Chapter Text
Welcome Yuu Darling
(Chapter 1)
What Did The Mirror Summon?
Yuu didn't know where they were when they woke up. It was dark. It was cramped.
The sound of rattling came from outside.
“{Crap. People are coming. Got to get a uniform while...}”
What? What was that? They couldn't understand...
Yuu moved their hands around the container. Trying to find a way to open it. To see what they were in. They couldn't move around much. Their hands were only able to reach out in front of them a bit before hitting the lid. And moving their hands up to their face was impossible as the container did not permit much movement of the arms. Their elbows kept hitting the sides and stinging as a result.
There was no way out. There was no way they could get out of this container...
This was bad. This was bad! What was going on?! Where were they?!
Let them out! Let them out! By the Creator, please let them out! They have been trapped in small containers one too many times in their life!
“{Grr... The lid's too heavy! Time for my secret move! Gouwah~ There!}”
The lid of the container they were in came off in a blast of blue fire suddenly with those strange clicks and pops.
“{Ok Ok. Gotta get...}”
Yuu took in a desperate breath and shrunk back into the box before launching out of it. They will not be held captive! They were not doing this again! They landed on the floor below on all fours. Fabric flying around them. Forcing themselves back onto two feet they shook out their limbs. Black and purple cloth fluttering with their movements.
“{Whaaa! Why are you awake?!}”
The sounds still did not make sense. They looked down at the cat-like creature before taking in the room they were in. Apparently, they were kidnapped by a death worshiping cult this time. The floating coffins were very ominous. If Yuu perhaps tilted their head and squinted it could have been called beautiful. But they had more important things to do. Like, look for a way out of this large room.
“{You've got lotta nerve to ignore me when I am standin' if front of you. Your fate was sealed the moment I spotted you. Gimme those clothes already! Otherwise... I'll roast ya!}”
Blue flames flashed around the creature in response to its, supposed, words.
Yuu looked once at those flames before bolting for the pair of large doors they saw. They were not staying here! Forget it!
The doors opened with little resistance. They barely made a sound as Yuu shoved them open with a good push and ran out of the room.
Nope! Nahda! Not happening. They dealt with a cult at age eight. They were not dealing with another at fourteen! Forget it! They were outta here!
“{Why you~!} Stop right there!” the creature called after them. Oddly Yuu understood the last part of it. Despite the language not changing in the slightest.
They did not heed the creature. They kept running through the castle. A freaking castle, just where were they?! They dodged flames and ran. Hoping to quickly find their way out and find their way home.
Apparently, their clothes were changed when they were drugged. Yuu looked at it as they dodged balls of fire, dancing around them and running through the halls. It was an elaborate robe of black and purple with gold embroidery. The thing apparently had three pieces and came with boots and a belt. There was a hood too, which had fallen back and their long hair was flying around them as a result. Not that the hood could hold much of the hair they were so proud of anyway. They also seemed to have lost the white ribbon they tied their hair up with this morning.
Disgusting. They will have to hit the pervert who changed them against their will in the groin.
Fire flew at them once more.
Later! Fire breathing cat-creature behind them!
Go! Go! Go! Out Now!
They were outside in some sort of courtyard with a well. They were planning on going down a path that looked like it was going to go into a street with statues with a gate at the end. But a ball of blue flame made them take a hard turn and run into a building to the side.
A library by the looks of it. Just great got chased down by a fire-wielding cat-creature into a very flammable place. Great~. Just great.
They began sneaking around the stacks hoping to find a way out without the cat-creature finding them first.
The sudden wall of blue flame told them otherwise.
Crud. Not good. Cornered.
“{Did you really think you can get away from my nose?} Dumb human.”
Again with only understanding a part of the words coming from the creature.
Turning slowly, Yuu looked down at the small cat-creature walking up to them. Smug and self-assured. They had no weapons. The only way out was up the bookcases. While that was a very tempting idea there was the fact it was full of books and likely to catch aflame as they climbed. So not a good option.
“{If you don't wanna get roasted, better hand over...}”
The creature's words were cut off by some sort of cord wrapping around it suddenly.
Yuu took a few steps back toward the now flameless row behind them. New threat. Best be ready to run.
“{Buwah?!} Ow! {What's with this rope?}”
“{This is no mere rope. It is a lash of love!}”
More indiscernible clicks and pops as a man came around the corner. Yuu tensed and waited. Taking in the pale skin, the short wavy black hair, the smart-looking black vest and pant's combo with a classic white button-up with a black tie and blue-black dress shoes. The man's coat was a strange cut with black feathers coming out of the blue collar. There appeared to be three mirrors on the man's right hip with four keys hanging from them. A black top hat with a blue band was decorated with a mirror, a black feather, and three keys. He wore black gloves with gold clawtips. A key-shaped cane was in his right hand as he came closer.
The most concerning thing about this man was the black bird-like mask on the upper part of his face. Only showing two golden eyes and hiding the rest of his face. It only highlighted how strange this person looked, that something was just off about him. But just what Yuu couldn't figure out.
“{Ah, found you at last. Are you one of the new students?}”
At least this bird-like man didn't seem too hostile with his movements. But movements can be deceiving. They couldn't really discern the tone either. The clicks and pops blurred in their head as bizarre noise. Not even angelic tones and speech sounded like this.
“{You shouldn't do things like that. Leaving the Gate on your own!}”
That almost sounded like a scolding. Yuu shifted getting ready to run.
“{Not only that, you have yet to tame your familiar which has broken a number of school rules.}”
“{Let me go! I am not their freaking familiar!}” the cat-creature cried out in response to whatever the man said.
“{Yes, yes. The rebellious ones always say things like that. Just quiet down for a moment.}”
The creature was gagged. So Yuu could only guess what it said wasn't taken kindly.
They watched the man carefully as he turned his attention back onto them. They were lost and confused. There was no way in the Creator's name they were dropping their guard around this strange man.
“{My goodness. It's unprecedented for a new student to leave the Gate on their own.} Ugh... {How impatient can you be? The entrance ceremony is well underway. Let's head to the Hall of Mirrors.}”
The man motioned to the entrance they entered this building in before turning and walking away cat-creature floating behind him.
The words were out of their mouth before they knew what they were doing.
“If ya think I'm following, you have beans for brains!”
The man stopped. Before turning to look at them with a surprised look on his face.
Did he understand them? Was he going to lash out at them? Yuu didn't normally provoke like this but now the words were out they needed to see what he would do in response. Be it good or bad. They can work with it... They can work with it.
“{What this now? I did not understand that child. Would you be so kind to repeat that?}”
The man loosened his posture with his words. Making him seem harmless. Yuu knew that pose. That was a 'better be careful with your next words child' pose.
Papa used to take that pose all the time.
A growl rumbled deep in their throat. Their mouth widened to show teeth and to hiss out a reply.
“I have no clue where I am or who you are. Never mind what you are saying. I'm not following you anywhere.”
~~~
Dire Crowley did not know what to do in this situation. At first, he thought he was dealing with a student who was impatient and had an unruly familiar running around the school during the Entrance Ceremony. He had thought the shuffling and slowly tensing of the body was the boy feeling guilty of his actions or of his familiar's actions.
But those sounds. He has never heard such sounds before. Gurgling and whistling with no rhyme or reason to his ears. But when he asked for clarification, with a silent warning for playing around, the child replied in a completely different string of gurgles, whistles, with newly added hisses for good measure.
It was a language. And one he didn't know. Likely the child didn't understand him. And given the words of the raccoon dog, the creature likely didn't know what the boy was saying either. Which would be extremely strange for a familiar.
This was bad. While there have been students who mainly spoke in a local dialect, they always knew the common language. But this child didn't and was obviously scared. The boy possibly didn't realize where he was.
He couldn't think of any language he knew of that was similar to the one coming from the boy. He couldn't think of a spell to help him speak to the child either.
This was unprecedented. Dire was lost at what to do at the moment.
He needed the child to calm down and to follow him to the Mirror Chamber so the Dark Mirror could help. As it summoned the child here it likely could understand him.
Right, the hardest part of this was showing the boy he meant no harm. And that it was safe to follow him.
What a mess. Dire slowly breathed in deeply and carefully he opened his posture to the child. Acting as though they were a scared cornered animal. While the child likely wasn't beastman or fae even humans typically calmed down at such actions.
The child's mouth widened more at his movements. Their eyes narrowed and their posture bent forward hands curling into a position that suggested the child was used to clawing at his enemies instead of punching or spells. The child did not have a Magic Pen in his holster. He should have received his pen with his robes. Why did the boy not have it?
More importantly, the boy looked like a strange beast ready to attack now. The mouth of the child was pulled back impossibly far for a human, or even a beastman or most fae for that matter. The teeth were shown off in an act of fearful aggression. If they had ears that folded back they most likely would have been flat against the boy's head. A terrifying look that made his instincts scream to run! Something Dire forced back, he needed to look after the child. Now wasn't the time to be freaked out about how unnatural this child was! This was a scared child he had to focus on that.
As it was, Dire's attempt to show he meant no harm did not work. The child was more on edge than earlier. Looking like a tight spring ready to jump and attack at any moment.
Taking a deliberate deep breath he slowly got down onto a knee and put down his staff. While he didn't actually need it to cast most spells it was an obvious weapon and it would likely calm the child should he put it down and walk away from it.
Apparently so, as the child's posture slowly loosened and their mouth started to move into a more normal look instead of the mind-boggling position from earlier. As Dire slowly put his hands up in a show of the lack of weapons he began to speak softly and slowly. Hoping against hope that the child could understand at least a word or two of the common language.
“I am not going to hurt you.”
The child was still tense.
“You are at Night Raven College.”
He slowly gestured around them.
“We are in the library of the college.”
The child's eyes followed his hands but there was nothing suggesting that they were understanding his words.
“I am Dire Crowley.”
He moved his hands to tap at his chest as he said his name.
The child nodded slowly. Watching him warily for a few moments before speaking in that strange language.
“{Yuu Darling.}”
They mimicked him and tapped their chest with those words.
Right, so that was the child's name. Now, how to pronounce that? The whole name was not possible for him. But the first part...
“Yuu correct?”
The word was strange on his tongue. And by the look of the child's face not quite the correct pronunciation.
“{Yuu.}”
Dire was a bit glad to see the child slowly calm as he tried to pronounce the odd name.
“Yuu.”
The child fought back a smile as they jerked forward slightly, their shoulders shaking for a second before shaking their head and saying their name again.
“{Yuu.}”
“Yuu.”
“{Yuu.}”
The child was looking amused but still scared. It was a start.
“Yuu.” It was not quite right but it was the closest he could think of at this moment.
The child shook their head repeating their name again in their language before gaining a contemplative look on their face.
“Yuu.”
The child's attempt was off from his as it had a whistle and hiss undertone to it. But it was something someone could attempt to say in Twisted Wonderland's common language.
“Yuu then.”
The child smiled at him, soft and small which only highlighted how tense their shoulders were. There was a soft hum in the air that he could not pinpoint. It made the hair on his arms rise and the urge to run rose.
Dire forced it down with more force than last time. A scared child who was odd and making his instincts buck. Scared child.
“Dir..Dire~...” The child looked like they were trying so hard to pronounce his first name. While it was improper for a student to use his first name... At the moment that did not matter, his first name was easier to say than his last name so he will overlook it.
“Dire~” There was a hiss to the end of his name, but for an attempt without him correcting them it was very good.
“Dire Crowley.”
The child swallowed before trying again.
“Dire Crowley.”
It was a bit terrifying how quickly the child was picking up on the language. Given how different the two languages were.
“Crowley child.”
The boy nodded and tried again.
“Dire Crowley.”
Something rippled in the air around them as the child nearly pronounced his name correctly. Just a bit of a gurgle and a hiss under it. It almost felt like a True Name declaration, yet not. For a fae such as himself, it was terrifying.
He nodded and gave a soft smile. It was close enough. The child gave a small proud smile in return. Dire had to yet again force away his urge to run. The grumbling of the raccoon dog was a good distraction.
“Do you know this creature, young man?”
The child looked confused again. Apparently, that sentence was too complicated for him.
Before he could simplify it the child spoke.
“Man?” The child tapped his chest giving him a confused look.
Ah, likely not a boy then.
“Child then.”
The child seemed to loosen at that, looking a bit confused but nodding.
Right, Dire needed to tell the teachers a lot of things once this child started classes.
“Do you know this raccoon dog?”
He gestured at the creature for good measure.
The child shook their head.
“No.” The word was gurgly but understandable. They were making progress. That was good.
“I see.”
He will look into that later right now there were some important questions to ask.
“Where are you from child?”
There was a strange look in those brown eyes.
“Ink Town.” The words were strange in a hissy and gurgly way but he could understand them.
“...I've never heard of that place. I have a general grasp of where all the students came from but I've never even heard that name before.”
He carefully moved, broadcasting each movement so those bright brown eyes could track them with ease, as he summoned some of the books that may have any information of that location.
Something in his gut is telling him he will find nothing on “Ink Town”.
There was nothing in the history and nothing on even the smallest of maps. Dire was not surprised. After all, his spell did get only the closest to his needs for this search and only a few books and papers came to him. Some books of the general history which the small town was not mentioned at all. The world map and some smaller maps, all showed nothing the child recognized.
“Looking at all this, you may have somehow been brought here from another planet... There's also the possibility that you're from another world.”
He muttered it under his breath for the most part. The child only caught a word or two from him no doubt. Given how much and how fast he was saying.
“Another world?”
He looked up into the scared face of the child.
The image of the child scared and looking up at him while desperately holding onto the table between them. The raccoon dog bound not that far from them, the Lash of Love tightening the more the creature struggled. The memory of the broken Gate burned and empty. Not a child in sight.
It made his heart cold. He had not thought a familiar going loose until he saw the child being chased by the raccoon-dog. It appears his first instinct of an attack on one of his students was correct.
Carefully, he reached out and placed his hand on the child's.
“Let us go to the Dark Mirror. It will likely have answers.”
The child slowly nodded.
“It will assign you a dorm first. Once that is done we can get searching properly, alright?”
The child nodded and slowly moved their hand so it held his.
Dire will never speak of how his heart broke at that small gesture and the terrified look on the child's face. It was not something to share with the world.
This world was strange and dangerous enough for this lost child.
He will not add to it in such a way.
~~~
Riddle wasn't all that pleased with this year's batch of new students. He looked over the room with a critical eye. So many of them were not conducting themselves according to the rules. It appears that he will need to crack down on his new students to make them shape up and succeed in their studies.
As he gathered his students, he did not really pay much mind to his fellow dorm leaders as they gossiped among themselves. He had the gist of it. After all, he has been wondering where the Headmaster ran off to as well.
The sound of the doors suddenly being thrown open and the Headmaster making his way into the room with an exclamation of: “Not at all!”, made Riddle look over.
“Ah. He's here.” He took his position with the other leaders once more to see what the Headmaster wanted.
The Headmaster gave them a displeased look.
“I cannot believe you all. We were missing one new student so I went to find them.”
Riddle gave a slight nod of acknowledgment at that. An error he will not make again. He will make sure of that.
Moving his attention to the student behind the Headmaster he took in the wary gaze taking in the room. The long curly brown hair fell over their shoulders from their hood in a tangled mess. He also made note of the missing Magic Pen. Only the first day at the school and already had their pen confiscated. He will need to keep a close eye on this one, no matter which dorm they were assigned to.
Brown eyes met his blue eyes suddenly. It was a wary cool gaze that seemed to look through him.
It felt familiar. He did not like it. It was too much like his father's gaze.
Those eyes moved from him as the Headmaster turned to the student.
“You are the only one yet to be assigned a dormitory.”
The man was speaking slower than normal and was carefully pronouncing his words. Did the student have an issue with the common language? Or did they enrage the man so much that he was barely holding it in?
“I shall watch over the raccoon dog.”
There was a strange cat creature bound and gagged floating by the Headmaster. According to the Laws of the Queen of Hearts: Number 23 'One shall never bring a cat to a festival.' It appears Riddle will have to see that this student was informed of that later. Goodness, this student was looking to be a major troublemaker.
The Headmaster carefully lead the student to the Dark Mirror. Every movement was obvious and pointed. Speaking little and when he did it was soft and slow. The idea of the student having issues with the common language was looking more likely.
“Stand here in front of the Dark Mirror. And answer its questions.”
The student slowly followed the Headmaster's instructions and looked at the mirror.
The Servant of the Mirror appeared soon after and looked at them with a gaze that spoke of some familiarity. How curious. No other student got such a look from the Dark Mirror.
“State thy name.”
The student jumped and looked at the Mirror in surprise.
“Yuu.”
Riddle looked at the student in confusion. Just Yuu? No surname? For that matter, the pronunciation of 'Yuu' was strange and odd to the ears. It was in the common language of Twisted Wonderland yes, but there was a bit of a whistle and a hiss to the word.
“The shape of your soul is...”
The Servant of the Mirror looked the student up and down before giving them a wide-eyed look of surprise.
“I don't know.”
What? Riddle has never heard of this. Apparently, neither had the Headmaster as the man was surprised as well. However, given the familiarity broadcasted by the Mirror before, this was very peculiar. Just who was this student?
“I sense not a spark of magic from this one... the color, the shape, all are nothing.”
No magic?! How can that be?
The Servant of the Mirror's voice carried across the room more than it had for all the other dorm announcements.
“Therefore, they are suited for no dormitory.”
The Headmaster seemed to be holding back an exclamation of some sort before taking in a deep breath and carefully walking over to the magicless human.
He carefully got them to face him giving Riddle a glimpse of their face. The carefully blank face was so familiar it enraged him. He knew that look. He knew it quite well.
The magicless student somehow was brought to this school and apparently could not return home with the information that they were turned away.
Deep in his heart, Riddle understood. Even if he did not understand how a person without magic got into the school in the first place. He understood the pressure to not fail under any means.
The Headmaster was speaking in low soft tones that did not travel across the room, the whispering among the first years assisting in that matter. The man looked to the Mirror with a look of consideration.
“Of course, we will look into the matter further.” The words suddenly traveled far enough to be heard.
The magicless human closed their eyes and shook their head. A tremble in their hands as the Headmaster spoke softly once more.
“We will see what exactly caused you to be summoned here.”
The magicless human seemed like they were about to answer when the cat broke out of its bonds.
“Pah! Then I will take their place!”
The Headmaster quickly spun around and in a strange move stepped in front of the magicless human. His staff moved forward threateningly.
“Stay right there! Raccoon-dog!
The creature ignored him running down the dais stairs.
“Unlike that dumb human, I can use magic! Let me in the school instead!”
The feeling of magic building up made Riddle reach for his pen.
“If you need proof I'll show you right now.”
Need to get people out of the danger zone now!
“Everyone get down!” He called out.
~~~
Yuu was scared. Very scared. The Mirror was able to talk to them like Dire Crowley said. But apparently settling into the school as a proper student was an impossibility. Despite Mr. Crowley's soft promises to figure out what happened and get the information on their summoning to the school so they can go home.
They wanted Papa.
Tears started to form in their eyes as the man spoke carefully to them. They closed their eyes to hold off the tears. Yuu didn't want to cry in front of this man, much less a whole room of strangers. They were about to agree to his promise when the cat-creature broke free from its bonds.
Yuu could only shrink back as fire suddenly filled the room. The images of green fire overlapping with blue fire and the sound of chanting replaced the sound of shouts and what sounded like odd hymns. Their hands shook at the mixed images before them. The past and the present combined in the oddest ways.
Dire Crowley stepped before them in a defensive way. Cutting off the image of the room. Giving them a moment to breathe.
Until the smell of burning cloth hit them like a train from a painted tunnel.
They stumbled back, strange cloth fluttering around them as the urge to run built up. Their mouth pulled back, a growl bubbling up in the back of their throat, and their hands curling slightly.
Wide-eyed they could only listen as the cat-creature was chased around the room.
They couldn't breathe. They couldn't think!
It hurts...
Hands carefully moved to their shoulders causing them to jump. Looking up into Mr. Crowley's face they forced down deep breaths.
“It will be okay. The raccoon dog will be handled and sent away. I promise you.”
Yuu could only nod. Hands still shaking and breaths shallow in their panic.
They want to go home.