Through the Dark Mirror

Book 1 - Chestnut Tarts

After school, Serena picked Naomi up from the infirmary. She looked refreshed and from what Serena could tell, the bruises had gone back. In fact, Naomi was eager to help gather chestnuts after Serena told her about it.

"Are you sure you shouldn't rest some more, just in case?" Serena asked, but Naomi shook her head. "Not a chance. I have excess energy to burn. Besides, that healing potion worked perfectly. There's not an ounce of pain in my body."

"If you say so... Don't even think about collapsing again, you hear me?" Serena warned. "Yeah yeah... sorry for worrying you. We should go meet the others now." Naomi said. "By the way, Crowley will give us a weekly allowance from now on so we can pay for food and necessities. He visited me earlier to give it to me."

"That's good news! We can finally get some groceries." Serena exclaimed. She was worried about money now that they were students and no longer janitors, but it seems Crowley hadn't completely fallen on his head.

They went to the woods behind the campus, where they met Ace, Deuce and Grim. "Among the living again, are we?" Ace teased Naomi. "Next time, you can take the hit from the monster." Naomi said.

"I don't think we'll encounter a monster on school grounds." Deuce said while picking up a chestnut, but the chestnut poked him. "Ow! These things are spiky."

"No shit, Sherlock." Serena said. "Who?" Deuce asked.

"You don't know Sherlock Holmes? Whatever, it doesn't matter." Serena sighed. She constantly forgot that they can't know the same pop culture references as her.

They went to the Botanical Garden to find some equipment to gather the chestnuts with. It was huge, with tons of plants Serena had never seen before. She felt like she stepped into a fairytale forest. They split up to find the tools faster, with Deuce going left, Ace going right, and Serena, Naomi and Grim going straight ahead in hopes of finding a groundskeeper or a shed.

Naturally, Grim wanted to eat the fruits hanging from the plants. Serena warned him not to pick anything, when she suddenly heard an "Ouch" from behind her. She did feel like she just stepped on something...

"Hey! You got some nerve steppin' on my tail and just walking away!" A young man with long, brown and messy hair exclaimed, annoyed. He had animal ears, though Serena couldn't tell what animal it was. He was wearing a school uniform with a yellow vest. That meant he was from Savannaclaw, right?

"Are you the groundskeeper? Not sure you oughta be talking to students like that, pal." Grim said, ground his fluffy forearms. Serena facepalmed. "He's obviously a student, idiot." She hissed under her breath.

"Ain't nothing worse than being in the middle of a good nap and having some jerk step on your tail." The man huffed, glaring at them.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to!" Serena quickly said. "And please ignore Grim, he's an idiot."

"Hey!"

The man eyed the three for a moment. "I know you... You're the herbivores from orientation who couldn't use magic." He smirked, but Naomi noticed he was somehow taking a defensive stand? Was he scared of them?

Despite that, he suddenly started sniffing the girls from about three feet away. "Are you... smelling us?" Serena asked, weirded out. "Huh... It's true. You don't smell of magic at all." The man said.

"We could've told you that! You didn't have to sniff us like a dog!" Serena said. She was getting annoyed by that dude and balled her fists. The man's ears went flat for a moment, then he just huffed.

"You're lucky you two are women. Anyone else would've lost a tooth for this."

So he's a feminist, huh? Just then, a shorter boy with droopy eyes and also wearing a yellow vest called out to the man. Apparently his name was Leona. Leona got annoyed that the boy reminded him of his afternoon classes and made fun of him for having to repeat a year already. That's why he seemed older, huh? The boy, whose name is Ruggie, also got annoyed at Leona for always having to be on his case on how Leona could have it so easy if he just tried. They walked off.

"What was up with that guy?" Serena sighed. Naomi shrugged. "I feel like he's scared of women?"

"Do I really look so threatening? I have the danger level of a pillow."

Naomi chuckled. "A pillow can still suffocate someone."

"Fair enough."

Just then, Ace and Deuce called out for them as they found the baskets and tongs. They collected the chestnuts while they told them about their encounter with Leona. Once they gathered enough, they returned to the cafeteria, or rather the kitchen behind the cafeteria where Trey was already waiting. Together, they peeled them all, which was surprisingly quick given there were so many. Then again, they were with six people.

Next, they had to puree all the chestnuts. Serena began humming a tune, a melody from one of her favorite bands back in her home world. She even danced along to it, like she was actually listening to it.

"What are you humming there?" Naomi asked curiously. Serena blushed a little. "Oh... just a song back from my world. It's from a medieval rock band."

"Medieval rock? What kind of genre is that?" Ace asked, huffing as he struggled with the chestnuts. "Well, you know rock music, right? Medieval rock incorporates traditional instruments and folk music elements into rock music. The band I'm referring to in particular writes songs about ancient tales, but also often criticize social standards. They're effectively modern-day bards."

"That sounds so interesting! I haven't come across mixed genres here in Twisted Wonderland." Deuce commented. Naomi also chimed in: "Where I come from, we only really have religious music. There's little variability in genres, though I learned about different kinds of music during my travels."

Ace smirked. "Come on, Serena, don't be shy! Why don't you sing that little tune you hummed earlier to us?"

"Well, if you don't mind..." Serena began singing, though she stopped when she saw that nobody understood her.

"What language was that? I don't think I've ever heard it." Trey asked.

"It's German, my native language." Serena said. "I come from a country called Germany."

"Germany... what kind of place is that?" Ace asked. Serena shrugged. "Honestly, I'm quite comfortable there. It has great architecture and culture, and honestly as far as countries go, it's a lot better off than other countries. Like, we have a pretty fair jurisdiction system, free healthcare, and it's generally pretty safe. I don't have to worry about being killed in school."

"Killed in school? You're saying that's something to be worried about in other countries?!" Trey exclaimed.

"Unfortunately, some countries allow pretty much anyone to own a weapon. I'm lucky not to live there." Serena said. "On another note, I think we finished pureeing everything, right?"

They indeed finished, finally. Trey mentioned just having to add butter, sugar and oyster sauce to the paste. Hold up-

"Oyster sauce?!" All of them exclaimed. Trey nodded, telling them that all the best bakers use it in their tarts. He had to be pulling their legs, right?

... He was. He admitted that it was just a joke and laughed about it. Serena was relieved it was just a joke, because seriously? That would've been too much even for a place called Twisted Wonderland.

Trey then noticed that they had gathered so many chestnuts they didn't have enough cream to mix in. Deuce immediately offered to get some at the school store. Since he was already going, Trey gave him a list of other things to bring. But now it was too much to carry by himself, so Deuce asked Naomi to come along, who agreed. Grim also decided to tag along, since he was tired of stirring.

"If they have sleeping masks, could you get me one?" Serena asked Naomi. "Sure. I'll pick up some groceries as well since we're already there. Do you have any allergies?"

"Pollen, but as far as I know that's not food." Serena said with a shrug. Naomi nodded with a sigh, then left with Deuce.