze as the corners of her mouth threatened to turn into a wicked, joyous grin.

"Oh! My goodness. How awful."

Aayla frowned. "If that's the case, then she probably triggered a defensive measure."

"What do you mean by 'defensive measure'? How could the residence hall's artifact spirit deliberately harm a student?"

The stairs shuddered in warning. Aayla gently patted the railing.

"This student's just a bit upset Dormi. Please don't mind him. Anyways, I don't think that we've had the pleasure of meeting before. I'm Aayla Glowery, the head resident advisor. May I have your names?"

"Yes. Marc Lupton. My family is a vassal of the Landrienne family. This young lady is Corrine Bilton, one of The Butterflies."

Corrine delicately curtsied in greeting.

"To answer your question, Mr. Lupton, Dormi prefers to tie troublemakers up. She's done that before several times, including once with Ms. Landrienne if I remember correctly. Dormi's been around for a while, and the professors haven't regained enough control to do maintenance. Instead of tying her up with her skirt, the spell probably misfunctioned and destroyed it instead."

Theo and Renee nodded in agreement. They also agreed with this conclusion. Dormi had a personality, but usually stayed out of resident affairs. Marc clenched his fists.

"Still, this incident will hurt Lady Landrienne's reputation."

"Which is why we will keep quiet about this and report to Nurse Rousse and the university," Theo cut into the conversation. "They will better be able to handle this accident and Ms. Landrienne's misbehavior that caused it."

Theo and Marc continued to glare at each other.

"That's enough! Let's get this accident resolved as quickly as possible. Committee Chair Glowery, please go get Nurse Rousse. Ms. Bilton, you go take care of Ms. Landrienne. Advisor Lawlor and Mr. Lupton you two stay with me to keep this area blocked off until Nurse Rousse has a chance to talk with Ms. Landrienne."

"Have the remains of the skirt been cleaned up yet?"

The stairs shuddered in response to Aayla's question. Dormi had already cleaned up the pieces. Aayla patted the railing again.

"Thanks, Dormi. Please don't throw it away and lock it in the office for later."

The next day everyone on campus knew about Vanessa's sudden loss of clothing while she tried to enter the Men's Wing. It was a favorite topic of interest among the students, especially the noble young ladies. Many had dubbed it the 'Spontaneous Stripping'.

Marc tried his best to contain the damage, but too many rival nobles had seen the incident. After the first exams, students needed an outlet. That outlet became gossiping about Vanessa. The rumors twisted to claim that 'Vanessa Landrienne publicly stripped to gain the attention of the male residents in the Nafriton Residence Hall'. Once again, the conservatives were in trouble.

**********

The clocked slowly ticked by on the wall of Professor Foryl's office. Marc and Corrine stood in front of the ornate desk with their heads bowed. Professor Foryl stared and the report in his hand.

"So, Vanessa tried to storm her way into the Men's Wing to see the Forolan heir and the defensive mechanism to keep her out most likely malfunctioned due to age?"

"Yes, professor. The surveillance functionality of the artifact spirit still works just fine. There were also several witnesses. The headmaster personally investigated."

Professor Foryl crumpled the pages in his hand. The headmaster's involvement explains why Daren wasn't mentioned. The professor was deeply conflicted. He was furious with Vanessa causing more trouble and alerting the Forolan family. However, the conservatives had taken a large blow to their reputation.

"How is Vanessa doing, Ms. Bilton?"

"She's currently holed up in her room. This incident has been a large shock to her."

The pair of students kept their breathing as quiet as possible as the professor sank back into his thoughts. The True Order needed to gain a firm foothold in the university as fast as possible. He needed to remove the eyes and ears of the Forolan family in the school so that Daren could be recruited successfully and silently.

Coincidentally, a good opportunity had recently appeared to temporarily remove the most difficult opponents from the university grounds. Daren's greatest bodyguard would no longer be on campus. Professor Foryl began to smile.

"Mr. Lupton, get ready to increase the pressure on Mr. Vear. I want him as far away from Mr. Forolan as possible. You will soon have an excellent opportunity to regain your rightful position."