"In order to know the monster, you must become a monster..."

-Charlotte Luchessi, 2020

Part 4: Fight Fire with Fire (AKA: one of the LONGEST chapter written, not counting the canon storyline)

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The four girls fall in exhaustion against one another.

"It's done...." Heartslabyul Charlie panted.

"Thank fuck!" Savanaclaw Charlie groaned, feeling her voice strain.

"I thought they'd never leave....." Octavinelle Charlie whimpered, her voice hoarse.

"Me too....never again...." Scarabia Charlie lied down on the floor to keep her head from spinning.

Slowly, each of the girl lit in a white prismatic glow. The light had grown brighter until their entire bodies were nothing but white. Their forms merged together until it became one person. Mirror Charlie. The light diminished and she stood still before collapsing.

If not something had caught her.

Kalim's rug scooped her up gently and laid her down like a person on a stretcher. Her Red hood pillowed around her body like a cloud, contrasting against her ivory skin.

"Charlotte!"

Riddle, Leona, Vil and Azul all rushed in to see her lying down in the air.

Azul placed two fingers on her wrist and felt for a pulse. "She's alive." he sighed in relief.

"Geez, I knew she was reckless but this...." Leona sighed.

"So it was her who drove those monsters away...." Vil murmured, brushing away a few strands of her dark hair away from her face.

"No....it was her doppelganger...." Riddle corrected. He explained to the others what Deuce saw and he and the four had deduced that she had learnt copy magic sometime early on.

"Amazing....to think she'd master something like that so fast..." Azul was surprised, looking down at the sleeping girl.

"But she said the more copies she makes, the more it'll rob her of her mana...." Vil rebuted.

"And look where it got her." Leona scoffed, but couldn't help but be worried for the girl as much as the others.

"So, wait, if this isn't Charlotte, then this must be her...."

To answer Vil's question, the mirrorsona's body started to glow the same white light as the others, but instead of shattering like last time, she disappeared in a cloud of butterflies. The four leaders were silent as they watched the last ones leave through one of the windows and out into the skies.

No one said a word as they watched on silently.

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Malleus puts Charlotte's body down on her bed with ease, careful not to disrupt her slumber. He pulls away to look down at her sadly and brush away a few strands from her face. Some of the color returned to her cheeks, giving her a healthier glow, her breathing evened out and she shifted to rest more comfortably.

"My dear star...." Malleus murmured, placing a cold hand on her cheek. "May you rest well." he breathes. He leaned down and faintly placed a kiss on her temple, his lips leaving a ice-like burn on her skin, but vanished fast.

Malleus straightened himself and turned to leave, leaving the small healing orb by her side to protect her as he shut the door and left without looking back.

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-Friday, Day 6 of Hallo-Week-

The morning, to say the least, was....silent.

"Morning." Crowley trudged in, his eyes bloodshot and widened from lack of sleep. "I guess...we'll start our meeting for the day...." he shrugged, not as chipper as usual.

"He was so spirited two days ago and now its all drained from him...." Jade murmured.

"Not just him, but us as well...." Vil sighed, feeling a headache coming on. "We had to deal with these monsters from morning to evening...."

No one said a word or anything due to the stress they had been faced with for the past two days. They were too tired to say anything. It's as if all the joy had been sucked out of them after what traversed.

The dorm leaders had all been worried over Charlie's power exertion that each of them, one by one, had gone to visit her every hour to make sure she was okay. She claims that she was, and was regaining her energy back hour by hour. They felt relieved that she was getting stronger, but the worry over the guests breaking into her home ebbed in the back of their minds.

But we're not getting started on that. Yet.

"Hey, uh....had anyone seen Malleus?" Kalim asked.

"He said he'd like to miss out on today's meeting." Lilia answered. "The moment he loses tolernace on those monsters, no one will get out alive if they're even a foot away from him....When he knew this, he claimed he wanted to be by himself until then."

"A day before Halloween....and he's still alone....that's horrible..." Kalim frowned.

Cater and Vil shared a look as Crolwey picked back up. "As you're all well aware...there's....'several' problems occurring all around campus. And this morning...well....there's been a list of complaints from one student in particular...."

"And i think i may know who it is...." Deuce sighed.

At that point, the doors flew open with a loud bang.

"OI! BIRDBRAIN!!!"

Both Grim and Charlie appeared at the top of the staircase looking done with everything. Grim had bags under his eyes and Charlie looked close to pulling a Freddy Krueger. Instead of her basket of goodies like before, this time she had two weapons with her. A gun in one hand and an axe in the other. And the enchantment around her face fell away, revealing the claw mark effects on her face.

"Charlie and Grim?" Jack asked.

"They're both out of it!" Epel worried. "And Charlie's looking close to murdering the headmaster..."

"Because of you Boneheads!!!" Grim shrieked and clambered on top of a desk. "We've gotten chased around inside and outside our dorm!!! We can't get enough rest at night worrying there may be somebody else left in the house! Even my bags have bags!!!"

"It got so bad to a point where I had to stun them with my Reverberating Notes attack now and then.....and then, I resorted to physically restraining them.....I broke a few wrists and legs.....and arms....and maybe someone's spine.....but now....I'm close....VERY Close to literally offing a head if I see one more intruder." Charlie sounded tired by the start, but then her voice took a hard edge as she said she wanted to cut off someone's head. She raised her axe for emphasis. "Maybe the Queen of Hearts would be happy to see I could turn out like her~!" she sang creepily, sending shivers through the room.

"L-Luchessi....calm down before someone gets hurt!" Crowley tied to calm her down.

" 'Calm down, sir...? 'CALM DOWN' you say?!" she tilted her head to the side as an insane look took over her face. "Let's see you calm down when I lob off YOUR head first!!!!"

She ran towards the headmaster, the axe swung back like a baseball bat. She screamed close to that of a banshee as she jumped to the headmaster.

"Grab her!!!!" Cater shrieked. It took nearly most of the second and third years to restrain Charlie from almost killing the Headmaster. The first years had shielded him as Cater and Vil held her arms back as Kalim clamped onto her feet. Jade and Azul wrenched way the weapons from her, receiving deep scratches on their arms as a result.

"Charlie!! Calm down! Please!!!!" Deuce shook.

"Get out of my way!!! I'll kill him, I swear to god!!!" She snarled, going feral like a wild animal.

"Child, stop this at once! What would the others say about this?!" Lilia spat down at her, trying to keep his temper in check.

Charlie froze as she felt something stir inside of her and her body slumped forward. Cater and Kalim hauled her up carefully, trying not to cause another rise out of her.

"Charlie, what's wrong?" Kalim asked her, only to be shocked seeing her cry. Most of them were taken aback by her sudden personality change.

"I-I can't take it anymore...." she whimpered. "The break-ins, the flash photos....i can't!!!" she let out a waterfall of tears. "I thought my Mirror enchantment would work in luring them away from here but it was only a one-time thing! I wasn't strong enough to cast it again! I thought If I could do this on my own, I'd be helping you guys, but it just made me a part of this mess!"

Kalim hugged her and let her sob her tears away, rubbing soothing circles on her back. Deuce, Jack and Epel joined in on the hug, shielding Charlie from the other's pitying gazes. At least they knew why she had snapped.

"I....I'd been so excited looking forward to it....everyone telling me it's worth celebrating. But it's not! You lied to us!!!" Grim took this as a chance to speak again and pointed a paw accusingly at the crowd.

The others looked away ashamed at the turmoil that had been thrown at the creature and the seer so suddenly. Charlie's sob only made their hearts ache with angst.

".....Lotte is right. We were the one's who dragged you into this mess." Lilia stepped forward. "We're truly sorry."

"Lilia, don't." Vil shooed him away. "As the committee, our task is to make sure these things go as problemless as possible. It's not a bad thing to make the students and guests happy."

"At first seeing the rise in popularity was a good thing as a result of our work. But now....we don't know if this is a good or bad thing...." Jade looked away unsurely.

Grim muttered a few "unspeakable" phrases to the two as he leaned by Charlie, drained.

Cater had checked the damage on Magicam at the moment to see it was worse than the last two days. "We've only today and tomorrow....and I dunno how the visitors'll turn up..."

"And that means more monsters..." Azul sighed sadly.

"It was already back-breaking yesterday and the day before....it's going to be worse!" Epel shook with worry.

"This is so depressing..." Idia was drained.

"Not to mention....the final day...." Jack grimaced as he wrapped an arm protectively around Charlie, her tears reduced to sniffles.

"There's no time to complain." Vil sighed. "To make sure the party goes on tomorrow, we need a plan to get rid of them once and for all!"

But the doors got thrown open again to reveal the ghost trio.

"HEADMASTER!!!!" They screamed.

"I've seen this happen before, and now I can only assume this is bad." Crowley sighed.

"Guys! Why are you here?!" Charlie asked. After snatching back her weapons she approached the three with confusion despite the sting in her eyes, signaling new tears.

"It's horrible, Charlie! Th-th-the...."

Charlie felt pain in her head as she heaved forward a bit, head in her hands as she saw from the third eye.....

"Oh my god...." she whispered. She leaned up, fear on her face. "The Great Seven statues are shattered!!!!" she screamed.

A gasp swept through the room.

"What was that?! Meeting is adjourned! Get to main street this instant!" Crowley orders.

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"This can't be real...."

"Someone pinch me...."

"I can't believe it..."

"Luchessi is right....the seven statues are broken!!!"

All around the pedestals, the remains of the broken statues littered the grass. Nothing was recognizable from the remains....

"Who would do something as despicable as this?!" Crowley wails.

"When we were on lookout, we came across the statues remains...." one of the ghosts answered.

"So we've no leads to the culprit!" Jack growled.

Cater was already to work on his phone, tapping away on the app and soon, he found what he needed. "Got em! Here it is!" He showed the screen to the Headmaster, showing a photo of seven people on top of the empty pedestals, the one who took the picture stood on Maleficent's stand. Under the hashtag, "#WearetheGreatSeven".

"What in the....they're in place of the statues!"

'They must've pushed them off so they could pretend to be them and take their places..." Cater took up a Sherlock air. "They nailed the poses down and everything...."

"Wow...Diamond-senpai, it's amazing how you managed to find that so fast..." Deuce gasped.

"Not really. All I did was type in 'Great Seven'. According to the time the post was made, it seems the guilty party snuck in on the grounds last night...."

"They've shown their crime without zero remorse...." Lilia murmured. "They don't seem to be aware that their actions are causing trouble...."

"I....I can't believe this...." Crowley's voice became crestfallen. "Ever since i became Headmaster....I've never witnessed something as travestic as this..." he looked down on the ground to see Grimhilde's face turned up from its place on the grass. "Even the Beautiful Queen is facing the grounds now....if only this was a nightmare..."

Seeing his 'mentor' on the ground made Vil become fallen as well. "I've read the story on the Beautiful Queen. Even if i couldnt read yet....My father told me the story...I had come this far because of her spirit. And now that her statue has been reduced to rubble....Ugh, I don't even want to say what I'm thinking!"

"Me as well..." Kalim frowns. "The Scorceror of the Sand was reliable and clever...I've wanted to become like him, which was why I've gotten to where i am!"

"Is there anyone in this school who doesn't adore the Great Seven? Of course none right?" Idia asked. "They should have nothing to say for themselves... not after ruining the statues and running away..." his eyes turned dark.

"If only the person who did this had a heart as gracious as the sea witch..." Azul mourns. "They'll never be forgiven...."

"We've every right to be angry at the guilty party." Charlie sympathized with them. "You've seen them as deities in a way, and this deed will not go unpunished."

"How could this have happened..." Trein sighs as he, Crewel, Vargas and Sam walk in to survey the damage. Along with several others....

"Oh my god! The statues are wrecked!!!!" Ace gaped. "This is way worse than getting one burnt on the first day!!!"

"The others are here...but why?" Grim asked.

"To utterly destroy such historical figures....it;s the same as disgracing our school's name." Trein sneered.

"Who is responsible?!" Crewel barked as he prepared his whip.

"We need to track down the guilty party and fast!' Vargas backs him up.

"Let's give em what for?!"

"We'll show these lowlife scumbags what it means to insult the name of Night Raven College!"

The others murmured in agreement, anger etched onto their faces.

"When we find them, I'll bring back their heads!" Charlie raised her axe in the air, fire burning in her irises to match her fury. No one messes with her family and gets away with it. NOBODY.

"Charlie, wait!" the ghosts begged her. "We know who the culprit is!"

At once, all eyes turned to the ghosts and Charlie whirled around, a determined look set in her eyes.

"Tell me!" she demands, a blood-thirsty look appearing immediatley.

The leader gulped nervously with one look at her insane appearance and choked out, "....it's us."

"What was that....?"

"We never should've started this mess in the first place...if we never got involved, this wouldn't be happening..."

"Before all this magicam brouhaha began...from the start, When Charlotte and Grim became a part of our clan...we were too thrilled to be looking forward to the Halloween event since the week would be as flawless. Or so we thought..."

"So...is that why you made their costumes?" Deuce asked.

"You wanted them to join in on something you couldn't miss? That was your plan way before Magicam occurred?"

"That is all we ever wanted...." they nod.

"But now that we got caught up in technology, we;ve ruined it all!"

"If only we never got involved in the first place...."

"If you wish to blame anyone, blame us. We are the guilty ones. We're deeply sorry....for everything...."

Everyone fell silent. Even Charlie at their apology.

"No....this isn't right!" Cater steps up.

"Cater? What are you doing? It's rare seeing you go against everyone else...." Trey asked.

"I'm not trying to be inconsiderate!" Cater defends. "Everyone's down right now so I'm gonna go ahead and say it!" He steps forward. "You posted one picture online. What's so wrog about that? We use Magicam as a form of entertainment."

"Yea, I pose rare pics or selfies on my account." Ace shrugged.

"And what's that i heard about you wishing you never got involved? Lots of people were happy to see you put something up online!" he brings up his phone to show one post from the start of the week.

" 'Halloween t night Raven is a blast! It's a thrill to see the ghosts. Even if they never could be here, they'd be happier being with their families. Although the island if far to reach, it's a great place and I'll be sure to visit next year!'" Cater read. "Don't you see? Everyone whose met you were happy from the start of meeting you, those who truly cared! There's two kinds of people: those who enjoy what's in front of them and those who takes pictures for the hell of it. Both sides have different ways of thinking, and it's impossible to understand one another. If visitors keep increasing, those kinds of people will follow suit! But no matter their reasons, they're all the same. So don't put the blame on yourselves nor the app."

"Th-thank you...." they smile with tears.

"We thought about giving you a hug, but all we can do is phase through things..." one laughed sheepishly.

"Nah, the feeling itself is enough..." Cater laughed awkwardly.

"Wow...i guess my wisdom may be rubbing off on you~!"charlie sang as she nudged Cater with her elbow.

"Eh! Charlie!!!" he backed up. "Too close for comfort!!!"

"Right now, this is no time to point fingers." Vil cut the chat short.

"So far, we've only pictures of the people's faces. Yet the real person of the crime has yet to be caught. We don't have enough evidence to put the blame on the monsters." Jade thought.

"But must we go on with tomorrow's festivities with the fear of intruders?" Riddle asked.

"I ain't gonna accept that." Leona clicked his tongue.