Chapter Text
Tired eyes flickered open to a darkness that seemed to last forever; except that was far from true. Despite not seeing anything, the air was condense and Durin could tell that the space was enclosed. The last thing he remembered was walking through the academia with Hat Guy when suddenly a loud noise echoed through the halls. Confused and suspicious, both boys went to investigate the sound. The front of the academia was in a state of panic as a carriage with two horses and no driver busted through the doors. Running to try and stop them, an overwhelming amount of energy bursted from the carriages center. Everything else is a total blur so there’s no way to know how or when he arrived at this cramped, pitch black space.
Faintly, on the other side of the surface he was trapped in, a slight murmur could be heard. Holding his breath, Durin slowly used his hand to open the door-suprisingly unlocked- of what seemed to be a coffin. The sight wasn’t exactly shocking, but was a little confusing. An animal with dark gray fur and bright blue flams around his neck and ears seemed to be agitated while trying to open another coffin in the room. The animal was nothing he had ever seen before; the closes connection he could connect it to was a Tanuki from the Inazuma region. Glancing around the room, a huge amount-and Im talking hundreds- of coffins laid open on the floor. Curiously, Durin turned around to see the coffin he came out of was designed the same way as the others. An angelic looking print with a turquoise stone placed near the top. “Human! Strip your robes and hand them over immediately!” Grumbled the black tanuki as he pointed his paw in Durins direction.
Looking around before landing his eyes on the Tanuki, Durin pointed to himself and muttered “Are you talking to me?”. The animal huffed and put his paws on his hips, “There is no other trivial mortal around is there?”, the fire on his ears began to flame up more, “I, the great godly Grim shall earn the top spot in this school as long as I get that robe! So hand it over!”. There was no specific reason to resist, in fact, he didn’t even know how he got into this robe. So Durin began to untie the strings around his waist to give the article of clothing to the tanuki; was his name Godly Grim? Maybe the godly was just a play on words. Lisa was telling him about that after he finished a puzzling book full of rhymes and riddles. Durin had the robe in hand and was about to give it over, but then a man with a crow mask and a tall hat scuffed the animal and picked him up. The animal (Grim?), struggled as he attempted to get out of the mans hold.
Once he came closer, the mans eyes may have been covered, but Durin could still feel his chilling gaze. The bird man opened his mouth to speak before pausing. It was obvious he was complexed about something relating to Durins appearance. Could it be his horns? His wings? Maybe even his pupils? Different species aren’t that rare, but as a dragon, most people are usually perplexed for a second. The mans shock quickly disappeared before he declared “There you are!” He glanced down to Grim before returning his attention to Durin. “Young man, you should be aware that being accompanied by a familiar is by far against the rules”. Against the rules? To have a pet or companion? Wherever he was had weird rules. Maybe he was in Fontaine? Hat guy had mentioned how the rules in Fontaine were absolutely absurd, and he should be careful if he wanted to visit. Though, if it meant getting back to Mondstadt or the academia, then he would obey them. “I suppose nothing can be done for now as we are already running out of time”, said the crow man as he turned his back, his cap flowing as he walked towards the huge doorway. He turned back around and waited a second before beginning his questioning “Well come on, we don’t want to stall the welcoming ceremony longer than necessary”. “Oh sorry!” Yelled Durin as he sped walk to where the man was standing. “Here, you can hold this dire beast until we can discuss this later” said the man as he handed Grim to Durin. Grim was no longer struggling, but Durin decided to just tightly hold him in his arms as he followed the crow man.
Once they exited the room, the man lead Durin down a long hallway. The walls were tall with small windows at the top that allowed small rays of orangey light through; meaning it was most likely turning night…or maybe he was passed out for so long that it was morning. There are fancy torches laid on the wall every 20 or so steps and there are many different doors that lead to who knows what. Based on the appearance of the hall, Durin could only come to the conclusion that he was inside of some kind of school which was definitely not the academia which made sense base off what Grim said earlier. So lost in thought, he barely noticed when the man stopped in front of a large entrance. The door was quite thick so he couldn’t make out the amount of people on the other side, but with a quick estimate, there had to be at least over a hundred people. Opening the doors, it echoed with a low creek and the jolly conversations and voices quickly were lost and replaced with low whispers. The crow man began to enter the room so Durin quickly followed behind. To be frank, his nerves were starting to act up. He has never been surrounded by so many people without knowing a lick of information. Where is he? How did he get here? Who are all these people? So many questions were running wild through his brain. Durin tried to keep his eyes either glued to the floor or to the back of the man, but he couldn’t help but peek to his sides at the crowd of people. Most of them looked younger, maybe around barbaras age? All of them wore the same robe as he is, this must be where that welcome ceremony was taking place. To quench his nerves, Durin began to slowly pet Grim behind his ears which made not only him, but Grim calm down as well.
Stopping along with the man, there was a mirror sat on a podium. “Now go along magic mirror and assess this lad“ the mirror lit up a mysterious shade of green and a weird looking frown face appeared through the glass. The head moved around and let out a few hums before furrowing its non-existing brows. “The nature of your soul is…unclear to me” it announced. The room flared up with a disarray of exchanges. Durin looked at the man who looked to be in a state of shock before muttering “Impossible..This has never happened in the existence of Night Raven College!”. The rooms small state of panic seemed the perfect time to bring up his question, “Sir, what even is this place?”. That single question seemed to stop every conversation in the room. “Ah, your mind must be in shock from the teleportation”-Teleportation??-“That’s quite normal” he laughed as he twirled and extended his arms “This is Night Raven College, only the most powerful magic school in all of Twisted Wonderland. I am sorry that this mistake has happened, we will return you safely to your home”. That lead to so many more questions. Durin had never heard of a school called Night Raven College across the seven regions nor had he ever heard of a place called Twisted Wonderland. Plus what does this man mean by magic? Is he referring to visions? At least he can get back home. The man must have noticed his confusion because his face quickly fell and he walked closer to Durin, leaned in close, and began inspecting his face. “It is not unheard of that some fae keep their young away from humans”, the man lingered a few seconds longer before backing up and walking closer to the mirror, “Tell me, what is your name and what land do you hail from”. Durin had met fae before like Flins and Lauma, but he wasn’t one himself, but maybe the man was just confused. “My names Durin sir…ah-“ the man cut of his speech “You may call me sir Crowley”. Durin slowly nodded his head and repeated himself, “My names Durin sir Crowley, and I’m from Mondstadt”. The man crossed his arms and tapped his finger to his chin, muttering a quick “Hmm, I have never heard of a ‘Mondstadt’ before” He clapped his hands and announced slightly louder, “Oh well, Magic mirror please return this young man home!”. The magic mirror sat still which must’ve not been normal as Crowley coughed and repeated “Ah..Magic Mirror, please return this young soul home!”. The mirror seemed complexed as he shook his head. “There is no place called Mondstadt in this world” Durins heart dropped.
What does that mean? Of course there’s a place called Mondstadt. Durins grip tightened which must’ve been apparent as Grim began to struggle in discomfort between his arms, but he didn’t even notice because his head was running wild. Was he not going to go home? No one seemed aware of where Mondstadt was and he wasn’t aware of where he was right now. Durin could feel the flare of panic rise in his chest. The abyssal power within him surging to break free as a response to him panicking. Slowly tilting his head towards the mirror, he could see his pupils turn crimson. Turning towards Crowley, his face went from worried to a state of panic. His voice echoed to the room “Everyone out, leave the room immediately!”. Durin could feel the abyssal energy in him trying to overflow no matter how hard he attempted to hold it in. His body began to shake and he began clenching the robe he had on. It was like Albedos alchemy was no longer attached to his soul. If he let the abyssal magic take over, so many people could get hurt. Before anything happened he heard someone yell “OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!”. A heart shaped collar appeared around his neck and the energy in his body felt like it was disappearing. He felt tired and loopy, like his body was a shell with no soul. Durin felt himself begin to fall when suddenly someone appeared at his back. His heart was thumping and his nerves were taking over his body. It was like his soul was being ripped into two. He was so afraid. What was happening to him? Was he going to die? Would he never see anyone again? Hat Guy? Albedo? Klee? Lisa? Somehow out of everyone on his mind, he began to think of his mom. Would he fail at fulfilling her last wish to live his life with people who cared about him? His vision began to blur together as he managed to tilt his head back a little to see who had caught him. The only thing he saw before closing his eyes was 2 pink strips and a patch of green.