At the beginning of Book 7 Lilia asks Ace and Deuce about Sebek, saying that he does not seem to have made any friends at the school in the 6 months since he left Briar Valley and Ace days, “He is kind of a loner…He insults people like, ALL the time. He even says stuff right to my face…And he always finds some way to make every subject about Malleus, then drones on and on about how great he is…I can see why people would idolize him. But, like, you don’t have to make it your entire personality, y’know?”
Ace asks if Lilia wants them to be friends with them and Lilia says no, he wouldn’t ask that, but he would like the two card soldiers to give him a little nudge if they happen to notice him ever stuck during his time at NRC.
Deuce asks if it wouldn’t make more sense to ask them to help him and Lilia responds, “If the people here willingly accepted the hands proffered to them, they wouldn’t have been chosen by the Dark Mirror.”
Lilia then presents Sebek to the first-year group, encouraging him to take the opportunity of the farewell party to bond with students from other dorms. Sebek’s response is that he does not have the slightest intention of being friends with such “shallow” people, as there is no need to be chummy with feeble humans who are naught but dead weight.
Deuce says that Sebek is embarrassing Lilia but Sebek responds, “What’s wrong with saying it like it is?,” telling them to be grateful to Lilia for being a kind soul and that they had better not let it go to their heads.
(Sebek’s straightforwardness may have been inspired by the sword of truth: he is often repeating that he is merely speaking the truth.)
Lilia tells him that his future prospects are dim if he is already so stubborn at such a young age, the very picture of his grandfather, and that he has a golden opportunity to speak with people who have different viewpoints from his own: “The world’s a far bigger place than you seem to realize. There’s much to learn.”
When asked why “mediocre humans” bother him so much if he has already written them all off Sebek says, “Because I can’t stand them making things harder for me!”
He gives the example of Ace and Deuce bickering in the library, and, when chastised, insisting that Sebek help with their assignment.
Trey thanks Sebek for helping Heartslabyul first-year students and Sebek responds, “You’re not supposed to THANK me! Aren’t you the Heartslabyul vice housewarden?! I shouldn’t HAVE to look out for them. You clearly need to set a better example!”
Sebek shares his stance on group assignments with Ortho, saying, “Writing a single report between four people is such an inefficient waste of time,” and we see an example of Sebek’s poor relations with those around him in a vignette where he refuses to work with the two other students assigned to his group for a class project.
They attempt to convince him to cooperate but he declares that he will be accomplishing the assignment by himself, as the other two would be burdens.
The two students say they don’t have to put up with him and will be leaving him to his own devices and he agrees, saying, “The only way you two can assist is by doing nothing.”
Deuce observes, “I’m actually amazed. Sebek alienated his groupmates in record time” and Ace follows with, “He CHOSE to make things harder. How does that guy even function in society?”
Sebek then immediately reports to Lilia that his class went without incident and there were no problems whatsoever, to which Ace reacts by laughing.
Deuce explains the situation and Ace teases him with, “You must think REAL highly of yourself if you’re going to take on a three-person assignment all by your lonesome,” but Sebek does not seem to understand his sarcasm (“That task should be simple enough for a guard to the great Malleus”).
Deuce says Sebek is being obnoxious and Sebek counters with, “If you’re so easily distracted by me, you must lack focus. Perhaps the true fault lies with your poor attention spans.” Ace responds, “We all know you love verbal sparring—you did plenty of it in class. But if you’re smart enough for that, can’t you smarten up that attitude?”
Sebek declares that he doesn’t care what others think of him, as the only reason he is at the school at all is to guard Malleus.
Deuce and Ace excuse themselves and Silver reflects, “I thought coming to this school would help improve Sebek’s attitude toward others…but he’s the same as ever-completely disinterested in making friends with people outside of Briar Valley.”
Lilia wonders if Sebek is simply incapable of adapting to those around him, saying that his conviction “is a powerful thing indeed” and “if only his classmates could appreciate that about him.”
Ultimately Lilia decides not to intervene, as it is a part of the learning process and “it’s much more fun this way.”
It is revealed that teamwork is a part of grading criteria for Sebek’s group assignment, leading Sebek to decide he will be granting his team members roles to fill (“Don’t act like you’re doing us a big favor!” – “We wouldn’t be in this mess if you didn’t write us off on day one!”)
Neither of his teammates have faith in Sebek’s ability to make any concessions and Sebek says that they lack drive, without which they will lose even the most winnable battles.
Sebek says that they will be playing to their strengths for the assignment and his group members agree that, for all his attitude, it is a reasonable strategy.
Sebek seems to successfully motivate them through a pep talk (“If you don’t believe in yourselves, who will?!”) but this progress is dampened by his insistence that the two students should be working hard for Malleus.
After yelling right back at Sebek they feel more energized and follow his instructions, earning the group a passing grade.
His group members say that Sebek’s speech did manage to motivate them (“in a good AND bad way, but still”), and Sebek compliments them on their admirable perseverance. (“You did well for humans.”)
They seem pleased with the compliment until he follows with, “Mind you, I could have accomplished the assignment in half the time if l’d done it alone…Your efforts have no bearing on my own prowess. I only worked with you to honor the terms of the assignment. I wouldn’t have needed help from humans otherwise!”
One team member responds “I’m starting to regret thanking you” while the other says, “And I regret trying to see you in a new light! Sebek, you need to seriously fix your attitude!”
The topic of Sebek’s attitude arises again during Fairy Gala IF, when Sebek immediately refuses to be of any assistance. Riddle comments that “his stubbornness is a headache even at club meetings.”
(Silver explains Sebek might have scared the diurnal fairies due to his nocturnal fae lineage, which Sebek himself likely also knew.)
Later, however, Sebek approaches the Fairy Gala team on his own, saying that if their mission doesn’t succeed then it will affect Malleus and Lilia. He vetoes Deuce and Epel’s ideas and lectures the students on the tastes of diurnal faeries, which inspires Ortho to come up with the idea they ultimately implement.
It seems there is a possibility that Sebek is interacting with other students socially, with Ace saying that he went to karaoke with Jack, Epel, Deuce, the prefect, Grim and Sebek (and that it was a disaster).
Ace has a voice line about talking with Sebek when Lilia appeared and gifted him a piece of candy. He teases Sebek during Fairy Gala IF and into getting him a birthday present.
The two overlap during Sebek birthday vignette where Sebek tells him about a time he went to see a heavy metal band perform at a small live house.
While it was not a band with which he was familiar the experience was recommended to him by Lilia, and he was certain to educate himself on the location’s rules and regulations as well as the methods and etiquette behind moshing.
Sebek says that there was only one small problem when one of the performers fell into the crowd, and as he refused to allow a show recommended to him by Lilia get canceled due to an injured performer, he helped the person back to the stage.
Ace points out that the person had likely stage dived, finding the situation so funny that he says he and Sebek should go to a live show together next time. Sebek refuses.
Twisted Wonderland Reference Note 