Chapter Text
It was dark, freezing cold wind nipping at their skin. What was happening? They had blacked out on the walk home, that was all they remembered. Yuu opened their eyes only to be met with darkness. It was so quiet they could hear their own thoughts. Am I dead? They pushed their hands out, hitting a cold surface. What was this? A heavy push against it was enough to dislodge the item, pushing it off. The sound it made- it was unmistakably glass.
Light finally shone in, Yuu blinking a few times to let their eyes adjust. This box they were in was lined with a white cushion. It was surprisingly nice yet disturbingly coffin shaped. Maybe they really were dead. So then was this some kind of purgatory? It was so confusing, they were struggling to wrap their head around it.
Yuu sat up, looking around the room. That glass they had pushed off themselves was a beautiful, shining light blue. The room was made of nice architecture, well decorated, and they most definitely couldn’t ignore the hundreds of faces staring at them. A larger figure stepped closer. It looked to be a elderly man. Though he looked quite well for how old he seemed. “Oh dear! You’re a bit too early, my darling!” The old man held a hand out to Yuu, trying to help them up.
Yuu took his hand, slowly stepping out. “Where am I?” Their voice was raspy, their shoes clicking against the tile of the floor. It looked like some kind of school assembly. Everyone was wearing the same white outfit, various different looking people sitting in rows.
“Royal Sword Academy, of course. It’s our entrance ceremony.” The man spoke again, his gaze staring down Yuu as well. “I would hope you had known that if you were to join our academy.” This was puzzling him as much as it was Yuu. It wasn’t usual that a student would join the entrance ceremony and have zero clue where they are. Perhaps they had suffered a head injury?
The expression on Yuu’s face told the man everything he needed to know. They truly did not know what was going on. “Dear, we must get you to the infirmary, they’ll be able to treat you. From there we can discuss what will happen.” He was holding them gently, trying not to hurt them further as he tried to pull them towards the exit.
“Wait, please!” Yuu pulled back, tugging their arm out of the man’s grasp. “I don’t know you! I don’t know any of you! I want to go home!” They argued. The old man didn’t seem angry, he didn’t blame the poor kid. They were lost and confused and probably scared. He raised his hands in a placating gesture.
“Please calm down! I understand you may be scared but we are only trying to help you.” He paused before talking again, keeping his soft tone as to not scare Yuu any further. “My name is Ambrose the 63rd, I’m the headmaster of this school. Could you tell me the name of your home? I’ll get you there quickly.”
Yuu hesitated, taking a breath and slowly calming down. “Japan… I’m from Japan.” But the way Ambrose didn’t move or speak made their heart race again. He said he’d get them back, they just wanted to go home. He even looked confused.
“We really should get you to the infirmary.” Ambrose frowned. “There is no such thing as Japan here, my dear.” He could see the shock on their face, the confusion. But it was the truth, there was no Japan in Twisted Wonderland. Something was going on that not even he could explain. The students behind him began to whisper to each other. Ambrose motioned to them as if telling them to quiet down. He wouldn’t want Yuu to be nervous or frightened further.
They all seemed to silence themselves at the motion, their eyes still trained on Yuu. “That’s impossible…” They gasped out. “I’m not hurt! I don’t have a concussion, I’m from a country called Japan! On earth!” This had to just be a bad dream. They wanted to go home to their family, to their friends.
“You’re sure of this?” Ambrose sighed. He would still have someone come check them out but for now he would take their word. That some place called Japan did exist somewhere and that’s where they’re from. Yuu gave a short nod, their fists clenched at their sides.
Ambrose held his hand out to Yuu, letting them take his hand at their own pace. They stepped forward, pausing to truly think about what they were doing before taking his hand. They stood in front of what looked like some big book. “Oh storybook! Please return this child back to their homeland!”
The sound of pages flipping filled the room. The book stopped at an entirely empty page, nothing was showing up. “Oh my.” Ambrose seemed just as surprised as the students who let out gasps behind him. Yuu didn’t know what was supposed to happen- surely something was supposed to show up and their negative reactions was because it didn’t.
“What?” Yuu looked up at Ambrose. “It’s real! I know Japan is real, I was just there!” They held their hand out to the book, as if it was wrong. They looked back at the empty page as if staring at it would will something there.
“I do believe you, I just cannot imagine how you ended up here. The carriage had to have picked you for some reason..” He rubbed his chin as he thought. “I fear if even the storybook can’t bring you home, I’m unsure of what will.” Ambrose set his hand on Yuu’s shoulder as if trying to comfort them.
Ambrose turned back to the book, clearing his throat before speaking again. “Well then, storybook, to which dorm will this child reside?” He looked at the book as the pages flipped again. This time something did appear, elegant writing filling the page.
They couldn’t be part of a dorm at all, they didn’t have magic to even truly attend the academy. Ambrose seemed once again baffled. What could he even do now? “Ah..” He started, turning back to Yuu. “Well I suppose someone who is magicless cannot even attend the academy.” What could he do with the poor child?
“I suppose for now I can allow you to stay in the old dorm on the south of campus. We had been using it as a storage room but it’s still in well enough shape for someone to reside there. How wrong it would be of us to simply kick you out when you have nowhere else to go. No need to worry for we’ll take care of you until we can find a solution to bringing you back home!”
Ambrose turned back to all the students watching. “Housewardens! Please bring your students back to your dorms! The ceremony has adjourned.” Everyone was starting to stand up, typically with one of them- who Yuu could only assume was the housewardens- would make a motion for the rest to follow.
Ambrose seemed to be waiting for everyone to file out, his hand still on Yuu’s shoulder. “I will have to turn the water and electricity on, oh how troublesome. I believe for now you’ll have to go without.” He turned to look down at Yuu. “If you need to use the bathroom or would like a cup of water please do ask me now.”
Yuu just shook their head. They just felt so defeated. This was real, this was truly happening. They were stuck in some magic world they had no understanding of with no way home. “Well, if you’re sure. The students should be heading out to their dorms now so let us go get you situated.”
Ambrose motioned for Yuu to follow them, the older man beginning to walk towards a pair of double doors. Yuu had no choice but to follow. If they tried to go out on their own with no knowledge about this place they’d surely be even worse off. The hallways had beautiful big windows and bright curtains.
Outside the window it was clearly night, the same as when they were walking home. The stars were bright and the sky was clear. It was like something out of a perfect fairytale. There was a long path up to the school made of beautiful whitish brick and what looked to be like other buildings out in the distance.
“This way now!” Ambrose had gotten a bit ahead as Yuu had slowed down simply to admire everything. They glanced back at the sound of his voice, speeding up to walk in step with him again. The walls had paintings hung upon them of various people Yuu definitely couldn’t recognize.
The walk was even more tiring than that supposed entrance ceremony did. A couple students hadn’t gone back to their dorms yet and were instead mingling with one another, occasionally glancing back at Yuu. The looks made them nervous.
“Now right through here.” Ambrose pushed open another set of doors leading outside. There were a bunch of white and blue buildings matching the largest one they had just left out of. It was all very beautiful, Yuu could say that much. Ambrose clapped his hands and made a delighted sound, speeding up his pace towards a building.
The lights inside were off but the place itself looked okay. Ambrose dug through his robe, trying to find something. “No..” He threw aside a scroll. “Not this either.” He threw aside a candlestick. “There we go!” He finally pulled out a ring of keys, using one of them to open the door to the building.
Opening it seemed to stir up a dust cloud, Ambrose waving his hand and coughing. “Apologies for that!” He used some kind of wand to make a small flame, lighting their way. The place was littered with boxes. He did say it was used as storage before. “In here should have some beds! Some leftovers from the dorms.”
He pushed open the door to reveal another room with some boxes but also beds lined up. Ambrose lit a candle hung on the wall to give the room at least a bit of light. “Feel free to take your pick. I’ll be back in the morning so we can figure out what to do with you, dear.” He smiled before walking away, closing the door behind him.
Now left alone Yuu didn’t know what to do. They were exhausted yet at the same time wide awake. They pat down on of the beds, trying to get the dust off it before lying down. It only had one barely fluffed pillow and a thin blanket. Ambrose would surely give them something better later once everything was situated.
They sighed, staring up at the ceiling. The fire of the candle flickered, the room lit in a soft orange. The building wasn’t too out of service but it still creaked with the wind. It was scary enough being alone in a place you’ve never been before! Yuu didn’t need a haunted house on top of that.
“Whew!” A high pitched voice came out next them. Yuu jolted up out of bed, their head turning towards the source of the noise. “Woah!” The voice came again. Peeking out of a blanket seemed to be a small cat. “I’m sorry to have startled you!”
But Yuu may have been more scared by the fact the cat was even speaking rather than there being one in there. It was an orange cat and in all honesty, he just looked like a normal cat. “I didn’t think anyone would be in here!” He jumped over to Yuu, standing at the foot of the bed.
“You’re talking?” Yuu spoke slowly. The cat nodded, orange fur following the movement. “Well yeah, I guess it’s not really usual for animals to speak this way!” He sat down, digging a paw into the fabric of the blanket.
“So, is this your home now? If it then.. then don’t worry! I’ll leave!” Had the poor kitten been staying in here? Yuu shook their head. “I’m only staying here for now. You don’t have to go.” Those words seemed to make the kitten light up with joy.
“Thank you! I’ve been coming in here through a hole in the wall to escape the weather. No one comes in here anyways so I thought maybe it’d be okay if I did.” The cat cocked his head at Yuu. “Are you here because you have nowhere to go too?” This talking cat was really spot on with that one.
Yuu nodded. “They said they don’t know how to take me home so I have to stay here.” Their tone of voice made it clear how they felt about it. Very obviously upset. The cat slumped a little bit, feeling bad for Yuu.
“Well, we can look for home together! I don’t have a home really but- I will have a home! With someone to love and take care of me! What’s your name anyways?” The cat stood up again. “Mine is Ollin!”
“My name is Yuu.” They watched the cat step closer, sitting down again next to their leg. “Nice to meet you!” Ollin giggled. “So why can’t they take you home? Do you not live nearby?” He sure had no idea about the whole catastrophe that had transpired earlier.
“Apparently I live far away. Too far from here to go back home.” Yuu responded, picking Ollin up to set him on the other bed as well as stand up to blow the candle out. “Oh.” Ollin’s voice came out through the dark. “I’ll help you find home! And we can find me a home too!”
Yuu laid back down, the bed creaking under them. “Sure, we can find you a home too.” They’d feel bad not helping the kitten, especially when he seemed so eager. “We can start looking tomorrow but for now let’s sleep, alright?” They sighed. They probably wouldn’t sleep for another while but at least they could get Ollin to get some rest.
“Right! Yes! Sleep is important!” Ollin got comfortable against the pillow of his own bed, curling up into a ball. “Goodnight Yuu!” He squeaked out. Yuu couldn’t help but smile. At least they had some company through the night tonight. “Goodnight Ollin.” They replied quietly.