Chapter Text
Darkness.
Complete and utter darkness.
That’s what you think as you open your eyes. You try to stretch out your arms but there doesn’t seem to be much distance before your arms bump against the walls.
You place your palms against them. It’s a smooth, solid surface. You ball up your hands into fists and hit the walls of the enclosure. It’s something that perfectly holds your body in place. Is it a box?
You vaguely recall the voice that you heard before awakening, “ For me. For them. For you. We are all running out of time. No matter what, never let go of that hand. ”
Your head hurts. What hand? Who is ‘ them ’? Who was the ‘ me ’ that was talking to them?
You click your tongue. How annoying. You need to get out of here. You hear the sound of something or someone scuttling around.
And then, you hear a muffled voice. “Crap. People are comin’. Gotta get a uniform from one of these things!”
You hear scratching. Is it in front of you or above you? The being behind it growls, “Grrr… the lid is too heavy. Well, time for my secret move!” They say. All you see is-
-Blue.
Bright blue.
Fire.
Your instincts overtake you, it’s good that they do, otherwise you would’ve been dead a long time ago. You kick the wall- door? -in an attempt to escape and it flies off cleanly. The fire possibly weakened the hinges.
“Wh-WHA! Why are you up?!” The voice yells, you realize it’s directed at you. You quickly find the source, a small feline(?) like creature with a pitchfork tail and blue fire coming out of its ears, standing on its back legs. It’s pointing its paw at you.
You shift your attention to your area. A room full of floating coffins. In the center stands a fountain with glowing green liquid and above it, a black floating mirror. Above everything else is a crystal like chandelier with purple lights, string decorations are connected to the object whilst also connecting to the pillars in the room.
“What the hell…?” you utter. The small beast makes a noise of offense. “You got a lotta nerve to ignore me when I’m standin’ right in front of ya!” The creature yells. “Your fate was sealed the moment I spotted you. Now hurry up and gimme those clothes! Or else… I’ll roast ya!” It continues speaking. Funny, is it threatening you?
The feline grins with its sharp teeth and inches closer to you, possibly to seem intimidating. You narrow your eyes. You need to leave.
It now tries to jump at you, the way your body moves is like a reflex at this point. Your foot collides with the creature’s stomach. Making a disgusting noise, it launches across the room. You take the opportunity to escape.
You run out of the room and into the hallway. You glance into an open door and see what looks to be a classroom. You don’t have the time for sightseeing, you continue to run.
As you turn a corner, you look out into the courtyard. ‘ Where the hell am I? ’ You think, before coming across two big doors.
Sparing them a second glance, you push the doors open and make your way in. You should stop and think of where an exit would be, but before you can close the doors, they open again, revealing the beast you kicked earlier.
“Did you really think you could get away from my nose, you dumb human?!” It growls in anger, “I’ll take those clothes and burn you to ashes for kicking me like that!”
The creature prepares to pounce again-
-until it is caught by a black whip.
“Ow!!! What’s with this rope?!” It howls in pain. A voice answers, “This is no mere rope. This is a lash of love!” You follow the voice to see a figure walking into the room.
A man in a crow’s mask and a tophat. Donning a jacket with feathers on the shoulders and to the tips of the coat. The hand that holds the whip’s other end have golden claw rings on each finger.
His glowing yellow eyes peer at you, and he speaks with a smile. “Ah, I finally found you at last. Are you one of the new students?” He questions you, but continues without waiting for a reply, “That certainly won’t do. You mustn’t leave the Gate on your own! And not only that, taking your untamed familiar with you to school is against the regulations.”
Honestly , what is this oversized feather duster talking about? The creature struggles against its restraints. “Let me go! I’m not their freakin’ familiar!!” But the man waves off the small beast's protests. “Sure sure, that’s what all the rebellious ones say. Do be quiet for a moment.” He says with a snap of his clawed fingers, and somehow, the beast’s mouth is covered by another layer of the whip.
The man pinches the bridge of his mask covering his nose. “My goodness. It’s unprecedented for a new student to leave the Gate on their own.” The man then groans, “Uuuggh… how impatient can you be?” He asks rhetorically before continuing, “The entrance ceremony is already well under way. Let’s head to the Hall of Mirrors.”
You squint your eyes at him. “...Gate?” He doesn’t stagger as he answers your question, “It’s the room you woke up in with all the doors. All students admitted to this academy must pass through one of those doors to arrive here.” The masked man explains to you, “Normally, students wake up only after the door is opened with a special key, but…” His sentence drifts off to highlight your situation.
"So those coffins were actually doors..." You utter. The man seemed to have heard you, "They bid farewell to the only world they've ever known and are reborn. Those doors were designed with such sentiments." He says as he glances at the clock in the room.
“Oh my!” He says in surprise, his coat feathers puffing up. “Now isn't the time to be long-winded. The entrance ceremony will soon come to a close. Let's get a move on."
He gestures towards the door, allowing you to walk first. It would be best to follow him and his rules for now, you’re at a severe disadvantage due to the unknown location you’re currently in.
Watching him from the corner of your way, you head out the room, a giant bird-man with a tied up creature in tow.
“Let me ask,” You turn your head to the bird-man as you two walk down the hall, “where am I? And who are you?”
The man tilts his head to the side. “Are you still dazed? Perhaps the teleportation magic has left you disoriented.” He shakes his head. ”Well, no matter. It happens often enough. I shall give you an explanation as we make our way there. For I am gracious." He finishes with a clawed hand on his chest. You roll your eyes at the theatrics.
He begins with an ‘ahem’, “This is ‘Night Raven College’. Budding mages blessed with unprecedented talent gather from all over the world here at the most prestigious magical academy in Twisted Wonderland." He says with flourish, arms stretched out towards the courtyard and building. "And I'm the board chairman-appointed headmaster in charge of looking after this college, Dire Crowley." Crowley places a hand on his chest, and bows to you.
You scrunch up your nose, “Mage?” To which Crowley nods, “Only those mages deemed worthy by the Dark Mirror can attend this school. An Ebony carriage carrying a Gate should have gone to meet you as well."
You remember once encountering the black carriage. Two black horses with blood red eyes, pulling a carriage with a coffin sitting pretty inside. You avoided its path but since then it's been tracking you down. Seems like when it finally caught up to you, you ended up here.
You click your tongue in annoyance once more. ‘ Of course that thing had to do something with this. ’
Crowley continues, "The Ebony Carriage goes to welcome new students chosen by the Dark Mirror. They are special carriages that carry the Doors to the academy-" Crowley rambles on about the importance of the carriages but you quickly tune him out.
It seems your suspicions on the black carriage were correct in the way that it was bad news and you should avoid it at all costs, unfortunately, it had its eyes set on you and now, this is the end result.
You press your fingers against your temple. ‘ By that logic, I should be cautious about everyone at this “academy”. From the students, to the headmaster himself. ’
Crowley then places his hand on your shoulder, taking you out of your thoughts. You shove his hand off. It seems the little grey creature is still struggling against its restraints. “Come. Let’s go to the entrance ceremony.”