Chapter 7: Grim and Bear It

Arianna wound up teleporting all three members of Team Bastion to the student clinic. It was their second time there within the span of a few hours. With Yuna on the other side of the curtain, however, she was able to get more of a sense of her surroundings.

Some stuff was fairly routine. Metal dividers and plain white curtains gave people their privacy. Small, circular analogue clocks broadcasted the time. A few chairs — some padded, others plastic — offered places to sit. Two paintings hung on empty spaces of the tan walls. One had a bowl of fruit, the other rolling, green fields under clear blue skies. It reminded Yuna of the hills to the north of the Academy. This was confirmed when Yuna squinted to see a plaque under the painting reveal that, yes, it was a gift drawn by a former student.

Beyond that, however, things got murkier. There were metal poles that hung bags with fluids. Made sense. From what she’d learned, keeping someone hydrated was important when they were injured. And if drinking fluids was too painful, they needed other ways to manage.

But that was the only piece of equipment she truly recognized. There were locked white cabinets on wheels. Yuna saw an audino nurse produce a vile with some sort of clear liquid. The cabinet had dozens of other bottles filled with different-colored fluids, bags of powder, and seed-like objects. Her guess was medicine, but what was wrong with conventional berries and healing techniques?

And some of the things Dr. Rafique used to examine Noctum left Yuna completely clueless. First there was some sort of circular sleeve the nurse put on Noctum’s arm. She squeezed a little bulb and the cuff puffed up like an angry wigglytuff. There was a tiny hammer that the zarude hit Noctum’s elbows and knees with, then stroked the soles of his feet. The charizard seemed surprised that his toes reflexively curled against his soles.

“Um, is all of this stuff normal?” Yuna asked, head tilted. While Noctum was in a bed, Baraz sat on a chair behind Yuna. He’d already been cleared.

“Just part of the physical exam.” Rafique leaned over Noctum. “Grab my fingers and squeeze as hard as you can.”

“Oh.” Yuna watched Noctum squeeze. Rafique straightened up, smiling.

“It looks like one Heal Pulse was enough to fix him up,” he announced. “From the looks of things, he threw his back out. So, we did give him a small bit of analgesic for pain control.”

“Anal… jee…” Yuna bit her lower lip. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what that means.”

“It’s medicine that helps with pain,” Arianna interjected.

Yeah, but how does it help? Yuna wondered. One look at Arianna’s bored expression told her to keep that thought to herself.

“So, he’s going to be okay?” Arianna confirmed, to which Rafique nodded. “Good.” She nudged up her glasses. “In that case, I must be going. The Chancellor is still getting briefed on the situation.”

Yuna frowned. “What about us? Isn’t there anything else you can tell us?” She looked at Baraz. Of course she believed what the dracozolt told her, but it left her head spinning. “How does the head chef get turned into some kind of Phantom-like thing?”

Arianna pressed her glasses firmly against her face. “I wish I had answers for you, Princess. But I do not.”

“Is the snorlax going to be okay?” Baraz’s upper half quivered as he struggled to get his large hindquarters up from his plastic chair. “I know he attacked us, but it wasn’t his fault.”

“He was taken to an outside hospital, but I was told he’s stable.” Arianna looked down at her notebook. “Commander Seifer intends to interrogate him. Otherwise, I have nothing else to report. And standing here is only delaying my ability to get more information.” She did a hasty about-face.

“Goodbye.” The gardevoir flickered blue, then vanished in a flash of light. Behind Yuna, Rafique sighed.

“I really wish she’d go out into the clinic lobby before she did that.” Rafique stuck his hands into his white coat’s pockets and made his way over to the other side of the room, where Chiaki was conversing with a garchomp bracing her dorsal fin against the wall. Yuna guessed it was the helper Arianna mentioned. But that just begged the question of what Chiaki was doing with a dragon. Didn’t this kingdom hate them? Seemed awfully boneheaded to bring one with him to this school.

“Yeah, great, cool. So, what now?”

Yuna looked to her left, where Nikki sat cross-legged on the floor, staring down at her lap. Vegna loomed behind her, while Talonflame was perched on the same chair Nikki sat in earlier. He mimicked Vegna’s appearance, puffing out his feathers to look intimidating.

“As I said, your team will receive detention. Beginning tomorrow,” Vegna declared.

“Seriously? On the first day of classes?” Nikki’s mohawk frazzled.

“If you refuse, I can always extend it by an extra two days.” Vegna’s eye smoldered with a purple tint. It cast a glow on the floor tiles surrounding Nikki. Chiaki stopped his conversation to give the toxtricity a death glare.

“Fine. Whatever.” Nikki crossed her arms and scowled. “Anything else?”

“I’m given to understand you will have some remedial lessons,” Vegna replied.

Nikki rolled her eyes. “Lemme guess. Professor Monokuma?”

“No. Ministers Xiao and Lin.”

Chiaki raised a brow at that. “They’re the fighting-type Crowne Ministers. What would they want with us?”

“Do I look like a mind-reader, boy?” Vegna pointed an index finger at Chiaki, who abruptly stiffened.

“No, sir.”

“Then ask the Ministers yourself when you see them.” Vegna stuck out his right arm. Talonflame hopped onto it, then fluttered up to the skull gauntlet on Vegna’s right shoulder. The dusknoir floated toward the exit.

“Wait, that’s it? You’re just leaving out of the blue?” Yuna asked. She regretted opening her mouth when Vegna turned his piercing glare toward her.

“I am. Thanks to this fiasco, the two trespassers I was interrogating escaped.” Vegna shook his head. “I believe you’re already familiar with them.” He chuckled to himself. “Seems there’s been a lot of trouble around here since you showed up. Perhaps I’m not the only one bearing a curse.”

Yuna wanted to press Vegna’s last statement, but the dusknoir threw the metal door open and floated off. Cursed? In what way? She looked to Nikki. “Hey, um, do you have any idea what Professor Vegna meant?”

“By what?”

“Y’know, the whole curse thing?” Yuna frowned. “I didn’t think this kingdom was big on superstitions and stuff.”

Smirking, Nikki pulled herself back onto the chair. “Well, you know what they say about when you assume…”

“Just give her a straight answer,” Chiaki called, shaking his head disapprovingly.

Nikki swung herself right so she was sitting sideways with her legs dangling over the armrest. “And what if I don’t want to give a straight answer? Maybe I don’t swing that way?”

Chiaki pulled his cap over his face, muttering obscenities under his breath. Yuna looked between the two. “Um, I’m sorry, but now I’m just more confused. We’re not at a park or a playground.”

Nikki burst into howling laughter. She kicked the air with her legs. Yuna frowned. “I’m serious. Stop laughing at me!”

“It’s slang people use when talking about who they’re attracted to,” Chiaki said, cap pressed firmly against his face.

“Oh.” Yuna blinked. That was it? “You need slang for that?”

“Yeah.” Nikki finally calmed down. “Why? You guys don’t have terms for it?”

“Uh, no.”

“Love is love. Plain and simple,” Baraz added, bobbing his tiny head. He’d finally succeeded in freeing himself from the chair’s vicious plastic grasp.

“And we’re going off on a tangent, anyway,” Yuna continued. “What’s this about Vegna and curses?”

Chiaki lifted his cap back up. “It all has to do with his title.”

His title? “You mean the Grim Reaper?” Yuna clarified. Chiaki nodded. “Okay. Why do people call him that, then?” The dreepy remembered Chiaki mentioning the Ministry of Justice. But besides that, and him being a ghost-type, nothing sprang to mind.

We do have that in common, though, she conceded.

“It’s about his job.” Chiaki crossed his arms against his black shirt. He bowed his head in thought. “As an inquisitor, Vegna prosecutes criminals for the government. From the records I’ve seen, he tends to focus on high-profile cases.”

Yuna tapped her chin. “Like what?”

“Murders.” Nikki put on a scary face and waved her arms around when Yuna paled.

“I see.” Yuna gulped. “Then I guess… it’s because he’s, like, ruthless. Or really good at his job.” He’d likely have to be to land a gig teaching at this school, right?

To her surprise, Chiaki frowned and rested his head on his claws. “I wouldn’t necessarily say that. By all accounts… he’s pretty average.”

What? Yuna knew she was missing something. “Then why—”

Chiaki’s expression darkened. “Vegna’s called the Grim Reaper because the defendants that have been found innocent in cases he’s prosecuted have all gone on to die in freak accidents not long after their trials.”

Yuna took a moment to process Chiaki’s claim. When she did, her tail shriveled up. Her mind quickly jumped to a seemingly-obvious conclusion: “Then… are you saying Vegna killed them?”

“Nobody knows,” Chiaki replied. He looked up at one of the big light tubes on the ceiling. “The news always said Vegna had alibis when the accidents happened.”

“So, the superstitious types spread a rumor that Vegna was cursed or some shit.” Nikki dug away at her right ear frill with her index finger. She produced some wax that she balled up and flicked onto one of the nearby curtains. “And, thus, the Grim Reaper came to be.”

Chiaki nodded. “‘Those who set foot in the Reaper’s court will soon find themselves in the Twilight Realm.’ Or so the rumor goes.”

Yuna’s jaw hung open. “And the school was okay hiring someone like that?” How could nobody bat an eye?

“Her Eminence expressed her support for Vegna… and that sealed it,” Chiaki said.

“Of course, that doesn’t stop the rumor mills from turning. Or the tabloids from printing.” Nikki was back to digging through her ear frill. Her other hand traced across a scratch on the chair’s fabric. “Though, unless I’m mistaken, I don’t think Vegna’s tried a case since I first started at this school.”

Maybe he retired, then? If Yuna had to put up with such serious rumors, she’d probably quit from all the stress. But then… was that a good quality for Aeon’s future ruler? She’d have to face rumors of her own someday. Maybe it was something worth talking with Vegna about, if she could ever get past that intimidating demeanor of his. He certainly acted like someone dubbed the Grim Reaper.

“Well, if we’re done with that, then I got a question for Twiggy.” Nikki pointed her wax-coated finger at Garchomp. “Who’s the broad you were having a pow-wow with earlier?”

Chiaki tipped the bridge of his cap down. “It’s none of your business.”

Garchomp waved Dr. Rafique off and stepped forward, bladed arms at her sides. “I’m Garchomp Valkyrie, Young Master Chiaki’s bodyguard.”

Nikki could barely hold back her laughter. “Young Master? Seriously? I didn’t think you had that big a silver spoon, Twiggy.”

“Step off it, Nikki,” Chiaki growled.

Something about Valkyrie didn’t add up for Yuna. “Wait. She’s your bodyguard? But I’ve never seen her around you.”

Valkyrie’s eyes narrowed. “Because a good bodyguard knows how not to be seen or heard when they deem it necessary. Which is more than I can say for you and the old geezer.” She pointed an elbow at Baraz.

“Err, well, I’m not so much a bodyguard as a helper.” Baraz laughed nervously. Yuna concluded Valkyrie shared Chiaki’s icy demeanor. Because she really needed another person like that around her.

“I’m still confused. Why do you even need a bodyguard, Chiaki?” the dreepy asked. He’d said something about taking over a family business. That couldn’t warrant so much personal protection.

Valkyrie opened her mouth to respond, but Chiaki held up an arm. “Val, don’t.”

The garchomp shook her head. “Your teammates should know.” She turned to Yuna. “Young Master Chiaki is due to inherit control of the Radiant Beacon from his father, Nidoking Sakaki.”

There were immediate reactions around Yuna. Baraz tilted his head. Chiaki’s scowl deepened and he hid his expression behind his cap. Nikki yawned, though Yuna assumed it was fake and overemphasized given what the toxtricity said next.

“That’s it? Pfbt. Do people even read the Beacon?“

“Yes.” Chiaki lifted his cap to glare at Nikki. “It’s an important newspaper. Unlike practically every other publication, it’s not under the thumb of Polaris or some rival company.”

“Forget that.” Nikki waved Chiaki off with her right hand. “I’m talking newspapers in general. You can just watch the news on Polaris Vision. Why bother reading a boring-ass paper?” She jerked her head toward the door. “The papers out in the waiting room looked untouched.”

Valkyrie snorted dragonfire. “Some people still value old-fashioned print.”

“Yeah. They’re all crotchety geezers.” Nikki smirked. “And I still don’t see why all this means you need a bodyguard.”

Chiaki pivoted away and jammed his claws into his pockets. “Since Father publishes things that can be, shall we say, less than flattering, he’s made himself some enemies. Val’s here because he’s paranoid someone might try to use me to blackmail him.”

“Oh, lovely. Just what the country needs. A paranoid purugly newspaper chief.” Nikki reclined her head against the other arm of the chair… only to meet rough, scaly fins instead of soft fabric. “Bwuh?” She looked up at Valkyrie’s upside-down face and abruptly sat up. “What gives?”

“I won’t tolerate such slander against Young Master’s father,” Valkyrie growled. “Keep your barbed tongue in your mouth or I’ll wash it with soap.”

Nikki grimaced. “Okay, okay. Sheesh.” She settled for resting her head against her left hand and drumming her right fingers against the chair.

Yuna heard the exchange, but mentally she was still about five steps behind her teammates. So many things about the conversation confused her. Chiaki’s father… she swore she’d heard that name before. Maybe she had seen it printed on a newspaper? That’s what they did with editors-in-chief, right? At least, that was the case back home.

But she had no idea what to make of the whole “Polaris Vision” thing. “Excuse me?” The dreepy raised a hand. “Um, not to interject, but how exactly does someone watch the news?”

Blank stares met her. Yuna regretted opening her mouth. “Seriously? You guys don’t have a version of Polaris Vision?” Nikki looked at Yuna with a mixture of surprise and… pity? Yuna was hardly expecting that. When she shook her head, Nikki clutched the lapels of her leather jacket. “Dang. I feel for ya, Princess. That’s rough. No Polaris Vision. No fantasies to escape to. Must be boring.”

That just left Yuna more confused. “Err, what’s Polaris Vision?”

Chiaki pointed to the ceiling. Yuna followed his gaze and found a black metal box hanging from the ceiling by a bunch of the wire thingies she’d seen at the banquet last night. “It’s a broadcast device,” the grovyle said. “It uses ether to display videotaped programs.”

Yuna frowned. She’d understood none of that, though she remembered ether having been brought up by that terrifying masked creature. “Broadcast? Videotape? Ether?”

Surprised, Chiaki took a step back. He glanced at Nikki, who shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I’d explain it the exact same way.”

“If I may?” Baraz waved a tiny arm. “Since you’re going to be stuck in detention, why not use that time to help teach Princess Yuna about some of the things that are unique to the Kingdom of Radiance? After all, it might help her do better in the Crowne Cup.”

Yuna wasn’t sure how the two were connected, but she still thought it a good idea and nodded her approval. Nikki faked another yawn. “Fine, whatever. Not like I’ll be doing any homework there, anyway.”

Chiaki huffed and rolled his eyes.

Another downed sleep seed meant another missed alarm for Yuna. Baraz managed to drag her out of bed and had learned enough of the main building’s layout to guide Yuna to her first class on the top floor. The halls were surprisingly empty. Nothing but marble floors flanked by brick walls with occasional wooden doors or floor-to-ceiling windows. The ceiling itself was arch-shaped, with long glass tubes lighting things up.

Perhaps everyone wants to show up early to make good first impressions?

That idea went out the window when Yuna floated into the room and found no sign of any teachers. Instead, there was a dark-purple room that used violet candles for light instead of glass tubes like the hallways. There was only enough light for Yuna to see red tablecloths underneath the candles, a dusty chalkboard, and sixteen wooden desks arranged in a four-by-four pattern in the middle of the room. She concentrated to switch on her night vision, but to her surprise all the squares and blocks pushed against the walls were hidden by red covers. The dreepy failed to see why that was necessary. Heck, why even have a classroom with no windows?

“Took you long enough. I was starting to think you wouldn’t show.”

The snide voice, coupled with the familiar twinkling of a gem-encrusted tiara, meant Yuna was sharing this class with Prince Shimmer. Of course, that should’ve been obvious. This was an advanced law class. Yuna didn’t understand how she scored high enough on the placement test she’d been mailed to wind up in the class in the first place. Still, she was here now. Annoying pontya or not, she had to put her best foot forward.

… figuratively speaking, of course. She’d have feet one day. Probably. Maybe.

“Good morning to you, too,” she mumbled to Shimmer. Yuna floated to the lone empty desk and was surprised to see the seat had been modified with an elevated cushion to accommodate her body type. That couldn’t have been a coincidence. The class must’ve had assigned seats.

Sure enough, there was a small box with her name written in painstaking calligraphy. It was a lot of effort for something that was going to be discarded. The dreepy opened the box using the indicated tabs and pressed her hand against something smooth and metallic. It was a badge. It had a soft bronze glow in the limited light. She switched on her night vision again. The badge was shaped like a shield. It had a sword etched into the middle. A flower wrapped itself around the sword’s hilt.

“Did anyone else get one of these?” Yuna asked, holding the badge up.

“… everyone did.”

“Meep!” Yuna stiffened against her seat cushion. Shadowy globs popped up on the chalkboard in front of her. They coalesced into the shape of a familiar dusknoir. Yuna sighed. She’d seen Vegna’s name on her class schedule, but a small part of her prayed it was an error.

“Please forgive my impudence at entering the classroom via the chalkboard,” Vegna declared. The room’s dim lighting only served to accentuate the gold skull gauntlets on his shoulders. Their ruby eyes cast a menacing red glow around his body. “We shall begin when someone answers the exchange student’s question.”

Yuna flinched. She couldn’t tell if Vegna thought her question stupid or he was still angry over yesterday’s cheating fiasco. Regardless, not even referring to her by name or title meant she’d done nothing to endear herself to him. And that was going to make this a long semester.

Hands, hooves, and forelegs shot into the air. Shimmer ignored them, loudly proclaiming, “It’s a Kingdom of Radiance attorney’s badge.” Grumbles erupted around the ponyta over his calling out.

“Wrong.” Vegna’s eye crackled with shadowy energy. The rubies in his skull gauntlets mirrored the action.

Shimmer slackened against his seat. “What? But you—”

Vegna held up his right hand. “In a court of law, details could be the difference between the sweet taste of freedom and the executioner’s noose tightening around your client’s neck.” He pointed a finger at Shimmer’s horn. “If you’re going to call out, I expect a complete answer.”

Yuna wasn’t sure what the dusknoir meant. And it seemed her classmates were confused as well.

“Attorney’s badges are gold.” Vegna flicked his right index finger toward the ceiling. Shimmer’s badge levitated in front of his face. “Does this look gold to you?”

“No.”

“Good. At least you’re not dumb and blind.” Vegna snapped his fingers. The badge dropped right into the edge of Shimmer’s snout. He squealed. The other students giggled.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Shimmer’s nostrils flared. “Y… you can’t talk to me that way. I’m Crown Prince!”

But Vegna already had his back to Shimmer. “Inside these walls, you are but another student. If you want to talk big, then you’d best be prepared to back it up with a good performance… in court.“

Yuna put that statement together with the badge in her hand. Vegna didn’t seriously mean that—

“What each of you holds is a provisional attorney’s badge.” The dusknoir raised a hand. A piece of chalk levitated next to him and went to work furiously scribbling against the board. “This year we’re going to do things differently. Each of you will be paired up and, as teams, you will be defending clients of my choosing in court. If it’s not your week, you will watch from the gallery and write a critique of your classmates’ performances as if you were a legal correspondent for a news agency.”

Excited chatter erupted around Yuna, but she couldn’t bring herself to share her classmates’ enthusiasm. Because this was asinine. He couldn’t put people’s lives in their hands. Not when they were students. “Um, Professor Vegna? Is that, y’know, really such a good idea?” She put her badge on her desk and fidgeted with her necklace. “That’s a lot of weight to put on our shoulders. What if the clients are, y’know, guilty?”

The chalk stopped moving. Vegna glanced at Yuna. “A priest I prosecuted in court once said this: ‘Those of little faith are the first to go back on their words when proven wrong.'”

Yuna did not know what to make of that. Unless she was mistaken, Radiance didn’t have a national religion. “I don’t follow.”

“I’m well aware that you all lack experience. Which is why the clients will be those accused of smaller crimes,” Vegna elaborated. “Nothing more violent than assault, I assure you.”

That… still seems pretty violent. Back home, assault was serious charge.

“Likewise, the inquisitors will be novices themselves… relatively speaking.” Vegna lowered the chalk and turned around. “Now then, these are the pairs. Our royal couple shall take the first case… next week.”

“What?!” Yuna couldn’t stop herself from blurting that out. Shimmer reacted the exact same way, but he was more focused on Yuna than the date.

“You made a mistake, Professor.” Shimmer’s cheeks puffed up. “Yesterday, you told me—”

“Circumstances have changed. You’re working with the exchange student.”

Shimmer’s tiara went askew. He looked at Yuna like she was a piece of questionable meat. “But we had a deal,” he whispered.

Vegna’s smoldering, shadowy fist slammed against the chalkboard. Erasers and chalk fell to the ground below him. “Class, please forgive my striking of the chalkboard in such a manner.”

Not even the twins sound this unapologetic. Perhaps Vegna moonlit as some sort of theater actor? Regardless, it didn’t matter. She expected Shimmer to brush him aside. But talk of deals made her ectoplasm quiver. So much for no special treatment.

Great, now her head was hurting, too. Off to a wonderful first day of classes.

“These pairs are not going to be adjusted no matter how much you whine, boy,” Vegna said, pointing to Shimmer’s horn once again. “Besides, it’s only proper you and the exchange student learn to cooperate. After all, you will both have to do a lot of that in the future.”

Yuna’s tail shriveled. Leave it to the guy they call the Grim Reaper to make a perfectly legitimate reason sound so… depressing.

“Is our defendant at least the same?” Shimmer asked, focused firmly on his desk.

“Yes. You’re still defending Slurpuff Benedict. And this will be the assigned inquisitor’s first trial.”

Oh, so Shimmer already knew the defendant. Lovely. Wonderful. Yuna failed to see how that would help her be ready to stand in court so soon.

“Exchange student.”

Yuna stiffened. “Y-Yes?”

“I can see it written on your face.” Vegna crossed his arms. “You wonder how you can possibly be ready to stand in court in a week’s time.”

“Uhh…” Dang, he had Yuna read like yesterday’s newspaper. “Well, yeah. Just because I did okay on that placement exam doesn’t mean I’m ready to be in a trial.”

“Then you would do well to use the next week to work with Shimmer and learn how we run trials in the Kingdom of Radiance.” Vegna pointed at both students. Out of the corner of her eye, Yuna saw Shimmer scowling. What was his problem? She’d done nothing to him, so why was he acting like he was being punished?

“To help speed the process along, I’ll give you all your textbooks.” Vegna raised his right arm and snapped his fingers. “You are welcome to bring this to court with you.”

Fluttering wings sounded from outside the door. Talonflame flew in, clutching a small pile of books while visibly struggling to keep his altitude. Behind him, a corviknight carried an even larger stack. Yuna worried the bigger bird would crush the books in his talons. And his feathers seemed… darker than the corviknight back home. In an unhealthy way, unlike Noctum’s black scales.

“Heya, V. Where d’ya want ’em?” Corviknight asked, his voice disturbingly cheerful and nasally for such a large, imposing bird. Yuna had thought he might be another feral, but she was clearly wrong. And to address Vegna so casually without triggering any reaction… were these two friends or something? Did Vegna even have friends?

… maybe he was the type to strike up odd friendships with the custodial staff or something.

“On my desk, please.” Vegna gestured to the cloth-covered cube closest to the chalkboard. Talonflame and Corviknight dropped the books off, then flew out of the room. With a wave of his hands, Vegna distributed a book to each student. One look at the brown, dusty cover told Yuna she’d need Baraz or Noctum to carry it.

“Now then, let us begin at the first chapter.” The dusknoir levitated a chalk piece beside him and floated to a free spot on the chalkboard. Sighing, Yuna pushed the book open.