Chapter Text
Malleus had been following his usual path as he went on one of his regular nightly walks. Other than a strange run in with Shroud earlier on in the night, he had been having a peaceful enough day. He had begun to approach Ramshackle Dorm to admire the gargoyles but he was forced to stop in his tracks as a light surrounded him. Something was wrong, very wrong.
Where was Lilia? Silver? Something within him needed to see their faces to confirm that they were alright. Where could they have been? Shroud was wearing his ceremonial robes, perhaps there was some sort of event that Malleus had missed? It wasn’t as if he had been able to make out what his fellow housewarden had been saying during his mumbled ramblings, so perhaps that was the case.
An event that required the ceremonial robes…the only one that Malleus could think of was freshman orientation but he hadn’t expected it to be so soon. Oh well, the Mirror Chamber would be the first place he’d check. In a sparkle of his own lights, Malleus used his magic to transport himself to his destination.
Screams filled his ears along with the sound of falling bodies. Kingscholar, Rosehearts, Schoenheit, Asim, Viper… so many people had collapsed on the ground. A similar light to the one that had surrounded Malleus himself was emitting from the Dark Mirror, was that the source?
Lilia quickly flew to his side when he noticed him. “Malleus!” Silver followed his father, prepared to protect his prince.
“Lord Malleus!” Sebek? It seemed he was right about orientation. He had to fight off the sting of irritation that went through him at not being invited to the ceremony, for there were far more pressing matters at hand.
Malleus looked at his companions. “What is happening here? A strange light appeared before me and now…”
“We don’t know! A light appeared here as well and then people began to pass out at rapid speed.” Lilia reported. His hands moved to a non-existent sword. Malleus could tell his mentor was frustrated at his own helplessness.
Sebek frowned, clearly frustrated. “I don’t know what’s going on but we…protect…my liege!” Strange, why was Sebek’s voice cutting out?
“–lleus…?”
“–my liege!”
Odd. He was right there, why were they calling for him? There was nothing to worry about, he was there to help. He attempted to place a hand on Sebek’s shoulder but it fell uselessly to his side. Sebek leaned forward to catch Malleus as his knees gave out.
Huh, he hadn’t experienced a weakness in his legs before, how strange it was to struggle with standing. He looked up at his companions, though their faces had become blurred. “What–?” No energy left, his eyelids fell and darkness took over.
“Malleus, are you awake?” Lilia’s voice broke through whatever dream Malleus had been having. “Please tell me you are unharmed.”
“What if something is wrong?! What do we do?!” Sebek was always such a worrier. Malleus was fine, there was no need for him to be concerned.
“I am awake.” Malleus opened his eyes and sat up. “There is no need to fret.” He looked around to take in his surroundings. The last thing he recalled was the strange light and then blackness, had he fallen unconscious? “What happened after I was…indisposed?”
A concerned frown took over Lilia’s face. “Silver and Sebek both passed out after you did, I am afraid that whatever magic was at work got to me, too, as I remember nothing else before waking up here.”
“Everyone who passed out is in this room, my liege!” Sebek gestured towards two unknown characters. “Those two were the last to fall and the first to wake!”
Silver sighed, likely due to Sebek’s volume. “There’s no need to yell.” He explained calmly.
“I do not need to listen to you–!”
“Sebek–” Lilia’s voice cut through the air like a knife. “–give Malleus a second to gather himself. Loud noises aren’t good for when you just wake up.” Malleus rarely saw the serious side of Lilia, if he was properly taking the time to scold Sebek, something was definitely wrong.
Once he was given ample time to examine his surroundings and wake up properly, Malleus looked around the room and made note of everyone present. It appeared to be about twenty or so, all the housewardens and their vice housewardens present. Most everyone was asleep, barring a random boy he’d never seen before and some sort of dire beast, the ones Sebek had stated were the last to fall asleep and the first to wake.
“How long have you been awake?” He asked his retainers.
“We only just woke up a few minutes before you.” Lilia smiled, a clear attempt at comfort. Malleus appreciated the effort but he could see the tension in his caretaker’s posture, the worry lines on Lilia’s face. “I’d like to test and see if we can break out with our strength alone, as we appear to not have magic.”
No magic? How strange since Malleus could feel his own pool of magic still, ready to be used. “I am hesitant to believe such a thing to be possible.”
“I’m afraid fa-” Silver’s eyes landed on the unnamed pair before correcting himself. “Lilia is correct. None of us seem to be able to use magic.”
Testing the information himself, Malleus called upon his magic to summon a simple gust of wind. His hand stayed in front of him for a few seconds, no air surrendering to his command. “Impossible, how has this happened?” He stared at his hand, baffled by such a strange turn of events.
“We don’t know. We woke up like this, though apparently that human–” Sebek waved a hand in the unnamed boy’s direction. “–never had magic to begin with, so he’s unaffected by it. The weasel-like beast used to be capable of summoning flames but he tried using them earlier and nothing happened.”
“We’re right here, y’know.” The boy mumbled from the side, sharing some sort of offended look with the weasel– cat? With the dire beast.
Silver nodded towards the pair with an apologetic look on his face. “Sorry. We didn’t mean to speak about you as if you weren't here, we simply focused on Malleus once he awoke.”
The boy waved him off. “No worries, I get it. I’m Yuu, by the way.” The boy waved at Malleus in greeting. A pleasant warmth filled his chest when the boy smiled at him, his hand moving to wave back.
“Greetings. As you could likely gather, I am Malleus.” There was no point in hiding his identity from Yuu since his name had already been exposed. Even so, it was odd that the magicless boy had no reaction to his name. Typically people would hear his name and flee in terror and even if they didn’t flee, they simply froze in fear.
Yuu continued to smile as he approached the group. “Nice to meet you, Malleus. This is Grim, the not-weasel.”
The dire beast glared at the human dragging him. “Stop calling me that! I’m Grim! Sorcerer supreme!”
Sebek laughed at the bold declaration. “How quaint to see a mere beast try and hold a candle to the powers of Malleus! You weren’t even invited to Night Raven College, you snuck in and tried to steal a uniform!”
Malleus turned a shocked gaze onto Sebek. “Truly? I must have missed a lot. It’s a shame…I was looking forward to seeing you get placed into your dorm.” Speaking of which… “I presume that you got placed in Diasomnia?”
“But of course! There was no other option for a follower of you, my liege!”
Lilia chuckled, patting the boy on the head. “We would have been proud no matter what dorm you were put in! But how wonderful that we all share a dorm! What a stroke of luck!” Sebek simply stayed still as Lilia continued with the head pats. The boy was clearly embarrassed by Lilia’s affection but respected the man too much to ask him to stop.
Yuu and Grim both laughed at Sebek’s red face, further fueling the boy’s indignance, before Malleus decided to get the group back on track. “Pardon me for interrupting.” Sebek sighed in relief once Lilia released him. “But I believe Lilia mentioned trying to break down one of the walls?”
“Right!” Lilia led Malleus to a wall where there were no sleeping bodies close by. “We can’t use magic but the two of us still hold plenty of power without it! I want to see if we can escape by breaking down the wall!”
Stepping back from the pair, Sebek and Silver prepared to shield the still sleeping students from any possible debris that went flying from the attack.
Lilia counted down from three and they used all their might to try and break through the wall. While they weren’t injured, quite used to such feats of strength, their attacks didn’t even lay a dent in the material. “Useless. I suspected as much but the result is still disappointing…” Lilia huffed, sitting down in one of the chairs closest to him.
A whirring noise interrupted the group’s mourning of their last available escape method. “Rebooting…” The younger Shroud’s voice echoed robotically through the room. “System startup.” The humanoid’s eyes opened and he instantly got up, hovering above the ground as usual. “Hello Malleus Draconia, Lilia Vanrouge, Sebek Zigvolt, Silver…and–” Ortho tilted his head as he faced Grim and Yuu. “–Who are you two?”
Yuu smiled and waved, though he appeared to be confused by the younger Shroud’s very existence. Malleus didn’t blame the boy, he was much of the same mind when he first laid eyes on the boy. “I’m Yuu! This is Grim!” Yuu pointed towards the dire beast at his side.
“Nice to meet you. I am Otho Shroud.” The boy turned around and began to keep watch over his still sleeping brother. “Do you know how long it will take for him to wake up?”
Lilia smiled at the young boy. “It shouldn’t be long, merely a few minutes from the time you awoke.”
“Great! I can help try and find an escape– I assume that bright light transported us all here– once my brother is awake.”
“That would be most helpful, young Shroud.” Malleus smiled at the boy, so strangely human at times that it was hard to tell how he could possibly be artificially made.
They didn’t need to wait long before Shroud woke up with a start, instantly sitting up. “Ortho?” He looked around the room, moving his head much too fast as he searched for his brother. “Where’s Ortho?!” Fast paced breathing signaled his rising panic before his brother stepped in.
“I’m right here, Idia!” Malleus watched as Shroud heaved a sigh of relief once he laid eyes on his brother. “I sense irregularities in your breathing and your heart rate is much higher than normal. Please do not strain yourself.”
The younger Shroud fussed over his brother, who allowed the humanoid to care for him. “Scanning vital signs once more.” Shroud flinched at some point, though Malleus couldn’t understand why.
“I’m fine, Ortho. I was just panicking ‘cuz I didn’t know where you were and there was that strange light. I tried searching for you on the cameras but then I fell asleep and we have no idea where we are. What are we supposed to do?!” One of Shroud’s infamous ramblings began.
Finding reason to interrupt, Malleus stepped forward. “Cease your panicking, Shroud. It will do us no good.”