Chapter Text
There once was a puppet that was given life.
He is an obedient puppet,
Followed his father's instructions to a T.
One day, he awoke in a Library...
And no one is there to tell him what to do.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ———
The moment Pinocchio's eyes opened, everything was in utter chaos. Cloaked figures scrambling across the room, ducking and dodging to safety as the other braver souls run around chasing the cause of the mess. A fork-tailed cat spewing fireballs ran around the room, burning curtains and candles and the cloaks of others in an attempt to... what?
Pinocchio isn't so sure what to make of this except look around, lost and confused. The cat, despite it looking like a monster, didn't look like a typical Nightmare. Not only that, the room he's in… floating mirrors that hang high and low surrounds them, with dark draperies and tall candelabras lighting the room with its strange green light.
The puppet's face contorts in panic, ‘Wh... why... is this not the Library?’
“Seize that racoon!” An older man with a strange bird-like mask barked (or screeched?), pointing at the fork-tailed cat breathing fire and throwing fireballs all over the place. More students scramble as the magic makes contact with the draperies, setting it ablaze but was put out in haste before it grew.
Two faces Pinocchio has never met before chases after the cat, one with red hair with a nasty scowl on his face and the other a white haired glasses wearing boy that followed behind the redhead. Both held up in their hand small wands with gems on top, generating sparkles that soon took the shape of a comet sent flying towards the cat. It yelps but retaliated with more fire their way.
Candelabras and candles were tossed and thrown about as they continued their chase, mirrors sent flying off course from where it once floated. The bird man that screeched earlier grew more frantic and demanding the more the cat made a mess of the room.
Pinocchio continued to watch the madness unfurl, further painting his face in deep confusion. Without a single clue what to do, he approached the nearest person beside him for questions. “Um, excuse me...” Pinocchio tugs at the person's sleeve, their head turning towards him. Underneath their hood, the poor Marionette could see the annoyed look in their green eyes.
“What? We're in the middle of something,” the person before him grumbled, arms crossed as they watched the cat cause further damages to the room. The person before him stood several heads taller than the puppet, looked strong enough to catch the cat in no time but his bored yawn told him otherwise, already ignoring him as if he never noticed his presence at all.
“Nyahaha! Take this!” The cat spews another fireball at the two pursuers, blocked instantly by an invisible shield before running off again.
The red headed pursuer, face turning into the same shade as his hair, looked as if he was about to explode. “STOP! OR ELSE IT'S OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!!”
Pinocchio continued to stand awkwardly in place, fidgeting the sleeves of his cloak (he still doesn‘t know where he got it) as he watched the cat continue its reign of fiery destruction. No one exactly knws for sure what to do to help, but no one looked willing to help either way. If only they‘d have told the poor puppet to do something about it, then he might do something about it. But what exactly should he do? Oh, the dilemma the poor puppet is facing.
“Oi, dumbass,” a disembodied voice calls for him, directly into Pinocchio's ear. He tried to find the source of the voice but found no one facing his way. Who—
The voice calls out again, “On your ear, dumbass!” and Pinocchio follows, seeing his staff companion in the form of a small... earring thing. Pinocchio wasn't quite sure what had happened but despite it's smaller size, his companion is still as venomous as ever. “Hey, lets help those little punks. Or else, we'll be burnt to ashes.”
“But—” the Marionette's protest dies down before he could choke out his next word, the ever foul-mouthed head continuing to spew out insults, “Wanna die when this is all over? We‘re screwed if you don’t do something, dumbass!”
Driven to the need to follow his awful companion's directions, Pinocchio merely nods in agreement. After all, the head did make a sound argument, the poor puppet didn't want to be burnt to ashes.
As if drawing out the power of his companion, the ‘earring’ grows into the staff Pinocchio has always known it for, with its face contorted into an ugly condescending look. With the head raised high, he brings it down onto the ground, smashing the floor beneath as debris flew across the room. “MRAHH!” The cat stops mere centimeters away from the hammer and stumbles back, the shock wave caused by the staff nearly putting the two pursuers off balance as well.
Everyone, even the cat that almost had its head smashed into mush, turned to his presence.
The room goes silent.
Then… the bird man screamed.
“W-what is the meaning of this?!” He approached the mess, frantic over the state of the entire room, with the burnt curtains and crater he created. “What have you done?!” The bird man wasn't particularly looking at anyone specific, but he was expecting Pinocchio to confess to the crime he has clearly committed, to the confusion of the marionette who was merely told what to do.
Pinocchio looked down onto his foul mouthed companion, seeking some form of guidance to his conundrum. But alas, all that came up was silence, leaving him alone to fend for himself.
"I– urk... I'm—" he stutters, barely able to come up with an excuse to save himself. It wasn't his fault, after all. He was merely told what to do, he couldn't be fully blamed for the mess that lay before him. “I-It's not my fault—”
The bird man didn't take too kindly to such a blatant lie. “Well, clearly someone is responsible for ruining the room as important and ancient as this one...,” he despaired while Pinocchio continued to stare in confusion.
The cat, who earlier was terrorizing the entire place, attempted to escape from the group. The red-haired student, quick on his feet, raised his wand and shouted, "—Off With Your Head!"
“Ugyaa!!” A heart-shaped collar appeared on the creature's neck, locked tightly like one would do with a pet on a leash. “The hell? Let me outta this thing!”
“Rule number 23 of the Queen of Heart's Law, ” the redhead spoke with authority and conviction in his voice, a fiery rage burning behind those gray eyes. “No cats are allowed in during important festivities.” He had a triumphant smile on his face, only shrugged off by the white haired student beside him.
The white haired student beside him claps, “Good show, Riddle~” He cheers, hand over his chest with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, as if envious of something. “Quite the handy Unique Magic that I must ha— I mean, I must give respect to.” The way he quickly catches his own words hinted something sinister in the puppet‘s mind, making him want to stay away.
The cat groans, tugging and pulling at the collar, the quiet clicking and clacking interrupting the conversation. The bird man ignores this and continues to speak his mind, “No matter, if no one owns this weasel—,” the ‘weasel’ in question makes a noise of protest, calling itself Grim, but his introduction was ignored and attention was turned towards Pinocchio. “You! Young man with that oddly shaped hammer.”
“M-me?!”
“Yes, you shall take care of this weasel.”
Grim immediately protested once again, jumping and fuming at the idea of some kid was going to babysit him. Pinocchio too, would like to protest against the idea but found it difficult to object, even raising his voice just a small bit was a chore, his very core screaming against it.
Seeing Pinocchio‘s hesitance as silent acceptance, the bird man shoves Grim into the puppet's arms. "I'll leave the responsibilities to you, young man." He cawed with authority, the poor puppet doing nothing but look down as he holds the cat tight within his grasps, lips drawn out into a small frown.
With everything sorted out, the bird man’s attitude changed immediately into joyous celebration, the pinpricks of glowing yellow where his eyes should be curves into crescents as his mouth forms into a smile. ”Now, let‘s continue on with the dorm assignments!”
The students scurry about to their positions while the seven imposing-looking figures (including Riddle and white-haired students) stand in front of the grouped up students. Pinocchio stared at the masses, a troubled look on his already troubled face. “Um—”
“Headmage!” Riddle speaks up before Pinocchio could, his narrowed eyes making the poor puppet straighten himself out. “All the first years students have been assigned to their respective dorms. All… except for him.” He points an accusing finger towards Pinocchio, making him flinch for the second time, looking more troubled than he had ever been to.
All this attention but no direction is making the puppet more anxious than before, tempted to just grab the hammer and bonk some answers out of the masses. His hand had already taken hold of the hammer but all that happened was for his only weapon to suddenly shrink and go back into the small dotted earring it was before. “H-hey—” Pinocchio made a pathetic noise, staring at where he felt his companion had retreated back to. He was ignored, as per the usual.
There was no time for him to ask any more questions, the ’Headmage‘ as Riddle had called this strange bird man as, quickly grabbed Pinocchio by the wrist and yanked Grim from his arms. He trips as he’s pushed towards the grand-looking mirror floating on the short platform in the middle of the room, an eerie green glow surrounding the intricate frame.
“Now, stand before the Dark Mirror and be sorted into one of the dorms,” The Headmage decrees, Pinocchio immediately doing as told.
Like the obedient puppet that he is, Pinocchio stands before the Dark Mirror, watching a strange mist swirl behind the mirror, flowing like water until a mask appears from beyond the abyss. “… State your name.” It simply says.
“P-Pinocchio!”
The mirror pauses, its ‘eyes’ fixed on Pinocchio.
Studying.
Analyzing.
Its slow deliberation of the poor puppet went on for too long a time, as if the Mirror had difficulties sifting through how ever many dorms exists, making the audience antsy with anticipation. “Come on, we don‘t got all day!” The Headmage screeched, standing behind Pinocchio, causing him to jump out of the way as The Headmage shakes the mirror for faster answers.
Once the Mirror had been thoroughly shook (as per how the Headmage gauges it), Pinocchio takes his place and…
“The shape of your soul…,” The Mirror begins to speak, taking another long pause that sent the entire room groaning from the wait. “… is…”
Another long pause.
“Huhhh, I’ve never seen the mirror struggle for this long,” one of the students spoke up, the leader of the group. He pulls down his hood, revealing his striking red eyes and the brightest smile Pinocchio had ever come across. It‘s almost blinding, to say the least.
“The Dark Mirror must be struggling with its internal connection,” a voice speaks out from the strange floating device amongst the leading students, blinking with each spoken word. “Crowley probably broke it’s connection with all that shaking.”
“Ohhhh! Maybe if we shake the Dark Mirror, it‘ll fix that problem in no time!” The red-eyed bandana wearing boy cheered, arms crossed as if solving the most complicated problem.
“If it were that simple without risk of breaking such an ancient artifact,” a beautiful man with blonde hair spoke up, his face exasperated from the other boy’s suggested fix.
“… Pomefiore.” The Mirror finally decided, a massive wave of eyes dart towards Pinocchio‘s quivering form. “From henceforth, Pinocchio will be part of Pomefiore.”