Chapter Text
"My flower of wickedness..."
"You have committed a grave sin."
"You have harmed an angel."
"Therefore..."
"The gods have made a decision..."
"From this dark world and a world on the verge of destruction, we will choose two people, two wretched souls."
"And they will change their worlds and set everything right."
"You are one of them, my dear child..."
The person stood slowly in front of the clown and smiled gently.
"Hurry, time is running out... Don't let Cronus and the others hunt you down."
The person placed their hand on the clown's forehead and slowly pushed them back into the darkness.
"Perhaps... You will find love there too... May Aphrodite's magic always be upon you..."
The person looked at the clown one last time:
"Pierrot."
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Pierrot struggled to open his eyes. His head throbbed, and his pupils trembled. He reached out his hands but stopped when they hit something. Confused, he ran his hands over the object in front of him. He felt suffocated and choked. This place reminded him of those nightmarish days he never wanted to remember.
-Where am I...? Where are the others? Did they leave me...? Why am I in a closed place? Did I do something wrong...? Why...WHY...WHY???!!-
Just as his thoughts began to feel like they were going to explode in his brain, a 'click' sound came. Pierrot immediately turned his eyes towards the source of the sound and prepared to attack. The door of the thing he was in burst open with a loud bang, and Pierrot could finally see outside. Flying coffins... Pierrot turned around and realized he had emerged from one of them. His eyes widened in astonishment; in all his years, he had never seen anything like it.
"Ahem."
Finally, he turned his head to the person who opened the coffin. Pierrot, seemingly prepared to attack, put his hands behind his back and drew his knives.
"Who are you?"
Pierrot asked coldly, bowing his head towards the man. He knew he shouldn't speak, but he ignored it for now. The man looked at him questioningly, but then thought it was nothing important and smiled confidently.
"I suppose you're still confused. But of course, since I'm a very generous person, I'll explain!"
The man placed one hand on his chest and the other on his cloak as if making a reference.
"This is Night Raven College, one of the most prestigious schools in Twisted Wonderland." Then the man darkened his chest and proudly added:
"And I am Dire Crowley, the headmaster of this school."
A school? This confused Pierrot even more. He opened his mouth to ask Crowley something, but Crowley impatiently interrupted him.
"You're the only one who didn't attend orientation." Crowley placed his hand on Pierrot's shoulder and gently pushed him toward a mirror.
Pierrot chose to remain silent throughout, but he wouldn't hesitate to break his wrists if this man touched him again. Crowley gave Pierrot a knowing look and pointed to a strange mirror. As Pierrot walked toward the mirror, he heard a multitude of murmurs about himself, all concerning his appearance. Pierrot grinned broadly, not caring what some poor souls thought of him. Pierrot's heavy but authoritative demeanor caused some people to stand at attention and draw their magic pens. The Beastmens were most disturbed by Pierrot's presence.
A lion among the Beastmens rose from his seat and stepped in front of a group of Beastmen. The lion looked protectively and sternly at Pierrot. A few others did the same, except for one dorm attendant.
The Flame-Haired Man stared at Pierrot with his mouth almost agape. He was utterly shocked, his heart racing, his face flushing slightly. Pierrot found this flame-haired man both strange and intriguing. He watched him carefully for quite some time. The man was taller than average but very thin. His hair was in the form of blue flames, which Pierrot found very beautiful. The man's eyes were golden and shone beautifully. If Pierrot had more time, he would have looked at this man for a long time, but not wanting to waste time, he turned his face to the mirror. Pierrot frowned at the mirror. The mirror...was strange. There was a white mask inside, and Pierrot's frown deepened when the mask began to speak.
"...hmm...A creature that has committed a great sin...Sent here in punishment..." The mirror chuckled at Pierrot and then shouted in a voice that echoed throughout the room.
"This soul belongs to no home..." It finished the last part in a whisper.
"After all, sinners are just empty balls." It said the last part sarcastically and contemptuously. Pierrot felt the revulsion of the mask coursing through his bones. He gripped his daggers in anger. He wanted to destroy the mirror, but stopped himself at the last moment. Jester would tell him to calm down in such moments. Pierrot let the air fill his lungs, and then felt himself calm. Meanwhile, whispers began to rise among the students, and Crowley shook his head, unsure of what to do.
"This...this can't be possible.
"...Such a mistake has never happened before..." Crowley began muttering to himself, his face growing even paler than before. Pierrot watched the commotion, his nerves frayed; he couldn't understand what was happening, and it was driving him mad. Finally, Crowley struck his wand on the ground, and with the echoing sound, all the whispers ceased. Crowley cleared his throat, then spoke in a tense voice:
"It appears there has been a mistake in the selection of disciples.That's why we need to talk to the dorm heads about this."
Crowley pointed to the door, swallowed, and continued.
"Dorm heads, lease have your assistant dorm staff escort the first-year students to their dorms." Crowley asked, looking at each dorm staff member in turn. But then he noticed one was missing.
"Where is Draconia?" Whispers started again, giving Pierrot some information about the man. He realized everyone was afraid of him and suspected he might be a monster. Just then, a loud noise interrupted the whispers in surprise. A short, red-haired boy stepped forward, drawing everyone's attention and beginning to speak.
"Everyone be quiet, or this will result in your heads being chopped off!" His voice was angry, and his face had turned pink. When everyone fell silent, the red-haired man turned to a man with glasses and made a hand gesture. The man with glasses understood what he wanted and nodded slightly. The man with glasses turned to the people behind him and began to speak.
"Those from Heartslybul, please follow me," he said softly. He shouted, then went outside with some of the students. The other dorm staff did the same, but a handsome boy hesitated and spoke to himself.
"Rook didn't come today...it's strange, he never misses things like this..." The handsome man had a worried expression on his face, but then quickly composed himself and assigned someone else to the task.
Finally, all the students left, leaving only Pierrot, the dorm heads(+Lilia), and Crowley. There was a tense silence, like a bomb about to explode. Finally, Crowley cleared his throat to speak, and all heads turned to him.
"This is the first time something like this has happened since I became headmaster..." Crowley looked at the dorm heads one by one, finally glaring suspiciously at Pierrot. Pierrot continued to look around, seemingly unaffected. Crowley sighed painfully and looked back at the others.
"Does anyone know what we should do?" Crowley looked at the students hopefully, and some rolled their eyes in response.
Every mouth in the room offered an idea, but none were useful. Finally, the boy with the blue flame hair spoke for the first time.
"He...can stay Ignihyde too..."
Pierrot looked at him, and seeing his uneasy but determined gaze, he understood at that moment that this man would be the one to make him experience love.