The Court of Thorns.
I havenโt played Twisted Wonderland since it isnโt available in my region, so characterizations may be OOC. This oneshot is purely for fun please donโt think too hard about accuracy. (gave up on coloring midway)
One night, (Name) finds themselves lost in a dreamlike fragment of Twisted Wonderland an otherworldly, exaggerated Wonderland within the world they already know. Guided by strange whispers, they stumble into a surreal โtrialโ overseen by bizarre versions of the NRC dorm leaders. The question at the heart of the trial: Is (Name) truly meant to stay in this world, or are they merely an intruder who upset the balance?
The first thing you noticed was the scent of roses. Too sweet, cloying, almost suffocating.
You sat up and blinked, but the familiar walls of Ramshackle were gone. Instead, a sprawling field stretched around you roses taller than trees, their vines curling and tangling into arches that blocked out the sky. Thorns shimmered with moonlight, and when you reached out, the petals burned cold against your fingertips.
โAnother stray,โ a voice whispered, but it didnโt come from a throat. It rippled through the roses themselves.
You turned and nearly stumbled back.
A mirror stood in the clearing. It was cracked, edges bristling with briars, yet its surface pulsed like water. Your reflection wavered, melting into someone else,no, not someone else. A dozen someones. Dorm leaders, their gazes sharp as knives, their mouths moving in unison.
โThe Court is convened. The trial begins.โ
Your chest tightened. Trial? For what?
The world folded like paper. In an instant you were seated at the center of a throne room made entirely of card suits spades and diamonds stitched into banners, hearts carved into marble, clubs twisting like skeletal chandeliers.
Around you sat the dorm leaders, though not as you knew them. Each was dressed in attire more storybook grotesque than reality allowed:
Riddle in a crown of glass roses, his robe dripping with thorns that cut his own hands as he gripped a gavel.
Leona draped lazily over a throne of bones, a lionโs tail coiled like a whip at his side, his smirk feral.
Azul behind a desk of coral and contracts, quills fluttering like sea-birds ready to stab.
Kalim glittering with jewels too heavy for his frame, smiling but hollow eyed, as though his laughter were forced.
Vil wrapped in a cape of peacock feathers, eyes cold, lips stained like crushed berries.
Idia a wisp of ghostly flame, shackled by silver chains that clinked whenever he twitched.
Malleus cloaked in shadows so tall they devoured the ceiling, eyes burning like green lanterns.
You swallowed. Their gazes pinned you as surely as thorns.
โ(Name),โ Riddleโs voice cut like a blade. โYou stand accused of trespass. Entering this world uninvited. Disturbing its fragile order. How do you plead?โ
You opened your mouth, but your voice didnโt seem to reach the air. The roses whispered louder, drowning you.
Leona chuckled. โLook at them. A kitten dropped in the middle of a pride. They wonโt last. Not in this world.โ
Azul adjusted his spectacles, though his grin was sharp enough to cut glass. โYet theyโve managed, havenโt they? Gathering allies, stumbling through disasters. Some would call itโฆ lucrative.โ
โSome would call it fate!โ Kalim chimed, though his smile faltered when Jamilโs shadow rose behind him like a cobra.
Vilโs lip curled. โFate? Hardly. An eyesore plucked from nowhere. If they remain, they must prove they can becomeโฆ beautiful. Otherwise..โ He raised a hand, feathers trembling. โThey will poison the garden.โ
Idia muttered something, sparks hissing from his hair. โItโs just likeโฆ some bugged NPC. Dropped into the wrong code. Error on the worldโs part. Theyโllโฆ theyโll break everything if they stay too long.โ
The shadows around Malleus pulsed, his gaze heavy with something unreadable. โOr perhaps,โ he rumbled, โthey were meant to come here. To turn the key in a lock none of us could open.โ
The court erupted into overlapping voices, each louder than the last, until the sound was unbearable.
โGuilty!โ
โInnocent!โ
โUseful!โ
โDangerous!โ
The words wrapped around you, suffocating.
The mirror appeared again, floating in the center of the chamber. Its surface flickered, showing two visions:
On one side, Ramshackle Dorm your home here. Dusty, drafty, but filled with faint laughter, with friends who stumbled into chaos with you.
On the other, a blurred shape you couldnโt quite see. But you knew what it was. Your world. The one you came from.
Riddle slammed his gavel. โChoose. Stay, and forever be bound to Wonderlandโs thorns. Leave, and never return.โ
Your breath hitched. Your heart ached. Every eye in the court burned into you, waiting.
Leonaโs smirk softened, almost pitying.
Azulโs quill hovered, ready to write your decision into eternity.
Kalim leaned forward as though urging you to stay.
Vilโs gaze was sharp, as if daring you to prove him wrong.
Idiaโs flames flickered nervously, unreadable.
And Malleusโฆ Malleus looked at you as though your answer would change everything.
The roses whispered again, curling around your ankles like chains.
โSoโฆ which will you choose, little stray?โ
๐ถ๐๐ ๐ก ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ก๐, ๐ก๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐. ๐โ๐ ๐ถ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐๐ ๐โ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ค๐๐ก๐โ๐๐๐...
โRemain.โ The thorns will claim you, but the garden will bloom.
โDepart.โ The mirror will shatter, and youโll never return.
