Chapter Text
“You, whose image the Dark Mirror did beckon forth…” Her head is fuzzy. Her mind is diluted with forgotten memories. She hears a voice call out to her.
“If your heart bids it, take the hand of the one reflected in the mirror.
“As flame reduces even the stars to ash,
“As ice seals away even time itself,
“As great trees swallow even the sky,
“Fear not the power of darkness.
“Now—demostrate your power.”
—
Her eyes open. It’s dark, she doesn’t remember her room being this absurdly dark. When she goes to stretch her arms, she finds that she’s caged in.
There’s a moment of loaded silence. When she closes her eyes, a pounding in her head starts slow and begins to build, which is very worrying. At the sound of a crash, she jolts and hits her head on the roof of her… box? Coffin? Whatever she’s in. “Ow,” she thinks to herself, rubbing her sore forehead. She stifles a sigh as she carefully runs her fingers along the sides of her cage. She only stops when she feels her pinkie finger catch on some sort of… latch? When she pushes against it, it clicks and comes open.
She takes a breath, pushing open the lid of what she’s now realizing is a coffin. A floating coffin, she again realizes just a bit too late as she takes a step and falls four feet to the ground. When she opens her eyes, she tries to gauge her surroundings.
It’s a room filled to the brim with floating coffins, all of them equally as fancy as the one she fell out of. A platform with a mirror is sitting in the middle of the room.
Mirror… she takes a step forward, squinting. She recognizes that mirror. Just as her hand reaches for it, she hears a noise and scrambles behind a wall.
There’s a man in a top hat and a cape striding into the room. His back faces them. When he turns, it appears he’s wearing some sort of… crow mask. “What kind of cult shit…?” She thinks to herself, stiffening when his head snaps towards her in almost a 180-degree turn. After a moment of looking, he hums and leaves the room once again.
Nope. Fuck that. She backs away and runs through an empty hallway, scrambling for any way to find an exit. Hallway after hallway, door after door, and there’s nothing. Nothing at all. She’s trapped.
She eventually collapses in a heap in a room of mirrors, tears bubbling at her eyes. Frustrated, she slams her fist into the ground, relishing in the way her skin opens against the rough floor. It shudders underneath her, almost as if it’s alive, and the girl jolts back when she realizes it. There’s truly no way out.
She screams, the sound raw and torn from her throat like fiery hot nails, as she grips at her hair and pulls. Her vision dims, mind clouding with the need to leave this place, and the delicious pain in her scalp is interrupted by gentle hands pulling her own away from her head.
She blinks away the tears in her eyes as she looks at the person in front of her. It’s an older, stern-looking man with hard lines in his face and a scowling expression. There is a purring cat in her lap and a coat over her shoulders as the man sighs, patting her shoulder. “Usually,” he starts, his voice soft, “the incoming students wait for us to wake them up. I suppose you are the exception, hm?” She sniffles and tries to speak, but he simply shushes her and pulls his coat tighter over her shoulders. “Don’t try to talk so soon, darling. You’re alright.”
Quietly, she shifts into his side and he lets her, wrapping an arm around her. “Do you know where you are?” At the shake of her head, he simply hums. “I suppose the time-space teleportation must have addled your mind a bit… can you tell me about yourself?”
She nods, going to speak, when she realizes that she can’t. She can’t talk. She can’t even remember her name, and she feels her breathing pick up, tears pricking her eyes, as she mouths a terrified ‘oh my god’.
“N-now, you would do well to calm yourself-“
The cat in her lap meows and her thoughts turn off. The only thing she recognizes is soft and fluffy and in the form of a really fat black cat who is making biscuits on her thigh.
The man picks her up in a bridal style, his cat falling into her chest and sitting there contently, purring as its owner walks. She does not pay any mind to this, instead petting the cat on the head and relishing in the soft purrs and meows it gives. “Odd,” the man says. “Usually, Lucius doesn’t like newcomers. Not to worry, he must recognize you from somewhere… ugh, where is that crazy old crow? CROWLEY!”
Frantic heels rush towards their location. She stiffens, curling into the man’s chest as the crow guy from before darts towards them at insanely high speeds, but he stops short of colliding. “Ah, Professor Trein! You found the missing student! Now, I’ll just take him off your hands-“
“Nope,” Professor Trein snaps, drawing back. “You don’t get to lay a finger on him.” He wordlessly sets her down next to him, letting Lucius crawl onto her shoulder. “Can’t you see, you old hag? He’s terrified!”
Crowley leans in a little bit. “Ah, I see now. Not to worry, your benevolent headmage is here to save you! Now, let us three go to the ceremony-“ Lucius meows angrily. She holds up four fingers quietly, patting the cat on the head as Crowley flusters and stammers to reply. “Y-yes, four. Of course.”
The eccentric crow leads her, Lucius, and Professor Trein to the mirror-coffin room she fell out of originally. “Here it is,” Crowley chants, smiling at the surprisingly full room. People in the same robes as her turn to look, their faces studying her.
She steps up to the mirror. A face appears in the glass, startling her, and it speaks in a deep voice. “State thine name,” it booms, making her ears ring. She opens her mouth to speak and fails to do so.
A hand comes down hard on her shoulder. Shrieking, she turns around and faces Crowley, who is scowling. “Well? Don’t leave the mirror waiting, young man. State your name and you will be sorted.”
She shrugs weakly, frustrated tears coming to her eyes. If only she had the words to say she didn’t know, if only she could tell him that she couldn’t remember. But she can’t.
A scream breaks through the tension. She looks over to see fire spreading to the drapes of the room, lighting one by one. People are running around and shouting for help. A specific boy with stark white hair yelps and runs by her with his ass on fire. Sprinting after him, she tackles the boy to the ground and kicks him until the fire goes out. Smoke fills her lungs and she goes into a coughing fit, but she doesn’t stop kicking until the boy is safe.
Crowley picks her up under the arms before grabbing the white haired boy in a fireman carry and pulling them away. A large flaming tapestry collides with the ground where she was mere seconds ago. The thought of being trapped under there, slowly burning to death, makes her feel faint (in another life, Crowley was only able to grab Kalim. In another life, Yuu didn’t make it out safe).
The fires all go out at the same time. Professor Trein stands in the middle of the room with his wand raised, rain pouring from the ceiling. She collapses against Crowley, panting and shaking, and he says nothing at all, putting a gentle hand on her back instead of talking.
She could have died.
The sudden realization brings her nausea. Turning away from the crow-masked man, she stumbles away from him and collapses next to a trash can, promptly hurling up a mix of bile and fire smoke. She clutches at her stomach, trying to get it all out, but it hurts so bad. She can’t breathe, she can’t move, she can’t-
A clawed hand gathers her hair up at the back of her head as she vomits again. “Oh, dear,” Crowley murmurs, using his other hand to rub circles on her neck. “Easy now, get it all out.” Wiping her mouth on her sleeve (she internally cringes at the thought of dirtying her pristine robes, but it’s either that or her skin and she prefers clean-ish hands), she leans back again as Crowley pulls her hair up into a bun and puts cold fingers on her forehead.
She finally opens her eyes. The room is emptying out, students hurrying to escape the soot-covered hall. Professor Trein is helping lead everyone to safety. Her back is tucked into Crowley’s chest. A faint purple glow surrounds them in a circle. Squinting her eyes, she reaches out to touch it-
The presumed teacher takes her hand and pulls it back. “Don’t touch that, it will shock you.” She jolts and curls into him slightly, but he just laughs and pats her back. “I’m jesting, my good man. It’s simply a barrier to prevent people from seeing you. I assumed you wanted some privacy?”
Thoughtful. She nods, wiping her mouth again instinctively. After she’s gathered her composure a bit more, Crowley snaps his fingers. The purple ring disintegrates and he helps her up. “Now, let’s get on with it. What’s your name?”
Oh, this again… she points at her throat before shaking her head and wiggling a finger. He blinks twice, opening his mouth and then closing it. “You… can’t talk?” He murmurs, leaning down. “That is… troubling. No matter, I’ll find something for you to write with. You do remember your name, correct?”
She shakes her head once more. Crowley deadpans, taking a deep breath. “Goodness me,” he mutters, putting a clawed hand on his mask. “Do you remember anything?”
Another weak shake of the head.
Crowley leads her to the library, sitting her down in a soft chair before pulling out a map and placing it in front of her. “Young man, do any of these places look familiar?” She studies the map intently. Briar Valley, Isle of Woe, Queendom of Roses… none of these places jump out at her. She shakes her head once more, and Crowley sighs, exasperated. “Great. Just great. I can’t sort you, I can’t send you home, I can’t make you talk… what do I do with such a difficult student?”
She immediately jumps to apologize, but the teacher (?) raises a hand. “No, don’t. That was rude of me, I apologize. I’m just… conflicted, you see. Ah… oh, I know! There’s an old dorm on the campus. It hasn’t been used since my first year as Headmage! You may stay there for the time being. Ah, aren’t I so generous?”
Headmage. Got it. Standing up once more, Crowley takes her to a… well, a very lived-in old dorm. Opening the door and brushing away cobwebs, he leads her inside and brings her to a couch. “Alright, now. Be careful!” He disappears without a word.