A Fool's Guide to the In-Between [A Twisted Wonderland Fanfic]

Chapter 25

For what felt like hours, the boys stood outside the door to the mirror chamber, trying everything they could to break the doors down. But they held strong. The Master had thrown them from the hall and had sealed the doors behind them. The doors wouldn't open until the armies of the Nowhere were strong enough to pass through, and then, they would open and the Nowhere would consume everything it touched. A blight upon the world. 

Che'nya gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists, trying and trying again to teleport into the mirror chamber, but the more he tried, the more he realised that it was absolutely useless. There was nothing he could do to get inside. He had been blocked out. Just like how he had been blocked from teleporting directly into the Nowhere, he was now blocked from teleporting into the cursed room. He let out a frustrated scream, crumpling as he failed once more, and fell to the ground, his hands gripping the polished tile. 

"Malleus," Trey exclaimed suddenly, shooting up from where he had been sitting. "Malleus might be able to open the doors!"

* * *

"Malleus!"

The fae looked up from Lilia, frowning when he saw a vaguely familiar cat running over to him with a panicked look on his face. It took him a moment, but he soon remembered who the cat was, and felt a sense of dread overwhelming him. If the cat was here and his sister wasn't anywhere in the crowd...

"What is it," he asked. Che'nya stumbled into him and Malleus quickly shot out his arms, catching the boy as he fell. 

"Are you all right," Malleus asked, gripping Che'nya's forearms and helping him stand properly again.

"It's Y/N," Che'nya exclaimed, tears streaming down his cheeks. 

Malleus let out an inaudible gasp and turned towards the night sky above them. His worst fears were confirmed when he realised that it was a full moon. One look back at Che'nya, and he knew that something had happened to Y/N.

"What happened," Malleus asked urgently, leading Che'nya away from the whispering Diasomnia students. They didn't know what had happened, nor did they need to know. The less they knew, the easier it would be for them to sleep. 

Che'nya quickly launched into a quick recap of everything that had happened, tears falling quicker with each word that slipped through his lips. Soon he was forced to cling to Malleus to try and keep himself standing. The thought of losing half of him was tearing him apart. He couldn't imagine losing Y/N. Not after everything that they had gone through together. She was his sister and he would fight death to stay by her side.

"Tell me about the Master," Malleus ordered. He held Che'nya tight, not trusting the boy to be able to teleport by himself, and teleported both of them to the entrance to the Mirror Chamber where the boys were waiting for them.

"He-e i-is t-the m-master of t-the N-nowhere," Che'nya sobbed. Trey stepped up to Malleus and took the sobbing Che'nya from him. Che'nya clung to Trey as if he were the only source of light, the only anchor keeping him sane.

Malleus approached the doors and pressed his hand against the wood, his eyes shut in concentration. He wouldn't be able to teleport into the room, but he was able to gather enough information from the pulsing of the magic within. Each wizard's magic had a signature mark to it. This man had a mark in his magic that Malleus knew, and he glared at the doors as he opened his eyes. It was a man he knew well. Too well.

"Come with me," Malleus said, leading the boys away from the Mirror Chamber. They moved with hurried steps, heading into the main section of the castle, and soon they found themselves in the library. Malleus continued to lead them into the darkest parts of the library, and he suddenly turned down an aisle that seemed almost sick. If shelves in a library could feel sick.