꒷︶꒷꒥꒷‧₊˚꒷︶꒷꒥꒷‧₊˚✶
As soon as Grace regained consciousness all she could see was darkness. She tried walking around but something was blocking her path.
'Am I inside something?' She thought. To confirm, she felt around the area and she was right. She was in, by the shape of it, a coffin.
There was a small shrill sound that came from outside of the coffin. She pressed her ear against it to hear them clearly.
"Crap, people are coming. Gotta get a uniform."
"Grrrr! The lid is too heavy. Time for...my secret move!
Guwaahuhh~ There!"
She had a bad feeling in her stomach and backed away from where she was. Heat radiated inside as blue flames were engulfed around the case of the coffin, causing the door to open. Once Grace's vision cleared up she looked down to find a small cat with gray fur, blue flames bursting through their ears, and a pitch fork tail. The large black and white stripe ribbon on its neck weirdly brings the look together.
"Okay. Gotta get...
Whaaaaaaaa! Why are you up!?" The talking cat said in shock.
"Woah! I never thought I'd see a cat actually speak." Grace said picking up the cat instantly hugging it with a bright smile nuzzling her face against their face. Their flames were not hurting her at all. "You're so cute!" She never thought that she would witness any animal that could speak human language, usually it's the other way around for her.
"Gahhhhh!! Put me down human!" The cat said, wiggling out of her arms. He landed back on the ground a few inches away from her. "And I am not a cat! I am The Great Grim! Now hurry and gimme those clothes! If you don't... I'll roast ya!"
'Huh? Clothes?' She looked down and realized she wasn't in the same clothes she had on before. She had on a pure black, flowy silk robe with gold trims around the the ends of the sleeves. She was dazzled by what she's wearing, but now wasn't the time to be awestruck. "Wait what am I doing? Sorry kitty but I need to go!" She said, running away to the closest exit.
"I said I'm not a freaking cat!" He shouted.
She ran as fast as she could trying to finding a way out, her mind racing with many different thoughts all at once.
'Where the hell am I!? I came across that weird carriage and now a cat is talking to me. I mean it's not like I can't understand animals at all, but still!!' she thought sprinting to other different locations.
She ran into the library, but one of her shoes ends up slipping off her foot slowing her down. 'Oh come on! Why now!?' She complained going back to put her shoe back on, but suddenly a big ball of blue flame was coming at her. She dodged it by a second, hitting the wall leaving a charred mark. The cat was in front her wheezing.
"You...may be fast. But did you think... you'd get away from... my nose? Wheeze Dumb human!" He said surrounding her in blue flames, blinding her.
"If you don't wanna get roasted, better hand over-" Before the cat could say more he gets tangled in some kind of whip.
"Buwah!? Ow! What's with the cord?" He said wincing in pain.
"This is no mere cord. It is a lash of love!" A voice said.
The flames died down and as her vision adjusted witnessing an older looking man with a crow mask hiding the top part of his face and a top hat. What he was wearing was sparkly and extravagant, but also professional. "Ah, found you at last. You not one of the new students?" He asked.
"New student? No, I'm not-"
"You shouldn't do things like that. Leaving the Gate on your own!" He interrupted her.
"I didn't-"
"Not only that, you have yet to tame your familiar which has broken a number of school rules." He interrupted her again, which she was getting extremely pissed at, restraining the cat with his whip.
"Let me go! I'm not their freaking familiar!" The cat said, attempting to free himself.
"I've never seen this cat in my life." She said as she finally got a sentence out. But he ignored her comment, making her blood boil even more.
'HE'S NOT EVEN PAYING ATTENTION!' She mentally screamed.
"Sure, sure. The rebellious ones always say things like that. Just quiet down for a moment." He said, covering the cat's mouth.
"My goodness. It's unprecedented for one of the new students to leave the gate on their own. Uuugh... how impatient can you be?
The entrance ceremony is already well underway. Now you too let's head to the Hall of Mirrors." He said.
"Hall of... what?" She questioned.
"It's the room you woke up in with all of the doors." He answered. "All students who wish to attend this academy must pass through one of those doors to arrive here. Normally, students wake up only after the door is opened with a special key but..."
'It was probably caused by the fire from that kitty.'
"So in the end, the culprit appears to be this familiar. If you're going to bring it with you, you have to take responsibility and properly take care of it." He scolded making her mad again.
"I keep telling you that it's not-"
"Oh my! Now not the time to be long winded. The entrance ceremony will soon come to a close."
'Oh. My. Fucking. GOD!!' Small sparks were flowing around her. She took a deep breath causing the sparks to fade away. Suddenly a hand grabbed her wrist, dragging her with him.
"Come along. Let's get a move on." The man said that grabbed her wrist. She pulled away from him, loosening his grip on her wrist.
"Hold on! Where the hell am I Mr. And who are you!? I am not going anywhere until I get an explanation!" She yelled.
"What's this? Are you still dazed? It appears the teleportation magic has left you disoriented..." He muttered. Grace can only stare at him, confused on his manner of speech.
'What is he talking about?'
"Well it's fine. It happens often enough. I shall give you two an explanation as we make our way there. For I am gracious!" He boasted.
'Ok, I already don't like him.' Grace rubs the bridge of her nose, knowing exactly how this is going to go.
As they walked out the library and to the courtyard the man in the crow mask explained that he apparently is the head of the school, which is called Night Raven College, Dire Crowley and that this world is called Twisted Wonderland. His explanations didn't make her feel completely better at all. In fact it only made her worried, realizing the situation she's in. But one thing did reach her ears.
"Only those magicians seen as worthy by the Dark Mirror can attend this school. Chosen one's use the Gate and are summoned here from around the world. An Ebony carriage carrying a Gate should have gone to meet you as well." He explained.
"Well that explains why that weird carriage was there." She muttered. But the one word that surprised her the most was "magicians". 'So magic exist here? No. There's no way. This has to be a dream.' she denied while shaking her head.
"The Ebony carriage goes to welcome new students chosen by the Dark Mirror. They are special carriages that carry the doors to the academy. The market decided long ago that carriages are used to welcome people on special days." He explained.
"Mugggmmm! Muggggh!!" The cat was still trying to escape the restraints.
"Come let's go to the entrance ceremony" He said on their way to the ceremony, dragging the cat and the girl with him.
Meanwhile, the empty hall of mirrors was now packed full of people, majority of them being new students. Everyone was wearing hoods that made it a bit hard to identify anyone in the room. "Is that all for the new student dorm assignments? Listen up, new students. Here in Heartslabul, I am the rules. Break them and it's off with your head." A boy walks to the edge of stage, his voice bolts through the entire hall as strands of red hair poke out of his hood.
"...Uuggh. The stuffy ceremony is finally over." He stretched his arms, his lion ears poking outside of his hood. "We're going back to the dorm. Savannaclaw, follow me."
"To the new students, congratulations on entering this academy. Enjoy your life here to its fullest. As the dormitory leader of Octavinelle. I will support you to the best of my ability." He takes a few steps forward as well, his silver lenses were the only clearly noticeable thing on him.
Another tall man takes a quick look around the stage. "By the way, where did the Dean go? He flew right in the middle of the ceremony..."
"Abandoning his post..." Said the floating tablet.
"Did he get a stomachache or something?" Said the boy in Turban.
The door suddenly burst open with a loud slam causing all eyes to catch the attention of the source.
"Not at all!" Crowley shouted
"Ah, he's here." Said the red haired boy.
"Good grief. There's one new student missing, so I went looking for him. Now, you're the only one who hasn't gotten your dorm yet. I'll take care of the raccoon, so quickly go in front of the mirror." He told Grace, pushing her towards the mirror at the center of the stage.
She was about to walk up to it but as she looked around there were so many people watching. Not that but despite not seeing their faces, she felt something was off about them. She couldn't find one other girl in the crowd. She turned to the headmaster.
"Quick question. Is this an all boy's school?" She asked.
"Of course. Why would you ask such an obvious question?" He answered with another question.
"Because I am a girl." She answered without any hesitation.
☆
☆☆
☆☆☆
"What!!!?"
"That's a girl!?" A random guy whisper shouted.
"What's a girl doing here at Night Raven College?"
"I thought this was an all boys academy?"
There were a lot of whispers amongst the crowd. Everyone in the room was brought to a frenzy by that shocking information.
"Headmaster, what is the meaning of this!?" The red head shouted.
"There's no way the black carriage would pick up a female. In 100 years, there has not been any mistake in the student selection. So why in the world..." Crowley said, caressing his chin. While in thought, Grim took the opportunity to escape while the headmaster was vulnerable.
"Mggh.... pah! Then, give that seat to me!" He shouted
"Ah, wait! Raccoon!" The headmaster shouted in alarm.
"Unlike that lowly human over there, I am a boy! That's why, put me into the academy instead! If it's magic that you want, I'll show you a Meowvelous one now!" Grim shouted.
The red haired boy's eyes widened as knew what was going to happen. "Everyone take cover!"
Everyone instantly ducked.
"Nngggaaahhh!!!" The cat shouted. Blue flames were all around the room sealing everyone inside.
"Uwaa!! Hot, hot, hot, hot! The fire got on my butt!" The man in Turban shouted, running around in a panic.
Some bits of blue fire sticked onto Grace's robe. Before it could get any bigger in a panic she patted it down, extinguishing it.
"If this keeps up, the academy will turn into a sea of fire! Someone, seize that raccoon!" The headmaster shouted.
"Tch... how tiresome." The man with lion ears complained letting out a big yawn.
"Oh? Isn't hunting your specialty? Isn't it a plump, fat, an ideal dessert?" The beautiful man taunted.
"Why must I? You do it." He replied.
"Crowley-sensei, leave it to me. To hurt and capture an innocent small animal... I shall take over this role that everyone hates." The boy with glasses volunteered.
"As expected from Azul. Here comes the unofficial credits earner." The tablet said.
Grace was watching everyone bicker just trying to stop a cat. She was getting a little peeved by it. If they don't find work out whatever it is, they'll never get the problem neutralized and they'll never help her.
"Hey can anyone please put out the fire on my butt!?" The man in Turban said, still in distress in the background of the stage. Unamused, Grace went up to him and grabbed the back of his robe to keep him in place, extinguishing the fire off his butt with her magic. He finally calmed down and embraced her.
"Thank you so much, I'm in your debt!" He said with a cheerful smile.
'So bright.' She squinting her eyes cause of how blinding his smile really is. It's almost as if she's looking directly at the sun.
"Y-your welcome, and you don't have to worry about that." She said and Kalim released her from his tight embrace.
"Everyone, are you listening to me!?" The headmaster demanded.
"How many times do I have to say I'm not a cat nor a raccoon!? I am Grim, the man who will become a great magician!" Grim shouted, creating more fire.
"That's it! I've had it!" Grace shouted as she leaped off the stage without anyone noticing and ran towards to catch the cat.
'I really don't want to use it but I have no choice. The moment they finally find a solution the whole building will be in flames by then.' She stopped in the middle of the room. She closed her eyes and grabbed her gem hanging off her neck and lifted her hand forward. A very bright blue light was surrounding her, resonating with most of the energy in her body.
"Riddle-san would you- huh?" Four eyes paused before noticing a very bright light in the middle of the room. Everyone else also followed his gaze.
Grace summoned dark rain clouds to extinguish all of the fire, the walls and parts of the floor were completely burned but the fire was out at least.
"Guuahh!? What's going on!?" The cat shouted confused.
Now that the fire was taken care of she could now focus on the source of it all. Grace knew it was distracted by the sudden rain, before he could do anything with a snap of her fingers the cat was encased inside of a blue crystal, hollow enough for him to move but strong strong enough for it to not break, floating above the ground.
"Hah you think putting me in here will stop me!? The Great Grim will burn it to a crisp! Nggggah- hot, hot, hot! It's not working." The cat said, putting out his own flames.
"Of course it's not going to work." She said as she made the storm clouds disappear before walking up to it. She took her hood off letting her gradient blue and green hair flow. "It takes more than heat to break my crystals..." she gently pushed the floating crystal, with the cat inside, to the red head.
"Better hurry. It's not gonna last forever."
The man with red hair was surprised by her and how fast she got things done, but shook his head ignoring it. He walked up to the cat pointing a pen directly at him. "Off with your head!" He shouted just as soon as she released the cat, shattering into pieces and magically dissipating. A heart shaped collar appeared on his neck.