Chapter Text
"Ah~ my esteemed benefactor...my proud, beautiful flower of evil."
The click of golden heels echoed on the smooth, dark floor of the chamber that the Dark Mirror resided. Keys and crystals hung from the ceiling, clinking together as the ship rocked to and fro.
"You truly are the fairest of them all."
The captain smiled lovingly at it, making sure to compliment his patron thoroughly before asking something of it. A hand reached out of the dark mirk behind the glass, presenting the back of it to him. The feathered captain kissed the surface on the mirror, right where the ring finger would've been if the hand was real. He then whispered the spell from his lips, his eyes boring into the dark glass.
"O Magic Mirror, thy wisdom I entreat,"
"Reveal the visage that I seek."
The black pool swirled, spinning in on itself like a whirlpool. Above deck, the helmsman, faceless and daunting, steered the ship across the dark, roiling sea. He did not notice the creature sneaking onto the deck, nor did he see it trying to open one of the coffins laid strewn from port to starboard.
They awoke with a lurch and a gasp, immediately banging their head against the ceiling. They groaned, clutching at the aching spot on their forehead. Through the blurry, dark world of pain and grogginess, they thought and tried to remember. Name, age, anything that signaled who they were or where they were. When nothing came, that raised faint alarm in their brain. The person was pretty sure that you were supposed to remember stuff like that.
They pressed their hands against the surfaces of the darkness surrounding them, feeling around the cramped space as best as they could. They were laying down in some sort of flat box with a tightly fixed lid upon it.
No. Coffin.
They were in a coffin.
“Shit.” They felt their heart beat against their chest faster than before. They banged against the lid in some hopes to loosen it. “Shit —hey! Hey, is anyone there? I’m in here, I’m not dead please get me out!”
They slammed their hands as hard as they could against the lid of their coffin, but it didn’t budge. They were becoming more and more claustrophobic by the minute, the more time they spent in the dark, cramped space, terrible thoughts worming into their mind. They were going to suffocate, or starve, alone in the dark. The coffin could collapse in on itself and they’d be crushed to death. They could be at the bottom of the ocean, and the water could start pouring in at any moment and drown them. They were going to die, they were going to—
With a jostle and yowl from someone who wasn’t them, the coffin tipped and fell over, popping open the lid and sending them tumbling out onto cold, wooden floorboards. Glancing around, the person found that they were surrounded by coffins just like the one they were trapped in. There were names engraved on the metal plaques hammered into the coffin lids, and glancing at the one on their coffin revealed a name: Yuu.
Before they could fully regain their bearings, however, they were immediately assaulted by small paws with sharp claws.
“Ow, fuck!” Yuu yelled out, covering their face from further harm from the attacking creature.
A shrill voice screeched into their ears. “Gimme! Gimme it!”
The paws started to grab at something tied around their neck, a strange necklace, and tried to pull it off of them. After throwing the creature off didn’t work, they literally pulled the thing from their face.
They stared at the thing, and the thing stared back. They couldn’t tell exactly what it was; somewhere between a cat, a weasel and a raccoon. There were a few oddities to the creature, like the blue fire in its ears, its forked tail, and the fact that it could talk.
“What…”
It squirmed furiously in the person’s arms, trying to get at the necklace. “Gimme that medallion! You don’t need it!”
“Hey, wait—" Yuu exclaimed as it scratched at them. “Seriously, chill the hell out!”
It didn’t. It thrashed and eventually squirmed its way right out of Yuu’s arms after it shot fire at them, forcing them to drop the thing and move out of the way of being burned. Taking the medallion, the creature cackled with it in its mouth before disappearing over the mounds of coffins that cluttered the space.
And Yuu was alone again, confused, hair singed and bleeding slightly. The wind replaced the brief silence with haunting whistles and howls. The sky was dark, with no sun or moon or stars to offer any light. Yuu could hear the creaking of wood and…the crashing of the sea. Were they on a boat? Where the hell were they?
In the distance, Yuu heard the cat-weasel thing yelp, followed by something that sounded like a snap of leather.
“My oh my.” Yuu flinched at the sudden, new voice that pierced their ears. “What, what, what is this?”
They looked up to see a man, holding the now tied up mischievous creature in one hand. He was tall and pale with dark wavy hair. Dark feathers flowed down his back in a sort of cloak, and glittering mirrors and keys hung from his hip. Gold eyes glowed behind a mask resembling a bird, and Yuu thought: oh my God, it’s the fucking Grim Reaper.
They didn’t say anything for a moment, before realizing they should probably answer his question. “Who are you?”
“Ah, so you can speak,” The man chortled and bowed towards them. “I am Dire Crowley. I am the commander of this fine vessel.”
Yuu nodded slowly as they processed the information. “So I’m on a ship.”
“Yes! The Night Raven. Impressive, isn’t it?”
Yuu didn’t know if they could comment on the quality of the ship they were on, since all they could see right now were coffins. They decided to stand up, stumbling as the boat rocked and their knees buckled for a moment. It felt like they hadn’t stood up in forever, and the sea certainly didn’t help with that. They steadied themselves one of the coffins.
“Unhand me!” the creature cried out, wriggling as much as it could in its restraints.
“What…what is that?” Yuu asked.
Crowley glanced at it only for a brief moment. “Some sort of vermin, probably snuck onto the ship.”
The creature scowled. “How dare you! I am the great and mighty Grim! Master of the seas and the great pirate king!”
“Yeah, okay.” Yuu muttered, rolling their eyes.
“Can I have your name?” Crowley asked suddenly, talking over the yowling’s of Grim. “People don’t usually wake up this soon, so I need to figure out who you are so I can file you down.”
“Oh, yes. It’s, uh, Yuu.”
He cocked his head. “Your name is Crowley also? How strange…”
“No, Y-U-U.”
“Ah! Of course, silly me.” Crowley then, after tucking Grim under one arm, took one of the mirrors from his hip and started scrolling through it. “What is your specialty magic, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Magic?” They blinked in confusion.
"Yes, for simplicity’s sake. It's okay to say you're a late bloomer. Or have no magic at all." Crowley explained, or at least, he thought he was explaining. Yuu had no idea what he was talking about.
"...magic?" They questioned again.
“Alright, I’ll just put you down as no magic and—” Crowley paused, staring at the mirror with a puzzled expression. “Huh. That’s…strange.”
“What is.”
"Well, you're name is in here, but there's no information about you on here." He showed them the surface of the handheld mirror, and sure enough, the only thing that was on the surface was a single name in cursive lettering.
"There's no information?" Yuu repeated.
"No."
That was worrying to them, for some reason. Why weren't they listed? Was that bad? If this was a situation where Yuu was being ferried off to the afterlife or something, this was probably that would keep them from going to the other side, or worse, something that would get them kicked off the ship.
Crowley shook his head and frowned at the mirror. "These things are so finicky sometimes. We'll have to consult the big mirror."
"Okay." Yuu said, trying not to have their voice waver.
Crowley led them across the deck, past coffins and barrels. As they went below deck, Yuu caught a glance of someone steering the ship.
They were pretty sure they had no head.
The halls were dark, and were made of something that didn’t quite look like wood.
“Hey, um, Captain Crowley? Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course! What do you wish to inquire?”
“What…what is this place?”
Crowley tapped a finger to his chin. “It’s been a moment since I last checked, but I suppose we’re somewhere in between the Emerald Sea and the Isle of Swords.”
Yuu nodded like they understood what any of that meant.
Finally, they arrived at where they were heading. Keys and clear crystals hung from the ceiling, glittering. There was incense burning, causing the room to be filled with a fine smoke. Green fire light made the smoke glow in a spooky way.
But then there was the mirror. Its frame was silver, the detailing swirling and curing in on itself and the deep, dark glass it surrounded. It gave neither Yuu, Grim or Crowley any reflection on its surface. It simply hung on the wall, mysterious and imposing.
“Dark mirror, reveal to me the truth I seek,” Crowley uttered with gravitas and dramatic flare. “What is the origin of this soul we carry?”
It was silent as they waited for a moment, the mirror swirling around and around before featureless face faded into view. When it spoke, it’s lips did not move, and it’s voice boomed within Yuu’s mind.
They Belong…Nowhere.
They shivered, their skin crawling with the simple words. “What do you mean?”
You Bare The Mark Of The Outlander. No Sea Nor Isle Here Gave You Life Nor Name.
Then came the dreaded question that had been plaguing their mind since they woke up. “Am I…am I dead?”
The mirror looked at them for a brief moment before that booming voice in their mind answered.
No.
Yuu sighed in relief even while their heart was beating against their chest.
Crowley stared pensively at the mirror, gloved fingers splayed over his mouth and chin. "But that makes no sense. Every new arrival comes from somewhere, even if it isn’t here! What do you mean by that, Dark Mirror?”
The Mirror didn’t answer his question. After three measly questions, the face faded back into the void, leaving the two of them with more questions than answers.
“Well, I can’t have you staying here. I have a job to do and cargo to ferry.” Crowley said as he pushed the confused human towards the side of the ship.
Yuu yelped. “You can’t throw me into the ocean! I don’t know how to swim!”
“What? No, no! I’m not that cruel,” Crowley shook his head and gestured to something hanging on the side of the Night Raven. “I’m giving you a boat!”
Yuu looked over the railing and their stomach sunk with dread. It had a top deck and a bottom deck, several holes in the hull that were barely patched up, the mast cracked and almost falling over. Yuu wasn’t even sure if it could float.
"It's a little ramshackle, but I'm sure you can make the most of it!" He said, pushing them onto it with little ceremony.
"What?" Yuu stared at the man in disbelief. He didn’t actually expect them to commander this…this dingy.
“Oh right, I believe that this is yours.” Crowley tossed the medallion to Yuu. It distracted them enough that they didn't notice that they had been cut from the Dark Raven until it was too late.
The boat rocked violently as it hit the water, violent enough to knock Yuu right on their ass and cause a concerning about of creaks and pops in the boat. They looked up to see the larger ship drift away from them, Crowley waving them off with a big smile on his face.
“Good luck, Yuu! May you find your way home!”
“Wait, you can’t just—I don’t know how to use a boat!!”
“I’m sure it’ll be easy!” Crowley waved to the screaming human one last time before turning around and realizing something. “Oh shoot, where did that little monster go?”