1.8

A week after the 3V, Felix, Rowan, and Athena stood in the hall where the Crest of Destiny was held. Thorn was assigned to Aurorium House, Flint to Silverspell, and Flate to Emberforge. They watched as Evander approached the Crest of Destiny. The Crest spoke to him, "I see through your feelings and emotions. I see through happiness and sadness. Your house is Frostveil House."

Evander donned his new uniform, which was ice blue and silver. As he stood up, a number of students followed him, one hugging him so hard that Felix almost wanted to ask how he managed to walk. But Felix didn't care enough to ask—that made sense, right?

Felix found it strange. What was Evander's family like? Why was everyone so afraid of them? As they ate in the Hall of Feast, Athena finally asked what was wrong with Felix. He had been staring at Evander the whole time, reminiscent of how he used to watch Lucian. Felix sighed and asked why everyone seemed afraid of Evander's family but still wanted to be near him.

Athena began to explain. There were rumors, but she wasn't sure if they were true. People loved to spread gossip without knowing the full story. They said there was something odd about Evander's family—his father had cast a strange spell after a war 21 years ago, and no one knew what it was for. Additionally, his father had allegedly killed his ex-wife to win the war, though the reasons behind it remained a mystery. Now, everyone seemed to be afraid of Evander because of his family's dark history. Despite this, Athena noted that Evander seemed like a nice guy to her.

Rowan chimed in, addressing Athena's statement. "Athena, you never judge someone, so we can't just assume you're right about that 'nice one.'"

Athena retorted, "Well, I never judged you either."

Rowan clarified, "You never judge someone from the bad side."

Athena countered, "Maybe you should learn from that."

Rowan conceded, "Yeah, maybe. Who knows?"

Felix interjected, voicing his concerns. "Is he... is he like his father?"

Athena replied thoughtfully, "He looks a bit like his father, people said, but I think he looks more like his mother, you know?"

Felix asked for clarification, prompting Athena to explain why Evander resembles his mother. "Sure," Athena began, "his mother's eyes are blue, and his are also blue. While he inherited his black hair from his father, I think he acts the same way as his mother."

Athena then playfully teased Felix, saying, "Also, Felix, stop stalking people, please."

Felix quickly defended himself, saying, "I never stalked anyone!"

Athena countered, "Sure, sure. Lucian?"

Felix defended his actions regarding Lucian, saying, "That... that was only because he ran away, and I was worried. Yeah, it was because I was worried, so not stalking. Okay, fine, maybe you don't stalk him."

Athena relented slightly, acknowledging, "But now Evander is... I don't know, he's dangerous."

Rowan interjected, reminding Athena of her earlier statement, "Yeah, but you just said not to judge someone!"

Athena clarified her stance, insisting, "Yeah, but he is. I'm not judging him because he actually is!"

Athena then mentioned that he had done dangerous things and had been expelled three times. Thorn then asked, "So, do you mean he is nice, or do you think he can learn to be nice?"

Athena replied, "I think both. But it's not for me to say what people can or cannot do. It's up to him to decide what he wants, not me."

Felix asked, "But do you think he might do something dangerous again?"

Athena answered, "His father told him not to, but I'm not 100% sure."

The five of them reacted with understanding, saying, "Ohhh."

Ten minutes later...

"Mr. Ravenwood, Mr. Flameheart, go to the Headmaster's office!" a professor screamed at them. They found themselves in the Headmaster's office, where he accused them of setting someone's pet on fire.

"Yes, Headmaster," Felix and Rowan admitted.

The Headmaster continued, "Two weeks' detention."

"We are sorry, Headmaster," they both apologized.

"Go back to your dorms and then to the detention room," the Headmaster instructed.

Athena stood there with crossed arms and said, "Seriously? Are you guys serious? It was an accident..."

Rowan tried to explain, "Then Athena said, "Yeah, sure."

They saw Evander with his group of friends. A girl approached him and said, "Evander... should we go to Mimi's?" She blushed, but Evander replied, "No," and walked away. However, the girl persisted, asking him again. Evander snapped, "Bloody hell! I told you no, so stop following me!" The girl looked sad and apologized before walking away. Evander muttered, "So annoying," and walked away.

Athena questioned, "What did we just see?"

Felix shrugged, saying, "I have no idea."

Rowan was at a loss for words, unable to respond. Thirty minutes later, Rowan and Felix found themselves in detention. They noticed Evander enter the room. A professor approached them, addressing Evander first, "Of course, Evander Frost, as expected. And of course, the Emberforge kids, Rowan and Felix. Let me guess, woke up a dragon again?" 

"No, Miss," Felix replied. 

The professor turned to Rowan, "And you did you made the dragon taller again?" 

Rowan shook his head, "No, Miss."

Curious, the professor asked, "Then why are you guys in detention?" 

They both explained that they accidentally burned a pet plush. 

"Was the pet plush meant to be a plush for Miss Splinter's baby sister?" 

"Yes, Miss," they answered. 

Acknowledging that it was an accident, the professor still insisted on detention. They nodded in understanding and accepted the consequence.

They were released from detention when Evander walked off. Rowan found it suspicious and said, "Should we follow him?" Felix agreed, "Yes, we should, 100%, because he's acting suspicious." They followed him and saw a woman approach. She said, "Evander..." 

He reacted sharply, "Never call me by my first name again. Next time you do, you'll face consequences."

She corrected herself, "Oh, uhm, Frost... Frost."

Evander asked, "What do you want?"

"Well, you know, to get rid of your mother... She doesn't deserve your father," the woman persisted.

Evander's anger flared, "My dad should never have fallen in love with you either!"

"Mother is better than you. Talk about her like that again, and I will tell my father about this," Evander warned, his wand at the ready.

The woman relented, "Okay, okay, I will go." With that, she disappeared. Still curious, Rowan and Felix pondered the encounter, wondering what it all meant. Back in the hall of feast, Athena noticed their unease and prompted them to share.

Felix began, "Well, we saw Evander talking with a lady..."

"And she said something about his mom," Rowan added.

Athena speculated, "It's probably Liminios. She's been jealous of his parents' relationship from the start. No wonder she said that. She's still jealous."

"Hmm, well, Frost didn't seem too happy about what she said to his mother," Felix remarked. "He even took his wand and warned her, 'If you ever talk about my mother like that again, I will tell my father about it.'" 

Athena laughed. "What a daddy's boy he is."

The 3V approached their table, curious about the conversation. Athena explained, "We were talking about Frost."

Thorn shrugged. "Oh, that guy. The girls seem obsessed with him, but I'm definitely hotter."

Flate chimed in, "Yeah, sure. Do you believe that yourself?"

Athena teased Flate, saying, "Are you calling Frost hot?"

Flate quickly denied it, and they all laughed. Then Athena asked about the origin of their names, "Why are you guys called the 3V or Rovers?"

Flint responded, "Aren't you supposed to be the book nerd?"

Athena retorted, "You can't find information about you guys in the books."

Flint explained, "We're called the 3 Villains because we exploded a wizard book once. And the Rover name came from when we roved midi potions. We returned them, of course, because we didn't feel like we actually needed them, but you know, things can happen."

Athena questioned their motivations, asking, "Why did you guys do all these things?"

Thorn replied, "Until now, nobody cared about us. But now they do, although they only call us out, so we embraced our villain era because of that."

Athena smiled. "I'm actually happy you guys are good now."

Thorn interjected, "Who said we were good?"

Flate chimed in, "Dude, we haven't caused any serious trouble."

Flint agreed, "Yeah... we're good."

Flate chuckled. "Damn, how did this happen?"

Rowan shrugged. "Well, we just have that effect if you hang around us."

Flint leaned in closer to Rowan's face. "You guys burned a dog hug toy."

Rowan blushed with embarrassment. "Hey, that was an accident!"

Rowan added, "And plus, Thorn also got detention!"

Thorn defended himself, "At least I didn't stalk someone."

Rowan and Felix exchanged glances, then both turned to Athena. "And they screamed, 'ATHENA!'"

Athena responded, "They're also our friends; they should have known that anyway."

Felix chimed in, "Well-well, it wasn't stalking!"

Athena challenged, "Then what do you call it?"

Rowan jumped in, "Well, uh, protective. We were, uh, looking to see if he didn't do anything stupid that could get the school in trouble."

Felix echoed, "Yeah, yeah, that what Rowan says!"

Thorn chuckled, "Yeah, sure, mate."

Flint laughed at their conversation, then Athena teased, "Well, guys, was it fun stalking Evander?"

They realized Evander was behind them. He questioned, "What?"

Evander's friends glanced at them. Athena quickly corrected herself, "Uh, did I say stalking? I mean, did they talk to you?"

Evander sternly responded, "Are you guys out of your minds? I value my privacy, and don't call me by my first name; you're not my friends."

Rowan assured, "Well, we didn't stalk you, so don't worry."

Felix whispered, "But we did."

Rowan whispered back, "He doesn't need to know that." Felix nodded in agreement.

Evander muttered, "Weirdos," then left, followed by his friends.

Rowan turned to Athena, "Why did you say that?"

Athena apologized, "Sorry, I didn't see him."

Meanwhile, in the hall with Evander and his friends, Melody remarked, "Well, that was weird."

Evander agreed, "Yeah, I agree."

They finished eating and were heading back to their room when Professor Nightshade appeared out of nowhere. "Sorry, Thorn, Flate, and Flint, but you guys need to spend some time in Felix and Rowan's dorm for a little while until we renovate your dorms."

Flint shrugged, "I don't really mind that."

Flate agreed, "Yeah, it's fine."

Thorn added, "Cool, we can spend some more time with them."

Professor Nightshade continued, "To make it up, this will be the only time students from different houses will be dorm mates. So, you three will share the same dorm."

Flint was excited by the news, and the other two were equally thrilled. They smiled and exclaimed, "Yeah, best news ever!"

Rowan opened the door and flopped down on his bed. "I'm tired of today," he sighed.

Felix changed his clothes and echoed, "Yeah, same. Damn, this was really exhausting. I'm so tired I can't even..."

Flate chimed in, "Yeah, you guys are tired from detention."

Rowan and Felix both exclaimed, "Flate!" while Thorn and Flint burst into laughter.

Rowan said, "Well, we fought a monster today." 

"Yeah, it was green and spewed green fire," Felix added. 

"We saw that," Flint chimed in. 

"Why didn't you guys help?" Rowan asked. 

"We needed some rest," Flint explained, while Thorn continued laughing.

Felix said, "So you guys just let us fight the monster?"

Thorn replied, "Yeah, something like that."

Flint added, "Well, I'm wounded, so I can't really fight."

Rowan questioned, "We know about you, but what's their excuse?"

Thorn answered, "I was tired."

Flate explained, "I was in a lesson."

Rowan sarcastically remarked, "Wow, what a good excuse."

Thorn and Flate chimed in, "Yeah, right. A really good excuse."

Rowan announced, "Well, I'm tired, so I'm gonna sleep."

"I'm gonna sleep too," Felix added.

"Good night, Flate," Thorn said.

Flate replied, "Good night," while Flint echoed the sentiment.

With that, all three of them changed and turned off the light.