Chapter Text
"Ah, my dear beloved lady... It is time..."
A disembodied voice started, a flicker of green in the dark room.
" My noble and beautiful flower of evil,
You truly are the fairest of them all,
Passion that burns like stars and resilience that continues to grow,
Flaws that shape your visage, and yet never weaken you.
You, whose image the Dark Mirror did beckon forth,
Follow thy heart and take my hand,
Lead on towards your journey,
Purify the corrupted, and save them,
As they will save you."
Green light, green fire slowly grew brighter, before flashing white as black feathers and lotus petals flutter to the floor.
A third key shines.
---
You wake up to complete darkness.
This wasn't your room.
Panic immediately erupted in your chest and your body went stiff, nerves alight with fear.
You couldn't see anything, so you raised your arms to guide you, only for your fingers to brush against smooth wood.
Taking a deep breath to calm your racing heart, you quickly came to the conclusion that you were stuck in a wooden box of sorts.
Well, you weren't going to wait around for your kidnapper to come and get you.
Sitting up as best you could in the enclosed space, you nudged the top of the box to see if it was locked. It wasn't, but it was shut tight and it would be hard to push it open when the box only allowed you to sit up on your elbows. But despite that, you had faith that you could break it open.
What, with adrenaline and all.
With a grunt, you push open the door and nearly lurch out of the box as gravity suddenly balances itself as the box you had been stuck in rearranged itself to move in a standing position, as if it had been hanging from a rope or on the edge of an elevated surface.
You take a step forward, only to yelp when you find nothing except air beneath your foot. You toppled over and face planted down onto the cold stone floor below.
You groaned, peeling your face off the ground, your scuffed hands and knees throbbing. Blinking, you turn your head stiffly to study the shape of the box...or rather, the coffin you had been in. A slight chill goes through you as you study the coffin, stomach churning uncomfortably at the sight of it.
"...Did I die?" You mutter under your breath incredulously because what the fuck-
You peered up and down the coffin you had fallen out of, only now realizing that your coffin was fucking floating.
What the hell???
"Mrahhh?? You ain't supposed to be awake?!" A comically high pitched voice exclaimed from behind you.
And as if you weren't already tweaking out, you turned and made eye contact with a tiny cat. And holy shit what the hell is that did you have to do a double take because what the fuck was this short ass thing and why was it speaking??
What the hell is this? A very short furry? A freak cat experiment gone wrong? Why, no, how the fuck was there literal fire coming out of it's ears? Were you high on drugs?
"What the hell are you?"
Now, you weren't trying to be dumb. The thing - whatever it was - looked like a fucking cat with its grey fur and ears, little pink nose, and big blue eyes, but, it was emitting actual fire - you could feel the heat coming off - and had a pitchfork shaped tailed that looked like the Devil himself had flex taped his weapon to the cat thing's bottom.
It could be an alien for all you knew. Or a spawn of the Devil.
Were you in hell??
The cat-alien-demon thing quickly bristles up at your questions, "I am the Great Grim! Sorcerer extraordinaire!" The cat - alien - demon - sorry, Grim, says. A part of you is surprised that a tiny alien demon cat knows the word extraordinaire.
Well, that, and the fact that it's actually talking.
"Okay..." You suck in a breath, "Okay, Grim. Where the hell am I right now?" Your eyes dart around the dimly lit and rather grand room. There was a single, large door in the room. Ceiling to floor windows made up most of the walls of the room, slightly covered by rose-red curtains. There were stone pillars with candle-lit lanterns on them, splashing a soft, orange glow over everything in the area.
There were more coffins, all identical to the one you had just been in, scattered around the room, each one suspended in midair.
In all, it looked liked something you'd see in Harry Potter. Maybe finally your Hogwart letter came.
The coffins were closed, unlike yours. You briefly wondered if there were more people inside.
Who even kidnaps people like this??
The little cat, Grim, stomps his paw on the ground, like a toddler throwing a tantrum, "Tch! Whatever, human!" he says it like it was a slur. "Gimme your uniform! And be quick with it!"
You stared blankly because you didn't even own a uniform like -
You blink at your sleeve. On you were long, black, skin-tight sleeves adorning your arms, the cloth covering the backs of your hands with the help of a black ring wrapped around each middle finger. Looking down at yourself, you saw that there was an extra layer of clothing: obsidian, silk robes with royal purple and threads of gold lining the insides and outsides. Someone had changed you while you were unconscious. You cross your arms uncomfortably around your torso.
It looked like something a cult would wear. Were you kidnapped by a cult? Did they need virgin blood or something?
"..." You purse your lips. You cannot be high, that's for sure, because you were a good upstanding citizen or something. Was this a really, really, vivid dream?
"Chop chop, human! Or I'll roast ya!" The kitty demanded, puffing out little burst s of fire from his mouth as if to back up his threat. Are you serious right meow, bro..
You slowly inched your hands to the cat as he cackled to himself. You grabbed him by his armpits and chucked the poor thing away as you scrambled to your feet and made a mad dash to your left.
There was no fucking way you were getting robbed by a CAT.
Plus...you weren't really worried about him. Cats always landed on their feet, right?
You hear his high pitched yelp as he was thrown fading away in the distance and you breathe a sigh of relief as if you weren't threatened by an alien cat demon and chucked said alien cat demon like your hopes and dreams as a child.
The sights around you were not short in breathtaking. Or maybe it was breathtaking because you literally could not breathe from how hard you had sprinted away. You should've taken your mom's advice and gone on a run once in a while because God were you dying.
The street you had run down looked like it was a part of some campus, which would explain why the fire kitty wanted your uniform. But why were you in a college in the first place? You were like a month from graduating highschool, but still.
But... you don't really care right now. There was urgently too much going on and you were more concerned on how you were going to explain your disappearance to you mom - because she is definitely hearing about this. Draco Malfoy style.
You stop for a moment, slumping against a door of some fancy building in some attempt to catch your breath. Once you were in the clear of not throwing up, you entered the building because maybe there was an actual person living around here that could help snap you out of this fever dream.
Holy shit. The building was a big ass library.
Your jaw dropped at the sight. "What is this place?" you whispered to yourself, staring at the floating books. What was up with this place and floating?
You watched the floating books flutter closer to you, twirling around your confused and honestly, low-key terrified form, pages turning as if they were curious. Like they were alive.
You were too caught up in gawking and poking at the books to hear the pitter patter of paw behind you. You let out a strangled yell as you ducked and rolled to get out of the way for a fireball, heart dropping from your chest to your ass.
"WHAT THE HELL, BRO!??" You scream, ducking behind a bookshelf. The poor floating books were set on fire.
"Did you really think you could get away from the Great Grim! Dumbass!" The cat places his paw on his torso (because he doesn't even have hips) to smirk triumphfully at you. "No way! I'll get that uniform and crisp you for throwin' me!"
"Don't call me a dumbass, dumbass!" You yell, "What the fuck, you just set fire to the fucking library-!" Your yelling dies off as you catch the sight of something glowing behind Grim. With the light of the fire beside you, you strained your eyes to make out whatever it was.
A person. There was a person just standing there, staring, just watching at you with glowing eyes-.
Grim follows your gaze, tilting his head before letting out a squeal as he was suddenly lashed by something.
"ME-OUWCH! That hurt! What was that?!" he yelled, trying to wriggled his way out of the rope binding him with tears of pain in his eyes.
"Consider it tough love." a voice mocked.
The bright yellow pinpricks appear as a man stepped from the shadows.
He's tall. You realize. Much taller than you, at least, with a top hat that made him appear more imposing. The feathers on his shoulders gave him an almost inhumane look. But the one thing that stood out was his mask. It looked like a plague doctor's, except that it only covered the top of his face. big black sockets concealed his eyes in shadow, only allowing the soft yellow to escape to allow you to see where the man was looking.
The man seemed to spare Grim a single glance before placing his gaze on you.
His gaze was... odd, to put it to words. It didn't escape you the way he simply seemed to soften at the sight of you.
It... almost reminded you of your father and that made you tense.
The man sighed in relief, "Ah, I've found you at last. Splendid! I trust that you are one of this year's new students?" he asked but didn't give you the chance to answer, " And my, were you ever eager to make you debut. And bringing a poorly trained familiar with you? That is a clear violation of the rules."
You stayed silent. Silence was the best option you had, seeing as this man seemed to know what was going on. Or maybe, he was your kidnapper and wanted to give you a false sense of security?
Either way, you were a tad too scared to talk right now.
At least Grim was a cat, at best, you could overpower him. Outrun him, too.
But this? He was a fully grown man, who towered over you like a building. He was fit, too. And you? You're a teenage girl who knows little to nothing about self-defense.
And you knew, instinctually, that he could kill you.
And judging by the way his gaze (s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶s̶o̶f̶t̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶l̶o̶o̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶) turned into a hardened glare.
But, taking in what he said, you deduced that he was a teacher of sorts, and most teachers don't go out of their way to harm students so you swallowed, opening your mouth to speak because there was NO way you were kidnapped and nearly set on fire and be scolded by some stranger. Mama didn't raise no bitch-
"S-sir.."
Nevermind, you're fucking pathetic. Mama clearly didn't raise nobody and before you could try to save your dignity, Mr. Fire Kitten forced himself into the conversation.
"HA!As if I'd serve some lowly human! Now lemme go-!" he started until the man snapped his fingers and Grim's voice disappeared along with the fire that was spreading behind you.
"Yes, yes. The rebellious ones always say that. Do be quiet, won't you." He deadpanned as if he didn't just gag Grim.
You wanted to cry.
"Dear me," okay grandpa, "Out of all the students I've dealt with, you're the first one to break out of their own gate." First of all, that was a fucking coffin, you were dumb yes, but not that dumb.
The man sighs, shaking his head. "Does the very notion of patience elude you, young man?" YOUNG MAN? "Well, no matter. The entrance ceremony has already begun." ..YOUNG MAN?
You take a cautious step back as the man approached you, his hand hovered over your shoulder, as if he was wondering whether or not to touch you. He paused and placed his hand down delicately onto your shoulder, gripping you as if you were made of glass.
You gently break out of the man's own gentle grip, leaning down to pick up a squirming Grim. You sweatdrop when you look up to see his gaze fully focused on you. You avert your gaze, staring at the floor.
The man lets out a sigh, before instructing you to follow. You do so wordlessly.
You clutch Grim close to your chest and thankfully he didn't protest. That tough love really shattered lil bro's ego. You could practically feel the crushed ego radiating off him.
"Who... who are you?" You ask, finally being able to speak without having the man yap over you.
"Oh?" The man ponders for a second, "dear me. It seem the magic has...addled with your memories." He sighed, as if he was disappointed, "Not idea for a student at this school, but no matter, I shall explain as we walk. The ceremony won't last forever." The man then turns his back to you, quickening his pace.
You follow him, struggling to keep up with him.
You felt like a duckling following its mother.
It's only until you reach a beautiful courtyard that he paused, allowing you to catch up. He smiled, almost amused as your facial expression unknowingly changed it glower at him.
(Y̶o̶u̶ w̶e̶r̶e̶ s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ t̶h̶e̶ s̶a̶m̶e̶)
The man clears his throat, lifting up an arm dramatically to gesture at a grand building.
"This is Night Raven College, where only those blessed with high talent and aptitude for magic may be gathered here as students of the most prestigious school in Twisted Wonderland!" He said, chest puffing in pride like some bird.
Also, what the fuck is a Twisted Wonderland? Was that what they were calling Britain these days?
"And, as you had asked, my name is Dire Crowley. I serve as Headmage of NRC."
...Crowley. Crow. This man's name was Crowley. You know, the man with the crow mask was named Crowley.
This...this had to be a fat joke. You're almost expecting John Quiñones from WWYD to show up and have the media ridicule you for being gullible.
You should have stayed in that coffin.
"Magic...?" You muttered as mental tears ran down your cheeks. You could feel your remaining brain cells die.
Crowley frowned fondly at your ignorance, "Only those who the Dark Mirror perceives as having a talent for magic are admitted to this college. Those who are selected are summoned to the campus through the gates. You recall ridng a black carriage, don't you?"
"No?" You wheeze. A carriage? Who rode in carriages nowadays? The Royal Family?
You stifle a groan.
You were getting restless and so was Grim, seeing as he started squirming in your hold once again. There was a pit in your stomach telling you that something here wasn't right and you could feel your body shaking as you increasingly become aware that this is real.
You were in a school that you had never heard of, listening to a man in a bird mask and honestly amazing cosplay yap on about how kind he is and something about his magic school - one that you are apparently a student of. It was the fact that he seemed so serious about it that it made your stomach churn nervously. You didn't even know where you are.
Would you be able to even return home at this rate? You don't even know if Crowley was telling the truth. Are you even going to make it home alive?
You didn't like how your body shivers and how your heart sinks at the thought.
"Now then, young man. Let us finally return to the entrance ceremony."