Chapter Text
Hmmm... *distant noise*
...
*sound getting closer and closer*
...?
*sound of voice*
The young woman starts to growl trying to turn around. Difficult thing given the strange lack of space she feels around her.
_It sucks, people will soon arrive! Quick, my uniform...
She frowns deeply at the sound of the voice. Damn, but is it so complicated to understand that she was on vacation and that she simply wanted to have at least a morning of quiet rest in this damn apartment?
In frustration, she strains one eye open, about to spit out part of her mind only to finally realize she's in some kind of strange padded box. She barely has enough space to turn around and she's actually starting to feel claustrophobic in there!
What the heck is she doing inside that thing?!
The air starts to run out of her with the skyrocketing panic, the adrenaline and she pushes with all her might, slamming her shoulder against the wooden part of the box in order to open a breach!
She hears the voice from earlier once again and it starts not to sound so unpleasant to her ears, finally.
_Hey! If you can hear me, please get me out of here! I'm suffocating!! I can not breath anymore !!
The audible growls behind the wooden fence stop for a moment to finally make themselves known again on the other side. She hears the stranger muttering to himself.
_Damn, no one was supposed to be awake! Huhum, do you want to get out of here?
_Yes ! She shouts with a strangled voice. Please, I can't breathe!!
_On one condition, I want your uniform!
Uniform ?
Sheva doesn't really have time to think about it properly and promises to give the person everything she wants, but she has to get out of there first so she can breathe properly!
_Step away from the door as much as possible! Warn the voice.
And she listens to it, melting as much as possible against the soft material against her back. A few seconds later, she hears a loud crash in the room and then smells something burning.
Then the "door" falls forward with a crashing sound and Sheva is finally free!
She collapses with her now on all fours on the ground taking deep breaths of fresh air into her lungs. She trembles in the process.
Adrenaline and fear are just beginning to flow through her veins.
A minute passes and then she feels a tug against the fabric she is carrying on her back on her left side. Sheva grabs her glasses that had fallen from her nose onto the floor and puts them back over her eyes in order to see more clearly.
_Thing promised thing due, Human! Shouts the falsetto voice from earlier.
She turns her gaze to thank her savior when her eyes land on a feline-looking creature (but much bigger than a normal cat and standing on its two hind legs like a human) but the most unexpected detail was certainly the pretty blue flames coming out of his ears and his tail ending in the shape of a fork.
Plus the fact that it could talk! Which was a very disturbing detail!
Sheva can't stop it even if she would have wanted to, she lets out a howl of surprise while crawling away from the creature to look at it with huge round eyes of incomprehension! She asks in a high voice:
_What are you exactly?!
The creature puffs out its fur-covered torso to impress its full height with a carnivorous grin (but if Sheva thought about it, the creature wasn't tall either, it must have come a few inches below a height mid-thigh if you count the tip of the ears.).
Seeing him smile is even weirder and a bit disturbing when you're not used to it.
_I am the Great Grimm! The most powerful wizard of this school, bow down to me!
Sheva stares at him in disbelief.
Wizard ? School ?
She definitely doesn't understand anything that's going on in the name of all the cosmic deities!
The carnivorous smile disappears from the face of this... Uh... Grimm? To make way for an adorably frustrated pout.
_And you promised me your uniform for help! I want my prize!
Oh ? OH !
That's right, she promised. She does not understand the situation, even less if it is not a kind of very well orchestrated televised hoax, but she has only one word.
She pulls the sort of ceremonial robe (which she doesn't remember putting on in the first place) over her head and timidly hands it to Grimm.
The "cat" (because he definitely is one in Sheva's mind) see the fabric of ill-concealed surprise across his features, as if he doesn't believe she's going to keep her word or his plan is going to work.
Sheva was relieved to find that she still had her sports bra and tank top to cover her up even though the odd ceremonial tunic was quite comfortable and kept her warm.
_I don't think it's the right size for you, but uh... I hope it suits you anyway, comments the young woman as she sees the cat struggling to put on the tunic over her fluffy body.
Grimm ends up sticking his flaming head out the right hole as he tries to fit his paws into the oversized sleeves. He has a beaming, excited smile and it looks like he's still having a hard time believing the tunic is now his.
If her situation weren't so strange, Sheva would think the creature was a bit cute. Instead of tanking a reply from Grimm (she didn't take offense.) she glanced around the room around them.
This is how she realized that her "prison" was a coffin and many others decorated the room, all closed with a lid made of beautifully carved dark wood. There is a huge mirror in the middle of the room placed in a Halo of light, it was decorated in complex and refined spirals.
But the most incredible detail was definitely the coffins and the mirror floating lazily in the air without any visual aid or rational explanation!
Sheva took a deep breath of air in an attempt to calm the nervousness and anxiety that gripped her every minute, ignoring Grimm's frustrated and impatient growls in the background. She slowly but surely began to become a nervous wreck!
_Raaaahhhh!!
She finally turned to Grimm who had let out the cry. This one was now on its back, struggling like a cat tangled in the threads of a ball of yarn. Sheva took pity on him and crouched down beside him to start rolling up her sleeves over the surprisingly soft, mouse-grey fur-covered paws of the fiery creature/cat.
Sheva received no thanks, but that didn't matter. She started speaking in her most stable voice in the current situation.
_Listen... I have no fucking idea where I am or what's happening to me... I want to go home. And you're the only person I can ask for help right now so... Would you mind... Uh... Helping me find a solution?
The cat frowned, seeming to think fast. Finally, he concludes:
_I will always need a Henchman! It's really a waste that you don't want your place in this school, it's super weird! But that's one more place for me so I'm definitely not going to complain Nyahehe!
Grimm rises to his feet, pads retracted like small fists on his hips. The sleeves may now fit his size, but the head hole slips over his upper chest where fluffy white fur rests and the bottom of the tunic drags on the floor all around him.
He trots with difficulty like a clumsily gaited duckling towards the door.
_Open that door, Henchman! Orders Grimm in an imperious tone.
Sheva twitches her cheeks and lips so as not to smile in a way the creature thinks she was laughing at him. Of course, he was too small to reach the doorknob.
_Of course, she said simply, hiding her amusement.
And like that, they walked many corridors, Grimm constantly bragging about his power and his seemingly impressive prowess. At one point they reached a hallway with arched openings leading to a patch of grass.
The wind was chilly and Sheva couldn't tell if it was too early in the morning or a gathering darkness at the end of the day.
The architecture and the place brought back to her memory a place of the same appearance belonging to a school of magic that she dreamed of integrating as a child.
Sheva stopped wandering in thought when Grimm began to mumble under his breath.
_I'm going to end up being late...
The young woman stopped in her walk to turn her gaze to the form of her companion in misfortune.
_Are you expected somewhere? Am I holding you back in your obligations?
Grimm turned surprised eyes in his direction, seeming to remember his existence. He recovered as if nothing had happened.
_Um yes ! Yes exactly ! I'm already supposed to be at the homecoming ceremony!
_Oh, I'm sorry, she said kindly. We can part ways if you're in a hurry... Hmm... I'll find someone who can help me. My mother always says studies are always a priority, I wouldn't want you to get in trouble from the first day of school.
Grimm was about to answer when suddenly, a whip cracked through the air and wrapped around the flaming cat! Both the creature and the human squealed in startled surprise until a surprisingly strict, but also oddly playful voice rose in the air.
Grimm twisted like a worm in an attempt to free himself. He muttered some rather imaginative curses at the whip.
A man, presumably the holder of the voice, appeared.
He was tall and wore not only an outfit rather resembling that of a Dandy with a top hat quite suitable for carnival, but also a strange raven-billed mask. Or else it looked like he was wearing a stage outfit. Sheva suppressed a gasp when the man spoke again:
_My whip of love has acted again! Ah, I finally found you. You are one of the new students, aren't you? You must not leave the Gate alone, my dear! And look at this mess, leaving your ceremonial dress to your familiar, it's not very aesthetic and this beast must have stuck hairs all over the fabric!
_Let me go ! I'm not their damn familiar! Grimm protested angrily.
The strange man replied:
_But of course, that's what all the rebels say. Calm down for a moment.
Sheva was going to confirm the words of the flaming cat and that she was absolutely not a student, but as if by magic, Grimm was gagged with the impossibility of saying another word!
The human found herself silent with apprehension, afraid of suffering the same fate if she ever contradicted the man with the whip. After all, she didn't know him and in today's world she lived in, contradicting or upsetting an unknown man was quite risky, especially for a young single woman.
With difficulty swallowing her own saliva, the young woman heard the man in the mask continue his diatribe:
_My god, this is unprecedented for a new student to leave the Gate on their own, the strange man turned to her with a sigh. Ugh... How impatient can you be? The entrance ceremony is already well underway. Head to the Hall of Mirrors!
Thus, Sheva found herself following him in silence as Grimm, still bound and gagged, was dragged carelessly behind them. The young woman was careful not to reveal that if she got out of this coffin (not a "door" whatever the slightly disturbed man would say) it was only thanks to the help of the feline-looking creature. When she came out, it smelled burnt, and Sheva thought her new companion must have melted the latch by her own mysterious means.
She also noticed that the man in the fancy clothes addressed her with masculine pronouns. Obviously, either he hadn't noticed her breasts and her very visible cleavage under her bra and tank top, or he thought that despite her female anatomy, she was defined by male pronouns. Sheva didn't try to question it, although she personally identifies as a cisgender woman.
If it pleased this strange individual and kept her away from an adverse reaction, then so be it.
Sheva had a million questions and she didn't know if she could ask them. She still tried her luck with the hope that it wouldn't degenerate the situation.
_Excuse me, sir... Hum. You mentioned doors, but I didn't see any in the room I woke up in, so...?
The man answered while continuing to walk straight ahead.
_All students admitted to this academy must go through one of these doors to get here. Normally, students only wake up after opening the door with a special key, but...
Again, he was talking about doors instead of coffins. And they were definitely not doors despite their lids!
Sheva just nodded in agreement as if this was perfectly normal. Despite that, she gritted her teeth and that absolutely did not answer her question!
However, the following explanations gave some clarity to this whole fiasco.
_The students bid farewell to the only world they have ever known and are reborn. These doors were designed with such feelings. Oh, great god! Now is not the time to dwell on it! The entrance ceremony will soon come to an end. Moving forward.
This "rebirth" story at least now explained the coffins. But to her, it looked more like some sort of hazing than anything else.
They hurried on to arrive this time in a beautiful green courtyard with benches, an apple tree weighing under the weight of beautiful red apples and a well at the crossroads.
However, Sheva still had questions and she wanted answers. She also wanted to clarify once and for all that she was NOT a student, whatever this mysterious place was!
_Wait a second! Where am I, exactly?!
The man looked at her with astonishment, but also with sympathy.
_Are you still dizzy from waking up? It looks like the teleportation magic left you disoriented... well, whatever. It happens quite often. I'll give you an explanation as we get to our destination, he added as a sort of compliment to himself. Because I'm so kind.
The young woman raised an eyebrow when she saw the man throwing compliments at each other. But listened more seriously when he cleared his throat to speak.
_Ahem.. You are at Night Raven College. Rookie and up-and-coming mages of unparalleled talent congregate from around the world here at Twisted Wonderland's most prestigious magical academy. And I'm the director appointed by the chairman of the board of trustees in charge of universities, Dire Crowley. Only mages deemed worthy by the Dark Mirror can attend this school.
Magi? Magic? Twisted Wonderland?!
Did we drug his glass of Ice Tea last night? Or maybe she hit her head?
The only thing with a modicum of consistency in this man's speech was his name.
Indifferent to the internal panic of the young woman this... Dire Crowley continued his explanations.
_...An ebony carriage should also have gone to meet you.
Didn't he mean a hearse instead of a carriage? Since it was this kind of car that was supposed to transport the coffins from one place to another.
And suddenly, remembering the words just said, the image of a horse with a terrifying face appeared in his mind!
_The Ebony Carriage will welcome new students chosen by the Dark Mirror, continued Crowley. These are special carriages that transport the doors to the academy. They are there for special occasions. Isn't that what conventional wisdom has dictated for days of yore?
A what of what?
_So you say that a carriage has just brought me here alone?! Says Sheva instead.
She'd asked the question without thinking, but the Headmaster still didn't seem to notice and replied conversationally, ignoring the angry noises Grimm was trying to make in the background.
For a bit and Sheva would have almost forgotten her companion in misfortune.
_Oh, but it's true that you need your outfit for the ceremony!
And by "enchantment" the ceremonial tunic disappeared from Grimm's fluffy body and appeared in Crowley's hands. There wasn't a shadow of fur on the fabric.
_Put on your outfit and come, let's go to the ceremony, finally said the Headmaster.
Awkwardly, Sheva put the tunic back on her shoulders and then they walked through a door.