Chapter Text
Ah, my esteemed benefactor,
My proud, beautiful flower of evil.
You truly are the fairest one of all.
O magic mirror, thy wisdom I entreat,
Reveal onto me the visage I seek.
You, whose image the Dark Mirror beckoned forth.
If your heart bids it, take the hand of the one reflected in the mirror.
A giant beast roars. People scream and try to run away from its clutches. The ceiling falls apart as the beast soars in the sky, fire coming out of their mouth.
She sees a hand. Someone calls her name.
She reaches forward and holds that hand.
“Please…don't run. Stay, we'll protect you…”
As flame reduces even the star to ash.
As ice seals away even time itself.
As great trees swallow even the sky.
Fear not the power of darkness.
Now, demonstrate your power.
The great beast roars, blue flames come out of its mouth, but she is not hurt, people shield her. A barrier prevents the attack from hitting her. Then, crimson flames engulf the beast, ice seals its mouth and trees cage its claws.
It falls. It's over. But she lets out a desperate scream, as if she's the one being hurt.
To me. To them. To yourself.
The hour grows long, and time is scarce.
Keep steady your grip, no matter what may come…
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Yuuhana Onizawa considered herself to be a pretty normal person. She had a nice, loving family, an annoying but sweet little brother, a pet cat she loved and hobbies she enjoyed.
But other people found her weird, why was she acting like that? Asking that many questions, why would she not talk to her classmates? Why did she spend all her time alone with her nose burrowed in creepy, dusty books or exploring abandoned buildings?
Most thought that she was “trying to be different” or that “she just wanted attention”, but she only did what she enjoyed doing, for no one but herself.
She loved everything that was odd, spooky and weird. It was not like she was dissatisfied with reality, just that she had an inclination for the peculiar and the supernatural.
But she was also not an idiot. So when she woke up in a coffin, wearing a dark cult-like robe and with a fire cat-like creature telling her to hand it over, she genuinely thought that she had gotten herself kidnapped.
“Hey! Are you listening to me? Answer when the Great Grim is talking to you human!”
She stared down at the bizarre creature. It was bigger than her cat…it was like one of those large plushies she had in her room…
Instinctively she crouched down and patted its head, leaving the creature shocked. Its grey fur was really soft and the blue flames coming out of its ears were not burning her, it felt nice, like touching a heated stuffed animal. Its electric blue eyes looked at her in pure confusion and bewilderment by the audacity of her action.
“Sorry, I wasn't listening…”
Then she stood up and looked around. The room was enormous, it reminded her of the European gothic, with large stained glassed windows shimmering beautifully in the moonlight…
Moonlight? She was pretty sure it was afternoon when she went home from school…but then what had happened?
In an instant, her head seemed to split open and she felt an excruciating pain.
She was walking home… She was crossing the road… There was a raven… Three feathers… Then a loud noise… A dark carriage…And…
“Oi! Gimme your robe human!”
The cat demanded with its paws on his hips.
“My robe? I'd love to give it to you but I don't have any other clothes. If you could find me some I’ll gladly give this to you.”
She replied not batting an eye at the absurdity of the situation. Her headache strangely had gone away.
The creature looked at her in silence for a few seconds, then crossed its paws and closed its eyes, as if deep in thought, mumbling under its breath.
Yuuhana used this time to better study her surroundings and… wow, she hadn’t noticed that there were coffins floating around the room…and that behind her was an open one. Had she come out of a coffin?
She took a step back. Ok, she liked it weird, but this was too weird even for her.
As the creature kept mumbling to itself, probably debating if setting her on fire and stealing the robe or help her get clothes, she quietly tip-toed to the semi opened door and ran through the hallway as if the devil himself was chasing her.
“Hey! Don't run! Give me your robe!”
Shit, the cat had noticed that she had escaped. But she had some distance between them so it would be easy for her to lose him in that labyrinthic structure.
She saw an opened door and immediately dove inside finding herself surrounded by bookshelves so tall she couldn't see the top.
“Wow…a library?”
She whispered, amazed. But she didn't have time to fawn as she heard the creature stop in front of the door she had just entered. How was it that fast?
Panicking, she hid behind one of the shelves and prayed that the cat creature would go away.
Why was she so afraid of that creature? Sure it had claws and its teeth looked sharp, but she had dealt with quite a few cats and dogs and she knew how to not get scratched or bitten, but that creature…was different, she felt like she had already met it…
“I can smell you…You better come out if you don't want to be burned to cinders.”
It spoke, slowly inching closer to her hiding spot. Of course, cats had a very keen sense of smell.
The creature peeked behind the bookshelf. It's blue eyes shining in the dark. Then it smiled, fully displaying its sharp teeth.
“There you are.”
It happened in a second. Yuuhana stood up and fire came out of the creature's mouth, directed right at her. She raised her arms to shield her face but…the fire hadn't hit her. She slowly opened one eye only to see the creature being restrained by what looked like a collar and a leash with its mouth firmly closed with a ribbon.
“Goodness gracious! I finally found you!”
A low, deep voice echoed in the library and a pair of hands grasped her shoulders. She looked up and a man stood behind her.
A very, very odd man. He was wearing a three piece suit, a top hat and a cape that looked like a pair of dark wings. He had a long cane with a crow? A raven? As the pommel, he had a beaked mask that completely hid the higher part of his face only showing a pair of glowing yellow orbs where his eyes should have been.
Her guts told her not to trust him. He looked like the perfect description of a cult leader. But he did save her from being burned alive…
Oh, his mouth was moving, he was talking to her…She should nod and pretend to be listening.
“Do you realize how worried I got when I found out that one of the students had exited the gate by themselves?! This is unprecedented! And you even summoned your familiar!”
He then sighed and, with a swift hand gesture, pulled the ropes binding the cat creature and hoisted it under his arm.
“Anyways, we must go, the ceremony is about to end and you need to be sorted into your dorm.”
The man grabbed Yuuhana's arm and pulled her outside the library, back into the very room she ran away from.
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