Poisoning

***** Trigger Warning: Description of poising *****

The next few days passed by quickly. Things just kept going wrong for the entire competition. The gremlins adored swimming in whatever large drink dispensers that they could find. Whenever Aayla switched to setting out individual glasses, they just knocked them all of.

She was beyond the limit of her patience. If they only ruined the drinks, Aayla could handle that. Then they started stealing the competitors' water bottles and flipping tables while people were eating. Those little monsters were tiny! Aayla didn't know how they managed to flip over something that heavy with people watching.

Aayla suspected that they just didn't like having all these strange people in the residence hall. Strangely, Dormi was very quiet about these incidents. She went to Nurse Rouse to find some way to stop the gremlins' chaos, but the medical officer didn't do anything aside from talk with Dormi.

After talking with Nurse Rouse again, Aayla felt like she was going to lose her mind. No one seemed to care about the gremlins. Theo and Chris had run off to do who knows what, and both Renee and Junius were busy in other places. Only Daren was left to help, but he was constantly trying to drag her away for magic practice.

Finally, the week was almost over. Dormi replaced the competitors' water bottles and destroyed food. Magic also sped up the cleanup for other gremlin related disasters. The finals were today, so the extra people would leave. Hopefully, the gremlins would return to normal.

Aayla finished moving the tables around in the dining hall. For today only, it was reserved for competitors only instead of the lounge. The competitors would stay here all afternoon. She could better keep an eye on the gremlins if all of their targets were in one place. Let's see how they would cause trouble this time.

The competitors trickled into the dining hall early that morning. Spectators packed the front yard, while special VIPs watched from the lounge. The headmaster, deputy headmasters and President Bennett along with her cabinet arrived. Aayla personally made sure that everything was perfect.

Perhaps some benevolent deity heard her prayers. The gremlins couldn't be found yet Theo and Chris could. The pair of them stayed with the VIPs while Aayla focused her attention on the competitors. The only issue was that Daren disappeared for a bit then stuck with Aayla like glue.

He treated today very seriously though. Despite his calm look, Daren's eyes constantly scanned the competitors. No one dared to cause trouble. Aayla would be grateful if nothing happened.

Occasionally, Aayla would feel a vicious gaze on her. She thought that it was coming from this girl in a simple dress, but it vanished as soon as it appeared. The girl sat quietly in her spot and never moved. Other people seemed to avoid her, especially those that were obviously nobles. Only a single lady sat beside her and willingly talked with her.

Finally, Aayla had enough with the situation and casually pointer her out to Daren.

"Do you think that I should talk with her?"

"Who?"

"That girl by herself in the simple dress. She hasn't moved all day, and I haven't seen her compete before. How did she get into the competitors' section? There might be a problem with that girl. Her presence clearly disturbs the other students. Also, I think she might have glared at me a couple of times."

Daren glanced at the girl before a look of recognition appeared on his face.

"She's definitely not a competitor, but it's better if you stay away."

"Then is she from the Disciplinary Committee?"

"No. Definitely not. Just don't worry about it. Someone else better suited to handle the situation is taking action now."

Several well-dressed young ladies walked towards the girl. Aayla instantly recognized them as The Butterflies, with Corrine Bilton leading them instead of Vanessa Landrienne. The Butterflies chatted with the girl for a bit, before she suddenly pushed Corrine away and fled. Her companion hurriedly followed.

"Ah! Wait, I didn't mean it that way! I'm sorry! I just meant that you both could sit with us if you wanted. You looked so sad with everyone avoiding you."

The other Butterflies held Corrine back as the other girl stormed out of the dining hall. The group found another place to sit in the center of the room. The dining hall soon returned to its boisterous laughter and cheers.

"See? It's been handled. If your worried about her mental state then we can tell Nurse Rouse. Dormi can help her track the girl down for a chat. Let's go check the drinks for gremlins again."

Aayla slowly nodded her head. "Okay."

Just as she busted a gremlin suspiciously meddling with the spigot of a drink dispenser, screams started echoing from the center of the room.

"HELP! HELP! SHE'S NOT BREATHING!"

"SOMEONE GET A DOCTOR!"

Aayla and Daren pushed the gathering crowd away. The Butterflies coughed and spluttered as they collapsed onto their table. Desserts, tea and shattered cups were strewn all over the table. Several students had rushed over to help.

The worst case was Corrine. She was completely still and laid face down on the table. A smashed slice of cake and several sugar packets were crushed underneath her. A shattered teacup and spilled tea covered the floor next to her.

"EVERYONE SIT DOWN AND BACK OFF! Daren, go get Nurse Rouse right now! Dormi, is there something wrong with the air?"

One of the chairs twisted back in forth in a 'No' motion. She turned her attention to Corrine while Daren ran off to find the nurse.

"What happened? Does Ms. Bilton have any medical conditions?"

"We – we don't know! She should be perfectly healthy."

"They were all just drinking their chatting and drinking tea then suddenly collapsed."

Aayla carefully looked over the incredibly pale Corrine. Her throat had swelled to a shocking degree. Her face was turning purple as hacking coughs wheezed from her swollen lips. If she was drinking tea, then was she poisoned? Or is this anaphylactic shock? Poison via a serious allergy?

She reached out to another table and snatched a young lady's pair of gloves. She used a simple cleaning spell on them before pulling them onto her hands.

"I'm borrowing these for a second. EVERYONE SIT DOWN AND DON'T EAT, TOUCH OR DO ANYTHING!"

She carefully lifted Corrine off her chair and placed her on the ground. Aayla rolled Corrine onto her side and firmly held her mouth open. Darn it. She didn't have any epinephrine on hand. Hopefully Nurse Rouse wasn't treating someone else right now.

The doors burst open and the students standing nearby were pushed aside. A calm Nurse Rouse forced her way inside. Her face morphed with fury when she looked at the unconscious girl on the floor and the others struggling to breath.

"MAKE WAY! MOVE IT! Aayla, what happened?"

"I'm not sure. Witnesses said that they were drinking tea and suddenly collapsed. I had Daren get you and had Dormi confirm that nothing was wrong with the air. Ms. Bilton's case is the worst. I moved her to the floor to get her airway aligned."

"Alright. Let's move her to the medical ward first. Let go on three. One… Two… Three!"

As soon as Aayla let go, Corrine became weightless and floated up to waist level. With a gentle push, Corrine floated towards the door.

"Help me keep her head and neck straight. Keep EVERYTHING preserved Dormi! Nobody is allowed to leave!"

Nurse Rouse and Aayla rushed through the lounge towards the medical ward. The already curious VIPs jumped up when they saw Corrine. The headmaster followed the rushing nurse.

"Alicia, what –"

"Poison, NOW GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

Without time to spare the trio entered the medical wing. Aayla was promptly kicked out while another medical officer rushed inside with another victim.

**********

Enid burst into her ladyship's room with a bang.

"My lady! There's trouble! Very big trouble!"

Vanessa sniffed as she looked up from her book. She heard that Daren was going to work today, so she went downstairs to relax while having a good look at her future hubby. With the headmaster and deputy headmasters around, it was too dangerous to try something.

Unfortunately, she saw that vixen flirting with him and hogging all of his attention. Her poor fiancé couldn't even work properly! As if that wasn't enough, other people recognized her and started whispering behind her back. Then that two-faced witch showed up to taunt her.

To avoid the continued humiliation, Vanessa returned to her room. Just as she settled into her favorite romance novel, Enid interrupted her fun.

"What is it, Enid?"

A strange look appeared on Enid's face.

"Corrine Bilton was taken to the medical ward. She appears to be poisoned."

"Oh? How simply awful. I do hope that she isn't making a big fuss out of something small, though. She is far too anxious and weak to be a noble, even a minor one."

Her gritted teeth and joyous expression betrayed her inner glee. That witch was getting what she deserved.

"No, she might actually die this time."

Vanessa's smile began to bloom.

"… My lady, the other Butterflies were poisoned as well. People are pointing towards you as the culprit."

Then it froze.