Location: Abandoned Greenhouse No. 3, Behind the Alchemy Annex
The air smelled like roses, revenge, and illegal vanilla.
Zephyr stepped into the overgrown ruins of Greenhouse No. 3, mop in hand, eyes narrowed. Magic crackled in the ivy-covered walls, twisting flowers into unnatural heart shapes. The ground squished with glitter.
“Charming,” he muttered.
“I prefer ‘aesthetic chaos,’”
a voice purred.
From the shadows emerged
Maribelle Moonshimmer
— rogue alchemist, bubble witch, and certified magical influencer. Dressed in shimmering violet robes and floating slightly off the ground, she looked like the fairy godmother of morally questionable love spells.
“You’ve been meddling,” Zephyr said flatly.
“I enhanced the laundry experience,” she replied, twirling a parasol made of perfume smoke.
“You almost got the entire academy making love confessions to their dishware.”
Maribelle sniffed. “Sentient soap is an art, Zephy-bear.”
He winced. “Don’t call me that.”
She floated closer, smirking. “Why not? You didn’t fall for the potion—so mysterious, so emotionally unavailable. Honestly, I approve. Makes the girls swoon harder.”
Zephyr stepped forward, mop glowing faintly with anti-pheromone wards. “You laced the school’s cleaning supply with emotionally manipulating compounds.”
“They needed a push,” she said. “I mean, come on—
Rosalia
keeps writing love sonnets to your mop.
Selena
thinks you're a ‘data anomaly worth pursuing,’ which is adorable. And
Drakynia
keeps punching walls because she doesn’t know what to do with her feelings. I’m just… helping.”
He raised a brow. “By starting a campus-wide romantic outbreak?”
She raised her hands. “Guilty. But you’ve got to admit—
things got interesting.”
Zephyr glanced at the shimmering pink fog swirling around the room.
“…This ends now.”
Cue Boss Fight: Zephyr Arclight vs. Maribelle Moonshimmer
She conjured perfume grenades.
He countered with a mop cyclone spell.
Heart-shaped fireballs were launched.
Laundry baskets gained sentience and joined the battle.
At one point, a bubble with Zephyr’s face winked at him.
Finally, with one dramatic swing of his mop, Zephyr purified the room — turning the fog into harmless steam and the cursed flowers into clean dandelions.
Maribelle lay dramatically across a broken table. “Ugh, fine. You win. But I’m still charging your fan club.”
“I don’t have a fan club.”
“You do now. And I'm president.”
Later: Student Council Tower, Rooftop
Selena stood beside Zephyr again.
This was becoming a thing.
“She’s gone?” she asked.
“Gone,” Zephyr nodded. “For now.”
Selena looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “…What she said earlier. About me and the others. Was any of it… true?”
He didn’t answer at first.
Then, softly:
“Maybe I’m just waiting to see who’s brave enough to say it first.”
Selena didn’t speak.
But her fingers brushed his—just for a moment—before she walked away.
End of Chapter 35
Next time?
Chapter 36: The Mop Tournament Begins — Zephyr Gets Drafted (Against His Will)