Work Text:
Setting: Welcome to Night Raven College! Harvard for magical teenagers (16~18)! And, like the people who go to Harvard, everyone there is an annoying asshole, because they’re WAY too smug about their magical abilities.
You/Yuu are a magicless person from another world who mistakenly got dragged here, and have no way home! Dire Crowley, the school’s headmaster, has given you a place to live (though whether it can be called ‘livable’ is…), so long as you do whatever he tells you to. Good luck, Charlie!
Key terms you may see:
Blot: stress/magic overuse
Overblot: magic mental breakdown
Phantom: the magic mental breakdowns can lead to the breakdown-haver’s death, and the Phantom is a huge monster that is left behind
UM/Unique Magic/Signature Spell (do NOT abbreviate that one): magic that is specific to the user
Madol/Thaumarks/Sorcent: currency
Magift/Spelldrive: magic football
STYX: a research lab that studies Phantoms and Overblot
The Underworld: where STYX keeps the most dangerous Phantoms
Prologue
New Characters:
Grim: First year. A type of monster called a direbeast. Cat-shaped. Basically a toddler who wants to become a Great Mage one day (replace Great Mage with Pop Star and you see the vision). Greedy, lazy, has a bottomless stomach, and insists that the player is his henchman. Cares for and is extremely protective of his henchman. No Unique Magic as of now. Specializes in fire magic.
Ace Trappola: First year. Manipulative, evil little guy. Also, one of your best friends. He has an inferiority complex. And a mean streak. But he’ll stand up for you when it counts, and will go so far as to spend his entire break travelling to save you with a simple SOS text. He cares! Unique Magic: he can steal a person’s magic (and use it for himself if he knows it well enough).
Deuce Spade: First year. Your other best friend. Ex-delinquent. He was a delinquent in middle school, at least in part because he was already struggling academically and wanted an excuse to fail. Then he saw his mother crying into her phone and decided he never wanted to make her cry like that again. His NRC acceptance is his brand-new start. However, he occasionally slips up and falls back into old habits. Please support him, anyway, okay? Unique Magic: can compile all the damage sent his way and throw it back at his attacker(s).
Yuu: this is you! Yay!
Plot: You wake up in a coffin in another world in the middle of a weird magic high school. Welcome to your new life! Sorry about any potential trauma. Anyway, a magic cat is trying to kill you for your clothes. Shit happens. Luckily, the headmaster stops Grim from murdering you.
Unluckily, you’re not able to go home, so he sends you to a rundown old dorm on the edge of campus, so long as you take on a few janitorial duties as ‘thanks’. Grim sneaks in and begs for help becoming a Great Mage, and he’s really cute, so you let him stick around. Which is convenient, because the ghosts that live in your dorm aren’t too fond of newbies and attempt to murder you, and having a personal flamethrower is really good for getting them to back off.
But there’s no time for you to stew in that trauma or anything, because you are a janitor, now! Unfortunately for you, Ace has decided to make fun of you and Grim for being unaware of the world you woke up in literally yesterday (Grim has no excuse, though). Which is annoying but fine – no, wait, Grim is trying to kill him. Okay. And Ace is fighting back, obviously, because being murdered sucks.
Oh no, collateral damage. They’ve burned a super important statue or whatever.
Aaaaaand you have to clean even more things, now, great. At least Ace will have to help with… this… part… nevermind, he ditches you immediately.
No. That’s enough bullshit. You’re bringing him with you to help out of sheer spite at this point. You enlist the help of a random mage, and Deuce ends up flattening Ace with a cauldron. Which, yeah, he got him to stop running away, but also holy shit, is he dead?
Oh. He’s fine. Let’s go clean those windows now – aw damn it, Grim’s running away now. And Ace isn’t going to allow SOMEONE ELSE to ditch, so you have to chase him. Deuce gets dragged along, too, because misery loves company.
Remember how Deuce totally fucked up that capturing Ace thing? Yeah. He fucks up again. And ruins a huge chandelier in the cafeteria.
Oh. You’re all expelled.
You’re homeless now. Congrats!
The Headmaster says that if you can get this one specific stone from a specific mine, he’ll let you return to school.
The mine is haunted. By ghosts. And a huge monster. You use the power of teamwork and friendship to defeat it.
Congrats on your newfound trauma bond with Ace, Deuce, and Grim. It’s for life, now.
Grim eats the Big Rock that the monster dropped when it died. This is a surprise tool that will help us later.
And, as a bonus, you’re no longer expelled. Grim gets to go to school, now, too, and you’re his official guardian. All’s well that ends well.
Book 1: Heartslabyul
New Characters:
Riddle Rosehearts: Second year. Dorm leader. Mommy issues incarnate. His mother had his day scheduled down to the minute while he was growing up. The micromanaging actually worked and turned him into an extremely successful mage with perfect grades, so now he thinks this is The Way. Unique magic: magic collars that get rid of your magic (note: useless if you don’t have magic for him to block…).
Trey Clover: Third year. Vice dorm leader. Older brother-type. Riddle’s childhood best friend. His parents own a bakery, and he helps out from time to time. He says he doesn’t like baking, but he is a bitchass liar. He is also a huge pushover, particularly when he understands where someone is coming from/feels bad for them. Basically, Riddle’s #1 enabler. Unique Magic: can overwrite any of the five senses.
Cater Diamond: Third year. Magicam influencer. He’s a cheerful, slightly flirtatious guy who is secretly extremely depressed. His family moved around a lot when he was growing up, so he doesn’t really know how to form strong, lasting bonds with anyone. He is self-preserving to a fault, and prone to going with the flow. Unique Magic: can make clones of himself.
Plot:
Ace was snacky at midnight, and Riddle did NOT appreciate him stealing a slice of a tart from the fridge. He collars Ace and throws him out of the dorm.
He’s your problem now. He overstays his welcome almost immediately by being annoying as fuck and also objectively in the wrong for stealing the tart in the first place. Yes, Riddle was overreacting, but like. Stealing food is fucked up, man.
You go to apologize. Cater stops you and asks for help painting the roses. He was using you. He throws you out of the dorm the second you’re done doing his work for him and tells you not to come back until you have a tart to replace the one you stole.
You go to the only teenager on not-Earth who knows how to cook – Trey. Trey agrees to help, and you make a chestnut tart. But it’s late by the time you finish the tart, and Riddle has a strict bedtime, so you’re stuck with Ace again. And Deuce, for some reason. At some point, you just gotta stop questioning things.
Riddle is throwing an Unbirthday party.
Chestnut tarts are not allowed at Unbirthday parties.
He collars Deuce, too, and then sends you away. Doesn’t even let you take a slice of cake home with you… and he threw out your tart for sullying his party or whatever, so you can’t even get that…
Trey says to cut Riddle some slack, he had a tough childhood. Ace says, “SO IT'S YOUR FAULT YOU ENABLER”. Which was not the point of that story, but okay.
Crowley tells Ace to fight Riddle for his dorm leader spot. Crowley, what the fuck. You are a teacher. A HEADMASTER. Stop encouraging violence.
Especially since Riddle takes them out in seconds. And he isn’t a graceful winner, either, for the record. He’s reading everyone to filth, NO ONE is safe. Not even the random magicless student. Like, dude, you’re just standing in their nearby proximity, why’s he going after you and your whole family –?!
Ace gives the dude a well-deserved slap and tells him that he’s a tyrant. And not even the cool kind.
Riddle throws a magical tantrum. Turns into a monster with zero self-control and TONS of murderous tendencies. You beat up the physical manifestation of his trauma with the power of friendship. Trey and Cater even help! Yay! Extra FriendshipTM that you can use to beat his ass.
Grim eats the Big Rock that the monster dropped when it died. This is a surprise tool that will help us later.
Riddle is crying and apologizing profusely. Ace says that that’s not enough. He wants a redo of the Unbirthday party, and RIDDLE has to make an apology tart this time.
Riddle fucks up the tart so bad it’s not even funny. It’s too salty. Did-you-mix-up-salt-and-sugar salty.
Everyone laughs it off, and the day is saved once again.
Book 2: Savanaclaw
New Characters:
Leona Kingscholar: Third year. Dorm leader. Lion hybrid. Depression incarnate. Local man sleeps so much that he has truancy. He’s the second prince of the Sunset Savanah, and his older brother already has an heir, so there’s no chance of him ever becoming king. Outside of them just straight up dying, but he doesn’t HATE hate them, sooooo that’s not an option. Because of this, he believes that, no matter how hard he tries, it will never Matter. So why try? Unique Magic: turns things into sand.
Ruggie Bucchi: Second year. Hyena hybrid. Poor as dirt. Sneaky little dude. It is heavily implied that hyena hybrids in general are a kind of underclass? Will do just about anything to scrape by. Wants more than anything for Leona to become king, as he believes that anything would be better than the current system, and Leona WANTS to change things, alas… it isn’t that simple. Unique magic: can make other people mirror his body movements.
Jack Howl: First year. Wolf hybrid. In the friend group. Tsundere. Fond of cacti, probably sees himself in them. Has a strong sense of justice and duty. Used to look up to his seniors, but they attempted murder several times, which may or may not be a deal breaker for him. Unique magic: can turn into a full-fledged wolf. Awoo.
Plot:
Magic football exists, and it is called Magift/Spelldrive. To teenagers, this magical homecoming game is all that matters.
For the past few years, this one guy named Malleus Draconia has been BODYING the competition.
It has gotten to the point where they’re willing to actively sabotage each other in order to have a better chance of winning. For, you see, the games are broadcast on live TV and it would be suuuuper lame to lose in front of the entire world.
Crowley has decided that your janitorial job now includes a foray into investigative journalism. Figure out who is causing all the ‘random’ injuries on campus now, or else… your darling baby boy Grim won’t be able to play Magift on live TV, and he would be very sad.
Trey is a casualty. He breaks his leg, which means the entirety of Heartslabyul bands together to murder whoever did this to him. Yay! Help! (Also RIP to Trey, I guess…)
I’m going to save you from the most obvious mystery in the game. It’s the Savanaclaw boys. Leona is directing Ruggie to use his Unique Magic to stage ‘accidents’ for all of the star players on other teams. But how can you stop this…?
He tries to take out the entirety of Malleus Draconia’s team on Game Day via Ruggie-led stampede. They trample the entire team!
But! It was just Cater and his clones! No one is hurt!
Their plan failed, and Leona just… gives up. Which is super unsatisfying.
Even Ruggie agrees. They need to win this! To prove that they can be more than what the world thinks of them!
He says he was just humoring Ruggie. Ruggie is rightfully upset about this. Leona is not-so-rightfully attempting murder because it’s the only way to get Ruggie to Shut Up.
If you had a nickel every time a senior had a magical breakdown and you had to defeat it with the power of friendship, then you would have two nickels. Which would be useless in this new world, but hey. Shinies.
Grim eats the Big Rock that the monster dropped when it died. This is a surprise tool that will help us later.
Savanaclaw is allowed to continue to play the game. But only because the entire school wants to beat their asses.
Grim gets to play on a team, and it’s really cute for approximately five seconds. Until you get hit in the head with what is essentially a metal frisbee and get knocked the fuck out.
You wake up in the infirmary. Leona and Ruggie are there. Again, they got beat to shit, soooooo you’d hope they were getting medical attention.
But you know who else is there? The one thing that is even worse than a rapist – a child!!!
It is the heir apparent to the Sunset Savanah. Leona has an inferiority complex over a child. Everyone point and laugh.
Book 3: Octavinelle
New Characters:
Azul Ashengrotto: Second year. Dorm leader. Octopus merman. Runs a restaurant on campus. Probably in the mafia. Capitalist. Dramatic as fuck. Decided to make the bullying he endured as a child everyone else’s fault. Has been steadily stealing the specialties of everyone he’s ever met and disliked via shady back alley deals that only he truly benefits from. Unique magic: magically-binding contracts that he can use to steal literally anything from you.
Jade Leech: Second year. Vice dorm leader. Eel merman. Floyd Leech’s twin brother. Definitely in the mafia. Evil butler-type. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Loves things he finds ‘interesting’. Which is most things on land, since he’s only been on land for a little over a year, and everything is still new to him. Canonically, all his siblings… died under mysterious circumstances, so he has no time to spend on things that aren’t interesting. Unique magic: can make a person spill all of their secrets (can only be used once per person).
Floyd Leech: Second year. Eel merman. Jade Leech’s twin brother. Also definitely in the mafia. Extremely prone to mood swings. Happy one minute, pissed off and bored the next. Also loves things he finds interesting, for similar reasons, but is prone to dropping them after a few minutes. Gives everyone fish-themed nicknames. Likes squeezing people within an inch of their lives. Unique magic: makes everyone’s magic act ‘funny’, usually by redirecting it.
Plot:
Finals season. Everyone’s worst nightmare.
But everyone passes!
In fact… everyone does… weirdly well… and is weirdly invested in finding out who the top 50 scorers in their year are…
Weird anemones sprout out of the heads of nearly the entire student population and start dragging them away. Including Ace, Deuce, and Grim.
Jack sighs. And you follow after them. NOT because he’s concerned or anything, he just wants to figure out what’s going on. And the answer is… that they all made deals with the guy who dresses like a mafia boss every day. He said he would give them study guides and, so long as they scored within the top 50, they would be perfectly fine. If not, though… they would be forced to work for him until they graduated, AND he got to keep whatever they gave him. The game should allow the player to call their besties stupid for falling for this, but cest la vie.
Crowley has decided that he doesn’t want to deal with this because whatever Azul was going to ask him for would be WAY too expensive, so he makes you deal with it.
Azul offers a wager: if you can get a specific photo from an underwater museum within three days, he will release all of the students. He will provide the water-breathing potions, all you have to do is prove your worth.
Azul wants your house as collateral. He wants to rebuild it. So he can make another branch of his restaurant. And apparently, he can't do that unless you’re not there. No, he won’t let you live in the attic, shut up.
You do it. Because Ace, Deuce, and Grim are clearly suffering. And the plot requires it.
Surprise surprise, the guy who is known for making shady deals that only he benefits from and making wagers you can never win… was planning to cheat! Everyone gasp.
Water is the mermens’ homefield. You are not winning this.
Not in a fair way, anyway.
You know who is an expert at not fighting fair? The guy who nearly sabotaged all the competition for a randomass homecoming game!
Leona offers his help (because he has a contract with Azul he wants to get rid of, too…), and after a LOT of careful coordination, Leona manages to dissolve the contracts into sand.
Everyone is free!
And all of the years of hard work that Azul had put in were literally falling through his fingers like sand…
To add insult to injury, you actually DO manage to bring the photo to him in time. A total loss.
Time for magic-breakdown-friendship-is-magic-bullshit. Grim eats the Big Rock that the monster dropped when it died. You get the drill by now.
Azul puts the photo back. It’s a photo of him in middle school. He had been trying to systematically erase all evidence of his childhood, as he hates who he was (due to years and years of bullying and exclusion). But running from his past only made him more terrified of people figuring out the ‘real’ him, and he needs to learn to move on.
He’s still gonna be evil though. As a treat.
Book 4: Scarabia
New characters:
Kalim Al-Asim: Second year. Dorm leader. If I were a rich man –. Actually really sweet if you ignore the indentured servitude. He’s the heir to a business empire back home. Some people are not very happy about this. People try to poison him all the time. But never fear! He hasn’t processed any of that trauma, and therefore, it isn’t real! Unique magic: can make lots of water… yes, that’s it.
Jamil Viper: Second year. Vice dorm leader. Kalim’s main servant. He has zero autonomy at all when Kalim is around because Kalim is completely incompetent in everything he does. However, if Kalim ever STOPS being useless, his job becomes obsolete, and Kalim’s family has no need for him. He is caught in a cycle of despising Kalim for getting everything a person could ever want because he was born lucky, and needing Kalim because Kalim is far kinder than any other person would be in his position. Unique magic: mind control.
Plot:
Winter break! Everyone gets to go home! Except you, silly, you don’t HAVE a home anymore, remember?
Don’t worry, there are other people staying at school during the break. Like the mafia. And the entirety of Scarabia dorm.
You choose to hang with Scarabia. For obvious reasons. But things aren’t right there, everyone is on edge. There’s a huge party going on, a feast with mouthwatering food, music blasting, but everyone seems to be eyeing Kalim like he’s a teapot about to explode. Which is weird because he’s actually a really nice dude?
Oh. No. He’s hiding a darker side. This is clearly on you for daring to believe that there would be a normal, functioning human at this godforsaken school. You have been kidnapped. Again.
You send a text to Ace and Deuce for help, but what’re they gonna do? They’re literally across the world right now. You also call Crowley but he sends your ass straight to voicemail, because he sucks.
Supposedly, Kalim snapped when his dorm did badly in both the Magift tournament AND midterms. Like, pick a struggle, guys. So, they are all staying home over the break and doing a training camp. Which means walking to the oasis every morning and beating each other up with magic and…
Hey, at a certain point, you just gotta call it quits. Sometimes, it ain’t worth it. I feel you.
But.
STOP! GOING! TO! THE! MAFIA! FOR! HELP!
But it works out this time, somehow, because Azul uncovers the whole evil plot that was, apparently, Jamil’s doing! He was mind-controlling Kalim to be evil! And Azul has Jamil admitting to his crimes on tape!
Jamil crashes out. All he wanted was a FEW YEARS away from Kalim, but no, even at BOARDING SCHOOL, he can’t get away.
You fight the physical manifestation of his trauma with the power of friendship. This is becoming a pattern…
Grim searches through the rubble that was once a dorm like a crack addict until he finds the Big Rock he was looking for. He goes a little bit feral when he eats it, but manages to get it under control.
You hold another party. At the oasis this time. All’s well that ends well…?
Wait. There are two people on the horizon!
Ace and Deuce came to help you! They’re fucking LATE, but they still tried! This is how you know they’re real ones.
Book 5: Pomefiore
New characters:
Vil Schoenheit: Third year. Dorm leader. World-class supermodel, influencer, and actor. He sparkles when you look at him. He is typecast as a villain in every role he plays because of his unattainable beauty. As one might expect, being told you look like a ‘villain’ every day in your life kinda does something to your brain chemistry after a while. Unique magic: can place curses on objects, which is (somewhat) different from poisons because he can directly choose the effect and duration.
Rook Hunt: Third year. Vice dorm leader. And French (ew). Stalking charges are imminent. He’s a hunter, and quite possibly wants to murder several students on campus just to see what it’s like. He’s also an art appreciator. He sees beauty in everyone else, but when it comes to himself, he just can’t seem to find anything good to say. He’s a huge Vil stan (and a huge stan of his Mortal Enemy/the guy who keeps getting the roles he wants). Unique magic: can track anyone or anything for long distances.
Epel Felmier: First year. Part of the friend group. The cutest little guy around (and hates it). He’s a farmboy, and HATES that everyone thinks he’s cute and harmless. Unfortunately for him, he got sorted into the dorm that is known for its beauty, and Vil is VERY strict about looking your best. He’s also highkey misogynistic because he wants to distance himself from the femininity everyone keeps trying to push onto him. Unique magic: traps people in an eternal slumber that only he can break.
Plot:
Listen. It’s a boyband arc. I don’t know what to tell you, man.
The school culture fair includes an interschool song and dance championship, and the prize money is INSANE, so you KNOW Ace and Grim are going to try out.
Deuce isn’t all that interested… until he comes across Epel, who is being forced into being a part of the boyband. Much to his eternal dismay. He tries out out of concern for Epel, because he wants to make sure that he’s being treated okay.
They get on the team for plot reasons. So do Jamil and Kalim. Again. Plot reasons.
Crowley has decided that you are the team’s manager. For pl –. Also, because he doesn’t want to do it. At least you get some of the prize money if you win…
Honestly, there’s not much to say about this arc. It’s very character-driven, but a lot of the arcs that it starts kind of fall flat? Jamil is the center of attention for once, he gets one of the main roles, but he doesn’t reaaaaally get the time to shine. Kalim wants to win through his own merits for once, but he never beats anyone out of the running for the main spots. Epel resolves to use his cuteness to get ahead in life, but they lose, so it didn’t work. The only one that ends up working is Deuce and Ace’s rivalry, with Deuce finally getting one over on Ace, but 25% is NOT a passing grade, babes.
Oh. Yeah. They lose the competition. By a single point. To Neige LeBlanche, the person who has always gotten the ‘hero’ role in their acting jobs. To the one that the public loves more.
Vil ATTEMPTS MURDER?????????
No time to linger on that. You have to fight the physical mani –.
The show goes on. Everyone is singing and dancing and laughing.
Oh. Yeah. And you still lost the competition. RIP.
Book 6: Ignihyde
New Characters:
Idia Shroud: Third year. Dorm leader. The son of the two main guys at STYX. Sometimes you watch your little brother die a horrible death in front of you and are powerless to stop it. Sometimes you become a shut-in with severe social anxiety. Sometimes you build a robot in their image as an unhealthy coping mechanism for that grief. Happens to the best of us. Unique Magic: can open the gates to the Underworld.
Ortho Shroud: First year (unofficial until end of arc). Part of the friend group. The aforementioned robot who was built to cope with grief. As a little brother replacement, he, of course, loves (and frets over) Idia. He isn’t human, but a small part of him wants to be. He’s just a little guy. With technomagic laser beams that can level a city block within seconds.
Plot:
So remember all those Big Rocks Grim ate? The surprise tools that will help you later? Now is later.
You notice Grim is missing from bed that night and go to look for him. You find him at the boyband venue, chowing down on yet another Big Rock. When you try to call out to him, he goes all My Precious on you and attacks you.
Obviously, this is concerning behavior. You call for help because what else are you gonna do? Get attacked again? No thanks, that sounds like a problem for all the people you have saved and are therefore in your debt now. Go forth, debtors, deal with The Problem.
Okay. So. Downsides of letting someone else deal with your problems. They have carted off Grim to what appears to be Magic Animal Control.
But never fear! More problems arise, and you have to deal with THOSE, too!
Now, imagine this - you’re one of the five kids who has recently Overblotted, but you’re getting better thanks to the combined efforts of your friends and school-sanctioned therapists. You’re chilling out after school, having fun, AND THEN. You get kidnapped by a legion of armored guards who are NOT scared to taze you.
(I did not say it would be FUN to imagine)
Sometimes, five of your schoolmates get kidnapped for the sake of human experimentation, and the one doing the human experimentation is your classmate. What can I say, life for isekai-ed protagonists is weird.
Rook, Epel, and Yuu go on a trip on their favorite broomsticks to help.
Idia, the apparent acting director (because his parents, the actual directors, wanted him to play nice and make friends), insists it will only take around 24 hours to run all of the tests they want to run. Since they had survived their OBs, which isn’t very common, they’re valuable test subjects.
They play video games while they wait for the protagonist to show up. I mean to pass the time while test results come in and while a Phantom is transported.
Ortho is happy to see his brother interacting with others and making friends.
Alas. It is a doomed friendship. All of the Overblotters are going to have their memories erased at the end of the day because. Y’know. Secret debatably-unethical lab in the middle of nowhere needs to remain a secret.
Unless!!!!!! Ortho Does Something about it…
But let’s forget all those ominous vibes! Because the Protagonist is here!
Rook gives Vil some beauty products. Get you a man who cares about your skin so much that he’s willing to come to an evil laboratory just to make sure you don’t get any pimples.
… so, I say the place is evil, but that’s more because of the Evil Phantoms than the scientists.
Anyways. The Evil Phantoms lure Ortho into setting them free.
And imitate Idia’s dead brother/possibly use whatever is left of the DEAD CHILD’s consciousness and corpse to lure Idia down as well.
Uh.
No time to unpack all of that! Friendship! You’ve gotta use the friendship!
Grim!!!!!! Your son is being fucking possessed by the evil Phantom. Concentrate on that. And FUCKING KILL IT.
All’s well that ends well. This is a Disney story, after all.
You make up with Grim.
Idia and Ortho recontextualize their friendship and reaffirm that they love each other. Idia says Ortho is more than just a replacement, and it’s like. Bro we just saw you try to revive your dead brother but okay.
Oh, and the AI has been jailbroken. Congrats to Ortho for having a consciousness.
Wait what.
Book 7: Diasomnia
New Characters:
Malleus Draconia: Third year. Dorm leader. Dragon fae. One of the top five mages in the world. Heir to a throne. Practically guaranteed to live for a thousand years (is currently 118). He’s got it all. Except for friends. He’s very lonely. Because people fear him or worship the ground he walks on, but no one Truly cares to know or get close to him. Other than Lilia. And the protagonist. Also, he likes gargoyles. This is a fundamental character trait. Unique Magic: Can put everyone to sleep and force them to have whatever dream he wants them to.
Lilia Vanrouge: Third year. Vice dorm leader. Bat fae. Old as FUCK bro. Like 500+. Going to die of old age soon. I mean what who said that. He fought in The War. Literally. He was a war general, back in his heyday. Is preoccupied with appearing ‘young’ and ‘cute’. Did not steal any children away fae-style, but is certainly raising a hell of a lot of them. Unique Magic: can see the history of any item he touches.
Silver (Vanrouge): Second year. Literally Just Some Guy. He got picked up by Lilia as a baby, and Lilia raised him as his own. He’s also the son of the colonizer that Lilia fought. He has complicated feelings about it, obviously. Unique Magic: can enter other people’s dreams at will.
Sebek Zigvolt: First year. Half human, half crocodile fae. Part of the friend group. Malleus’s number one fan. Humans attempted to colonize fae lands Back In The Day, and he has the WORST case of mixed kid syndrome about it. He has internalized racism toward humans and takes it out on just about everyone. Don’t worry, though, he gets better. Unique Magic: taser.
Plot:
I can’t really ease you into this one gently. Um. Bear with me here.
Lilia is old as fuck, and his magic is fading. Which means. He is dying.
His many unofficially adopted children have Emotions about this. Obviously.
And, since his magic is fading, he can’t really attend a mage school…
Speaking of magicless students! Let’s check in on the protagonist.
Okay. So. Listen. You have these weird kind of dreams where you enter your mirror and see Mickey Mouse. This is just. A thing that happens. Shrug.
But. Mickey Mouse is in another world, so the forest years theorize that maybe the mirror is connected to alternate dimensions. Meaning, maybe, you can figure out a way to go home!
You go to tell your BFF, Malleus Draconia, about this (just trust the devs on this, you’re besties…) and he freezes up.
For you see. You have just triggered his Trauma.
Everyone around him is dying or leaving and what will HE be left with?
He crashes Lilia’s farewell party (apparently, you CAN crash a party you are invited to) mid magic mental breakdown.
But, for once, you can’t beat up the mental illness! He’s too strong!
He puts everyone into dreams where everyone can live their best lives, completely free from their trauma.
Listen. Listen. The dreams. They’re… long and repetitive. You go around with Silver, Sebek, Ortho, and miscellaneous other students to help people defeat their trauma.
And then you all break out of the dream world together!
Oh. Right. Real life is a Fucking Nightmare.
One of the strongest people alive is Overblotting.
Yike.
But this time! You have magic weapons on your side, courtesy of Idia/STYX. This time, you are
Lilia gets fucking merked by Malleus during the battle. Brutal.
Malleus, obviously, has a breakdown about it. Everyone is crying and traumatized and –.
Uh. The power of love brings him back! Happy! Yay!
Holy shit!
Um!
Dance party there’s a dance party yayyyyy! Everyone’s good and happy and not at all in desperate need of therapy after this! Sweet!