Chapter Text
Maybe they had been right. She was selfish.
If Krista thought of anyone other than herself, she would be able to tidy her room. If Krista thought of anyone other than herself, she would put effort into her education. If Krista thought of anyone other than herself, she would be kinder.
If Krista thought of anyone other than herself, she would not have been focusing on who she was calling and notice the horse and carriage in the middle of the road. She would not have been run over.
Wherever Krista found herself, it was dark. So incredibly dark. How had she even gotten here? She remembered walking home after school, and her phone ringing. She answered it as soon as she recognized the caller ID and was about to cross the street when.
Oh. Oh no. Had she? Yes, she did. And that must make this Hell. Or maybe she was lucky and made it to Heaven. The afterlife was lonely, wherever she might be. And cold. And dark. Of course it would be.
Well, if she were truly alone, then it did not matter how she reacted. Krista sank to the ground of the place she found herself. Small, she noted as her elbow clipped the wall. Of course she would still be able to feel pain even in death. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes. There was still so much to do, so much to make up for, and she wouldn’t get to. She should be allowed a few tears.
Or not, she decided as something began to bang on the walls of what held her.
“I better hurry and find that uniform before someone spots me,” the voice was small, chittering more than speaking. It came from outside of wherever Krista found herself. “This lid weighs a ton! Oh! Try this on for size!”
Flames burst around Krista, tearing a hole in the darkness to reveal a cat-weasel-thing with fire in its ears. She jerked up and backwards, hitting the back wall of the darkness.
“Now to grab the goods- What?! You ain’t supposed to be awake!”
“A talking weasel?” Krista finally forced out. Not her best moment and definitely not the most important question, but it was better than nothing.
“How…..” the cat-weasel-thing stuttered, faced contorting in a snarl. “How DARE YOU! I am no WEASEL! I’m Grim, sorcerer extraordinaire!”
Krista flinched and tried to back up further. Curse this small prison.
“Tch. Whatever,” the cat-thing (he had assured Krista he was not a weasel) rolled his eyes. “You…. human! Just gimme your uniform and be quick about it. ‘Cause if ya don’t, you’re gonna regret it!” To accentuate his threat, Grim breathed fire. Oh, so that’s where the fire came from, Krista thought sluggishly, before bolting away from the cat-thing.
She’s dead so she maybe can’t actually be hurt, but Krista is not necessarily thrilled to test that theory. So, running seemed the best solution. The picture of where she found herself did not get better the longer she ran. It was huge and labyrinthian in nature, and that cat-thing was close on her heels, spouting fire, the entire time. It seemed that she had only blinked when she wound up in a library, books floating all around and dimly lit by green flames.
There was no way she was still somewhere anywhere close to home.
“Foolish human! Did you really think you could slip away from ME?” the cat-thing appeared behind her once more. Maybe she had ended up in Hell, and this was her eternal torture: running away from a strange cat breathing fire in a maze-like castle. “Now, unless you wanna get burned to a crisp, take off that-”
Before he could finish talking, something grabbed the scruff of his neck and yanked him away from Krista. The cat-thing yelped in surprise, attempting to spout fire, but anyway it turned, he was stopped by the person who had grabbed him.
“That hurt! What gives?” Grim eventually yowled, becoming dead weight in the person’s grasp.
“Consider it tough love,” the voice belonged to a man and spoke firmly. Now that Krista’s eyes had better adjusted to the dim light, she could make out his shadowed figure. He wore a top hat and feathered cloak, with a mask that resembled a plague doctor. His eyes were a yellow that seemed to flicker behind his mask, like a faint candle light. Oh. A grim reaper, Krista concluded.
Once the man was sure he had Grim secured, he turned to Krista. “Ah, I’ve found you at last. Splendid. I trust you’re one of this year’s new students? My, were you ever eager to make your debut. And bringing a poorly trained familiar with you? That is a clear violation of the school’s rules.”
“School rules?” Krista mumbled, more from surprise than lack of understanding.
“As if I’d serve some lowly human! Now lemme go!” Grim spoke louder and attempted once more to break free of the man’s grip.”
“Yes, yes. Rebellious familiars always say that. Do be quiet for a bit, won’t you?” the man sounded annoyed and clamped his hand over Grim’s muzzle, mumbling something under his breath before removing his hand and leaving the beast silent.
“Dear me. Of all the students I’ve dealt with, you’re the first with the temerity enough to open their own gate and step out of it. Does the very notion of patience elude you?” the man turned back to Krista, arms crossed and shaking his head as his voice took on a chiding tone.
“Where am I?” Krista tried to ask, but the man just kept talking.
“No matter. Your orientation has already begun. Let us return to the Mirror Chamber.”
“Student?” Krista tried once more to get answers. “Gate? What are you talking about?”
“You awakened in a room full of gates, did you not? All the students here at the campus arrived by passing through such gates. Although, typically the students have restraint enough to wait unti l open them before waking up.”
“So you’re saying that weird darkness I woke up in is this…. Gate you’re talking about?”
“The design is intended to symbolise a parting with your former world; a rebirth into a new one. But now is not the time for prattle. You’ve a student orientation to attend!” Krista wondered what he had meant by that. She only noticed that it was a small space, not the shape. Though, of all the things Krista expected the afterlife to be, a school was not one of them. Maybe this really was hell.
“Go on, now. Make haste,” the man prodded once more when Krista hadn’t moved.
“Wait. Please, first just tell me where I am,” Krista pleaded. Beside the cat-thing, this was the first conscious being she had met. She didn’t know when she would meet another one, and did not like the odds of them being like Grim.
“Hm? Have you not fully regained consciousness? The timespace teleportation must have addled your memories…” the man trailed off, talking more to himself than to Krista. “Oh, no matter. These things happen, I suppose. I shall explain it to you while we walk. Truly, my magnanimity is boundless!”
And so the man took off walking, leading Krista the way she had come. Now that she wasn’t running for her life, she realized that it was night and a chill had settled in the air. She also noticed what she was wearing: a black robe, line with purple on the inside, and hemmed with gold. It was beautifully made and definitely not something she had bought. More importantly, it was warm and had a hood that she quickly pulled up to warm her head a little more. Grim had said a few times something about wanting her uniform. Maybe he was just cold?
As Crowley led her, he spoke in a loud voice, dripping with pride. “This is Night Raven College. It is an institution for students the world over who demonstrate a rare aptitude for magic. It is the most prestigious academy of its sort in all of Twisted Wonderland. And I am Dire Crowley. Having been entrusted with its care by the chairman, I serve as headmage.” Oh, so not a grim reaper then. Maybe, Krista admittedly not the most brushed up on her mythologies surrounding death.
“Wait. Magic?” Krista blurted out as it caught up to his explanation.
“Only those who the Dark Mirror perceives as having a talent for magic are admitted here.”
“But, I don’t have magic,” Krista blurted out. “It’s not even areal thing.”
“Those who are selected are summoned to the campus through those ‘gates,’ which can appear anywhere,” Crowley shrugged, undeterred by Krista’s statement- or maybe he just hadn’t heard it.
“A black carriage bearing one such gate should have come to meet you.”
“I remember a horse drawn carriage,” Krista mumbled. “I had just answered my phone, and was about to cross the street when it came hurtling out of nowhere. Then I was in that gate.”
“As you know, sending a carriage to meet someone on a special day is a time-honored tradition.”
Krista was wondering where she could possibly be where that was a time honored tradition, as well as how being hit with said carriage meant she was supposed to attend some school of magic. “So this carriage dragged me here against my will?”
“Let us attend to your orientation,” Crowley smiled as if she hadn’t said anything, redadjusting his grip on Grim so the cat-thing couldn’t slip away. He continued walking, explanation concluded and hurrying in the direction of the hall where Krista had first awakened. What had been a silent room was now filled with the low hum of chatter. Five people- er, five people and a tablet- stood at the head of the room and seemed to be directing the gathered people on where to go.
“Some headmage he is,” the tablet grumbled.
“Maybe he had a tummyache?” one of the people at the front suggested.
“I most certainly did not!” Crowley stormed in, Grim still head by his bow with the clear direction for Krista to follow. And follow Krista did, though more from horror at the sight of so many coffins than actually feeling she should. Was this was Crowley meant when he described the gates as a symbol of departing with the former world? Though horrific, she did have to admit the metaphor made sense.
“Speak of the devil,” another one of the people in the front spoke under his breath.
“If you must know, I was searching for the new student who failed to show for orientation,” Crowley gestured behind himself to Krista and she felt way too many eyes slide over to her. “Now, go on. You are teh only student who has yet to be assigned a dorm. Step up to the Dark Mirror, and be quick about it.”
“I don’t think I’m supposed to be here,” Krista tried again.
“Nonsense! If the Dark Mirror did not choose youm then you would not be able to be here. Now hurry up.” Krista heard people begin to mutter around her, and saw a few annoyed expressions on faces shadowed by hoods like her own. No no no, she did not need to be the center of attention here, in a place she was not even supposed to be.
“Are there any girls here?” she suddenly asked when she had noticed a few faces, and then a few more, until she finally realized what she had not seen yet.
“Of course not,” Crowley huffed and rolled his eyes. “I understand you are an adolescent, but this is hardly the time for that.”
“I really think that I’m not supposed to be here,” Krista tried once more earning a long sigh from the man.
“Step up to the Dark Mirror and be quick about. I will watch your weasel.”
Having no other option, and desperately ready to stop being what everyone was focused on, Krista listened. When nothing happened, she could maybe explain better to him. She walked forward, past the five people and tablet, feeling their eyes follow her as stepped up on to a stone platform in front of the mirror. It was bigger than herself, like it could swallow her whole.
“”State your name,” a face appeared in the mirror, speaking in a voice that resonated throughout the room. She felt, more than heard it as it settled in her chest and rooted her to the spot.
“Krista Yuun.”
“The nature of your souls is…” at least Krista could get a personality quiz out of this. “Unclear to me.”
Or not.