[{0}]

The New World Akedeia White woke up in doesn’t have many can hurt him.

And yet, everything hurts.

With a groggy groan, Akedeia struggles to open his eyes, a familiar heaviness rests on his eyes.

His whole body feels like he just slept under debris. Again (yes, it has happened before). And his head is killing him! It's been a long while since he had a headache but he sure does not miss the feeling. He thought he’d stopped getting those when he finally got Goldie on the throne.

He squints, blinking in confusion at the darkness, having a hard time remembering the last thing that happened. 'Uugh... everything is blurry... there was a carriage coming to the house... And then what happened?'

Shifting around, he still feels all of his clothes and shoes on him. Did he fall asleep without changing again?

"I really need to stop doing that..." He mumbles to himself, reaching up to hold his head. But his hand bumps into something. The fuzziness clears up enough to realize that he is in fact, not in his bed, but a box. A small, enclosed wooden box, based on the smell. A small… padded… enclosed box.

"... A coffin?" He feels around the side, feeling it slope down. Yup. Definitely a coffin.

He deadpans. 'Isn't it supposed to be the morgue first before the burial? Why am I in a coffin already? Though I suppose going to a morgue first would be a worse situation to wake up in...'

Thankfully, it's just made out of normal wood and isn't heavily enchanted, so he can just break out if he wants. He sighs, laying back down on the, surprisingly, comfortable coffin, trying not to move his head too much.

"Well, hey... at least they put me in a coffin this time..." he mutters, grimacing at the memory of waking up to dirt being shoveled to his face.

He tries to think on who could've put him in it, but all he could come up with are some enemies who he knows for a fact wouldn't even have the guts to try. Well... A couple of them would be stupid enough to do so he supposed.

'... Well okay, but which one would it be?'

Preoccupied with theorizing on which enemy of his has the least amount of braincells to try him, he couldn't hear the voice outside of the coffin.

Then the coffin rattles.

"MMrggghhkkk!! This lid- is too heavy!"

He blinks at the voice. It sounds way too shrill and high pitched to be an adult. 'Is it a rug rat? Are they trying to steal something?'

"Time for my secret move!"

He raises a brow at their words. 'Secret move? I swear if they kick me-'

"Hhhngh-gnyAH!"

With one final rattle, the coffin lid gets blown away, bright blue flames licking the sides of the now open wooden coffin.

The man inside it blinks, pleasantly surprised. He's literally laying in a wooden coffin on fire, but at least this looks interesting. Something floats up to the coffin and--

'I-Is... Is that a cat?'

"Alrighty~ Now to get-" 

They lock eyes and the cat screams, frantically floating back away from him. As blue eyes stares back at another in shock, Akedeia's head flashes with pain from all the noise it was making.

"Y-You-! You shouldn't be awake!" it accusingly points at the "human" staring at him. All of the occupants of the coffins are supposed to be asleep! What's this one doing, being wide awake and all that!?

Akedeia stares wide-eyed at the floating, Japanese-talking feline(don't give him that look, he doesn't know why it's talking in Japanese either).

Something just feels... familiar from it. Is it its eyes? No. It's the mana. The cats' mana just feels oh so familiar, although he can't put a finger on it.

Speaking of mana... Is it just him or is it getting awfully... hard to breathe right now?

He carefully steps out of the coffin—and the world tilts. His legs buckle before he can take a second step, black splotches blooming at the edges of his vision. The sound of his own pulse drowns out everything else.

‘—!’

“What the— What’s the matter with you?” the floating cat backs away as the human sways in place.

Akedeia manages to catch himself before he hits the floor, trying to steady his breathing. But every breath feels wrong—too shallow, too fast. His heart hammers against his ribs like it’s trying to escape.

‘What’s going on? Is it the air—URP—!’

Desperation sharpens his focus. He throws a barrier over himself without thinking. The magic blooms at his fingertips and spreads across his body, thin and cold, settling over his skin like frost. It wraps around him—nostalgic, and strangely comforting.

He shivers as it sinks in, the chill biting deep. Yet under that cold, an echo of warmth flickers. A familiar face flashes in his mind as his hands twitches, feeling oddly empty. The memory doesn’t quite surface, but the feeling lingers.

He’s done this thousands of times before, but never on himself. The barrier settles like the breath of dawn. Cool, soft, and achingly familiar. It pushes away the magicules that aren’t his, leaving him enclosed in silence.

The air stills. The pressure in his head eases. The world steadies.

And it worked. Just like that, as fast as the dizziness came, it’s gone.

Cold sweat drips down his forehead as he straightens slowly, muscles slightly trembling from the sudden strain. His breathing steadies, but the chill clings to him, seeping beneath his skin. He honestly feels like he's about to hurl as his stomach twists in on itself.

He lets out a slow exhale. The calm should feel like relief. It doesn’t. Something in the air still feels wrong. Too thick. Too foreign.

'That was...' he puts a hand to his mouth shakily, swallowing the urge to gag. 'It feels like my mana was just taken from me then thrown back over and over again... urk…’

An attack that disrupts the very mana within someone. A light dizzy spell for mortals but for mana beings? Well, what he just experienced should be clue enough. And he doesn’t like it. It gives him an  all too familiar, all too disturbing deja vu. It leaves a bitter taste in his mouth, and he’s sure it isn’t the bile.

Akedeia glances around the room. 'Is this… a cathedral? It looks like...'

It looks like a chamber built by terribly cliché dark magicians.

Looking like it can hold at least a few hundred people, two long rows of pews lines up in front of a large black tinted mirror, framed with intricate gold floating atop of a small (but grandiose) fountain. A small podium with seven chairs is off to the side, and more coffins floats around high in the air carrying with it a faint hint of spacial magic. Everything is in a dark colored theme, making the place look eerie as it's bathed in the soft light of some littered about candles.

He thinks back to the carriage he encountered. Actually, no. The carriage went right up to his front door after all.

...Did he just get taken by a bunch of cultists? The coffins floating around feels like there's also humans in it, with a couple of demi-humans too. Just what exactly are they trying to do here?

Are they meant to be a sacrifice? To something? Including him?

He can feel his forehead throb in annoyance.

First, he was very rudely abducted right out of his own damn porch, then he almost died after he wakes up with a pounding migraine, only to find out that they plan to sacrifice him along with several other mortals to some nameless thing? Him. A sacrifice to something?!

Unless they're making a sacrifice to the Primodia’s or to the Creator God Themselves then even thinking of sacrificing Akedeia White to some other lower being is just absurd. It is an utterly preposterous notion!

Surely the people who is capable of knocking him out wouldn't be as stupid as to think he's just some nobody that they could use as fodder.

'And the way they incapacitate anyone who manages to get out of the coffins is just... Unpleasant.' Akedeia’s eyes glints in barely concealed hatred as he recalls the experience he just had. It’s absolutely distasteful.

Not to mention the implication of his abduction. Should it be known, it will surely cause friction on the treaties they’ve just established! Knowing his people, they might just burn the realms looking for him. He cannot let that happen. 

His grits his teeth, jaw clenching tightly. 'The orchestrator of this whole thing will pay… how dare a nobody try to tarnish our years of hard work!'

"What's wrong with this human? Hey. Hey! Are you listening to me human?!"

As the man delves deeper into his thoughts, the cat stops its words and stares at him, dumbfounded. Is he… is he being ignored right now? Him? The soon-to-be greatest magician of all time?! How dare he ignore him!

"HEY!!"

"Hm?" The said "human" turns towards the feline, his attention coming back to the present.

'Oh, right. There was a cat.' Akedeia blinks in surprise.

"You're still here? I thought you left already."

Grim's anger soars as he hears the humans' words, angrily pointing a paw at him. "I'm not leaving until you give me those clothes human!"

'My clothes?' Raising an arm, Akedeia looks down at his clothes expecting to see the attire he used to attend the coronation. Instead, he's wearing black and purple robes with intricate gold embroidery and accents over what he can feel to be a collared long sleeve, slacks, and a low heeled, gold-toed dress shoes.

He's pretty used to wearing formal clothes like it, not to mention it's pretty comfortable. No wonder he thought nothing of it.

Akedei looks back at the cat, raising a brow. "Why would you need this? I doubt these would even fit you very well."

The cat glares at the him. Just how ignorant can this human get? "I need those clothes so I can be a student here!"

'Student? Is this supposed to be a school?' the white-haired man thought to himself, glancing around the room again in doubt. 'But this place looks just like a regular cultist church to me...'

Deciding to play along, he decides to ask the cat. "So you want to attend the school. May I ask why?"

"Why else?" Huffing, the feline puts his paws on his hips with a confident smirk. "To be the greatest magician of all time here at Night Raven College of course! And soon, the whole world!" He said, awfully confident with his proclamation.

Akedeia takes note of the information. But he can see why the cat would be confident enough to proclaim to be the greatest.

"Well, you are powerful. There's no doubt you can be the greatest in no time." Holding his chin, Akedeia nods in understanding. "I'm quite sure of it."

And he means it. From what he can see, this cat has an awful lot of mana. Not quite a mana being but he’s getting there. The only problem now is teaching him how to widen his magic output. Because compared to others he’s seen with the same mana pool, he's like a little kid playing with a match instead of the flamethrower on his back.

The cat pauses, a bit put off with the humans agreement but he quickly puffs up, his ego growing. "W-Well of course! There's no one more powerful than the Great Grim! Nyahaha!"

Akedeia huffs quietly in amusement, finding the cat... entertaining. 'Hmph. He's pretty cute, I suppose.'

"Since you know the magnificence of The Great Grim, you better give those clothes to me now or else-" Grim grins menacingly, "I'll roast ya!"

Raising its arms, the lingering flames grew bigger and threateningly surged towards the male. Unfazed, Akedeia just crosses his arms.

'Nevermind. I take it back. This cat is a menace.'

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline. How about I just make you your own robes instead? I'll make sure it fits you just right." It shouldn't take too long for him, even if he's not the best at conjuring materials. His stitching were pretty famous among his friends back in the day.

Grim pauses at humans genuine offer, feeling his chest warming up. 'W-Will he really do that just for me?' He shakes his head. He can't wait that long! He needs the clothes now!

"No! Give me those clothes now!"

Akedeia huffs, feeling his head throb as he tries to reason with the cat. "As I've said, I can't. Maybe if you magically grew a couple hundred inches taller, I will, but right now you're about the same size as my shoe."

Grim growls in impatience. "Grrr-! Fine! If you won't give it to me, I'll just take it by force!"

He bellows out fire towards the man in a fit. Akedeia side steps it, but his eyes widen in surprise as the cat's fire explodes, engulfing him in flames.

"Hah! That's what you get when you disobey me human!" Grim laughs. Then he gasps, realizing that the human still has what he wants, and he just torched him. "O-Oh no! The clothes--!"

"Now you've done it..."

The cat freezes in shock as a hand reaches through the flames and with a single swipe, extinguishes it entirely, revealing the human completely unscathed, and visibly in an irritated mood.

A cold chill goes up the beasts spine as he locks eyes with familiar piercing blue eyes. Instinctively, he steps back, watching the human just brush off his flames nonchalantly.

"W-What--!?"

"Grim, was it?" A cruel grin splits across Akedeias' face as visible wisps of mana surges out of him, pressing down on the once confident beast, making him tremble.

"You want these clothes? Then come and get it."

Flames the size of wicks ignites all around them, flickering in bright shades of blue. The sizes made Grim laugh, even if the sight of it is making his fur stand on end.

"N-Nyahah! You think you can fight me with flames like those?!"

Akedeia tilts his head, smiling blankly. "Oh~? Then by all means, catch."

Before the cat could retort, the small flames shoots towards Grim like bullets. Out of pure survival instinct, he managed to quickly leap away from the attacks, yelping. He watches as the small flames rapidly expand into circles as it come in contact with the floor, its flames burning white then snuffing out with a hiss. There wasn't enough explosive power for a crater but it's size is enough to engulf a certain beast completely. And if the completely charred circles on the floor is any indication, he just have a feeling it's hot enough to incinerate him with no ashes left behind.

He barely dodges the last attack, feeling the heat of the flames licking his hind legs and burning his fur.

"Gyaahhh! It singed me!"

He looks up, about to snark to the human about missing when he finally notices--

"Wha-- HE'S GONE!!"

The human is now missing, an open window on the side creaking in the wind.

[{---}]

While the cat was literally dodging for his life, Akedeia quietly slipped out of the chamber, jumping down from the first window he sees to avoid the cluster of mana that are approaching from the stairs.

'I'd rather not deal with that...' he huffs, gliding down to another open window and stepping into an empty hallway.

Akedeia walks quietly, managing to avoid everything from their approaching mana. He curiously looks around, taking in the foreign place around him.

'Judging by the design of the hallways, it's probably a medieval dark castle. Classic.' he hums to himself. He can feel a deep rooted magic in this place so he gets why they'd station themselves here.

Although, these guys are quite fancy aren't they? Most magicians he's seen nowadays are living lives that'll make cottage core fanatics froth at the mouth. The mortals who were connected to the mana of the land knows the sins of their predecessors and are at least smart enough to not follow in their footsteps. At the very least, aesthetics wise.

He wandered around for quite some time, seeing multiple classrooms, most what seems to be proper ones too. Raised podiums in front of wide blackboards, facing rising curved theater style seats. Everything also seems to be in pristine shape. Now if only the students can focus enough to properly utilize it...

He jumps down from another window and straight into the courtyard, landing quietly on the ground. Continuing his walk on a random path, he’d somehow found himself in front of another building, full of bookshelves and other floating parchments inside its big open doors.

'A library huh. I suppose it would be nice to know where I am.' he thought, looking around as he leisurely walks in. 'Now where to find a map--'

Blue fire suddenly shoots past Akedeia and explodes in front of him, making him pause. He glances over his shoulder with a small smile, unbothered by the raging flames that are literally in the vicinity of a fuck ton of fuel.

"Oh? You're still alive? I'm impressed."

The cat managed to dodge his attack and sniff him out this far. An impressive feat, truly!

Grim growls, glaring up at the human who dared to attack him. He'll make him pay for that!

"Did you really think you can escape from my nose? Dumb human!" He smirks as mana starts to rapidly build up in him.

'Despite my attack, he still wants to fight?' Akedeia just blinks languidly at the cat.

"You better give me those clothes right now or else!" Grim growls, making Akedeia let out an amused huff. 'Aww that's cute. He's trying to be intimidating~'

"Or what? You'll bite me?" He smirks. "Although I doubt you'll be able to do much, why don't you show it instead of just barking it, racoon dog? I'll be sure to appreciate the thought that comes with it."

"Raccoon dog--?! You--!!" Grim grits his teeth. That's it! He's had it with this human! Screw the clothes, this humans dead meat! "You're toast!!"

Just when the cat was about to release enough fire to say he tried to recreate a portion of hell, a loud SNAP! rings out and a cord suddenly hits Grim, snapping around him and effectively tying him up.

"HNNGYAH! That hurts! W-What's with this cord?!"

Akedeia's eyes widen at the approaching presence. Is that a--

"It is not a cord, it is a Whip of Love!"

'Uhh, ew?' The mans face scrunches up slightly in disgust, inching away from the "Whip of Love" that's (oh good gods) wrapped around the poor feline tightly. 

A man walks towards them, the clack of his shoes and cane an ominous echo. Although, he’s dressed in rather extravagant clothes. A coat of raven black feathers, a glistening purple vest and gold key accessories on his waist and cane. A bird mask covers the top half of the mans face but instead of his eyes, two little yellow orbs of light sits in the eye sockets, his actual eyes concealed in it's shadows completely.

The man does look rather miffed. Well, the only real indication of that is the slight slant of the yellow orbs in the mask resembling a frown ರ  ರ.

"Aah-- I found you at last. Are you one of the new students? You shouldn't do things like that, leaving the gate on your own!" The man chastises. "Not only that, but you have also yet to tame your familiar which has broken a number of school rules!"

Grim grits his teeth, struggling against the binds. "Let. Me. Go! I'm not their freaking familiar!" It glares at Akedeia accusingly. "This human attacked me for Pete's sake!"

"It is not called attacking, it is called "disciplining". Now please settle down for a moment." The man dismisses, shoving a cloth into its mouth.

"Mmmghmmmm!"

Akedeia watches their interaction quietly, staring intently at the masked man.

'I wasn't too sure earlier but now that he's close... He's a fae. This... could get troublesome. If he shows any indication of wanting to attack me...' Akedeia's eyes narrow to slits, his hands silently extending claws under his sleeves. 'I might have to get a bit messy.'

The peace treaty might already be upheld by the Fairy King for two of their generations now but for fae, it's still a pretty recent development. And not a widely accepted one at that. Those that didn't agree keeps to themselves for the most part but there are those who would get aggressive just at the sight of other species. Granted, he understands the feeling. Some of his own people had done the same after all.

He listens as the man continues to chastise him about leaving, talking about some ceremony.

"Now, the entrance ceremony is already well under way. Let's head to the Hall of Mirrors." Akedeia stiffens as the man puts his hands out, making pushing motions to the white haired man.

'Wait wait wait. Don't tell me... He doesn't realize who I am? Or does he just not care?' Subconsciously, he steps back from the crow dressed fae, and the man immediately takes notice.

"Hm? Is something the matter?"

'O-kay…? If he doesn't really care, then information comes first. Figuring out where I am takes priority.' Quickly forcing himself to calm down a bit, he tries to play along.

"Um... What do you mean by Gate?"

'...Wooow, what a great question, just ask the one thing you already know. Man... me and my stupid mouth...'

Grim stops in his wriggling at the human's voice. Why do they sound so different? Their voice sounds... quieter. And a bit weaker? Is this old man actually scaring him?

The fae looks at him questioningly but explains, nonetheless.

'Yeah, I honestly don't care about that, I just wanna get out of here...' Akedeia holds his hands together, appearing fidgety but actually, he's starting to get agitated by the fae’s presence. But can you really blame him?

Just being near a fae is enough to make his skin crawl. The peace might’ve already lasted a few millennia, but trauma is a little hard to get rid of! The fae are ruthlessly merciless. Just being in the vicinity of one is giving him PTSD flashbacks. He doesn't really mind if it's fae that he knew, but this guy is a complete stranger! So forgive him if standing this close to one is making his instincts scream a little.

"Normally students wake up only after the door is opened with a special key but..."

Akedeia turns his head towards the tied-up feline. "His fire might have blown the lid off. He is quite a powerful and tenacious beast, in spite of his stature."

'I don't know what this guys deal is but at least he realizes how powerful the Great Grim really is!' Said feline pauses before huffing proudly, the humans' words feeding his ego, not catching the comment about his size.

The masked man puts a hand on his hips, a displeased frown etching on his face again. "So, in the end, the culprit appears to be this familiar!"

"Ah, actually--"

"This will not do! If you're going to bring you're familiar with you, you have to take responsibility and take care of it properly!" He wags his finger at him, cutting him off.

"I said he isn't--" Akedeia tries to say again but is interrupted again, much to his growing irritation.

"Oh my! Now isn't the time to be long winded. The entrance ceremony will soon come to a close. Come now, let us move on."

'Okay, is this guy actually just an idiot?' a small annoyed scowl sets on Akedeia's face as he starts to get guided somewhere by the shoulder. 'Based on his mana, he should be of high status here but he's not even---... W-Wait what does he call himself again? Will he even tell me?'

"Ah, please wait a moment sir!" The fae turns to him, humming in question. "Um, just who are you again... sir?"

The fae's eyes wide in slight surprise. "Oya? Has the teleportation magic left you disoriented that much?"

Akedeia tilts his head down, looking sheepish. "I'm afraid so, yes. I'm not quite used to traveling via teleportation you see..."

Which is not a lie. He prefers flying to be honest.

The fae nods in understanding. "Well it's fine. It happens often enough. Then, I shall give you an explanation as we make our way there. For I am gracious!"

'Huh. He's unexpectedly, openly, narcissistic?'

The fae leads the man out of the library and out into the courtyards again in a haste pace. They pass by some statues that are... Oddly familiar to Akedeia, though he can't quite put a finger on why.

"Gohom!"

Akedeia looks back at the fae as he clears his throat loudly.

"This is Night Raven College. Those magicians blessed with a unique aptitude for magic gather from all over the world here at the most prestigious magical academy in Twisted Wonderland."

Akedeia deadpans under his hood with a sweatdrop, unimpressed. He’s already heard the name of the school, as the cat beast was just raving about it just earlier. But it reminds him of an Avian-only school in the Beastfolk Realm that he had the unfortunate displeasure of visiting.

He learned the hard way that day that it's best to not let a flock of birds see anything shiny, or bright. Especially if you currently possess said thing. Because apparently they’ll go for hair too.

And another thing stuck to him. Magicians. 

'So it really isn't a cult, but a magician school?'

Akedeia squints thoughtfully, looking off to the side. 'I don't know of any magician school by the name of Night Raven College in the mortal realm. Or any other Realm for that matter. Then again, I haven't had magicules react to me this way before either... hm...'

But Twisted Wonderland? Really? He's had dyslexic children name things better than that.

"And I am the headmaster, appointed to take care of this wonderful academy by the board chairman, Dire Crowley."

"!!!"

There was a long pause as the fae, apparently named Dire Crowley, looks at the hooded man expectantly.

Akedeia’s mouth dropped, absolutely horrified. 'What in the Holy fuck…?! Is this a new trend in the hicks of the Fae Realms or something? A challenge on who gets hunted for disrespect first?'

Mistaking his horror for awe, Crowley unknowingly puffs up, Akedeia pausing in his gripe as he catches the motion.

'...'

Suddenly, Akedeia claps his hands, his smile full of awe. "W-Wow! I never would’ve thought I’ll get to meet such an exalted figure in my first day!"

He clasps his hands together, smiling so brightly up to the fae you can almost see sparkles and flowers around him. "And to think that you'd miss attendance in such an important event just for the sake of one student... how wonderful! This school must be quite blessed to have such a caring and kind headmaster like you!"

Hearing this, Crowley smiles widely, pleased with Akedeia's words. It seems he have found quite a charming golden egg! Although a bit problematic, at least he knows his facts! And this one doesn't even feel like he's hiding something! Unlike certain people whenever they open their mouth.

"Yes yes~ you are quite right!"

"Will you please tell me more about the school sir?" Though pleased, Crowley waves his suggestion off.

"If you wish to know more about the school then we best hurry on to the ceremony. There, you will be sorted into one of the seven dorms and be briefed about everything of importance by your dorm leader. If you want, you can even inquire them for more information."

"A-Ah I see. That's too bad." Akedeia deflates, looking down at the ground. "It's just that... Well you're the headmaster! I figured if I want to learn about this wonderful school, I'd want to ask the most important and the most knowledgeable person here. And who better to ask than the Headmaster Dire Crowley himself? Ah, but if you say so..."

Crowley, having been around students that use empty and flowery words to deceive people, likes to think that his senses can already tell if somebody is trying to butter him up to try and exploit him. And this student...

Has been nothing but sincere! [He isn't.]

His manners, his emotions, and even his voice hasn't given Crowley any reason to suspect that he has an ulterior motive! [He does.]

Who is he to deny such a wonderful child's simple request? [Yeah uh huh...]

And it is as he said, this is quite a rare opportunity to come by! [Is it though?]

"W-Well I suppose I wouldn't mind a few questions! The mirror chamber is a little bit a ways, so we have time. Whatever questions you may have, I shall answer them to the best of my abilities!"

"Really?!" He beams brighter than before, mentally arranging the questions properly this time. "Then, if I may ask sir---"

'He may be a fae but he doesn’t exactly act like one. This just made him a lot easier to handle.'

Grim deadpans as Crowley happily answers the humans questions, babbling on and on and just giving away information like nobodies business. He can't believe this guy is the headmaster.

'This guy is such a sucker...'

[{---}]

On their way back to the room of coffins, Crowley happily answered all of Akedeia's inquiries about the school.

So much so that when they finally arrived back at the entrance ceremony, he had found out plenty. From its majors, offered curriculum, faculty members (he babbled the longest here), to the dorms, and even a little bit about the caretakers.

The fae didn't seem to mind his questions and was all but happy to boast about his school, not even realizing that none of them seem to be winded despite the long walk and all the talking.

During all of Crowleys' happy cawing to Akedeia, inside the chamber of coffins, the quiet chippers of hundreds of students fills the room, everyone starting to get excitable as the ceremony comes to a supposed close.

Up on the podium, six people of clear importance sits in front of the crowd, with a blue tablet among them for some reason.

"Is that all for the new student dorm assignments?" One of them steps up, his stature albeit short but his authoritative voice rings true. He looks at a select part of the crowd with a steel gaze.

"Listen up new students. Here in Heartslabyul, I am the rules. Break them and it's off with your head." And the very clear threat did not went unheard to the masses.

"Finally done with this stuffy ceremony..." Another steps up with a yawn, brown braids peaking out of his hood. With a posture of laziness, he calls out to his group, sharp green eyes sweeping over most of the beastmen in the room. "We're going back to the dorm. Savanaclaws, follow me."

To his side, another greets his share of students with a wide smile, an air of calculated friendliness around him. "To the new students, congratulations on entering this academy. Enjoy life here to the fullest. As the dormitory leader of Octavinelle, I will support you to the best of my abilities."

Another one of them speaks up, his smooth melodious voice asking what they've all been thinking.

"By the way, where did the headmaster go? He flew out in the middle of the ceremony..."

The tablet lights up, a quiet hoarse voice speaking through it.

"Abandoning his post..."

The one at the end of the podium speaks up, a genuine air of question around him as he tilts his head.

"Did he get a stomachache or something?"

At that, the doors to the chamber bangs open, the said headmaster striding in with a flourish. Because unbeknownst to the students, they arrived just in time to hear that question, giving Akedeai a laugh at how offended Crowley had looked.

"Not at all!" He strides in, Akedeia quietly following behind him, unknowingly hiding himself behind the fae.

"Ah, he's here..."

"I cannot believe you all. We were missing one new student so I went to find them!" He huffs with his hands on his hips. Then he turns to the boy standing quietly behind him, fidgeting with his hands.

"Now. You are the only one yet to be assigned a dormitory." He holds up the squirming cat in his arm. "I shall watch over the racoon, so please hurry and step in front of the Dark Mirror."

All eyes immediately turn to the hooded figure tailing the headmaster, making him shrink in on himself from all the attention.

He hurriedly shuffles forward with a quiet "Yes, sir."

Akedeia stares in fascination at the black tinted mirror that reflects nothing. He learned earlier from the Headmaster that the mirror looks into the souls of the students to sort them into whichever dorm that'll suit them best for the rest of their stay in the school. Safe to say, it has piqued his interest.

The mirrors surface lights up with green flames and a mask slowly appears through it. It's a white cinema mask with black markings painted upon it. It sets it's hollow eyes on the figure in front of it, their hood covering their face.

It spoke in a deep, somber voice.

"State thy name."

Akedeia stares back at the mirror, smiling inwardly in anticipation. 'How interesting. Well, let's find out just how much you can see.'

"... -deia White." He says, voice nothing but a whisper.

"The shape of thy soul is..." Its eyes squints, then it widens, then it squints again, as if it's trying to see if it's seeing correctly. Akedeia thought it would've rubbed its eyes too if it has hands which he finds hilarious.

"I... I do not know."

'Of course you don't. I'm not letting you see it, idiot.' Akedeia inwardly laughs, finding the mirrors inability to see past his barrier funny.

"Come again?...!" Crowley chokes out in shock.

"I sense not a spark of magic from this one."

'And that's that.' the white-haired man huffs quietly, a childish smugness blooming in his chest at the thought of triumphing over another soul-seeing artifact with his barriers. The last one that tried to do it was a lot harder to obstruct in his opinion.

"The color, the shape, all are nothing. Therefore, they are suited for no dormitory."

Murmurs erupted all around the room as the boy stood there in the middle of the room in stunned silence.

'But no magic? Really? This thing is that weak?' Akedeia can't help but be completely unimpressed.

'To think it can't even see past a simple barrier... Those poor mana beings must be suffering from being mispla--'

Instinctively, he reaches up to his neck to fiddle with his neckl-- wait, does he still have his limiter on?

'Ah? Ohh...'

No wonder that thing couldn't see anything, he's still wearing his limiter! One of the most powerful concealing artifacts that could completely dampen someone's everything (soul, presence, mana, etc), especially made for the use of Akedeia White only.

No wonder it couldn't see anything. There wasn’t anything to see.

Now he kind of feels bad for judging it unfairly... if even the fae can't see past his limiter, it'll be even more impossible for a decrepit artifact like this one.

Oh! What if he takes it off for a proper redo--

While Akedeia is thinking, everything is slowly descending into chaos around him.

"An Ebony Carriage would absolutely never go to meet someone who can't use magic!" Crowley exclaims in disbelief. "In 100 years, there has not been a single mistake in student selection! So why in the world..."

Crowley trails off in thought. Grim, feeling the grip around him loosen, jumps on the opportunity and wriggles out of his restraints. "Mmmgh-- pah! Then let me take their place!"

"Ah! Stop right there! You racoon!" Crowley gasps, reaching to grab Grim but the cat quickly moves away.

"I don't know what's wrong with that mirror but unlike that guy, anyone can see that my magic is far greater than anyone else! So let me in the school instead!" He grins as mana quickly converges towards him, alerting some of the magicians.

"If you even need proof, I'll show you right now!"

"Everyone get down!" One of the boys at the front shouts just in time as Grim spits out a stream of flames everywhere, plunging the room into chaos.

"AAAHH! The magic beast is attacking!"

"Hey don't push!"

"We're all going to DIEEEEE!!"

"Shut up and take cover!"

"Uhwoah! AAAAAAHHH hothothothot!! My butts on fire!!"

"At this rate the school will be a sea of fire!" Crowley cries out in distress, pointing at the rampaging cat. "Somebody catch that cat!!"

The boy with brown braids clicks his tongue, annoyed. "Suck ups..."

The boy beside his overhears him, letting out an amused smile. "Ara. Aren't you good at hunting? Doesn't it look like a nice plump snack?"

"Why me? You do it yourself." The boy with braids scoffs.

"Headmaster Crowley, please leave it to me." The boy with glasses steps up, a closed eyed smile on his face. "I'm sure the others couldn't stomach harassing the poor creature, so I will take it upon myself."

"That's Azul-chi for you. Always trying to earn himself a point." The floating tablet says, tone condescending.

"Uh hey!?! Could someone please--" wordlessly, Akedeia swipes an arm over the boys burning behind, extinguishing it. To his slight amazement, the garment is just charred and not completely burned through.

'Huh. So the clothes are somewhat reinforced.'

The boy breathes out in relief, smiling gratefully at him. "Th-Thanks! You really saved me there!"

Akedeia just smiles back, "Don't mention it."

The boy pauses as they lock eyes, caught off guard by the boys eyes. 'Woah... His eyes are so... Blue...'

"Everyone!? Are you all listening?!" Crowley frowns.

Back at the podium, the brown haired boy sighs, crossing his arms. "If it's just catching some stupid racoon, can't you do it yourself Headmaster."

Overhearing them, Grim stomps his paw in indignation. "How many times do I have to tell you I'm not a racoon! The one who'll become the Greatest Magician ever is the Great Grim! Me!!"

"It certainly has moxie. Care to help me Riddle?" The boy with glasses, Azul, calls out to the shortest one of them, apparently named Riddle.

"I can't overlook those who break the rules. Let's hurry and get this over with." The short boy, Riddle, takes out a pen, a red gem embedded on top of it. Then they both start to give chase to the cat.

'Ohh~ look at them go. They're not very fast are they.' Akedeia muses as he watch the three basically start to play tag around the room. He glances around, noting that the room is slowly filling with smoke. He nudges the boy he just saved towards the somehow unaffected podium and the bundle of students who sought refuge in it.

"You know, it's probably not safe here. You should take cover."

He shook his head, "Yeah, you're right! You should come with-- wait where'd he go?!"

Before he can finish his words, the boy who saved him has disappeared.

Akedeia huffs to himself, making a beeline for the cat, calmly jumping through the flames. 'I suppose I should stop him. It's not going to be funny if I get confined here because of him.'

"Ghh--! These flames--!" Riddle coughs, shielding himself from the roaring flames, slowing down.

Azul frowns, starting to feel irritated. And too hot for comfort. "This is being a bit more difficult than I imagined..."

"Nyahahahaha!" Grim laughs at their predicament, standing quite a distance from his pursuers but still within earshot. "Did you really think you can catch the Great Grim?! You'll have to be faster than that to catch me! You guys are so slow it's pathetic!"

His taunts angers the two, one more so than the other.

"Why you-- you dare to call me pathetic!?!" Riddle growls, just about ready to jump through the flames and grab, and possibly strangle, the cat. Azul quickly pulls him back, just in time to keep him from getting swallowed by the surging flames.

"Wait Riddle! If you rush in like that you'll be burned! We need to be careful and think of a strategy."

The cat snickers at the two, already far from them. "Just try and catch me if you can! I doubt you could, but I'll appreciate the effort! Nyahahaha!"

"Stealing my lines now are we?"

"W-What the--?!"

The cat jumps at the voice suddenly behind him but before he could even turn, he was quickly grabbed by none other than Akedeia, who had already caught up with him.

"Gyahak--!"

"Gotcha."

To prevent him from spitting any more fire, Akedeia wraps an arm on Grims mouth, the other around his body, effectively trapping the cat in a restrictive hug.

"Mghhm!"

The flames wavers and slowly dissipates, the room slowly clearing from the smoke and allowing everyone to finally calm down.

"D-Did you see that?"

"Oh thank the Seven it's over..."

"How did that guy even get there?"

"Off with your Head!"

A red-black heart shaped collar suddenly materializes and clamps around the cats neck, and nearly Akedeia's hand too for that matter.

"Ngyaah! The heck is this collar?!" Grim coughs at the sudden weight around his neck.

Akedeia glares at the approaching red-head under his hood. 'Prick. Although...'

Upon closer inspection, he can see that by restricting the magic flow around the neck, the collar halts the persons flow of mana to the rest of the body via the nervous system, although just enough to stop their ability to use magic. Simple enough, but he'd wager it's effective all the same. Especially against those below the caster’s level.

'Hmph. Not bad. You’re an ass, but not bad.'

Riddle stops in front of the two, putting a hand on his hip as he glares down at the cat through his nose. "Laws of the Queen of Hearts Number 23: One shall not bring a cat into a festival. You being a cat means you've broken the rule. I shall have you leave at once."

Akedeia raises a brow at that. 'That's... odd. Who is this Queen of Hearts? I don't recall any Queens in any realm with that name... Eh, who knows. It has been a while after all. Maybe there's someone like that on the detached Human Realm now.'

A prickling sensation climbs up Akedeia's neck, bringing him out of his thoughts.

' That's--!'

While the two argues among themselves, Akedeia discreetly sweeps his eyes among the gathering crowd, hurriedly trying to look for that familiar presence.

'Where? Where is it?' But no matter where he looks, he can't find them. The presence was gone as quickly as it came. '... I was pretty sure that was--'

"Are you listening to me?!"

"Whu-- Huh?" Quickly drawn out of his thoughts, Akedeia looks up to a pretty angry Crowley.

"I said you must do something about this! It's your familiar is it not? Properly discipline him for Sevens sake!"

'And this one is not only stupid, he's also deaf.' 

Akedeia sighs audibly, shaking his head. "How many times have I told you Headmaster, he's not mine! We're you even listening to me? You're hurting my feelings here~... *sniff sniff* (〒-〒)"

The fae blinks in surprise. "E-Eh? It-It's not yours?"

"Heaven's no!" Akedeia shakes his head. "In fact, I've never met him before in my life! It's was our first meeting just a few hours ago."

"Is-Is that so?" Feeling several deadpanned eyes directed at him, Crowley quickly tries to compose himself, clearing his throat. "Ahem! Then let's get it out of the school right away."

He leans towards Grim, smiling. "We won't turn you into a stew, for I am gracious!"

He turns to the crowd of students. "Someone, please."

Akedeia leans down to the cat, patting his head, somehow calming him for a bit. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll make it. Someday."

Grim’s breath hitches as he feels a pang in his chest. Then he huffs, crossing his arms. "You-.. You don't have to tell me that! I know I will!"

Two students goes to Akedeia and as he hands Grim off to them, he immediately starts to thrash against his new holders.

"Hnyaaahh!! Let me go! I'm going to be--! Definitely--! Definitely! Be the Greatest Magiciaaannnn!"

Akedeia puts a hand on his chest as the doors of the chamber slams shut, quietly sighing. 'Tenacious to the end. But he's so cute you can't help but feel bad for the little guy. Just why is he trying so hard to be a magician anyway? He’s plenty powerful enough as is.'

Crowley claps his hand, bringing the attention back to him. "We had a bit of trouble along the way but this brings the entrance ceremony to a close. Dormitory Heads, please show the new students back to the dormitories."

Just as he instructs, five people (and a tablet for some reason) steps down from the podium and groups up their new dorm members. Akedeia hums as he watches the shuffling students.

'Well well well~ Not too shabby for freshlings.' he muses to himself as he surveys the Dorm Heads, eyes narrowing. The tablet aside, their mana pools are clearly already well-developed. But from what he can see, they still have plenty of room to grow.

'Hm... Should I halve their numbers just in case?'

"!!!"

One of the Dorm Heads whips their head around, cold sweat dripping down his forehead. His whole body is tensed up, eyes wide in alarm. For the briefest moment, he felt something breath down his neck, the unmistakable sinister bloodlust of a beast baring it's teeth right against his jugular.

His eyes falls on the magicless kid beside the Headmaster, the hood of their cloak covering their eyes but he swears by the Sevens that he can feel that guys eyes staring right back at him, unnerving him even more than he already is.

Noticing his fellow Dorm Heads' behavior, the genuine boy that Akedeia saved steps towards him in concern. "What's the matter Leona? You look tense. Are you hurt somewhere?"

"... It's nothing." He huffs turning back towards his new dorm members. 'That's not possible. Even if it is, he, or whatever the hell it is, surely isn't stupid enough to attack with all of us here...'

The genuine boy hums at Leona's answer, eyes trailing over to where he is looking at. When he sees Akedeia, he immediately brightens up. He waves cheerfully at him, catching his attention. Akedeia looks at the enthusiastic boy for a second before returning his wave tentatively, sighing to himself quietly.

'... Meh, nevermind. Honestly, I don't feel like fighting today anyway. Too much of a hassle.'

"... Hm?" Crowley hums in confusion and realization. "Now that I think about it, I don't see the leader of Diasomnia, Mr. Draconia, around at all..."

Akedeia's head slowly turns towards Crowley, his extremely disappointed deadpan completely hidden behind his hood but Crowley still looks away guiltily from the extremely horrified look he can just feel the boy is giving him.

The crowd of students, on the other hand, starts to murmur to themselves again, getting stirred up at the mere mention of the name.

"That's no different from the usual, isn't it?" The beastman Dorm Head, Leona, huffs disinterested, itching to get out of the chamber because of one reason and another.

'It's happened before?!' Akedeia covers his mouth with his sleeve, incredulous at their treatment of the poor boy.

"A-re?" The sweet clueless boy tilts his head in confusion. "Did nobody tell him about the ceremony?"

"If you're going to complain, you should have done it yourself." One of the Dorm Heads says, his fair skin and lavender tipped hair visible from under his hood. Now that Akedeia looks carefully, he's quite frankly the most elegant looking out all of the Dorm Heads, from posture alone.

The genuine boy crosses his arms with a slight grimace. "Mmmrm... But I don't really know anything about the guy..."

Akedeia blinks in surprise at that. 'Oh! Someone even the personification of sunshine can't befriend? Interesting...'

"By Draconia... Do they mean that Malleus Draconia?...!"

"Is he seriously attending this school?"

"Scary..."

Akedeia observes the restless students thoughtfully. Some are excited, eyes wide with wonder. But most of them are filled with apprehension, bordering on literal fear.

'Huh. That's some reaction. If I have to wager, the guys probably not human then. Could he be a rare type of beastman? A chimera maybe~? Haha yeah no way.'

"Aah. So I was correct."

'AAAAAHHCUPWVPSUSBEOWSH--!!'

Akedeia inhales sharply as a short student comes up to the front, his hands on his hips as he looks over at the Dorm Heads.

"I thought he might come but Malleus really didn't. It seems the invitation "never arrived" again."

With that, his ruby-red eyes narrows accusingly at the Dorm Heads, from which they quickly avert their gaze from.

"My deepest apologies. I promise we didn't mean to exclude him." Azul bows his head apologetically.

'That's one fake ass apology.'

Riddle shifts in his feet with a slight sweatdrop. "His aura really makes it hard to approach him after all..."

'Excuses, excuses. You guys are jerks, not making an effort to give the guy the invitation. The poor boy.'

"Well, what's done is done. It's fine." Red-eyed shorty waves them off, turning to a small cluster of students. "Members of the Diasomnia Dormitory shall follow me."

As their assembly continues, Akedeia just watched them thoughtfully. Particularly zeroing in on the ruby-eyed new comer. 'Odd. At first I was for sure I was seeing a vampire but...'

Feeling someone's stare, the mentioned vampire whips his head around, eyes wide in alert. His eyes quickly meets with the blank black eyes of a young boy standing beside the Headmaster, who is, for some reason, staring at him pretty intently. The boys eyes widen, blinking rapidly before sheepishly smiling, awkwardly waving after being caught staring. He relaxed, returning the boys wave with his most charming smile.

'Oh dear. I'm so weary of Malleus' approaching mood already that I'm imagining things.' The old bat fae chuckles to himself as he leads his freshmen out of the chambers. 'I thought a monster had snuck in here, hahaha! ✿(^▽^)✿'

Akedeia drops his hand. 'He's weird as all hell. He looks like he’ll give me diarrhea with a bite.'

"Ooooyyyy!!"

A familiar cheerful voice calls out to Akedeia, bringing him out of his thoughts.

The genuine boy walks up to him, happy as can be. He beams at him as he grabs his hand and shakes it. "Hey again! I haven't introduced myself yet have I? I'm Kalim Al-Asim! I know that I said it earlier already but thanks for helping me back there -- uh..."

He pauses, scratching his head in thought, laughing sheepishly, "I'm sorry, I think I forgot your name. (・▽ ・;)ゞ"

Akedeia chuckles, shaking his head, "It's alright. Besides, I don't think we'll be seeing each other anymore. I'll be leaving the school soon after all."

Crowley conveniently steps in, putting his two cents in a conversation he's not even supposed to be a part of.

"Yes, he's right." He turns to Akedeia with a slight curve on the top of his eyes, resembling a small sad frown. "I'm terribly sorry about this but we must have you leave the school."

'Damn, did you had to say must?'

"Those without any aptitude for magic cannot be allowed to attend class here."

Akedeia turns back to the boy, Kalim, with an apologetic smile. "There you have it."

"Oh. I see..." Kalim’s mood whittles down slightly at that but he quickly perks up again, "Well I'm sure a school somewhere out there will accept you! Even if you're magicless and all that."

'Ara. This boy surely says some things that often gets people offended doesn't he.'

"Thank you Mr. Asim. I wish you the best of luck in your studies at this school." He smiles at the boy.

He grins brightly, "Ahaha! Thanks! Oh! Also, if you want you could--"

"Kalim! Come on don't fall behind!"

A student calls out from the doors, his askew frown showing his displeasure.

"Coming Jamil!" He turns back to Akedeia with a dazzling smile, patting his chest, "Just come find me if you need any help! It'll be my way of returning the favor!"

Akedeia chuckles airily, waving him goodbye, "I will. You should probably hurry now, you don't want to be left behind."

With that, the ever so bright boy runs back to his friend, waving back goodbye enthusiastically.

The white-haired man exhales quietly, delighted by the boy.  'Ahh, you do see that kind every once in a while. A soul so sweet it tastes like poison. I’m sure he’ll give killer diabetes from presence alone.'

A hand gently clasps Akedeia's shoulder. He looks up to find Crowley. The fae gestures to a coffin floating right in front of the mirror. "Come this way now."

Akedeia touches the coffin thoughtfully, the magic embedded into the wood rippling lightly at his touch. "This will send me back?"

"Yes. No need to worry, the Dark Mirror shall send you back to your home town right away immediately." Crowley smiles reassuringly as he helps the young boy get inside. "Now, picture your home clearly in your mind..."

Crowley sighs wistfully inside as he faces the Dark Mirror. 'To think we'll be loosing such a promising egg so soon. Such a shame.'

'Yeeeeeessss get me out of here.' Akedeia eagerly closes his eyes, already seeing his room back at the manor. 'I can finally let down this barrier. Now bring me back to where I can breathe properly before anyone notices I’m gone!'

"Now Dark Mirror! Guide this one back to the place they belong!"

...

...

...

'Hn? What's with the ‘eh’ pause? Is this thing teasing me or something?'

Crowley coughs at the unexpectedly long empty pause. "Let me try that again. Oh Dark Mirror--!"

"Nowhere."

Both of their eyes widen at the Mirrors words.

"The place they belong is nowhere in this world..." The masks' eyes narrows upon the wide-eyed boy. "It does not exist."

"What... Did you say?" Crowley reels back in shock. "That is unbelievable! Ahh, well the unbelievable has been on parade today..."

"..."

The boy was unresponsive, but the mask sees everything. It watches in expertly concealed apprehension as magicules in the air starts to distort and warp around the supposed magicless student, his face unreadable and cold.

"This is the first time it's ever happened since I became Headmaster... What should be..." The flustered, and somewhat frantic, fae mutters to himself before finally turning to the source of the predicament. "Where exactly did you come from in the first place?"

"... You want the truth?" Akedeia huffs. He steps down from the coffin and pulls down his hood. Crowley's mouth slightly drops in shock, a cold shiver racking up the fae's back as piercing blue eyes pin him where he's standing.

'Wha-What beauty! Had he been legible to be sorted, Schoenheit would've snatched him up to Pomefiore no matter what the mirror says I'm sure.'

Akedeia exhales quietly, fingers loosening at his side.

“I’m from the Jiru Garden,” he says first. Simple. Flat. “It’s… a floral region. Isolated.”

Crowley blinks. “Jiru?”

“Yes.” Akedeia tilts his head slightly, as if searching his memory. “Most people don’t know it.”

That much, at least, was true.

The fae hums, tapping a finger against his mask. “I see… I do try to keep a general grasp of where our students hail from, but I can’t say that name rings a bell.”

I doubt it would, Akedeia thinks, a faint, humorless curl tugging at the corner of his mouth. It never does nowadays.

After a small pause, he adds lightly almost hesitantly.

“It used to have a different name. A longer one.”

Another pause.

“There’s a passage to it through the edge of the Chóra Border, where I’m currently staying.” Akedeia shrugs. “Or… so I’ve been told.”

He watches Crowley carefully as he says it.

The reaction is… nothing.

The fae only frowns in thought, clearly more inconvenienced than alarmed. “Chóra Border… hm. I don’t recall such a place on any modern map.”

Akedeia’s eyes widen despite himself. ‘The Gardens is one thing, but he doesn’t even know about the Border? I know it’s considered to be a deadzone nowadays but still…’

Crowley lets out a thoughtful hum. “How peculiar. Well, if it isn’t documented, then some research is in order! Let us proceed to the library for now.”

He claps his hands together, already satisfied with that answer.

Akedeia schools his expression into something mild, almost sheepish. But a familiar, heavy stillness settles over his chest.

For a heartbeat, he remembers the feeling of waking alone. All alone.