Chapter Text
Yuu wasn’t having a very good day. First he woke up late, meaning he had to rush getting ready for school. Then he stepped into a puddle, soaking his socks and shoes. After that, as if things couldn’t get any worse, he had been crossing the street when a strange looking carriage came speeding towards him! Talk about bad luck! There was a horrifying second where Yuu had thought he’d get trampled before the world went dark.
The next time he woke up, Yuu couldn’t see anything. He felt around and realized he was inside of some sort of box. He heard mumbling but couldn’t fully make out what was being said. Next thing he knew, there was light filling his vision as blue flames sprouted up from nowhere. Blue. Flames.
Worse, still, was that the source of the voice was a strange cat-weasel! A talking animal, and it wasn’t a bird! Talking animals definitely weren't normal, he had to have been dreaming. Maybe the carriage knocked him out! If he was dreaming then that meant he wasn’t dead, awesome!
There was a whole bunch of other stuff that happened but it all went by way too fast for him to keep up. When the novelty of the magical world had begun to wear off, Yuu was finally ready to wake up from whatever nightmare he had been stuffed in. However, his attention was once again drawn to something new, as the talking mirror began to glow. Observing the crowd, it was made clear to him that the glow wasn’t meant to happen. Mass panic filled the area as the light grew brighter.
The angry red haired boy that seemed to be someone of importance in whatever school they were in had stepped forward to try and stop the mirror, only to fall unconscious before he could make it to the object.
The boy next to him called out his name. Riddle, if Yuu heard correctly. That boy crouched down next to the first one to try and help, but he ended up on the ground, barely able to hold himself up on his knees. He grabbed the red haired boy’s hand and tried to shake him awake, fighting against his own tiredness.
Two more people fell, both having a card suit painted on their face. A boy with a diamond marking on his face started to run over to the group but he went limp, falling victim to the same malady affecting the others. It took only a few seconds before the boy with green hair closed his eyes and his head landed next to the red haired boy’s, their hands clasped together even in their induced sleep.
Yuu watched in fear as more people began to fall. The Headmage uselessly tried to tell the room of panicking students to calm down. It was kind of hard to stay calm while people were dropping like flies, Yuu thought. But, then again, who was he to know?
Another student collapsed, landing on top of his companion. It was the boy that the weasel had set on fire only minutes earlier. Speaking of, where was the weasel? During all the chaos, Yuu had completely forgotten the creature’s existence. He looked down as something grabbed onto his leg. The weasel had its eyes shut tight as it clung to Yuu’s robes.
He looked so innocent, it tugged at Yuu’s heartstrings to watch. He gave the creature a pat on the head before picking him up, forcing a smile on his face as it began to struggle and complain. “It’s gonna be okay.” He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt.
There was a thump nearby and Yuu turned to see a blond boy cradling another boy in his arms. The scene that followed was quite dramatic, but there was no time to judge since the blond had fallen asleep, too. The pair ended up on the ground next to each other, their hands clasped together. During that dramatic scene, a purple haired boy had quietly fallen unconscious nearby.
There was no time for Yuu to process all the strange hair colors, as a loud bang cut through the room as a literal robot entered. “I detected many—” The robot boy took in the scene. “What caused so many people to fall unconscious?!”
“Young Shroud! Wonderful timing! Can you—?” Before the Headmage could finish his question, the robot stopped making noise and fell to the ground, much like the others before him.
Even robots were falling to whatever strange magic the light was creating. Yuu wondered if there was a way to stop the mirror from whatever it was doing but he really didn’t want to end up like the first boy who fell victim to its magic. It didn’t seem like the mirror was targeting the people trying to stop it but he still didn’t want to take any chances.
More lights appeared in the room, revealing the form of a tall boy with horns on his head. Three others ran up to him and they began to talk. Yuu couldn’t hear the conversation from where he was but the others were clearly concerned for the taller male.
Yuu watched on in horror as the tall man crumpled to the ground, the three others hovering over him in worry. One by one, each of them fell asleep as well. Most of the students in the room were still awake and panicking so the Headmage once more tried to take control of the chaos.
There was no time to pay attention to the man, as Yuu suddenly found himself to be very tired, his legs weak and vision fuzzy. Weird, he had just woken up, why was he tired again? Well, maybe a nap was what he needed to wake up from whatever nightmare he’d been thrown into.
Yuu groaned as some sort of fuzzy object hit him on the face. The feel of it reminded him of a paw, maybe a cat’s? The tapping didn’t stop even as he swiped at whatever animal was trying to wake him up.
“Wake up!” Cats couldn’t talk, there must have been someone else in the room with him.
“Five more minutes…” Yuu turned on his side and tried to pull his blanket further over his body, only to find his blanket missing. “What the—?” He finally opened his eyes. “Where—? Who—? What—?!”
The strange creature stared down at him. “About time! Get up!” A talking weasel?
“For the last time, I ain’t a weasel! I am Grim the Great!”
Yuu shot up, bringing a hand to his aching and fuzzy head. “I was having the weirdest dream and then people started falling. There was a weird mirror thing and a bright light.” Where had he heard the name Grim before? “Grim? Oh, right! You’re the weasel that tried to steal those weird robes I was wearing!”
“I’m not a weasel! I am Grim! Future extraordinary mage!”
“Right, sorry. My memory is all fuzzy.” His head was no longer hurting as much so Yuu held out the hand that had been holding his head. “I’m Yuu, it’s nice to meet you when you’re not setting everything on fire.”
Grim huffed and shook the offered hand. “I can’t use my flames or I’d have been outta here by now!”
His flames weren’t working? Out of here? Where? What was the creature talking about? “What? What does that mean?”
“It means I ain’t got my magic! I can’t break us outta here!”
“What?!” Yuu looked around the room they had found themselves in. “What is this place? Where are we? It looks like a movie theater.”
Grim shrugged. “I dunno what a movie theater is but I know we can’t get out.”
“Well this just gets better and better.” Yuu let out a sigh before standing up. “I’m gonna look for a way out. Maybe you missed something.”
Grim gave him a glare. Did he say something wrong? “Go ahead! There’s no way out!” He shouted before stomping off. Yuu simply sighed at the creature’s strange antics and began searching the area for some sort of escape. He was barely able to get any searching done before he heard a thump and Grim shouting.
“What’s going on?” Running over to where he heard the shout, Yuu stared at the scene. Grim and a boy with red eyes were on the ground, the creature looking as though he’d just seen a ghost. “Oh! Someone else is awake! Think you can help me find a way out of here? This place looks like a movie theater but there’s no exit and Grim can’t use his magic.”
“How concerning.” The boy stood up and looked around. Yuu nearly let out a surprised noise when he heard how deep the boy’s voice was. “My name is Lilia Vanrouge, I’ll gladly help you with finding a way out! What are your names?”
“I’m Yuu.” he pointed towards himself. “This is Grim.” He gestured towards Grim. “It’s nice to meet you Lilia, we’ll try to catch you up while we search.”
A low groan interrupted them before they could begin their search. “Lord Malleus?” A deep voice spoke in a quiet tone before a green haired boy sat up and shouted. “LORD MALLEUS?!”
Yuu and Grim both covered their ears while Lilia laughed. “Sebek, good to see you’re as energetic as ever! You scared me when you collapsed! I’m used to Silver falling asleep in strange places but not you!” The short boy walked over to who Yuu now knew was Sebek. “Let me check you for any injuries.”
“I am unharmed, Lilia!” Wow, Sebek had a loud voice! “Please, where is Lord Malleus?”
Lilia gestured to the tall boy with horns. “He’s still sleeping.” There was worry etched into his tone, though Yuu couldn’t tell if Sebek noticed it or not. “I only just woke up and I’ve yet to assess the situation. Could you keep an eye on Silver and Malleus while I look for an escape?”
“Of course!” Sebek dutifully stood up and began to move the aforementioned Silver and Malleus into more comfortable sleeping positions while Lilia led Yuu and Grim on a search for an escape. Yuu didn’t know the relationship Lilia had with Sebek, Silver, and Malleus, but he didn’t know if the shorter boy would appreciate him asking about it. They had only just met, after all.
They were only able to search for a minute before Sebek’s voice projected through the room. “Silver is waking up!” In a flash, Lilia was back at Sebek’s side and hovering over Silver.
Yuu and Grim gave each other baffled looks before following Lilia and watching as Silver’s eyes slowly opened. “Sebek? Lilia?” He mumbled. “Did I fall asleep again?”
Lilia let out a laugh as he helped Silver sit up. “This time, all of us fell asleep.”
“How concerning, has my condition somehow begun to affect you all?”
Yuu shook his head, not understanding what Silver meant by ‘condition’. “No, there was a bright light and then a bunch of people fell asleep and now everyone that fell is here in this room. We’re the only ones awake so far.” He explained.
It seemed that Silver adjusted quickly, his previously confused expression turning into one of understanding as he looked back at Lilia. “Is Lord Malleus alright? Where is he?”
“He’s right there.” Lilia pointed to Silver’s side, where Malleus still slept. “We were trying to find a way out but people keep waking before we make any progress. I think we should pause the search until Malleus is awake.”
Yuu nodded in agreement. “I think that makes sense, the more people we have on the case, the better our chances of getting out.” Lilia and the others also didn’t seem like they’d be fully focused on the search while Malleus remained unconscious.
Luckily, they didn’t need to wait very long before Malleus’s eyes began to flutter open. Lilia kneeled at his side. “Malleus, are you awake? Please tell me you are unharmed.”
“What if something is wrong?! What do we do?!” Sebek kneeled next to Lilia, Silver on the shorter boy’s other side as they all hovered over Malleus.
“I am awake.” Malleus’s eyes fully opened and he sat up. “There is no need to fret.” He looked around the room. “What happened after I was rendered unconscious?”
A concerned frown took over Lilia’s face. “Silver and Sebek both passed out after you did. Moreover, I am afraid that whatever magic was at work got to me, too, as I remember nothing else before waking up here.” Yuu and Grim stood off to the side as Lilia and the others explained the situation. If they had to do this every time someone woke up, it would get very old, very fast.