Chapter 1: Falling All Over Again
Summary:
You find yourself stuck in a precarious situation, this was not what you were expecting to wake up to in the middle of the night.
Chapter Text
Falling isn’t really a new feeling for you, it’s one of those things you’ve gotten used to, along with the general anxiety and fear that comes with it. The only thing that's new is the feeling of being trapped in a box instead of jolting up in your bed.
A box?
Why were you in a box?
You shift around uncomfortably trying and failing, to lift the heavy lid, but it wasn’t budging. It didn’t feel heavy, and despite the way you were crammed inside you could still get your arms in a good position to push, it was almost as if the lid was bolted to the box.
Cool, you’ve once again found yourself in a terrible position. That wasn’t new. In fact it’s so familiar, it’s almost comforting. I guess when you’ve failed as much as you have, your failures become your friends, the only real constant you can rely on. That said being trafficked was really not on your schedule for today so it’s best you get out of this…coffin? Judging from the way the box narrows at your feet and your head it would appear your would be kidnappers had sealed you in a coffin.
Were they planning on burying you alive?
That seems worse than being trafficked.
It doesn’t seem like you’ve reached your destination as of yet judging from the way the coffin was swaying. It felt like you were being carried down a gentle stream, it felt like you were being rocked to sleep.
A boat?
Your kidnappers had taken you by boat?
Or maybe the grim reaper had come to finally ferry you to the great beyond, it’s about time, you’ve been waiting for him to pick you up.
Though judging by the way you begin to plummet you were sure this was not the river Styx, though by how fast you were falling you weren’t quite convinced that you wouldn’t soon find yourself there.
As you continue to plummet to what is probably your utter demise, you soon begin to feel your descent slowing. Your plummet had now become a gentle float, and you’re slowly lowered down to what feels like solid ground. Just as your mind finishes reeling from your sudden descent the coffin door suddenly opens, and you’re greeted with a pitch black forests. Large trees twisted in unnatural angles cast a shade over you as you exit the coffin.
This wasn’t a place you recognized.
It was dark and the trees branches were twisted in such a way that their shadows resembled heavily clawed hands. It was completely silent save for the sound of crows and rustling leaves. You had expected your kidnappers to jump out at you, but there was no one.
Where are you?
Where had you fallen from?
Was the coffin in one of the trees?
Looking up you see that the trees above you were rather tall, so tall in fact that they were blocking out any natural light. It would be impossible for a human being to have climbed it with a coffin in hand, and the sheer denseness of the forest insured that there was no space for a crane of any sorts.
So cool, you don’t know where you fell from or how your fall suddenly slowed like that, but none of that mattered. You were clearly far from home and the best thing now was to try and find civilization, maybe someone would have a working phone.
You began your walk forward towards what you hope is the exit to the forests, the trees rattling against one another, branches reaching out as if to grab you. You continue walking silently down the path, anxiety at its peak, until you finally see what appears to be an exit. You quickly rush towards it, relief finally flooding your system. How lucky you were to be near the exit, maybe for once in your life your luck was turning around. You continue to push ahead as fast as you could, breaking out into a full on sprint until you finally passed the tree line.
But you should’ve known, things never work out in your favor.
Instead of being met with civilization you are met with large iron gates, and behind it an even larger castle. It looked fresh off the set of a vampire movie, only the bats were replaced with crows.
This was great, this isn’t civilization and you doubt you’ll find anyone in there that would be willing to help. But you were low on options, and staying out here in the woods where your possible kidnappers were wasn’t viable. So the castle would simply have to do. Worst case scenario your kidnappers were in there, in which case you wouldn’t be worse off from where you started, at least wild animals wouldn’t be a part of the mix.
Just as you muster up enough courage to knock on the gates, they swing open with enough force to send you flying. As you regain your bearings you’re met with the sensation of something sniffing you, upon further inspection it would seem that you had come face to face with a horse.
“Oh dear you ought to watch where you’re going, you know it’s not safe to be standing so close to the gates” said a rather gruff voice.
“ If I’d have run you over I could have lost my job, you’re not supposed to be out of your coffin yet anyway ” the gruff voice spoke in annoyance.
As you stumbled to your feet it became quite clear to you that it wasn’t the horse talking but a rather grumpy looking man sat atop a black carriage. It had also become rather clear that this man knew something about your unfortunate coffin stuffing, was he one of your kidnappers?
“Oh well I’ll just put you back to sleep so Crowley can deal with ya, gotta follow protocol.”
And just as you’re planning your exit, the man waves what appears to be a pen, and you quickly feel yourself fall asleep.
Notes:
Woo Chapter 1 done, tbh I made this on a whim so the story is super up in the air.
Chapter 2: For Whom The Bell Tolls
Summary:
You wake up inside of the huge castle, and find yourself in another precarious situation.
Notes:
Ya'll I'm so tempted to make this an abo, should I? Lemme know on the comments.
Also enjoy the chapter <3
(Promise the romance will start soon)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
While the feeling of being trapped wasn’t entirely new, it still did not make you appreciate your coffin shaped prison. You had initially thought that you had dreamed up the whole experience, the dark woods, the coffin, and the horse drawn carriage all seemed like a nightmare your mind conceived to punish you. But here you were back in your coffin, which must of meant it was real, that man must have knocked you out and stuffed you back inside of it.
How did he do that?
He waved that pen at you and you were out like a light.
He couldn’t have drugged you, you’d remember that, and you’re sure you passed out. You weren’t feeling off when you woke up, maybe a little heavy, but you assumed you were exhausted. Then again can you really trust your memory? You were kidnapped in the middle of the night and you don’t remember that. That’s unimportant, it’s better to focus on making another escape attempt.
Except you were starting to feel hot, your coffin had suddenly heated up, it felt like it was practically on fire.
Apparently that’s because it was.
You feel a sudden rush of heat as the lid is sent flying, a wave of scorching hot air hits you as you struggle to escape the flames. Unfortunately there was nowhere to go except deeper in the coffin, it seemed like instead of being buried alive, you’d be burned.
“Hehe finally got that heavy lid off, now to get the- AH”.
You thought being kidnapped, stuffed in a coffin, and possibly trafficked would be the worst part of your day. But no now you were about to cooked alive by a…weasel. Actually no it looked more like a cat. It was also on fire, at least its ears and tail were. It was also talking, maybe you were drugged, it would explain a lot of the nights events.
“You-you weren’t supposed to wake up!”
How could you not with all the noise it was making, the fire wasn’t helping either.
Fire, right. You were still surrounded by fire, you needed to escape. In a panic you quickly look around the room and noticed a number of floating coffins, all of them were perfectly sealed, their lime green gems sparkling in the light.
While it was a nice observation it wouldn’t help you escape the ring of fire this creature had summoned.
“Don’t ignore me, the great Grim is talking to ya!”
Right the cat, it was yelling at you now.
“Give me your uniform now, or else!
The flames surrounding you roared anew, as if they were yelling at you too. The heat was almost unbearable, it was then you noticed that you were draped in heavy robes. They weren’t something from your wardrobe, that you knew for sure.
Shit, were you kidnapped by some cult?
It would explain the coffin, the possible drugs, everything really.
Still that didn’t matter, all that matters is that you figure out a way out of here, as much as you crave your own end you didn’t want it to here. Not to this. You quickly lean back into the coffin, it rotates as if it’s on a skewer until it was in a laying position.
“Hey what are you doing, I said give me your uniform!”
The flames shrunk slightly like they were preparing to erupt, you skillfully crouch in the now horizontal coffin. You stare straight ahead eyeing your escape route, there was a door just beyond the flames. You were out of practice, but you could make this work.
“I’ll show you what happens to those who ignore the Great Mage Grim!” the flames shrink until they’re almost a simmer.
Perfect
Right before they erupt you use the coffin’s new position, and vault over the flames. “Wha-What!” You were lucky you were floating at the height you were, high enough to jump but not to high to be hurt during the fall. You use that boost to break out into a run, quickly running out the doors and into the courtyard, there were crow motifs everywhere. You had definitely been taken to that castle you saw before, did that mean that guy in the carriage was still around?
You didn’t know and you definitely didn’t want to find out.
You keep running, passing through hallways and running through what seemed to be the courtyard, until you finally reach what looks like a library. Where you are promptly backed into a corner, you’re sure you’re about to meet your fate as flames pour in after you.
“Foolish human, to think you could escape me! Now give me your uniform before I turn you into ash-“ the flames are suddenly doused as a tall man, wearing what appeared to be a bird mask, grabs the flaming cat out of the air.
You’d been saved, for now at least.
This man didn’t exactly scream safe either.
He was talking to you, something about a gate and a familiar, some of which sounded familiar to you but you knew those days were long behind you.
”Excuse me but, where am I?” you ask. The man had just saved your life, and it didn’t sound like he wanted to hurt you. In fact it seems you might have been mistaken for someone else since he referred to you as a student. So you guessed you must be at some school, maybe this guy was teacher, but what kinds teacher locks their students in a coffin? Maybe you were right about this being a cult…
”Hm, your transport here may have messed with your memories...either way there isn't time to discuss that now, we'll be late for orientation, I'll explain things to you on the way. Oh how magnanimous am I". The man began to walk ahead of you dragging the squirming fire cat along with him.
While you briefly consider making a run for it you think better of it when you see the way this man effortlessly used...magic to suspend your assailants in the air.
Magic, you were really in a place with magic, bit that's impossible. You shouldn't be able to be anywhere near magic, you thought that you were hallucinating because of the possible drugs earlier but that couldn't be the truth anymore.
Not when you clearly jumped off your floating coffin, not when that cat clearly tried to see you on fire, not when that same cat is being levitated alongside this mysterious man.
Magic.
This place really had magic.
Where was this place, your problem should make it impossible for you to be anywhere near magic but...
You wordlessly follow this man, escape forgotten as your would view completely shatters, and new possibilities present themselves to you.
Maybe this place could fix you.
Apparently this place was called Night Raven College, and this guy was the headmaster, students with exceptional magic, are chosen from all over to attend. While that would explain the vibes of this place, that couldn’t be true since you were summoned here, and the words “exceptional magic” no longer applied to you.
The man drones on about the school while you’re walking, making sure to compliment himself every step of the way, and you had come to the very obvious conclusion that he was a narcissist.
Which is fine, at least you aren’t dead.
You continue to walk with the man, whose name you now know to be Dire Crowley, he tells you that he's the headmage of this academy. That sounded kind of like a principal, so you guessed this place really might be a school. Your eyes wandered around the vast campus as you walked back to the room with the coffins.
Except instead of raging flames you find the place bustling with students, all draped in dark robes, with what appeared be golden detailing in the shape of a mirror. Identical to your own, you can understand Crowley's confusion.
You find that the students all seem to be grouping themselves, with particular students taking charge.You also notice a group of student being instructed, but instead of by a peer, it was an..ipad.
Huh.
You could hear vaguely in the background the students who had previously been taking charge conversate with Crowley, it sounded like they were questioning him about his lateness, but you were steadily droaning them out. Focusing instead on the room's center peice.
A mirror.
It was large, its golden frame was ornately detailed, and the its' raging green flames felt as though they would burn you if got any closer.
This...thing it called to you, spoke to your soul in a way that felt almost primal. Almost familiar, but foreign all the same. The way the mask floating within the mirror stared at you, eyes pools of obsidian. It pulled you in, as if this thing knew you, knew your troubles. Knew the person you were, knew everything that was wrong with you. And the harsh truth that things had never been right.
You felt this strange gnawing feeling in your gut like the flames were lapping inside of you, what the hell was going on.
"Now Y/N would kindly step up to the dark mirror so you can be assigned to a dorm, I'll hold your weasel so hurry up, you're already late".
Though the headmage had made the suggestion you were already walking closer to the mirror.
"State your name"
"My name is Y/N"
"I see, the nature of your soul is...unclear"
Crowley, who had previously been watching from behind was suddenly next to you. Despite the bird mask you could still tell from his body language that he was in disbelief.
"Unclear, what do you mean unclear?"
"I sense no magic in this one, no that's inaccurate, I don't sense anything in this one. It's unnatural, your soul is incomplete yet undamaged. No dorm would be appropriate."
"That's impossible our schools selection process hasn't failed in its century of existence".
The man behind you droned on as the cat began to argue that it should have your seat, while recklessly setting fire to the hall.
You again weren't listening as a heavy weight sat in your heart
You knew hoping was foolish, that no one would be able to fix you, and yet you did it anyway. Nothing had changed, you were still broken, a cracked glass still wishing you could fill yourself up. But there was nothing to fill you up, nothing except disappointment.
Lesson learned, you would stop hoping.
You had lived with it long enough, and it was about time you let go of any hopes of change. At least you could be around magic. What mattered now was going home. You still had no idea where you were, and with nothing left for you here, you might as well find out a way back.
Just as you sunk deeper into your depressing thoughts, fire erupted around you, and what looked to be two students chased after the cat.
You should probably also find a way back before you were burnt to a crisp.
Well it would seem that your luck was as impeccable as always, getting home was not going to be an easy feat.
With the cat, though you are beginning to question if it's a weasel since everyoneelse seems to think so, having been dealt with the headmage had attempted to send you home via the dark mirror.
From which you received the unfortunate news that you were no where near home, in fact you were in an entirely different world.
It would seem that fate really had it out for you.
You followed the headmage to the library where you attempted to describe your home, the parts you love, the parts you hate, and the parts you wish you could leave behind.
"Nothing, the land you described can't be found anywhere, are you sure you're remembering correctly?"
"Yeah I'm very sure, I've told you about all the places I've traveled in my world. I don't think I'm creative enough to just make those up on the spot" you said completely exhausted.
You had your hopes had been lifted and crushed within a single moment, and now you were learning that you had been sent to some other world, or dimension.
"Well I can't very well allow you to join my academy without magic, however I would hate to leave a young person out on the streets with nowhere to go. There's an old building you can occupy here that used to serve as a dorm. While it is old it has lots of character, I'll allow you to stay until you can be sent home" the man began to praise himself, smirking as he talked about his magnanimity.
As was a trend with you, you weren't really listening.
You were trapped in a foreign land with no way home. Fate truly hated you, first the kidnapping, then the fire, and now this.
What had you done to deserve this?
But you know what you've done, you know exactly you've done.
It's that thought that shifts your perspective, you knew what you did. Why you lost your magic, why you were always running, why you never were happy. Why you never deserved to be, and so did the people back home. It's why you ran away, moved to a magic less village where the people didn't know you, where you can stay without your body suffering the consequences. Where they didn't know your sins, but you always feared one day you would be recognized, and would have to pay for your actions.
But what if you didn't.
These people didn't know you, or your home.
There was no way for them to find out about what you did, here you were simply just another person. A magicless one but a person nonetheless. You didn't have to answer for what you'd done here. There was nothing to go back for anyways, and you could at least be around magic here.
A smile began to tug at your lips.
Why shouldn't you stay here, this man offered you a place to stay, with luck you could build a life here.
You could start over.
As the man lead you to your new home you silently made a vow to yourself.
You would start over here, this place would be your new home, and you would live out the rest of your life here.
Sorry Crowley I'm not going anywhere.
Maybe your luck had turned around after all.
Notes:
I might update this like everyday or every 2 days, really depends. Also I don't understand tagging, should I tag the individual ships?
Chapter 3: Unsteady Foundations
Summary:
After decide to make your stay in Twisted Wonderland permanent, you find our that setting up a life here may not be that easy, and that your luck really can get worse.
Notes:
Ya'll I know it's been a minute but I return, with a new chapter. See end notes for more info.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Apparently what Crowley meant by, "It has character", was that it was a hazard to anything living or dead for that matter. The building was completely rundown, wooden beams splintering from carrying its own weight. Walls clearly yellowing from the passage of time. It was clear to anyone with eyes this place was old, and hadn't had proper upkeep in years, and was definitely not a suitable place for one to live.
Except in this case that one's only other options are the streets, and seeing as you couldn't even see the streets through the thick forestry that surrounded the campus, you'd rather take your chances being crushed by the clearly dilapidated building.
Besides Crowley was clearly self absorbed, you doubt he would want a dead student on his record.
Well technically you weren’t a student, and had no form of identification, or connections. So it probably wouldn’t have much of an effect on his reputation, he might even sell your body for science. The magnanimous Dire Crowley has decided to extend his magnanimity to the scientific community, by presenting this dead inter dimensional traveler, truly he is a patron to education.
Your inner mocking comes to halt as the headmage gives you what appears to be a thousand yard stare. You watch as he slowly circles you, chin lightly gripped in a cartoonish thinking pose. He walks in circles around you pausing every so often with this sort of vexed or…frustrated, look on his face. Eventually he stops right before you, tapping his foot as he stares into your eyes. You couldn’t for the life of you figure out what he was doing now. Eventually he gives a depressive sigh before backing up, and squinting at your confused face.
”Is something wrong?”, you ask with a bit of a nervous chuckle.
For a moment he doesn’t answer, his lips pulled into a tight frown before he eventually lets out a heavy sigh.
”No matter how much I try I can’t get a read on you, I had assumed you would be an alpha since Night Raven College is an all alpha school, but seeing as you aren’t supposed to be here there’s all types of new possibilities. So tell me my dear guest what are you? If you’re an alpha or omega you’ll need supplies, so best tell me now while I’m feeling generous enough to provide for you.”
You stared back at the beaked man as he rambled on about safety, and his reputation as an educator. You had no idea what he was talking about.
”Sorry I’m a bit lost, what are you talking about?”
”Your dynamic of course” he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
”My dynamic?”
“Yes your dynamic, I need to know if you’re an alpha, beta, or omega” you stare at him thoroughly confused, as he stares at you somewhat amused. Posture relaxed as if he was indulging a child in a game of make believe, unfortunately for you both, your confusion was very real.
” Sorry I’m still lost, what’s an alpha, I don’t know what the other two are either but you said that one twice” his amused expression drops as he scans your face for any sign of deceit.
“ You don’t know the three dynamics?” you shake your head as the headmage stares at you in what you think is disbelief.
”Ok Y/N listen very carefully, I’m gonna need you to answer some questions for me ok, these are for your own safety ok?” you nod as a barrage of questions are thrown at you, questions about heats and ruts, words that you were entirely unfamiliar with. By the end of it the headmage seemed throughly exasperated clutching his mask, or face you really couldn’t tell, as he mumbled about the absurdity of your claims. He quickly looks up at you staring at your face, you were beginning to think he had a staring problem, as if he’s assessing how to handle the situation. You felt slightly bad about the inconvenience, that was until the man before you quickly moved forward to shove his face in your neck, you stumble backwards slightly. Hands coming up to push him away, but only feeling air as he had already moved back into his original position. The speed of which gave you whiplash, he gives you a thoughtful look before his mouth splits back open into its signature smile.
“What are you doing?” you yell at him, your once relaxed posture now guarded as the headmage chuckled to himself.
” Calm down baby chick, I was just trying to get a better understanding of the situation, I promise that I won’t hurt you. Now why don’t you calm down so I can explain.” he said, voice smooth and calm as if talking down a frightened animal. Despite your distrust, you feel your body subconsciously relax itself, muscles unwinding as you feel your guard start to lower. Chick? You aren't a bird? Or a baby for that matter, despite that his words seemed to have a calming effect, as if his previous actions no longer mattered.
”Very good, now I have some good news, and some bad news. The good news is that while you don’t have your own unique scent you have the slight scent of grass, which is the typical smell of an unpresented teen. The bad news is that if your account of your own world is to be believed, then you shouldn’t have a scent at all, which means the trip to twisted wonderland must have altered you body for your own safety, I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t give you magic.” he quickly mumbles that last bit under his breath.
”The other bad news is that the scent of grass is usually reserved for teens who have yet to present, in other words late bloomers, meaning that while you’re unpresented now it could happen any day.” your mind was reeling from the information, your body had already gone through drastic changes when you lost your magic, now your body had been changed again. It upset you, the idea of magic made this world appealing and familiar, but once again your body was paying the price for a decision you didn’t get to make.
”How is any of that good news” you say, voice laced with a slight venom, despite it not being Crowley’s fault there was no one else to take out your anger on.
“Everything is going to be ok baby chick, you having a dynamic is actually a great thing, for one thing you’d be considered a scientific marvel if you had no dynamic. It’s even more impressive then being from another dimension, I couldn’t guarantee your safety if anyone reported you, there are many people who would want to experiment on you. This will help you blend in better.” you slightly calm at his words. You had made the decision to stay here so blending in was necessary, still you wanted a say before your bodies genetic make up was changed yet again.
“I’m guessing there’s nothing you can do to fix it?” he shakes his head.
“I’m sorry baby chick, a world without dynamics is unheard of. The best I can do is try to find a way to send you back to your world, since the trip here caused it, hopefully the trip back will fix it” you didn’t like the sound of that, you had no intentions of going home.
”I see…”you trailed off dejectedly.
”Not to worry I am the headmage I’ll figure out a way to get you back home, I promise you can count on me.” you give him a small smile as he heads for the door.
”Taking in a magicless and unpresented child, my magnanimity truly knows no bounds”.
Your respect for him walks out the door with him.
The sound of thunder rumbles outside your window with such an intensity you almost think the building is collapsing. The thought of which sounded vaguely appealing but you quickly remind yourself that you’re starting over here, those thoughts should be left in your past.
As you ponder the current status of your mental health the front door slams upon, and for a moment the intruder is obscured by the heavy rain, but slowly the figure slinks inside and you recognize it’s bright flaming ears and forked tail. It was the weasel, grumbling to itself about the rain messing with their signature look, they fail to notice you sneak up behind them.
You grab it before it gets the chance to turn around.
“Ah! Unhand me! I am the great mage Grim, if you don’t unhand me I’ll burn you to a-“
“Shhh calm down, I just wanna talk without you melting my skin, if you calm down I’ll put you down so we can talk” the weasel momentarily stops wiggling in your hold, and cranes it’s neck backwards to look at you.
“You’re that mage from earlier, the one with no magic, how come you get to stay!” you readjust it in your hands and bring him closer to your chest, he was warm, and you were freezing.
“Chill out, Crowley- I mean the headmage, is letting me stay here until he finds me a way home, what are you doing here?” the weasel scoffs.
”Did you really think that I wouldn’t sneak back on campus the first chance I got” you hold the weasel close to you like it’s a stuffed bear, you mindlessly pet its fur as you contemplate. It did seem desperate to get into this place, desperate enough to burn you alive, maybe you should have expected this. Then again a flaming weasel was really the least of your worries, if you wanted to really start your life over here then you should probably prepare yourself to fight magical dangers again-
“Hey!” Oh right the weasel, you really ought to get your spacing out under control.
”Don’t pet me! The great Mage Grim is not a house pet!” despite it’s yelling it didn’t seem to actually want you to stop petting it. But it was a prideful little thing and far be it you to step on its pride, especially since you were a part of its earlier embarrassing capture. Then again it tried to kill you.
”Let me go!” it wriggles in your hold and you loosen your grip, allowing it to fall out of your hands and face first onto the ground, it gives you an accusatory look as it picks itself back up. “Alright so why don’t you tell me who you are and why this school is worth killing someone over” you say with a raised brow.
“I’m a magical prodigy! I was born for this place! I was waiting for my turn but that stupid carriage never came” oh yeah.
You had forgotten about the man on the carriage, you guessed he was no longer a worry, in this world apparently his arrival is a good thing. In retrospect it turned out to be a good thing for you too, though you could have gone without the nonconsensual coffin stuffing.
The weasel went on for a while explaining in great detail how he plans to make a name for himself and take the world by storm with his magical prowess, it isn’t until he realizes that he’s being rained on, that he stops. Protect you from the elements your ass, there were clearly holes in the ceiling based on the way you were both getting rained on. You guessed a couple drips were better then the harsh weather you could see outside, but still the point of being inside was to stay dry.
“Man I’m getting dripped on over here, can you do something about this?” you nod your head as you set off to get some buckets, and possibly a latter and tarp. As you walk up the creaking stairs the building groans, every gust of wind seems to rattle it to its bone, if the place were alive you would say it sounded pained. You yourself are shaking at the freezing temperature on the second floor, it was cold up here, did this place have a thermostat?
As you peak your head into one of the many empty rooms a voice sends a chill down your spine.
”Someone new! Maybe we can get a new ghost buddy!”
Ah another thing trying to kill you.
It turns out along with the building being completely broken down, it was also the home to some mischievous ghost, and while you were starting to become unsurprised with Crowley’s complete negligence you hadn’t expected him to leave you for dead, with the dead.
Were they students? If so then your earlier assumption about Crowley not letting you die here was completely false.
Thankfully they weren’t anything you and Grim, being used as impromptu flame turret, couldn’t handle. The bad news is that bird beak returned and has decided to graciously allow the two of you to live here…as janitors.
If it weren’t for the fact that you had no intentions to go home, and no other place to go in this world, you were pretty sure you would have walked out on the spot.
So that’s where you were now.
Or at least that was where you should be now but instead you were standing in front of a mirror with your three companions, getting ready to embark on a journey to an abandoned mine shaft.
How did this happen?
Well it was about 60% the red head on your right Ace’s fault, 5% the blue haired sweetheart on your left Deuce’s fault, and 35% the hellspawn in front of you Grim’s fault. And 0% yours, but yet you were on the hook for damages anyway.
What happened was truly a series of unfortunate events.
The red head had come up to you and Grim seeming friendly enough, and even gave you both a history lesson, something you found greatly important and helpful for your permanent stay here, before promptly teasing the two of you for your janitorial role.
This of course promptly led to a fight in which one of the statues was completely burnt, and of course all four of you were punished, despite your complete lack of involvement .
Things only got worse from there as both Ace and Grim attempted to shirk their responsibilities, resulting in poor Deuce getting involved and a very expensive chandelier being broken. Now because of this foolishness you all had one night to find this thing called a magestone or else you’d be expelled, which in your case meant homelessness. You knew your luck was usually rotten but now it was reaching an all time low, you stare at the mirror. The magic swirling before you was both foreign and familiar, it was nice to be able to get close but you wish it had been under different circumstances.
The arguing behind you grows louder and you start to feel a little bit angry yourself, you were usually good at taking these things in stride but this was to much, even you had your limits.
”This wouldn’t of happened if you hadn’t thrown me like an idiot” Ace said face twisted in a scowl.
”Oh yeah? Well this wouldn’t have happened if you-” Deuce pointed at Grim, “-Hadn’t tried to shirk the headmages punishment.”
”Well none of this would have happened if-“
” WILL YOU THREE CUT IT OUT” you shout at them, the three of them pause in their shock, through out this entire or deal you had been calm, patient even. But now you looked upset.
” Do you guys have any idea what it’s like to be torn from your home? Thrust into an unfamiliar world with nothing to your name and no way back? For you getting kicked out of school is just that, you got kicked out of school, for me it means being homeless. Wandering streets I’m unfamiliar with, with absolutely no way to protect myself because I’m magicless! You can play with your lives if you want but I shouldn’t have to go down with you” you trailed off at the end, the fight leaving you as quick as it came. You had no intentions of going home sure, but it was still scary to be taken away like that and left with no choice to go back, and you really didn’t intend on suffering here either. It wasn’t fair, you're staying here to escape your old problems not find yourself in new ones.
The three of them still frozen stare at you in shock, slowly Deuce moves towards you and puts a hand on your shoulder, “ I can’t get kicked out either, I made a vow that I’d do well here so I can make my mother proud. We’ll find that magestone” he gives your shoulder a firm pat and for the second time today you think that he’s a total sweetheart. He picks up Grim by his scruff, struggling and complaining, and heads through the mirror leaving only you and Ace behind.
Without looking at you, Ace walks past you and walks towards the mirror, hands in his pockets before abruptly stopping in front of the mirror.
“Sorry, I didn’t think about your situation ok, I have no intention of flunking ok so cheer up, we’ll get that magestone” that’s all he says before walking through the mirror. You stare at the spot he once was feeling slightly gratified, turns out the guy is an asshole but he’s not heartless, you don’t totally forgive but you think you can let it go for now. After all you have a magestone to get.
You steel yourself before walking up to the mirror, the moment your fingers brush the surface, you’re pulled into a world of darkness.
In your final moments you briefly wonder why you smelled the scent of chili peppers where Ace had been standing.
Notes:
So uni's been kicking my butt and I have so much hw, but I'm gonna try yo be more consistent. We finally have Aduece so the first year gang is slowly but surely coming together. I hope you enjoy my take on omegaverse twist, I've retagged the fic appropriately so I hope it's still enjoyable. Ket me know if you guys have any questions or suggestions.
Chapter 4: Into the ink
Summary:
As you fall through the mirror, your world is flooded with darkness, the inky walls of the drip around you. Eager to lay your soul to rest.
Notes:
Ya’ll I’m so sorry I disappeared, I got so much going on.
See end notes to hear my excuses, and for a small story time.
Either way I promise I’m actually back, and that I won’t be abandoning this fic. I don’t know when my next upload will be, but I promise it won’t take 2 months this time.Also shout out those you commented and gave kudos, your comments really brought a smile to my face, and knowing people like this story made me want to come back. I’ll try to respond to any I see over the course of the week, but I just wanted to thank y’all.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Darkness, that's all you see as you fall, the inky walls that surround you pull at the the threads of your consciousness.
What was happening?
Your mind was fraying, thoughts unraveling, like tangled thread. Your body was floating helplessly through the abyss.
You had begun to think you were dying, your thoughts were gone before they had truly formed, and your body was growing cold.
You were weightless, thoughtless, the only sensation keeping you company being your own fear. The anxiety coursing through you felt like jolts of electricity, like your body had become a live wire.
Then you saw it, a light shining in the darkness, a sharp glare that had cut through the inky abyss.
A mirror.
Like the one you saw in the mirror chamber, there it was just floating in the darkness, still and reflective.
You realize belatedly that you were actively floating towards it.
You had no idea why but the idea of reaching the mirror didn't sit well with you, you wanted to get as far away from it as possible. However luck was not on your side as you continued to float closer.
The fear that had been festering beneath the surface had suddenly consumed you in a a way that was almost primal, your anxiety reaching new heights.
You needed to get away from that thing.
If that thing touched you, you were going to die.
There was a pit in your stomach, as something forced you forward. Magic, your own unresponsive body, you didn't know. All you knew was that you needed to escape, or you would perish.
Just as it all seemed over, the mirror only a few feet away, you suddenly drop.
Your vision is once again flooded in darkness.
"Hey you ok, you look like you're gonna puke. If you are do it somewhere else I don't want it on my clothes"
"Don't be rude, it's obvious they aren't feeling well, besides this is your fault anyways"
"My fault?! How is this my fault, if anything it's that weasels fault!"
"You were the one picking a fight with me and my henchmen-"
"Heh, wouldn't have happened if you weren't such a dumbass"
"Who are you calling a-
"You're both dumb if you ask me"
"Well nobody did!"
The first thing you wake up to is a splitting headache, your newly recovered vision was incredibly blurry, and you briefly wonder if you had hit your head.
The second thing you notice is the sound of three familiar voices, which by the sound of it had just started another stupid argument.
"I'm gonna wipe that stupid smirk off your stupid face!"
"Try me!"
The two voices were of course Ace and Deuce, who had somehow gotten into another argument, despite it clearly being Ace and Grim who had been arguing earlier.
The third thing you notice is the smell of flaming chili peppers mixed with the odd scent of…rotten eggs.
Huh
You weren’t sure why but you were sure the smell was coming from Ace and Deuce, and that it somehow meant they were upset, and for some reason you felt the strange urge to soothe them. The sound of their arguing was getting louder, that mixed with the foul odor of their scents was worsening your already terrible headache. While you were unsure of why you wanted to soothe these two strangers, you knew you needed to take control of the situation before things got physical.
"Will you two stop" you say as you rubbed the back of your head, it was seriously pounding, you might need to get that checked out.
"He should watch his mouth if he doesn't want to get punched in the face" Deuce said squaring his stance, the stench of rotten eggs permeating the air. The smell was truly bothering you at this point, the pungent odor leaving you with a feeling of distress. You were very sure he was about to punch Ace, and while you didn't know the two, your money was definitely on Deuce.
Not that you had the money to pay for this hypothetical bet, since you didn’t have anything in this world. Yet.
Nonexistent funds aside, you realize that you're in the forest yet again.
The trees while tall weren't quite the looming shadows from before, and the branches didn't resemble grabbing hands.
This was clearly not the forest you had first arrived in.
"You three need to quit it, we're already in enough trouble as it is because of your fighting" you say as you stand up, your legs slightly wobbly.
"Listen all we need to do is get the stone and get back to school, simple enough, after that none of us have to talk to each other again okay? We can all go our separate ways after this".
The two of them, while hesitant at first, eventually backed down, while the weasel in the background grumbles about his apparent innocence. The smell of chili peppers, simmering to something less spicy, and the eggs smelling less rotten.
You weren’t sure why but you felt pleased that two of them were calmed, even if it was only slightly. You begin to make your way to the front of your little group, unaware of the two pairs eyes burning holes into your neck.
That settled the four of you began to make your way to the mines, albeit very slowly as your dysfunctional group had devolved into another fight. Though this one seemed less heated, and gave you a little less anxiety.
At least they were fighting while walking this time, some progress was better then none. Still it was better if you moved faster, there was only so many hours in the night, and you didn't want to risk needing to have a sleepover in the woods. Much less a permanent one if you ended up homeless.
Though that would probably put you out your misery, babysitting two (three if you counted Grim) college students was not on your to-do list, but realistically you didn't want to die in the woods.
Thankfully it appeared you were getting closer to the mines, all you needed to do was grab the magestone and head back.
Your patience was finally being rewarded. Soon you'll have that stone and the four of you (minus Grim) will be able to go your separate ways, and you can get back to planning out your new magic filled life.
What could go wrong?
Everything.
Everything could go wrong.
Lady luck must really fucking hate you because just about everything went wrong.
As it turns out the mines, just like Ramshackle, had a bit of a ghost problem. Because of course it does.
It also turns out that there's a monster living in the mines, guarding (read:hoarding) the magestone, because why not.
It would also seem that collective magic of your group (besides you of course, because you’ve always wanted the extent of your usefulness to be sitting and looking pretty in a life or death situation) was not enough to beat said monster, cause that just fits the vibes of the situation.
In other words this simple retrieval mission has completely gone to shit, and now your only hope was that this terribly rushed rudimentary plan you crafted, wouldn't also go to shit.
Which is what led to your current position outside the mind shaft.
The plan was simple, you and Grim would lead the giant monster away from the mines, while Deuce got in position behind it. Then Ace and Grim would use a combination of wind and fire to attack it, before Deuce finished it off by knocking it down.
It was definitely a simple plan, and under any other circumstances you would try to explore some other options, but at the current moment you didn’t have any.
So instead you steeled your nerves and began your slow trek into the mineshaft.
As you walked in with Grim in tow you couldn’t help but marvel at the beauty of the mineshaft, gems protruding from every wall fracturing and reflecting the little light they emitted, creating what could only be described as a natural mosaic.
And the magic.
Oh the magic.
There was so much magic stored in the walls of these caves, it was thick and densely packed into every crevice, each layer slightly thicker than the last. It felt amazing, like a soothing balm had been rubbed on your skin, on your soul, on your very essence. You hadn’t felt so good in years, it was all the more reason to stay in this world. You’d never be able to feel this way again at home.
As you continued your quiet musing, the smell of ink began to pollute the air, the smell was so strong it was burning your nostrils.
The monster.
As you rounded the corner of the mine shaft you see it, sluggishly pacing back in forth, mumbling to itself about something. It clearly it hadn’t spotted you as of yet, which would have been great under normal circumstances, but right now you needed its attention.
You turn to Grim, giving him a firm nod before bracing yourself for the task at hand.
Here goes everything.
You pick up one of the stones from a nearby mine cart and throw it as hard as you can at the back of the creatures head, the resounding impact making a loud ‘thunk’ noise.
”Hey, over here you stupid beast!” you yell as loud as can, you hear Grim’s voice backing your taunts.
”Over here idiot” he shots loudly, the flames on his body slightly growing with his volume.
The monster angered by your attacks immediately gives chase, its sluggish body suddenly moving at breakneck speed to catch up. Realizing you have its attention you immediately begin to run in the opposite direction with Grim to your side, racing to get out the mineshaft.
The plan was working perfectly!
The monster had been corned by Ace and Grim, where it was promptly attacked with their flaming tornado, before being knocked out by Deuce’s summoned cauldron. Everything was working perfectly!
But of course things couldn’t go that well.
As the four of you grabbed the magestone, the monster somehow clawed its way out from underneath the litany of cauldrons that Deuce had summoned to stop it, leading to the intense battle you were in now.
The smell of flaming chili peppers and rotting eggs was back full force, you could even smell the slight scent of rotting grass. You don’t know how you knew, but you knew for sure it was coming from Grim.
Rocks and dirt went flying as the monster narrowly missed you with its giant pick axe, you quickly roll out of the way and reach for your back, grabbing only air. Right, those days were behind you now too. Even after you lost your magic you still had your weapon with you, you briefly lament over losing your baby, but quickly snap back to reality as you avoid another swing.
Despite their earlier struggle, Ace and Deuce were holding up surprisingly well against the monsters attack, even managing to deal back some serious damage. Despite all their arguing they made a pretty good team, even Grim was pulling his own weight, his flaming attacks were clearly damaging that glass dome of a head.
While you did feel guilty at your current uselessness, it looked like everything would work out after all, the monster was clearly on the ropes here. But just like a dying animal, it would not go down without a fight.
In probably a final act of desperation it ran straight through Grim’s flames, and lunged at the startled weasel, putting its full force into a devastating swing.
Time seemed to slow down as the monster charged your ward.
It was gonna kill Grim.
Grim was a baby, you needed to protect him.
He needed you.
Without thinking you threw yourself at Grim, the two of you narrowly dodging the attack as something cold splashed on your back. The heat from the flames the monster charged through had made its glass head burst, sending the ink inside splattering on top of you, as its corpse loomed over you.
After a minute the creature fell to the side, body now completely still as it lay on the ground.
You begin to stumble to your feet, legs shaking as they completely give out from under you, causing you to fall back on your ass. The world was slightly spinning as you began to cough from the fumes the ink was permeating, you hear two voices getting louder as Ace and Deuce frantically rush towards you.
“Oh shit are you okay man?”
“Can you stand?”
The two of them continued to throw questions at you as you struggled to stay awake.
”Hey hey don’t go to sleep now, it’s gonna be okay, you just need to stay awake” you could hear Ace telling you something but it was hard to understand, despite your best efforts you were quickly going under. Anxiety began to crawl up your spine as images of a reflective surface and inky darkness, flashed through your vision.
You were beginning to slightly panic when two delightful scents reached your nose, the smell of crème brûlée and sweet bell peppers.
You had no idea why but the two scents were really working to soothe your nerves, calming your anxiety and lulling you to sleep.
Just like earlier you got the distinct feeling that these scents were Ace and Deuce, and that the muted grass smell was probably Grim, who was also yelling over you. You were glad that he was okay, that truly settled your anxiety, to the point you couldn’t fight your sleep anymore.
Your heavy lids finally close as your body goes limp into someone’s arm (you were grateful you had been caught).
At least you got the magestone.
Notes:
Hey y'all I’m finally back, I know it’s been a little bit but things have gotten super hectic. As of writing this I’m currently sick , which kinda sucks because I need to move out of my dorm. So I’m super behind on the moving process because of that. It also turns out that I need to go to school over the summer, which again sucks because I stayed in uni last summer, and because biggest plot twist of them all I’ll be recovering from surgery. Because apparently I need surgery on my arm and chest, since some abnormal tissue decided to grow there. So yeah I’m a little swamped at the moment, so much so I can’t even draw that much or write. But at least while I’m sick I can drop a chapter. :,D
Chapter 5: In a Roundabout Way
Summary:
You wake up after your unfortunate accident, and learn you’re not alone.
Notes:
I am so sorry for the wait :,)
See end notes to hear my excuses.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The first thing you become aware of is the sensation of something warm cuddled up next to you. The next thing is the sensation of a hand stroking your head, and of course the sound of arguing voices.
That was starting to become familiar.
You slowly blink your eyes open and find yourself under a bright light, in a room that was so sterilized you could taste the bleach. As you come to your senses you notice the faint sound of…purring, it almost seemed like a low croon, but you could feel the waves of unease pouring out from the person above you. If this were ramshackle you would assume that purring was coming from your fire hazard of a charge, but this voice was deeper, and lacked the childlike raspiness that your charge possessed.
As you began to stir, the hand petting your head grinds to a halt, a familiar voice reaches your ears as your eyes finally adjust.
“Ah you’re awake baby chick! For a second I thought we lost you!” it seemed that headmage was the one at your bedside, while you really wanted to ask why he was being so affectionate, it seemed that the arguing voices were only getting louder. You belatedly realized it was your two idiots arguing right outside your curtain, of course they couldn’t have any level of decorum, even in a hospital room.
Following your gaze Crowley turned his head towards the curtain, following your gaze, he lets out a low chuckle.
”Don’t worry about those two baby chick, they’re just worried since you’ve been out so long, thankfully you seemed to be doing just fine!” He laughs as resumes stroking your head, “When I was first informed of the incident I was worried that you were presenting in the woods, that’s no proper place for a defenseless chick like you to go through something so intense”.
He slowly rises from his seat, turning towards your bedside table where a pitcher of water rests,” Thankfully it seems like you haven’t presented quite yet, unfortunately though you seem to be a ticking time bomb”. He carefully pours a glass of water, turning back to hand it to you, he lets out a sigh. “How unfortunate, a poor baby chick with no magic, having such a late presentation. The thought is enough to make any soul weep. Fortunately for you, my magnanimity knows no bounds, so I will personally see to it that your health is taken care of by a professional!”.
Ah there it is, the headmage was back to his boasting.
Good, his overly affectionate behavior was starting to creep you out.
The yelling behind the curtain seems to be getting louder, and you once again start to feel that aching need to do something about it. As the smell of hot chili peppers of hot chili peppers enters your nose your nose, you can feel your anxiety rising, something in your stomach twisting at the thought of those two fighting. You don’t feel yourself do anything, but suddenly the curtains wrench open and the two alphas are moving into the room.
“Are you okay what happened-“
“Does it hurt anywhere, tell us what we can do-“
“We’re sorry we couldn’t stop that monster from -“
“That’s quite enough you two”.
The two boys, who were previously arguing over each other freeze mid sentence, their bodies going rigid as their heads slowly turn towards the headmage. “You two need to calm down, you’re making things worse. Y/N your friends are okay, see? They aren’t fighting anymore, let’s try and calm down now. Your distressed scent is riling up your two friends okay? “
You hadn’t felt any different, but now that you were paying attention to it, it was easy to notice that you were slightly trembling. Your knuckles had paled from how hard you were fisting the sheets, and your eyes were stinging with the familiar feeling of unshed tears, if you focused hard enough you could almost smell the salt in the air.
You quickly wipe your brows before turning back to Crowley, “ I’m fine headmage, I don’t know what just came over me”. Crowley gives you a small nod gesturing for you to have more water, “ It’s quite alright baby chick, you’re new to the concept of dynamics. It will take you some time to learn how to control that scent of yours, in the meantime since you all did such a good job of retrieving that magestone, I will graciously allow you to remain on campus. And that’s not all!” he suddenly stands up and gestures for the two alphas to come closer. The two greatly confused, and visibly wary, slowly make their way over to your bedside.
“I will herby allow you to attend Night Raven College as a full time student, and since you of course have no magic I will be allowing Grim to share your enrollment, and complete all magic classes!”
The silence in the room was deafening, you turn to look at Ace and Deuce, and both seem frozen with their mouths hanging open. This was great! College certifications could take you to a lot of places, and attending school would certainly teach you about how this world works. You could graduate and get a job surrounding magic, and truly enjoy your life. This was absolutely perfect!
Still it was very out of nowhere, which did give you a bit of a bad feeling,” Not that I’m not flattered, but I’m wondering why you would give me such an oppurtunity?”.
He gives you an affronted look as he breaks into an overly dramatic sob, “ Is it so hard to believe that a man as magnanimous as me wouldn’t reward his students for successfully completing a task?”. You raise a singular eyebrow at him, as the water works quickly come to a stop. They are quickly replaced with equally dramatic look, as the head mage puts a hand over his heart, attempting to do his best impression of a respectable educator.
“My magnanimity aside, your two friends recounted the tale of your battle with that monster, and your commendable leadership. Despite being magicless, and unpresented you still were able to lead these two hot headed alphas to victory!”
“I’m not-”
“Hot headed?!”
“ I was very impressed by that and have decided that I want you to Night Raven College’s official Student Conflict Mediator! If you can get these two to cooperate then I’m sure you’ll do wonders for the rest of the student body”.
You should have expected there to be a catch.
“Will I be getting paid?”
“The money will go to your tuition”
Shit.
Notes:
End of prologue, wow that took so long, here are my excuses :,D. So I had the surgery, and I’m currently still recovering, but overall I’m in better health. I couldn’t really type for a long time, so I couldn’t write. Reading old comments, and seeing any kudos that came in really brightened up my days, and I knew as soon as I was back I’d do my best to make up for my absence.
That said, there may be a surprise later tonight…
Chapter 6: Mediating is the Best Medicine
Summary:
It seems that you have your work cut out for you as NRC's official mediator.
Notes:
Suprise! For your patience about the whole surgery thing, you guys get a double update!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It turns out being the official mediator for NRC was actually not as bad as you expected.
It was way worse, and if you had your magic back, Crowley would be a dead man.
You were still recovering from your run in from the monster, but of course you were still expected to uphold your new job title. You were told you were cleared for normal activity, but Crowley had said he wanted you to meet him tommorow, which did worry you. Still even though he was showing concern for you, it wasn't enough for him to stop you from mediating.
Not only were you expected to mediate every little disagreement there was in student body, but you were also expected to stop the hot blooded magic having alphas from devolving to their baser instincts and tearing each other’s throats out. You would think that this level of fighting wasn’t a common occurrence, but you were quickly proven wrong again as lunch time appeared to be the breeding ground for confrontation. You were given problems from every dorm, or almost every dorm.
Heartslabyul.
The students from Heartslabyul were unreasonably well behaved, they weren’t nice per se, but they never caused any trouble. It had almost gotten to the point that when a fight broke out you were tempted to go hide among the Heartslabyul students, not that you weren’t usually around them since you were orbited by Ace and Deuce, to hide among their ranks and avoid getting involved.
Still it was almost unsettling the way the heartslabyul students avoided getting into trouble, you had seen strait laced kids before and you were sure that wasn’t what you were seeing. It almost seemed like they were afraid of something, like if they took one step out of line something bad would happen to them. It wasn’t until you saw the first collar that you started to realize it wasn’t something, it was someone, the head of the Heartslabyul dorm.
Riddle Rosehearts
You didn’t know anything about Riddle until one day an influx of Heartslabyul students started showing up to class wearing strange collars. You initially wanted to mind your business and focus on learning about your new home, but you couldn’t help but notice something happening with these collared students. They weren’t using magic. Even in class where magic was required, these students weren’t using it.
It wasn’t your problem though, and you had no place telling anyone how to run their dorm, for all you know this is normal in twisted wonderland. It wasn’t until Ace showed up on your doorstep one night, collar fastened around his neck, that you were personally involved.
“ So if I’m understanding correctly you were collared for eating a tart, and now are subsequently running away from your dorm, and relocating…here?”
“ Mhm, that little tyrant collared me all over a stupid tart, I’d rather take my chances having you as a dorm head.” Ace nods from his place in the entry way. “ It was just one little slice, collaring me over something like that is insane.
You were right about the collars being from the dormhead, apparently Grim had been collared as well, during orientation. Though you were to busy notice at the time, still…
You wanted to sympathize with him, really you did, being collared like a dog caught eating of its owners plate is both degrading and humiliating. That said…” It still wasn’t yours though, while I think a collar is a bit extreme, you did start this by taking something that wasn’t yours. You didn’t even apologize!” He rolls his eyes, and begins to complain about your lack of sympathy, but he quickly drops it after you agree to join him on his mission to apologize tomorrow. “ Alright well I’m still staying over, I’m not going back tonight after what happened.” he grumbles as he strolls further into the dorm.
Grim of course makes a great point, that being that your entire dorm is absolutely covered in a thick layer of grime, followed by a thick layer of dust. This should mean of course that Ace has to go back to his dorm, and presumably back to his room, but ever the genius he instead suggest that you both share the bed. Which leads you to where you are now, huddled together on your tiny uncomfortable mattress.
” Wow I know this was my idea, but damn dude your mattress might as well be a brick” he shifts uncomfortably. “I knew you were living rough but this is borderline torture” he was greatly exaggerating, sure your mattress was a little tough, but it was doable. You’ve had worse sleeping conditions in the past so you sympathized with anyone who had to sleep outside. You knew that he was probably too prideful to head back to his dorm if you said no, and it was far to cold at night to be out, you were barely getting by while being indoors. Not that ramshackle really counts as indoors, with all the holes in the walls it might as well be outside.
” Damn it’s cold in here, how do you sleep like this?” Ace complained as he shuffled around, it seemed like the distance between you was shrinking, the smell of peppers was starting to settle over you. “It’s not thaaaat bad, if you don’t like it feel free to go back to your own dorm”.
“And deal with that tyrant? No way in hell”
“Then I guess you’ll have to make do with my terrible mattress” you shuffle a bit closer, you feel warm and little bit light headed, you weren’t sure why but you felt this strange need. A need for…something, you couldn’t put your finger on what, but you could feel it your gut. Your body was asking for something.
Unbeknownst to you, your body had also begun to shuffle itself forward and your head had somehow made it into the crook of Ace’s neck. It isn’t until you feel a palm on your lower back, that you’re shaken from your reverie.
“Listen I know I’m hot, but aren’t you being a little toooo forward, you gotta wine and dine me first”.
Your head feels like it’s stuffed with cotton and your next words come out a bit slurred,” Forward, what do you mean by that." The palm on your back starts moving up in down in a massaging manner, you feel yourself move in even closer, not like there’s any space left between you. “Sniffing an alphas neck is basically like telling them you want them to fuck you, I may look easy but I’ll have you know I’m classy okay. I’m not one night stand material.”
You’re still stuck on his earlier words, you weren’t sure why but your body was very much agreeing, you did want that. Something in your scent must have given it away, because Ace suddenly tenses up against you. “I was just kidding earlier but” the space between you now is non existent “I’m not opposed to it if you're not”, his pupils are blown wide and his face is slightly flushed, it’s clear that something is happening here. You’re about to address it when you hear a grumbled meow, when you glance towards the sound you see grim rolling over in his sleep.
Just like that you come back to your senses, you aren’t sure what came over you just now, but you are sure you’ll need to investigate that. You quickly put up your hand to Ace’s chest, putting a small amount of distance between you, “ Save the sweet talking for your apology tomorrow”. He lets out a groan but ultimately turns over and goes to sleep, not before giving your back a little squeeze.
As you begin to drift off it occurs to you, that you’d been inhaling the scent of ripe bell peppers, you can faintly smell something muted there at the edges, something entangled with the bell peppers.
Something so distinctly you.
Notes:
Next chapter we getting into some actionnn
Chapter 7: Red Are the Roses, White are their Petals
Summary:
After the events of the previous night, you find yourself having strange dreams.
Chapter Text
You expect the darkness this time.
The inky void wrapping itself around you and settling into your bones with such familiarity, you consider it a old friend. Your vision is hazy at the edges like a fogged window overlooking the sea, not a single ray of light to be found. All of your hopes and dreams are swallowed by the abyss, its endless maw hungry for your surrender, waiting for the day that your soul too drifts out to sea. You feel your body buckle as the darkness seems to close in on you, you wonder if this is how it feels to be at the bottom of the ocean. You feel something pulling at you, trying to claw your soul out of your body, trying to take the only thing you have left. You can barely muster any tears as this creature, this darkness pulls at your conscience, tearing at your sanity and gnawing on your guilt.
You let this happen, you always let bad things happen, you can never make anything work. The mines failed because of you, because you’re too stupid to run a business, because you’re too weak to keep up with all the labor.
Because you’re naïve, and optimistic, and you trusted a girl you’d just met…
And now everyone is gone. This single stone is the only thing you have left, the only thing left of your home, of your efforts. Of your family…
And it’s yours…all yours
YOU WON’T LET ANYONE HAVE IT
The next time you awaken you expect to be surrounded by that oppressive darkness but instead you find yourself in… a court room?
Odd, you were never one for obeying the law back in your world, you would never have survived if you did. So you can’t imagine why your mind would have cooked up something so…abstract. The court room you were in must have been designed by someone who had an affinity for card games, since both the floors and walls were made to resemble them. The stands were strange too, stretching high into the ceiling as if they were made for giants but still skinny, as if they were made for humans. You were thinking about how incredibly inconvenient the design was, when your thoughts were interrupted by the loud bang of a gavel. A small woman takes the stand, her presence seems to command the entire room. The large card themed gown, and neatly placed tiara was something you recognized, this was the lady you’d seen at the school.
The red queen, the rose queen?
You couldn’t remember what she was called, but you were aware that the heartslabyul students followed in her image. Which had never concerned you before but something about this court room seemed to put you on edge, the way that all of the cards stood at attention was…familiar. The queens over bearing presence seemed to put them all on edge, every single one of them standing completely still. As if afraid to step out of line, you got the impression that they all wished she would forget they were there completely.
The gavel smacked again and the room stood deadly still, you could almost feel the fear in the atmosphere. The sound of clicking caught your attention as you noticed someone making their way to the stand, a young girl in a tea length dress. She looked quite haggard as she pulled at the hem of dress and shuffled in place, you could tell that she was nervous. Her hands fidgeting as her eyes glanced between the two cards flanking her, her skin was almost deathly pale. She looked as if she would die any second but she put on a brave face, faking confidence as she made her way to the stand.
You were quite disoriented when she magically appeared on top of the stand, you could swear she was on the ground a second ago. Your mind drifts momentarily to the bitter thought that it wouldn't have startled you back in your magical days, people disappearing and reappearing was as normal as the change in weather. Your attention is quickly brought back to the room as the Queen begins to yell at the poor girl, her words seem to carry through out the large court room, bringing the heavy weight of despair with it. You try to focus on her words as the young girl seems to argue back, but you can’t make out a single one. Your head is fuzzy and every noise you hear sounds like static, even the shuffle of the girls shoes sounds slightly mechanical.
You can tell that whatever they’re arguing about is getting heated as the queens face becomes an ever deepening shade of red, you continue to try and make out what is happening when the queen points an accusing finger at the girl. All of the card..people in the room, formerly stationary and quiet, turn to the girl and raise their spears. You belatedly realize that they must be the queens guards, or personal soldiers, but this thought is interrupted as they all at once rush the podium the young girl stands on. You watch in horror as the stand wobbles, the girl barely hanging as the card soldiers shake her like a coconut in a tree. Your horror grows as the young girls grip slips, and her body is thrown off the podium straight into the horde of guards below, spears raised, ready to deal the killing blow.
A feeling of dread fills you as time seems to slow down, and the girl plummeting to her undeniable doom, locks eyes with you. You can see the tears in her eyes, and the fear marring her face, her youthful features buried under the exhaustion of living under such a tyrannical ruler. The static goes quiet, and you can finally make out her words. Her voice sounds strained, the unmistakable sound of tears, can be heard, as she works to swallow her upset.
” Is this really fair, is this real order?”
You don’t get the chance to answer her as time seems to resume, and she’s met with her fate below.
The sound of knocking awakes you, your head feels groggy after the night you had. You remember the dream you had, the poor girl in the court room, and the terrifying queen. You feel something else nag at you, as though you’re forgetting something, something sinister. But the knocking at the door is getting louder and you notice you’re feeling unusually warm. That’s strange, usually ramshackle is cold enough to freeze your toes off, the chill usually nipping at you throughout the night. Instead you feel weirdly comfortable, as if you'd been covered by a warm blanket, but Crowley is too cheap to buy you one of those. (You were aware that you would be stuck with your ratty old sheets for the foreseeable future.)
It isn’t until the scent of sweet bell peppers enters your nose, that the events of the previous night suddenly flood back. You bolt upright as Ace’s arm falls off your body, now you know where the extra heat was coming from. You slowly peek over your shoulder, hoping that your bed mate hadn’t awoken, though seeing how the knocking at the door hadn’t stopped you were surprised he hadn’t. The knocking grew more insistent, and you took that as your cue to roll out of bed. After making yourself mildly presentable, as presentable as you can be in old pajamas, you finally answer the door. Unsurprisingly your other satellite had made his way to your dorm, though judging by the look on his face this wasn’t a happy visit.
”Good Morning Y/N, I assume Ace is here?” Deuce says skipping straight to the point, of course Ace was here the two of them loved to be your second (and third) skin. You were sure he knew that but the aspiring honor student in him most likely wanted to ask to be polite. “Yeah he’s upstairs right now, out like a light” he nods initially but after a moment his face begins to twist, his lips frowning in confusion. “You don’t have a spare bedroom...At least I don’t think you do, I wouldn’t imagine the headmage is that… generous”. You can hear the silent accusation, the headmage was a cheapskate, even worse than a certain cartoon crab (a reference you’re sure he wouldn’t get) and had the foresight of a blind bat. It makes sense that the idea of a spare room in this dorm (read shack with cardboard walls, held together by wet scotch tape) would be quite unbelievable, and he was right. You didn’t have a guest room as of yet, hence your bed sharing escapades. Speaking of which you could see the gears turning in his head.
His mind working a mile a minute to come up with an answer, it was like watching a baby have their first sentient thought, which made it a little cute. You can see when the truth starts to register like a light bulb just went off in his head. His eyes drift to the noticeably empty couch, and then to the stairway, you can almost see the smoke coming out of ears as the light bulb gets brighter. He subtly sniffs the air, and you can see when it finally clicks, his ears turn a bright red and the look on his face is stuck somewhere between confused and horrified.
”Y- you slept with Ace?!” ah so kinda the right conclusion, you slowly nod your head as he stands gaping in your doorway. “Yeah he insisted on crashing and like you said no spare room, and this place has zero insulation, so my room was the only option” you see the horror recede slightly as you clarify the type of sleeping you were doing (you make no mention that it almost went in the direction he’s thinking of) and the subtle scent of slightly rotting eggs recedes.
You’re about to invite him in, since you were getting a little tired of standing in your doorway, especially in the cold with your very thin pajamas. That is until you feel a hand grab your wrist, you look up at him slightly confused. Still blushing from the tips of his ears you watch as he rubs your wrist on the side of his neck, thoroughly getting each side. You feel yourself start to slip into that headspace again as you’re suddenly covered in the scent of crème brûlée, with spicy undertones. You feel something emanate out of your own body, your own scent wanting to join into the mix, you know instinctively that this scent is home. That this scent is pack, but you’re not really sure what that means, you have gotten to that part of sex ed yet.
Knowing Crowley you never will.
You feel your knees buckle as your body begins to relax, instinctually you know that this isn’t quite right, that Deuce should also be upstairs in your bed where it’s safe. You start to slightly sway, and despite how hazy the world is you can tell that Deuce is startled by your reaction. “ I’m sorry I didn’t mean to get you scent drunk! Oh god what would my mom say…This isn’t how an honor student should treat his pack mates!”
The sound of his panics snaps you out of your daze, and you’re suddenly aware of your heavy breathing. “Oh shit” you say as you shake off the rest of the fog, you almost went under again, if Deuce hadn’t started panicking you had no doubt you would have tried to drag him upstairs. You quickly reorient yourself and move further into the dorm, all that talking and…whatever it was Deuce was doing to you, had totally distracted you from your task for the day. “Ace get up it’s time to go talk to Riddle!” You yell from the bottom of the stairs but after several seconds you don’t hear any movement, you tell Deuce in your sweetest voice to please wait downstairs, as you make your way upstairs to personally wake your sleeping guest.
One pillow thwacking and quick meal later you find yourself walking to the dorm mirror hall, Grim is lazily nodding off on your shoulder as your hand occasionally strokes his head. You’ve been feeling weirdly possessive over him since you woke up that morning, but you brush it off as a side effect of the scent drunk thing that happened with Deuce earlier. When you arrive at the mirror hall your stomach fills with a slight amount of dread, the last time you mirrored anywhere you ended up in some weird void space, and you had quite enough of that from your dreams. Still mirrors seemed like the primary mode of travel, and seeing as you didn’t own any sort of vehicle (not that you were sure that would help, you had no idea where the actual dorm of Heartslabyul existed on this planet, or if existed on this planet at all. The mirror thing was both confusing and fascinating).
You take a step into the Dorm’s mirror hall and from the outside it looks normal, as normal as magic mirrors get, and yet you’re still apprehensive. You feel yourself anxiously stroking Grim’s back, the creature now half awake and grumbling about being treated like a pet. That woman from your dreams was terrifying and this is her dorm, what if the dorm head can’t be reasoned with, what if someone gets hurt? What if he takes your packmates away fro- woah packmates? Why were you slipping into that head space again, Ace and Deuce were walking slightly in front of you, arguing away as per usual.
So why were you bringing up that word again? Yeah something was wrong the feeling of possessiveness that you’d been feeling since the morning continued to bubble beneath the surface, you should probably grill Crowley about the whole scent drunk thing.
You finally arrive at the mirrors, Ace and Deuce are already standing in front of the one for Heartslabyul, the sight and scent of the two seems to calm you down as you cautiously put a hand on the mirror.
Instantly you’re met with darkness and the feeling of falling, but something is different this time, you feel less like something is forcing you closer. Instead you feel like something is carrying you along, like rolling waves pushing a massive ship, the darkness doesn’t last that long. In only a matter of moments you feel yourself fall, for real this time, but instead of darkness you fall onto solid ground. Or at least you would but something stops you right before your face kisses the pavement. Ace is holding onto your arm, while Deuce straightens you out, together they help you find your footing.
You’re extremely grateful for the assistance but your train of thought is quickly interrupted as your eyes finally land on the dorm, perhaps the word pavement was inappropriate. Instead you should have said giant field, because that’s exactly where you find yourself in, a giant field with an even larger castle sitting in the center. It definitely looks like it was meant to invoke the spirit of that tyrannical queen.
You expect to find the card soldiers from your dream posted outside, but instead you find a student frantically…painting white roses? This dorm already feels absurd, you cautiously approach him, hoping to maybe ask directions when he suddenly turns around.
Turns out his name is Cater Diamond, and while you don’t know who he is he’s certainly heard about you four. The eccentric man, though nowhere near as bad as Crowley, flocks around you all taking pictures for something called Magicam? The man immediately launches into gossip mode, going on about how the four of you were famous on campus after your first day mess up, and how the gossip continued to spread as you became the official campus mediator and Ace was punished for his crimes against the housewarden. “Actually that’s kinda what we’re here for, as the official campus mediator I was kinda hoping that there might be some way to help my friend make amends with the housewarden”. The guy freezes before letting out a loud laugh,” Oh boy you’re better off taking your punishment silently, Riddle’s a real stickler for the rules and anyone who breaks them gets the gtfo treatment. If I were you I’d quietly reflect and hope he takes mercy.” The man says before turning back to the half painted rose bush.
“Speaking of mercy, Riddle sure isn’t gonna show me any if I don’t get these roses painted, hey why don’t you four help me? If you don’t I’ll seriously lose my head”. Your three friends, apparently Grim woke up sometime between this eccentric man’s rant, begin to argue about the absurdity of painting roses. Especially Ace, who without magic, would be stuck painting the old fashion way like you. But as per usual in Twisted Wonderland, enthusiasm wins out against logic, and you find yourself painstakingly painting a rose bush.
Several painted roses later and you finally get to hear more about this Riddle character, according to Cater, Riddle was a strict housewarden, which you sort of already picked up on. He cared very much about the rules, one thing out of place and it was anarchy, but apparently they weren’t his rules. It seems that the rules originated from the Queen, apparently the dorm rules were made for her subjects and, and as acting housewarden it was up to Riddle to enforce them. From your perspective the position of housewarden seemed to mean the position of the queen, which you were immediately put off by. If being housewarden meant having to be anything like the women from your dreams, then you were strongly against it. Still this was his dorm, and as a mediator it was only fair that you somewhat bent to his rules. There had to be some way to reason with him, it wasn’t like he was the actual queen, you try again to ask Cater where Riddle is so you can speak with him.
”I seriously don’t think this is a good idea, did you even bring an apology tart?” of course you hadn’t, you lived in dorm (read dumpster with a roof) with sizable holes in the walls, and a rotting stairway. Crowley barely gave you enough to feed and clothe yourself, not to mention feed your little demon, the chances of him giving you any ingredients for dessert let alone the equipment to make it was below zero.
You were (naively) expecting some sort of compromise, maybe Ace could use the Heartslabyul kitchen, but instead a bolt of magic is flung your way. “Sorry guys but according to the rules all stolen items must be replaced, and since you guys aren’t in compliance you’re technically not in compliance with dorm rules which means I have to give you the gtfo treatment. No hard feelings Kay? I just really don’t want to lose my head”. The man hurls another bolt of magic your way, wind magic, you feel yourself being blown backwards into one of the freshly painted rose bushes. “ Hey try not mess those up okay? I’ll super lose my head if the roses don’t look right for the unbirthday party.”
Of course things just couldn’t be that simple, thankfully you didn’t come alone, and despite your group not being at full strength you still managed to make it out in one peice. Though you do suppose that’s what the man was aiming for, so it didn’t feel like a real victory, still at least you got a little more information. All that was left to do was to find the right person to use it on, and then maybe you could finally get Ace’s magic back.
There was no way everyone in Heartslabyul was unreasonable…
Right?
Notes:
So tbh I thought about discontinuing this because I didn’t think anyone read it, and just as I went to change the description I got a comment from someone! It made me so happy, especially after all the struggles with my health, knowing someone is reading has really given me the motivation I need to continue this story. All I need now is a beta reader, so if there are any volunteers I would be extremely grateful! I want to give this my allllll <3
Chapter 8: Unstoppable Forces, and Immovable objects.
Summary:
You find yourself stuck between a rose bush and a chess peice, the odds are against you as you realize there’s no mind in mediation.
Chapter Text
For once in your miserable life it appeared that you were right, it seemed that there was a reasonable soul in this dorm. Trey Clover seemed like a nice guy, if not a bit mild for the school full of unruly alphas, he was a breath of fresh air. A single rose among the thorns, and if things go well, you’ll be eternally grateful, you might even consider the guy, an ally! Your savior had presented you with the opportunity to make the tart in the dorm, a fun endeavor! It was a nice change compared to Riddle, who you bumped into while eating, leading to Duece and Grim’s collaring. You spent the better part of two hours making the tart, following his exact instructions.
You were honestly quite impressed with yourself!
In the past you used magic to assist you in the kitchen, it was essential with the more exotic ingredients the capital served…but after the incident, you relied on scraps. The tart smelt delicious, the cloying sweetness tickling your nose, the warmth could probably put you right to sleep…
“I take it you like sweets?” Trey asks as he dries his hands, he just finished wrapping up the tart and storing the ingredients.
”Oh I guess, it just smells really good”, he chuckles observing your face for a moment. “If you want you can come back sometime and we can make another. I hear that some omegas enjoy sweets around their heat.” he says with a smile.
”Oh no I just- omega?” he gives you a soft smile as he puts away a pan. “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, my younger sibling is an omega. I know that it’s probably uncomfortable for you, dealing with all of these bull headed alphas” he says with a knowing look. Now you were confused, you’d heard the term before from Crowley but you still didn’t quite understand what it meant…perhaps it explains why your two satellites were always hovering, and why the other obnoxious alphas felt they could intimidate you.
Judging by the slow careful movements the man next you was making, you were sure you were right. “I’m not really sure what that is…but I’m doing just fine! I’m not sure if you’ve heard from the headmage but I’m the school’s official mediator.” He freezes, putting down a worn cookbook he’d been reading, and slowly turning towards you. “Excuse me?” he says with an incredulous look, the sort that your friend gives you when you forget to drink water, the ‘are you trying to die?’ look. You give him a look of confusion as you fully stand up from your previously slouched position. “I’m the school’s official mediator…is there a problem..?” You ask, carefully choosing your words in case you had upset him.
“Sorry I’m just surprised, how…irresponsible” Huh?
“I mean you’re an omega! This school is full of alphas, how could they let you go around antagonizing them. You’re bound to land yourself in trouble…” he says. He looks like an angry parent, that just found out their baby was being bullied. “Does the headmage know you’re an omega? He can’t have..no one would be so irresponsible as to send a lone omega out to deal with a bunch of angry alphas” he says exasperated. While you weren’t really sure what the big deal was, you could see that he was clearly upset. He was incredibly gentle from the time you first met him, so to see him so worked up was slightly jarring. But you supposed that everyone had a bit of a wild side. You couldn’t really sympathize, you didn’t know what an omega was, but it was good information to know that your situation wasn’t exactly normal…
Not that you thought any different…
“Is being an omega a bad thing?” you say, the word feeling foreign on your tongue. “Not at all! It’s just that most omegas have…delicate constitutions… It’s the magic. Here magic is kind of the basis for all life, betas make up about 90% of the population, their bodies are able to process magic, but none are able to wield it. Those who can wield it are alphas, we can both process magic and store it to use in a spell”. He says as he leans against the counter, your eyes were fixed on his, you take your time processing his words.
A sigh, “And then there’s omegas…not only are they unable to wield magic, but their bodies have trouble processing it. Their very beings are crushed by the weight of the magic in the air.” That had your attention. “Crushed?” you ask. “ Yeah it’s hard for them, since magic doesn’t easily pass through their bodies, it crushes them, it helps in battle sometimes . Since they’re fairly Magic resistant, but ultimately it’s painful. Most omegas are heavily doted upon because of this, since their constitutions are so weak, it’s best to not give them any more worries. Especially since alphas make up a good 8% of the population, with omegas making up only 2%. Alphas and omega children can only came from an alpha or omega parent, which is probably why Riddle’s -“ he quickly cuts himself off, realizing that he’s said too much. Your eyes narrow.
”Hey, what were you about to-“ suddenly the door to the kitchen opens, the two of you jump apart as if you’d burned each other.
“Woah, did I interrupt something?” Cater says with a mischievous smirk, most likely excited at the prospect of hot gossip.
“Nothing much, Trey here was just giving me a biology lesson” you say with a side ways glance. Cater wiggles his eyebrows, and your eyes roll as you realize the meaning behind it. “Not that kind of biology lesson, I was just learning about what it means to be an omega, NOT in that context by the way” he makes a weird face as he stares at you for a moment. “Why would you need to know that?” He says looking at you confused. “Because it will help? Omegas aren’t a thing where I’m from, so I don’t really know what that means for me, like socially” you say, leaving out the part about your information gathering for your permanent stay. “No I super got that, but like…why are you learning how to be an omega? Aren’t you an alpha?”
Once again, huh?
” I always assumed that’s why Ace and Duece were always following you around, cause they were your pack. Not your- Ah never mind…Still! You don’t smell like an omega, you smell muted? Like fresh grass and detergent, like nothing but in a refreshing way. It’s not stereotypically alpha but definitely not omegan.”
“Still, they do lack magic” Trey interjects.
“Isn’t that cause of the inter dimensional stuff?”
“Mm, maybe…it would make sense for those two to hover if they considered you the pack leader…”
“But it also would make sense if you were an omega…”
The two stood there for a second thinking, after a moment the door slammed open and your idiot trio returned, ready to finally settle the matter with Riddle. The conversation you had just now was very valuable, especially since you were sure that without it you’d be left in the dark forever (thank you Crowley…) but now you had quite the issue. If you intended on living in this world, you couldn’t possibly be seen as an omega. While you found nothing wrong with the title itself, it would be inconvenient when you finally got your power back, omegas had no magic. So an omega casting spells would certainly turn heads, it would put you right back at square one, being sold to science. If you wanted to stay low, you needed to come up with a plan, thankfully it seems that your body still hadn’t quite made its choice about the matter so you had time…still it was something you needed to keep in the back of your mind.
You continue to think on it as you follow the group out into the field.
You were getting sick and tired of these alphas being unreasonable assholes.
Apparently the tart that Ace had eaten wasn’t just a normal dish, but was for an event. Something called an unbirthday party, apparently it was something Heartslabyul did on a day when no one had a birthday. An odd tradition, but hey you couldn’t talk, birthdays kind of look like séances if you think about it. So who were you to judge? You were however judging that fowl stench, what was that, it was so strong. Could no one else smell it? Your head turns both ways and by the looks of it, no one else seems to have smelled it.
You watch as Riddle approaches from the path way, his face already pulled into a frown, the kind that your parents give when you’ve disappointed them. Except way angrier.
Luckily you were not his child, and were technically here on official business as a mediator. Given his love of the rules, you most likely wouldn’t be tossed out, at least not without a compromise, besides you had to fix this today. You weren’t sure why, but Duece has been giving Ace subtle side eyes since you moved in together, he was probably upset that he couldn’t pester his best friend. It was kinda sad, since Ace was as happy as a clam. He always woke up, well rested, with some part of your body secured in his arms. Apparently he was quite the grabber in his sleep, it seemed like Duece picked up on it since his touchiness seems to boil over into the waking world.
Poor dude, you’d make sure to return his friend.
Riddle quickly sat down, pulling out his chair with the grace of someone that believed themselves royalty. His eyes locked on yours, before glancing at the three collared figures beside you.
”And what exactly are you three doing back in my dorm” he says in a low tone, impatiently tapping his finger.
“Hi Riddle, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Y/N and I’m NRC’s official mediator! I was hoping we could discuss the students you banned from your dorm?”
His eyes narrow, but he continues to stay silent, so you continue.
"I sincerely apologize for Ace’s behavior, while I understand that he was completely in the wrong for taking something that wasn’t his, I think collaring him was…a biiiiit of an over reaction” His eyes narrow further. “I’ll ask you again, what are you three doing back in my dorm” he says through clenched teeth, you knew this wouldn’t be easy but you were determined to fix things.
”As I said, Ace here apologizes for stealing the tart, as an apology he’s made you a new one! Grim and Duece helped too, so please consider this a joint apology” you say as Duece passes the plate.
You quickly grab it, turning back to the table, your hands freeze.
It was yours, why should you have to give it away…YOUR alphas made it, with YOUR help. They came here because of YOU no one else…this was yours!
Your hands tremble as you give it away, part of you mourns your loss, but you know you’re being unreasonable right now. Perhaps it was that smell. You couldn’t put your finger on it but it was triggering these, possessive emotions. This insatiable urge to horde! Trey never mentioned anything like this…you should monitor that, and maybe ask that useless head mage.
Riddle stared at the tart, his lips trembling, you thought for a brief moment it was the beginnings of a smile. But then his eyes met with yours, they were furious.
“A strawberry tart. A STRAWBERRY TART!? THIS IS AGAINST THE RULES. I WILL NOT ALLOW RULE BREAKERS IN MY DORM. ALL FOUR OF YOU GET OUT” he continued to scream, of course there were rules about tart flavor. Why wouldn’t there be?!
What happens next feels straight out of a horror movie, Ace and Duece challenge Riddle to a duel, facilitated by the head mage. Who was apparently there, but not helping.
Useless bird…
Both of your alphas were defeated in quick succession, the collars barely leaving their necks before being reattached. It seems that this pushed riddle over the edge, the dorm head going on a power trip as he started collaring every member of the dorm. All hope seemed loss, but then for the second time, your savior appeared. Trey’s signature spell released the collars, allowing you to finally breathe a sigh of relief. You could see students grabbing at their necks in surprise, some crying tears of joy, while others dropped to their knees from the pure stress of it all. Riddle was foaming at the mouth as his dorm mates celebrated.
That was okay, this wasn’t really over, but him being angry was significantly easier to deal with when he couldn’t collar your friends. Plus now that he’d gone off the deep end, you could probably make a convincing case to the headmaster, to deal with any fall out.
As Riddle screamed, the stench seemed to grow in intensity, the smell enveloping the field. All of the students began to back away as darkness began to drip around Riddle’s body. The field began to shake as clouds gathered in the sky, the world beginning to go dark. You’re knocked to the ground as people shove past you, trying to run for the exit. The stench intensifies, reaching a crescendo as something inhuman emerges from the darkness. You’re finally able to identify the smell, you don’t know how you didn’t recognize it before, you had smelled it just recently during your battle at the mines.
The smell of rotten ink.
You quickly scramble, pulling Grim up in your arms, still on your hands and knees. Just as you do so a harsh wind blows against your body, throwing you both back. You groan in pain attempting to sit up, reaching for Grim’s limp body, you try to bridge the several foot gap when your body freezes.
The entity had locked eyes with you.
Notes:
Hey y’all so I’m back…again, so sorry about the long wait, I had another surgery and I’m still recovering. So not really at full strength, but at least well enough to write a little bit, we’re finally at the action! We’re out of the exposition and our first official Overblots has happened, I’m trying to learn to let go when writing. I keep focusing on being game accurate but I think I’m gonna move slightly away from that since this is a fic and it’s becoming tiresome. Things will still be canon compliant but I’m not gonna read the game script for every detail. That said I’m looking for a beta reader again, anyone that wants to help please let me know, and comment your discord down below, unfortunately this chapter isn’t beta reader since I’m still recovering. Okay, I think that will be all, remember to stay hydrated(I’m looking at Yuu)and see ya’ll next time!
Chapter 9: The Roses Are Wilting
Notes:
Hey ya’ll hope you ready for the big chapter, I decided to change some things about the fight, so let me know how you like my take. I’ll talk more about my thought process below.
Btw, I realize that I’m an artist and can draw stuff for the fic, would y’all want that, and if so what should I draw?
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Your body aches on the cold ground as you and the entity stare one another down, whatever that thing was you knew for sure, that it wasn’t Riddle. Not anymore.
You try your best to push through the pain, your ears ringing from the screams of those fleeing the dorms. You had to get back up, Grimm was still laying out there in the rubble, he needed your help, you close your eyes as you fight against your aching muscles. Your arms shake as you push yourself up, when your head finally raises off the ground you’re startled as the entity, which had been several feet away, now floated barely a foot away from your face.
”Riddle…”, the entity stares down at you with a sharp smile, the smell of ink rotted roses fill the air. The thing reaches out a hand, a mock gesture of kindness, you stare at its blackened fingers assessing your options. Best not to make it angry, you didn’t want this thing to lose interest in you, and suddenly find interest in your weasel. You gently take the things hand and stand up, hoping your gentle movements will inspire the same kindness in it. “The accused may now stand, and finish presenting their case”, it said with a rabid smile. You looked to your sides and your friends were all struggling to their feet, you understood immediately that they were the accused. Were you to continue making your case about the tart? If so, why were you excluded from the accused? You may not have eaten the tart, but you sure as hell weren’t on Riddle’s side, even if Ace was being inconsiderate. At least he wasn’t tyrannical.
“Riddle stop, let go of them, they didn’t anything wrong!” you can hear Trey yelling over the harsh winds. The shouts of your other packmates soon join in threatening the entity to release you, you’re relieved when you hear Grimm’s voice in the mix, though your skin still prickles at the thought of any of them having the entities attention. At least as a united front the entity won’t pick on the little one alone, and your packmates have each other.
The entity’s face twist in anger at the sheer insolence of their subjects, how dare these fools break the rules of his kingdom, then attempt to turn the tables on him. No matter as a fair and noble ruler it knew exactly what to do, “All who defy the Queen’s rules must stand on trial for their crimes! Order of Roses” Its words echo through out the field as the ground begins to shake, five giant wooden post rise from ground raising your friends into the sky. “Guys, hang on-“ you attempt to yell for your friends but the entity’s grip tightens, you’re startled as you realize that something is forming beneath your feet as well. You’re lifted in the air as a giant throne appears beneath you, the height of which is so staggering it towers over your friend’s podiums. You look to your left, and there sitting beside you in an even more elaborate throne is the Heartslabyul dormhead, now an unrecognizable monster. It taps its clawed fingers in its boredom, as if the trial’s conclusion had already been reached, and this was a complete waste of time. Knowing Riddle, it had been.
”The accused that stand before me today are Trey Clover, Cater Diamond, Deuce Spade, Ace Trappola, and… hm the weasel. I’ll have to take its connection to the throne into consideration in order to dole out a fair punishment.”
“This is crazy Riddle, you can’t possibly think that this is order” Trey yells from his podium, it sits in the front of the other four, as if he’s been singled out as the ring leader. “Yeah, you asshole, you can’t just throw around your power in a magical temper tantrum every time you don’t get things your way, and let Y/N go!” The entity narrows its eyes as roses wrap themselves around your throne, “You need not worry about the king, instead I suggest you worry about your own lives. You stand accused of disorderly conduct, breaking my rules, and worst of all. Treason! How do you plead.” his voice booms, shaking the stands. Your friends try to hang on but you can see their fear of the drop below. The scene was eerily familiar.
”Riddle please, they didn’t mean any harm, let’s just talk this out. I’m sure we can reach a peaceful resolution”, it briefly turns to you before refocusing on your friends. “I will not repeat myself again. How. Do. You. Plead!”.
“Not guilty asshole, I’m tired of everyone around here making excuses for you, you’re a tyrant and your rules are stupid. I refuse to be pushed around by someone like you” your eyes widen at Ace’s words, did he have a death wish?! Don’t provoke the monster that has you on trial! You attempt to signal him to stop, but Deuce’s voice soon joins in, “What he said! This isn’t honor student behavior dormhead. I refuse to listen to you if you’re going to act like this, even if you’re my upper class men.” Its eyes narrow, “Such insolence! Cater how do you plead?”. Cater’s eyes move back and forth between the podiums with your friends and Riddle.
”I’m not involved in this…is what I usually say but even I think you’re going a bit too far…please don’t kill me.” The entity snarls as it locks eyes with Trey “You?”. You can see the struggle on Trey’s face, the pure guilt, mixed with fear. He was the vice dorm head, his opposition held more weight, to Riddle his disagreement was the same as inciting a coup.
“Riddle…I’m sorry” his words shock you, he seemed like a bit of a pushover when it came to Riddle but you didn’t think that it was this bad. That he couldn’t stand up to him even now, as he stood before him as a monster. “It’s too late for an apology, if you truly did not wish to find yourself in this position then you never would have defied me! I find you all to be Guilty, I sentence you all to be-“
”No Riddle, you misunderstood, I’m not sorry about what I did to your collars, or about using my signature spell. I’m sorry I let it get this far…I’m sorry that I was so scared to stand up to you that I let you turn into this! I wanted to to say something, I’ve wanted to for so long…but you were my friend, and I knew deep down you thought what you were doing was right. But this is crazy! This isn’t order, you’re just hurting people because you can. This isn’t ruling, you’re just being a tyrant!”. For a moment you can see hurt flash across the entity’s face, it seemed that Trey’s words had cut deep. Riddle was still in there, and looks like he still cared for his friend. Still the entity had him buried deep. “Treasonous behavior…Insubordination! Guilty!GUILTY! GUILTY! I sentence you all to be executed for your crimes against the throne, now, OFF WITH YOUR HEADS!”.
Shit this is exactly what you feared, unlike the red and black collars his signature spell usually summoned, there were actually guillotines sprouting out from the podiums. The designs were similar, but these guillotines had actual blades, if you didn’t do something fast then you were sure your packmates would be executed. You could hear your friends yelling as they struggled to get free of the cuffs that suddenly attached them to the desk, you’re pretty sure you hear Cater sobbing in particular, something about being too pretty to die. You had to think, why weren’t you being put on trial too, sure you didn’t eat the tart but you definitely did oppose Riddle. Even Cater was put on trial, and all he did was help with the baking, maybe it was because you weren’t a part of his dorm? No, because Grim was out there to and he was your dorm’s student, plus something about the way you were seated at this trial gave you the feeling that there was more to it then that.
The podiums were raised in the sky as your friends tried to use their magic to break out of the guillotines, “You, you will be put to the side for later, I will make sure to find a more suitable punishment for you.” it said moving Grimm’s podium into a corner in the courtroom illusion. “Henchman!” he yells before he’s consumed by the darkness. Grimm! You hop out of your seat, but he’s gone to fast, there was no way to reach him, you were at least 40 feet in the air. Think! What about you is different from the others, if you could just figure that out, you could save everyone. What did Riddle say earlier, he called the rest of them the accused, but when your friends started to worry he referred to you as… the King.
Your mind flashes to scene of a small man, cowering at the might of his domineering wife. The Red Queen’s King! You don’t remember where you know this from, but you’re sure of it. The Red Queen had a submissive King by her side, that was good information but it still didn’t explain why Riddle thought of you that way. You were anything but submissive, your first encounter with him was you exercising your authority- wait, was that it?
Did Riddle give you the position of the King because he saw you as an authority? It made sense, he was the head of the Heartslabyul dorm so he was this land’s ultimate authority, but with your role as official mediator you also had some level of authority. It’s why he let you make your case in the first place, since he’s taking the role of the Queen, it only made sense that as the person with the second most authority would take the role of the king. He’s still all about the rules at the end of the day, he must respect you for upholding them, if that was the case then…
”Riddle, stop! As the king I…I don’t agree with this motion!”
The entity, previously preoccupied with dealing swift justice freezes in its tracks, “…Excuse me?”. You take a deep breath to calm yourself, you’ve faced scarier monsters back home, you could take on one miniature tyrant. “I said I don’t agree, this is way over the line, these boys haven’t done anything to deserve this treatment. Stop this right now, unless you also want be considered a rule breaker! “. This got the entity’s attention, “ How- how dare you!” it floats down in front of your face, “We will deal with you, and your rule breaking pet, later. This is my court and as the Queen I decide what is just! You will sit here and await your own trial is that clear my dear?”he says staring you down as if daring you to argue. While you’re a little thrown off by the endearment, you stand your ground, “No, I will not back down, I’m here to mediate. As your King I refuse to let you abuse your power, this is way past the line of punishment. You will either give them a fair trial or be considered a rule breaker yourself. Understood my dear?”you return in a mocking tone.
It was seething now, the red aura around it darkened with each word out of your mouth, it attempts to reach out to you. It’s clawed hands barely caress your stony face before it lets out a grunt of pain, with the thing distracted the boys managed to break free. “Let them go” Deuce yells, dropping his signature cauldron on Riddle’s head. The red aura protects them, and from the way the entity is trembling, that move seemed to have angered it. “I will have your head, I will have all of your heads! Off with their heads. Off with their heads! OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!”.
The air was dense with magic and the smell of rotting ink. The thing was spamming that spell now, you watch in horror as the guillotines grow in size, the restraints doubling. Shit, why did your friends have to be such idiots, you had the thing distracted. You needed to do something fast!
As you watch the guillotines restrain them all, you make a split second decision. They were yours, you may not know where this sudden possessiveness came from, but you knew deep in your bones they were yours. You wouldn’t lose any of them to some tyrannical ruler, not again, not while you were still breathing. You steeled your resolve, and before you could talk yourself back out of it, you used your seat as a platform. And tackled the entity out of the air.
You could hear your friends yelling from above as you both plummeted towards the ground.
Notes:
Ok so wow, thank you everyone for your overwhelming support, I’m just some stranger on the internet but you all have been so kind. I’m happy to report that my health is a lot better now! I’m not anywhere near 100% but I’m doing a lot better, I can breath better and I’m actually able to eat some. Thank you for those who commented and gave kudos to this work. It makes me so happy to know that so many people are reading my dumb fic. Now for those who just wanted story notes…
This part of story was inspired by this idea I came up with when I started the fic that the overblotted dormheads, being enhanced versions of the regular dormheads, should get enhanced spells. I went for a three phase spell since in twist Riddle gets this three strike attack in the game when he overblots. I named the spell Order of Roses, because I thought that sounded like a cool name for a rose themed court room. The three phases are order of roses which summons the courtroom, guilty which means the debate is over and the courtroom is now prepping to execute the queens orders, and off with their heads which is said execution. I wanted this battle to be a lot scarier then in game, it’s the schools first overblot so it should feel way more like a helpless situation. I also wanted to make callbacks to the original story, like the queen calling her husband my dear. Lastly that line about kneeling to a tyrant might have more than one meaning. Seriously though, you should probably reflect on why you feel so possessive. Just a thought for the next few chapters.
Chapter 10: Dead on the Vine
Summary:
Deep into the abyss we go, to find the center of the rose.
Notes:
Hey all I'm back, sorry for the supersized delay the chapter got deleted, which was a major setback. Still, I managed to finish it, and I hope you like! See end notes for a breakdown.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Foolish has never been a word you would use to describe yourself but seeing as you were now plummeting 40+ feet into a dark abyss, you couldn’t find a more fitting word. Rash decisions usually weren’t your Mo but something about watching your pack be in danger brought out this protective side of you, there was also this bone deep need to possess that keeps growing the longer you sink into the abyss. You wanted to keep your packmates to yourself, you didn’t want anyone to see them, to touch them. Hell you were angry at the thought of others being able to breathe the same air as them! You’ve never felt that way about anyone, let alone multiple people, you tend to keep your distance from the people around you. It made your life much easier, especially when you had a job to do, it was much harder to fight a battle when your loved ones were on the other side.
Ah you were doing that thing again, letting your mind wander, taking a mental walk down memory lane never did you any good. It always led you back to the same conclusion, life is meant to be lived alone, especially for someone like you. A rule breaker.
As you plummet further into the darkness, you could hear your friends shouting from above, it was good to know they were alright. You couldn’t say the same for yourself, the entity had struggled out of your grip and was now trying to fight you in the air, and seeing as you could no longer fly you were at a disadvantage. The shadowy figure behind it attempts to attack you, swinging at you frantically as you continue to fall through the air. Well on the bright side the darkness had become familiar to you, so when you finally fell through the shadowy abyss you were barely phased.
“Hey, wake up”, someone was trying to shake you awake, bummer this is the longest you’ve slept in ages…
“Seriously, you’re supposed to be the ramshackle prefect, and you can’t even be bothered to get up?” rude…you had very bad insomnia, what’s wrong with resting a few more minutes…
“Why I-Unless you want to become a part of this garden I suggest you wake up!” The volume of the voice startles you, but it’s familiar…Your eyes immediately fly open, and sitting across from you in a vine bound chair was non other than Riddle Rosehearts. “Finally, I was beginning to think you wouldn’t awaken” he said with a hint of frustration, “I thought I might end up spending my life wasting away here in the garden alone. Now that you’re awake at least we’ll have something to do to pass the time” he said relaxing in his chair. You were both sitting in a large garden, roses of every size traveled up the walls and ceiling, leaving only enough space for a chandelier to dangle freely. Your chairs were similar to your rose themed thrones with the exception of dark green vines that were binding your arms and legs, and a small stone circular table with a large stone rosebud encompassing its surface.
” Where are we…what happened to the others?” you ask, “I believe we’re in my unconscious mind, when you tackled…that thing into the abyss below, I guess it must have dragged you into my personal world. I’ve been sitting here for the past two hours or so waiting for you to awaken” he says matter of factly. “Ok…and the others” you press, he simply sighs and taps his fingers on the arm of his ornate chair, the vines tightening with his movements. “I’m unsure, I’ve been in this place since that thing took over my body and have lost my view of the outside since you tackled it into the abyss, for all I know it could still be attacking the dorm” he says with a sigh. This immediately makes you jump to attention, "What?! Then we have to get out of here, that thing was seriously trying to kill us, who knows what it’ll do now that I’m not there to stop it!” you had seen the way it didn’t hesitate to execute those it saw as rule breakers, you were only able to slow it down because it seemed to respect your authority. The others wouldn’t be so lucky. "I understand your worry but I’m not exactly sure how to escape this place, believe me I’ve been trying to since I got here, I’m not too fond of the idea of my dorm getting destroyed either, all of the damages will set the students back months.”
What.
“Not to mention literal execution isn’t the type of punishment we dole out in Heartslabyul and I still have some fools that need disciplining, if I don’t handle this now my dorm will fall into ruin”, he said with a put out sigh. “Are you kidding me?” you ask, voice laced with barely concealed rage, “Of course not, this isn’t the time for jokes. Do you understand the level of precision it takes to run a dorm perfectly, I have to make sure everyone follows the rules or everything will fall into chaos”he says slamming his fist on the arm rest. “So the tyrant thing is just your actual personality” you scoff leaning back in your chair. “Excuse me?!” he seethes, as if almost daring you to continue . “You heard me, or is it a rule in Heartslabyul that you need to repeat every sentence you speak, because if so this conversation is gonna get real old real fast.”
“How dare you, an outsider, speak as if they know a thing about my dorm. The rules are in place for a reason! Order must be maintained for everyone’s safety-“
“And look how far that’s gotten you! Your obsessive rule mongering turned you into a monster that’s currently trying to kill your dorm members! Do you even care that the people around you could die?!” he pauses at that clearly taken aback by your accusation, you watch him lean to the side of his chair, propping his head up on his fist. His body tense, as if he’s trying to fight back the rage the boiling beneath his skin. “Of course I care about that, I…I never meant any harm, I thought it was the only way to keep things under control! To keep things from…falling apart…”. “I understand maintaining order, what I don’t understand is why it had to go this far, it’s one thing to be a perfectionist but you’re ready to kill someone over a pastry! "You yell, the thought of your tart being ruined fueling your anger, the thought of your friends being hurt makes it boil over. “Help me understand how it got this far, maybe if I understand we can stop that thing. I know most magic is fueled by emotion, and it took over after you spiraled, I think stabilizing your emotions is the key to stopping this!”.
He looks as if he’s about to comment on how ridiculous your thought process is when there’s a loud grinding sound, as the rosebud on the table suddenly opens, inside of the bud are four cards. The queen of diamonds, the queen of clubs, the queen of spades, and the queen of hearts.
” I guess this must be my answer” you mumble with a sigh, this situation continued to become more and more absurd, “Pick a card Riddle” you say readjusting your posture. You had a feeling that he should be the one to choose, magic tends to be personal, emotions are a huge influence on performance. So it makes sense in a situation like this, where his emotions have caused some sort of magical overload to let him choose, you couldn’t untangle his emotions for him after all.
Despite the obvious defiance set on his face he simply sighs heavily before reaching forward, the vines loosening to give him space, the moment his fingers touch the Queen of Clubs everything goes dark.
When your eyes reopen, you’re met with an ornate red door in a long white hallway, it has several ornate rose patterns twisting down its front with golden leaves, and a small golden knob shaped like a half-bloomed bud. The knob in particular catches your interest, for one it was very clear that you needed to open this door but even more then that this knob was strange. Despite your standing in the hallway, the lock on the knob was facing you, almost like this door was meant to be locked on the outside…
You quickly glance down both sides of the hallway, despite the fact that you were standing in what appeared to be a rather upscale house, it appears that you are still in the abyss. Both sides of the hallway are only black voids, and while you weren’t sure, you had a pretty good idea that if you walked backwards the wall behind you would give way to the abyss. Seeing as there was clearly one option, you let out a deep sigh before finally opening the door. Upon entering the sight in front of you startles you, sitting at a small red desk against the wall is a small child that could be none other then a young Riddle, despite his age the small boy looks almost aggravated. The reason becomes clear when he opens his mouth, “Well this is quite the trick by my psyche, putting you in that form. What, is this place hoping I’ll listen to you if you look like my mother?”.
Mother?
You quickly run to the vanity that’s sitting nearby and get a good look at your appearance, you had long flowing red hair that was pulled into a bun. Your previous outfit had been transformed into a rather large ballgown, the color of course being a deep red, with darker red roses patterned all over. You could see where the obsession with red came from, even this women’s large sun hat was red, the only other color of course being the white frills of her dress and her pearl necklace. The face in the mirror was clearly a woman, but it also looked a slightly older version of Riddle, there was no doubt that you were taking the appearance of his mother. “Well I’m not exactly thrilled to be doing this either, I said I wanted to help you unravel your emotions not cosplay as your mother…unless you have mommy issues. Which honestly would explain a lot about you.” The boy scoffs as if you’d said something truly absurd, “ Please me and mother have never had any issues, she was a perfect woman. Smart, dignified, and with the drive to succeed. She made me into the perfection I am today.”
So definitely mommy issues, seeing as his perfect self had turned into a monster, and his mother apparently made him this way. Still arguing right now doesn’t seem like the way to break through to him, so instead you shake your head and canvas the room again. Upon second glance you spot a small porcelain tea set sitting on a wooden table placed in the middle of the room. The table has two chairs pulled up and on one side a place mat with two small tea cups with two blank notecards, on the other side is a singular blank notecard. Obviously this was meant for you two, so with little hesitation you gracefully seat yourself at the small table, Riddle raises a brow at you as if you’ve done something profoundly stupid.
“ What exactly do you think you’re doing?” He asks, his voice filled with all the condescension of someone who’s just witnessed something profoundly stupid. “Completing the very obvious task this room has laid out for us, why your majesty have you come up with another idea?”.
The look on his face says he wants to argue but after a moment of contemplation he simply stands up from his desk and plops down in the opposite chair with a sigh. It was good to know that despite his tyrannical nature that he did have the ability to see some level of logic, still you wouldn’t put it past him to make this task impossible to complete with how controlling he was… The moment that he takes his seat the white note card on your side of the table starts to glow a bright red, after a moment it gently flutters back down onto the table no longer blank, you quickly snatch it up to read it.
“Dear honored guest, the red queen invites you to your first challenge, as you know the red queen is a lover of games. But games are no fun played alone, so for this challenge you will be playing the game teacups. On this very note card you will be given a question that you and your partner must answer, two options will be provided on the new cards in front of your two tea cups. Simply drink from the tea cup that you believe has the correct answer, make sure to drink the entire thing or the answer won’t count.” while you weren’t in the mood to play a game at the moment, it sounded pretty tame for the most part. You continue to read on, “Of course a game is no fun without consequences, should you drink from the wrong cup, you’ll be given a small dose of poison. Since three is the magic number on your fourth drink of this poison, the dose will become lethal, meaning you have three strikes. Once your third incorrect cup the game will automatically end…so play smart, and be honest. Signed the Red Queen…”.
God
Dammit
You quickly glance up at Riddle who looks just as shocked as you, not only is this game rather twisted but the cups are on his side of the table. Shit shit shit. Who came up with this twisted scenario?! The game didn’t even mention what type of questions they would be, what if they were impossible to answer questions, or super specific things that no one had the answer to. Despite your inner turmoil Riddle seems to have calmed down, and has taken to glaring at the teacups, like he can scare the right answer out of them. “Calm down, it's not like you’re the one who has to sip the poison. As long as we use our common sense I’m sure we can answer the questions.”
“But what if the questions don’t have actual answers, like conceptual stuff or something that’s entirely based on opinions”
“Don't worry these questions are from my subconscious, remember, there shouldn’t be anything I can’t answer. Besides, in the unlikely event I do die from the poisoning I’m sure my mind wouldn’t force you to stare at my corpse the rest of your time here, you could always use the blankets on the bed as a tarp if anything. While you were about to comment that his statement brought you absolutely no comfort, the sound of a tea kettle whistling interrupted your thoughts. Despite there being no heat source the tea pot on the table had steam blowing out of its whistle, the number three fading onto the porcelain, it seems like the game has started.
Can you pick up the notecard on your side of the table expecting the first question to be something insane, like rocket science, instead you’re met with something rather…simple. “First question, are friendships important to child development…well this is rather simple” not that you were complaining really, simple meant no poison! “Indeed…” he says taking a sip from one of the cups, it takes about 2 seconds before he doubles over in pain, his hands clawing at his stomach. You jump up startled, what was going on, it couldn’t be the poison. Not on such a simple question. Still to your dismay the 3 on the side of the teapot fades into a 2, after a couple of minutes his shaking body uncurls itself. “What just happened, are you ok?! How did we get the answer wrong?!” He holds up a hand as he rights himself, after a minute of finding his composure he pins you with a hard stare. “Did you read the question correctly?”.
Indignation crawls up your spine, “Excuse me?!”
“You heard me, there’s no way my answer is wrong, so you must have misread the question”.
“I can’t believe this, you didn’t even read your answer out loud!”
“I thought I didn’t need to since it was pretty straightforward!”
“Well clearly it wasn’t, because you’ve just been poisoned!”
“ Fine if you think I gave the wrong answer, then why don’t you tell me yours!”
“Great, give me yours too, on three!”
“1 2 3…”
“No.”
“Yes!”
The two of you stare at each other for a moment before your temper finally erupts, “I’m sorry…did you just say no .”.
“Yes that’s-“
“No, stop talking for a sec. Did you just say that children don’t need friendships, what kind of psychotic answer is that!” The look who gives you could melt paint, “Psychotic?! Is that what we’re calling things that have logic attached? Look, children don’t need friends, your younger years are for the brain to develop, that time is best spent learning. Friendships are meant to be formed once you’re old enough to discern what connections will be fruitful.” Ok, wow, so that wasn’t a healthy mindset. Like at all. Still you were here to help him with his emotions, so you supposed you could try to explain. “Riddle, kids need to be around other kids, it’s how they learn to communicate. It’s how they learn what love looks like outside of their home, it’s how we learn to treat people well. How we learn to set boundaries so we can treat ourselves well, it’s how we learn new perspectives. All of these are crucial to growing up. Why do you think that’s useless”
He pauses for a moment, as if he’s really deeply thinking about it, “My mother always said…that friendships are power. In order to climb the ladder of success you need to have the right friends, but in order to be valuable to have those friends, you need to spend your youth learning and becoming indisposable.”
“ Do you really think that’s fair, to you, to anyone?”
“ Well of course it is, it’s the only logical answer.”
“ I don’t think you believe that, I mean we’re in your psych, and you just got poisoned for that answer.” Despite the clear need to fight on his face Riddle remains silent, “We don’t have time for this, just read the next question”. You suppose that was his way of agreeing to disagree, you pick up the card again to read the next question, “ Is it important for children to have fun?”. Another simple question but based on the conversation you just had, the hard part was going to be convincing Riddle. You take a deep breath, ready to argue your case when Riddle interrupts you, “You pick”.
Huh?
“Uh what now?”
“You pick the answer, clearly this place is more suited to your line of thinking”, you want to argue again that this is his subconscious, but you can tell just by his expression alone that it would be a fruitless endeavor. You instead sigh and tell him to pick yes, and to no surprise after he sips from the cup the 2 remains in place.
“What were you going to answer?”
“Does it matter, the answer you chose was clearly the correct one”
“Sure but this ultimately is about you learning a lesson, so if you don’t learn it….”
He glares at you, you had a feeling he definitely had a different answer, and that’s why he was so pouty. He was still in the body of baby Riddle, so despite his attempts at a withering gaze, he just looked like a pouty kindergartner. It was kinda cute, you’re sure that remark would end in a guillotine.
“Fine, we can move on, but you seriously need to reevaluate the things you were taught if we’re gonna get out of this place” he remained silent, he was clearly fuming but it looks like he was deciding to ignore you instead of yelling, acting very much like the form he was currently in. Still the show must go on, so you silently pick up the card, “Who owns you?”. The question feels like a bomb in the silent room, for someone with Riddle’s emotional intelligence the question definitely seemed like the kind of thing that would cause another argument. And of course you were right.
“How can your parents not own you, they’re the reason you’re in this world!”
“Yeah but that doesn’t mean they own you, you’re your own person!”
“We’re all extensions of our parents, we are their legacy, the continuation of their bloodline”
“Oh so if you stab someone, your mom is going to jail?”
“Well no-“
“When you go to the doctor, your mom is also sick?”
“No, but that’s not what I-“
“So if your parents don’t take on any of the consequences of being you, how could they own you? If my dog bites someone, I’m the one who gets in trouble, because I own my dog. If I bite someone, I’m the only one who gets in trouble, because I’m the only one in control of my actions! I’m the only one who can make myself happy, who knows what I want, living my life is up to me. If all of these decisions are up to me how could I possibly be owned by someone else?”. He silently seethes and without a second thought, he picks up one of the cups and chugs the liquid, you watch in horror as the 2 fades into a 1. “Riddle!” you yell, but it’s too late, the number is already changed, and you can see the pain on his face. “ Why would you do that?! We hadn’t settled on an answer?!”. “Well I did!…I did, I- I don’t understand how I was wrong…” he says with a pained groan, he was almost at lethal levels, you imagine the pain he’s feeling right now must be unbearable. “ It’s gonna be ok Riddle, just stay calm and breathe” despite your frustrations, it didn’t make you happy to see him in this level of pain, it especially twisted your heart seeing such an expression on his younger self. The only thing you could hope for at this point was that the next question was easier on the both of you.
It appears that luck however was not on your side, “Are your parents always right?”
The silence was deafening, you could feel the temperature drop in the room, this was the last kind of question you needed right now. “ The card says this is the last question, all we need to do is answer this correctly and we’re home free. Come on Riddle, you know what the answer is.”
“…Yes”
“Riddle-“
“Stop it! I’m not gonna let you poison my mind any further, I know I’m right! I know my mother is right! There’s nothing else that could be true!”he yells, his little face turning red with anger. “Oh come on Riddle you just had 2 cups of poison. I think that should be proof enough that you’re wrong!” The frustration was getting to you, if you didn’t know any better you would think that he’s trying to die. “Or maybe it’s proof that this game was meant to cloud my judgment, question my idea of right and wrong!”
“Maybe your idea of right and wrong needs to be questioned!”
“Stop yelling at me with my mother’s face!”
“I wouldn’t need to look like your mother if you just went to therapy like a normal person!”
“I’m fine I don’t- I don’t need therapy, I know what’s right I know the rules were put in place because they’re right. They have to be right, because if they aren’t then that means… everything I’ve done has been for nothing.”. You’ve never seen this look on his face before, he looked desperate and hurt, like his whole world was falling apart with no hopes of being put back together. Like he was drifting at sea without any hope for land. You think you understand now, being right was the only way to justify his suffering, if he wasn’t right that meant his mother was wrong too. If his mother was wrong, then that meant his painful child, that too was wrong. Despite how much of a tool he’s been, your heart did ache for him. There’s no worse feeling than finding out how little you were loved, especially from a person that you’ve given your life to.
You can see in his eyes he’s spiraling, so when he grabs the tea cup, you know, it’s the wrong one. “Wait Riddle, think about this, this is your last strike if you get the answer wrong you’ll die”. The look he gives you a searing, “ I won’t die, I’m not wrong, she’s not wrong... I won’t let you try and overthrow my thoughts!” You knew if you didn’t do something Riddle would end up dead, that wasn’t an option for you, he wasn’t evil. He was just misguided, and hurt… you’ve seen it before, people try to stab others to stop their own bleeding. You didn’t want to watch him die; he didn’t even really have a chance to live. You took a moment of resolve before you grabbed his hand.
“I’ll drink it”
“What?” he said, his face twisted in confusion, clearly, he thought he heard you wrong.
“If you insist this is the right answer, then I’ll drink it.”
Notes:
Ok ya'll so I'm back again, we are reaching the end of the Riddle saga. Thank you all who stayed on this journey with me, I wanted to give everyone a choice about the upcoming chapter. Would ya'll rather I do the rest of the trials in one super long chapter, or split into 2? Please let me know in the comments below, now for the breakdown!
Clubs, it's believed in some cultures that this suite represents your younger years, so in this trial I wanted to explore baby Riddle, and the foundations for his beliefs. These questions are supposed to represent the fork roads in our development of our moral compass. Questions we are asked inadvertently by the actions of those around us, and questions we have to ask ourselves as we decide what we personally believe. As well as how hard it is to shake that belief past the developmental stage, because of how much time we've spent living with these ideas in mind. Especially when you have to face the figure that shaped your ideals, like your mother.
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