Vladislav stared up at the ceiling, blanket shoved down to his waist, jaw clenched. Something wasn't sitting right. Students had been disappearing at night—not permanently, sure—but slipping out after curfew, quietly and repeatedly. No explanations. No gossip. Just silence.
And if the silence wasn't suspicious, the weird lights flickering by the gardens definitely were.
He kicked his blanket off with a groan and sat up.
Alright. Enough.
If no one was going to investigate this, then fine—he would.
Still dressed in yesterday's black t-shirt, he slipped into the hallway and made a beeline to Asher's room. His best friend's dormmates were snoring away, but Vlad was a man on a mission.
He poked Asher in the forehead.
"Asher. Wake up."
A groan. "Dude—what? Why is it still dark?"
"Put pants on. We're investigating."
"…Are you dying? Are we dying?"
"Yes. Of curiosity."
Asher blinked slowly, processing. "…I hate you." But he sat up and reached for his shoes anyway.
Convincing Selene? It's not so easy.
She stood in her doorway, robe on, hair tied in a loose bun, expression full of "I should have never befriended these idiots."
"I'm not sneaking around in the cold night like some cheap horror film," she said flatly.
"You love answers, don't you?" Vlad said, tilting his head like that was the ultimate winning argument.
"I love sleep," Selene countered.
"We might die if we don't find out what's going on," Asher added with wide eyes.
Selene stared. Blinked. "…Fine. But if this ends up being another ghost-cat hoax, I'm hexing both of you."
The air was cool, slightly damp, and the moonlight cast long shadows across the trimmed hedges. The academy was asleep—or so they thought.
Three dark silhouettes crept along the edge of the path like secret agents.
Vladislav led the squad with all the seriousness of a military commander.
Asher kept ducking behind things, muttering "We're so gonna get expelled," and Selene, wrapped in a thick scarf, looked one sarcastic comment away from ditching them.
"Shh," Vladislav whispered, suddenly crouching. "There—movement!"
They ducked behind a statue of some long-dead warlock as shapes moved ahead near the east gardens.
"…Is that… Leo?" Selene squinted.
"And Sofia?" Asher blinked, confused.
Sure enough, Leo was dramatically launching handfuls of soil into a wheelbarrow like he was performing in a play. Sofia stood nearby, looking like she'd collapse at any second, eyes drooping, shoulders slumped.
"I swear to the Stars," she yawned, "if you throw one more clump at me, I'm gonna bury you."
Leo laughed. "C'mon! You said teamwork builds character!"
Sofia gave him a half-hearted death glare.
Around them, several other students were helping—the Helpers of the Academy supervising as they fixed benches, reinforced equipment racks, and magically lit up the sports field from afar.
"…They're not being kidnapped," Selene muttered. "They're… fixing the bleachers?"
"They're doing volunteer work," Asher said, suddenly realizing. "For the sports event prep."
"At 11:20 p.m?!" Vladislav hissed.
"It's a special program, idiot," Asher whispered. "We got that memo two weeks ago."
"I deleted it. Thought it was spam."
Then—
"A-HEM."
All three jumped.
Behind them stood none other than Professor Elloren. Strictest professor on staff. Black robes. Sharp glasses. Sharp everything. Her face was set in an expression so severe it could shatter windows.
"Well well well," she said coolly. "Running away from your duties? At this hour?"
Vladislav shot up like a kid caught stealing pastries. "Wait, no—we're not—"
"Unbelievable," Elloren cut him off. "While your peers assist with vital preparations for our upcoming event, you sneak around like misbehaving familiars."
From the garden, Sofia and Leo turned at the noise.
"…Vlad?" Sofia blinked. "Selene??"
Leo tried not to laugh. "Wait—were you guys hiding? From us?"
Vladislav looked at them. Looked at Professor Elloren. Looked at the dirt.
"…Maybe."
Professor Elloren narrowed her eyes. "Congratulations. You three just volunteered yourselves for tonight's shift. I expect you here at exactly 11 p.m. yesterday."
"Ma'am," Asher said weakly, "that's not even a real time."
"You can reflect on that while you rake leaves."
Selene facepalmed.
Asher whimpered.
Vladislav shrugged. "Worth it. At least we get to help them."
The next morning.
"...You all look like zombies," Wei commented, calmly sipping tea.
Vladislav dropped his tray on the table and collapsed onto the bench. "Thanks. We tried."
Selene flopped beside him like a dead body. "Never again."
Asher shuffled over with a glazed expression. "I had a relationship with that rake last night. It haunts me."
Vyacheslav raised a brow. "Okay... what happened to you three?"
Vladislav pointed a spoon at him. "Why didn't you tell me students were sneaking out at night for volunteer work?"
Vyacheslav blinked. "Why didn't you ask me in the first place?"
Vladislav opened his mouth. Paused. "…Okay. That's fair."
Akio, seated at the edge of the table, smirked. "You thought they were getting abducted?"
"We had evidence," Vladislav said dramatically.
Wei rolled his eyes but smiled slightly. "Sofia and Leo have been helping all week. So have I. Vyacheslav, too."
"They didn't tell me," Vladislav grumbled.
"You didn't ask," Vyacheslav said again.
Just then, Selene glanced around. "Wait… where's Ami? She'd have loved to know how dumb we were."
"She's buried in schoolwork," Vyacheslav said. "Literally hasn't left the library wing since earlier."
Akio nodded. "She said she's got a lot of schoolwork and the deadlines are near. Good luck trying to drag her out of study mode."
Selene sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Of course. She's probably the only one in this school with actual priorities."
Sofia walked past the table, spotted them, and waved. "Hey, volunteers! Ready for round two tonight?"
All three of them groaned in unison.
Wei, ever the voice of reason, gave a small shrug. "Next time, talk before attacking the mystery. Might save you some back pain."
Selene gave him a look but sighed. "For once… you're absolutely right."
And with that, the group—exhausted but a little closer—continued their day, one midnight disaster behind them… and maybe more mysteries ahead.