"Huh...? Wh-Where am I...?" Those were the first three words that sprung into Madison's mind the moment she regained consciousness. Her eyes were met with darkness as soon as her brain started to function correctly.
As she moved to sit up, both of her forearms suddenly bumped into something solid. "Ouch!" she yelped. Wait, what is this? As Madison moved her hands in front of her, she could feel a smooth touch of... wood. Smooth, solid, and by the sound of it, really thick wood. "Huh? Where am I?" Madison wondered. Then she remembered.
"Oh, yes. I remember now. Those two black horses suddenly came and we..." She was suddenly jolted out of her thoughts when she heard a rattling noise coming from outside the box. It sounded as if someone small was shaking the box's lid. "Huh? What's that noise?" she asked.
"Crap. People are coming. Gotta get a uniform while..." a muffled voice spoke from outside the box. It sounded like a male's voice. "Huh? Who is that? And what does he mean by uniform?" Madison silently wondered.
She then heard the box lid rattle above her as the stranger tried to open the box's lid. "Grrr!! The lid is too heavy." the stranger grunted from the other side. "Time for...my secret move!" Madison raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh? Secret move? What does he—?"
Before she could ponder any further, she heard the person yell out, "Guwaahuuh~~~~ There!" Then suddenly, the box lid was engulfed in blue flames. "F-Fire?!?!" Madison screamed with fear as the box lid immediately flew open.
As the blue flames subsided, Madison saw the box lid crash onto the floor. She then quickly scrambled out of the coffin...and landed face-down on the marble floor. "Ow!" she groaned. As Madison sat up and looked at her surroundings, she saw, much to her complete shock, that she was in a dark room full of floating coffins.
They were large and hexagonal, with glossy ebony black lids and golden keyholes. They looked heavy and large enough for a person to comfortably enter—indeed, they looked like they were specially designed for that purpose.
In the middle of the dimly lit room stood a fountain, spouting green transparent water while a large round mirror floated at the far end of the room. Up above her, an elegant black chandelier hung on the ceiling. Pearls and dangling crystals strung from the chandelier to the buttresses on either side of the ceiling.
"Oh, my! What is this place?!" Madison gasped in awe as she looked around the room. Her sky-blue eyes widened at the sight of the floating coffins around her, then she turned her gaze to the box that she was previously in.
It was not a box, but a coffin. No wonder the lid was heavy, she had been sleeping inside a coffin! Poor Madison shivered fearfully, feeling like she was going to faint. She then heard a voice speak beside her. "Ok, ok. Gotta get..." As she turned to face the owner of the voice, Madison gasped in shock.
She saw a small cat-like creature with smoky gray fur and large cobalt eyes standing right next to her. Bright blue flames glowed and flickered inside his ears, the same color as his eyes. Around his neck was a white ribbon with black stripes. He was standing on two paws and had a pitchfork-like shape at the tip of his tail.
The cat creature turned his attention towards Madison and his eyes went wide with shock. "Whaaaaaaa!!!!" he shrieked in fright. Madison, started by his shriek, screamed back. "Why are you up?!" the cat creature asked in surprise.
"A talking r-raccoon?!" Madison exclaimed, shocked by what she saw. The cat creature glared at Madison, clearly insulted by her remark. "Just who are you calling a raccoon!!!!" he fumed. "I am the Great Grim!" Madison held her head as she tried to process the information. What was happening here? Was she hallucinating?
Their conversation was then cut short by a sudden knock. The knocking came from the other floating coffin next to Madison's. "Hey! Is anyone out there?! Hello?!" Madison suddenly heard a muffled voice say. Her eyes widened. "Anna-chan?! Is that you?!" she said, approaching the coffin. "Are you in there?!"
The knocking stopped. "Madison-chan! Oh, good! We're not buried!" Anna's voice said, relieved. "Get me outta here!" Madison grabbed the coffin lid and pulled at it, trying to pry it open. Fortunately, it wasn't that difficult as Madison managed to open the coffin.
Anna climbed out of the coffin and hopped onto the floor. "You okay, Anna-chan?" Madison asked. "Yeah, I'm okay." Anna replied before she took a look at her surroundings. Her eyes widened with shock. "Whoa! What is this place?! Where the heck are we?" she asked. "I don't know." Madison said. Then she remembered.
"Jodi-chan! Talia-chan! Are they here too?!" she cried, looking over the rest of the floating coffins. "Girls! Where are you?!" At that moment, the girls heard loud knocking and their friends' voices coming from inside two floating coffins nearby.
"Madison-chan, is that you?" Jodi's voice suddenly asked. "Can you please get us out?" Madison and Anna quickly went over to the two coffins their friends were in and quickly got them out. Jodi and Talia both breathed out a sigh of relief as they stepped out of the coffins.
The four girls stood in their spots as they took in their surroundings in awe, amazed by what they were seeing. "Whoa! What is this place?!" Jodi asked. She then turned her attention towards the other girls.
"Whoa! What happened to you girls?!" she exclaimed as she gaped at the clothes they were wearing. "You all look different!" The other girls gazed at Jodi, confused by her question. "Huh? What are you talking abo—?" Anna asked, then she immediately paused when she saw the clothes she and the other girls were wearing.
Much to their surprise, they saw that they were each wearing an ornate black robe. The robes were oddly-shaped, being long and made out of a silky unknown material. The embroidery pattern trailed along the hem of the top half of the robes.
Around the high-neck collar of their robes was also the same gold embroidery. And the inside of the hoods on their shoulders, the belts and the insides of their garments was an elegant deep purple, patterned with a pair of crossed golden keys. On their feet were black heeled boots with purple and gold tips.
This wasn't something to wear in a casual setting. This was for a more formal occasion, judging by how fine the fabric was. But what kind of occasion was this for? "How did we...?!" Jodi muttered. "I don't know, to be honest." Anna replied. "Well, whatever has happened to us, we need to get out of here." Talia said firmly.
"Hey! Don't ignore me!" a voice suddenly said. The girls turned and they all jumped when they saw the cat creature marching towards them. "Whoa! Who...or what...the heck is he?!" Anna asked, gesturing at the cat creature.
"I don't really know." Madison said, shrugging. "You've got a lot of nerve to ignore me when I'm standing in front of you." the cat creature said indignantly. He then eyed the robes Madison was wearing. "You there, human! Hurry and gimme those clothes!" he shouted, pointing at Madison's robes. "Otherwise... I'll roast ya!"
Without warning, Anna suddenly slammed her fist against the cat creature's right cheek, sending him flying halfway across the room and crashing against the wall. His cheek was now red and sore. "Owowowowowow!!!" he cried as he nursed his throbbing cheek, flailing helplessly on the floor. "Hey! What was that for?!"
"If you dare touch her, you're dead meat, you perverted raccoon!" Anna snarled, standing protectively in front of Madison. The cat-like creature shook his head, recovering from Anna's punch. Then he glared at her. "I said I'm not a freaking raccoon!" he snapped angrily.
"Dr-Dreaming about getting roasted by a raccoon, that's a new one!" Madison exclaimed. "Come on! We have to get out of here!" Talia said as she pointed at their only way out: the large doors behind Grim.
With that, the four girls ran past Grim and bolted towards the doors. "Why you—! Stop right there! Hand over your robes now!" the cat creature yelled from behind them. "No!" Madison cried. "Get away from us!!!" As soon as they pushed the doors open, the girls quickly bolted down the dark hallway as fast as they could.
They looked back occasionally to see if the feline-like creature was still chasing them... and much to their surprise, he was still in hot pursuit, dashing behind the girls on all fours. For a little thing like him, he sure was persistent.
The four girls just kept on running through the corridors, opening one door after another to see if there was a way out, and yet, all they could find were more rooms. Eventually, they did manage to find a door that led outside to the courtyard of a medieval castle... and what's more, they finally lost their little pursuer as well.
However, they didn't stop running. Not until they felt like they were completely safe. "Where exactly are we?!" Jodi asked as they continued to run though the courtyard. "I don't really know." Madison replied.
"Girls, I've got a feeling we're not in Japan anymore." Talia said. "Who cares?! Let's just find a way outta here!" Anna said. After running through the empty courtyard, down the stone hallways, past the columns and several statues, the girls finally found refuge within the confines of a huge library.
For good measure, they slammed the door behind them before they all leaned against it, catching their breaths... but as the adrenaline began to subside, the four girls suddenly found themselves weak in the knees.
Their panting soon slowed down into even breaths as they shakily walked into the halls of the library where they saw books floating over their heads. "If this is a dream, I wanna wake up right now. What the heck is going on here?!" Anna exclaimed. Madison opened her mouth to speak before she suddenly gasped in shock.
"Anna-chan, your ears!" she cried as she pointed at Anna. "You suddenly have animal ears! And your hair color has changed, too! What's happened to you?!" Jodi and Talia also stared at Anna in shock. "Huh? What are you talking about, Madison-chan?" Anna asked, bewildered by Madison's sudden remark.
She reached up to touch her ears, only to feel nothing but her hair. She tensed when she didn't feel her human ears anywhere. She moved her hand further up her head to feel something soft and furry stuck on her head.
"Huh?!" she gasped as she pinched the two fluffy objects on her head. She winced in pain. "Oww!" she hissed softly. "And you also have a tail!" Jodi exclaimed, pointing at Anna's bottom. "Wh-What?!" Anna exclaimed as she touched her bottom. Sure enough, she felt a long, thin and furry appendage attached to her tailbone.
She turned and saw that she had a lion's tail. Her eyes widened. "No way! What the—?!" she gasped. Talia saw a little mirror hanging on the library wall. "Um, you might want to take a look at yourself." she said, pointing at the mirror.
Anna cautiously approached the mirror. When she saw her reflection in the mirror, she gasped in utter shock. She saw that she now had fluffy lion ears and her eyes have turned into carnelian red cat-like slits. Her dark hair had now turned into a tawny gold color with a single dark brown strand lying on her forehead.
"Aaaaiiiieee!" Anna shrieked as she backed away in shock. What's happening to her?! How did she turn into this?! Anna pinched her cheek, hoping that she was dreaming... but the sting she felt made her realize that this was definitely real.
"Did you really think you'd get away from my nose? Dumb humans!" a voice suddenly cackled behind them. The four girls all turned their heads to see the cat creature standing in the hallway, glaring at them menacingly. The girls all quickly backed away in fear, but Anna glared at him. "Back off, punk!" she snarled.
The cat creature ignored her. "If you don't wanna get roasted, better hand over—!" He didn't get to finish his sentence as a sudden snap of a whip rang through the air. Before the girls knew what happened next, the cat creature was suddenly struck by a whip. "Bwah?! Ow!" he yelped loudly in pain. "What's with this cord?"
"This is no mere cord. It is a lash of love!" a man's sharp voice said. The girls all looked past the cat creature and were surprised to see a fairly tall, sharply-dressed man walking towards them with a whip and a cane in his hands.
His face was concealed by a black mask resembling a raven's beak. Through his mask, they could see that his eyes were glowing a shiny gold. He had pointed ears and short, wavy black hair. He was dressed in an extravagant three-piece suit with a black ornate cape-like overcoat adorning his shoulders and a top hat upon his head.
Thick black raven feathers curled out from the overcoat's blue collar while the tips of the coat were cut to resemble two bird wings. He wore black gloves on either hand with golden claw rings over each of his fingers.
The cane in his hand had a handle that was shaped like a bird while the bottom half looked like a key. On his belt were three mirrors that had four keys hanging from them by small chains. His top hat had a similar mirror to the ones on his belt, but with a black raven's feather behind it.
His eyes fell upon the four girls and he let out a sigh. "Ah, found you at last. Are you four of the new students?" he asked, addressing the girls formally. "Huh? New students? What do you mean?" Jodi asked curiously. Talia leaned towards Jodi.
"I think he means us. He thinks we're the new students." she whispered in her ear. "Oh, I see." Jodi nodded. "That won't do. You mustn't leave the Gate on your own!" the masked man said sternly as he approached the girls. "Not only that, taking your untamed familiar with you to school is against the regulations."
The girls all glanced at each other in bafflement, trying to make sense of what he was talking about. Then they realized what he meant by the word "familiar". "Um, sir. He's not—" Madison started to say. "Let me go! I'm not their freakin' familiar!" the cat creature cut her off as he squirmed in the masked man's grasp.
"Sure, sure. That's what all the rebellious ones say." the masked stranger said dismissively as he unceremoniously covered the creature's mouth with a small black rag. "Just quiet down for a moment."
"Mmmghmmmm!" the cat creature mumbled, obviously not happy of having his mouth shut. The masked man then looked back at the four girls. "Honestly, young men, you could have at least tamed this familiar of yours before you brought him with you, whichever one he belongs to!" he said in a stern tone.
The four girls all looked at the masked stranger with bewildered looks. Young...men? Was he referring to them? "Um... e-excuse me, sir?" Madison asked as she stood up. "We're not actually boys."
She then pulled down her hood, revealing her long, honey-colored locks framing her pretty, angelic face. Anna, Jodi and Talia did the same as they revealed their faces to the stranger. The masked man gasped in shock when he saw their faces. Even the cat creature spat out the rag as he gawked at the four girls.
"Holy crap!!" the cat creature cried. "You're all girls!" Even the masked stranger gaped at them with utter surprise. "My word!" the man exclaimed. "You... You're not boys, you're all girls!" he exclaimed.
"Well, duh. We are girls. What's there to be surprised about? Never seen a girl before?" Anna asked, a teasing smirk on her face. "Unbelievable... This has never happened before...!" the masked man whispered in surprise. He then shrugged his shoulders dismissively.
"Well, no matter. First time for everything, I suppose." He then continued on his way. "Even though we've never had a single female student at this school before, let alone four, the Dark Mirror has chosen you. I suppose I could make an exception, even though it's quite unheard of for some girls to attend an all-boys school."
The four girls stared at the masked man, not believing what they've just heard. "Wait...what?!" Anna asked. "Did you just say all-boys—" But the masked man continued to chatter, ignoring her.
"My goodness. It's unprecedented for a new student to leave the Gate on their own, let alone four to be young ladies." he said before he turned to face the girls. "Uuuggh...How impatient can you be? The entrance ceremony is already well under way. Come, come, come! Let's head to the Hall of Mirrors."
Then Anna spoke up, snapping him out of his ramblings. "Hey, will you wait just a minute?! What do you mean by 'Gate'?" she asked. "And what is the Hall of Mirrors?" Madison added curiously. "It's the room you woke up in with all of the doors." the masked man explained as he turned to face the girls.
"All students admitted to this academy must pass through one of those doors to arrive here. Normally, students wake up only after the door is opened with a special key, but..." Anna then held her hand up to have him stop. "Hold it! So those coffins were actually doors?" she asked incredulously.
As the girls put two-and-two together, they all shuddered uneasily. "Just what kind of place is this where a coffin is considered a gate?! That's just super creepy!" Anna thought. Madison then put a finger to her chin as she remembered something.
"Oh, now that you've mentioned it..." she said, remembering how the cat creature opened her coffin. "The fire must have blown the lid off mine." The masked man turned towards the cat creature in his hand.
"So in the end, the culprit appears to be this familiar." he muttered. He then turned towards the four girls with a strict look on his masked face. "Now, young ladies, I understand you're the first four female students here, but that's no excuse for not controlling your familiar!" he said sternly.
"If you're going to bring it with you, you have to take responsibility and properly take care of it. That will be the first thing on your to-do list if you all wish to be excellent mages!"
He then took an ornate golden pocket watch on a delicate chain out from his pocket and checked the time. "But, sir, he's not our—!" Anna exasperatedly said before she was once again interrupted by him. "...Oh my! Now isn't the time to be long-winded." the masked man said as he looked at the time on his watch.
"The entrance ceremony will soon come to a close. Let's get a move on." He then gently grabbed Madison's wrist and began to drag her off down the hallway while also carrying Grim with his other arm. "Will you stop, please?!" Madison then yelled.
The masked man paused in his tracks and turned to face her. "I don't wish to take up your time, sir, but..." Madison said, trying to be as polite as possible. "Where exactly are we? What is this place? Just who exactly are you?" Finally, she was able to ask the questions she had been wanting to ask since they've arrived.
The masked man blinked blankly at her. "What's this? Are you still dazed?" he asked. "It appears the teleportation magic has left you disoriented..." He then shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, no matter. It happens often enough." He then started to walk down the hallway. "Come along now."
The girls all glanced at each other, unsure of what to say or do. Then they all decided to just go along with whatever came their way and follow the masked man. "I shall give you an explanation as we make our way there. For I am gracious." the masked man said in a slightly overdramatic tone as they left the library.
Soon, the five of them were outside in the courtyard as the man continued to lead the girls along the stone path. He then cleared his throat. "This is 'Night Raven College'." the masked stranger said in a proud manner.
"Budding mages blessed with unprecedented talent gather from all over the world here at the most prestigious magical academy in Twisted Wonderland. And I'm the board chairman-appointed headmaster in charge of looking after this college, Dire Crowley." He then made a gentlemanly bow towards the girls.
The four girls took a moment to digest the information that the masked man, calling himself Crowley, explained to them. Mages? Magic? Wonderland? None of the girls believed it at first. Those types of things can only exist in fairytale books. This has got to be some kind of strange dream they're all having.
"Ma...Mage?" Jodi asked. "Night... Colle...?" As they were unsure of how to get out of this strange place and get back to their own world, they all decided to play along with the situation at hand until they wake up from all this.
Crowley noticed that the girls were having a hard time understanding all of this. "Only those mages deemed worthy by the Dark Mirror can attend this school." he explained. Those words then shook the girls to their cores. A mirror? More specifically, a dark mirror.
That's when they remembered the dark room and the large ornate mirror in their dream. Was that the Dark Mirror he meant? No, that couldn't be. Either that was true, or this dream was just meddling with their memories.
"An Ebony Carriage carrying a Gate should have gone to meet you as well." Crowley continued. "Carriage?" Talia asked. As the girls pondered his words, a chilling thought suddenly crossed their minds. They could clearly remember those images in the mirror.
The eight jet-black horses pulling the ornate glass carriages with coffins in them on the dirt path. "I think I remember a horse with a terrifying face..." Jodi muttered nervously. "Me too." Madison said. "Same here." Talia added.
"The Ebony Carriage goes to welcome new students chosen by the Dark Mirror." Crowley continued, ignoring their nervous expressions. "They are special carriages that carry the Doors to the academy. Carriages are the vehicle of choice used for special occasions."
"Is that not what conventional wisdom has dictated since the days of yore?" Anna then grabbed Crowley's coat. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute! So you're saying those carriages just brought us here on their own?" she asked incredulously, getting his attention. "And... we're the only girls here?"
Without hesitating, Crowley just firmly nodded his head. "Why, yes, young ladies. You can be the only exceptions here. Night Raven College is an all-boys school, after all." he calmly said, emphasizing the word "boy". "We don't have the facilities to accommodate female students, I'm afraid."
Anna then facepalmed and sighed. "Oh, boy. I can't believe this." she groaned. "Well, surely being here can't be all that bad. Maybe the boys here are really kind and friendly...I hope." Madison said hopefully.
"Muggmm! Muggghh!!" the cat creature shouted through his sealed lips as he squirmed in Crowley's clutch. But Crowley didn't pay much attention to him. "Come. Let's go to the entrance ceremony." he said as he started to walk down the hallway, leading the girls back to the Mirror Chamber.