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For me. For them. For you. We are all running out of time. No matter what, never let go of my hand.
***
“I hate Pre-Calc.”
Kaitlyn jumped in her seat as her best friend, Kate, slammed her textbook down on her desk and sat down. “I would give anything to never go back.”
“At least we’re almost done for the day,” Kaitlyn supplied unhelpfully.
“Yay…” Kate muttered sarcastically.
Luckily for the two friends, time went by quickly, and they were soon outside, waiting for the crowd to die down. Unable to take the silence any longer, Kaitlyn opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by a scream, soon followed by the sound of hooves.
“What the-?”
Kate was cut off by a large black carriage barreling towards them, the other students near her and Kaitlyn fleeing. Letting out a scream, Kate tried to push Kaitlyn out of the way of the oncoming carriage. The last thing she heard was Kaitlyn screaming her name as everything went black.
***
Letting out a groan, Kate tried to sit up, but was pushed back by something on her stomach. Blinking into the darkness that surrounded her, she patted whatever was laying there.
“Why the fuck are you patting my head like a dog?” Kaitlyn’s voice was soon heard, Kate sighing in relief.
“Good to know you didn’t get run over,” Kate said, feeling around in the darkness. “Can you get off of me? I’m trying to figure out where we are.”
“I think I feel a door,” Kaitlyn said, shuffling so she was no longer on her friend. “It seems stuck.”
“Then push against it to open it.”
“With these noodle arms? Bitch, please.”
“Move it, then. Or, you can help. On the count of three, ram into the door. Got it?”
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
“Okay. One. Two. Three!”
The two girls rammed into what they assumed was a door, proving their theory right as they tumbled into a large open room with floating mirrors and cloaked figures.
“Uhh…did we just end up in a cult?” Kate whispered as she hurriedly stood, dragging Kaitlyn up with her. “Are we going to be sacrificed to the gods?”
“Finally,” Kaitlyn whispered, letting out a small “ow” when Kate smacked her arm. She held up her hands and tried to smile. “We come in peace?”
The figures began to whisper to each other as a man with a crow mask made his way towards them. Kate immediately moved in front of her friend, an uneasy feeling washing over her as the man approached.
“I’m surprised that the black carriage brought you two here,” he spoke, ignoring Kate’s glare. “Two students in a coffin, and both girls no less! That is most unusual.”
“‘Coffin’?” Kailtyn repeated, looking behind her and letting out a little yelp as she did. “Kate, look!”
Kate did, and was surprised to see a floating coffin behind them, the door completely flung off its hinges. She turned back to the bird man and opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by the sound of glass shattering. Taking Kaitlyn by the arm, she dragged her friend out of sight as a small, black cat creature with blue flaming ears crashed into the area. The room erupted into chaos as it began talking about wanting to be a servant and setting everything on fire. The cloaked figures were running around and screaming while the bird man was trying to calm everyone down, and failing miserably. Some of the cloaked figures were pointing pens at the creature, yelling and cursing at the creature as different elements attacked it.
“What the hell is going on?” Kaitlyn whispered, looking up at her friend.
“I don’t know,” Kate replied, eyes wide as she surveyed the scene before her. “But we’re going to find out.”
***
“Now that that’s taken care of,” the bird man began as the creature was dragged out of the room, a heart shaped collar on its neck. He turned to where Kate and Kaitlyn were hiding and pointed at them. “You two. Come here.”
Giving each other a glance, the friends did as they were told and approached the man. He gave them a look before suddenly turning to the large mirror behind him. A green mask appeared in said mirror, giving the two friends a once over.
“Dark Mirror,” the man said. “Surely, this must be a mistake. Girls in Night Raven College? Preposterous!”
“Wow, sexist much?” Kate asked, folding her arms.
“No, this is not a mistake, Headmage Crowley,” the mirror replied. “These two girls were brought here by the black carriage. However, it is unusual, considering it’s an all boy’s school. On top of that, I do not sense any magic in them.”
“No magic?” the bird man, Crowley, muttered in surprise, facing the two friends again. “You two. What country did you come from?”
“The United States of America,” Kaitlyn replied. “Why?”
A puzzled look came over Crowley’s face before he turned back to the mirror.
“I’ve never heard of such a place,” he hummed. “Dark Mirror. Can you send them back?”
“I have never heard of this place as well,” the mirror replied. “Unfortunately, I can not send them back.”
“What?!?” Kate screeched, balling her hands into fists. “You’re the ones that brought us here in the first place! Take us back right now or I’ll-”
“It would do you good to not threaten the Dark Mirror,” Crowley butted in, placing a hand on Kate’s shoulder. “You two will come with me and we’ll figure this out.” He turned to the crowd of cloaked figures that were still milling about uneasily. “Everyone, please disperse to the dorms you were assigned. Housewardens, make sure that everyone is there before heading back.”
“Yes, Headmage!” the figures said before moving towards their respective spots.
Crowley sighed before turning his attention to the friends.
“Let’s go to my office.”
***
“Okay, since we don’t know where you two came from, we can’t send you home,” Crowley began, holding up his hand when the two friends began to object. “However, I will do all I can to find a way home for you two. Meanwhile, you’ll need a place to stay. There’s an old dorm building that hasn’t been used for years on the school’s grounds. It needs fixing up, but I’m sure I can find some people to help with that.” He sighed, a worried look crossing his face. “The other issue here is that this is a magic school, an all boys’ one as the Dark Mirror mentioned before. Two magicless girls attending this school is unheard of, but I just can’t let you two wander around by yourselves. What to do, what to do…”
“We can just chill at the place you mentioned,” Kaitlyn shrugged. “We’ll be out of everyone’s way and then we can go home once you find a way.”
“Yes, but the issue is food,” Crowley hummed. “You will need money for food and supplies.”
“How much do you have?” Kaitlyn asked her friend.
“Forty bucks,” Kate replied. “You?”
“You know my ass is broke.”
“Your money is worthless here,” Crowley frowned. “We use a currency called ‘thaumarks’. I really don’t want to suggest this, but the only way I can think of for you two to get money is to become janitors.”
“What?” Kate asked flatly, narrowing her eyes. “Are you serious?”
“If I find another job, I’ll make sure to get in contact with you,” Crowley said, holding up his hands. “What are your names? I don’t believe I’ve ever asked.”
“Kate,” Kate replied. “This is Kaitlyn.”
“Nice to put some names to some faces,” Crowley smiled a little. “Now, please follow me. Your first assignment will be to wash the statues of the Great Seven.”
“Hooray,” Kate rolled her eyes while Kaitlyn let out a little clap.
“Oh good!” she exclaimed. “Something I’m actually good at!”
Kate eyed her friend wearily as the two of them followed Crowley out of his office.
***
“Don’t these statues look…familiar?” Kaitlyn asked, looking up from the statues that said “King of Beasts”.
“They’re Disney villains,” Kate replied, scrubbing at the statue that said “Queen of Hearts”. “Why they have statues of them here, I have no idea.”
“Now that you mention it, you’re right,” Kaitlyn muttered, looking around at the other statues. “The Queen of Hearts, Scar, Ursula, Jafar, The Evil Queen, Hades, and Maleficent. What is going on?”
“See, I told you our eyes weren’t playing tricks on us, Juice!” a voice suddenly said. “There are girls on this campus!”
“I guess you’re right, Ace,” another voice cut in. “Also, how many times do I have to tell you that my name is ‘Deuce’!?!”
Kate and Kaitlyn turned to see two students staring at them, one with dark blue hair and a spade painted under his eye and one with orangey-red hair with a heart painted under his eye.
“Yo!” the one with the heart gave a wave. “I see the Headmage put you two on janitor duty?”
“He said that it’s a way to gain money while he looks for a way for us to return home,” Kaitlyn replied, stepping down from the step ladder she was on. “Who are you two?”
“I’m Ace,” the boy replied, holding out his hand. “Nice to meet you two lovely ladies.”
Kate let out a snort at this as she climbed down her ladder as well, only to be met with an outstretched hand from the boy with the spade.
“Let me help you down,” he said, a nervous smile on his face. “My name is Deuce, by the way. It was very surprising to see you two tumble out of that coffin.”
“You don’t need to help me down, I’m not a delicate flower,” Kate rolled her eyes but took the hand anyway just to give it a firm handshake. “I’m Kate and that’s Kaitlyn. This was the last place we expected to be after that carriage almost mauled down half the school back in our world.”
“Half of those people deserved to be mauled down,” Kaitlyn butted in, Ace letting out a laugh at this.
“Maybe you two deserve to be here,” he grinned. “Unlike that weasel.”
“Who’re calling a weasel?!?”
The four of them looked up to see the cat creature from before lounging on the statue that said “Queen of Hearts”.
“Aww…look at the kitty…” Kate cooed.
“Kate, it can breathe fire, remember?” Kaitlyn asked.
“I want it even more now!” came the reply.
“No one calls the Great Grim a cat!” the creature declared before turning to Ace. “Or a weasel! Especially not some lowly baby mage!”
“Hey!” Ace huffed. “I bet I’m more powerful than you!”
“Then prove it!”
“Uh oh,” Deuce muttered. “You two might want to step back a bit.”
Kate and Kaitlyn did as was told just as Grim shot a fireball at Ace, the other quickly deflecting it with his pen. Unfortunately, it was redirected to the statue of the Queen of Hearts, setting it ablaze.
“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?” Kate yelled, startling Deuce. “I JUST FINISHED CLEANING THAT!”
“Well, that’s not good,” Kaitlyn stated as Ace and Grim began to panic. “Does anyone have a bucket?”
“Hang on…” Deuce muttered, taking out a pen with a gem on it. “Let me try…”
The two friends flinched back as a stream of water emerged from the pen, dousing the flames. Deuce sighed in relief before turning towards Ace and Grim, who in turn were yelling and trying to attack each other.
“Can you do something about that?” Kate asked, pointing at the others.
“I summon thee…something heavy!” Deuce shouted, pointing his pen at the others.
Suddenly, a large cauldron appeared, trapping Ace and Grim underneath, while simultaneously knocking over the statue that said “King of Beasts”. Kate, Kaitlyn and Deuce winced as the statue fell to the ground, luckily not breaking.
“That could have gone better,” Kaitlyn commented.
“WHAT IN THE GREAT SEVENS IS GOING ON HERE?!?”
The three of them turned to see the Headmage glaring at them, his arms folded.
“We can explain-” Kate began, but was cut off by Crowley holding out his hand.
“I see that the creature from before has returned,” he frowned, his attention turning to the ones trapped under the cauldron. “I commend you for catching him, but to destroy not one, but two statues of the Great Seven while doing so? I know I can’t blame these two as they’re magicless, so this has to be you three’s fault. Names, grades, and dorm. Now.”
“A-Ace Trappola,” Ace answered with a wheeze. “Freshman. Heartslabyul.”
“Deuce Spade,” Deuce replied, shaking a little. “Freshman. Heartslabyul.”
“And I am-”
“Shut it!” Crowley snapped at Grim before pointing his staff at the cauldron.
It disappeared and Ace scrambled to stand next to Deuce while Grim tried to fly away. Crowley just pointed his staff at him and suddenly the creature was paralyzed.
“I could expel you both on the spot,” he said, causing Deuce to freeze up. “However, you two did happen to catch this troublemaker. I will not expel you, only if you do one thing for me.”
“Anything!” Deuce exclaimed, startling Ace. “Please, just don’t expel me!”
“One of the chandeliers in the cafeteria has a mage stone that has run out of magic,” Crowley hummed. “The last I’ve heard of one being spotted was in the Dwarves’ Mines.” He shook his head. “No…that place is far too dangerous for beginning mages like you-”
“We’ll do it!” Deuce stepped in. “Anything to get us from being expelled!”
“Woah there, Deuce!” Ace said, stepping back. “Don’t just volunteer me for stuff like this!”
“Very well,” Crowley said, nodding. “You four, follow me to Ramshackle Dorm. I’ve been meaning to get these two settled anyways. We’ll discuss details there.”
***
“G-Ghosts!” Grim yelled, struggling to get out of Crowley’s grip. “There are ghosts!”
“Holy fuck!” Kaitlyn yelled, hiding behind Kate who was as stiff as a board. “This world has ghosts?!?”
“Ah, right,” Crowley sighed, looking at the said ghosts floating around. “I forgot about them. They’re harmless. I think they’re just excited to see new faces.”
“Damn, this place is a mess,” Ace commented, kicking a broken chair. “How do you expect these two to live here?”
“Preparations have already been taken to get this place fixed up,” Crolwey replied, sitting on a dusty couch. “They should be here tomorrow during school hours. Now, let’s discuss business. Mr. Trappola. Mr. Spade. In order to obtain the magestone, you need to go into the Dwarves’ Mines, but they are extremely dangerous. So, get in and get out as fast as possible. To ensure that you do so, Kate and Kaitlyn will be going with you. As extra protection, I will make Grim go with you as well.”
“I ain’t going!” Grim shouted, folding paws. “You can’t make me!”
“I’ll give you many cans of tuna.”
“Okay, I’ll go!”
“How did you know Grim likes tuna?” Kate asked, raising a brow. “We literally just met him like five minutes ago.”
“Looks like a cat, so I just took a guess,” Crowley shrugged. “Anywho, I would suggest heading over to the mines before it gets too dark. Good luck!”
***
“Ah, yes, this is exactly what I thought I’d be doing after school,” Kate stated sarcastically. “Walking through a creepy forest with my friend, two dudes and a flaming cat monster in another world. Still beats Pre-Calc.”
“We wouldn’t be here if some people didn’t decide to ruin our work,” Kaitlyn said, eyeing the three following them.
“Be thankful I didn’t set you on fire, human!” Grim frowned.
“Wanna go, fuzzball?” Kate asked, glaring at Grim.
“Alright, alright calm down you two,” Deuce said, stepping between them. “We won’t get the magestone if we’re all fighting like this. Ace, are we any closer to the mines?”
“They’re just passed that abandoned house over there,” Ace replied, pushing his way to the front. “Just follow me. Deucey over there could get you lost ~”
“I’m great with directions!” Deuce huffed, shoving Ace aside. “I’ll lead!”
The two began to bicker as they walked past the house, Grim flying behind them as he tried to join the arguments. Kate huffed and began to follow, but was stopped by Kaitlyn lightly hitting her arm.
“Kate, look,” she said, peering into the window. “A long table with seven small chairs. Remind you of something?”
“Okay, this is getting weirder and weirder,” Kate mumbled. “Did we somehow get brought to a world where Disney villains rule?”
“Honestly sounds like your kind of world,” Kaitlyn grinned before following after the others.
“Yeah,” Kate shrugged, following her friend. “It really does.”
***
“Look, I think I found one!”
The others looked up from the mines’ floors and walls to see Kate pointing at a small, blackish stone embedded in the mine wall.
“Yeah, that looks like it!” Ace smiled. “Grab it so we can get out of here!”
“Uh…” Kaitlyn said, pointing at something behind Kate. “Kate?”
“What is it?” Kate asked, tongue sticking out as she tried to remove the stone.
“What is that?!?” Grim shrieked, finally Kate’s attention.
She turned and let out a shriek as a large monster hovered over her. Its head was nothing more than a broken jar with black liquid oozing out of some cracks. It held a pickaxe and it was dressed as a miner.
“My…Stone…” it gurgled. “Mine…Away!”
“Shit!” Kate cursed, scrambling backwards. “Shit! Shit! What the fuck is that?!?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard a girl swear so many times in a few seconds,” Deuce commented, earning a smack on the arm from Ace.
“That’s what’s on your mind now?!?” he asked, picking up a frozen Kaitlyn. “We need to leave. Now!”
Deuce shook himself out of his thoughts as he rushed over and grabbed Kate, throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
“Sorry about the rough handling,” Deuce winced.
“Just run you idiot!”
***
“I think we’re safe for now,” Ace said, letting out a sigh. “I don’t hear that thing at all. Did you manage to get the magestone, Kate?”
“Unfortunately not,” Kate replied with a frown. “Deuce grabbed me before I could grab it.”
“What now?” Deuce asked, putting his head in his hands. “If we can’t get the magestone, then we’ll be expelled! After everything, I’m just going to let my mom down again.”
“Being expelled is way better than dying!” Ace butted in. “I’d say we take our losses and go-”
“NO!” Deuce yelled, punching the wall beside him. “WE NEED THAT MAGESTONE!”
“Deuce, chill dude,” Kaitlyn said, Grim nodding as he rested on her head. “We’ll get that magestone. Somehow. Kate’s the brain of the operations, so I’m sure she’ll come up with something. Kate?”
“Fight it,” Kate said, punching her hand. “You three have magic, so just fight it with that. Grim, make the fire while Ace pushes the fire towards that sin against nature and Deuce crushes it with a cauldron. Easy.”
“How is that easy?” Ace asked incredulously. “What if any of us misses?”
“Just pretend it’s someone you hate,” Kate shrugged. “That way, you won’t miss.”
“I can think of a few people I’d like to drop a cauldron on,” Kaitlyn supplied, eyes gleaming.
“Okay, okay, we’ll do it your way,” Deuce nodded. “I just hope it works.”
***
“I can’t believe that worked,” Deuce blinked as he held the magestone in his hand. “Now we won’t get expelled!”
The creature was trapped beneath the cauldron, gurgling and trying to reach out to the group.
“See?” Kaitlyn said smugly. “I told you Kate comes up with great ideas.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Ace said, dismissively waving his hand. “I guess you’re right. Oi! Loosey-Deucey! Let Kate handle the stone. I don’t trust you to not drop it.”
“‘Loo-Ace, stop calling me those things!” Deuce yelled at him, handing the stone to Kate. “How would you like it if I called you…uh…”
“Called me what?” Ace grinned. “Come on, Deucey, you can’t think of a good comeback?”
“Shut up!”
“Those two sure love to argue with each other,” Grim commented, lazing on Kate’s shoulder. “It’s like they’re made for each other.”
“Old married couple vibes,” Kaitlyn stated, Kate nodding in agreement.
The group had almost made their way out of the mines when a loud growl was heard, followed by a crash. They turned to see the monster lunge at them, only for it to burst into flames.
“I was wondering where you two freshmen ran off to.”
The group turned to see three students standing there, their school uniforms full of red, white and black coloring. The one who spoke, a shorter boy with red hair and a crown glared at Ace and Deuce.
“H-Housewarden Riddle!” Deuce exclaimed, bowing his head. “We can explain!”
“You two broke Rule #304!” the boy, Riddle, yelled, angrily gripping the staff he was carrying. “When a hedgehog sneezes, you must sing to it!”
“...What?” Ace asked, bewildered. “We have to what?”
“I can not believe the Dark Mirror put you two in my dorm,” Riddle sighed, before turning to the other two students with him; one with orange hair and one with glasses. “Cater. Trey. Take them away.”
“Yes, Housewarden,” the two replied.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Deuce yelled as the one with glasses grabbed his arm.
“No waiting, we need to go,” the boy replied.
“But we have to be somewhere!” Ace tried to explain as the one with orange hair grabbed his arm.
“Yup!” the boy replied cheerfully. “You two have to come back to Heartslabyul with us!”
Ignoring the duo’s yelling, Cater and Trey dragged them away. Riddle soon turned his attention onto the others that were left.
“You two,” he began, glaring down at them. “I don’t know what the Headmage was thinking by letting two magicless girls into the school, but remember one thing: if you or anyone else breaks the rules around me, then it’s off with your heads.”
With that, he turned and walked off.
“Eesh, what a guy, huh?” Grim muttered, letting out a huff.
“He probably just doesn’t have enough height to hold all that anger,” Kate commented.
“I know the feeling,” Kaitlyn muttered before giving a huff. “Let’s give that bird man what he wants so those two idiots don’t get expelled.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.”
***
“Well, would you look at that,” Crowley commented, holding up the magestone. “You actually were able to retrieve one. With limited injuries as well.”
“No thanks to that monster,” Kaitlyn shuddered. “There was black goo dripping everywhere.”
“Black…goo?” Crowley hummed, a thought crossing his mind. “That…I haven’t…”
“What’s wrong?” Kate asked.
“No, it’s nothing,” Crowley shook his head. “I’ll have to research more into this. Now, you said that someone named ‘Housewarden Riddle’ dragged Mr. Trappola and Mr. Spade away?”
“Yeah,” Kate nodded. “Something about breaking the rules?”
“Ah, yes. That’s Mr. Rosehearts, Housewarden of Heartslabyul. Those two will get disciplined, but worry not, they won’t be expelled.”
“What about me?” Grim piped up from Kate’s shoulder. “I helped too! Where’s my tuna? That black stone wasn’t filling in the slightest!”
“What black stone?” Kaitlyn asked, turning to look at the creature.
“When the creature was burned to a crisp, it dropped a black stone,” Grim explained, tail swishing. “It smelled so delicious that I just had to eat it!”
“Why the fuck would you eat a stone off the ground like that?” Kate asked in surprise.
“I don’t want to hear that from you, Miss ‘I Used To Eat Grass When I Was Little’,” Kaitlyn chuckled.
“Shut up!”
Crowley cleared his throat to get their attention.
“Anyways, because of your help, I have decided to enroll you three into the school,” Crowley announced, a smile on his face. “The three of you will count as one student since Grim is the only one here with magic. Here is your stone, Grim.”
“I-I did it!” Grim exclaimed, marveling at his new stone and bowtie. “I’m a student!”
“Woah, woah, woah,” Kate said, holding up her hands. “Does that mean we’re going to be going to a school? We’ll be learning about magic?!?”
“Well, you won’t be able to cast any spells, but yes,” Crowley replied. “Making potions, learning the history of magi-are you even listening to me?”
“She stopped paying attention after you said ‘spells’,” Kaitlyn replied, ignoring her friend’s excited shaking. “We don’t have this stuff in our world, so she’s very excited.”
“I can see that,” Crowley chuckled a little. “Now, a few more things. The ghosts have set up a room for you two in the Ramshackle Dorm, but it is still missing a Housewarden. Well, I guess it would be Prefect as you don’t have magic. Who is the most responsible out of the two of you?”
“Kate,” Kaitlyn answered quickly. “Definitely Kate.”
“Very well,” Crowley nodded. “Kate, you are now the Prefect of Ramshackle Dorm. The other things are the uniforms. Each dorm has a specific school and dorm uniform. I can magic you up some, but do you want them to be girl or boy uniforms?”
“I want both of mine to be boys,” Kaitlyn said. “I ain’t wearing a skirt.”
“I’ll do a boys school, and a girl’s dorm,” Kate replied. “What’s the difference in uniforms?”
“The school ones are for regular school days, and the dorm ones are for special events,” Crowley replied, snapping his fingers. “They should be in your closet when you arrive. Now, you three should return to your dorm. It’s getting late and your first day begins tomorrow. Don’t worry, I made sure that you’ll be in the same classes as Mr. Trappola and Mr. Spade. Goodnight, you three.”
“Goodnight, Headmage Crowley.”
***
“What the fuck just happened?” Kate asked as she stared up at the ceiling, the soft pajamas that had magically appeared in one of the drawers keeping her warm.
“Well, we tried to leave school,” Kaitlyn replied, holding up her fingers one by one. “Got kidnapped by a carriage, got brought to a world that is basically villainous Disney World, and now we get to attend a magic school with a talking, flying cat with flaming ears that just fell asleep in the middle of my bed. Honestly, it sounds like your dream world.”
“You’re not wrong,” Kate sighed, closing her eyes. “Maybe, this is a dream, and when we wake up, we’ll be back home.”
“Hmm…” Kaitlyn hummed, looking out the window. Green lights danced outside the window and her eyes widened as she turned towards her friend. “Kate, do you see those lights?”
A light snore answered her, and she sighed before looking out the window again. The lights had disappeared, and she shook her head before shuffling under the covers, careful not to jostle Grim as she closed her eyes.
This is probably all just a dream…