Hi everyone! Friday once more and a new chapter up and ready to go!

I want to take a moment to thank my reviewers for this story. Coming into fanfic again and positing online, I was pretty nervous as I haven't been active for quite a while and wasn't sure what the reception would be. But it is wonderful to read the kind reviews and comments on what they liked and where improvement could be made.

For those who posted questions in the comment section, I'll be addressing them in the Author's Notes, so check them out afterwards!

Enjoy!

Chapter 3:

What felt like only a second of shut eye, Claire woke up after being violently wacked on the head.

"Ow! What the – Grim!"

"They're back!" he screamed and pointed to the three familiar ghosts floating next to the bed and wore rather creepy grins.

"What are you guys doing here!" Claire demanded, instinctively pulling her covers to her chin.

"We heard that you will be living here from now on," the skinny ghost said. "We just wanted to give you a proper welcome and wake you up for your first day of work."

"You don't want to be late," the small one added.

"If you laze about, you'll never wake up again – just like us!" The chubby one added with a devilish grin.

"Get back here!" Grim hissed as the three crackled and vanished. "One of these days, we'll get them."

"So, it wasn't a dream," Claire groaned, pulling the covers over her head.

Everything from last night came rushing back to her, and the thought of starting a new day in this foreign magical place vexed her. Exactly how was she going to fit in this school if she didn't have a single drop of magic to begin with?

Claire was still lost in thought when she heard a knock on the door.

"Good morning, Claire! Are you awake?" the muffled voice asked.

"Cro-Headmaster?!" Claire sat up and scrambled out of bed, knocking the sheets and Grim to the ground, "Just a second!"

"Please get dressed and meet me downstairs," he said, "I would like to go over your task for today."

"Yes of course! Come on, Grim," Claire ordered as she changed behind the dressing screen.

"But it's so early," Grim mumbled, still lying on the floor. "Besides, I don't want to clean."

"I know this is not what you want, but if you want to stay here, you might as well do what Cro- the Headmaster says," Claire said, inspecting her reflection in the smoky mirror on top of the mantle.

Claire Tyche – Night Raven College newest handyman.

For the first time since she came to this world, Claire finally got a good look of her appearance and saw a rather exhausted and messy reflection staring back at her. She had no hair accessories, so Claire made do with a simple ponytail tied up into a bun with a rubber band. However, because her hair was thick and wavy, some loose strands of her russet brown hair escaped and fell over her bloodshot eyes. Inspecting the mirror close, she noticed her pale skin was starting to break out with acne once more. If she didn't restart her facial care routine soon, her face will be covered with nothing but ugly red pimples.

She sighed as she looked down at the grease-stained blue coveralls given to her. It was a bit large, so she had to wear a toolbelt to not let the pants dragged against the ground. Definitely not a great fashion statement for the first day of work.

"I want to go to class and bang, bang, boom! You know – use cool spells!" Grim said, rolling around and sounding displeased.

"No, I don't know, but tell you what," Claire said, coming over and kneeling down. She reached for Grim's neck, and he flinched before he realized that she was merely adjusting the stripped bow around his neck. "After we're done doing whatever Cro- the Headmaster wants, we'll go to the library, find some books, and look up some spells you can practice."

She gave her best endearing smile, and Grim looked down, pouting.

"Fine," he finally said.

…

The students of Night Raven College started their first day of the new school year with a sunny and cheerful morning. Even during the day, the boarding school's medieval towers stood menacingly, the conical spires almost touching the blue sky. The crowd was extremely rowdy today, whooping and hollering rather loudly as they ran towards the school before the first bell. As an all-boy school, there was not a single girl in sight among the black blazers.

Except for one.

Everyone, EVERYONE was staring at them as they walked down the street. Claire hauled the heavier things – pails in one hand; brooms, mops, and rakes in the other – while Grim carried the rags.

Claire could hear the snickers from the other students as they passed but choose to ignore them. She learned from Crowley that even though Night Raven is called a college, the age range of these students was typically between 16 and 19 years old. Apparently, the term 'college' is the equivalent of her world's 'high school', something she would have to remember in dealing with these adolescents.

Overall, she shouldn't be worried. School should be no different from the ones back at home – same dumb clichés, same repetitive name-calling, same obnoxious gossiping. The only difference was that every single student here is loaded with enough magical powers that could blast her into smithereens…

Yeah… Claire thought bitterly, totally like high school…

"We're almost at Main Street," she said, looking down at the map that Crowley had provided her. Just as she suspected, the size of this school was more like a small city or a large town. In addition to the main campus, there was a greenhouse and a large coliseum with dense forests that bordered the school. The entire area was situated near a cliff with sharply jagged mountains and seemed to be isolated from the rest of the world.

The road that Crowley wanted them to clean as their first assignment was the largest – stretching out at least half a mile and situated between the school and a large structure labeled as the East building. If her calculations were correct, they won't get done till lunchtime.

"Let's clean this place up before 12," Claire said, "After we're done, we can head over to the cafeteria for lunch – and please try not to cause any trouble today. Cro- the Headmaster will have my head."

"But you don't have magic," Grim said, picking up a rag he dropped as he continued to walk on his two legs, "That collar won't do anything to you."

It took a couple of seconds for Claire to realize that he was referring to what happened to him during the entrance ceremony.

"I'm not talking about that." She shifted her weight to make sure the mop and broom didn't slip from her arms. "It's just an expression – basically, don't do anything that will get you in trouble. It will get me in trouble."

"Fine," Grim said exasperatedly, rolling his eyes up to the sky.

Now that he reminded her, Claire was curious about last night and that magic that guy used to stop Grim's. The collar appeared almost instantaneous and stopped Grim from causing a forest fire. The guy called his spell 'Off with Your Head' – which sounded fitting considering what it did. But the others had called it something else – like Unique Magic? Exactly, how was that anything different from 'regular' magic?

"Whoaaa! What is this?!" Grim exclaimed.

Jarred from her thoughts, Claire looked up and saw the source of Grim's voiced surprise standing before her.

Near the school entrance, there were seven life-size stone statues faced lined down Main Street – three on the left and four on the right. Curious, Claire drooped the tools to the side while Grim raced back and forth from statue to statue like a hyperactive child in an art museum.

"I didn't get a good look yesterday but what's with the statues? This grandma looks really snobby," he said, standing in front of the nearest one.

They all look snobby, Claire thought, glancing briefly at the different features.

Each statue stared down like everybody that passed by was beneath them and not worthy to stand in their stony, lifeless presence. Despite that, they were clearly renowned and celebrated by this school judging by how well maintained they were.

The stone statue Grim pointed out was the most comically dressed out of all of them. Her giant ball gown gave the thick-browed woman a rather balloon-like figure, which merely reemphasized her double chin and round nose. Clutched in her hand was a heart-shaped lollipop staff.

"Is she a queen or something?" Claire wondered out loud, staring at the small crown on top of the statue's head.

"That's the Queen of Hearts," a cheerful voice explained from behind.

Claire stiffened and turned to see a student with messy burnt orange hair observing them from a couple of respectable feet away.

"Queen of Hearts?" Claire repeated. She noticed that the student's left eye was strangely painted with a red heart over it.

"She was the queen who lived in the Rose Maze – one of the Great Seven." He took her question as an invitation to come over and wore a cheerful smile that she didn't return.

"Great Seven?" Claire repeated.

"Seven legendary beings who once existed in Twisted Wonderland," the guy said. "In fact, all seven dorms here are based on them."

"What did she do?" Grim asked, pointing to the Queen of Hearts statue.

"She was someone who valued the rules and discipline above all else – from the card soldiers' march to the color of the rose bushes," he described, standing in front of the statue like a tour guide. "The land was filled with madness but all followed her rules. Why you ask?" – he gave a devilish grin before motioning his thumb across his own throat – "Because it was off with your head if you cross her!"

"That's terrifying!" Grim said, shuddering at the thought.

"Really?" the guy said, staring at the statue with admiration. "I think it's pretty cool."

"Why?" Claire asked, bewildered.

"No one would listen to a queen if she was kind all the time," he pointed out, "People would just take advantage of that."

"I suppose," Grim mumbled, "A strong head is better than a weak one for sure!" He looked at the Queen of Hearts statue with more respect and admiration than earlier.

Secretly, Claire scoffed at the reasoning. Being kind was not the same thing as being weak. Being strong didn't mean cutting off heads just because someone disagreed with your opinion. However, this wasn't worth arguing about now, and Claire made a mental note to talk with Grim later on this before it caused him trouble down the line.

"By the way," Grim said, realizing something as he addressed the orange-haired student, "who are you?"

"Oh me? I'm Ace – a first year," he said in a friendly tone, "Nice to meet you!" Despite his crisp new school attire, Ace sported a pair of red high-top sneakers, loosened his tie, and unbuttoned his blazer to reveal a red waistcoat underneath.

So, he's new to this school, Claire thought, noting his rather sunny disposition. Maybe that's why he didn't mind interacting with them. Or perhaps he was genuinely curious about them.

Ace's red eyes held no malice, but Claire still felt uneasy about him. Grim, on the other hand, seemed to have already taken a liking to the guy.

"I'm Grim – a genius who will become the greatest mage!" He smiled proudly before adding, "Oh, and the dull one here is Claire – my henchman."

"Excuse me?!" Claire exclaimed.

"Claire, huh? That's an interesting name," Ace said, turning to her. He expected her to comment on it, but she merely shrugged it off.

"Nice to meet you," she replied before glaring at Grim, but he already moving on to the next statue.

"Hey Ace, what about the lion with the scar. Is he famous?" This statue was the only one of the seven that was depicted as an animal. The lion had his head gazing upward, as if staring far into the distance; his most noticeable attribute was a thin scar on his left eye.

"This is the King of Beasts who ruled the Savanna," Ace said, turning his attention back to the Great Sevens, "He wasn't born to be king, but with hard work and careful planning, he claimed the throne. After he became king, he even allowed the loathed hyenas to live in his territory, removing the discrimination placed on them."

What did his 'careful planning' involve to claim that throne? Claire wondered, not liking the smugness on the lion's face.

"Amazing!" Grim stared with joy in his eyes. "He was not someone who got held up by his status! What about this lady here with the octopus legs?"

He pointed to a rather voluptuous woman with a chic sleeveless dress that turned into eight thick tentacles at the bottom. In her hand was a large parchment of paper with words from a written language that Claire didn't recognize.

"That's the Sea Witch who lives in a cavern in the deep sea. She is a powerful witch who helped all the poor unfortunate merfolk who came to seek her aid. As long as you can pay the price and it's within her power, she will give you anything – transform you, find love, provide knowledge, anything. Of course, her price is pretty steep though – that's what it cost to have anything you desire."

So, she's like a loan shark who preys on people's weaknesses, Claire thought, wondering how much money her clients had to pay or if the price they paid was far more sinister. Grim, on the other hand, didn't see a problem with the transaction.

"Then I can get rich by being the greatest mage?" he said with excitement and hopped around at the prospect. "Hey, what about this guy with the big weird hat?"

Now on the other row of statues, the one Grim pointed to was of a thin man in long flowing robes with an even thinner goatee. This statue's snake-like eyes held a permanent look of disdain, and in his hand was a long staff with a cobra head at the top. The 'weird' hat on his head was actually large turban.

"The Sorcerer of the Sand," Ace introduced, "He was the Grand Vizier to the foolish sultan and was actually the one who helped rule the land. The man was also the one who saw through the street rat's trickery when he pretended to be a prince to marry the sultan's daughter. Later, the Sorcerer of the Sand got a magic lamp and became the most powerful sorcerer in the universe. With that power, he also became sultan."

"Just goes to show that mages are the most important people to look up to!" Grim said, puffing out his chest.

He doesn't look pleasant though, Claire thought as she looked at the vizier's sour disposition. Using the magic lamp to become sultan and a sorcerer… that was a lot of power for one person to wield.

"Oh, this lady is beautiful!" Grim said, staring at the next statue of a young slender woman in a long flowing dress with flaring sleeves and a cape. Like the Queen of Hearts, this queen wore a crown on her head though hers was larger and more prominent, and her hair was hidden completely underneath her hood. Her appearance was more regal and her face sterner compared to the comical Queen of Hearts. Her right hand held out an apple with paint-like ooze dripping down to form a skull.

"She is the Beautiful Queen," Ace explained, "She would check the world's "most fairest ranking" with her magic mirror every day. If it looks like she would fall from first place, she would use any method to get back on top. She had a strong will to stay focus like that. It is pretty impressive if you ask me – they also say that she was well-versed in making poisons."

"She looks pretty but no thanks," Grim said, looking uncertain for the first time.

"Really? I think it is cool to be focused on a singular goal," Ace said, shrugging his shoulders, "Despite all odds, she refuses to give up no matter what."

Still sounds like she was pretty vain, Claire thought, wondering what 'methods' the Beautiful Queen used to maintain her beauty status. Women like her don't just 'work hard' if there was competition that needed to be taken down. And what was that about poison?

"I guess it is hard to stay on top," Grim conceded, still looking unconvinced, before pointing to the next statue. "What about that guy? His head looks like it's on fire."

Grim was right on the description. Unlike the Sorcerer of the Sand who had a stoic disposition, there was a rather large ugly shark-like grin on this man's face as though he was already plotting their demise. The statue wore a flowing toga, and a flame burned brightly like a birthday candle on his outstretched index finger.

"That's the Lord of the Underworld!" Ace said.

"Underworld?" Grim and Claire looked at Ace in disbelief, wondering if he was joking.

"Yup, he ruled a land crawling with evil spirits, so no doubt he was extremely skilled. Although he has a scary face, he did the job properly without complaints and didn't even take a single vacation. His sincerity helped gained power allies like three-headed Cerberus, the 18-headed Hydra, and even the Titans to fight for him."

Claire's face remained stoic, but in her pockets, her hands tightened into fists. Even though she never met this Lord of the Underworld before, her instincts told her that he was bad news. She couldn't explain it, but the names Cerberus, Hydra, and the Titans also brought up unpleasant fear.

"I see…" Grim nodded in deep thought, "Even if you're strong, it is important to not boast your skills." Claire gave Grim a skeptical look but remained silent and shook her head in disbelief.

Six statues already and she was still not convinced of their supposed greatness or rather the goodness of these Great Sevens. They fitted in the notorious category no matter how much this Ace guy spun it.

She glanced over the last statue and gave pause at its feature. This one had a thin smooth face like the Beautiful Queen. She had on long flowing robes as well, but her long sleeves were jagged like flames at the end. In her hand was a long scepter similar to the Sorcerer of Sand's, but hers had a simple orb at the top. On the woman's head was a headdress with two curved horns. There was something about the woman's cold face that gave Claire chills.

"Who is this one?" she asked, pointing.

"Ah, her," Ace gave an ominous grin at Claire's uneasiness, "That is the noble and elegant Witch of Thorns from the Valley of Thorns. Even among the seven, she is at the top in magic and curses."

"How so?" Grim asked.

"Oh, she can do petrification spells, summon things like lightning and frost storms powerful enough to destroy a whole town," Ace said, ticking each item off of his fingers, "She even covered an entire country with thorns."

"T-thorns?!" Claire said.

"Her magic is on a whole other level!" Ace continued, not noticing Claire's expression. "In fact, she once even transformed into a huge dragon."

"Ooo, a dragon!" Grim exclaimed while Claire looked genuinely terrified. "All monsters look up to them!"

"Yeah, they are all so cool," Ace said. He paused for a second to take in the wonders of the statues before adding, "Unlike a certain raccoon."

"What?" Grim turned.

In a blink of an eye, the sunny and helpful disposition the orange-haired guy wore was replaced with a mocking smile. Then, he snorted with laughter.

"Oh man," he cracked up and burst out laughing. "I can't hold it in anymore!"

"What?" Claire and Grim looked at each other, confused.

"You're the ones who went crazy at the entrance ceremony, right? You're the non-magic who was summoned by the Dark Mirror" – he looked at Claire and then turned to Grim – "and you snuck in in the hopes of getting into the school.

"I have to say you two put on a good show last night. Hilarious! I had a hard time keeping it all in!"

"What? You're rude!" Grim hissed.

Claire gritted her teeth and glared, feeling her blood pressure rising, as Ace continued to mock them. Remembering Crowley's warning about causing trouble, she took a deep breath and carefully counted backward from 100 in her head.

"But seriously, I came over because I thought you two had something to offer, but instead, both of you are demoted to janitors? Pretty lame." Ace continued, not stopping with the disparaging remarks. "Not to mention you don't know the Great Seven. How ignorant can you be and still want to come to this school? You guys should just head back to kindergarten before thinking about stepping foot onto this campus."

Grim slowly turned redder and redder with each passing second. His blue eyes burned with anger.

Ninety-five… Ninety-four… Ninety-three… Claire slowly took deep breaths.

"I thought I would just mess around with you guys, but you really blew away my expectations. Unlike you two, I actually have classes to attend. Keep the school clean, janitors." Ace gave a mocking salute as he headed towards the school.

As soon as Ace turned his back on them, Claire sighed a breath of relief and relaxed her fists. With the way he revered those statues, she should've realized that the guy probably had the same nasty personality. It was an unpleasant turn of events, but there will be more like him in the future. She counted herself lucky that he only showered them with scornful words instead of fists or magic. She absolutely, positively cannot under any circumstances get involved with any of these students.

"Come on, Grim," she said, turning to the raccoon. "Let's go and –"

"I'm not going to let him say that and just leave!" Grim exploded. "That guy ticks me off!"

"Wait, Grim!" She tried to grab him, but he was already charging at Ace.

"Hold it!" Grim called out. Ace barely had a chance to turn and dodge the blast of blue fire aimed at his face.

"Whoa! What are you doing?!" There was panic in his voice. "Are you trying to get me killed?"

"That's what you get for making fun of me!" Grim said, now standing on all fours. Blue flames spewed out of his mouth, "I'm gonna light that firecracker head of yours for real!"

"Firecracker head, huh?" Ace narrowed his red eyes at the insult. "You got some nerve to pick a fight with me."

"Grim, back off!" Claire demanded.

"Fine," Ace said, his focus still on Grim, "I'll be sure to turn you into a toy poodle when I'm done with you."

"Eat this!" Grim sent out another blast of blue fire, but Ace quickly jumped backward and pulled out a pen with a red gem from his pocket.

"Where are you aiming?" he mocked, "Take this!" He gave his pen a quick wave and a giant gust came out. Claire couldn't help but gasp in surprise as the artificial blast twisted Grim's flames, sending it all over the place.

"Hey!" Claire roared as she avoided a spark of fire, "Stop that!"

"What's going on?" Several students immediately came over, curious. "A fight?! Yeah! Get him!"

Almost instantaneously, a crowd ensued, and Claire found herself pushed out of the ring and to the sideline. She grimaced as she watched the students scream with excitement, spurring them on.

Yup, totally like high school, Claire thought

Not giving up, Claire pushed her way through the ring until she reached the front.

"Grim! Stop! Let it go!" Claire tried to grab the raccoon, but the unpredictable blast of flames made it difficult to get closer.

"As if those flimsy fireballs are going to do any real damage," Ace taunted.

"What? Well, get ready for my super special attack!" This time Grim sent out a soccer-ball-sized fire.

"And by changing the trajectory with the wind… like so!" Ace waved his wand lazily, and the fire flew off in the opposite direction. However, in Ace's negligence, the redirected path caused the fireball to land in blazing glory on one of the Great Seven.

"Ahhh! The statue!" Ace yelled, wide-eyed in terror at the Queen of Hearts' charred black appearance. Almost everybody gasped at the turn of events, and the whole place fell silent.

"It's because you were blowing the fire around," Grim criticized, "Just let me roast you!"

"You think anyone is just going to let you roast them?!" Ace said.

"ENOUGH!" an authoritative voice cried out. "Just what is going on here?!" Crowley came charging forward, his whip ready in his hands.

"It's the headmaster!" one of the students said. "Let's get out of here!"

Just as quickly as they formed, the crowd quickly dispersed without a trace.

"He's going to tie us up with his 'lash of love'!" Grim said, "Run!"

However, before any of them could say 'tuna', the whip lashed across Grim's and Ace's legs, each of them receiving a heavy blow.

"It hurts just as bad like yesterday," Grim whimpered as Ace winced and rubbed his legs in pain.

"It'll take another 100 years before you can outrun my Lash of Love," Crowley said, arms crossed his chest. He glanced over at the charred Queen of Hearts before turning to Ace and Grim.

"I told you to not cause any trouble, didn't I?" he snapped, "Then you went ahead and burn one of the Great Seven statues. Perhaps I should go ahead and expel you both out of my school."

"Wait!" Ace sputtered in dread, "Anything but that!"

"And you," Crowley turned to Claire. His voice was quieter and softer, but it didn't make her feel any better. "I asked you to watch over Grim. You need to take better care. We are lucky that no one was hurt this time."

"Sorry, Cro- Headmaster," Claire mumbled and bowed her head deeply.

Crowley sighed before he turned back to Ace. "You. What's your name and grade?"

"Ace Trappola, first year," Ace mumbled to the ground, no longer looking smug.

"Very well. Ace, Grim, and Claire! As punishment, you three will be washing 100 windows around campus."

"One hundred?!" Claire repeated in disbelief. "That's not fair!"

"Why?" Grim protested, pointing to Ace, "This is all this guy's fault. He was making fun of us."

"Wait, me too?" Ace said in disbelief.

"Of course! Claire, here, will be supervising the two of you," Crowley said firmly, arms crossed his chest. "After school, meet in the cafeteria. No excuses! Understood?"

Ace looked like he wanted to object but immediately quelled under the headmaster's angry glare. "Fine," he mumbled.

Claire nodded unhappily as well.

"Very well. Mr. Trappola, head to class. Claire and Grim, get this statue cleaned up." The headmaster left the despondent three to reflect on their own actions.

"Grimmmm," Claire growled as soon as Crowley was out of earshot.

"It's not my fault," he sputtered and pointed to Ace, "He insulted us!"

"I don't care! You DO NOT start a fire just because of that! Because of you two, I got in trouble as well, and we all have to wash 100 windows! BY HAND! Learn to control your fire if not your temper. If you keep this up, you're going to hurt someone.

"And you! You better not skip out!" Claire called out as Ace left, but he didn't bother to acknowledge her.

"What a jerk," she grumbled and went back to gather her cleaning equipment. "Grim, let's go. If you cause any more trouble again today, I will personally make sure you get no dinner tonight."

"What? Nooooo! Anything but that!"

Author's Notes

This. Chapter. Was. A. Pain. To. Write. And as strange as this may sound, I also enjoyed the challenge.

I'm sure everybody reading this are huge fans of Twisted Wonderland and know who the Great Seven really are, and let me tell you, describing them was not easy, especially when you have to do all seven of them one after the other. They are such iconic characters, and I hoped I did justice with their introductions.

Which of course, led to the introduction of our new character – Ace Trappola. Cheeky brat and rather rude for sure. Now he, Claire, and Grim are stuck washing windows and 100 of them mind you.

Of course, we all don't expect things to go the way they should be. I mean, where's the fun in that?

Now onto the FAQs that my reviewers had!

For those who asked questions and critique on Claire's appearance (or rather lack of) in the previous chapters, I hope this one answers them. As someone who writes as a hobby, I learned over the years how difficult it is (for me at least) to 'insert' a character's description while trying to make the story still flow. When I was writing this story as a fun exercise, I struggled with the – 'how do I want to describe Claire without making it just a block of text?' At one point, I was even thinking of going down the route that Virginia Wolf did when she wrote Make Lemonade and just allow the readers to imagine what Claire may look like.

It is something I am still learning, and I am striving to work harder at.

Also, to Aqua who suggested cross posting onto other sites, that actually sounds interesting to do. I never considered to cross-post my stories before, but this is an avenue I'll take a look at. Unfortunately, I can't get an invitation to AO3 at this moment due to a long queue time. Once I can get an account, I'll play around and update on any posts I make.

And finally, the most important question to address: PAIRINGS!

So, at the moment, I do not have anything set in stone. My goal right now is to flesh out each of my characters and focus on allowing this story to grow first (world building and plot and stuff). However, that doesn't mean there won't be hints here and there ;D

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask in the comment section.

Thank you all for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter!

-JD