𝑳𝜤𝜥𝜠 𝜧𝚨𝑮𝜤𝑪 ➠ [TWST × OM! Solomon]

Prologue - Twisted Wonderland

Darkness. That was what met Solomon's eyes as he regained consciousness, though... he didn't quite remember losing consciousness either. He was in a tight space as far as he could tell, not having much more than three or four inches of space to shift around in. The silver-haired sorcerer's body was mostly upright, but it held a certain weightlessness to it as if he were being suspended in space somehow.

Solomon felt around the small area that enclosed him with his hands, it cushioned the fabric feeling like velvet. Could it be that he was in a coffin? It would make the most sense considering the lack of free space. The velvet interior reminded the violet-eyed man of the coffin that Asmodeus had brought home from one of his magazine shoots. The theme was 'undead beauty' or something of the like, the sorcerer couldn't be bothered to remember.

The silver-haired man's reminiscing was interrupted by the sound of something being unlocked, more explicitly, the coffin he was in. Its lid opened to reveal a man in a crow mask with glowing yellow dots in the abyssal black pits that were his eyes. The man wore a top hat and a black feathered cape; a mostly black color scheme with some purple accents thrown in here and there.

'Ah, what did Asmo call this type of thing again...role-playing?' the sorcerer thought as he took the man's hand and stepped out of the cushioned coffin.

"Greetings, young man! Welcome to the esteemed Night Raven College, the most prestigious educational facility in all of Twisted Wonderland!" The weird crow man theatrically exclaimed, his arms spreading wide in an exaggerated gesture of presentation. "Please do join the other students standing by the entranceway and I shall escort you lot to the mirror chamber, for I am gracious!"

The sorcerer makes a mental note of the man dressed in bird cosplay, recognizing that he might be a member of the faculty, as he does as the man asks and walks over to the growing group of cloaked students by the doorway. A few of the students, in particular, caught the silver-haired man's attention, a rather short one whose slit-pupil red irises seemed to glow in the shadows of their cloak, the one beside them who had long horns that curved around their head, and another whose flaming blue hair peaked out from their cloak. Quite an interesting selection of individuals Solomon has discovered, the sorcerer's violet eyes crinkle at the potential to make more contracts at whatever this institution is.

So this place is called 'Twisted Wonderland'– no– this place is Night Raven College which resides in Twisted Wonderland. The sorcerer purses his lips, is he in another country perhaps? No, that's impossible, he'd have heard about it and probably visited long ago. So then, he must have somehow crossed into a different world again; he really needs to get a handle on that. Oh well, why not just go with the flow like always.

Coming to a stop a few feet from the crowd of now fellow students, the sorcerer sighs in exasperation at the current predicament he's found himself in, unknowingly catching the attention of a tall lion-eared student. Though said student only glances at him, smelling the silver-haired man's slightly off scent of aging books and bergamot was both relaxing and slightly off-putting.

《⋆✰🄻🄸🄺🄴+🄼🄰🄶🄸🄲✧.*》

Arriving in the mirror chamber along with the crowd of fellow first-years; Solomon followed those in front of him and stood off to the side of the room. A massive mirror, eerily similar to a certain cake, stood tall on a platform in the middle of the room, hovering about a foot off the platform. On the side opposite to himself and the other new students, stood seven cloaked figures underneath seven different banners, though he couldn't see their faces, he could tell they were important by the air of authority that each of them exuded.

The strange crow man, now known by Dire Crowley as he introduced himself during the commute, stands just next to the mirror's platform and addresses the crowd of new students. "Ahem. Please approach the Dark Mirror one at a time, we'll start from the left. Once you've been sorted into your house,  go and stand in front of your new house warden." He announces.

One after another, the cloaked first-years step onto the platform, state their name, and be sorted into their house. Heartslabyul, Ignihyde, Scarabia, Heartslabyul, Pomfiore, Savanaclaw, Diasomnia, Diasomnia, Octavinelle, Ignihyde, Pomfiore, Savanaclaw. The crowd thinned with each call of a house's name until it was Solomon's turn. The violet-eyed man casually approached the mirror, his steps were confident but relaxed as he knew that whichever house he was sorted into, he would likely soar into the spot of house warden in the span of a week. He steps onto the platform, stopping in front of the ever-so-familiar mirror that had a hand in bringing him to this world in the first place.

The mask-like face in the mirror looked at Solomon with a scrutinizing gaze, its nose upturned as it physically looked down on him. "State thy name." Said the mirror the same question it had asked all previous students who approached it.

The sorcerer sent the mirror a sly smile, "Solomon." He answers cooly, his voice soft yet authoritative, curious yet all-knowing as if hinting at an underlying message that only he and the mirror could identify. And the mirror identified it.

The Dark Mirror narrows its eyes "The nature of thy soul is radiant. It is older than most and brimming with vast wells of both knowledge and magic. For this soul, no house would be appropriate." The mask-like face states, pursing its lips in anticipation of the reaction it'll get from the man standing in front of it.

There were a few beats of silence before the mirror opened up its lips again "However, it would be wasteful for such a radiant soul not to attend, as such a new dorm shall be established. I shall leave the specifics up to the head mage." The mirror spoke.

Dire Crowley stands rigid and stupefied, his posture frozen like that of a frightened possum. "What!? A whole nother dorm for a single person!? That's– that's ridiculous!" The man in the bird-themed get-up guffawed.

The gossiping murmurs of students broke through the silence of the room, it seemed as though he'd be the talk of the academy once again. This school isn't looking so bad after all.