Hoshi felt light. She felt herself being confined. She had just woken up in complete darkness, in a padded box. Scratching from outside had alerted her. A voice on the other side sounded strained as the container she was in was attempted to be opened. She felt a sudden flash of heat as blue flames engulfed her and the box she was in. The lid popped off easily afterwards. A small grey creature that looked like a cat hopped up, he looked as surprised to see her as she did him.
"Ack! This one's ugly! But you better hand over that uniform!," The small beast shouted.
"A talking Cat?!," the masked girl asked.
This seemed to enrage the beast, whose flaming ears got brighter and hotter, "I'm not a cat! My name is Grim, an extraordinary mage!"
The creature snapped back to his train of thought, "Whatever! Just give me that uniform! Quick!"
Flames erupted around the fuzzy little beast, "Or else, I'll make you regret it!"
Adrenaline flooded the masked girl's body, knocking the creature back. She ran to keep herself from being roasted alive by the cat like beast.
"Hey! get back here!," the fiery creature yelled as he chased after the girl.
She ran through strange stone hallways with the animal hot on her tail, spitting fireballs. She had to duck and felt heat pass by. She smelled a burning smell and realized her formerly long hair had been burned off to a little longer than her shoulder length.

The singed Platinum blonde kept running. She knew she would have to fight if the little fuzz ball did not give up! She ran into an opened door and found herself in what looked to be a library. Books floated above her and green ambient lights tinged the room eerily. She thought she was safe before a ring of blue fire surrounded her. The padding of little paws made her turn around.
"You think you could escape me, you ugly and foolish human?," the beast laughed, "Now, take off that robe before I have to burn you even worse!"
Grim was about to take another step towards the panting girl when a whip cracked in the air and hit the little beast on the back.
"Ow!! What was that?!," Grim cried in pain.
"Call it tough love!," A new voice called out.
A tall pale man stepped out of the shadows. He wore a fancy embroidered suit with feather embellishments on the jacket. He had a silk top had with a mirror embellishment on as well as a black mask in the shape of a crow skull.
The man's tone shifted when he turned to Hoshi, "Ah, I found you at last. Splendind! I can't have this year's new students get lost."
The girl stepped back, this fellow mask wearing person was part of this weird place she ended up in. She still had her adrenaline rush burning through her veins.
"But you made such a debut. Plus bringing your untrained familiar with you? You're already violating school rules!," the crow masked man yelled.

"Are you insane, he's not mine!," Hoshi shot back.
Her words did not seem to be acknowledged. The man picked up Grim that was tied up by the whip and grabbed her arm with a clawed gloved hand.
"Come! You're enough trouble as it is. The first student to open and step out of your own gate.," the man said as he pulled at her arm, "Such an impatient young man. No matter, the orientation has begun. We should get to the mirror chamber."
Hoshi was confused and dug her heels into the carpet of the library floor.
"Excuse me, 'student'?!," the blonde girl asked as the bells on her mask chimed.
"You awoke in a room full of gates, correct?," the man asked, "All students come through said gates to come to this campus."
"That's a bit morbid.," the masked girl muttered as she was pulled again.
The claws on the man's gloves dug into her arm.
"Students usually patiently wait for me to open it.," the man said.
"It was blown open.," the girl replied and pulled back.
"That familiar of yours is the culprit then.," the masked man said as his greenish hair waved with his effort to pull the girl, "But you brought it, so you are responsible for its behavior! We're wasting time here, you have orientation to attend."

The man finally was able to get the young woman to move. The teen girl's feet stumbled a little as the man was making smalltalk to make the trip a little better.
"Wait, one thing!," Hoshi spoke up, "What is your name?"
The man's strange eyes, black sclera with glowing yellow dots looked down at her, "Did you not fully regain your consciousness? Your memories must be affected by the timespace transportation."
'Timespace? Teleportation?,' the teen thought as her eyes shot towards the struggling grey beast, 'Where am I now?'
Her head hurt. She tried to remember where she came from. She was horrified to find that she could not remember her past clearly. She knew she had a family. A mother, a father, grandparents. It made her want to cry.
"Oh, it happens. Please come, I'll explain as we walk.," the man smiled kindly, "Since I am so very generous!"
The young woman finally followed the man. He led her to a moonlit courtyard. It was peaceful and beautiful. The tall corvid man cleared his throat to gain her attention once more.
"This is Night Raven College, it is an institution for students from all over the world who demonstrate a rare aptitude for magic. It is the most prestigious in all of Twisted wonderland.," the man said, "And I am Dire Crowley. I serve as the headmage, having been trusted with the care of this school."
"Magic? There must be some mistake.," Hoshi spat and covered her singed hair with her hood.

"The dark mirror chooses those that it perceives as having a talent for magic. They are permitted for admission.," the Headmage continued, "Those who are selected are summoned through gates which appear anywhere."
'I'm gonna be sick. This headache is killing me.,' Hoshi thought as her two orange-red hairs drooped, 'Where was I again when I was taken? Wasn't it in the woods?'
Crowley made her stand straight again after she doubled over, "A black carriage should have come to meet you, carrying such a gate."
She nodded slightly, she did remember such a carriage. She had climbed in willingly... right? Her head hurt even more.
"I remember... meeting a carriage in a dark wood... where people used to sleep in the trees.," the young woman responded, her voice was muffled and distorted by the mask.
"Ah good! That black carriage receives students who are chosen by the black mirror!," Crowley chimed, "it is connected to a gate here on campus. The carriage is a time honored tradition."
Magic aside, Hoshi was a little suspect of why she was chosen. This was a strange place. She did not recognize this architecture. She had to have been transported far from her home. The young woman sighed.
"This time honored tradition kidnapped me, Crowley.," the masked teen huffed.
Again she was ignored, "Now, let us attend your orientation."

Crowley led the girl through the halls to a room. A room with mirrors, floating coffins, a water fountain. And a huge group of boys! Nothing but boys! Not another girl in sight!
'Well shit.,' Hoshi cursed, 'Now I need to find a way to not get anyone's attention.'
She scanned around. Most of the teenaged boys were gathered into several distinct groups, following someone who seemed to be the leader of said group. Save for one. That group was crowded around a floating glowing screen. The teen girl gripped Crowley's sleeve and stepped closer to him. She felt safer with him than with all of these boys, he was a reasonable adult right? Maybe not, he had been ignoring her for a bit. She noticed quite a few boys had animal features. Another young man had extreme beauty, he looked like a fine temple statue. One shorter teen had bright red hair. Another had white hair and a sinister scheming smile. Another had tan skin and a fun loving smile. So many people woth distinct features.
Hoshi hid behind the headmage as they came in.
The redheaded boy spoke up, "Is orientation over now? Well then, everyone listen up! In the Heartslaybul dorm, I am the law! Break the law and you lose your head!"
The sheer extremism of his words scared the platinum blonde haired girl. She had to be dreaming after falling asleep while reading, she would wake up soon! Right? The teen remembered that she was never a lucid dreamer though. So this could not be a lucid dream.
Another one yawned, he seemed older than everyone else. He had lion ears and a bored yet annoyed expression.
"That was yet another boring ceremony.," the man with lion ears said, "If you are in Savanaclaw, follow me. I'm Goin back to the dorm."
It seemed she was at the tail end of the ceremonies. Everyone else had been through the orientation.

"Newcomers! Let me congratulate you on your achievement first!," the young man with silver hair and glasses chimed with a friendly voice, yet a slimy smile, "As the dorm head of the Octavinelle dorm, I am honored to have the opportunity to assist you on a fulfilling campus life!"
Hoshi felt uneasy, he seemed a little slimy. He only had a half truth in that statement. Her uneasiness did not settle down as she saw Grim struggle more against his confines. The cat beast was not giving up.
The handsome boy spoke up, "Where did the headmage go? He left in the middle of the ceremony."
"Some headmage he is.," Grumbled a soft voice from the floating tablet screen.
The friendly looking tan boy with red eyes spoke up, "Maybe he did not feel well? Maybe diarrhea or a tummyache?"
"I absolutely did not!," Crowley burst out, gaining their attention as the teen hid behind him.
She did not want this attention. They might find out about her being a girl or how disgustingly horrid she looked under that mask. Her cursed face and eyes could not be shown to that room full of boys.
"Oh, speak of the devil and he shall appear.," the red headed boy commented.
"If all of you must know, I was looking for our wayward student who had not shown.," the corvid man said and turned to the one hiding behind him, "You are the only one who has not been assigned to a dorm. Go up to the mirror and be quick. I'll watch your familiar."
Hoshi pulled her hood over her head to hide more, she felt eyes on her. As instructed she approached the mirror. There was a face inside the mirror that spoke to her.

"State your name.," the mask like face instructed.
The face was beautiful to the girl. But she could not give her name. She had to give a more male sounding one. She remembered, there was a boy she met in the forest. He had a unique name. Perhaps he would not mind if she used it.
"Yuu.," Hoshi said, hating that she was lying, but knew she had to protect herself.
"Yuu. That nature of your soul is....," the face paused as if confused, "unknown to me. Your soul... I cannot see it. You are a void."
"What did you say?," Crowley spoke in disbelief.
"I cannot see the soul of this one. He is utterly vacant, like the depths of space. No sound, no color, no magic of his own.," the mirror said, "There is no dorm that can be assigned to one as unknowable as this."
Ripples of voices and whispers ran through the room. The pain of being made a spectacle in front of everyone burned the teen girl. She wanted to go back to that library and disappear in the shelves. No, to go back to that forest and fade into the darkness of the night.
"Are you even suggesting that the black carriage made a mistake and went to receive a boy who can't even use magic?," the headmage said furiously.
Hoshi looked down and realized that they did not think she was a girl from how she was dressed! Her chest had been clothed in such a way that the breast shapes could not be defined.
The headmage was still in disbelief, "No! That is absurd! There has never been an error since its century of existence."
"There's a first time for everything.," Hoshi hissed under her breath.

Grim was able to chew his way out of the binds, "Me! Let me have his seat!"
"Not so fast you hyperactive beast!," Crowley scolded.
"Unlike this ugly human, I can actually use magic!," the grey beast exclaimed proudly, "Let me be a student here! I can show you!"
The cat like animal took a deep breath. This alerted everyone around him.
"Take cover! Everyone!," the red headed boy shouted to everybody.
The students obeyed and hit the deck. Blue flames erupted over the room, the red eyed boy was hit. His rear end caught fire.
Crowley was enraged, "Someone! Catch that animal before it sets the school ablaze!"
The lion eared man looked bored, "Can we go or?.."
"What's wrong? I thought you were a hunter, not interested in a little plump morsel like that?," the handsome young man teased the eared man.
"Do it yourself. It's too much effort.," the man said with annoyance.
Hoshi felt awful about the chaos unfolding before her. The bespectacled boy with the slimy smile volunteered to catch Grim, getting egged on by the floating tablet. The young man's who rear end was on fire was screaming for help. Hoshi grabbed him quickly to pull him into the fountain that was under the mirror, putting out the flames. The young man seemed to be relieved at the cool water taking the burning feeling away. Crowley was arguing with students as Grim ran about, spitting blue flames everywhere.
'I can't let him hurt anyone else.,' Hoshi thought, 'He may also hurt himself!'

The glasses wearing silver haired young man and the red headed boy chased after grim, flinging glittering light at the beast. Hoshi ran to cut off Grim's escape. As the furry grey animal came closer, the other two boys saw her kick her leg high into the air. With full force of her anger and the adrenaline still in her blood, she dropped her foot down, landing right beside Grim in a magnificent ax kick. She could have sworn that she felt the tiles beneath her foot shuddered from the impact. The beast stopped suddenly, looking up at the masked girl in horror. Shock of almost getting hit mixed with the look of the mask stunned the beast long enough for the red headed boy to lock a heart shaped collar around the animal's neck.
"Ack! What is this?!," Grim choked on the collar.
The red haired young man answered, "The queen of hearts rule number 23: Do not bring a cat into a formal affair. Your very presence is a violation of that law, you will have to leave immediately."
Hoshi sighed and fell back, the adrenaline wore off. Her hood slipped a bit off of her mask. She could hear whispers and the red haired boy chastising the grey animal before her. She only listened when her new pseudonym was called.
"YUU! DIDN'T I TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR FAMILIAR?!," the crow masked man scolded.
"Listen to me, dammit! This isn't mine!," the oni masked girl snapped back in a disguised voice and stood up, "Your damn carriage kidnapped me, I was almost burned alive by that thing and you never stopped to actually listen to me when I told you this before!"
'This guy is going to have a hell of problematic school year if he's like this, I bet he doesn't even give a crap about these boys.,' the masked girl thought to herself as she fixed her hood back over her head. She found some extra clothes in her sleeves as she fixed them. How did she not notice it before?

Crowley seemed a bit thoughtful now, "Oh, really? Then I'll expell it from campus and not have it cooked for dinner. I'm just so kind. Someone take it away!"
Hoshi watched as the furry animal was dragged away. She now saw his ribbon on him and his blue eyes that matched the fire on his ears. The teen wondered why he wanted to stay so badly. She felt a little bad. Crowley dismissed the students who all left for their dorms. She felt eyes on her and took a quick glance. A young man who was following the handsome young man was looking back at her. Something about him made her shiver. She heard something about one of the dorms heads not being there. It was only her and Crowley left. Even the mirror's face was gone.
"Yuu, I'm afraid that you cannot attend. You don't have the magic necessary to take classes here.," the man said, "But worry not! You can ask the dark mirror to send you home!"
Hoshi turned to the mirror and looked at it. The face had reappeared as Crowley called for it to awaken. However there was a bit of a snag.
"The place where this one comes from... does not exist in Twisted wonderland.," the mirror said, "This soul... does not belong anywhere in this world."
'Figures. I'm getting pranked big time by an oni.,' Hoshi thought with annoyance.
"How is this possible? Why is today so wrought with impossibilities?!," Crowley wailed, "This never happened before, I am truly at a loss. Tell me, where may you be from?"
Hoshi scratched her head, trying to remember. It was hazy, but she was able to give her country and district to the man.
"I do not know of such a place. I usually am intimately acquainted with each student's origins, but this mysterious homeland of yours eludes me.," the man said, "We should go to the library and look it up."

The man extended a hand to her. She took it and followed him.
"I'm glad that I'm not attending for another reason.," The platinum blonde smiled slightly.
"What may that be?," the corvid man asked.
"I'm a girl.," the teen replied.
Crowley stopped dead in his tracks, "Yuu. Tell me you are joking."
"Not at all. I am a female. You just can't tell from this getup.," Hoshi replied.
The greenish haired headmage walked with her some more, "Well then. That's another thing to remember."