"Ow...." You let out a small groan of pain, sitting up from where you landed.
Looking down in your lap, Grim was laying stunned on the mess of layers the bottom of your robes had become.
Other than how out of it he looked, he seemed ok.
Letting out a small sigh of relief, you shakily stood up, your shoulder throbbing from the impact. Hopefully you didn't break anything, you don't have your mother's spell books here so it won't be an easy fix if you have.
Cradling Grim in your arms, you position him so his head is able to rest comfortably against your breasts, while the collar pressed against the small gap in your arms and dug uncomfortably into your inframammary fold. Well, that's what your mother referred to it as the one time you questioned her what the area was called, but it's literally just the space that's right beneath your breast.
You know he'd snap out of his stunned state soon enough, but you still couldn't help but worry about how he might react.
A rhythmic sound of clicking starts up behind you, slowly growing louder as it gets closer.
You turn around to see Riddle come to a halt a few paces away from where you stand, a furrowed brow and frown evident on his face.
"Is this your familiar?" He questions, gesturing towards Grim who still remains curled up against your chest. You could feel something slightly wet through the layers of your robes, so it was probably tears from his magic being revoked unless he had a wet nose, since some animals do.
You don't answer his question, biting you lip and turning your head away from him. Crowley had asked that question earlier and it wasn't true, but Grim might get hurt if you said he wasn't.
Why is this so hard to decide what to do??
At your silence, Riddle crosses his arms, his eyes narrowing at you. "If this is your familiar than you'd best hope you aren't in Heartslabyul, as you've broken Rule 23 of the Law's Queen of Hearts: 'One shall never bring a cat to a festival.'"
Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion as you looked back to him, blinking a couple of times to process what he'd said.
His eyes flicker over your face, seemingly trying to figure out if you were going to say anything.
"...So, I guess this isn't a dream." You turn your head towards the voice, distracted from what was happening with Riddle, of whom also turned to see who spoke.
It was the boy who'd been shoved into one of the benches...
"Magic..." He's quieter now, as one hand comes to cradle his elbow, the one he hit on the side of the bench. "I can't believe it really exists..."
Seems like he's having a bit of an existential crisis...a bit like the one you went through too...just...a little different in how it works...
You could almost sense how tense Riddle became from where he was stood, yet he was gone in almost an instead.
The rhythmic noise of shoes hitting the grounds starts up again, much quicker this time around.
Looks like you can figure out tell-tale signs of who's where from their walking patterns.
He stops straight in front of the not-robed boy, whipping out the gemmed stick from its holster once more. He shoves it straight in the boy's face, barely a hand's length away from touching his nose.
"How dare you insult me like you did!" Riddle stated, almost yelling from how much his voice spread throughout the whole room. "That is tantamount..." Riddle looked down his nose at him, since the boy was still seated on the ground.
"...To insulting the Queen of Hearts herself!!" The boy seemed shocked, and Crowley was doing absolutely nothing to calm down the situation. Seemingly still in a state of shock from you yanking Grim out of his arms, whom is still cuddled up against your chest. He hasn't moved an inch...
Wait, who even is the Queen of Hearts??
"It is a horrible crime!"
You glance around, trying to see if anybody looks like they're going in to stop whatever might be about to happen. Crowley is stood there, his feathers all ruffled. The orange-haired boy and Trey are stood off to the side, seemingly panicking.
"Ergo... You will lose your head!"
Riddle should hopefully be meaning what he did to Grim and NOT actually losing his head, but it's always possible he meant otherwise.
"Understand?!"
You were about to step up and intervene with what was going on, but someone started quietly laughing. You turned to look at who the owner of the voice was, only to see 4 other robed figures all seated together at the front of the room. It was honestly surprising you could hear their voice from how far back you were, but it could honestly just be the echo of the chamber.
"Heh heh... Mr Rosehearts's magic never fails to amaze me." Their voice was smooth, but you couldn't see who the owner of the voice was since you could just see the back of the people's robes.
""Off with your head." A unique spell that places a magical collar around an opponent's neck, thus completely shutting off their magical power..."
You froze from where you had been slowly inching closer towards the bench to try and see who it was speaking.
That's.... Honestly a little scary....
.....It might just kill you....
You quickly shake your head as a shiver runs down your spine, silently scolding yourself for even thinking such a thing. You're made of dark magic. It's literally your life source, flowing through your gold blood at all times.
"And to be able to activate such an advanced spell with such a short incantation... There aren't many mages of his calibre, even at this prestigious academy."
The voice stopped speaking as one of the fingers moved their hand up to their own face, adjusting something you couldn't see.
The figure beside the one that just moved their hand leaned back, hands behind their head as they rested back against the back of the bench.
"Ha! We're lucky the little red-headed boy is such a hard worker!" A different voice piped up, this one a little more gruff but a lot deeper. It most likely belonged to the one who'd just leaned back.
Wait... That one has two weird little pokey things at the top of their head, beneath the hood. What are those....?
"His magic really is incredible." A different voice piped up, this one much more cheerful and higher pitched than the last, sounding closer to the first person who spoke's voice. However, one of the robed figure's leaned forward, resting their arms against the railing that blocked off the middle of the room with the floating coffins surrounding it. That voice probably belonged to that one too.
That left two on who could've been the original speaker, but both were sat straight backed with the shorter one between them. There was a head's difference in height between the two though...
The straight backed one to the left of the one who'd leaned forward brought one hand, most likely to sit beneath their chin.
"Well, didn't he steal the spotlight?" A new voice chimed, it was elegant and rather beautiful. Perhaps its owner was that one, the one whom rested a hand beneath their chin.
That'd make the owner of the original voice the other straight backed one. Huh, it was actually easy to figure out who's voice belonged to what person...
You continue to slowly make your way towards the group of seated people, hoping to at least see each of their faces so you can recognize them later on.
"I don't like the way he loses his temper...."
You froze at the new voice, looking around near the seated group to see who would've spoken. There was only those 4 there, so why was there a fifth voice...?
"It'd be best to keep staying away from him..."
This was so confusing, where did the gloomy voice come from and where's it's owner?!
Wait, wasn't that boy about to be collared like Grim...?!
You quickly spun back around, making sure you didn't jar Grim who seemed to have fallen asleep, as well as avoiding jabbing the collar around his neck into the space below your breasts.
There were sparkles falling from the gemmed stick Riddle had pointed at the boy's face as the gem began to glow.
You were just about ready to run forward and do something to stop this before someone beat you too it. That someone not being Crowley, since he was still stood there with his feathers all ruffled from the shock that still affected him.
"Hold on a sec, Riddle!"
That voice was familiar....
You turn your head away from Riddle, who's head turned to look over his shoulder as the glow in the gem faded down.
"Trey. Cater." He acknowledged towards the two whom were approaching him.
You already had figured out Trey's name from the ginger having said it earlier. Poor boy, getting named after a cooking utensil...
So, that'd make the other 'Cater' according to what Riddle had said.
Wait, their hoods are down... You could fully see the two's faces now, and how anxious they looked, even with the smile Cater has on his face.
Trey's hair was really short, but it was rather messy, in a sort of spikey looking way. Cater's however, was almost shoulder-length, but almost the whole front of it was tied away from his face, save for two strands.
How did he tie it up?? You've seen others with their hair tied up but never figured out how before...
"Why don't we just calm down and hear what he has to say?" Trey suggested, trying to deescalate the situation.
"Calm down?" Riddle's voice was soft before suddenly raising in pitch, becoming a yell that made you jump. "You can't expect me to be calm when he is ruining our orientation!"
Riddle's body whipped to the side to face Trey as he flinched slightly, yet he kept his gemmed stick pointed at the boy still on the ground. "This is a serious violation of the rules!"
"That's true but..." You can see Trey's eyebrows furrow as his jaw tenses slightly before he steps slightly in front of the boy, shielding him from Riddle's pen point with his hand.
"He only just got here today. So of course he doesn't know school rules, right?" Riddle opens his mouth to answer back to Trey, his eyebrows furrowing.
"Right!" Cater cuts in, crouching down beside the guy on the ground as he places a hand on his shoulder. "And we were thinking, since it's his first day and all, maybe we can let it slide this time?" Cater suggested, to which Riddle's eyes narrowed at him.
Cater patted the boy's shoulder, giving Riddle a seemingly anxious smile in hopes of convincing him.
"Stop." The boy's head turned se he could look at Cater, his expression holding the most neutral look you've ever seen. "It's not my first day. I can't use magic, so I'm not enrolling."
Cater flinched at his words, slightly panicking as Riddle frowned. "Come on! This is where you're supposed to just play along!" He whisper-yelled, although, you easily heard it, so it wasn't as quiet as what seemed to be intended.
"Are you still prattling on with that nonsense?" Riddle questioned the boy, giving him a harsh glare. "The coach would never take on a passenger who can't use magic..."
"The boy speaks truth."
Your head whipped towards where the familiar voice came from, the colour draining from your face as you watched as green flames began to form in the giant mirror at the centre of the room.
The flames were quickly followed by the mask face, at which you instinctively clutched Grim closer to your body, ignoring as the edges of the collar dug into your body. You couldn't stop your eyes from narrowing at the face, having to hold back a surge of fear but also one of anger.
It took you away from your home, which you had run from but that doesn't matter. It brought you to a place full of people, who can use magic so you might belong here. It made you meet Grim, who almost killed you but seems like he'll be future company...
You click your tongue as you glare at it, not liking that there were more benefits to having been whisked away by it than you would've liked.
"There's a face in the mirror...!" The boy stated, as if nobody else in the room could see it, when practically everybody turned their heads in shock to look at it.
"The Dark Mirror..." Trey started, too shocked to finish his sentence, so Cater finished it for him. "It's responding...?"
Putting his gemmed stick back in it's holster on his fabric belt, Riddle placed a hand on his hip and turned towards the Dark Mirror, while still keeping himself facing the boy.
"What are you saying?" The question was short and precise, something you began to notice as a constant in Riddle's speech.
"In him I sense no magic ability. In his hue...and in his form..."
Your gaze turned towards the boy, who stared at the mask face with a blank expression as he stood up. A few others were looking at him too, but you didn't pay much mind to that.
"Emptiness is all I see." The Dark Mirror finished, before going silent as the room entered a state of solemness, the only sound breaking it was the crackling of the green flames reflected in the mirror.
"I've never heard of a student who can't use magic." Riddle stated simply, still keeping his eyes on the Dark Mirror as he doesn't even look towards the boy.
"I told you." The boy started, gaining Cater's attention on him now standing, so he quickly removed his hand from his shoulder and stopped crouching.
"I'm just a normal high school kid." He finished, not looking at Riddle either as he kept his gaze on the face in the Dark Mirror.
Curious as to why they were all still looking at that stupid mirror, you turned back to look at it, only to make eye contact with the empty eye sockets of the mask. You jump slightly, before narrowing your eyes at it, clutching Grim a little tighter to your body as he remained in a state of silence. He probably is asleep.
The face's eye sockets widened slightly before narrowing back in turn to yours, the green flames crackling a little louder now.
"You..."
You raise an eyebrow at the word, lifting a hand to point at yourself in confusion. "Me?"
"Thou's soul is tainted...impure..."
You narrow your eyes at the face again, glaring at it for the rude comments. Yet, you remained oblivious to the turn of heads from the rest of the occupants in the room.
"...It is corrupted...broken..."
Your head tilts to the side in confusion. You weren't born in a normal way, so maybe it can tell you're born from magic?
"...Thou are an empty shell, holding only dark powers..."
Well, ow, that's kinda rude.
"...The nature of thy's soul is unclear. They belong to no dorm."
Eh? What does that mean? And what's a dorm...?