Chapter Text
[Good evening, Yuu. Please come to my office as soon as your daily duties are done for the day. There is some recent information that I have come across and which I believe would be of your interest to hear about]
Yuu reacted to the message with a thumbs up emoji (👍) before closing their LG Ice Cream Smart F440 and putting it back in their pocket. Although Yuu knew not to expect much from Crowley's messages—specially one so vague, a small ripple of hope stirred inside. It had been a while since they had found any clues on how to return them to their original world, and with overblots, school festivals and Grim's needs taking over most of their time, they hadn't had a lot of time to dedicate to their research at the library. It had started to settle in last night while staring at Ramshackle's falling celing, that perhaps they were truly meant to stay in Twisted Wonderland for the rest of their days.
"Grim? We need to go, we can eat breakfast at the cafeteria. I'm taking some of your tuna cans and the can opener so you don't have to worry about it"
Yuu shook Grim a little more, only worrying that the smell of tuna might stick to their backpack for the rest of the day, but that was a sacrifice they were willing to do for Grim.
"Mraw...5 more minutes..."
"Alright, guess you go in my bag too..."
With a gentle scoop, they held Grim in their arms and placed him inside their messenger bag, making some space for his comfort by taking out 2 or 3 books and their water bottle. Nothing too important.
Just as they started to head downstairs, a familiar knock hit their half broken door.
"Yuuuuu"
Even before his voice rang out their name, they knew that there could only be one and one person alone who was crazy enough to walk all the way down to Ramshackle at 7.50 in the morning.
"Hey, Ace" Yuu waved from the bottom of the staircase, Ace having made his way inside the house as usual.
"Mornin'! Here, I stole a couple doughnuts from the dorm, just don't tell anyone"
"Oh, thank you. I was just telling Grim we would get something at the cafeteria, so you just saved our breakfast"
"Heh. No need to thank me but, if you ever did want to, I wouldn't mind having a little assitance for Trein's homework for next week~"
"Oh look at the time! I think we should get going, Grim's already in my bag"
Ace pout was completely ignored by Yuu who was already a couple feet ahead and slowly getting further away from the boy. Was Yuu counting on the free doughnuts? Not really, but it wasn't much of a surprise either since Ace had been bringing a couple "gifts" more frequently over the past couple weeks. His usual demeanor was playful but caring, something Yuu had learned to cherish as time passed by, however his clingy nature had become more evident lately, and although his acts of kindness could be considered as a show of affection towards a friend, Yuu knew that underneath his kindness there were...ulterior motives.
They fiddled around with their doughnut, trying to be as natural as possible while looking for any inconsistencies within its dough and glazing. Truth was, Yuu had been suspicious of Ace for quite some time now. It had been faint signs at first: Always present and available at the right place and at the right time. Messages that would eerily coincede with their current problems or plans; Yuu dismissed them as mere coincidences, perhaps the stress of having to deal with so many eventful things at once that made them believe Ace's attention and closeness were something out of the ordinary. However, they were able to confirm it not long after Idia's overblot, during their Mickey investigation team sleepovers.
He wasn't attentive because he was trying to help and care for them. He was attentive becase he was trying to stunt them.
They weren't sure of when it started or why, they only knew that whenever they'd get even the slightest closer to finding a way back home, Ace would be there as quick as whatever chance to return home would appear, and with him, vanish as soon as it came. It was almost eerie the punctuality with which he appeared at their doorstep the minute after Crowley sent the message, but no matter how hard they'd think about it, nothing seemed to make sense as to why he would want to keep them in Twisted Wonderland.
It's whatever... - Yuu thought as their fingers finally confirmed the stability of the doughtnut. Not as if Ace had tinkered with their food before, but after Vil's horrendous boot camp at Ramshackle, the fear was now instilled in their mind, and checking their food had now become a compulsion more than anything. After all, it cost nothing to be safe.
"Hey, you know what we should do after class? I heard Sam brought in these cool trading cards to his shop yesterday. Saw a couple guys in 1-B showing them off, so what do you say? Wanna check 'em out?"
Yuu meditated for a second, it was so obvious: He was definitely fishing for their schedule.
"Sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to. The headmage wanted to check on me and Grim about our grades and all that boring stuff "
"Ah" Ace looked disappointed into the horizon "...I can wait"
Shit - "No, don't bother. It'll probably be a long and boring talk, he's going to drain out the energy out of me-"
"So let's refill it. I'll be there"
"Sure..." Yuu whispered in disappointment as they started to approach the main street where Deuce and Jack were waiting for them, his steps getting faster to join them and finally have a break from being Ace's only talking partner. Nothing to do with his secret intentions, he was just annoying to have around at all times.
"Hey prefect! Ace!" Deuce shouted the moment he saw his friends approaching, followed by a silent wave from Jack "By the way, Epel messaged me earlier to say sorry. He wanted to walk all together to class but he said he had some business at his dorm, so he'll be joining us for lunch later!"
As the trio - and Grim - started heading towards the main building, Yuu couldn't stop but wonder if Epel's so called "business" had to do with his own personal sidequest. Similarly to Ace, Yuu's first instinct was to simply look the other way when he saw Epel's STYX.com search history about "ancient curses" and the evil Queen - perhaps a creepypasta generated by some Pomefiore student that had been stuck in his mind after a sleepover or soemthing, but then they started to notice a couple other details that just didn't add up: Epel's recent obsession with the Dark Mirror, jokes about how they would infiltrate spaces like the headmage's office, continuous unexplicable disappearances, random enquiries about housewarden meetings - because it was a lot more easier to approach Yuu than Vil - and on top of everything, his weird sleep talking habit giving away how he had to find a cure for the curse that afflicted his family for generations and only possible to obtain by infiltrating NRC's archives.
"-u, Yuu? Are you okay?"
Yuu's stream of thought got interrupted by Jack.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, just a little tired, it's very early in the morning and I don't get a lot of sleep in Ramshackle, those old beds aren't the most comfortable haha" Yuu tried to cover up their absentmindness with a half truth.
"Oh, okay. I was just trying to ask if you had breakfast already. I was going to go and get a snack at the cafeteria and was wondering if you wanted something too"
"Oh. I was going to, but then Ace showed up with a couple doughnuts so I had my fill"
"Doughnuts?"
Although Jack appeared the same as usual, Yuu could tell the slight worry in his tone. Out of everyone in the campus, Jack seemed to be part of the small population of students whose goal was to live a normal student life inside NRC. No ulterior motives, no secret sidequests, just books, exams and whatever else comes with high school life. However, his actions often showed concern for whenever Yuu would spend time alone with anyone in the freshman's group, specially with Ace, which led Yuu to assume that both of them shared the same knwoledge about the 1st years, if it wasn't for his hesitant and (almost) subtle actions that indicated he wasn't completely in the known, unlike Yuu.
"Yeah he brought one for me and Grim. It was actually pretty good, he said he stole them from Heartslyabyul's kitchen, but he can't fool me, I can recognize that flavor anywhere. He probably got them at the patisserie downtown and saved 2 for us, funny right?"
Yuu's words didn't seem to comfort Jack in the slightest. They needed to add an extra blanket of reassurance.
"And to be fair, they actually helped me wake up a little. I feel a lot more ready now, I swear!" said Yuu while doing a little hop to convince the still skeptic, but slightly less anxious Jack.
"Well, if you're hungry - or feel weird - at any point just let me know-"
"Did I hear doughnuts?!"
A muffled voice came from Yuu's shaky bag, the little hop from before having woken Grim up and the doughnut talk just making him way too enthusiastic to pop out ready to fight for his doughnut rights.
"Where is mine?!!! I'm starving, myah!"
"Well, you were sleeping so I thought-"
"Wait a second, did you eat it?! How could you do that! Bad henchman! Now you'll have to get me another 5! As punishment!"
"Haha, let's not jump to conclusions now. Here." Yuu pulled out a napkin in which the remaining doughnut was hiding while waiting inside their pocket "I was going to say that I kept it safe. I can't buy you another 4 right now, but we can go to the cafeteria and I can open up the tuna cans I brought, unless you want to leave them for snack?"
Grim grumbled a little, unhappy that his 5 compensation doughnuts would not be a reality anytime soon.
"Hmmmm, okay...but next time wake me up! I think it got too cold while walking outside"
Yuu chuckled at Grim's adorable pout and handed him the doughnut, the latter lasting a good 1 second before being entirely devoured by the direbeast and his fat little cheeks.
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Yuu's flip phone light started to blink, signaling a new message.
[Some guy from Octavinelle blew up his experiment bc they were fucking around, so now Crewel is making us all clean the mess 💀💀💀
...
Anyway. I'll be late but I'll be there]
Yuu sighed. They truly hoped that with the boring lectures and their different schedules, Ace would have been busy enough to forget about his whole hang-out plan in the morning. Unfortunately for them, he was just as persitant as the mold growing underneath Ramshackle's wooden planks. It was weird, Yuu had considered Ace a very good friend for a long while, yet they couldn't shake away this sense of dread that had taken over them recently, specially when they would spend time alone.
Regardless, they knew that refusing the invite would only cause more problems and make Ace suspicious (not to mention Jack), so in order to avoid any more headaches, Yuu decided to react with a quick and simple thumbs up (👍) to his message before scrolling through their private DMs on Magicam. They wouldn't stall the situation anymore, but they also were not going to simply jump into the lion's den, or at least not alone.
[Hey Jack! Are you done with your classes? Do you want to come and hang out with me and Ace? It won't be for too long, we're just going to Sam's to check something out.]
It wasn't guaranteed that Jack would agree, nor was Yuu 100% sure of Jack's schedule for the day, but adding any form of urgency would only make the boy more paranoid and defeat the purpose of agreeing to Ace's invitation in the first place, so instead, they decided to leave the situation to fate and rely on their friend's instinct and willingness to spend some time together.
[Sure. I finish in 5. Where are you?]
Yuu sighed again, this time in relief.
[Oh great! :) I already finished but I need to pass by the headmage's office for a second. It might take a little, but Ace will be waiting at the benches by the apple tree in main street if you want to join him. I'll be there as soon as I'm done]
Once the double tick showed up below the message, Yuu closed their LG Ice Cream Smart F440 and put it back into their bag, taking a couple deep breaths as the situation had been making them anxious ever since the early morning. It's no use now - they thought as they let their feet drive both them and Grim to Crowley's office, not really worrying over getting lost while they were walking and texting on their way there.
"You think he got any snacks in there? I'm kinda hungry"
"Don't worry, we can get you some snacks at Sam's after this, just try to hold on for a little longer, yes?"
Grim grumbled while he tried to get back inside Yuu's bag for a quick nap to preserve his energies. By the time he was nice and cozy, Yuu was already by the headmage's office, and knocked gently to let him know they were finally here.
"Ah, I've been waiting for you. Come in and close the door behind you"
Yuu followed the instructions and placed Grim and their bag on top of a fancy divan before sitting down closer to Crowley's desk. The comfortable armchairs in his office were a luxury they had to take advantage of as much as they could.
"So, what was it that you wanted to share with me, headmage?" Yuu tried to keep it straight to the point, avoiding ways to rise their hopes up.
"Well, I was initially going to call you over for a couple more tasks that I thought you'd be interested in. The usual chores, with some remuneration since we will soon have a couple events happening in the town -" As Crowley's words continued, Yuu's slight smile started to vanish "However! I also wanted to share with you a discovery that I made not too long ago, which I believe might be a clue to bringing you back to your world"
"R-really?! You mean, you actually found something?" Yuu's excitement, although still contained, couldn't be greater.
"Now, I don't want to raise your hopes too high but, me and the rest of the faculty have been investigating a couple of the strange phenomena happening in the school. All of those reports about mysterious artifacts around campus, such as blank books and objects appearing out of nowhere" for a very strange reason, Yuu had a sense of deja vu which they could not explain "but specially, bringing out reports of past missing people that seem to have made it to our school's newspaper under gossip format... ahem! In short, I have investigated a couple of these and, seems like their purpose was more than just fun little trinkets"
Crowley carefully grabbed a small black box standing on top of the glass cover of his luxurious desk, carefully lifting it with his claws "I believe you have already learned about enchanted and cursed objects during your lessons with professor Trein, am I right?"
Yuu nodded hesitantly, as they only recalled the topic by name, but not much of the content. If Crowley was to ask questions they'd be definetely cooked.
"Wonderful, well I shall give you a small recap anyway. You must be surely familiar with our Dark Mirror? Although NRC's Dark Mirror is one of a kind, it does represent an example of the many artifacts produced by mages during times of extreme need. Mages would often utilize everyday objects to both protect and in some way, bind their enemies from causing more harm to their loved ones, therefore many of the artifacts used were often big in size, as they often had to deal with living beings and needed enough space for them to be encapsulated within the limits of the object, a rather complicated feat, even for experienced light magic mages"
Yuu looked around, slightly confused about where this small history lesson was going.
"Consequently, these specific magical items are limited in number, as not only was the incantation complex, but the requirements to cast it were also taxing on the mage's magic pool. And yet, our school seems to work like a magnet for them. What's worse, they seem to disappear right after the problem is solved!"
Crowley's slight exasperation made Yuu wonder whether the man had put actual effort into this investigation, or if the circumstances that forced him to look into these issues were the ones at fault for his little rage bit.
"So...you weren't able to find anything in the end?"
"Why would I call you here if I hadn't?" Yuu looked to the camera "Because of my upmost diligence, I was eventually able to find one of these many artifacts"
Crowley opened the small black container in his hands, revealing a slim camera lens snug on a soft cushion.
"Lenses were rather popular magical artifacts too, and this polarizing filter is more than what it seems. I found it earlier today within the school's special collections, and judging from the description that I found alongside it, this is not even half its size. What's even more curious about it is that, there were reports of artifacts such as this one being able to summon or transport people into different timelines parallel to ours. Some even say, other universes..."
"So you're saying, that I could use this as a way to go back to my original world?"
Crowley looked at the puzzled Yuu through the lens that he had taken out, dodging the question and making Yuu ever more restless to know whether or not home was closer than they thought.
"There is something that I need to verify, and you are the ideal subject to go along with the experiment..." Crowley walked closer to Yuu, stretching their hands and placing the lens on their shaky palm. "According to the notes left, this lens no longer possesses any magical power in it. However, by exposing the artifact to a continous flow of magic, it should be able to regain some of its old characteristics."
"Um, wouldn't it be easier to infuse it directly with magic? By someone who has magic?"
Crowley sighed "Ah youngings, always trying to find the easiest path in life"
"What?"
"Take this as another one of your daily student tasks. You don't need to do anything with it; as long as you keep it close to you throughout the day, your task will be considered complete. I will call you back in a week or so to check on any possible progress, if we don't see anything within a month I will take the artifact back. Just remember not to insert it inside the ghost camera, we wouldn't want any unfortunate accidents in case our experiment succeeds"
"I still don't understand-"
Before Yuu could try and get an actual reason behind this seemingly pointless task, Grim started meowing and thrashing from inside their schoolbag.
"Mraw! I thought we'd be home by now. Can we go now, Yuu? You promised me snacks and I'm very hungry >:( and my back hurts >:'( "
"Grim–" Yuu sighed defeated, it was getting late and it felt as if they had already lost most of their evening inside Crowley's office anyway "Okay, we'll get it now, I was just about to head out"
Crowley soon gave his goodbyes, and with a wave of their hand, Yuu left the headmage's office, heading towards a different type of headache...
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By the time they were finally out, the sun had started to set under the horizon line. A warm sunlight caressing Yuu's face as they walked down the main road and towards the two boys who had been waiting for quite some time.
Although Yuu knew Jack was not one to walk back on his words, a part of them was slightly restless, thinking he'd end up ditching their plans and leave them to deal with Ace alone, so the moment Jack's silhouette appeared in the very far distance, the stress that was weighing them down the whole day finally dropped from their back.
"Hey guys. Thanks for waiting. Did I take too long?"
"Long? Dude, I think I almost grew roots by sitting here while waiting. What sort of lecture did the headmage give to you?"
Ace's complains got immediately shut down by Jack's annoyed fist on his head. A sign he needed to shut up and be grateful Yuu was even here in the first place.
"Don't listen to him, it wasn't that long. How was your meeting? You seem kind of bummed down"
"Yeah, it was a really long conversation about uh..." Yuu hesitated. A strong sensation in their gut warning them against talking about Crowley's small experiment. "...what classes I should take and whatnot. The headmage's been trying to help since I still have to catch up with general knowledge and all that. I think I'm just tired is all 😅"
Ace reached out his arm and placed it around Yuu's shoulders "Damn that must've been a drag, no wonder you're so drained. You look so out of it I almost want to buy you something for being here heh"
Yuu quickly broke free of his embrace and playfully nudged him and his fake sense of compassion while Jack walked closely behind the two, making sure the only one giving nudges was Yuu and not the other way around.
"So...will you actually buy me something?"
"No I was just-"
"Grim's really hungry, so he definitely will appreciate that, right Grim?"
"Yeah, yeah! No takebacks, I heard you! >:3 You owe us a meal!"
"I never said I'd buy something, I just said I almost wanted to, also this would be for Yuu not you!"
"Hm. Well I am tired, and since I can't let Grim starve, maybe I will just go straight home instead of stopping at Sam's with you all..."
"Oh no you won't"
With Grim now in Yuu's embrace, Ace saw an opportunity and decided to quickly snatch Yuu's bag off their shoulder and made a run for it for the rest of the road left to the Mystery Shop. With a cat half their size on them, it wasn't hard for Ace to escape and disappear in the distance, leaving the other three far behind. It was in that moment where Yuu felt glad to have called Jack of all people here, as his fast legs came in handy to hunt Ace down, his reflexes just a little bit slower to react in the moment since he got distracted by a curious plant on the road.
They both disappeared for a couple of minutes before Yuu was finally able to reunite with them. By the time they had reached both of them, Jack had already retrieved their bag and had been scolding Ace for a while now.
"You idiot! You know Yuu has their ghost camera in there, what if it breaks?"
"Calm down, I was just playing around! You guys don't know how to have fun"
Yuu grabbed their bag back, their huffing and puffing not leaving enough breath space for them to scold Ace themself at all.
"I can carry this for you if you want, Yuu" Jack offered as they noticed Yuu struggle with Grim in their hands.
Although they definitely preferred carrying their personal items, the offer was very tempting, specially since many of the books for the day were substantial in size; all thanks to Twisted Wonderland's rich history and language. They thought for a little, and finally concluded that if they had to choose anyone at NRC to carry their belongings, Jack was surely one of the few people they trusted to take good care of them.
"Sure, thank you"
"Don't worry about it"
As they both smiled to each other, Yuu felt a pair of eyes roll behind them, and an annoyed Ace to go along with them, cussing out Jack, Yuu and the whole situation. Revenge was specially sweet today.
"Well, at least there's not much road left, so let's go check out your cards, Ace"
Yuu grabbed Ace's hand and with a smile dragged him inside Sam's Mystery Shop. Enjoying what they hadn't been able to feel for a long time now: A mundane and normal evening.
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The time on their phone marked exactly 5 AM. Yuu rubbed their tired eyes in annoyance and opened the phone to check for any new messages, since going back to sleep would be a waste anyway.
[Good morning Yuu,
Please bring the artifact I lent you to my office next Friday. And remember to bring it with you everywhere you go. See you soon.]
Yuu wondered if the headmage had nothing better to do than to text them at crazy hours of the day, but the reminder shifted their focus to the school bag sitting on top of the armchair in the corner of their room. After the evening with Jack and Ace, and after feeding Grim dinner, Yuu was so exhausted that they had almost forgotten about the lens.
Since they were now completely alone and Grim was asleep, Yuu took the opportunity to finally check the item themselves. With careful steps they made their way to the bag and rummaged through the different zippers and spaces inside: The ghost camera, their books, Grim's used napkins, a pair of tissues, some disinfectant gel, their brand new pekamon cards...but no lens. They took everything out, yet that one particular black box that Crowley had given them was nowhere to be found.
"You have to be joking..."
Yet again, another clue had been lost. However, this time they weren't willing to look the other way. This game had gone on for long enough.
And they were finally ready to confront the traitor.