Chapter Text
As orientation went on, Kalim did his absolute best to not bounce on the balls of his feet. But it was all just so exciting! He hadn’t attended orientation last year, so this was all new to him, and he wanted to make a good first impression on all of the new first years, not just the ones joining Scarabia.
Jamil, as always, was at his side, but this time as Kalim’s Vice Housewarden and he made an even greater effort than usual to hold still. It would have been easier if Jamil were steering Kalim, but Kalim had resisted the urge to ask Jamil to do so today. This was important and he wanted to show Jamil that he could be a Housewarden to be proud of.
That was all he really wanted, honestly. Because when Jamil smiled, his real smile and not the fake ones he gave to people who talked down to him back home, Kalim knew everything was right with the world. That he had done something good. He’d do anything if it made Jamil smile.
Orientation was almost over though, with only five unopened coffins remaining. Soon, it would be time to leave the new first years back to Scarabia, help them get settled and then…the welcoming party!!!
But just as Kalim’s thoughts were turning towards said party, a thunderous sound brought his attention back to reality.
More specifically, to the five coffins which were now unsealed as five young women stepped out of them.
Alice gasped as she looked around the hall she found herself in. It was large and filled with various coffins which appeared to be floating, a beautiful chandelier, a large eye catching mirror and far too many people for her to even begin counting, all wearing the same black robes. The only exceptions seemed to be the four other young women beside her, who were also looking around in confusion…and a man wearing a crow mask.
“What the…?” she whispered as she looked around, lost. “Where am I?”
Nobody seemed to have heard her, as the black robed people, all of them young men from what she could see, were all staring at her and the other young women in shock. When Alice glanced at the crowd, her gaze instinctively met the blue eyed gaze of a redheaded boy. Something about him seemed…almost familiar, but she didn’t have time to try and parse out her own thoughts.
“What the fuck, why did we come out of coffins?!” the woman with dark purple hair cried.
“We can’t be dead…right?” the young woman with auburn hair asked, her voice filled with fear.
“I don’t know, that was a pretty good nap,” the young woman with a blonde braid yawned.
“How are you so calm about this?” the young woman with black hair asked incredulously.
“No point in freaking out right now.” The blonde shrugged blithely.
“There is every reason to be freaking the fuck out right now!” the first woman hissed, her hands clenched into fists.
“Well, clearly, we won’t be getting any answers by talking to each other,” Alice cut in, crossing her arms if only to hide their shaking. She could hear the black robed boys whispering to each other about how nobody was able to open their own gates and that this was probably a joke, especially since the five of them were girls. Alice glanced once more at the redheaded boy before she forced her eyes back to the other girls. “We should ask the person in charge before speculating.”
“And who’s that?” the auburn haired girl questioned.
“Goodness me,” a voice cut in as a cane hit the ground with a metallic clack. Alice turned, finding the man wearing the crow mask was approaching the group of five. “It is unheard of for a student to emerge from the gate unbidden, let alone five of them. What terribly impatient lasses you must be. I mean, really.”
“Shut the fuck up and start talking, crow face,” the dark purple haired woman snarled, her fists raising as if she was prepared to punch the mask right off the man’s face.
“Oh, do calm yourself. You have no reason to distrust me—”
“We have every reason not to trust you!” the girl with dark black hair scoffed. “Who would when they randomly wake up in a coffin in a room full of people they don’t know?”
“She has a point,” Alice admitted, tilting her head towards the girl. “So why don’t you tell us why we were brought here to this cult before my friend decides to punch your mask off?”
“Why, you ask? Because you girls were chosen, of course!” the man declared, spreading his arms wide as if to encompass the room.
“Chosen? For what?” the auburn haired girl asked. She clutched her dark green skirt in her hands, as if to comfort herself. “Is this really a cult?”
“Hmm. It would appear your minds are somewhat hazy, yet likely due to the effects of time-space teleportation,” the man hummed, placing a thumb against his chin thoughtfully.
“Wait…of time-space?” Alice repeated, her heart suddenly racing in her chest.
“Yes, it has been known to happen,” the man smiled, as if this was all perfectly normal. Considering the dark purple haired woman looked even closer to punching him, Alice really thought he should be much more on guard than he was. She was starting to wish she had a fencing sword just to stab him with it, just once, at this point. “I sense confusion.”
“No duh!” the dark purple haired woman scowled.
“Well, fear not! Kindhearted Crowley will explain!” the man, Crowley, beamed as if he had never been interrupted in the first place. “Welcome, dear girls, to Night Raven College! This is the most prestigious arcane academy in all of Twisted Wonderland! Fledgling mages are chosen from across the world for their rare and exceptional talents and are brought here to hone them under our careful tutelage. Students are assessed and divided by their spiritual attributes into one of seven Houses, modeled on the Great Seven. There, they live and work and study alongside their peers.”
“Magic?” Alice repeated, her eyes widening.
“Did you say…magic?” the blonde girl asked. Alice startled, glancing to find the girl suddenly looking much more awake, her violet colored eyes striking with how intensely she was staring at Crowley.
Crowley, who ignored the two of them.
“You are here today because the Dark Mirror recognized in you a particular aptitude for magic. Congratulations!” Crowley declared with a smile. “Do you not recall being visited by a black carriage carrying the gate that brought you here?”
Alice froze, remembering the sight of such a carriage as she had left for school that morning. It had felt out of place and abnormal…even before it attempted to run her over.
“Wait, that wasn’t a nightmare?” the dark black haired girl asked. She raised a hand to her forehead, shaking her head slightly and causing the tight curls her hair was in to briefly hide her face.
“Now, that ought to be enough explanation for the time being, yes?” Crowley smiled. He turned to the crowd. “We have our final students, everyone! Let us regain our composure and begin the orientation.”
“What? Are you insane? That didn’t explain anything at all!” the dark purple haired woman yelled as Crowley turned to walk away. “Besides, I don’t even know how to do fucking magic!”
Crowley froze before he slowly turned back to face the group.
“What did you just say?” he questioned.
“Neither do I,” the auburn haired girl added, raising her own hand as if they were in class.
“Besides, I’m a university student, ain’t no way I’m attending high school again,” the dark purple haired woman scoffed. She finally relaxed her stance, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket, and turned to leave. “Later, cult boys, I’m out.”
“Wait, we can just leave? How do we even get home?” Alice asked, staring after the woman in confusion.
“I’m sure I’ll figure it out. Ain’t no way I’m that far from home, considering this cosplaying crowd,” the woman insisted as she pushed through the crowd. “See ya.”
Alice…really didn’t think it’d be that simple.
Azul was tempted to laugh. This school year truly was turning out to be quite interesting so far. And it had only just begun!
“Goodness gracious. Quite rude, isn’t she?” he remarked to Jade behind him.
“Childish is more like it. Who else throws such unbelievable tantrums? Heh,” Jade chuckled. And right after the woman had stated she was in university too, how funny for Jade to make that exact note.
“I wanna squeeze this girl silly,” Floyd laughed, no doubt smiling as wide as possible.
Jamil honestly didn’t know what to think of this whole situation. First five girls appear from the gates and now one of them was trying to leave? As far as he knew, nothing like this had ever happened at Night Raven College before.
Kalim, however, seemed to have no trouble putting his thoughts in order as he laughed brightly.
“This girl’s a real maverick! What a killer start to this year!” he declared. Jamil just grunted as he continued to observe the situation.
There was no doubt in his mind that he needed to be careful here. Kalim’s safety, and Jamil’s own plans for the year, whatever they turn out to be, relied on it.
“Miss, if you would just remain calm…” Crowley insisted as Shino walked away.
“Nope, not happening, see you later, cult leader, I’m out,” she insisted. Her eyes briefly flashed over the crowd and she just barely took the time to note that there was a floating tablet of all things before she returned her focus to the door. Seriously, there were only so many convention centers in Tokyo, how hard would it be to figure out just where this one was located?
“Halt! Stop right there!” Crowley shouted, to literally no avail.
Riddle’s fragile grasp on his temper was fraying with each minute the longer this farce continued. Women attending Night Raven College? Fine, he could agree to that, there were no rules, after all, that officially stated a woman couldn’t attend. And there were many talented mages, including his mother, who were woman, so there was no issue there.
Riddle’s issue stemmed, however, from the woman insisting on leaving. He clicked his tongue, his fists trembling at his sides. He could feel Trey’s gaze resting on him.
“She’s making a mockery of our traditions,” he hissed in explanation. He grit his teeth as a growl escaped. If something didn’t happen soon, that woman would find herself without her head soon enough.
“I will not allow you to refuse your enrollment!” Crowley shouted and his tone of voice sent shivers down Odette’s spine. If it had been her walking away, she probably would have at least paused.
The dark purple haired woman, however, didn’t even spare a glance backwards.
“I obviously don’t belong here, but thanks for the invite,” she said blithely.
“Oh yeah? Then this is where I come in!” a childish voice yelled as something suddenly jumped through the window, startling the group and the woman alike.
Odette gasped as the creature landed only to reveal it was…a cat? With blue flames coming out of its ears?
Huh?
“Sorry for eavesdropping, but I’ve got something to say!” the cat, the talking cat, declared as it, he?, stood up on its hindlegs.
Odette’s brain was breaking.
“People from all over are dying to get into this school, so if you don’t wanna be here, then hand over your spot to the great and wonderful me!” the cat ordered, pointing directly at the woman.
“Was…that a Wizard of Oz reference?” the blonde whispered to Odette.
“How am I supposed to know?! And that’s what you’re choosing to focus on?!” Odette stared at the girl in shock. The blonde only shrugged, further cementing her as very strange in Odette’s mind.
“Now what manner of creature is this, to barge into our ceremony and speak nonsense?” Crowley questioned, almost sounding bored.
“Speechless, huh?” the cat smirked, crossing its arms…or front legs? How was Odette even supposed to describe this scene??? “What’s the matter, kiddo? Cat got your tongue?”
“Sorry, just…I didn’t know a tanuki could talk,” the dark purple haired woman confessed, genuinely looking thrown at the whole situation.
“Excuse you! I am not a whatever-you-said!” the cat shouted, glaring up at the woman.
“I was gonna say, you look more like a cat than a tanuki,” the brown haired girl admitted almost sheepishly.
“I am not a cat either!” the cat argued. “I am a monster who’s destined for extraordinary magehood! I am the illustrious Grim!”
“Like the Brothers Grim?” the auburn haired girl asked, though her voice was drowned out by the other students, who started laughing.
“The monster wants to become a mage?”
“Yeah, good luck.”
“Take your jokes back to wherever you came from, little raccoon!”
The students were laughing and though the creature was a monster, Martha could admit she still felt bad for him.
Though considering the angry expression that Grim now wore, she wondered if those boys would come to regret their words.
“Oh, that does it!” Grim shrieked. “If that’s how you wanna be, then check out this super special spell I got!”
Grim took a deep breath in before he blew it out, releasing a small blue flame. Martha gasped, her hands coming up to cover her mouth and just as she was about to compliment how pretty it was…
Grim blew out an even bigger breath and suddenly huge flames were shooting out towards the students, lighting them and the room itself on fire.
“You see that? Grim the Great and Powerful!” Grim grinned as students began to cry out from the fire catching on their robes. As he continued speaking, more fire spit from his lips. “And there’s a whole lot more where that came from!”
With that declaration, Grim began to blow out even more fire, setting the entire place alight as students tried to flee.
“Maybe we ought to get out of here, Juice,” Ace suggested nervously as he glanced at his fellow first year. With all the stories he’d heard about Night Raven College from his brother, they definitely hadn’t included a monster coming to set the orientation on fire. Better get out while they still could.
“Not Juice. It’s Deuce!” Jui—or rather, Deuce, corrected angrily. But at the very least he seemed to agree with Ace’s suggestion as he suddenly grabbed Ace’s hand and pulled him towards the doors.
Damn, for a preppy looking dude, he sure was strong!
More flames were flying and Jamil pushed Kalim behind him, as if he could prevent him from catching on fire like that. Not that Kalim was worried, as long as Jamil was here everything would be fine! Besides, this fire was a really pretty blue, though Kalim thought red was much better.
“Oh, dear. Oh, dear. The school will be engulfed in a sea of flame!” Crowley cried out in a panic. “Someone capture this rogue raccoon immediately!”
“Aw, party’s barely even started yet,” Kalim laughed brightly. But right then, his pants started to feel…kinda hot. “Oh? Ahhhhhhhh! Someone put me out! My butt’s on fire!”
Kalim ran instinctively, but there was nowhere for him to tuck and roll like he and Jamil had been taught as kids in case someone tried to burn down the Asim family home. Should he use Oasis Maker? No, he might accidentally drown everyone in here if he wasn’t paying attention and right now he really wasn’t paying attention.
Jamil let out a tired sounding sigh and while Kalim couldn’t blame him, who would want to start the year with their best friend being the guy who got his butt set on fire?, Kalim really wished he’d offer a solution right now please!
Azul knew Jade and Floyd were talking about exactly where he was, but how could he let this golden opportunity go to waste? He approached Crowley with an eager smile, prepared to summon a contract at any given moment.
“Pardon, Headmage!” Azul greeted, startling the man. “I believe I may be of some assistance here. If you’ll allow it, I will gladly take on the unenviable role of apprehending and torturing this poor, unfortunate little soul.”
Azul was pretty sure he could hear Idia saying something, but it seemed to be of little consequence and so he ignored his upperclassman, instead keeping his focus on Crowley.
“What say you? For the sake of the school, I would happily sacr—” Azul’s voice cut off as Kalim suddenly knocked into him, pushing him to the ground.
“Azul! Anyone! Someone put this butt fire out! I can’t take it anymore!” Kalim pleaded, looking most ridiculous. Quite the impression he made for his fellow Housewardens.
“What in the blazes is going on?” Crowley questioned and Azul, frankly, had to agree. “Someone put out these flames!”
“So soon? Things were just getting warmed up,” Lilia commented as he observed the chaos around him. “Ah, well. Better join in on the fun while it’s here.”
“No, no. Lilia, you can’t! Please step back!” Silver cried as Lilia walked into the flames.
“Hmm?” Lilia glanced back at his son as Sebek was suddenly in his face.
“Silver, I thought I told you to keep both eyes on him!” the younger boy criticized.
“Hey, I’m trying!” Silver protested.
But Lilia’s attention was no longer on the two boys. Instead, his gaze turned instead to one of the girls who had caused the orientation to be disrupted in the first place. Specifically, he focused on the blonde girl.
Her gaze met his and Lilia sucked in a breath at the look in her auroral eyes. But before he could approach her, more flames erupted between them, blocking her once more from his view.
The building was falling apart around them and Jack knew his classmates were going to be in danger. Without thinking, he threw his body forward, destroying the piece that was just about to crush two other boys.
“You okay? Hurt at all?” he asked, worried.
“We’re okay.” One boy nodded. Jack nodded back but didn’t relax.
Instead, he turned towards a nearby couch, where his Housewarden, who he expected to help deal with this chaos, was relaxing.
Leona scoffed at the chaos occurring around him, not even deigning it worthy of his attention.
“Dumb herbivores,” he muttered under his breath. “Hey, Ruggie, wake me when it’s over.”
“Shyeheeheehee!” Ruggie laughed. “Sure thing, Leona! You relax!”
“Really? The great hunter sitting on the sidelines?” Vil commented, as if he had any room to judge. “Even though the prey’s a great big, juicy snack?”
“Huh? Waste of my time,” Leona stated lazily. “You go enjoy yourself.”
“Me, hunting? Goodness, no. How uncouth,” Vil scoffed. He waved his hand, as if to flick his hair over his shoulder, and instead flicked away a flame as easily as if it were a pebble. And he was practically sparkling too.
Of course, what Vil didn’t realize Leona noticed was the fact that Vil’s own hunter was simply watching the proceedings as well, probably muttering about how beautiful it all was.
Seriously, were all these herbivores dumber than a bag of rocks?
Talia knew she recognized someone in this crowd, but try as she might to push through it, she simply couldn’t reach anyone.
But she knew she recognized those eyes and he had recognized her too. If only she could remember just where she knew them from, this would be a lot easier. But everyone was panicking and that made maneuvering through the crowd far too difficult.
“Ow, hey!” she cried as one of the boys elbowed her, sending her falling to the ground.
“Are you okay?” the auburn haired girl asked as she knelt beside Talia, offering her a hand.
“Yeah, I’m fine, thanks,” she sighed, taking the hand to help her stand. “I’m Talia, by the way.”
“Martha!” the girl, Martha, smiled brightly. Her olive toned skin contrasted against Talia’s own paler tone. “I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but there could be better circumstances…”
“No kidding,” Talia sighed in agreement as she looked around once more.
That one student, with the eyes she had recognized…she couldn’t find him anywhere.
Just where had he gone?
Everyone else was freaking out but Cater actually found this all quite funny! It was all a game, something to be laughed at later, and it was adorable seeing the first years freak out!
Of course, then Trey had to go and pop Cater’s bubble, not that Cater really minded.
He would mind a lot more if he got collared because he failed to notice that Riddle was barely constraining his anger.
Alice glanced around at the freaking out students, trying to avoid getting trampled as they all blocked the doorways, effectively trapping all of them inside.
“Come on, quit pushing like that, someone’s going to get hurt!” she scolded. She glanced around, surely there was somebody with authority here that could help!
But what she saw instead was that same boy with red hair from before, walking towards the center of the room…and the center of the flames.
“Hey, what’re you doing?!” Alice cried out, already following the boy. “You’re gonna get hurt, get away from there!”
The boy didn’t stop though and instead began to speak.
“First an enrollment refusal and now it’s a monster intrusion,” he said, his voice shaking with barely controlled rage. “They’ve ruined our entrance ceremony and for that there will be consequences.”
“Are you insane?! It’s way too dangerous over there!” Alice shouted, glaring at the boy’s back.
“I’d back down if I were you, he’s not gonna listen,” the dark black haired girl commented as she nervously watched the flames.
“Then fuck him,” the dark purple haired woman scoffed, crossing her arms. How she was still calm was beyond Alice’s understanding.
“No! The last thing we need is someone getting hurt!” Alice protested. Her eyes never left the boy, even as she felt the gazes of others on her own back. She ran forward, barely escaping the dark black haired girl trying to pull her back.
The boy was walking right towards the cat!
Riddle glared down at the insolent monster, who only grinned in an undignified manner up at him.
“Thought all of you were running away,” the monster commented, far too smug for someone about to lose his head. “You think you’re some kinda tough guy?”
“You misunderstand,” Riddle stated firmly. “I am judge, jury and executioner.”
“You talk a big game for a little brat,” the monster scoffed, crossing his front legs. “Let’s go then!”
The monster blew out a large wave of blue fire, but Riddle barely blinked as he watched it approach. He knew exactly what he was going to do and the exact moment to do it—
But just then, he was suddenly tackled to the ground. His eyes widened as he landed on his back, forced to stare up at the tackler in question.
It was the girl from before, her dark brown hair falling over her shoulder to brush against Riddle’s cheek and her matching brown eyes wide in both concern and anger. Her pale purple cardigan brushed against Riddle’s cheek due to her hands resting on either side of his head. Some people, like Cater no doubt, would probably be very pleased to be in this position.
“Hey, are you okay? Why the hell would you think approaching a fire breathing cat is a good idea? Are you actually insane?! It didn’t hit you, did it?” the girl asked, rapid fire.
Riddle, however, was not pleased to be in this position at all.
“’Are you okay?’ ‘Are you actually insane?’ Me?” Riddle repeated, feeling his anger bubbling underneath his skin. The girl just stared at him, confused and like a lost puppy. Riddle felt his teeth clench tightly together as the anger in his chest exploded. “Who do you think you’re talking to?!”
The girl blinked, looking somehow even more confused, but Riddle didn’t care. He pushed her off with a single hand.
“Get off!” he snapped. The girl fell back in shock as Riddle stood up. He could see Trey and Cater running towards them, careful of the flames. But Riddle paid them no mind, turning once more to the pesky monster.
“You little punks don’t know when to give up!” The monster glared. “I’ve had enough!”
“SILENCE!” Riddle screamed. The monster yelped, falling silent at last. Riddle removed his magic pen from its holster at his waist, speaking more calmly now that he had blessed silence. “Your sentence comes first. The verdict, afterwards.”
“I kinda got a bad feeling about this one,” the monster whimpered. Excellent, so he had a sense of self-preservation after all.
Too bad he had already sacrificed his head.
“Have you any last words?” Riddle continued as his pen glowed with his magic channeling through it.
“Is tha…I don’t—” the monster stuttered before he turned to flee, but it was too late.
“Then it’s OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!” Riddle casted. He waved his pen and in no time at all, the collar locked around the monster’s neck.
“What’s with this stupid collar?” the monster demanded as he began to struggle with it, trying to remove it to no avail. “Someone get this thing off of me!”
“I hope you’re comfortable,” Riddle stated, already feeling calmer now that his first problem had been dealt with. “Rule Number 23: ‘One must never bring a cat to a formal affair’.”
“I’m not a cat or a raccoon! Show some respect!” the monster shouted. He tried to breathe more fire, but all that came out was air. “What the heck? Why can’t I breathe fire anymore?!”
The Headmage’s clapping brought silence to the room, though only Riddle and the monster had been speaking in the first place.
“Why, Riddle Rosehearts, what a marvelous display of skill in catching the fiend,” Crowley complimented. “Of course, I expect nothing less from the Housewarden of Heartslabyul House. ‘Off With Your Head’ seals its target’s magical ability, no matter the type. You know, I’ve always been quite partial to that spell myself.”
“No!” the monster protested, still fighting the collar despite having no success. With his magic sealed, the flames had already begun to die down. Crowley walked up to the monster, picking him up by the scruff of his neck.
“Now, it is high time that we rid ourselves of this little pest,” the Headmage declared. The monster freaked out, his tail straightening to a point. “Fret not. I have no designs on harming you. I am ever so kind.”
“I’m not giving up! Ever! I’ll be back! Do you hear me?” the monster shouted as Crowley began to walk away.
Not that Riddle cared that much. Once the monster was off the school property, the collar would vanish. If he returned, Riddle would simply collar him again for breaking another rule, which he no doubt would.
Now on to the next troublemaker…
Alice couldn’t even stand up, her eyes locked on the red haired boy, Riddle, even as Crowley took Grim away. She could still feel the heat from the flames, which meant this was most definitely not a dream.
Magic was real. And somehow, she had ended up in a school for it.
Riddle suddenly approached her and Alice could only stare up at him, her legs too weak to support her body.
“I guess you really aren’t insane after all,” she smiled slightly. “That was something…I’d never seen anything like it before.”
“Silence!” Riddle snapped, holding his pen directly in front of Alice’s nose. She stared at it, far too aware that just moments ago, that same pen had sealed a collar around Grim’s neck. “It’s not enough that you intrude, but you would dare insult me as well? That is tantamount to insulting the Queen of Hearts herself, you prodigious buffoon! I will not tolerate such an affront to the crown!”
Alice couldn’t even say anything. In fact, the entire room was silent as they all stared at the spectacle the two of them no doubt made. For a moment, Alice feared that she would die.
“To wit…your punishment will be swift and righteous,” Riddle continued. “And your head will roll!”
His face was turning red from the force of his anger and Alice could do nothing except stare at him.
Sis…I’m so sorry…I won’t be home in time for dinner.