Whispers of Worlds Beyond: A Series-Chapter 73: Mischief and Mayhem [3]

Adrian drummed his fingers against the table, glancing around at the chaos of the Great Hall with barely concealed amusement.

The air was thick with laughter and confusion, students still reacting to their unfortunate but hilarious predicament.

Some were examining their blue-stained hands in horror, while others had simply accepted their fate, now casually eating breakfast as though being the color of a blueberry was entirely normal.

Sevan leaned forward, whispering, "Flinders is going to kill someone for this."

Aiden nodded, his eyes scanning the teachers at the front of the hall. Flinders was still fuming, his stained hands clenched so tightly that his knuckles- well, if they weren’t blue- would have turned white.

Adrian, however, was grinning like a criminal who had just pulled off the perfect heist. "Worth it," he muttered.

But then his smirk faltered.

Sevan followed his gaze and froze.

A group of older students at a nearby table were glancing their way, their narrowed eyes shifting between the three of them. Suspiciously.

"…They’re looking at us," Aiden murmured.

"Why are they looking at us?" Sevan muttered back.

"Because we’re the only ones who aren’t blue," Adrian realised, his grin vanishing.

Oh.

Oh.

They had been so caught up in their victory that they hadn’t even thought about the most obvious problem- if they were the ones behind the prank, wouldn’t they have found a way to avoid getting affected?

And wouldn’t that be… extremely suspicious?

"Oh, great," Sevan muttered. "We just pulled off the most legendary prank in school history and now we’re about to get caught because we forgot to turn ourselves blue."

Aiden exhaled, rubbing his temples. "Well, it’s not like we can just-"

Adrian suddenly slammed his hands down on the table.

Both Sevan and Aiden jumped.

"Boys," Adrian said dramatically. "It’s time to blend in."

Sevan frowned. "What?"

"We need to be blue," Adrian hissed.

"But we don’t know if the professors find a way to counter the spell. I don’t really like the idea of being blue for the rest of my life."

"Then we’ll find something that can blend us in without using the water.

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Aiden blinked. "How exactly do you propose we do that?"

Adrian shot to his feet.

"I’ll figure it out," he declared. "Sevan, you’re with me. Aiden, stay here. Look normal."

Aiden raised an eyebrow. "Define ’normal.’"

"Not suspicious," Adrian said quickly, already grabbing Sevan by the sleeve and dragging him away from the table.

Aiden sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

This was going to be a disaster.

"What’s the plan?" Sevan asked as Adrian led him down the corridor, away from the Great Hall.

Adrian glanced around. "Okay, okay, think. There’s gotta be something around here that can dye our skin blue."

"…Why do I feel like this is going to end badly?"

"Have a little faith, Sevan."

"You? Faith in you? I’d rather die."

Adrian ignored him, eyes darting between the corridors before snapping his fingers. "The kitchens!"

Sevan groaned. "We are not rubbing food dye on our faces, Adrian."

Adrian grinned. "Says who?"

Before Sevan could protest further, Adrian grabbed him by the wrist and bolted towards the hidden passageway they had discovered a few nights prior.

Meanwhile, Back at the Great Hall, Aiden sat at their table, arms crossed, doing his best to look completely normal as suspicious glances kept being thrown his way.

He could hear people whispering.

"…Why isn’t he blue?"

"…Did he dodge it somehow?"

Aiden internally sighed.

He was going to kill Adrian when this was over.

The moment they burst into the kitchens, a dozen Kibbers turned to stare at them.

The short, furry creatures with multiple arms blinked their large eyes in confusion.

"Why are you out here, students?" one of them asked. "Hungry so soon?"

"Not exactly," Adrian said. "We need something blue. Like, really blue. Stain-your-face-for-hours blue."

The Kibbers tilted their heads in unison.

Sevan groaned. "We are not doing this-"

"DO YOU HAVE BLUEBERRIES?!" Adrian shouted.

One of the Kibbers perked up. "Oh! We do!"

Before Sevan could even finish saying, "Adrian, no-"

A large bowl of crushed blueberries was unceremoniously dumped in front of them.

Adrian grabbed a handful.

Sevan stared in horror. "Don’t you dare."

Adrian smeared it all over his face.

Sevan watched in absolute disbelief.

"…This is the dumbest thing you’ve ever done."

Adrian grinned, his face now a horrible mess of uneven blue stains. "Hurry up. Your turn."

Sevan sighed.

This was humiliating.

With extreme reluctance, he dipped his fingers into the crushed fruit and rubbed it over his skin, muttering curses under his breath.

The Kibbers clapped excitedly. "You two look ridiculous."

Sevan groaned. "We know."

Back in the Great Hall, Aiden had just about lost hope when, suddenly-

Adrian and Sevan stormed in.

Covered in horribly uneven, patchy blue stains.

Aiden’s jaw dropped.

The students who had been eyeing them suspiciously stared in shock.

Adrian slammed his hands down on the table and grinned proudly. "Well, that was a disaster, but we did it."

Aiden slowly dragged a hand down his face.

Sevan collapsed onto the bench beside him, looking defeated. "This was the worst idea in history."

Aiden sighed. "At least now people won’t be suspicious of us."

Adrian grinned. "Exactly."

And for a moment, it actually seemed like they had pulled it off.

Until a passing student sniffed the air and frowned.

"…Why do you two smell like jam?"

Sevan, thinking quickly, shrugged casually. "It’s my perfume," he said with a straight face. "It’s got a jam scent."

The student blinked. "Your… perfume?"

"Yeah," Sevan said smoothly. "Very exclusive. Imported. You probably wouldn’t have heard of it."

The student nodded slowly, clearly unsure but ultimately dropping the subject. "Huh. Alright."

As soon as they walked away, Aiden exhaled. "But you don’t wear perfume."

Sevan ran a hand down his face. "I know. But if I had to explain that we rubbed fruit all over our skin in a panic, I’d die from embarrassment."

Adrian grinned, clearly delighted. "That was so dumb, but it worked. Sevan, I’m proud of you."

"Don’t be."

As they left the Great Hall, Aiden, Adrian, and Sevan spotted Amihan walking alongside Ivara and Morrigan. Their faces were still tinted blue, though Amihan didn’t seem too bothered by it. Ivara, on the other hand, had an air of restrained annoyance, while Morrigan looked as though she wanted to disappear entirely.

Adrian, unable to help himself, smirked and called out, "Oi, Amihan! You look good in blue. Brings out your eyes."

Amihan rolled her eyes but smiled. "Very funny," she said, crossing her arms. "So? Was it you three?"

Morrigan stiffened slightly, glancing between them with suspicion, but Ivara gave them a knowing glare.

"We don’t know what you’re talking about," Adrian said smoothly, though his smirk was a little too self-satisfied.

Ivara narrowed her eyes. "Lying isn’t your strong suit."

"Neither is spell theory," Adrian added under his breath, earning him a sharp jab from Aiden.

Ivara sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "If it was you, just know that I’m not amused."

Amihan, however, let out a soft laugh. "It was kind of funny," she admitted. "Even Professor Flinders looked ridiculous."

Morrigan muttered something under her breath, but it was too quiet for them to catch. She shifted uncomfortably, avoiding Aiden’s gaze entirely. Aiden noticed but said nothing, already used to her discomfort around him.

"Well," Adrian said, grinning, "whoever did it, they’ve got style."

Ivara shook her head but let it go, clearly not in the mood to argue further.

"Just don’t get caught," she warned before walking off.

Amihan lingered for a moment before following, casting them one last amused glance. Morrigan, however, didn’t say another word as she walked away.

Once they were gone, Adrian let out a low whistle.

"Well, Ivara’s definitely onto us."