Chapter Text
Summary:
Yuri Wren was a quiet, sickly boy. He didn't have any friends, as the other kids either avoided him like a plague, or tormented him mercilessly. The only break he got from their cruelty was when he was sick. The caretakers of the home rarely approached him if they didn't have too. Looking the other way when the children were particularly cruel.
He usually spent all his time alone, left to read or draw quietly in his room or under a tree... If he was even allowed outside.
The only friend he had was a small, mouthy dire cat beast that sometimes approached him when he was under a tree or even sneaking into his room. His name was Grim, and he was the closest thing he had to a companion. One like himself with no knowledge of where he came from or who his family could have been. Why he might have been left behind.
This was Yuri's small existence. One that changes when he wakes up at an arcane academy known as Night Raven College. A place for up-and-coming young mages. Which Yuri, who possessed not a drop of magic, couldn't be.
And yet, under unusual circumstances, the Dark Mirror confirms that he is in fact a student for this school. Even if not as a regular student. Though Grim, who eventually manages to track him down, seems to think this place is better than the home ever was.
So, with his protective familiar by his side, Yuri and Grim begin to navigate their wide new world full of different people. Personalities. Ambitions. Knowledge. Histories. And experiences they never had before.
They learn more about their world that was such a mystery to them. But not all of it is good. In addition to the new experiences, there are also many dangers that they're introduced too. Such as over blot and its disturbing origins and effects on the mages who suffer it.
And in this experience, more can be learned about the origins of his own illness and the abilities he never knew he had before.
Along the way, he encounters many new faces. Making friends and allies in this new life. Ones who mean more than anyone would think. And who may yet play an important part of Yuri's fate, as he plays in theirs.
Twisted Wonderland: Prologue
Yuri watched the clear blue sky from his place under the large tree at the edge of the yard. Summer was officially over after today. Though they still had plenty of warm days ahead of them.
Most fall semesters would start up after this upcoming weekend. And with it, his own partial imprisonment would also begin. 'For his own good' of course. He mentally scoffed at that. He knew he was sickly of course. It was something no one would let him forget.
The younger kids used it to bully him when he couldn't go on excursions with the rest of the home. Which was more often than it should be.
The caretakers themselves used his weak constitution as an excuse when they didn't want to take him on those same excursions or didn't want him going outside for whatever reason whether the weather was good or not. Usually because they had no desire to deal with a possible emergency if he went along.
He enjoys the school year if only for the days he manages to attend. Which, with his constitution, resulted in him attending classes for about 3/4 of the school year during a good one. And only half during bad ones.
Although, he doesn't remember attending school when he was ten, six years ago. To be honest, he doesn't remember anything from that year at all. And the only explanation he was given was that he had been sick, though it was never expanded on. So, he had no choice but to accept their words for it. At least until he eventually remembered something himself.
The only one who would bring up his sickly constitution for good reasons was Grim, the protective dire cat beast that had claimed him as his human.
The beast was a prideful and feisty little thing. He was boastful and rather arrogant at times. But the little guy was somewhat street smart, could be quite resourceful, was adept at mischief, and a glutton that Yuri couldn't see his life without after these past couple years. He was also naturally warm due to his fire magic, leaving the sickly boy nice and toasty during winter when the other would slip into his room those months.
With a soft smile on his face at the thought of the young beast, he turned his attention off of his thoughts and back to the present. Only to blink at the tall young woman standing before him. One of the caretakers. He's not sure which though.
He had very little interaction with those who worked here and had stopped trying to get recognized. By this point, he was nearly self-sufficient. Even when his sickly nature reared its ugly head. "Did you hear me, Mr. Wren?" she asked, almost huffing with annoyance, but doing her best to hide it. The boy winced.
"Sorry miss. I'm afraid I didn't." He whispered softly, looking away from her. She muttered something under her breath that was probably not meant to be heard by him. And shouldn't be spoken in the presence of children in general. But then she spoke up louder, clearly intending to be heard this time.
"There is a fair the next town over, to celebrate the last day of summer." She began, and just from seeing the snickering children in the background Yuri knows what's coming.
"Me and the other minders are taking the children to attend." She took on a falsely remorseful frown. "We'd take you, but we won't be returning until tomorrow. And you know how bad your condition gets when you exert yourself. Especially in new places."
"Yes miss." Yuri says, putting just the right amount of disappointment into his voice to convince not her but rather the other children listening in of his sadness. Seeing their hi fives in the background he barely refrains from grinning at them with joy at being free of them. Even if only for a night.
She smiled at him, a mockery of pride in his grown-up attitude at the unfairness they bestow upon him for the sake of his wellbeing. "I'm sorry. We'll make up for it somehow, okay?" A blatant lie but one meant to make her feel better at offering.
"Yes miss!" The smile is bland and devoid of true happiness. But at this point, none of them even know what that looks like on him anymore. He doesn't even know if he knows what that feels like.
She continues to smile before adding the caveat to the 'agreement' that she's offered him. "Make sure to clean your room, eat something nutritional, take your potion, and turn in early tonight. There's school shopping to be done tomorrow when we return." She told him with excitement.
Oh yes. The school shopping trip he wouldn't be a part of this year. Just like last year. And the year before that. So on. So forth. "Yes miss." He promised. And honestly, he probably would go to bed early anyway. He didn't even bother telling her his room was clean last he was in it. If she was adding it to his list of to-dos, the other kids had probably gotten to it already.
"Good boy. Well. We're leaving in an hour. Will you be seeing us off?" She asked, trying for some twisted sort of kindness.
"Yes miss." He dutifully repeated. She grinned and nodded before turning and leaving. He allowed some kind of despair to grace his features for the sake of his watching tormentors before leaning back against the tree he was under. Mentally preparing for the next act as the children came to rub their successful plan in his face.
An hour later, half of which had been spent at the children's mercy under the guise of 'comforting' him, he was waving them off from his place at the bottom of the stairs as they left the building and soundly locked the front door behind them. And it was like this that his imprisonment began early.
Yuri sighed with relief before heading to his room, wanting to see what damage the children had done to it.
The home housed a mix of small children to teenagers. He was among the oldest now at 16. The 31 of July had remained an uncelebrated affair as was the norm
At the age of 17, the next two oldest were in their sophomore years. He thinks there's a couple of 18-year-olds finishing their upcoming junior and senior years under the roof of the home, but most of their time was spent either at friends or on internships.
The last 10 were from the ages of eight to 14. Just two years younger than himself. It was this group in particular that liked making things hard for Yuri.
So, when he opened his door, it was to the sight of blankets and sheets strewn about the room as well as some of his books. Even some of his clothes. It was the work of more childish behavior, so the mess wasn't as bad as it could have been. There was no hidden graffiti, at least. But it was still going to take some time to clean.
He's relieved to find the loose floorboard he had discovered about four years ago under his wardrobe had gone unnoticed once again. In the hollow space was a worn notebook, a sketch pad, and three books.
One was a text on Twisted Wonderland and its many countries, races, and histories. Another was an anthology book that held many stories of the Great Seven and other important figures of Twisted Wonderland.
The last one was actually a grimoire he had found in a small, out of the way curio shop during an outing to Fleur City three years before during the Topsy Turvy Festival. He had actually gotten to go on the outing as they couldn't leave him alone for the full week that they were going to be gone. At least, not at that age.
He ended up falling ill as soon as they had returned to the home. He wasn't sure if it was a result of being in a new place or being lost in the waterways that were found throughout the city for almost two full days.
He was still improving his translations of the book, but from what he had been able to decipher, the book held spells, potions, rituals, and even ancient magics that were so old he wondered if they were even remembered. The potions required ingredients that had absorbed the magic of the environment, rather than magic from the brewer themselves. And specific movements or directions that held the magic for the rituals.
Then there were the ancient magics. While many seemed like what you would consider magic to be, some just didn't seem like magic at all. Just old branches of unique talents that were magical in their resulting nature.
He put his treasures onto his bed side table. Once he was done here, he'd go through them. He had the entire night to himself now after all.
It took a while to get his room clean once more. By then, lunch had come and gone. Knowing he had permission, he made himself something light and rich in nutrients. A vegetable soup. Just enough for his lunch and dinner that night. Nothing that would put a dent in the home's food supply. Not that there were any real threats of that. But someone would make a big deal of it. Probably John or George. Those two tended to eat thirds before others could even get seconds.
After eating and deciding that the day was still young even with the mid-afternoon sun, he put his treasures into a bag and went back outside to his tree to go through them. Who knew. Maybe Grim would visit that day?
In the end, the cat beast hadn't done so. But that was fine. Grim had mentioned trying to sneak into someplace for a stone and informed Yuri he might be gone for a while. He did that sometimes.
So lost in the grimoire, Yuri was unaware of the night approaching until he was visibly straining to see. He sighed, noting the darkness around him and stood up. He put everything in the bag and was about to head inside when he heard... Something from the woods behind the home.
He stopped and glanced back. There was definitely a sound. It was too faint to make out the origins, but it sounded like an animal of some kind. He glanced back at the home one more time before glancing back at the forest. It took a moment, but he made his decision.
He rushed inside the home and up to his room. He tossed some clothes into his bag- intending to use them as bandages if it was an injured animal. In the kitchen, he grabbed a couple bottles of water and some kind of fruit and jerky sticks, before noticing one of the caretakers had left the container that held his medical potion vials on the counter for him. Like he didn't know where to find them. He realized he must have missed it when he was making his food earlier.
Shrugging, he slipped the box of potions into the bag and raced out to the woods. He decided to go and look for the source of the noise. Maybe it was an animal in distress. If so, he would try to help it. Other than Grim, few animals really made their nests near the home.
So, to hear one, even as faint as it sounded, the creature had ventured this close in need of help. Most likely. Or its cries were distressed and loud enough to carry all the way to the back yard of the home. He rushed through the woods, following the feint sound getting louder the closer he got.
Eventually, he found the source. A dark horse baring an ebony carriage. 'Wait, is that-?' he began to wonder. Then the world tilted, and Yuri only knew darkness after that.
Twisted Wonderland: Prologue
It was a dark void that greeted Yuri when he opened his eyes. One with a large, wrought gold framed mirror before him. The frame elegant and old, with a crown a top and two serpents twining up and down the frame. He looked upon his reflection.
His messy, long, pale brown hair flowed around him- the many white strands standing out starkly in the darkness. His large, tired grey eyes were wide in confusion. And his pale skin seemed to stick out more than his hair, in the abyss around him.
He was brought from those observations by a porcelain mask appearing in the mirror with a flash of green fire. The boy yelped falling back, yet there didn't seem to be any real floor below him.
'Oh, noble and beautiful flower of darkness.' The mask spoke.
"Beautiful?" Yuri muttered, not sure the mask could see who it spoke to with its void like sockets. And he certainly wasn't noble.
'Blighted Blossom. Nurturer. Time is running out. For me. For you. For them.' The mask continued. 'You must embrace your power and learn your truth. And no matter what happens, you must never let go of the hand before you.' The mask murmured, a pale hand reaching out of the rippling surface to the boy who, almost in a trance, reached out and grasped the pale hand before him. Then darkness took his vision once more.
Twisted Wonderland: Prologue
A lithe, slate gray feline-like beast slunk through the small town right at the edge of the woods. He isn't sure how he had managed to get to this part of the Shaftlands. But he had managed to do so. He would find the mine somewhere in the Silent Woods, though he's rather certain that's at least a day's journey ahead of him still.
He didn't bother to feel bad for stealing the fish from a cart that wasn't being properly watched. He needed his energy to get to his destination and back after all.
He had learned to stop feeling bad for what he resorted to when it became a part of his survival. As well as his human's. He hoped Yuri never learned about the fruits he brought him being stolen, as few times as it happened. A handful- to use the term he learned from the boy- perhaps. Usually, he could forage the items he would bring the sickly boy. Maybe even manage to successfully catch a fish for him. Stealing was always meant to be a last resort. Sometimes there just wasn't another option.
He shook that thought from his head, finishing his meal in private before turning in for the night. He should make it to the mines by tomorrow evening. He'd find a mage stone, from what he was able to gather from Yuri's reading to him, it would help him with his magic somehow. Then he would be able to better control it and wouldn't have to worry about hurting Yuri due to poor control.
Again.
He had only ever burned the boy once with his out-of-control flames. The scar wasn't large or in an obvious place, and his human didn't blame him in the slightest for it. It had been an accident, after all. Cerulean eyes closed as he settled into his temporary nest. He would have better control of his magic. And he would not hurt his human again. That was why he needed to do this. To protect him.
He was unaware of how soon his conviction would be put into action.