Do You Know Peony?

"But, you know of the force in there." Riddle responded curiously.

Lotus smirked as she continued, "That's because I could feel their mana. Everyone has a different aura of mana and those who don't practice cultivation has a weaker presence than those who do. The stronger they are the more intense the aura is."

"Then, it would be like a beacon." Riddle noted upon understanding.

Curious, Lotus giggled, "If that were to happen, then the force would have perished a long time ago."

"What do you mean?" Riddle raised a brow before he suddenly narrowed his eyes upon suspicions, "Wait... I think I get it now."

Trey nodded, "They hid this aura that Peony could feel."

Lotus smiled wide, "Haha! That's right. No matter how powerful a force is, there will always be someone stronger than them as they climb up the ladder. The best way to deal with those stronger than you is to not be found by them first. This is another reason that person decided to hide themselves."

"Because there's someone stronger than them..." Trey concluded as he absorbed her words.

Riddle narrowed his eyes with a frown, "If that's how it is, then that only causes more worry..."

"Try not to worry too much." Lotus said with a smirk, "Just because some bad guys are here doesn't mean you'll have instant death."

Riddle nodded, "You said that each dorm has one, then where was our dorm's force when an attack came?"

Lotus frowned, "They sealed away until recently."

"Sealed?" Riddle's eyes widen in bewilderment.

Lotus nodded, "There had been a fight over dominance in your dorm many years ago. The chaotic mess was enough to influence the students and the residents of your dorm a long time ago. This ended up catching the teachers' attention and they had to personally take matter into their hands. What was the result of that was a dorm without a force to protect them."

"You mean, what was suppose to protect us ended up attacking us instead." Riddle clarified with a frown, "The teachers came in and removed the power at the time but didn't find another way to protect the students here? That's irresponsible of them to do. Why in the world did something that person, who suppose to protect the school, ended up attacking the residents they are suppose to protect for power?"

"Maybe..." Trey spoke up, "There was another power in the dorm just like how there are these butterflies in the Savanaclaw dorm."

Feeling rather dismayed that a plant fairy would do this, Lotus shook her head with a scowl, "That's correct. Their system was rather similar to how Heartslabyul ran the place. A queen and the card soldiers. The former power kept the smaller force under a strict regime to protect the residents of the dorm. However, according to that smaller force, as they grew stronger, the previous force grew more agitated."

"I get it now." Riddle nodded, "It was afraid of being overthrown from power."

He sighed and added, "For one goal they both must accomplish, the person couldn't prioritize their own priorities correctly and forgot the job."

Lotus nodded, "The person began to play petty tricks and pull the residents to bring down the strength of the other power till their power was sealed away. However, that didn't stop because the main power forgot their role and ended up causing chaos in the dorm indirectly attacking the residents. Thus, the teachers stepped in and ended things by destroying it. But, they had no idea the power, that they had thought was a monster, was actually their supposed protector and the dorm was left defenseless till now."

Lotus sighed, "I recently broke their seal and helped them regain their power so that if the array breaks around the dorm, they would be the next line of defense, but they are also your only lines of defense left. The Savanaclaw only had one because the students were strong and could take action to lead themselves to safety with or without the guidance of their dorm leader. But, humans often need a leading figure to follow and may require more time. The fact that you're all training to be magicians pushes this case further to favor this because magicians often have a clearer mind than those who rely completely on pure physical strength. From how you've seen the characters of the students, you can probably understand what I'm saying right now. However, everything has a better or worse."

"Geh, so complicated..." Cater grumbled in defeat, "I was almost lost in that long lecture."

Lotus laughed heartily, "But it seems you understand the situation, despite the length of it."

"Yes." Trey responded with a frown, "However, from the way you put it, I can assume this force is within rose maze?"

Lotus smirked, "Well... Since you're working so hard to understand this rather than being ignorant to everything that has happened, I may as well reward you, then. You are correct. The force is within the dorm. I've made them redo the vow they had with the previous person who worked here to protect the students."

Trey's eyes widen upon bewilderment before he smiled, "I see... So, that's how it is..."

"What? What was it?" Cater perched an arm on his shoulder casually with excitement, "It looks like you know who they are?"

Trey smirked, "Maybe I do, maybe I don't."

"Che..." Cater pouted.

Riddle nodded with a sigh, "That's all that matter, then. But, Peony..."

"Hm?" Lotus raised a brow curiously.

"Weren't you going to go find Leona?"

"Ah, that's right!" Cater looked up in surprise as he recalled this with a frown, "We're currently in the mountains. If something happens, I bet he'd-."

"Ah, I've already found him." Lotus responded bluntly as she led them before another lotus pond of red lotuses and took a seat on the grass.

"Huh?"

"Since when?!" Cater looked to her in disbelief, "You're here before us the entire time..."

Lotus smirked to which Trey and Riddle shook their head with a sigh. Lotus responded, "Maybe if you asked Trey and Riddle later, you might get an answer from them. As for Leona... He's resting in another place on a different peak."

"Geh..." Cater grumbled in defeat having been surprised till he had no more energy left in him now.

Little Jun trotted over lightly with a lotus pod in his jaws as he called over to Cater, "Cater... Let's race! The winner gets to have this pod of lotus seeds!"

"E-Eh?!"

His words left the guy bewildered as he glanced over to Lotus in bewilderment. Lotus smiled and responded, "Cater is a human, Little Jun. He doesn't have the ability to help him run as fast as you."

"Aw..." Little Jun grumbled, "Then, he can have this pod."

Stunned in a daze, Cater was left like a statue as Little Jun hurried off to find something else.

"Haha!" Trey laughed, "It seems the little guy really likes you, Cater."

"Gah... Be quiet, Trey..." Cater grumbled in bewilderment, "Wh-What's going on, Peony?!"

Lotus shrugged, "He's been lonely since I've been going undercover the entire time while he's been working hard learning how to become stronger. Since that time you saved us, he saw Cater as a playmate and wanted to play with you three the entire time, especially Riddle and Cater since neither of you pushed him away. Trey didn't get the chance to interact with him back then, so he's uncertain."

"I see now." Cater frowned, "Um... his parents..."

"He knows what happened back then." Lotus responded, "I don't know how he'll come to terms with this, but I'll notice it when he does."

"There's something else I've been wanting to ask you." Trey said as he turned to her with a stern frown that caught their attention, "About the... Cater and..."

Lotus frowned, "It seems our time is up..."

.....

Sure enough, Lotus opened her eyes to Ying Hui's and Xiao Li's voice. It was morning again outside of the ring and Lotus was in her school uniform again. She no longer had her female appearance and her voice was a little deeper again thanks to the potion she consumed. Lotus sighed as she recalled needing to fake her development of an adam's apple meaning a note from the nurse excusing her from being called upon in class. With the test coming up soon, it was a good thing she's decided to do this sooner rather than later. As for the rest of the week before the exam, she had Grim read her papers and her responses much to Ace's amusement.

"Damn it! Just where did that midget go to this time?"

"Come on! He can't have gone far."

With that, she remained in the library reading a book as the two Savanaclaw students rushed past her table. Lotus yawned tiredly and continued reading the book of some ancient spells and curses used long ago. She had just sent a message to her mother through Chili and should receive a reply in the next few days.

"Huh... They should get their eyes checked."

Lotus quickly receded her ability and looked up curiously to find a familiar figure much to her bewilderment, "Dorm Leader Leona? Good afternoon..."

The Lion guy was currently out of his dorm uniform and in his school uniform instead. Lotus could see the guy must've just returned from a nap in the botanical gardens after seeing a familiar piece of leaf sticking out from under his vest. She smirked, "Just returned from a nap again?"

"It's none of your business." Leona growled with a glare.

"Okay, okay." Lotus laughed in amusement and got up, "But..."

She reached out before Leona could react and pulled away the green hard-edged leaf with a smirk as she took it away, "You should be more careful of your surroundings sometimes, Dorm Leader Leona."

"Shut up." Leona scowled before he sighed, "I heard you made the antidote to the tarantula poison."

Curious, Lotus raised a brow with a nod, "I was involved with the production of the antidote, that's correct."

Leona frowned, "How did you come across the antidote?"

"I was involved with the research of it." Lotus responded with a smile as his voice cracked.

"Then, do you know a girl called Peony?" Leona questioned.

Lotus nodded, "I do. She was in the Savanaclaw dorm a couple weeks ago when I delivered the vials. She hasn't been around since then. I wonder if something happened to her..."

Leona thought for a bit in silence before turning around and walked away.

"Wait." Lotus called out.

Leona who never listened to anyone suddenly froze upon call in bewilderment.

Why can't he move?!

His eyes widen in disbelief as he tried to come up with many ideas of his current situation. A curse? Poiso-

No, he didn't feel any pain or numbness. Spell?

It was then that he came upon a sharp edged blade of leaf brought to him. He looked to her with a raised brow as he felt his hand move against his will as he took it. He turned to her and saw her smirk as she said to him, "First take this to the caretaker of the botanical garden. You might find something rather interesting."

With that, he watched her walk away with her book in hand to which Leona realized he couldn't go over and give her a beating. He gnashed his teeth in frustration as he could only watch her walk away to the front desk and disappear to the front entrance. It was then that he realized he could move and even realized that he had held his breath the entire time!

Suddenly, his eyes widen as a thought came to him, "That's it... Pressure..."

He rushed out to the library ignoring the warning of the librarian before bursting out the door with a bang. However, the boy had already vanished to which he slammed his knuckles against the pillar.

"Damn it!"

Suddenly, he felt something cold in his hand to which he raised a brow and opened his palm to find the tough sharp leaf. Recalling her words, Leona raised a brow in thought before taking a small crystal stone out of his pocket.

.....

The entire time, Yuu had only grown more and more worried after hearing that she was actually a year younger than everyone making them realize that she was actually someone younger than them. Thanks to that, she was being chased by the stronger men due to someone else's favorism towards her ability.

Lotus shook her head with a sigh of exasperation, "How annoying..."