Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Welcome to the Villains’ World
My beloved and beautiful flower of evil
You are the most beautiful in the world
“There you are,” A voice was heard in greeting, combined with the footsteps that echoed within the hallway. “I’m glad I could catch up to you before your departure.”
The brunette greeted the young man with a grin. “Ienzo! We saw each other like half an hour ago.” She remarked jokingly and the young man replied with a chuckle. Her eyes caught the book that was tucked beneath his arm. It was no ordinary notebook judging by how thick it was. “Are you heading to the library?” She asked.
Ienzo grabbed the book from under his arm and offered it for the girl to take. “Actually, this book is for you.” He replied, a smile appearing on his lips. The brunette took the red covered book, checking the title and an amused hum left her lips. “I heard about your new mission. I thought this would be quite useful.” He folded his arms over his chest, the same smile still on his lips.
“Advance Potions Making... You do know that I’m attending as a first-year, right?” The brunette gave him a teasing look, but accepted the book nonetheless. “They don’t teach these until you’re a third or fourth year.”
Ienzo shrugged. “You’ve learned the basic from Merlin. It doesn’t hurt to stand out, now does it?” He said as his lips twitched up to form a smirk.
“Touché.”
A soft sigh escaped the young man’s lips. “I never would’ve thought I see the day you’ll accept a mission such as this. You were always trying to avoid studying.” He placed a hand on his chin, a face full of thoughts and doubts.
The brunette lightly slapped the book on the young man’s arm. “I feel offended. I learned plenty much on theories and recipes these past few years.” She huffed, puffing her cheeks out childishly. She placed a hand on her hip, raising her chin up proudly. “You’re looking at a whole new me!”
“Yes, yes, forgive me—oh, great Keyblade Master.” Ienzo did a mock bow, chuckling as the girl gave another light slap with the book. He could see the change within the girl as she strived to be a better keyblade wielder. Before and after the Mark of Mastery Exam, she would do her best in her studies and training. All of her hard work finally paid off, she was now dubbed as a Keyblade Master.
“Don’t say that. We’re friends. It feels weird when you say it.” The keyblade wielder gave a deadpan look, inching away from her friend.
“Right.” The young man laughed. He raised his hand, offering a good old handshake before they part ways. “Good luck, Hikari.”
Hikari happily shook his hand. “Thanks! And thank you too for the book.”
They smiled at each other.
“See you later then, Ienzo.”
Mirror, mirror on the wall
Who is the best—
Guided by the mirror of darkness
If you ever so desire, take thy hand that lies within the mirror
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
“—the last of it!”
Dire Crowley hummed in approval. “Thank you for your hard work.” He thanked the ghosts that helped carry the caskets to the Mirror Chamber. The casket floated above ground, guided by the ghost to be placed within the others in the Mirror Chamber. “Ah, this year we have a lot of young students chosen by the Mirror of Darkness.” he tapped his walking cane on the ground as he made his way towards the entrance of the building.
“All 211 immature and troublesome young men.” A fellow teacher beside him heaved out a heavy sigh. 211 was not a small number. It was far larger than last year’s enrollment number. The cat in his arms meowed loudly and he brushed his hand over its back. “I do hope the students are disciplined enough. I do not tolerate laziness.” He scoffed.
The Headmaster fixed his hat, “Then I suppose it is our role as teachers to guide the young ones.” He said to which was replied with a small sigh.
A paper neatly clipped together floated a few inches beside the Headmaster’s head. “Here you go, Headmaster! The list of the newbies’ names!” The ghost said rather enthusiastically.
“Thank you.” The Headmaster politely thanked the ghost before it disappeared. The papers fell into his hand. The claw rings creased the papers a little bit, but it didn’t matter—he could still read the names as clear as daylight. He tucked his cane under his arm and skimmed through the papers, looking briefly at the names listed. He stopped for a moment, stopping on page three. “Hmm? Such an odd name this young man has.”
Hikari
There was no middle name, no family name. Just his given name.
Just Hikari.
How peculiar...
What does it mean?
Flames that turn even the stars to ashes
Ice that imprison even time
Great tree that swallow even the sky
Show no fear to the power of darkness
Come now, show your power.
Click click
Thump
Thump
Click
"...that sound...” Hikari groggily woke up from her forced slumber. It was pitch black and the room she was confined in was small. There wasn’t a lot of space for her to move. She brought her hand to her eyes, trying to rub the sleepiness away. She took a deep breath. How long has she been asleep? Was it time to start her mission? She sighed in annoyance when there was a banging noise again. “I can’t think with that noise—!” She clicked her tongue as the noise became louder each second.
“Darn! People will come soon!”
The voice was slightly muffled, probably from the other side of the door.
“I have to wear the uniform—and fast!”
Thump thump
The brunette stayed still, not complete awake, yet very aware someone was trying to open the door where she was in.
There was a loud grunt. “This lid is so heavy! If it comes to this... I’m gonna have to use my last resort!”
Hikari raised an eyebrow when nothing happened in the next few seconds. ‘Did they give up already?’ She placed her hand on the door and closed her palm, planning to knock on it to inform whoever was on the other side.
Before she knocked, she felt the rise in temperature. The door was warm and she could feel the entire room she was confined in was getting warm and stuffy.
Bang
The door fell off its hinges with a loud noise.
“Well then! Now let’s get—HUH?!” The attacker jumped back in surprise when he saw the person’s eyes were wide awake. It raised a shaky paw, pointing its claws at the brunette who was equally as surprised. “Why are you awake?! You should be asleep!”
Hikari stepped out of the casket, giving a look. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but who wouldn’t wake up from that racket?” She huffed, keeping her distance with the enemy. It wasn’t what she considered as an evil villain. It was a cat, a cat with blue flames coming out from its ears. A cat, but it was bigger than any normal cat, a racoon perhaps. It looked similar to the Underworld’s Ruler, Hades. “Is there a reason for you to try and steam me alive, you little demon-racoon?” She crossed her arms, pouting.
The demon-racoon gasped, an offended look across its’ face. “How dare you! I’m not a racoon!” It shouted angrily, stomping his back left leg on the floor. The blue flames burst out from his ears in furry at the new nickname. “I am the great Lord Grim, y’know!? Treat me with respect, you pitiful human!”
Hikari held the urge to roll her eyes.
The demon-racoon began to ran on all fours towards her. “Enough chit-chat! Gimme those clothes! Or else I’ll roast you!”
“Excuse me!” Hikari pulled a look as she positioned herself to a fighting stance. “That’s a rude thing to ask!” She stepped aside and let the demon-racoon jump into the empty casket behind her.
“Gyahh!” The demon-racoon exclaimed when it face-planted to the cushioned casket.
As quickly as she can, she placed the broken lid back onto the casket. She jumped back and raised her hand. In one swift movement, a weapon appeared in her hand. The keyblade. She raised the keyblade to the casket, pointing it to the keyhole on the lid. A bright light emitted from the tip of her blade and it shot a ray of light. A click was heard.
The brunette gave a satisfied smirk. She summoned the blade away and not a second later, she was immediately regretting her choice to use the keyblade in an unknown territory. It wasn’t necessarily forbidden for her to use the keyblade in this world—Yen Sid never said so. She was advised not to until she can confirm it was safe for a keyblade wielder in the Villains’ World.
After all, the school she was attending was based on the powerful seven villains.
The casket began to shake, rocking side to side. “Lemme out! Lemme out! How dare you, human!” The demon-racoon banged on the lid, but with its little paws, it didn’t make much noise.
Hikari let out a short laugh. “I’ll let you out once you cooled down.” She knocked on the lid twice to make the shaking stop. “At the meantime, think about what you’ve done.” She said.
The shaking continued, more violently this time. “You little—!!!”
Hikari ignored the demon-racoon inside the casket. She tuned out the noise as best as she can. She looked around, observing the floating caskets around the chamber, some were floating and some were on the floor. The room was large and could hold up to probably more than a couple of hundreds. There were foldable chairs set up in the chamber—probably matching the number of students in the caskets.
She heard about the entrance ceremony briefly from her master. Only special students are allowed to be enrolled if they have the potential to become a great mage.
It was because of Yen Sid’s powerful magic that she could enroll in the prestigious school.
‘What time is it?’ Hikari hummed, trying to look for a clock. Instead of just waiting for someone to arrive, she planned to explore the school on her own. She glanced back and forth between the door and the demon-racoon. ‘Eh, I can make it back in time.’ She grinned to herself and headed straight for the door.
In the large room full of caskets, only one was awake.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
“It’s time to let out our cute kouhais~” a voice cheerfully said in a sing-song voice.
“But we have a lot of new students this year... It’s no wonder Headmaster Crowley asked us to help.” Another voice added.
“Right?” The first voice, the ginger-haired man replied, waving the key around. “It’s going to take forever if it’s just done by one person.”
“That’s when your unique magic comes in handy.” The second voice chuckled softly.
The ginger-haired man grinned. “Bingo~! Anything to help out our dear dorm leader and our wonderful headmaster~”
The second voice crossed his arms, giving a teasing look. “Are you sure you’re not doing this for extra credit, Cater?”
Cater gave an offended look. “Trey! How could you!” He placed his hand over his chest rather dramatically, feigning his hurt feelings.
“Stop fooling around you two! We don’t have much time to loiter around!” A voice shouted at them both.
The bespectacled man gave a sheepish look as he pushed his glasses up. “Sorry, Riddle.” he apologized.
“Sorry, sorry!” Cater laughed with an apologetic look, clasping his hands together in front of his face with the keys in between his palms. The noise inside the Mirror Chamber grew louder and louder as one by one, the new students were let out from their caskets. “Let’s do this! Split Card!” In a blink of an eye, the young man multiplied into four—including the real one.
“Alright! You two take the one on the right. You’ll help Riddle and we’ll take the ones over here.” Cater began to give the keys out to his doubles and each replied cheerfully before going towards the direction they were instructed. “Which one do you want to open first, Trey? Oh! How about this one? The little kid looks like he’s already awake!” He pointed to the casket that was shaking.
Trey blinked as he looked at the casket. The boy inside was indeed wide awake, otherwise how could the casket shake so violently.
“This one’s sure is lively!” Cater sweat dropped as he approached the casket. he knocked on the lid twice. “Hey there! Wait just a second, okay? Your senpai is going to unlock—” as soon as he turned the key, the lid fell down, hanging on one of its hinges.
“W—Whoa!?” Cater lost his footing and fell down in surprise when something jumped out. His loud exclamation made the whole room stop what they were doing and turn to look at him.
“Cater!” Trey quickly helped his friend up, staring at the boy that came out. “Hey, it’s impolite to—huh?”
“Where is that human?! Where is it?!” A small animal—a small talking animal was standing there, looking around the room furiously. Its eyes met with Trey and Carter before it darted towards the door angrily, running in between peoples’ legs. It exited through the door the moment someone came in. “Grrr!”
Its random appearance stunned almost everyone.
“What... just happened?”
“Was that an animal? From the casket?”
“An... animal... as a student here?”
Cater blinked, “That was a talking racoon, right?”
“I’m... not sure.”
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
“—”
“—Octavinelle!”
The Headmasters stood beside the Magic Mirror, holding a list of students in his hand. As soon as the Octavinelle student left the chair in front of the mirror, he called the next student up to the front.
“Will the student, Mr. Hikari, come forward?”
Silence.
A few seconds passed and there were already murmurs and whispers among the students.
Headmaster Crowley cleared his throat, “Will the student, Mr. Hikari, come forward?” He repeated, but alas the student never came to the front, let alone stand up from wherever they sat. He turned to one of the dorm leaders closest to him. “Ashengrotto, would you stand here in my place as I look for the missing student?” He said as he offered the list.
Azul Ashengrotto placed a hand over his chest, bowing his head respectfully. “Why, of course, Headmaster Crowley!”
“Will the student, Mr. Jack Howl, come forward?”
A tall young man walked down the aisle towards the mirror as the Headmaster walked the opposite direction. He walked around the room to exit the Mirror Chamber.
The door closed behind him with a soft click.
The Headmaster tapped his cane on the floor, tipping his hat up a little bit.
“Well then, where have you ran off to, Mr. Hikari?”
Mine, theirs, and yours
There's only little time left for us
Do not let go of the hand at all cost