Cassandra sighed as she watched the feathered annoyance leave and looked over her Court as she began to rub her temples. She could already feel a headache coming on. Thankfully, as soon as she started that, Ash reached into his pocket and gave her two tylenol. The tribrid smiled at him in gratitude and swallowed them dry, deciding not to ask where he got it from since they were in a world where it might not even exist.
Turning to face Ace and Deuce with her hands on her hips, Cassandra began to speak.
"Well, we've got less than twenty four hours to steal a magic rock from a dwarf mine. Everyone except Skip is going to be involved in this, no if, ands or buts."
That made Skip pout and made Grim scrunch up his face in anger, both for completely opposite reasons. Cassandra looked at the two children of the group with unamused expressions.
"Don't give me those looks. Skip, this is an abandoned mine shaft that is likely filled with dangerous things that could get you killed. And Grim, the only reason you're going is because you're partially responsible for this and I am taking the matter of your protection onto myself. This is your punishment, unless you would rather sit this one out and spend the next week doing yard work?", Cassandra asked with a raised eyebrow. Grim gulped at the thought of having to work on the massive dorm grounds and shook his head violently at the thought. Cassandra smirked.
"Mhm, thought so. Now, since we need to get that rock as soon as possible, we're going to leave now. Any objections? No? Good.", Cassandra then walked out the double doors, the senior Court members following without question while Ace and Deuce stood in place, staring dumbly at their leader before snapping out of their whiplash and running to catch up with the others.
This was going to be a long night.
—-----------------------------------------------
After bribing Skip with the promise of cooking his favorite meal later in the week, Cassandra managed to convince him to go and tell their teachers they would be absent from their remaining classes due to a 'personal emergency' and told him to return to the dorm as usual afterwards. She also told him to not use the stove without the ghost's help and to be in bed by nine, much to his annoyance.
They now all stood outside the only blank mirror gate in the mirror chamber, its frame just smooth silver. Ace, who said he knew how to use one like this, was beside Cassandra at the front of the group. Loudly and clearly, he began to speak.
"Magic mirror on the wall, take us to the dwarves' mines!"
After he said that, the mirror's glass began to turn blue and swirl. Cassandra blinked, weren't magic mirrors supposed to be activated by limericks or something?
"Shouldn't that have rhymed?", asked Shorter, voicing what seemed to be the entire group's confusion. Ace turned around and deadpanned at them.
"It doesn't have to rhyme so long as it starts with the 'magic mirror' part and ends with where you want to go or what you want to see. We learned this in elementary school.", he said, arms crossed and annoyed. Yue mirrored him and made his way to the front.
"Well excuse us for not knowing everything about a world we literally did not know existed until yesterday.", the pale young vampire said, not having any of it.
Sparks seemed to fly between the two men's connected glares, and Cassandra felt herself become annoyed.
"Enough!", she yelled out, causing both young men to cease their staring match and jump, before looking at the mutual owner of their hearts.
"Both of you, quit it! There's been enough discourse already, and I for one, don't want to be up until 3 AM looking through an abandoned mine for a magic rock! We are getting this done as quickly as possible! So no lip, no arguing, and no physical fighting! Am I clear?!", Cassandra yelled out, her voice demanding nothing other than 'yes ma'am!', which she got. Sighing, the tribrid made her way through the mirror.
Cassandra thought about how she wanted to be doing anything else right now as she felt herself get pulled through the portal. Things would have been so much easier if she had just compelled Crowley, but she knew that would have raised questions she wasn't ready to answer quite yet with Ace and Deuce. And she knew she could have just gotten the money from the treasury and plopped it on the headmaster's desk whether he asked for it or not, but he would likely accuse her of stealing it and that wouldn't change the fact she and the others would still be expelled. There was always the option of waiting until he was alone before compelling him, but even if she got him where she needed him, she didn't know if her compulsion would work. One is luck, twice is coincidence, but she wasn't going to prove the first two times to be just coincidence with such a high-risk target. He could likely try to have her and the others arrested if she failed.
'Not that they would succeed.', Cassandra though, contemplating all the ways she and the others could whoop any police officer's ass without outright killing them as she felt her feet touch the grass ground, and the cool forest air hit her face.
Looking around, Cassandra and Grim, who was still in Cassandra's arms, as well as the rest of the Court, who arrived immediately after the first two, took in their surroundings.
They had arrived by a dirt trail in a dense forest, which went over a brook with a wooden bridge and forked a few meters down. On the left, a small, rundown stone cottage; on the right, a longer trail that presumably led to the mine shaft.
The location looked a lot like...
"Hey! Look over there, it's a house!", said Grim as he squirmed out of Cassandra's arms and flew over to the cottage. Cassandra was about to call him back, when Deuce interrupted her.
"Maybe someone who can help us lives there.", he said, an optimistic expression on his face. Ash looked at him with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.
"Deuce, that cottage looks like it hasn't been lived in for years, if not decades. I highly doubt anyone other than ghosts and raccoons live there."
Deuce's face fell when he heard that, before Ace jumped into the conversation.
"No, Deuce might actually have a point. That house is so small, it's probably a dwarf cottage. The miners probably lived there before the mines dried up, maybe something in there can help us find one of those magic crystals.", Ace finished with a grin.
"Hey, thanks man!", Deuce said in response, grinning as well. Ace walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder.
"No worries; I mean, someone has to make sure you get credit for your monthly good idea!", Ace said, his grin turning devious as he ran towards the cottage cackling, before an irate Deuce could hit him in the head. Deuce then growled and followed after him.
Cassandra shook her head. They made a point, and you know what they say; if you can't beat'em, join'em.
With that in mind, the tribrid followed the other three's lead and made her way over the bridge towards the cottage. The rest of the Court followed suit.
Cassandra maneuvered around Ace and Deuce and opened the rotting wooden front door of the cottage, the rusted hinges of it squeaking under the strain. Everyone had to duck down to get inside, and Griffin, the tallest among them, was inches away from hitting his head on the rafters.
The interior of the cottage was as rundown as the exterior. The only things in it of note were a stone fireplace, the black cauldron within it, a broom, and a wooden table with extremely small chairs that were knocked all over the place. The only other things were a burnt out candle on the table, an extremely small table cloth of some kind that lay under it, and a crap ton of cobwebs. Some of the floorboards had rotted and fallen through, and a very unsturdy looking set of stairs sat in the corner, leading up to a loft of some kind.
In short, the place was a mess, and looked even worse off than the pre-underworld trio remodel version of the ex-ramshackle dorm.
"Look for anything of interest, and watch your step; this place is falling apart at the seams.", Cassandra said, and with that everyone went in different directions in the hopes of finding something useful. Shorter went up stairs, and everyone else stayed on the ground floor. Cassandra picked up the old candle by the tin it rested in and looked over towards a highly focused Deuce who looked like he was trying to decipher some nonexistent writing on the wall.
"So, what's your story?", she asked, breaking him out of his laser focus and causing him to look towards her, eyes wide and blinking in confusion. It was adorable, and Cassandra had to resist the urge to lay him down on the table and do very sinful things to him.
'Later.', she told herself. She didn't want to scare him off. Deuce was the type to be easily embarrassed, it wouldn't do to be overly forward with him. Not yet at least.
"What do you mean?", he asked, tilting his head adorably. Cassandra felt her eyes zero in on his pouty lips. Oh, the things she wanted those lips to do. Cassandra smiled and internally screamed at her libido to calm the fuck down, now is not the time.
"What was your life before the Court like?", the tribrid asked, finally having calmed down after picturing her uncle Elijah in a bikini, which had about the same effect as a cold shower. Her smile turned to a frown as she saw Deuce become visibly uncomfortable.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to.", she said, but Deuce shook his head and looked at her with resolved eyes.
"No, you deserve to know. I-well, I was a delinquent. I skipped school and rode my magic wheel all over the place- oh, that's like a bike with only one big wheel that runs on magic. I picked fights with people who didn't have magic and bleached my hair to hell and back. I was out of control, and I didn't get my act together until I heard my mother on the phone with my grandma. She was crying, saying 'is this my fault? Would it have been better for him to grow up with a father?'. After that, I got my act together, started studying, grew my hair out, and- well, I kept the magic wheel, but I don't ride it as much. When the black carriage came for me with the gate, my mother was so proud. I promised myself I would never make her cry again, and that I would become an honor student, for her sake."
Cassandra blinked.
"Ok then.", she said with an accepting smile, causing Deuce's jaw to drop.
"That's it? That's your reaction?", he asked, surprised at how easily she brushed off his past. Cassandra smirked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Deuce, trust me, you could have done a lot worse things in your past than being a rebellious teenager.", the tribrid said with conviction. Deuce blinked at that.
"So you... you don't think less of me?", he said in wonder. Cassandra looked at him like he was crazy.
"Of course not!", she said.
'If anything, I worry that when I tell you everything, you'll think less of me.'
With that, Deuce felt his expression brighten up and he began to grin widely at his crush's acceptance of him. She had to be the kindest girl he had ever met. Cassandra felt a similar grin overtake her features when she saw his contagious smile.
"If anything, I think it just proves what a good person you are and how much you love your mother.", the redhead said as she took a seat on the edge of the table. The fact it didn't fall apart under her weight surprised her.
Deuce stood closely in front of Cassandra, and the two felt themselves unconsciously lean closer to each other, before they were pulled out of their trance by the sound of Ace's 'ah' of realization.
'Okay, this is the fifth almost kiss I've had today. What higher power did I piss off to the point where I can't even shoot my shot with a beautiful guy that is probably also my mate?', Cassandra thought with frustration as she and Deuce turned to face her other potential mate.
"Well, that would explain why you gave me such a hard time in that fight. Your punches seriously hurt.", the heart marked young man said, feeling his cuts and bruises make themselves known under their wrappings for what hadn't been the first time that day as he groaned a bit in pain.
With Ace now in the conversation, Cassandra took the chance to ask him the same question she asked Deuce, having to violently stomp down the urge to pin him to the wall and do very inappropriate things to him when she heard the groan she should not have thought of as pretty.
'Uncle Elijah in a bikini, uncle Elijah in a bikini, uncle Elijah in a bikini...'
She had to put the image on repeat in her head to calm herself down, thankful for the house's dim lighting and her dark, blush hiding skin tone as she spoke.
"What about you, what's your story, Ace?", Cassandra asked, her face giving away none of her internal struggle. Ace's face gained a rather tired, depressed look when she said this. Cassandra internally winced.
'Hopefully it's only as bad as Deuce's story.'
"Well, I grew up in the Rose Kingdom. My dad is a banker and my mom is a housewife. My older brother who is seven years my senior went to NRC, graduated when I was thirteen and followed in my dad's footsteps; he was in Heartslabyul too. When I was fourteen I got my first and only girlfriend, Vanessa, who was the daughter of my dad's boss. She got me in with her rich people friends, and one year and several bad choices later, she dumped me for some trust fund kid, but not before telling me exactly how worthless I am and leaving me completely friendless due to her and her cronies turning me into an irredeemable asshole. Six months of therapy later, and I still act like a jackass when I really wish I didn't, my self esteem is non-existent, and the only reason I am telling all of you this in front of the rest of the Court is because you people are the only people other than my family I've felt safe emotionally around in over a year!"
Ace's more than slightly unhinged tangent left everyone in the house looking at it with surprise as he struggled to catch his breath. Shorter had even peeked his head down from the loft, and he and everyone else in the room was giving him and each other the 'is he okay?' look. Cassandra felt herself instinctively walk over to the hyperventilating red head and wrap her arms around his shoulders, bringing his head to rest on top of her breasts. After a bit of blushing and some more heavy breathing, Ace finally calmed down.
"Feel better?", Cassandra asked him as she held him, rubbing slow, soothing circles in his back.
"Yes.", he said quietly, and Cassandra slowly removed her arms from around him, taking her time in case he wanted to stop her. When she had separated herself from him, Ace gave everyone in the room a nervous look, wondering what they were going to say about his moment of weakness, and sincerely hoping it wouldn't be ridicule and statements telling him to 'man up and get over it!' like literally every other guy he had told even an iota of this stuff to.
Griffin was the first to walk forward, a sympathetic smile on his face as he gently placed a hand on Ace's shoulder.
"I know how it feels to be betrayed. I served in a war back in my home world, and one of the guys in my regiment used me as a guinea pig for a highly dangerous and experimental hallucinogen that made me shoot, kill and severely injure many of my fellow soldiers. I was left mentally incapacitated by the drug for nearly thirteen years, and only just regained my senses two years ago. I missed a lot of Ash's life growing up, and I wasn't there to protect him when he needed me most. So, I know what it's like to feel used."
Ace looked at the man before him in awe. He had been through hell, and yet from what he had seen of him, he was gentle and kind. Compared to his pain, Ace felt like his problems were trivial. This apparently showed on his face, because Eiji came forward with a stern expression.
"I know that look. Don't you dare think that your problems don't matter in comparison to his. I don't have any tragic backstory, I lived a happy life with my family and still visit them in my home country whenever possible, but I still have my insecurities. I thought that, compared to everyone else's problems, mine didn't matter, but Cassandra taught me otherwise. Everyone deserves to be supported through their tough times, whether it be something as traumatic as war or an anxiety attack.", the brown haired young man said with conviction, surprising those that hadn't come with Cassandra through the mirror. In the short time the Braincell trio had known him, he had been kind and soft spoken like Griffin, but apparently everyone in the Court of Miracles had unwavering determination.
Ace just nodded dumbly at the innocent looking young man's statement, before turning to his right after hearing a resigned and annoyed sigh. The Heartslabyul student was then met with the annoyed face of Yue, who had taken a seat, cross legged, on the table.
"Fine, since we're letting all the skeletons out of the closet, I might as well join in. My mother was killed in front of me when I was six by my six older half brothers, who are now very dead after suffering very much, but not before they forced me to become a 'weapon' for our crime family and made me do things that I really didn't want to do. I didn't get out of it until I was just barely seventeen, when I met Cassandra; and as they say, the rest was history.", the effeminate young man said with a troubled expression, which then turned to pleasantly nostalgic as he fiddled with the end of his long braid.
Ace stared at him in awe, wondering how he was still sane after everything he had been through and how something like that could ever happen to one of the most accepting people he had ever met (albeit skeptical and easily jealous), before snapping himself out of it and looking back at Griffin, who was still in front of him even after removing his hand from his shoulder. Knowing the very prideful Yue, he wouldn't want his pity; not to mention he seemed to be in a much better place now that he was with Cassandra. Ace smiled, it seemed the fellow redhead had the same comforting effect on everyone.
Another person stepped forward; this time it was Ash, who looked pretty neutral for someone who was likely about to lay his trauma out on the table.
"I'm not going into detail, because while Cassandra can trust people very quickly, I've only known you a day, but I will say this. I was hurt in ways a child shouldn't be hurt, made to do things a child shouldn't do, and made a monster that never should have been.", the blonde said this with such solem sureness, it was like he was talking about someone's inevitable death. Cassandra looked at Ash with soft eyes.
"You're no monster.", she said with such soft conviction, Ace didn't know how Ash kept from crying at its genuity. Ace knew he would have begun to.
Ash smiled at Cassandra softly and laughed a bit. He would never think he wasn't a monster, but he could come to see himself as the beast to her beauty. Yue smiled sadly along with him.
"That's our Cassie; she's never met a monster she couldn't love.", the purple eyed young man said with eyes full of adoration, all aimed at the woman he spoke of. In any other situation, Ace might have elbowed him in the ribs for that. Ash laughed at his friend's statement.
"Isn't that the truth.", he said, expression returning to his usual one of easy going good will. Cassandra looked between the two like she wanted to say something more, but seemed to decide against it.
With Ash's confession out of the way, Shorter, who had climbed down the loft steps halfway through it, jumped into the conversation.
"I lived a relatively happy life before the Court too. Sure, my parents died when I was twelve, but I had my older sister Nadia and a ton of friends. Yeah, I've done some things I wished I didn't have to do, but I'm at peace with myself knowing I only did what I had to do. We all are, even if some of us still think less of ourselves from time to time.", Shorter said, finishing his statement with a pointed look towards Ash and Yue, who ignored him. Or maybe he was just looking in their general direction; it was hard to tell with the sunglasses.
Cassandra turned to Ace and Deuce and smiled reassuringly.
"Our point is, we've all got a past, but we've grown from who we once were. We don't care who you used to be, so long as you are and will be the kind of people I want by my side.", the tribrid said as she put her hands on the shoulders of the two human boys, the two's expressions overtaken with awe and love. They wanted to tell her how they felt now more than anything.
There was a comfortable silence for a while. Everyone stopped their searching and took the time to bask in the presence of each other. Grim had taken a seat on one of the small chairs sometime during the conversation in a loaf position, his forked tail dangling and swaying off the edge. He looked at his master with wide eyes after what she had said, and he felt the need to tell her the truth about the chandelier now more than ever. He could see it in the other two's eyes as well the urge to confess, but before anyone could say anything, the familiar spotted the words engraved on the back of the chair.
"Hey, there's something written here.", he said, snapping everyone out of their thoughts. Cassandra walked over to the chair and wiped some dust off the back before reading the engravings aloud.
"Grumpy...", she said, her voice trailing off in contemplation. Suddenly, a surprised look overtook her features, and she looked as if she was going to say something, but she was interrupted.
"Hey, I think I found something!", yelled Shorter, who had returned to the loft to resume his search not too long ago and he peeked his head through the hole in the upstairs floor.
Cassandra and the others looked up at him. The tribrid nodded seriously and crossed her arms, her face adopting a look of seriousness.
"Bring it down.", she said. Shorter nodded and went to retrieve the object before climbing back down the stairs. After the purple haired man reached the table, he unrolled the large piece of paper in his hand, revealing it's contents.
The object in question was a map of the mine's inner tunnels. They twisted and forked and diverted, as expected, but the map was marked with something unusual. At the very end of the longest tunnel, there was an illustration of a cave filled with gems, circled in what was once likely bright purple ink that had faded over time.
"That purple circle must be where the gems are.", said Deuce. Ace nodded in agreement.
"Well, now that we know where we need to go, we can get that stupid rock and get back before dark.", said Ace with a triumphant grin. He then grabbed the map and headed for the door, opening it before stoping in the entry way to look back at his companions.
"Well, aren't you guys coming?", the red haired boy asked with a raised eyebrow, which caused Deuce to snap out of his skepticism at finding the rock being that easy, and head to the door as well. The rest of the Court, however lingered a bit.
"Shorter, what else did you see up in the loft?", Cassandra asked quietly as she picked up Grim and started walking slowly beside her purple haired mate.
"Normal bedroom stuff; nightstands, beds, a desk where I found the map, stuff like that.", he said just as quietly, shrugging. Cassandra frowned.
"How many beds were there?", she asked, knowing that if she was right, this trip might end up being a lot more important than they all thought it would be. Shorter, having caught on as well, looked her in the eye through his sunglasses.
"Seven.", he said clearly. Cassandra huffed out a sigh and started walking even slower. Grim, who was listening to the entire conversation, was confused about what they were talking about, but kept quiet. The two finally left the entryway of the cottage, having stopped dragging their feet when Ace called back impatiently for the second time, leading everyone else out.
"Well, it seems we just stumbled the seven dwarves cottage. Let's just hope this is the only bit of the story we find.", Cassandra said to the senior Court members, leaving them to wonder what she meant, taking one last look back at the cottage before making her way over to a still impatient Ace.
Cassandra felt herself adopt an expression of on-gaurd neutrality. So far, when they found links to the stories, nothing was ever coincidence. The fact that the seven dwarves had left the cottage, and in such disarray, didn't sit well with her. Was the story of Snow White different from what she knew? The dwarf mines had supposedly dried up years ago, but was that really the truth? How had Henrik ended up at NRC after the Evil Queen died? What happened to the seven dwarves after the story ended?
She knew she was probably just tired and paranoid, but she didn't like the fact that she didn't know what happened after 'happily ever after' now that the undocumented events seemed to effecting her life and coming back to bite her in the ass. This whole situation was likely just some conspiracy her head had concocted due to stress. The story of Snow White happened hundreds of years ago. Whatever demons those once-characters had were likely dead and buried with them.
Cassandra plastered a smile on her face as she approached Ace and Deuce.
"Sorry I dragged my feet. Come on, let's go get that rock so we can make it home in time for dinner."
That had the two nodding and pumping their fists in determination and agreement. Cassandra felt her smile become genuine when she saw this, and the smile turned to a laugh when Grim started listing off all the things he wanted to eat once they got back. Her nerves had been put at ease for now, but still...
She couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right.
That happened. Well, everyone had to spill their guts eventually. For you banana fish fans, yes I know I censored Yue and Ash's backstories quite a bit, but they've only known Ace and Deuce a day and, while Cassandra trusts them and has feelings for them (something that makes the two automatically gain quite a bit of their trust), they aren't going to let all the Skeletons out of the closet just yet. After they know about them being vampires and they've known each other for a while, probably, but not yet. Also, why yes, I will be making the dwarf overblot related to Snow White and the Seven Dwarves; so expect a fun little side plot. Next up, ghosts who suck at their job, magic rocks, and ink covered nightmare fuel.
So long and good night, Thackery Binx