The Book Was a Lie, and So Was Mercy

"You what?!" shouted Mr. Mister.

"We found this book lying around in the basement of the abandoned building, just like you said," said Rai, handing over the oddly regular-looking book—still covered in leather.

Mr. Mister inspected the book carefully, flipping through the plain paper pages... then licked one. Slowly. Like a sommelier.

"Wow. Didn't know he was that kinda guy. Kinky..." Lia whispered, rolling her eyes. Niko punched her ribs from behind, signaling her to shut up.

"I see... I thought this was what we've—I mean, I was looking for. But turns out, it's just an old moldy book." Mr. Mister spat on the floor.

"Alright, the book's yours. Do with it as you please. But—this means you still need to do something to fix your grades if you want to stay enrolled."

Still wiping his tongue with a rag, one stubborn speck of mold clinging to it, he gagged slightly.

"What would that be, Mr. Mister?" Niko blinked.

"Tomorrow, you'll visit the old greenhouse. Document ten anomalous plants each. No duplicates. No excuses." Mr. Mister emphasized each word.

"You see, just this week alone we've replaced the greenhouse gardener three times. Each one evacuated... in a body bag." He slurped his coffee.

"Body bag?" Rai raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. You put a dead person in it, which means they're healthier than ever... in the afterlife." Mr. Mister giggled.

"You're dismissed."

The trio exited the teacher's lounge like regular students who definitely hadn't just bluffed their way through academic death. Rai and Lia patted Niko's back.

"Turns out you're pretty sneaky, huh? I see those glasses aren't just for show," Rai said, smirking.

"Ugh, I don't even know what just happened," Bell muttered from Lia's bag.

"But man, that Mr. Mister gives off serious 'sniffing glue in the janitor's closet' energy. Blech."

* * *

30 minutes earlier…

"I have an idea!" Niko shouted.

Rai and Lia exchanged uncertain glances. They knew the stakes: get caught bluffing, and it was game over. Again.

Niko scanned the abandoned building and made a beeline for the basement. Lia and Rai followed, watching closely.

"Aha!" Niko exclaimed, holding up a thick, dusty encyclopedia.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Lia asked, unimpressed.

"Why should we hand over Bell to Mr. Mister when we can give him this moldy regular book instead? Bell keeps snapping back to Rai anyway—like it's bound to him. So even if we try to give him up, we can't."

"You did? Why would you do that, Master Bell?" Rai asked.

"I didn't. Or maybe... something else is at work. Beyond my sentient comprehension," said Bell, puzzled.

"Wait, so you don't control your own actions? I thought you were some all-powerful grimoire," Lia said.

"Gurl, I can't even decide what I want. You couldn't pick your nail polish this morning either, amirite? Also, don't let boys handle you without consent." Bell sassed.

The boys looked at each other, unimpressed.

"Okay then. It's settled." Niko dusted off the encyclopedia and tucked it under his arm.

Bell curled up quietly inside Lia's bag.

* * *

Fast-forward to present...

Niko woke up in his bed. No fire alarm. No reset. Which meant—it wasn't Monday again.

He met Rai and Lia at the usual dried-up fountain between the dorms and academy... but someone else was already there.

The Deek twins.

"Well, well, well. You guys came out unscathed from the crazy-people-maker building, huh? Care to explain?" Sokka rubbed his hands together.

"Yeah. Why aren't you broken like our cousin?" Likka folded her arms, unimpressed.

"Like I said—Niko over there found the magical encyclopedia or something and handed it over to Mr. Mister. But now we've been sent to the old greenhouse." Rai pointed at Niko. Lia, noticeably ditching her goth-glam for plain goth, did her best to blend into the background.

Likka waved Niko over with an annoyingly smug look.

"Heya, good-looking. Mind explaining what Rai-boy meant by 'magical encyclopedia'?" she asked with a slow smirk.

Sokka squinted at Niko, sizing him up.

"You dig him, twin?" he asked, voice teasing.

"Not really. But I dig what's inside his brain..." Likka slurped.

"Oooookay. Time to go to the teacher's office now. We'll talk later!" Rai said quickly, guiding the team away from the Deeks.

Sokka folded his arms. Likka waved flirtatiously as Niko retreated.

"You're a dead man..." Rai snickered.

"What did I do..." Niko mumbled.

"Hey, at least the baddest b— in the academy flirted with you, hotshot. You should be honored." Lia tried not to laugh.

* * *