Chapter Text
Ah, my dear esteemed benefactor…
My proud, beautiful flower of evil.
You are truly the fairest one of all.
O magic mirror, thy wisdom I entreat…
Reveal unto me the visage I seek…
It's as if he was drowning in an ocean of water that hasn't quite reached his lungs, not yet invaded through his nostrils. His eyes remain squeezed shut, body positioned awkwardly against a hard surface. Rudo remains there, his limbs as still as a statue as they rest at either side of his torso. There's a ringing, and his senses slowly seem to be coming back to him.
The back of his neck burns as the incoming panic finally sets in. His body is surrounded at all sides—his back is just as snugly confined as his front and sides. He juts his arm out, his elbow hits what seems to be wood?
He lurches forward, his forehead smacks against the wooden surface. Exhaling harshly, his breaths feel wildly uneven…What even happened?
Without any reason for it, he's blanking on what he was doing before he woke up. Everything prior to it runs fine, he was just barely avoiding having his ass completely beaten in a fight. Every part of body was aching, he was on the verge of losing…Then he was missing some memories, and now he was…here? Wherever here was. He wasn't hurting anymore either, which is so weird. Since he's pretty confident he was bleeding all over before, and now he can't smell any blood at all.
He lifts his head, bringing his face up towards what he can only assume is up. His body is engaged on his left, right, front, and back. But he's got some room overhead… He chokes, a shuddered breath escaping his lips. He was usually okay with small spaces, but only when it was his choice to be in it.
He wiggles his fingers, they're still warm, and 3R is still sat carefully wrapping his hands. He releases a charged breath, warmth allows itself to tickle up his arms. Thank everything, 3R is still with me. The relief settles deep in his bones, wrapping gently around him and ensnaring his panic and squashing it into something much more manageable.
He lifts his arms, they press into the walls surrounding him. Carefully manoeuvring his arm up, he squishes his left arm against his stomach in order to snake it up over his chest. Rudo manages to worm it up and he waves it up above his head. His hand hits the sides of the surface, but never reaches the top. It was too dark to gauge where the ceiling was.
Damn it. Just where the hell was he?!
He raises his leg as far as he can before his knee hits a wall, and he kicks his foot out. It doesn't budge, but judging by the dense thud he heard when he hit it, he wasn't inside of something wooden like he first thought. It wasn't metal, yet he still couldn't quite get a grip on the texture.
Faces flash in the forefront of his mind, decorating his attention with their features and voices. What about his friends? Are they okay? Were they trapped just like him?
You, whose image the Dark Mirror did beckon forth…
If your heart bids it, take the hand of the one reflected in the mirror.
That voice? What were the words that it was speaking to him? It felt as if it was whispering directly into his head, skipping the part where it hovers lips to ears first. He shivers, curling in slightly. He realises that the voice broadcasting into his head wasn't the only one that he could hear, this one actually had a discernible direction it came from. Outside.
"—etter hurry up and find that uniform before someone spots me!" Says the voice, its slightly muffled but he can make it out clearly enough. It's a high pitched tone, but slightly boyish? Did they growl at the end of their sentence?
Rudo blinks, before gasping, this could be his chance to get the hell out of here. He hasn't heard any movement from outside until now, so he doesn't know when he'll get a chance again. He swallows, and forces his fist against the wall he was facing. Silence. He knocks again.
Swallowing, he opens his lips slightly. His throat is hoarse, how. long was it since he last spoke out loud?
"H-Hello?" Rudo cringes as his words come out sort of croaky. He knocks against the wall once more. "Can you hear me?"
"What the?! You're not supposed to be awake!" They reply, sounding caught off guard. Not supposed to be awake? 'Was I drugged?' The thought spits at the forefront of his mind. That's the leading theory until further notice.
"I am awake though…" Rudo mutters, before he shakes himself off and places his hands flat on the wall. "Could you maybe help me get out?"
The person on the other end makes some audible noise that he cannot distinguish, it sounds almost like a yowl? "Well, actually, I can! But only for a price!"
A price? "What?"
"Gimme your uniform, I can't attend this school without it!" They demand of him, but the request confuses him. A uniform? Huh. His clothes did feel a little heavier, was this a robe?
No matter. If that's all he needs to give to get out of here, he'll gladly hand it over!
"Okay, I'll give it to you."
"Haha! As to be expected of you, human!" Human? "Know your place! Grim, sorcerer extraordinaire will get you out!"
"Wait, what was that about sorce—"
He yelps as fire suddenly spreads without any proper warning! It encroaches inside of the object he's in, spreading dangerously close to his face! Outside light finally breaks through, a sharp pain flashes in his eyes. The lid the person had blown off with that hot fire hits the floor with a loud bang.
He stumbles forward and right out of his prison, hitting the ground with a strict lack of poise. Grunting, his shoulder burns with the hit and he has to scramble to get seated upright.
He looks around at the prison he had been in, finally identifying what he had been trapped inside. A coffin? But I'm not dead?! There were many coffins in the room, some floating high in the air, some closer to the ground. Thankfully the one I was in was near the floor, that fall could've been worse.
Then, he attempts to find the person he had been speaking to, his saviour. Rudo glances around, eyebrows furrowing as he doesn't identify a single person in the room. Then, he looks down. Blue toned eyes with black slits for pupils, no skin, just grey fur… and those blue flames from before…?
"Wh—what the hell!" Rudo yelps, pushing himself backwards with his hands. If those blue flames were the same as the ones that blew off the lid of that coffin… He points an accusatory finger in it's direction. "What are you?!"
The creature yowls in offence, it stood on two hind legs that do not make sense for any animals that he's familiar with. Ground or Sphere! "How dare you, I am Grim, the greatest mage—"
A monster. Grim, it said. It had a name, and it was talking? It didn't look like any kind of trash beast he's ever seen, and it was actually speaking! Were there trash beasts capable of human speech? Not that he'd ever seen. It was alive and organic, unlike a trash beast. So it was some sort of animal he's never seen before?
"Hey!" Grim yells, its—his?—high scratchy voice forces him out of his thoughts. "Gimme that uniform, and you have to make it quick! Someone could enter any second now!"
He glances down at the robe that was coating over his body, the dark fabric was silky and rich in appearance. Where was he? Someplace rich? He hasn't seen this kind of fabric anywhere on the Ground before, it was less rags and more riches. There wasn't even any patches!
"Grrrr!" Grim snarls, jumping towards him. "Human, give me it now or you'll regret it!"
The fire in the monster's ears burns harder as he comes closer to Rudo, and he stumbles upwards to stand up properly. That was a threat, which he definitely didn't appreciate. He just needed to get his hands on something…
He stops that thought and stomps it until it's dead. This thing is alive. A monster, maybe, but still alive. So he couldn't use 3R on this Grim thing.
Hm. What could he do instead?
Rudo's eyes flicker around the room.
Oh, yeah.
Run!
He turns on his foot and books it to the nearest exit, and he slams through the door with his shoulder first. The architecture of this place was insane, but he didn't have the time to admire it! In the other room as the door closes, he hears Grim shouting.
"Hey! Hey you promised you'd give it to me! Urk, come on! I'm on a tight schedule!"
For whatever reason, he's pretty sure he has bigger concerns to think about! Rudo stumbles through the hallways, his feet stomps on the ground as he slides through an open doorway. He thinks he's lost Grim in his scrambled frenzy, but he goes further into the room he had escaped into.
It was a library, but nobody was around for him to beg for help. Frantically, he looks back and forth, and decides he'll just run until he meets the back wall of the room. When he gets there, he pauses, debating whether he should hide on the ground floor or take the stairs.
He decides on the latter, trudging up steps. Sheesh, this place really was rich. Where on the Ground even is this? There's so many books…
Rudo settles on the ground in a corner, sitting against a bookcase. His eyes flicker over a book, resting on the bookcase next to him. With careful ease, he pulls one out. With gentle delicacy, he cradles the book between his hands. He can't recall a time he's ever seen this many books. The only thing he could compare it with was the library at the Cleaner's Headquarters, but in comparison to this library? It may as well have been tiny!
Rudo splits the book open, his eyes glaze over the pages. He stops.
He didn't recognise any of these symbols, this was a different language than the one he learnt on the Ground. His eyebrows furrow, causing a dip in his expression. As far as he was aware, there was only one written language that had been spread across the Ground.
Where am I? He's been asking the question over and over in his head, it had been running through his mind for ages now. The panic had been resting in his chest ever since he woke up, and he wasn't able to squander it completely. It was flaring up again, his skin flashes with heat as the panic spreads across his body.
He stares widely down at the incomprehensible pages. The words on the page squiggle and twist around and his brain doesn't return any comprehension over what it tries to convey.
Where am I? Where am I? Where am I?
He swallows it down, and he silently begs for anything to answer his burning questions.
Is this a dream? Have I fallen asleep?
"Aha! I've found you!" There it was, that high tone with a scratch to it that burns his ears. "Foolish human, you thought you could hide from me!?"
Crap! Rudo startles, almost dropping the book on the ground before he thinks better. The monster was back again, and he hadn't thought just yet about how he's supposed to take down this organic beast without burning to a crisp in the first place! He shuts the book with some force, staring widely at the bothersome creature.
The monster, Grim, stands is right in front of him again. He stands proud, with paws positioned in some sort of fighting pose. "You dare disrespect the Great Grim?! You'll regret that!" He shouts, extending his arm out with outstretched claws!
Suddenly, Rudo has forgotten every de-escalation skill he's ever learnt! They were supposed to be for humans, would they work on whatever kind of beast this thing is as well? He flips through them internally, but none ring as though they would fit the situation.
"Hey, human! Pay attention to me!" Grim hisses, waving his paws around in an effort to gain his attention again. When Rudo blinks owlishly at him, he gains a pleased expression on his furry face. "Now, unless you want to be burnt to a crisp, you'll hand me that unifo—"
Stepping out from the darkness from the corner of his eye is a peculiar looking man. He stands proud and tall, and walks swiftly over with a silence that makes Rudo realise he wouldn't have heard him coming if he wasn't looking at him. His shoes click resolutely on the ground once he finally comes to a stop and he collects the monster by the scruff of his neck. He raises the monster up into the air, the nose of his bird-like mask points directly at Grim.
"My-my, how unruly." The man speaks, most of his face is obscured by that black mask of his, but the sockets in it that make way for eyes gleam an unsettling yellow. Rudo's spine shivers once over when he points that beak towards him. "Ah, splendid. I've finally found you!"
Rudo startles, this man was looking for him? His clothing is nothing like he's seen before, not on the Ground or the Sphere. In the man's hand, Grim is struggling to break free. His body contorts in the air trying to shake himself out, yowling all the while about how it hurts to be held that way.
"Call it tough love." The man cuts in, his tone not as kind as before but still scolding. Instead, he adjusts and holds the monster out towards him as he hangs from his hand. Rudo doesn't take his offer to take him, but he finally comes to stand up. "Trying to study already? How studious of you!"
He gestures down to the ground where Rudo had placed down the book, "However, it was quite rebellious of you to make your debut ahead of everyone else. Not to mention bringing an untrained familiar." He tsks, shaking his head while expressing his disappointment. Rudo is lost here. Studious? Untrained familiar?
"Out of all the students I've dealt with, you're the first to be reckless enough to open their own gate and step out of it. Could it be that the mere notion of patience eludes you?" The man sighs once more, no longer holding Grim out to him now that a half-minute has passed where he didn't follow his gesture.
Rudo looks at him as if he's grown three heads, his jaw a little agape as he considers the man.
"…That thing blew the lid off." He points at the monster, hiding how his amusement bids a snicker from how offended the creature got. He decides to not comment on the fact that he made a deal with Grim to do as such.
"That thing?" The man parrots, looking curiously at the creature still hung from his hand. "Then am I mistaken and this is not your familiar?"
There's that word again, familiar, what does that even mean?
"I don't know it." Rudo replies, folding his arms over one another. Absently, he keeps a tight hold on them. He makes eye contact with Grim, his betrayal is understood by the way that the creature's pupils constrict.
"I see!" The man says, and he reaches down to grab something out from underneath his coat. It's a pen? "Forgive me for being so presumptuous."
As he holds out the pen, colour erupts from it! Rudo does so much as blink before a yowling sound carries through the hall, and that Grim is sent flying out of the doors! The monster yowls the entire way through its dismissal, it's loud and grating.
"Now." he continues, offering Rudo a short smile, "That has been dealt with, and I must implore you to follow me back to the mirror chamber! Orientation begun awhile ago, so we must make haste!"
Several things just occurred that Rudo doesn't even know how to address. Is that pen his vital instrument? He didn't even see him activate it! This man has said so many strange things, Rudo doesn't know where to start!
He decides on addressing them one by one, with enough suspicion to fuel a small village.
"The mirror chamber?" Rudo asks, and he receives a strange look.
"Yes, you awoke in a room full of gates, did you not? Every student here at this campus arrive by passing through such gates." He explains, attempting to jog Rudo's memory with prodding words. He mutters on something afterwards, though not intended to be heard, considering Rudo was right next to him as he spoke it was clear. "Typically, students have enough restraint to wait until I open them to wake up…"
'Is he responsible for kidnapping me then?'
The man looks positively startled, whirling back to face him with what he would imagine would be wide eyes. "I beg your pardon?"
Uh oh. Did he say that out loud?!
His heart rate spikes, his stomach does several flips that make him want to hurl. He stares right back at the old man, words don't dare escape his mouth.
"Well… It's not unheard of for one's memories to be addled from time space teleportation, these things do happen…." He says, tapping his finger against his chin. "I suppose that it cannot be helped."
The man turns back around on his foot, snapping his fingers together to bid his attention. "I shall explain it to you as we walk, as I am truly a generous man."
Rudo hesitates, looking at the man as he begins slinking off towards the doorway. His feet stay planted on the ground, as if he's been standing there for years and the environment has shifted around him, making it tedious to take the first step. He doesn't want to follow after him blindly without getting all the information he can out of this guy…
But he sounds like a hotshot, and he doesn't want to irritate the man who's about to trade him some information seemingly without anything in return. Plus, fighting back against an adult didn't sound like a good plan right now. Not without back-up anyway.
"Come, come." The man calls, and cranes his neck towards where Rudo is stood still. "Dawdling will do us no good, orientation only comes closer to an end the longer we wait!"
Rudo tries not to trip over himself to catch up to him, and he has to take three steps for the man's one. As Rudo follows him through the hall, he begins his spiel. "This is Night Raven College, it's an institution for students all over the world who demonstrate a rare aptitude for magic!"
Magic? The night sky makes navigating through the courtyard slightly difficult, despite this, this man leads him as if he was doing it completely blind. Rudo bites down on his lip, anxiety splits him in half.
"It is the most prestigious academy of its sort in all of Twisted Wonderland!" He preens, sounding particularly prideful as he expresses how great his academy apparently is. It's off-putting. "And me, I am Dire Crowley. I've been entrusted with its care as the headmage. Ahaha! What an absolute honour it is."
There it is! A name to a face! Rudo has been silently pleading for him to stop rattling off about this place and just introduce himself! Referring to him in his head as the man was dreadful, but he also hadn't been comfortable with interrupting him to get a name.
"Oh! Dear me, I suppose I should ask you for your name." Crowley hums an unfamiliar tune, he seems to be in an awfully good mood. "It would be clever of me to receive the name of a student as rambunctious as yourself."
He thinks of lying about this part, the impulse hangs on his tongue before he thinks better of it. This is the Headmage—whatever that is—so he has to know better than he's letting on, right?
"Rudo."
For a moment there, Crowley looks like he wants to say something more. His pursed lips make him look thoughtful. "Allow me to continue…"
"It's those who the Dark mirror perceives as having a talent for magic that are admitted to my dear college." He says, fondness drips in his voice. "That's why those gates appear to whisk you away after you receive your acceptance letter!"
"Surely you recall a black carriage bearing one such gate which came to meet you?" Crowley says, another attempt at prodding his memories back to him.
"Sure." He lies on the spot, deciding this was an easier point to shrug of as compared to his name.
In reality, it still isn't clear to him what happened before all of this. A black carriage? It sounds bizarre.
"Hmm, hm." Crowley replies, sounding all too pleased with Rudo supposedly being caught up with everything now. Truthfully, nothing he told him had made a single lick of sense!
Crowley had begun speaking once more, and Rudo could only listen to him speak for so long! Timidly, he interjects.
"Can I ask some questions?"
"I suppose I'll allow that. I am awfully benevolent, you see." The more he beats that point into the ground, the less Rudo believes it. "Make your questions short, Rudo. It won't be long before we are at orientation."
"Where did you say we were?"
"Night Raven College."
"Uh, no. After that."
"Hmm?" Crowley pauses, presumably going through the past lines of dialogue through his head. His expression turns further perplexed, but he tries once more, his suggestion unsure. "Twisted Wonderland, is what you meant?"
Twisted Wonderland? He's never heard of that place before. It's completely unfamiliar to him, it's not a place on the Ground he's ever heard of anyway. It makes the problem of how he got here even more muddled.
"How far is that from the Ground?" Rudo asks.
"The…Ground?" Crowley repeats, pausing momentarily in his steps. He turns his face, beak pointing at him.
Rudo's skin grows hot, burning the back of his neck with a terrible sting. His nerves begin twisting, they form a knot in his throat. He strains his face, glancing sideways. Abort, abort! "A bad joke." He mutters.
He was unfamiliar with the Ground, so was this the Sphere?
A part of him wants to believe it so he can sink his teeth into what he has been thinking about for months. He really, truly, wants to believe it…
He knows better.
He wants to ask more questions. Like what he means when he says the students summoned have an aptitude for magic, or what he means by magic at all! What is a Headmage, exactly?
Why was he summoned?
Crowley tuts, and he stops in front of a door. "In any case, it is best that we now attend your orientation. Everyone is waiting for you, you see."
Everyone? He thinks to himself, but follows Crowley inside without any fanfare.
The mirror chamber must have been the place he had originally awoken in, he's able to appreciate it more now that he's not being chased down by a monster. However, now it was full with all kinds of people wearing the same robes as him. All kinds of people who were now looking at him.
"Speak of the Devil." Says a proud voice, he can't see the person whose speaking from where he's standing.
"Oh, Crowley!" This voice was much more cheerful. "Did you have a tummy ache?"
Crowley sputters, stepping forward with a loud click of his heel. Instinctively, Rudo follows closely. It was easier for him to blend in if he does so.
"I most certainly did not," he refutes. "If you must know, Kalim, I was locating a wayward student who failed to show for orientation."
There's the attention again, all on him. He wasn't cut out for this at all! This was almost as bad as the Too Lily concert… Nevermind, scratch that.
Crowley turns, "At this point, you are the only student who is yet to be assigned a dorm. Please step up to the Dark Mirror, and be quick about it. Enough time has been wasted."
Crowley places a hand on Rudo's shoulder and pushes him forward, forcing him into step as he approaches the Dark Mirror Crowley had indicated to him.
It's weird, staring back at a face that isn't his own reflection. This is supposed to be a mirror, right?
"State your name." It speaks?! Actually, after the monster he shouldn't be as surprised as he is.
"Rudo." He mutters, holding his arms close to his chest. Eyes on him. Eyes on him again. It makes him shiver.
"Your full name." It replies.
Internally, he wants to curse. "Surebrec." He tacks on afterwards, unhelpfully.
"Rudo Surebrec…" The Dark Mirror repeats back to him, and stops in it's tracks. The silence feels like it's beating down on him. There's some mumbling from behind him, was this supposed to be a fast process?
"The nature of your soul is unclear to me."
That admission draws out gasps from the crowd standing behind him, chatter begins unfolding and the tense air builds. It's hushed by Crowley as he comes stomping over to stand beside him, addressing the mirror. "Whatever could you mean by that?"
"There's something inside this soul. It calls out to me. It's loud and angry, just as it's silent and apprehensive. It's misshapen, locked inside of a box but fighting to get out." The voice inside of the mirror speaks, it says words that Rudo can't quite make the meaning of. It all sounds like an insult. "There's something dark deep inside him. Yet, I sense no magical power from this one."
That's what it takes for any remaining patience to blow up, and for the crowd to devolve into loud conversation. Expressions of disbelief and confusion, gasps and intrigue.
"Therefore, I must declare that no dorm is appropriate for this child."
Rudo stares back at the lifeless eyes that spent the past minute waxing commentary on his soul… However that worked. He tilted his head towards Crowley, who was at a loss for words.
"Are you trying to suggest that the black carriage received an individual who is magicless?" Crowley says once he's regained his composure. "That is simply absurd! Not once has the student selection process made an error before! How could this have occurred?!"
The Dark Mirror does not offer him any sort of reply that pleases him, and Crowley seems desperate to get this whole ordeal under control by how he keeps looking back toward the crowd. He engages the mirror in a mostly one-sided conversation, trying to coax any information he can out of it.
"It's simply impossible to have a magicless student at a school for magic." Crowley shakes his head, squeezing the beak of his mask with his index and thumb. He mutters under his breath, "To think that the black carriage could make a mistake in enrolment…"
"Mrah!" Hang on, that voice?… "Me, let me have this student's seat!"
Crowley spins around on his foot, looking aghast. "You again!" He accuses, his hand travels down to his hip before pausing momentarily. "Oh! I left my magic pen back in the library…"
He shakes his head before directing his words back at Grim. "A direbeast taking a seat in a prestigious academy? How unusually absurd, and even more insane to suggest!"
"Unlike that human, I can actually use magic! So let me be a student here!" The beast gives him a particularly mean glare, hopping up on his two hind legs as those fiery ears burn harder. A warning sign for an incoming catastrophe! "Look, I'll show you!"
Someone shouts for everyone to get down, and it's not a second later that blue flames begin lighting the room up!
Crowley yelps as he jumps to avoid a blast that's sent his way, he narrowly avoids it with a severe lack of grace. Rudo had reacted too, considering he was in the crossfire. The hem of the dark robe he was wearing gets caught alight, he hadn't moved quickly enough! Spinning around on the spot, his eyes grow wide as he spots the slow growing flame. He gathers the robe in his hands, for a half second he considers batting the fire off with his hands, but he destroys that thought with the idea of damaging 3R.
He steps backwards into a screaming crowd, his fingers fumble with the belt that holds the entire outfit together. Quickly, quickly! He needs this thing off of him as soon as possible! People were trying to evacuate at every corner, getting their exits blocked by the agile monster that keeps spitting out flames.
This was as close to a horror show as it could be, the entire place was going up in flames! With all the trouble that came with it, he manages to slip the robes off of his body and lets it fall to the floor in a charred mess. He wants to be relieved that the heavy robes are off his body, leaving him in his regular uniform, but he has bigger things to worry about.
Like the monster that was still running around the room and blowing bursts of fire into the support beams! What had Crowley called that thing, Grim? A direbeast?
All the shouting was filling his ears with a thumping ache, if he tries to follow the crowd out he'd probably get caught up and crushed in it. Rudo spins around on his foot as a dark shadow jumps into his peripheral, he's doing his best to follow the damn thing, but Grim is fast! He halts in his steps as a burning cat-like figure comes bounding towards him, "Oh crap!" He starts, raising his arm up in front of his face as if it'll do something.
A second passes, then another one without any pain stalking through his body. Willing his eyes open, he gapes as a figure stands in front of him. Had they protected him from the blast? How'd they not catch on fire?!
"Uh, hey—"
"Are you okay?!" This guy is much taller than him, and Rudo has to look straight up to look him in the eye. His hood had long since fallen from his head in all of the chaos. Wait, were those ears real?
"Yes." He answers quickly, because the longer he fails to answer only gains him more scrutinising looks. "Thank you, uhm?"
He doesn't receive an answer where he would expect a name, the guy just runs off towards the chaos again. Seriously, was that tail real too? Rudo swallows down his question, nobody in this damn place is going to answer him when the whole room is lit up!
Grim was relentless, never once stopping his performance. Hopping over the seats, doing tricks as he spits out a fire towards the ceiling. If Rudo could just get his hands on him, he could do something! He stumbles through the flames, doing his best to avoid stepping into them, or running into students.
He spots Crowley, who is exaggeratedly yelling at someone who remains seated in the chaos. "I'm sorry, were my instructions unclear?!"
The student hangs his head back, sighing as he waves his hand dismissively. "I'm pretty sure you can handle this all on your lonesome, headmage. It is just a mangy weasel after all, shouldn't be that hard to catch."
Grim stops for just half a second, "Hey, how many times do I have to say it? I'm Grim, spell-caster extraordinaire! I'm not a weasel!"
"Oh, is that so?" The student replies mockingly, engaging Grim without so much as lifting his head.
"Riddle, while it's distracted, please." Another student says, flicking his head back to where another stands still. In the midst of all the commotion, the guy standing completely motionless almost feels the scariest.
"You do not have to ask anything of me, Azul." The student, Riddle, steps forward as he pulls out a pen, not dissimilar to the one he saw Crowley have. "I will simply not accept any rule-breaking. This beast shall be judged by my hand!"
Azul raises his hand to his face as he laughs. "How delightfully frightening of you."
Riddle enters the fray, lifting his pen into the air. "You!" He calls out, gaining the attention of the beast who was just about to blow the head off of the individual who had insulted him. "By my judgement, and my judgement alone, you shall be sentenced by the Queen of Hearts' court!"
"Myah?! What are you doing!"
Riddle brings his arm down with force, "Off With Your Head!"
As he shouts the words aloud, the tip of his pen begins lighting up with a harsh glow. As quickly as he bids it, a collar finds itself upon the neck of the creature. It appears from nowhere, taking form where empty space once was.
Rudo gapes. It's hard not to! As he looks around the room, he realises that the blue flames that had once been covering every inch of the room have dissolved into nothing. If it weren't for the scorch marks and overall damage, it would almost be like there hadn't been a fire at all.
Is this really the magic that Crowley spoke of!?
"The Queen of Hearts' Rule 23: 'One must never bring a cat to a formal affair.'
Your very presence here is a violation of order. You will vacate these premises immediately." The student bites out, taking short steps toward the beast.
"I'm not a cat either!" Grim argues, paws prodding at the new collar on his neck. "Your collar doesn't matter, I'll just burn it right off…! Huh? What gives? My fire isn't doing nothing!"
Grim makes a show of trying to huff out of his mouth, but unlike before, no fire comes when he bids it to. Panic flares up in his face, fur puffing up. "What did you do, human?!"
"My spell simply disallows you to use your magic." Riddle says, holding his pen up to his lips as a sly smile deigns his lips. "I suppose you are nothing but a house cat now."
A slow clap begins as the boy from before, Azul, approaches him. "Quite the entertaining show as always, Riddle. How handy your signature spell comes in times like these, what a poor unfortunate soul this disrespectful beast is."
"Hmph. It's more than you did." Riddle replies cattily, turning to face the headmage. "The direbeast has been detained, at your bequest."
"Why, thank you Rosehearts. Your efforts are much appreciated." Crowley momentarily pauses as he looks at Rudo, before turning away once more. "Hm, I almost forgot that this beast has not come with you. How silly of me, I suppose I shall have it expelled from campus once more."
Crowley scoops Grim up hastily, ignoring how he continuously yells. "Will someone please take this thing away? It seems that I've misplaced my pen."
Azul steps forward, "As you wish, Headmage. However, I do hope that I'll be rightfully compensated for this."
Crowley looks at him with a grimace, hardly hiding how he feels. Nevertheless, he unceremoniously hands off the beast. "See that it is removed from campus, Ashengrotto."
Turning around to face the remaining students in the room, Crowley takes the beak of his mask between his fingers again, rubbing the tips of his fingers against it like you would the bridge of your nose.
"What an unexpected ruckus…" He raises his head, addressing the room. "I hereby declare to you all that orientation has concluded. Housewarden's, please escort your students back to the dorms."
As the students begin trickling out, Rudo remains exactly where he was stood. Once the last person exits the room and the door slams shut, he startles when he realises that Crowley is looming over his shoulder.
"Dear Rudo! What an unfortunate turn of events this was," He shakes his head, holding his hand to his chest. "My sincerest apologies for this impression of Night Raven College you've received. However, it seems you won't be attending after all."
Rudo breathes a sigh of relief, turning properly to face him.
"…Where did your ceremonial robe go?" Crowley questions, leaning into his space as he scrutinises his clothes. A shiver tears up his back, it's all he can do not to jump back from him.
"It uh, caught on fire." Rudo coughs into his elbow, glancing away from the man. "…Sorry about that."
"It's no matter." Crowley sighs, "I'm sure you realise that I cannot knowingly admit a student with no magical ability to my academy."
Rudo gives him a resolute nod.
"Thank you for your prompt understanding," the headmage smiles in a way that causes Rudo discomfort. "Worry not, for the Dark Mirror will see you home."
Placing his hands on Rudo's shoulders, he turns him around and pushes him towards the lone mirror. His hands drop from where they rested, and he directs him towards the mirror, "Now, please visualise the place of which you came."
The place of which he came? He raises his hands to his face to cover his eyes, squeezing them shut. He imagines a familiar place, him sitting in the canteen with friends by his side eating lunch with him. He's sat in the middle as Riyo and Follo flank him while trying to force forks full of veggies down his throat. Across from him, Enjin, Tomme, and Gris sit with their own lunches. Enjin has a lit cigarette, of which Gris criticises his lighting of it inside. Zanka is late to the party, walking up to their table with his tray in his hands as he squeezes in beside Enjin. It's a tight fit with four people, but they make it work somehow.
He pushes the scene to the forefront of his mind, he thinks of the Ground as Crowley begins reciting an incantation.
"O Dark Mirror! Return this soul to where it belongs!" The mirror doesn't respond. Crowley gulps. "Hahah… l-let us try, uh, this again. O dark Mirror! Return this soul—"
"There is no such place."
What? What?
"How is that the case?!" Crowley gasps.
"There is no place in this world which this soul belongs. None."
Crowley is startled, his poised demeanour slips as his hands begin making strange useless movements as he begins arguing with the Dark Mirror once more. He turns to Rudo, "You must visualise the place where you come from."
"I did that!" Rudo snarks back, his hands have begun unwittingly shaking. "I did exactly what you told me to!"
"W-well, you must have done it wrong. Let us try this one more time." Crowley insists, pushing him back towards the mirror. "Now, visualise it. Really imagine it in your head!"
Visualise it. He already did that. He'd done that and come up with a fond memory too. He'd thought of the Ground in all of it's glory…
Huh. That's it.
Rudo raises his hands back to his face, squeezing them into fists that dig into his palms. His fingers sting with hot pain, but it's exactly what he needs.
Rudo thinks of Heaven. He thinks of his beaten but loved home before it all. An old bedroom, toys and broken objects that he had planned on fixing. The run down streets, the dirty clothes that had been worth a hefty amount down on the Ground. He thinks of walking down a path and pushing open his front door. The blood that had settled on the floor as his father chokes on the very same red liquid and gasps out his name.
Regto. Regto, Regto, Regto. He imagines Regto, he imagines him alive and he imagines him dead.
"That place does not exist." The Dark Mirror repeats once more, this time it is resolute and leaves no room for questions.
That place does not exist.
That place does not exist?
It doesn't exist?
"—udo? Rudo! Young man!"
Rudo doesn't know when it happened, but he had collapsed to the floor. Breathing, was he even breathing? His mouth hangs open, but no words escape his lips. He coaxes out a breath, but it comes out more akin to a strangled cry.
"Dear boy, you must breathe!"
Rudo snaps up to look at him, and Crowley jumps back in surprise, a bead of sweat drips from his face as he looks him in the eye. He can't be sure what his face looks like, but from Crowley's reaction…
He heaves out, his chest extends and closes in quick succession. Crowley's hands hover over him, never quite touching him but threatening to get close enough to. An ugly feeling rises in his chest, it threatens to take him by the hand and drag him down into the depths of nothingness.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
Breathe.
"Oh dear, oh dear." Crowley repeats himself, fretting all sorts of things under his breath. "How do I deal with an incomprehensible crying child?"
That wording ticked him off, his head lifts to look up at the pacing headmage. "Crying? I'm not crying!" He disputes, the words come off harsh on his tongue. He holds his knees and squeezes, compelling himself out of his miserable brain.
Crowley looks at him, opening his mouth slightly to say something, but he evidently decides against expressing what was on his mind.
"You're responding to me again, how fortunate!" He declares, clapping his hands together. The harsh sound startles him, Rudo scrambles upwards, praying that his balance doesn't betray him. "Please do not get yourself in your head, I'll see to it that you are taken home… Can you inform me of the name of the land of which you hail."
He swallows down hard enough that he almost wants to vomit, but he speaks up. "Th-there… there's a couple names I could give you."
Crowley acknowledges him with a hum. "Then tell me all of the names it goes by."
"The Sphere," He starts, wincing at the thought of it. If he could return to the Sphere, he would. "Then the Ground, or the Pit."
Crowley doesn't respond to that, as he raises his finger to his chin. "I see, I am unfortunately unfamiliar with any of those names. I'm intimately acquainted with the origins of all the students who have ever came here, and yet…" He visibly startles as he realises what he's saying, nervously casting a glance at Rudo. It's like he thinks he'll break down just like that all over again.
"Ahem. It appears that your mysterious homeland eludes me… But do not fear, we shall drop into the library and look it up!"
Rudo sits tucked in on a chair, resting his head against his arms as he leans over one of the tables in the library. It's been awhile since he's panicked that hard, and the withdrawal makes him feel exhausted. It's not like he can help Crowley in his search, he can't read any of the text on the maps… so he sits there uselessly until the headmage gives him an update.
"Just as I suspected, nothing…" Crowley mutters as he flips another page. He had been whispering under his breath the entire time they've been here.
Rudo turns his face slightly, peering out of one eye while his cheek presses into his forearm. "What?"
"Well," Crowley begins, shutting the much too large book closed. "It appears the homeland that you speak of has not appeared on any map from any point in history..."
His shoulders tense at that revelation.
"I'd question if you were simply lying to me, and if you really come from such a place… However, I feel that I do not need to." The man coughs awkwardly, and places a hand on the table. "Do you have any form of identification on you? If not, I'm starting to consider…"
Crowley cuts himself off, but looks at him expectantly for him to produce what he asked. Rudo grumbles, squishing his nose against his arm.
"…I don't have an ID." He admits, and even if he did have one, he didn't have anything on him except his clothes and 3R. "What was your theory?"
The headmage coughs, and he looks nervous. "I was beginning to consider that the dark carriage had summoned you from another planet, or perhaps even another dimension."
He jolts upwards, his chair almost tips over by how quickly he stands. He slaps his hands on the table, digging his fingers against the sleek wood. "What are you saying?!" The words draw from his mouth abrasively, it's impossible for him to correct his tone. "That can't be possible!"
"Unfortunately, I'm failing to see another reasonable explanation." Crowley mutters, his tone has long since shifted from that carefree persona he layers over himself. He picks up his pen from the table, running his finger along it until it stops at the gemstone at its tip. "I witnessed that awestruck look on your face when Riddle cast his spell. I'd be in disbelief to meet a single individual not in their infancy who has never seen magic before."
Crowley points his pen at him, "Thus, I've come to the conclusion that my undoubtedly outlandish theory is our best bet. Considering you certainly don't appear to be subjected to amnesia, I am placing my bets here."
How does one even react to something like this? What even is an appropriate response? Rudo kicks his foot behind him, hooking his foot around the leg of the chair and pulling it toward him. He collapses down into the chair, finding it difficult to stay steady.
"…What am I supposed to do?" Rudo says, helplessness tugs at his chest. He always finds a way to get himself out of these situations, even if it requires him scraping and clawing for whatever is out of his reach… but what can he even do here? He sits there with his head hanging between his hands.
Absently, he grabs at his neck. His hand hovers at his throat, hooking a finger around his choker. "I don't…"
Crowley folds one arm across his chest, and his other hand rests flat against his cheek. "Hm, this is quite the predicament…" He murmurs to himself. "I cannot have a magicless individual bumbling around my academy. Yet, as an educator… The idea of expelling a child with not a cent to his name, or even an ability to contact his guardian upsets me greatly… Hmph! My grace is boundless."
Rudo stares up at him through his eyelashes, he scrunches his face into a pout. Jeez, and I thought Zanka liked listening to the sound of his own voice. I should apologise to him when I see him again.
"Well… Hm. Okay… that might work…" Crowley mutters, and he spins around on his foot. "Mhm. Yes, I believe this may work…"
Rudo frowns and he watches as Crowley speaks to himself. This dude was a complete weirdo! Not to mention Rudo was stuck bending to said weirdo's will if he wanted any chance of getting a good deal out of this. "What will work?"
"There's a vacant building on this campus. It was actually once a dorm, I'll have you know. With some cleaning, it should be habitable!" Crowley preens, clapping his hands together. "Alas, the kindness in my heart is undoubtedly profound. I shall allow you to live there for the time being."
"Uh, not to be rude, sir?" Rudo starts, rubbing his finger against his chin. "But all that sounds too good to be true…"
Crowley shakes his head, "Yes, yes. I am sure I will come up with something that makes this worth it to both of us. However, for the mean time, I ask that you follow me."
Rudo has plenty of reasons not to trust this, and plenty of reasons why he should turn and high tail it out of here…
"Okay." Rudo mumbles, getting himself up and out of his chair. When he sidesteps, Crowley pushes his chair in for him. "What about getting me home?"
"Ah, of course. I'll be spending my time investigating how to do just that. I am a gracious man after all." How many times does he need to say such a thing before he actually believes it? "Well then, I shall take you to your dorm straight away! While it is an older building, it has plenty of… character!"
Rudo is not quite sure how much he likes that insinuation.
After they exit the main building, Crowley takes Rudo through a long route through winding paths and slopes. The man walks with a quick pace, fast enough that Rudo has to take double the steps just to make up for one of Crowley's own. During this, Crowley introduces the buildings that they walk past. It would be an great tour if Rudo wasn't forced to run just to keep up with him! Not to mention if it wasn't literally the middle of the night.
The building that Crowley leads him to, it's familiar. It's run down, and quite dingy. He swallows back the words that come to mind, simply standing back as Crowley pushes open the fancy looking gate. If the building looks like this on the outside, he isn't sure what to expect of the inside.
"Come along, Rudo!" Crowley waves him over after he pauses momentarily. "I must simply show you to your dorm and make it quick, it is quite late after all."
Rudo trudges along behind him, peaking out behind Crowley's arm as he pushes open the door. There is dust everywhere that the eye can see, and all of the furniture is in a pitiful state. Cobwebs decorate the fireplace, and tables are on their sides.
"Now, now. While the place certainly is delightful, it will need some work." Crowley tuts, and raises his hand to sit against Rudo's back. He pats him on the back, "Scoot inside now. There we are."
They enter the lounge, Rudo spins around on his feet as he circles the room. His eyes widen as he fully takes it in. "…This is for me to stay in?"
Crowley sighs, shaking his head. He rests his cheek in his hand, the jerking movement of his head has him looking quite condescending. "Ah, I know that look…" He mutters. "Listen! I know it could be better, but—"
"This is great!" Rudo exclaims, he finishes his twirl resolutely. ending it by stomping his left foot against the wooden ground to regain balance.
Crowley blinks. "Wh—huh?!"
"I can work with this! All of this is for me to fix up? That's awesome!" Rudo steps forward, and Crowley tenses with the movement.
"O-oh… uh." Crowley sputters for a moment, but then clears his throat. "Well of course it is! I would provide nothing but the best for a child in distress. I am awfully kind, you see."
Yeah, Rudo doesn't doubt it. He bets that Crowley is trustworthy as well. No man would offer this up without needing something in return, just like how information on the Ground is an exchange of wares. He wants something, or will want something. Rudo has learnt that lesson all too well.
The floorboards he steps onto are busted, some of them have collapsed completely. They threaten to give when he adjusts his footing, and he makes a mental note of which ones not to stand on.
"Now, let me be clear." There it is. "It was the Dark Mirror that sent you here. So this school does bear some responsibility for your well-being."
Crowley raises his hands, gesturing around the room. "So I will allow you to remain in this dorm, completely free of charge."
"But, you will need to pay for your own food, clothing, absolutely everything that a regular person needs in their day to day life. Alas, you are not a student… So the school cannot pay for your lodging."
"But how will you do that?" Crowley questions, "You are completely penniless."
This guy loves to monologue. He's just speaking to himself all the time. Can he hear himself? Rudo doesn't say anything back to him, just allows him to speak until he finally reaches a conclusion.
"Ah!" Crowley gasps, raising clawed fingers to his lips. "I've got it!"
Crowley turns his him, "Don't give me that look, dear boy. You needn't look so alarmed!"
Did Rudo look alarmed to him?
"I'm just going to ask you to do a few odd jobs around campus. I'm sure you know how to work a broom, and you do seem excited to get your way around the dorm…" He tuts, tapping his finger furiously. "Why, of course! How about you join the janitorial staff?"
"As… a cleaner?" Rudo questions.
"Exactly that!" Crowley nods, looking quite pleased with his suggestion and Rudo's prompt understanding. "It won't be too difficult, and—"
"It's a deal!" Rudo agrees, stretching out his hand toward Crowley. The man hesitates, before taking it with such a firm grip that Rudo's fingers ache. The person who benefits more from the deal is clearly Rudo.
No doubt Crowley is going to change the terms when it's convenient. Rudo knows this. So he'll keep it in mind, and put it on the back burner as a problem for future him. There's not a universe where this Crowley is as benevolent as he wants people to believe.
"If that's that, then I am overjoyed to proclaim that you are now apart of Night Raven College's esteemed janitorial crew!" Crowley chirps, and turns on his foot. "Now, I must simply bid you adieu. It is quite late, and you must be up and early tomorrow morning."
Rudo tilts his head as Crowley practically skips through the doorway, slamming the front door shut behind him. He squints at the empty space where the man once stood.
"…What a freak." Rudo mutters.
The sound of dripping distracts him, and Rudo diverts his attention to his next problem. By the looks of it, the roof was leaking into the lounge area. He squats, scrutinising the damp floorboards. "A bucket…" He mutters to himself. "Does this place even have buckets?"
Rudo stands up, glancing toward an unexplored area of the building. He had only seen the lounge, and hadn't ventured any further. Plus, he does have nothing better to do than explore. To the hallway it is!
He peaks around the wall to look down the decrepit hallway. Paintings and lights were off the walls, this place really has seen better days. Rudo checks the first door, and when he turns the doorknob he finds that it's impossible to open. That was a dud.
He tries the second door down the hall, and it opens up to a dim room… It appears to be a bedroom, by the broken bed frame hanging in the middle of the room. This place was seriously giving him the creeps now! But the potential distracts him just as easily.
Thump!
Rudo knows for a fact that he didn't make that noise, he had been standing completely still! He steps backwards, closing the door to the room. A shiver begins dancing along the curve of his spine, something cold and icy passes through him.
"Yee hee hee… Bwa ha ha ha ha!"
He stills, gripping onto the doorknob to the door he had just closed. That had definitely not been the sound of an animal like he had first assumed the noise had belonged too.
Rudo whirls on his feet, coming face to face with a large translucent figure! Rudo definitely doesn't yelp. The sound that escaped his lips had been much more manly, and much less helpless!
"We haven't had a visitor in ages, oh I've been itching for a new friend." The figure laughs, the booming noise makes Rudo's neck flair with heat. What the hell was that?!
Instinctively, Rudo punches the figure… only to find that his fist never connected. Instead, his hand passed right through its chest. A second passes, then another, then a third. The individual in front of him bursts with laughter, filled with mirth.
"Sorry, kiddo! Silly little punches like that won't do you any good."
"Y-you! You're a…" Rudo presses his back against the door, his eyes wide as he stares at it. This place was haunted? "You're a ghost?! Holy shit!"
Down on the ground at his feet, two more translucent figures climb up into view. They pass through the floor, one is much slimmer than the other two, and the other is fuller in the cheeks.
"Hee hee, all of the other people who lived here were scared of us and ran away!" The one with full cheeks says after climbing up from the ground, it gets in his face and he stumbles on his feet in an attempt to get away from it.
"Yeah, no shit?! Why wouldn't they!" Rudo shouts, making a run for the end of the hallway, before quickly realising that the end of the hallway meant a dead end! "What the shit, I didn't sign up for a haunted house!"
"We just want a new ghost to play with!" The first ghost says, inching towards him. "What do you say, buddy?"
"NO!" Rudo yells, waving his hands in front of him in a panic. "No way, I am not doing this!"
As the ghosts approach him with wiggling fingers and scary looking faces… Rudo, with horror, realises that he has nothing on hand to defend himself with. 3R itches, begging to be brought to life, but that doesn't change the fact that he doesn't have easy access to anything.
The closet object to him is one of the discarded paintings, but that would mean having to get past these… things! The spectres are his main concern, especially when they're laughing at his plight!
"You turds! I'm gonna… I'm gonna…!" Rudo spits, he's back up against another wall. The spirits laugh cruelly at him, floating in the air while—wait a second. They're ghosts. If he couldn't touch them, then the opposite is totally true as well, right?
"Hee hee, Cecil. Look at him, he's totally stunned silent. Looks like he's gonna—" Rudo steps through the ghost, walking past and down the hallway. "—faint, wait, huh?!"
"I don't have to do this!" Rudo exclaims, doing his best to ignore the ghosts as they float beside him while chatting all at once. It seems they've completely abandoned their scare tactic, and are now just trying to talk his ear off.
"Stop it! I've had enough of people talking at me!" Rudo halts, folding his arms over one another as the ghosts linger in front of him.
"Wh-what happened?" The slim ghost asks, raising its hands to scratch at its head. "You were trembling in your boots just seconds ago!"
Rudo turns his head away, still trying to ignore the creepy spirits. The fear he felt minutes ago has completely declined into nothing once he realised they couldn't actually do anything to him.
"Oh come on, don't give us that pout!" The first ghost pleads, floating into his line of sight every time he looks away to a different direction. "You're gonna make me feel bad for scarin' ya!"
"Well," Rudo begins carefully, "Maybe you should feel bad."
The one with the chubby cheeks sighs, and begins floating back towards the lounge. "You're no fun if you're not scared of us."
If these guys are staying here full time, then doesn't that mean that they're roommates…? Rudo follows them back into the lounge, albeit hesitantly. They seem much more docile now that the chase is over.
"You guys… live here?" Rudo asks hesitantly, flexing his fingers between one another. The fidgeting only does so much to steel his nerves.
"Full time, been here for decades!" The slim ghost replies, doing a twirl in mid air. "Welcome to our humble abode, dear boy!"
Why do people keep calling me that?
In their following conversation, Rudo learnt the names to the three residents of the dormitory. The first ghost he met is named Cecil, who he learns was once a student at the college, similarly to the other two ghosts. The ghost with the slim figure is named Arthur, while the ghost with fuller cheeks goes by Benedict.
Rudo distantly wonders why they've taken such nondescript forms… surely they didn't look like this before they died. When Rudo informs them that he is to stay in the dorm as a resident, they look positively enthralled.
Rudo watches as they chat happily with one another, slightly baffled by their enthusiasm. When he asks, they tell him that it had been decades since they last made a new roommate. The fact that Rudo was joining them at all was something to celebrate!
Rudo kicks his legs forward, kicking his feet gently against the couch that he had made himself comfortable in. "If you were gonna be so excited about getting a new roommate, why'd you have to try and spook me like that?" He grumbles, not quite over the scare that he had been given.
"We didn't know that you were going to join us!" Arthur says, sounding quite apologetic. "Usually whenever we're disrupted from our routine, it's due to a student whose been dared to explore the abandoned dormitory."
Arthur wriggles his ghost fingers to emphasise his words. The explanation is followed up by Benedict, "Exactly! We're so used to scaring student's straight that we didn't even realise you came in with the Headmage!"
So they had seen that. Were they so blinded by mischief they didn't hear a word of their conversation? Rudo, quite pathetically so, pouts. This makes Cecil apologise ten times over, and he supposes that the grovelling makes up for it.
The front door opens without so much as a knock, or a shout to indicate who was coming in. Crowley steps in, and looks surprised at the sight that greets him. "Ah, good evening… to all four of you."
The ghosts muster up varying degrees of enthusiasm with their greetings, slinking toward the Headmage with questions about Rudo's status as a member of the dorm. Crowley nervously responds, and stops just a metre from Rudo.
"As another gesture of my immense generosity, I have brought you dinner!" Crowley holds out a container which contains some kind of burger. Rudo doesn't question what it is, and takes it at its face value. Food.
"You didn't tell me that I'd have ghosts for roommates." He snarks, bringing the container into his lap. "That would've been nice to know, you could've introduced us."
Crowley makes a face. "Well… that is unfortunately an overlook on my part. You see, these ghosts are exactly why this dormitory is abandoned. They scared away the other students years ago, they—"
"I know. They told me all about it." Rudo squints, peeling open the container to take out the food. "…Which was more than what you did."
Crowley startles, laughing awkwardly. "Ahah… I see. My sincerest of apologies, Rudo. I shouldn't have missed that…" He brightens up suddenly, "But!"
"On the other hand, you have already made friends with these ghosts! That is quite the accomplishment, yes. I knew I didn't make a mistake in letting you stay, my educator's intuition did sense something about you after all!"
Rudo tears a chunk out of the burger with his teeth, chewing just enough to clear his mouth to speak. "–ought you let me stay 'cus," He chews around his food. "You had a responsibility to."
Crowley's smile strains, and hits his cane against the ground with a little too much force. "That is neither here nor there! What matters is that I have delivered you your dinner, and will be back in the morning to hand out your assignments for the day!"
Crowley pauses, and that panicked attitude slips away just as quickly as it was set on his face.
"By the way, Rudo." Crowley begins carefully, his tone is much more poised than before. "I would appreciate it if you kept your… situation on the down low."
"…What?"
"You must understand that it is, quite peculiar." Crowley explains, a thin smile rests on his lips. "I don't wish for this to get out to the wider student body, much less the entire world. For your benefit, of course. Who knows what they'll do about you!"
Rudo doesn't know who they are, but it makes him understandably nervous. So he nods curtly. "Okay… I won't tell anyone."
"Ah, that's perfect! I was hoping you'd say that." Crowley trills, clapping his hands together. "Well then, that will be all for the night. Ta-ta!"
Rudo takes another bite of his burger as Crowley leaves, he doesn't get rid of his mouthful quick enough to shout at Crowley not to be so rough with the door. The man does slam the door shut, and Rudo is surprised that it hasn't been taken off it's hinges just yet.
"Crowley is as cheerful as ever." Benedict comments, blinking at the front door. He turns to Rudo and scolds him, "Chew with your mouth closed, kid."
"Mmmhm." Rudo agrees around a mouthful of burger, it was delicious… He can't keep himself from salivating at every bite. It was rich, like nothing he's tasted before.
He sits in the lounge for a long time, remaining there even once he had finished the dinner Crowley had given him. He felt as though he was stuck in time, sitting as still as a statue on a dusty couch. There had been so much chaos in the past couple of hours that he hadn't given himself any time to reflect…
"Okay, that's enough." Cecil announces, his voice startles Rudo out of his daze. "That's the fourth time you've yawned in the past five minutes, off to bed with you!"
Rudo scrunches his nose. He wants to argue with being ordered to bed, but he is exhausted.
"Whatever…" Rudo grumbles, and he closes the lid to that container that Crowley had given to him. He rises from the couch, stretching his arms up and over his head. Sleep would be good, maybe he'll wake up from this in the morning.
Cecil leads him to a bedroom, one much more well kept than the one he saw downstairs. The ghost explained that most people who ventured into the building never made it upstairs before the trio of spectres chases them out. Meaning that the room was subject to time, rather than human intervention.
Rudo has never slept well in new places, or at all. Ever since he lost Regto, sleep didn't come easy. When it did, it was restless and bred bad thoughts in his head. Now he was troubled with needing to get good rest.
This sucks. I hate this.
Rudo rolls onto his side, curling into his knees. What would the Cleaners be doing right now? Did they notice that he was gone? Would they be looking for him? This pillow is kind of uncomfortable.
Rudo hates being alone with his thoughts. He always has.
In the dark, he watches the shadows of 3R as it sits on his hands, he stretches and bends his fingers. As he raises his hand in the air in front of him, Rudo's face settles into something gloomy. He's trapped here, and his future is uncertain.
"Oh, Regto…" Rudo mumbles, his whispered words are wrapped in with grief. "What am I supposed to do?"
That night, Rudo dreams. He does not dream well, he dreams of something twisted that turns his stomach and brings him misery.
When he wakes up, he will forget everything but the feeling it gave him.