Cassandra awoke in an enclosed space. She blinked the sleep away from her eyes and looked around as they quickly adjusted to the darkness. She remembered everything from before she lost consciousness involving the mirror, but where was she now? She ran her hands up and down the sides and top of her containment. It felt like an old fashioned wood coffin. Cassandra doubted she had been buried alive, despite her confines. She didn't smell earth or rocks, so she must be above ground.
She sighed, hiked her legs up, got into the fetal position, and kicked her legs out. The lid of the coffin came flying off the hinges and flew across the room, with Cassandra managing to hold herself in place by bracing her forearms on the sides of the coffin. She then noticed the coffin was floating about fifteen feet in the air. After realizing this she merely shrugged and jumped down from her morbid loft. It was after this she noticed where exactly she was.
The room she was in was less of a room and more of a grand chamber. There were no walls, only elaborate windows with dark, velvet curtains divided by arches. Torches were held on these arches, a light with flickering orange flames. A beautiful chandelier hung from the ceiling; it appeared to be made of a mix of crystal, chains and iron with the lighting an eerily glowing purple. Strings of white crystal were strung about the ceiling, occasionally dipping into pendulums of green. Coffins similar to hers floated about, and the floor had engravings on it that looked reminiscent of a magic circle. Odd tree-like lanterns attached themselves to the ground, lighting the way not much better than the torches. The most obvious aspect of the chamber, however, was the reason she was here in the first place.
Lo and behold, there stood the silver mirror in all its elegant glory, hovering above a small water fountain. The glass of it was an unreflecting black, similar to how she found it. Now, Cassandra knew that most people, hell, most supernatural creatures would be confused and unsettled if they were in her circumstances, but she was not most supernatural creatures. She had seen things that would make most vampires of any age call bullshit. Her fiasco with the siren a few (what she assumed were) hours ago was one of these cases. The supernatural community only accepted the existence of the three main factions due to their population, and most forgot about the not as powerful but still there creatures. So when she says things like 'I met the devil' and 'sirens are real', people tend to believe her only because she is a Mikaelson.
So, long story short, she had seen a lot of shit for a 16 year old, most of which was much more dangerous than this. Compared to all the things she had done in the last two years, this was a pretty normal Friday.
With that internal tangent out of the way, Cassandra began looking for her Court. She knew she heard Skip's voice and felt multiple hands grabbing onto her before she fell through the mirror, and Skip never went to places like graveyards without the others, so she was certain they were all here somewhere.
Cassandra was about to start breaking into the other coffins when she heard a banging. It was coming from a coffin about seven or eight feet in the air. She went over to it after using a spell to bring it down a bit and proceeded to rip the lid off, and there stood a very confused looking Eiji. Without saying a word she picked him up bridal style and carried him to the ground.
Eiji looked up at her exasperated, "You know I could get myself down, right? It was only a two foot drop.", he said.
Cassandra smiled, "Yeah, I know. I just like taking any chance I can get to carry you like the princess you are.", she said as she gently put him down, causing Eiji to pout.
After Eiji finished his pouting and mumbling about how he 'Wasn't a princess', the tribrid began to look for her other mates/Court members. She didn't have to look for long, however, as she saw four other coffins get their doors kicked and punched off.
To the surprise of no one, out popped Griffin, Ash, Shorter and Yue, all looking a mix of confused, annoyed, and curious.
"Where are we? And what are we wearing?", asked Griffin as he jumped down from his five foot high coffin and after landing, was able to get a good look at his new attire.
Ash looked around, "No clue. Cassandra, any ideas?", he said after he and Shorter jumped down from their eleven foot high coffins and went to stand beside her and Eiji.
She shrugged, "I'm just as lost as you, though the outfits are rather nice.".
Yue made his way over to her after getting out of his own four foot high coffin, looking frazzled, "What the hell were you thinking?! You had no idea what that mirror could do, and yet you just let the damn thing drag you into it! It could have been a wormhole, or, or a gateway to hell or-!"
Cassandra winced, "Baby, please-"
Yue narrowed his eyes at her, "Don't you 'Baby' me Cassandra Mikealson! I have a right to be upset! I'm okay with you getting involved with cases that have the possibility of danger, but diving head first into what could have been a portal to a place that could have very well killed you instantly and without any idea if you would ever come back is something-!"
Yue was cut off when Cassandra used her most effective argument winning technique; kissing the anger out of him.
After a good few minutes of kissing her beloved moon until his knees were about to give out, she finally released his lips.
Cassandra laid a kiss on his neck as she held him, "You are right, I was careless and I should have had more concern for my safety. I can't say it won't happen again, but know that I would never do anything that would make it so I would never come back to you. I'm sorry, baby.", she said in a low, husky voice.
Yue blushed and tried to hide his face in her neck; why did she always do these things in front of the others?, "I forgive you.", he said quietly.
Ash sighed, "If you two are done making out, can we please figure out where the fuck we are?"
Cassandra grinned, "And I'm also sorry if I made you and the others feel left out, Ash.", she then left a lingering kiss on all her mates lips, which made Ash blush up a storm when it was his turn, and then went to stand in front of everyone.
The red head put her hands on her hips, "Alright, now that that's out of the way, we need to figure out where we are and why we're here, and I think I know where to get our answers."
Shorter blinked, "Hey, does anyone know where Skipper is?".
Cassandra blinked, realizing her courier's absence, "Oh, shit! Skip! Skipper! Where are you?!", she began to yell out, soon followed by the rest of her Court. After a while, they heard muffled screaming and banging coming from overhead. They looked up, and saw what would most likely be quite the predicament if they were human.
Skipper's coffin had managed to get stuck in the rafters fifty feet in the air, and would most likely not be able to come out on its own. Cassandra sighed, changed into a bat and flew up to the coffin. She landed on the rafters, changed back into her original form, and pried open the coffin. Inside, stood an utterly terrified Skipper wearing the same purple robes as the rest of them. Cassandra scooped him up like she did Eiji, much to his protest, and jumped back to the ground. After she sat him down beside Ash, she went to speak with her little messenger.
Cassandra kneeled down in front of her courier, "You okay skip?", she said
Skip looked at her, eyes wide from shock, "Yeah... I'm fine, but can you not princess carry me?! I'm not Eiji! Also, what are we wearing, we look like we're in a cult."
Cassandra vaguely heard Eiji mutter a "I resent that." and smiled, "Would you rather I sling you over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes?", she asked.
Skip opened his mouth to speak but quickly shut it.
She smirked, "Thats what I thought, also, yes we do look like we're in a cult, but at least this particular one has taste."
Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, Cassandra began to speak, "As I was saying, I do believe I know how we can figure out the answers to our questions of where and why."
Griffin raised an eyebrow, "And your method is what exactly...?"
Cassandra smirked, "We ask the thing that brought us here, obviously.", she pointed at the hovering mirror, causing everyone to look back at it.
"Oh hell no.", said Ash, taking a few steps away from the cause of all this.
"She makes a valid point, Lynx. That mirror brought us here, so it probably knows the answers to our questions.", said Yue, seeing the logic in his mate's idea.
"Yes, but there is another reason why I think it can give us answers.", Cassandra said, being just a tad bit cryptic. She enjoyed watching people's reactions to shocking news, and her boys were no exception.
Shorter leaned forward, his curiosity peaked, "Which would be...?"
Cassandra's face broke into a grin, "Doesn't that mirror look familiar to you? Haven't any of you seen it before? Look at it again, closely this time, what does it look like?", she said slyly.
Every member of her Court did this, and no one made the connection, except for one.
Skipper's eyes widened, "It looks like the evil queen's magic mirror!", he exclaimed.
Ash blinked, "The what?", he questioned.
Skipper looked up at him, "You know, from the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Disney movie?", he asked, confused as to why Ash would have so much trouble recognising such a staple of fairy tales.
Ash shrugged, "Didn't watch a lot of Disney movies growing up.", he said simply, referencing his horrid childhood.
Cassandra walked up to him and took his hand into her's, "Well, that aside, I do believe that is the magic mirror from the story, or at least the mirror that the one in the story is based on."
Ash squeezed her hand gently, "I believe you. A magic fairytale mirror is nothing compared to the things we've seen and fought before.", he said in a quiet voice.
Cassandra nodded at him and looked back at the others, who nodded to her. With that, she took a deep breath and made her way to the front of the mirror. She stood at the base of the fountain for mere moments before she asked her question.
"Mirror mirror on the wall... who is the baddest bitch of them all?", her face started off solem, but quickly morphed into a grin as she finished her sentence.
A chorus of "Come on!"'s and "Really?!"'s rang throughout the chamber as Cassandra cackled, and promptly ended when an image finally appeared in the mirror; her reflection.
The fanged woman briefly admired herself in the mirror as it stated, "It is thou, highness.", in a respectful tone.
Cassandra smirked as her image faded, "Ha! I knew it! Katerina has nothing on me!", she said triumphantly.
Katherine Pierce was a bitch and a half, although she was the good kind of bitch. She did agree that what her father tried to pull with her and the sacrifice was uncool, and because of that she when she found out about what had happened at the age of 12, she had made her father take her to her place of residence so she could formally apologize on his behalf. Katerina was both confused and surprised by this, and asked if she wanted to come to lunch with her so as to get to better know the odd child of her enemy. Four years and many girls days later, the two were thick as thieves. Though, they did have a friendly rivalry over who was really the 'baddest bitch of them all', which had now apparently been settled by this magical piece of glass and metal.
Deciding to ignore any 'highness' remarks for now, she began to speak with the mirror, "Hello, I'm Cassandra Mikealson, what's your name?.", she asked.
A face then appeared in the mirror, shrouded behind some green flames around the bottom, though it was less of a face and more of a mask. The mask had a sort of permanent scowl embedded on it. It was white, very angular and snobbish looking, with complex looking black designs around its empty eye holes. It looked like the kind of thing that gave children nightmares, which was its intended effect given that it was a Disney villain's magic item.
Said mask now looked rather confused as it processed what she said, "What doth thou mean, highness?", he asked.
Cassandra raised an eyebrow, "What's your name? What do people call you? You can talk to me, you have sentience, that means you should have a name.", she said, arms crossed.
The mirror shook its... face?, "I am known only as the Dark Glass, highness, I hast ne'r had a true name."
Cassandra shook her head, "Well, that won't do. How about I give you one, then? That way I can call you something other than the 'Dark Glass'.", she smiled at him.
The mirror's eye holes widened, "thou would grant me such a gift, highness? most well, i shall refer to myself by whatever name thou see fit to grant me.", he said as he tilted his mask-like face upward.
Cassandra smiled gently, "Think nothing of it. If we're going to be friends, it's only right that we both have something to call the other by."
Griffin sighed, "Why am I not surprised that you are naming and want to be friends with a magic mirror. You sure know how to pick them, Aslan.", he said, exasperated with his leader. He loved Cas like a sister, but sometimes he wonders if she has all her screws tight up there. The rest of them are far from normal, but at least they aren't trying to befriend sentient objects.
"Oh, shut up!, said Ash and he turned to glare at his brother from his spot beside his lover.
"Both of you, hush.", Cassandra said. They both obeyed and she turned back to the mirror.
"Sorry about them. Now, what should I name you?", she said, her face gaining a contemplative expression.
Skip raised his hand, "Ooh, what about Charles?", he exclaimed.
Cassandra shook her head, "No, it's too generic. He needs something unique."
Shorter crossed his arms and smiled as he got an idea, "How about Horace?", he said.
Cassandra shook her head again, "No, it just doesn't fit."
Cassandra stood there for a moment, contemplating, "How about... Henrik, after my uncle.", she looked back towards her Court, who all looked at each other and silently agreed on the name.
The mask bobbed within the mirror, "Most well, henceforth I shall be known as Henrik to thee, highness.", he said as his mask tilted downward, as if bowing.
Ignoring yet another odd gesture from her new friend, now known as Henrik, she turned back to him and began to speak, "So, Henrik, why did you bring us here, and where is 'here' exactly?", she asked.
"This orb I hast brought thou to is known as Twisted Wonderland, highness. As for the reason why, I canst not say. All I may say is that thou hast a great future that awaits thou hither, and that 'twere a office bestowed onto I long since to guide thou to those whom may kneel ere thou and fight at thy side", Henrik said dramatically, raising his voice bit by bit as he spoke.
After a few moments of gawking at the mirror, and for some trying to figure out what he was saying, Yue said, "Okay... well, since you can't tell us anything about why we're here, can you at least tell us where we can get more information on this place?"
Henrik's mask-like face nodded, "I can, there is a library through that door and down the corridor. Thou shall find the answers to all thy questions there.", he said.
"Goddamn it! Why is it that whenever we need to find info on some magical bullshit, we always have to ransack the nearest library?", said Shorter. He didn't hate reading, he just hated reading dusty old grimoires in old English full of spells he couldn't use.
Yue looked at him, "Well, if you hate it so much then invent supernatural google. I'm sure there are many other lazy souls who would be more than happy to have access to such a thing. Not to mention you would actually be useful for once.", he replied with a smirk.
Shorter began crack his knuckles as he stalked over to his critic, "Okay, that's it pretty boy-", Yue jumped back, and just as he was about to wind back his fist, he caught sight of Cassandra's glare and immediately let his arm drop and took several steps back.
You see, Shorter was well aware of the three facts of his life. He isn't perfect, he can't down 30 shots of whiskey in half an hour, and there will always be someone who is stronger than him. Cassandra just so happened to be one of the people who was stronger than him... along with seemingly everyone else on the face of the goddamn planet. It was almost ridiculous how easily she kicked most people's asses, and while he would never fight her on the grounds that she was the love of his life, even if that wasn't the case he still wouldn't try to fight her on anything on the grounds that when she is angry, she is fucking terrifying. Shorter has self preservation instincts, you see, and he would very much like to not die today.
With his internal rant out of the way, he said, "Sorry...", in a small voice. Yue began to snicker behind his hand, something that was quickly silenced by another one of Cassandra's glares
When he said this, Cassandra's glare withered and she and Ash, still hand in hand, went to the front of the group, "Now that we have all realized we need to act maturely, let's go to the library and do some research.", she stated.
As soon as she said this, whatever deity had decided that, 'Yes, today is the I fuck with these people specifically', struck again as a the large double doors of the chamber flew open.
The thing that opened the doors was some sort of cat-like creature that was floating a little over five feet off the ground. It was gray with white fur around its chest. It had blue eyes, flaming blue ears, sharp teeth, a pitch forked tail, and it wore a ragged white and gray striped bow around its neck.
"Bwahahaha! Yes, I finally got that stupid door open! Now I just gotta- Hey, you aren't supposed to be up! Who the hell are you people?!", the creature demanded as it pointed a paw towards them.
The entire Court looked towards the creature, and immediately he knew he had done the worst possible thing.
You see, in the eerie green light of the chamber, shadows were cast on the contours of everyone's faces. Their hoods were all up, and due to a mix of the lighting and vampirism, their eyes seemed to glow a frightening shade of their normal color. In short, to the creature, they looked absolutely terrifying. Especially with all their heads turning to face him at the exact same time.
"I-uh-I...", he wanted to give his usual introduction to show these people he wasn't afraid (because he totally wasn't), but his fear silenced him as the person who appeared to be the leader of the group released the hand of the green eyed person beside them and slowly made their way over to him, heels clacking loudly against the ground.
By the time they reached him he had drifted onto the ground and was cowering against the now closed wooden doors, unable to muster up any courage in the face of this terrifying being with glowing golden eyes. He flinched away as the being reached towards him, expecting some form of pain. Instead, he was met with a gentle patting on his head. He leaned into the person's touch, making a rumbling sound he didn't know he could make. The person then picked him up without protest and began to cradle him like a baby against their chest.
"I'm sorry if we startled you, little one.", the person now known to be a woman said in a soft, soothing voice that made him make that rumbling sound even more.
The woman rubbed his stomach, much to his joy, "What's your name?", she asked.
"I'm the great Grim.", he exclaimed with slightly less enthusiasm than he usually did, mostly due to how blissed out he was from all the affection. No one had ever done anything like this for him. It was... nice.
She then proceeded to scratch his head again, "What's a little thing like you doing in a place like this?", she asked, chuckling a little bit as he yawned cutely.
"I came here to learn how to be the greatest magician of all time! But the carriage... it never...humph! That dark mirror just doesn't know talent when it sees it.", Grim said, hiding his face in Cassandra's chest after the last part, causing her four mates to glare at him.
The red head chuckled, honestly, for people who were completely okay with the concept of 'sharing is caring', they could get really jealous.
Realizing what Grim had said, Cassandra tilted her head, "Why would you come here to learn magic?", she asked.
Grim peeked his head out from her breasts, "This is a magic school called Night Raven College. It's one of the best magic schools in all of Twisted Wonderland!", he exclaimed excitedly.
Cassandra tilted her head, "Is that so?", she replied.
Ash looked back towards Henrik, "Why didn't you tell us we were in a school?", he asked, irritated.
Henrik looked at him blandly, "Highness asked where thou were, she didst not bid where thou were specifically.",
Ash rolled his eyes, "Great, you're a smart ass, too! Cas, can we please throw him out the window?"
Cassandra looked at him with an even blander look than Henrik's, "No, we cannot. Henrik is our friend, even if he is a smart ass. Plus, it's not like he withheld anything we wouldn't have figured out on our own. We would have seen the classrooms I assume are littered around and put two and two together. But while we're still on the topic of important information, anything else we should know, Henrik?", she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
Henrik nodded, "yes, there is going to be an orientation ceremony hither 'i five hours. The headmaster and most of the students shall be there. Thou seven, as new students, will want to be there as well.", he said.
"New students?", questioned Eiji.
"At this place of learning, only those chosen by me may attend. since thou all had the aptitude and because it is mine sworn office to guide thou, I brought thou hither as students.", Henrik said as a matter of factually.
"Oh fuck no, I am not going back to college! Once was enough!", said Yue, the only one of them that had a mostly normal American college experience.
"Oh come now, Yue, this will most likely be very interesting. After all, what isn't interesting about a literal school for magic?, Cassandra said as she put a hand on Yue's shoulder, instantly calming him down.
The beautiful boy sighed, "I suppose your right, but if this does really turn out to be a cult we are torturing that mirror in the worst ways possible until it takes us home.", he says, dead serious.
"How do you torture a mirror?", Shorter asked.
Yue looked at him with a sadistic look that made Cassandra suddenly feel very hot, "You underestimate my capabilities in the psychological torture department."
Cassandra clapped her hands together loudly after she handed Grim to Skip, drawing everyone's attention, "Well, now that all of that is out of the way, let's find that library and do some research. We'll come back for the entrance ceremony, Henrik, so we'll see you later tonight, okay?", she said as she quickly took Grim back from Skip, attempted to ignore the smug look on Yue's face and went to open the doors.
Henrik nodded, "As you wish, highness."
Just as she was about to step out the door, Cassandra turned back towards the mirror, "You know you don't have to call me 'highness', right? Just Cassandra is fine.", she said with a small, reassuring smile.
Henrik nodded again, "As you wish, majesty."
Cassandra sighed, said goodbye to Henrik once more, and shut the door. Then she went to the front of her already outside the room Court, still carrying Grim.
Skip sighed, "I still can't believe that stupid mirror didn't tell us everything. Looking through a library in a place like this is going to take forever!", he huffed.
Cassandra pat Skip on the head, smiling a bit, "Now, now Skip. We have five hours to find everything we need. Say, since you don't seem to be in the mood for research, why don't explore the area and if you find anything interesting, come back and tell me. Sound good?", she suggested.
Skipper's eyes lit up, "You mean it?!", he said excitedly.
She laughed, "Yes, just don't get lost, got it?", she asked.
Skipper nodded, "Got it!, and with that he was off sprinting down a hallway off to the left.
Griffin shook his head, "How he manages to never get lost anywhere is beyond me.", he said.
Ash scoffed good naturedly, "I know, it's like he was either born to be a messenger, or he's part bird. My money is on the former.", he said as he continued down the corridor, a few steps behind his lover.
Within a few minutes, they had arrived at the library. It was huge, bigger than the mirror chamber as they had begun to call it. Shelves of books filled the area and left just enough room for people. It was multilevel, and seemed to be just as big as the New York Public Library. Books literally flew off the shelves and around the room at moderate speeds, some floating in the air. Furniture, globes, and other educational knick-knacks were scattered about. Lamps and circular chandeliers gave off the same eerie green light as the torches in the mirror chamber. There was a large part of the space designated for studying, with desks and long tables lying around. It was perfect.
Cassandra smirked, "Well guys, let's get started."
I know the plot is moving slower than a divorce trial, but bear with it, please. There is a actual plot here, but I need to build up to it. I was originally going to try and cram the whole prologue of the game into three chapters, but clearly that ain't happening. Also, yes I gave the dark mirror a name. It just felt like such a interesting plot thread. Henrik might become a bit more significant later, so look out for that. hope you all like this one (despite the fact it is probably boring). So long and good night, Thackery Binx