Chapter Text
Oh no… not again…
The mirror pulled her into what appeared to be a medieval castle. Claire stood inside a large chamber with curved stone walls. It was dark, but the large decorated brass chalices on the floor contained enough light for her to see the tall smooth columns and the heavy curtains that hung above. Near the center of the room were small steps that led up to the giant wall that was blank except for the life-size oval-shaped mirror with a frame decorated with gold inlay. The stones that bordered around it were inscribed with strange hieroglyphics and were the only thing that didn’t fit the decorum of the room.
Dragged into a mirror to see another mirror… Is this some sort of mirror-ception? Claire thought.
However, Claire wasn’t alone in the room. A tall woman wearing a five-spiked crown came in from the large wooden door and shut it so softly, that it barely made a ripple of noise in the room. Her black cloak trailed across the floor as she walked regally toward the mirror. The long purple gown she wore had long flowing sleeves, which gave her a rather full but commanding appearance. Wrapped around her slender waist was a braided red rope that accentuated her already slim figure. A black balaclava covered her ears, neck, and hair, revealing a stark contrast of her ruby red lips to her rather ice-sculpted face and black eyeliner and mascara.
She was breathtakingly beautiful, and her cold unforgiving eyes judged anyone who dared to disagree.
No, no, no, no. Not her. Even though this was all a dream, Claire shrank away in fear.
The queen stood in front of the mirror, the glass revealing a pale reflection of her magnificence against the void. She held up both arms toward the ceiling and chanted in a loud, clear voice.
“Slave in the magic mirror, come from the farthest space. Through wind and darkness, I summon thee. Speak! Let me see thy face!”
Although the window was shut and hidden by the drapes, the Queen’s robes flapped as gusts of air somehow found their way into the room and howled wails of despair.
Although the chamber remained dark and unchanging, the mirror flashed streaks of lighting and then burst into flames from within. In the past, Claire would’ve yelped from shock, but her experience with the Dark Mirror taught her that fire bursting from inside was as normal as having a magical talking mirror could be. There were some differences. The fire was red, not green, and smoke obscured the inside. But the face was an exact replica of the Dark Mirror’s back at school.
“What wouldst thou know, my Queen?” it asked in that Dark Mirror somber voice.
“Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” the queen asked, drawing out the word ‘who’ as if to imply that the answer should be obvious and standing right in front of it.
Wait, did I hear that right? The fairest? She has this giant talking mirror, and THAT’S the big question she asks. Claire thought and stared in disbelief.
“Famed is thy beauty, Majesty. But hold, a lovely maid I see. Rags cannot hide her gentle grace. Alas, she is more fair than thee.”
As the mirror spoke, Claire struggled a bit with its rather archaic speaking. It was like she was watching a Shakespearean play without subtitles. However, the mirror did seem to imply that someone was much more beautiful than the queen – which was not a good sign based on the sour expression on the woman’s face.
“Alas for her!” she hissed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Reveal her name.”
A chill went down Claire’s spine, and the room felt darker and much colder than before.
The theater mask opted to remain cryptic and merely said, “Lips red as the rose. Hair black as ebony. Skin white as snow.”
The description didn’t mean anything much to Claire, but the queen’s face blanched as she gasped in horror.
“Snow White!” she hissed.
Huh? Snow White? Who is that?
The dream distorted, taking the room with it, and now Claire was outside in what appeared to be a castle’s courtyard. The warm sunlight and greenery that climbed along the castle walls were a stark contrast to the dark chambers. However, Claire had a feeling that she didn’t travel too far from the previous location. The queen was somewhere around here.
The sound of creaking nearby made Claire turn her head to see someone unfamiliar now.
A young maiden stood near a wishing well; several white doves cooing around the edge. The girl hummed as she slowly pulled on the rope to fetch a wooden bucket of clean water from below. Despite being dressed in rags, she had a smile on her cherry lips. She was incredibly beautiful with her pale white skin and doe eyes.
Snow White… Quite a literal name, the voice spoke inside Claire’s head.
As Snow White sang, the bottom of the well echoed back her beautiful voice.
I’m wishing~
(I’m wishing~)
For the one I love...
To find me~
(To find me~)
Today~
(Today~)
Wow, she sings as good as that mermaid, Claire thought.
Snow White's voice was clear, and her notes floated. The well amplified the sound and allowed it to reach beyond the courtyard.
Wait. She said (or rather sang) that she loves someone. Who could that be?
Out of the corner of her eye, Claire spotted a young man with a white feather stuck in his velvet hat on his head and in a rather fine elegant tunic and boots. On his back was a cape that went down to his knees. He looked to be royalty, perhaps a prince. His eyes, however, were fixated on the scullery maid. With a small playful grin on his face, he quietly made his way to Snow White who was still singing.
I’m wishing for the one I love to find me~
(To find me~)
Today~
The prince sang in harmony, his face next to Snow White’s as he turned her solo into a duet.
The young man’s sudden appearance startled the young maiden though. Her eyes widened with recognition, and she covered her mouth with her hand as her cheeks flushed. Before the young man could so much as say ‘hello’ and apologize for his sudden appearance, she immediately ran into the nearest door of the castle and slammed it shut.
However, the young man wasn’t deterred. He quickly sank down to one knee and reached out with one hand in a Shakespearian manner.
Now that I found you,
Hear what I have to say,
One song, I have but one song,
Only for you.
A great singer and a charmer, Claire thought as the prince continued to serenade.
Apparently, Snow White thought so too. She slowly came out onto a nearby balcony and looked down in what could only be described as pure love and joy as the prince continued to sing just for her.
Or that was what the two lovebirds thought.
Claire felt a pair of glaring eyes from above, and when she glanced up, her blood ran cold. Of the many windows that dotted the castle, the large lattice one revealed the queen to be staring down with the most furious expression on her face. She didn’t speak as the prince sang but quietly grabbed a fistful of the drapes that hung on each end of the window and snapped them shut.
Instantly, the world vanished, and Claire never heard the rest of the song as she was ejected out of the dream and dragged back to the front of the mirror in her room.
The room was quiet and peaceful, but she couldn’t forget the silent rage on the Fairest Queen’s face.
That woman’s pride was torn to pieces. She was not going to take this lying down.
“So cold… I don’t wanna go to school today,” Grim mumbled as he grabbed the blanket and pulled it tighter around him.
If someone spotted him just sprawling there on the unmade bed, wrapped around in thick blankets, they would probably assume he was someone’s large pet cat or raccoon… before he spewed blue flames out from his mouth and scorched off their eyebrows.
He was no one’s pet, he would exclaim. He was the ‘Great Grim’ – the greatest mage in all of Twisted Wonderland. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t human. That was an irrelevant detail despite him not having opposable thumbs.
Grim was not a humble or modest sort of ‘cat,’ but then again, few were modest to begin with.
Although he was the size of a giant gray raccoon, Grim was actually a talking dire beast with a preference for premium tuna cans. He had a devil pitchforked tail and blue flames coming out from his pointed ears. Around his neck was a little black-and-white striped ribbon wrapped into the shape of a bow and a small purple crystal pendant, a tool to help control his magic.
Of course, he wasn’t the greatest mage – not yet as he would stress. He currently went to a prestigious magic school called Night Raven College, which was located on Sage’s Island. It was so prestigious that it was based on invitation only where geniuses like him would train and become the best mages in the land.
At least that was what he would tell you.
The truth was that he wasn’t exactly ‘invited’ to Night Raven. He had snuck in before the opening ceremony, started a conflagration that almost burned down an entire room, and promptly got kicked out of the premises. It was only thanks to a certain human that he managed to stay on as a janitor at first and then become a ‘half-of-a-student’ soon after.
Speaking of her, Grim noticed that the other side of the bed was missing a familiar warmth. He looked up to see his henchman already up and dressed.
While Grim called her his henchman, her actual name was Claire, and she was a hundred percent human. She was quite a bit ordinary compared to Grim or anyone else at this school, but it was her ordinariness that made her a rather curious and excellent subject for social media discussion.
Since Night Raven was an all-boys school, Claire was technically the only female student on campus. However, it was her lack of magic that made headline news when the Dark Mirror mysteriously accepted her despite only selecting students with magic. It was unheard of, an anomaly for sure, and a topic that, after more than six months, was still on the back of everyone’s mind, even after it had slowly faded away from headlines.
And that was only what the public knew.
Claire had another secret – a secret that only a few were privy to know.
She was acting weird again today, Grim thought.
Claire kept staring at the mirror that was hung above the fireplace mantle with such fiery intensity that could melt a candle or two. Grim noticed that she had been doing this a lot recently for the past few days. It must be a human thing where all teenagers are obsessed about how they look and what they wear – not that the latter really matters. Everybody had to wear a uniform when attending classes on campus.
Although he was still cold, Grim grudgingly got out of bed and immediately trotted over to Claire.
“What are you doing?” he complained, tugging on her pants.
“Huh? Oh morning, Grim. What time is it?” Claire asked, looking down at him. She didn’t seem to have heard his earlier comment as she glanced back at the mirror again.
“It’s almost seven. Come on, we’re going to be late. You don’t need to make your hair that perfect.” He trotted off to the bathroom, not noticing the worried look on Claire’s face.
As she stared at her smoky reflection, Claire took a shaky breath and repeatedly lied to herself,
“It was just a dream. It was just a dream…”