Chapter Text
Yuutei hummed a soft tune as they stepped off of the train to his little town, kindly bowing to the old lady that had offered the seat next to her to the young child. They saw that old lady a lot on their way home… She even offered dinner to them and their mother once! As the train began to move to its next stop, Yuutei continued their little tune as they began to stroll down the path, concrete occasionally broken up by tree roots and weather, not that it slowed Yuutei’s pace. They had been over these streets for as long as they could remember! Even as the sun began to slip under the horizon, their footsteps didn’t falter.
Yuutei finally slowed in front of the convenience store on the corner of the street, pushing the door open as they fished out their little clasp wallet from their schoolbag. They had managed to save up some change, and they really wanted to get their mother something sweet! Yuutei counted up the yen they had before going off through the isles for a nice treat. “Mama likes sweet stuff… maybe candy?” They murmured out to themself, little black brows furrowing as they tried to sort through the sweets mentally.
Eventually they finally came to a conclusion, a small pack of mochi to share with their mom! She works so hard for the two of them, so they just wanted to make things easier for her! With great pride, they toddled up to the counter and paid for the treat, bowing gratefully to the cashier before walking out of the store and towards their home. Yuutei could practically see their mom’s smile when they showed her their little gift! A pleasant evening together, maybe watch some shows on the tv together before bed…
…
They didn’t hear the galloping…
…
They couldn’t move out of the way in time…
…
Why would they?
…
When carriages never came to their home.
—
Yuutei awoke with a gasp, breathing heavily like they had just awoken from a nightmare. Their small body ached in discomfort as they slowly blinked, once… twice. Nothing. Darkness, pure darkness. A small shudder ripped through them as their legs gave out, causing them to slump against a hard surface, like wood. Wood? Not the soft plushness of their bed, filled with small, soft stuffed animals… Their head swam as they felt around, feeling each side of the wall and the soft fabric they were practically swimming in. “Mama…?” Yuutei meekly called out, pressing their hands against the walls of whatever they were in. “Mama…” Where were they? “Mama I’m scared…” They wanted to curl up in bed with their mom and hide away from this nightmare…
Yuutei’s soft pleas for their mother were soon answered… though it was more like they were interrupted as the door to the coffin they sat in was pushed open, flooding the box with light. Yuutei whined out, covering their eyes with their hands as they adjusted to the new stimuli. As their pupils constricted to adjust to the light, a small, grey figure became obvious. A grey cat-like creature with blue flames coming out of its ears. Yuutei was a little surprised at the sight. There were a lot of strays around his home, even some grey ones like this one, but none had flames in their ears, or stood on their hind legs like that.
“Perfect! Just my size!” The cat-creature grinned as he saw the confused child, in ceremonial robes that still seemed a little too big for them. “Ah- The kitty can talk-?” Yuutei asked, tilting their head at the cat-creature before looking around in confusion. There they sat, in a coffin, amongst a multitude of other floating coffins. Were they dead? They could faintly remember scary black horses coming up behind them on their way home, before they blacked out and ended up here…
“Myrah? A kitty? I’m no cat!” The monster exclaimed, small huffs of smoke leaving his little snout as Yuutei slowly climbed out of the coffin. “If you’re not a cat, then what are you?” The child then asked, little brows furrowing as they took in their odd new outfit, long black robes with purple and gold accents. They didn’t have their schoolbag or anything from before the horses. The monster put his paws on his hips and stood proudly. “I am the amazing Grim! Sorcerer extraordinaire!” He announced, earning a little giggle from Yuutei. “Okay, Grim.” They nodded along with a little smile, amused by the critter before them.
“Now pipsqueak, gimme that robe of yours so I can enroll in your place!” Grim then said, his little paws tugging on the loose fabric of the robes. Yuutei was confused by his words. “Enroll..? Enroll where?” Grim paused his tugging, giving the kid a weird look. “At NRC? The best school for mages? I thought kids like you yap about this place all the time…” He mumbled, letting go of the fabric. Yuutei shook their head, no less confused than they were before. “Nuh uh. Never heard of it…” They responded, earning another weird look from Grim. “Weird kid… I mean wouldn’t you know about it if you got in this young?!” Yuutei shook their head.
Grim was growing slightly frustrated at this clueless kid, but maybe… “Y’know… if you really don’t got a clue about it… I could take your place, eh?” The feline-beast offered with a grin, holding out a paw for the kid to take. “Oh, uhm… okay Grim.” Yuutei reached out to take the odd cat’s paw since the logic made sense to them… only to be interrupted. “We will not be having that! Do refrain from having your familiar take your place!” A loud voice called out, causing both Grim and Yuutei to practically jump out of their skin.
There stood a tall man, face obscured by a crow-like mask, a feathered coat hung over his shoulders. He stood tall over the two shorter figures, almost intimidating in both appearance and stature. The tall man tilted his head at the scene, noticing how young the new student seemed to be. “My my… you appear to be quite little to be a student here… say, what is your age, little one?” He asked, leaning down to get a better look at Yuutei. Yuutei took a small step back, looking around them before speaking up. “I’m.. uhm… I’m nine… but I’m turning ten soon!”
Grim and the tall man seemed rather taken aback at the age Yuutei gave them. The tall man cleared his throat. “I see… Well, the dark mirror hasn’t made a mistake yet… So little one, allow me to welcome you to Night Raven College!”