Crowley closed the book he had looked in, "Nothing, as I thought."
The two had been in the library for what seemed like hours. The teen girl closed her own book he had picked up. She did not recognize the geography or mythology of this place. It was like she was in a different world altogether. Her fuzzy memories caused her to draw a blank on where her home could be.
"Your homeland is not listed on any map in any Era of history. Are you sure you came from such a place, are you not lying to me?," the headmage asked, "Because the only explanation is that you are from an entirely different planet, or even more, dimension!"
"One thing that has been drilled into my family is to be honest.," Hoshi replied.
"Please, show me everything you brought here with you.," the man said.
"The only thing I have is this mask. All I know is that it was given to me by an important family member.," the platinum blonde teen replied, "I think I remember I dropped my purse when the carriage got me."
The headmage looked disappointed.
"This a tricky situation. I cannot have someone who has no magic talent in this academy, let alone a young woman. An all boys academy is not the safest place for you, especially one that is isolated on an island.," the dark green haired man, "Yet I also cannot expel you, a minor without any money or legal guardian to care for you. Oh! But I am so generous!"

'I don't have a good feeling about this.,' Hoshi thought to herself.
"Ah, there is a vacant Building on campus that you can stay in. It was one of the original dorms a long time ago,", Crowley explained, "Cleaned up, it would be habitable. I give you permission to live there out of the kindness of my heart. I shall research ways to send you home during your stay."
The man seemed to be happy with himself, more out of pride in this appearance than actual care. Hoshi wondered if he was really good hearted or if he was part of the ones who kidnapped her and stole most of her memories.
"Come, come. I'll show you to your dorm, it has personality to spare!," Crowley smiled under his mask.
He led the young woman into the cold night, leading her to a building that certainly did have personality. The personality of an elderly person about to keel over.
"This may be a little too much personality.," the masked girl commented and looked to her fellow masked person.
"Yes, isn't it wonderful? Go on, go inside. There we go.," the corvid masked man said and picked her in.
The lounge was a mess. Cobwebs, dust and furniture were strewn everywhere. There was certainly a lot of work to be done.
"Looks like it needs some Tlc as well, Crowley.," the young woman spoke.
"At least it will keep the elements at bay. I'll return to research, you can try to find a way to busy yourself in the time being.," the masked man said, "But don't wander the campus! It's too dangerous for you! Bye~"
The crow like man left the teen girl alone. She looked around, noting that the area was like a snowscape, only having dust instead of snow. There was not clean place to sit. She was alone. With a heavy sigh, she took off her mask, letting it rest on the side of her head instead of her face. The cool air on her face was a little foreign to her. How long had she been wearing masks again? She did not recall. But it felt like she needed to keep it on.

'It's my curse. I cannot let anyone see my face, my eyes especially.," the teen girl thought and heard a patter on the roof. She walked to the window to look outside. It had begun to rain. She heard a voice screaming about the rain a familiar voice.
"What?!," the girl jumped back as a grey furry mass jumped at her.
"Your face is priceless!," Grim laughed, "Like someone got hit with a water ballon! You fools didn't take into account how clever I am! I snuck right back in!"
This little beast was certainly dead set on getting into this school. The furry animal stopped and looked at the girl.
"Wait a second, your face is different than before.," the beast said, "Ack! You're a girl!"
Hoshi quickly put her mask back on and hid her chest. She had taken off the robe that made her look more like a boy, leaving only the form hugging shirt beneath it on.
"S-so what? You keep on trying to get in! What's so important about getting into this school?!", The young woman asked.
"It's not obvious? I'm a prodigy that's destined to become one of the greatest mages in the world!," the animal explained, "So I kept waiting and waiting for that carriage to come for me....but it never came. Stupid mirror doesn't know talent when it is standing before it!"
Hoshi shook a pillow of dust and Sat down. The feeling of the adrenaline wearing off was grinding away her energy. Grim hopped up onto the other pillow she shook out for him and patted.
"I came here myself to show that I can! Humans don't understand what a loss it is to not let me in!," the fuzzy creature boasted. He puffed up his chest. The teen girl saw the pitchfork like growth on his tail and wondered if it was normal for his kind. Water dripped onto them from cracks in the ceiling.

"Great. Something that will need to be repaired since we're staying here.," the masked girl grumbled.
"We? What do you mean we?," Grim asked, "What are you planning, Yuu?!"
"You're not leaving campus, right? Then you don't really have any other options than to stay here with me.", Hoshi, "To be honest, I'm stuck here as well."
She stopped and looked at the small beast, she wondered how he withstood her cursed appearance. Did he not care how horrendously unattractive she was?
"Woah, those holes are really leaking. Why don't you use your magic to fix them?," the little cat asked, "Oh wait, that's right! You don't have magic, you're completely useless!"
The beast laughed in a mocking tone.
"Good idea, why don't you fix them, oh great prodigy?," Hoshi shot back.
"Haha, you're not the boss of me!," Grim replied, "If you had tuna, that'd be another story. I'm not free labor."
Hoshi got up, "I'm going to get some buckets. The leaks are getting worse."
She walked up the stairs, hoping to find something to use. The hallways were old and the boards were creaky. It was dark. Only ambient light from Grim's ear flames gave some illumination. A sharp noise made her jump.
"Grim, did you hear that?," the young woman asked and turned to look at her companion.
Only when she turned, she was face to face with a pale and bony old man. He seemed to be dead and translucent. The face of the old man creeped into a grin. The man began to laugh.
"Fwee hee hee hee, visitors! We haven't had them in a long time!," the gaunt man floated back, having no legs.
Another pale being, one more plump floated behind the girl. A third, much smaller than either was next.
"I'm so excited to meet new friends!," the chubby one said and burst into uproarious laughter.

"Ghosts?!," Hoshi exclaimed and got Grim's attention.
"Don't be so loud over there-" the cat began and stopped, "GHOSTS!"
"The people who used to stay here left.," the smallest ghost chuckled.
"We only want new ghostie friends to join us and play! Whaddya say, Buddy?... Girlie?," the tubby ghost laughed.
"No thank you!," the teen girl said and stepped back, "Grim!"
"I'm a prodigy! I'm not afraid of some stupid ghosts!," the feline said and blew fire at the ghastly spectres that were reaching out to the pair. He missed, but the ghosts seemed to be having fun tormenting the two. Grim shot out another fireball which missed again from him closing his eyes.
"Grim! You're going to burn this dorm down like that! Open your eyes!," Hoshi shouted and ran to her companion.
She barely missed being caught by the gaunt ghost.
"Shut up! I don't need pointers from a magic less human!," the feline like creature snapped back.
The young woman thought a second, "If the headmage let you stay, would you listen to me?"
"Hmph! I'm a master mage! But I can't seem to hit them.," Grim huffed.
The ghosts appeared again. One pulled on Hoshi's mask string, almost making it slip off her face. The chubby one grabbed at the grey feline like beast.
"Grim! I'll tell you where to shoot.," the girl said as she ducked from the small one coming at her, "Maybe we can get some tuna out of it as well."
The feline looked back, "Fine! You keep a lookout then tell me which way they are!"

Hoshi stood and fixed her mask, the clear stones that were set in the eyes did not impede her vision. Her eyes looked around for signs of the ghosts. In the darkness, she saw a glimmer.
"There! To the left!," the platinum blonde teen shouted.
Grim followed directions and spat a fireball that hit a ghost dead center, "Ow! It burns!"
"Yes! I got him, keep giving me instructions! We'll clear them out in no time!," the fiery eared beast cheered.
She and Grim ran to a clear opening that would not be burned as easily. The ghosts were in hot pursuit.
"Human, tell me where they're coming from.," the small beast spoke in a whisper.
"Ooh, you two are talking quietly, let in on it!," the chubby ghost said after appearing behind them.
The two clung to each other and got out of the ghost's reach. Hoshi let Grim onto her shoulder and held out her arm for him to stand on.
"Straight ahead!," the young woman announced.
Grim took a breath and released a barrage of blue flames at the ghost. It worked! The two kept working together. The masked girl gave directions to Grim and he followed her instructions, driving the ghosts away. The ghosts retreated, shrieking about how they felt it in their very souls. The teen was shaking. They had a few close calls, but were able to do it. She fell to the ground and hugged Grim.
"Ack, human! What's wrong?! Did we win?," the feline like beast asked, "I mean, yeah! Of course we won, I'm the great Grim!"
The feline struggled to get out of her arms, but stopped after a bit. He was also shaking. They sat there in the darkness of the halls, having only each other as comfort for what they had just gone through.

The sharp tapping of shoes on the hardwood floors alerted them to a new guest. Hoshi looked up to see the headmage walking towards them.
"Good evening. I brought you dinner as another gesture of my endless generosity!," the man chimed before seeing Grim in the young woman's arms, "Wait. That's the monster that caused chaos at orientation. What is it doing here?!"
Grim gave him a smirk, "Getting rid of your nasty ghosts! You're welcome."
The headmage cast the glowing yellow dots onto Hoshi, "Yuu, what is the meaning of this?"
"I let him stay since it was raining, but then we went to look for buckets to catch the leaking water.," the young woman explained, "We then ran into the ghosts who were threatening to make us into ghosts as well."
"Oh, I do remember that this dorm had a mischievous ghost problem.," the headmage mused, "In fact. Those ghosts were the reason this dorm was abandoned in the first place. They scared everyone away."
The man looked at the two who were finishing up the dinner, "You two worked together to drive them away?"
"We did not work together, I was promised tuna!," Grim huffed and chewed on his larger portion of the dinner.
"Isn't that tuna in your portion?," the teen girl pointed out.
She smiled a bit under her mask, this was better than eating alone like she used to. Grim grumbled and stuffed the rest into his mouth. He got his face wiped by the teen. He feline like monster grumbled and swatted as her hand.

"Would you two care to demonstrate how you did it?," Crowley asked.
"No. One, we drove them away! Two, I wanted more tuna than this!," Grim fussed.
"I'll play the part of the ghosts. I'll give you tuna as compensation as I am so generous.," the headmage said with a proud voice, "I'll just have to use this transformation potion."
The tall man popped open a glass vial that seemed to appear out of thin air, he took a deep swig and immediately turned into a ghost with a mask. Both Grim and Hoshi were surprised at the sudden transformation.
"Aww. I don't want to team up with her again.," the grey monster groaned but hopped back onto the girl's shoulder.
"Who knows, we might get a chance to enroll and the tuna.," the masked girl whispered to Grim, "come on, please?"
"Fine. I'll do it, but I better be able to stuff myself with tuna after this!," the little monster huffed as Hoshi jumped to her feet.
It was the same as before, Grim followed her directions to breathe fire at Crowley. The man did not get angry at them for this was part of his test. However, the ghosts came back after seeing the two being tested by the headmage. The three mischievous ghosts decided to join in the fun. After all of the ghosts were defeated, the two were out of breath. Grim more so.
"So?," the grey cat like monster asked.
"It's amazing. I have never in all my years have witnessed someone take command of a monster before.," Crowley said stunned and turned back into his normal appearance, "I must admit, my intuition did say you had some sort of innate talent after seeing you at the fiasco during orientation. Perhaps you have a talent as a beast tamer."

The headmaster started to mumble under his breath, contemplating over everything he had seen. The ghosts from before darted around the halls, chasing each other. The girl took the monster into her arms. Grim did not fuss as much this time, perhaps from exhaustion.
"Umm, excuse me, Crowley. Could Grim stay with me?," Hoshi inquired, "He's the only one besides you I know here. Plus I'm afraid the ghosts may come for us."
"What?! Let a monster stay here?," Crowley echoed.
The masked young woman nodded, "Please."
The dark green haired man sighed, "I guess it cannot be helped. You are a defenseless young woman here."
Grim lit up, "Really?!"
"However! Under no circumstances am I going to admit anyone the dark mirror has not specifically chosen into the school, especially not a monster!," the headmage continued and looked directly to Hoshi, "And you, I cannot a freeloader stay here until you can return to your world."
The grey furred monster drooped his fiery ears, "Of course, I never should get my hopes up."
"Hold on.," the man said and gripped the girl's shoulder, "The dark mirror brought you here, so we have some responsibility for your safety and we'll being. So I will allow you to stay here free of charge."
The masked girl knew there was a catch. She tried to pull away from him. His grip was strong on her.
"However, you have to take care of food and other essentials.," the smile from him made the young woman's heart drop, his chuckling did not help, "However, since you have no money to your name... You will have to do something in return."
"What exactly are you wanting to make me do?," Hoshi asked and held Grim closer to her.

"Oh don't worry, I wouldn't have you do anything that would put you in danger. In fact, I want you to do a few maintenance and odd jobs around campus. So, will you two become our handyman team? That will give you special access to school grounds.," the man explained, "I will also allow you to use the library for research to return home and for learning purposes. Oh, only when you finish work of course!"
"What kind of garbage proposal is that? I wanna put on a uniform and be a student, not clean up after others!," Grim complained.
"Oh? I can just have you thrown out again if you are not satisfied with that.," Crowley shot back.
"We'll do it.," the monster replied.
"I guess we have no choice.," Hoshi sighed.
"I'm counting on both of you to work hard as Night Raven College's Janitorial staff!," Crowley smiled widely and left.

"Aw man. This stinks.," Grim groaned.
"Well, at least we have a place to stay and food to eat.," the young woman smiled from under her mask, "We should find a room as well. We have work to do in the morning."
The monster muttered as the two looked at the rooms. They found one room that did not much damage or drafts. It would be perfect.
"This one will do. I'll clean the sheets.," the girl said and got to work.
Grim hopped put of her hold and helped to clean the sheets up. After they cleaned and put the fresh sheets on the bed, the two both got in the bed. Hoshi took her mask off and put her mask on the little nightstand next to the bed. She lay her head on the pillow. She felt a small body against hers. Grim had pressed up against her. Neither talked as they fell asleep. They needed rest for the next day.