Chapter Text
BAM!
The sound of bodies slamming against cold, hard wooden surfaces fills the otherwise silent room.
Ace Trappola groans as he slowly rises to his feet, brushing off specks of dust from his uniform. So does the person who’s more unfortunate than him given his falling position, Yuu of the Ramshackle dorm. After making sure that no injuries ensue, they both take a quick scan of their surroundings.
A small room. Wooden floor. Kitchen cupboards, a sink and an oven. Across from them is the dining table, the four chairs neatly pushed in. In one corner of the room, several boxes are stacked on top of each other. There's not much else. All in all, it looks very much like someone's humble abode.
Ace and Yuu exchange glances, unsure of what's going on.
"Right. So..." Ace scratches his head, "where are we?"
"I thought you might know."
"Why would I? Anyway, we better get out of here first. It doesn't look like anyone's home."
Yuu can't argue with that.
There are two doors visible from where they're standing, but thanks to the simple layout of the room, it's not hard to see that the other door leads outside. They make their way towards it. Ace swings the door open without a second thought.
The view behind the door is nothing but a green expanse that seems to go on forever.
"Gimme a break..."
As usual, Ace doesn't bother to hide his annoyance when things are not going well for him.
"Is that... the forest behind the campus?"
"It's not."
"How do you know?"
There's a moment's pause as realisation dawns on Ace's face. With a frown he admits, "I don't know, it just feels... different?" Then he turns his head left and right to see if there's anything that might give them a clue as to their whereabouts, but there's really nothing but the house and the forest. And a small narrow path through the latter.
"I think I'll just check..." The words hang in the air as Ace's expression changes to one of disbelief, his hands reaching into the depths of his pockets. His movements become more frantic as the seconds pass.
"What's wrong?"
"My phone. I can't find it anywhere—"
"Did it fall out of your pocket? Maybe it's in the house?"
Ace doesn't even reply to Yuu's suggestion, opting to crawl back into the house before the sentence has even finished. A few moments later, he comes out with a louder groan than before. An uncomfortable feeling creeps into the pit of Yuu's stomach.
"It's not there?"
"No. It must have fallen somewhere else. How lucky, right?"
"Somewhere else where?"
"Dunno, man. Somewhere. Out there. Don't you think we fell a long way back then?"
The mention of the long fall makes Yuu pause for a moment. He tries to remember the events that led to their current predicament. What did he do again? It's an ordinary day, just like any other, except for one thing.
Grim is nowhere in the dorm.
An hour of waiting and searching all over Ramshackle brings no reward for Yuu's efforts. Grim is still nowhere to be found. Not even the ghosts have any idea where Grim is.
Convinced that this is just another one of Grim's antics, Yuu finally comes to terms with the fact that Grim is no longer in the dorm and decides that it's best to attend classes as usual. Who knows. Maybe Grim decides on a whim to go to the campus earlier than usual for who knows what. He just hopes that the magical beast isn't in trouble or something.
But the morning class passes without Grim turning up.
Crewel, who doesn't take kindly to disobedient students, frowns at the news of Grim's disappearance. But he says nothing more than, "If you find him later, tell him to come straight to my office."
When Grim still fails to show up for lunch, Yuu starts to get worried. He's in the middle of eating his sandwich in the cafeteria with Ace and Deuce when he hears the headmaster's voice right behind him. He had apparently been alerted to the situation by Crewel. So out of the goodness of his heart, he goes to check on Yuu.
Not because he's about to order him to look for Grim or anything like that...
The pieces are starting to fit together in his brain. There are still gaps here and there, but now Yuu is more or less sure that this is what he did last time. He uses the remaining time to look for Grim, venturing into the woods behind the campus after being sure that Grim is not in the Ramshackle, the campus buildings, or any of the other seven dormitories.
After that—
…
After that... what?
What is it about that long fall that he is trying to remember...?
Somewhere, deep in the back of his mind, a sense of foreboding threatens to rise to the surface. But it's gone the moment someone snaps their fingers right in front of his face.
Blinking slowly, Yuu looks up to see Ace looking at him strangely.
"Are you okay? I know this sucks, but you don't have to look so scared. Let's just go that way and see if we can get out of here."
There's nothing unusual about the way Ace talks or behaves, but there's something about him that Yuu can't quite put into words. It's like walking through a thick fog. Or the uncomfortable feeling of having the word right on the tip of your tongue, but not being able to get it out.
Yuu mentally shakes off the unpleasant thoughts and feelings and turns his gaze to the narrow path Ace is talking about. They can't see what's at the end of it, but it's not like they have many options.
"Yeah, let's go. If it gets too dangerous, we can always come back here."
With that in mind, they head off deep into the forest.
---***---***---
"..."
"Wh..."
"..."
"WHERE IN THE NAME OF THE GREAT SEVEN IS THIS?!"
Yuu winces slightly at the volume of Ace's voice, but she couldn't help but sympathise with Ace's thunderous cry. After all, there is a vast expanse of buildings and landmarks in front of them that are completely unfamiliar to their eyes. The air in the atmosphere doesn't feel right either, even though the sun is shining brightly high in the sky.
Yuu looks at the forest they just came out of behind them, then back at the town.
People fill the busy streets, paying little attention to the two students. Several stalls stand proudly on both sides of the street, and even though the voices of merchants and shopkeepers echo throughout the place, Yuu couldn't make out what they were selling. Something to do with magic, perhaps? It's thanks to the cacophony of noise that the passers-by don't give them more than a glance.
"This... isn't the city on Sage's Island, is it?" Yuu looks around, unsure. A small part of his mind wants to be optimistic, but in the end, he knows by heart that no place on Sage's Island looks like this.
"Hell, no. Pretty sure I've explored every nook and cranny of that town..." Ace starts to turn his head in every direction as well, bumping into a stranger.
Yuu pulls his hand aside.
"I mean," Ace continues, now that they are on the less busy side of the street, "it's clearly not a harbour town. You can hear the sound of the ocean when you're on Sage's Island, however faintly. But here? No. The only sound of water I hear is that."
The end of his index finger points to a small water fountain near what appears to be a park. Yuu almost laughs, strangely relieved that Ace still has a sense of humour despite the situation.
"So, what do we do now?"
"Walk around...?" Ace shrugs. "We'd better find an internet café or something..."
He scratches his head hard and moans instead of finishing his sentence. There couldn't be a better time to hear the sound of hoofbeats approaching. A moment later, a horse-drawn carriage passes them, and Yuu suddenly understands what is going on in Ace's head.
Cobbled stone streets. Quaint little houses. Horse-drawn carriage.
This doesn't look like the sort of place that keeps up with technological advances. Finding an internet café would probably be a more difficult task than expected.
"Maybe if we get lucky..."
As luck would have it, they don't. Fifteen minutes and three people later, both are forced to accept the harsh reality that people don't even recognise the word internet.
"Seriously? Not even the young people know? How isolated is this place?" Ace is stunned, unable to fathom the unfathomable: people living without the internet.
"It's not even this bad in Harveston, I think..."
"Harveston?"
"The village Epel comes from. I was there once for a festival," Yuu explained, "and I think the people there aren't too used to the internet either. But to be fair, there are fewer people there. And most of them are older, so..."
"Ah, yes, right. I remember Epel mentioning that too. He looked happy and all that when we were walking around the little town on Sage's Island, and I thought, 'Why is he acting like he's never seen these things in his life?' But, well, he never has."
"I bet he made a face at you."
"Yeah, like this."
Ace does an impression of an angry Epel. It reminds him of Epel, but at the same time, it doesn't. Yuu can't help but laugh.
For a while, they continue their somewhat aimless walk along the main street while talking.
Only when a loud, stern voice calls out to them do they stop.
"Both of you, halt!"
In a knee-jerk reaction, they do as the stranger says, even before they register who it is. Both look forward and find a figure clad in metal from head to toe. Yuu is reminded of the picture of a knight he saw in his textbook during a history lesson.
Before he has a chance to pursue this line of thought, the knight-like figure approaches, stopping less than three paces in front of them. He's not much taller than Ace, but his piercing gaze and imposing aura make him seem towering.
The knight-like figure demands mercilessly, "Who are you?"
"Eh?"
It's not a strange question per se, but the bluntness of it takes either Ace or Yuu by surprise. They are at a loss for words, and the knight (Yuu decides that this knight-like figure must be a knight somehow) presses on.
"What is your purpose, loitering around the castle grounds?"
...Castle?
The word grabs both of them almost immediately. Yuu now realises that they are standing on a large suspension bridge that connects the town, which he notices is already far behind, and that they are standing on a large field with a high and impressive-looking wall. Far behind it, Yuu can catch a glimpse of a majestic, intricately designed building of the castle.
Tearing his gaze away from it, he once again meets the icy gaze of the knight. Or, more accurately, the castle guard, now that the situation has sunk in.
Not that Yuu has the luxury of thinking about that right now.
Ace holds his arm up in the air, then says, as amicably as he can, "Hey, wait! We're not bad people. We've just come from a long way and are looking around."
His lines flow so smoothly, without a hint of stuttering. As you would expect from Ace Trappola.
The guard narrows his eyes slightly, examining them from top to bottom, as if trying to judge the veracity of these words by their appearance. After a beat, he tries: "Tourists?"
Ace doesn't miss a beat and nods enthusiastically. "Yes, we are!" The broad smile on his face is nothing but the picture of friendliness. And maybe, somewhere on the edge, a hint of harmless ignorance, which, knowing Ace, is probably what he's going for.
The guard, however, isn't so easily convinced. The tone of his voice doesn't soften, even as his posture relaxes slightly.
"Where do you come from?"
Well, that's a tricky question. Yuu couldn't very well answer it with "I'm from another world!" and be merrily on his way as the guard let them go, taking him at his word.
Ace, on the other hand, does not lose his composure. The answer comes easily.
"We are the students of Night Raven College."
At that moment, Yuu had never been so grateful for Ace's cunning.
Unfortunately, the relief didn't last long. The guard's expression shows no sign of recognition at the mention of Night Raven College, one of Twisted Wonderland's most prestigious educational institution. Inevitably, neither Ace nor Yuu are expecting this. Most people, no matter how little they know, will know what it means to be a student at NRC.
Since the guard isn't one of those people, he isn't the least bit moved. If anything, the vigilance with which he stopped them earlier seems to return.
"And where is this Night Raven College you speak of?"
Yuu definitely isn't imagining the hint of challenge in that tone, is he?
At that moment, another voice comes from behind the two.
"What's going on?"
Ace and Yuu immediately turn around to see the newcomer whose voice is all too familiar to them.
Standing there against the backdrop of the bustling town is none other than Deuce Spade.
--end of ch. 01--