NA: This is a little what if where what would happen if Elise (the OC of Brightwood Tower) was a victim of Malleus' dream along with the other kids. Obviously the portal between Twisted Wonderland and Springville (Spooksville) is already closed as well as she renounced her magical powers from her family in canon. But now let's suppose what would happen if the portal remained open, Elise had managed to defeat Andrea and Aida without having to sacrifice her powers, but she still had the limit of her curse (not surviving until she was 20). In this hypothetical scenario, Elise will be invited to Lilia's farewell, and she agrees because she is Aria's friend, but Elise fell victim to Malleus' dream.
One Shot
Tranquility Against Duty
"To the person I knew, to the person I will meet one day, Meet in a Dream"
With these words a light appears around Aria, Ortho, Sebek, Grimm, Silver and Silver. They arrived at that corridor of dreams where that wasteland had a pastel pink sky, there were birds fluttering and many clouds that seemed endless. Without a doubt, the corridor of dreams was a very beautiful place, leaving aside the situation they were experiencing at the moment.
Malleus Draconia put the entire island of wise men to sleep for fear of losing that authoritative and paternal figure who took care of him, Lilia Vanrouge. The thing that worried Aria was about her friend Elise. What would they think about the Brightwood family heiress from the alternate town of Springville disappearing out of nowhere? Most likely, since she has a lot of debauchery, people would probably think that Elise decided to run away before taking over her family's business and, unknown to the public eye, the secrets and magical powers that she decided to protect and safeguard. What would the members of the Old Willow society that Elise mentioned think about her stay at that boarding school? Elise had a hard time earning the appreciation of her boarding school friends, so news like this in Springville could cause not only inheritance problems in the Brightwood family, but could also ruin the reputation as a responsible girl that she managed to build in Rozenberg institute and return to the previous image of a spoiled girl full of scandals and controversies around her.
Elise's biggest problem: time. Somehow Elise found a way to defeat her aunt Aida and her first cousin once removed Andrea to gain her powers without sacrificing her own. But unfortunately, having those powers with her, reality hit her very hard. Elise was already 18 years old and according to the curse that she carries with her, she would not survive beyond 20, putting an end to the Brightwood lineage forever. Andrea and Aida were already dead for wanting to play with the nexus of life and death, Felicie could not agree to be heir because she was not Aida's biological daughter, she was her stepdaughter, and knowing this, Elise was under more pressure to try to conceive an heir with the Riddle of their respective dimension before turning 20 and leaving this world... Without a doubt, it is the price to pay for abusing the nexus of life and death too much with their unique magic "Ghost Calling", but it is the price she was willing to pay.
Finally everyone approached a strong light and landed in a place familiar to Aria, but it was also very different.
"Where are we, human?!" Sebek asked, shouting a little.
"It looks like Springville… Elise's city," Aria answered, analyzing the view in front of her.
"Dream Form Chance!", everyone changes into their NRC outfits to go unnoticed.
"Ortho, I think you should stay hidden, since the technology here is not up to date to have a robot," Aria commented, since they had to camouflage themselves with the place.
"Understood, Miss Aria," Ortho replied and hid behind the treetops.
"Oh no, I'll be late for class!" said a girl with the same voice as Aria.
"Miss Aria, did you say something?" Silver asked.
"No… Unless…", the girl decides to stealthily follow the girl who was running.
The young woman was just like Aria, she was practically her twin, but she had a high ponytail, similar to the ponytail that Aria wore for the formal ceremonial robes for school meetings on Mondays and she also had her most modest, well-kept appearance, in her hair had a ribbon of cheap fabric and an imitation ruby which was a gift from her precious friends.
"Human, is that your twin who yelled at me the other day?!" Sebek asked, annoyed as he remembered that when Aria and Elise changed places, Elise yelled at young Zigbolt for not having respect for others.
"I honestly don't know if she yelled at you, Mr. Sebek…" Aria answered with embarrassment, without a doubt, the half-fae needed to hear an apology from the diva.
"Elise! Elise!", Aria shouted trying to get closer to Elise, hearing her screams, the girl with the ponytail turned around and when she saw her friend she only frowned.
"Do I know you?" Elise asked arrogantly. "If you're looking for my autograph, this is not the best time, I'm late for class."
"Excuse me, Elise," Aria tried to apologize.
"No "Elise." I'm "Miss Brightwood" to you. I hate that people treat me with soooooo much familiarity, plus I don't want everyone to see me in those rags of yours... ah, it's your uniform, I'm sorry, it just looks so common that I didn't notice." Elise was certainly very different from the Elise he met when they made the change. She was a colder, spoiled and self-centered girl.
"Sorry for the inconvenience, Miss Brightwood, but we just want a moment of your time," Silver requested.
"Aysh, what do you want? Money? Without a doubt I can give you a couple of madols since I am "very kind" although of course, people must believe that I am kind" said Elise as she took out a small pocket mirror and an eyeliner to paint her eyes.
"The truth is we just want to know more about this place," Silver replied.
"Well, this place is called Springville, that over there is my school, Rozenberg High School and I'm late, so if you'll excuse me…", Elise wants to move away as quickly as possible so as not to smell like "common people."
"In fact, that's why we looked for it. We are researching elite schools to find out their history, so I think the Rozenberg school is ideal," Aria answered. Although Aria also finds the environment a little strange... Didn't Elise tell her that Rozenberg High School was 1 hour away from Springville and that it was a boarding school where they had to live? Why would it be in the center of the city?
Once everyone passed the school gate, 3 familiar faces approached. Riddle, Ace and Deuce... With the same uniforms from the Rozenberg boarding school? Weren't they all supposed to be at Morning Bird Academy's school? Also Elise's punishment is over, so she should already be at her old school with her friends... Without a doubt Malleus made changes in Elise's dream.
While the boys ask questions to Ace, Riddle and Deuce from that respective alternate dimension, they comment that Elise was just a fashion-loving girl. However, her brother is the one who is acting strange, disappearing at various hours and at inappropriate times. When they put the dots together, they realized what was happening in that dream.
Elise was no longer the only remaining heiress. Justin is the heir to the Brightwood companies, the Brightwood Tower, and also the one with Elise's powers. Elise was just… A normal girl with a normal life.
"Miss Brightwood," Silver asked when he saw Elise and her group of friends. "How about we have tea with you?"
Elise looks at him with an unfriendly face.
"I appreciate the offer, but that girl doesn't know her place and that boy is undoubtedly very loud, so I'll pass," Elise rejected.
"Excuse our diva friend, she doesn't know how to measure her words. What she's trying to say is... We'd like to have that tea party."
"Riddle! Don't decide for me! "Elise demanded.
"Elise, it's a strategy for you to make more friends. Besides, if you keep up your tantrums, we'll skip Ludo Friday~" Riddle whispered mischievously. Those "Ludo Fridays" were where Aria and Riddle played at least the best of 3. However, those "Ludo Fridays" were an excuse to try to conceive a child. And considering how things were going, curse or no curse , Elise wouldn't pass up that offer.
"Okay, just a couple of cups of tea and they'll leave me alone," Elise replied.
On the way out, Elise settled down to have a few cups of tea with her "friends" so they would stop bothering her.
"So, what do you want to know?" asked Elise.
"Well we just wanted to know a few things about you. For example, shouldn't you have a pretty necklace? I don't know. Some kind of family heirloom? Aria asked.
"I don't have anything inherited. "Justin is the one who has inherited everything," Elise replied coldly.
"So… By any chance, you don't have a grandmother named Ellelein?" Aria asked, a little intrigued. Even though both girls' lives are somewhat different, she could at least press the elegant girl with similarities.
"Wait… How do you know I have a grandmother named like that?" she asked suspiciously. Elise holds her head causing the dream to start shaking a little. It was a good sign
"You know, you borrowed a necklace from Grandma," Aria replied.
"Of course I never asked to borrow a necklace," said Elise.
"Exactly, you didn't ask permission to have that necklace... You stole it from her, and you were inadvertently the bridge between life and death. You have a magical book that collects the ghosts that you helped ascend. And with your unique Ghost Calling magic, you can summon them in battle. However, that magic has a price, it takes away your lifespan. And that's why you want to push your friends away. You fear that if you get attached to them and vice versa, once you die in your 20s you will leave them hurt. That's why you want to have children as soon as possible with Riddle. So that both he and your friends have a piece of you before you leave," Aria explained.
"However, even though you have a reputation as a spoiled child, we both know that you are not bad. You are a good girl, but you carry a curse that you did not ask to have... however you want to face the consequences of your vanity, helping your friends as best as possible like anyone who needs help. Come on, Elise, I'm sure you'll be able to capture all 444 ghosts. At least if you die, your future children will no longer have to carry that burden. So I ask you, to help more people, to wake up now," Aria asked.
Then Aria lets out a small scream, remembering all her experiences. The time she grabbed that necklace, the Exorcist B team, the time she received the ribbon and also when she formed the Old Willow Society at Rozenberg Boarding School. No doubt old Elise woke up from the dream, she returned to the clothes in which she went to the farewell party and even had her iconic grandmother's necklace. Seeing that Elise recovered her clothes and her way of being, Ortho no longer saw the need to be incognito and revealed himself.
"What's going on…? How could I forget something so important?... My friends... My family... My duty, I forgot everything! How could I ask for something so selfish?!" Elise shouted, clutching her head.
Then some spots appeared and formed around Elise.
"Oh no, the blot will make Miss Elise go back to deep sleep!" Sebek warned.
"Dream Form Change!" the Night Raven college boys shouted and returned to their dorm clothes.
Everyone took out their wands and tried to destroy the shadows that formed but little by little they became bigger.
"I guess everything is in my hands," said Elise, taking out her Magic pen and not having her catalog of ghosts, the Phantasmagoria Book, she had to try to do it without anyone's help.
"The link between the living and the dead is united with this bridge. I call upon you to help me in battle. Lady Magician, come to my side! "Ghost Calling"! (地底国家への架け橋, (lit. the bridge to the underground nation))
From Elise's wand comes a more or less retouched lady, similar to the photo of Aria's mother, which attacks all the darkness that formed in the young woman with the ponytail. And after an effort and a scream, the darkness disappears. This causes Elise to hyperventilate a little. Another month of life lost because of her unique magic. The young woman breaks down and starts crying.
"Since I grabbed grandma's necklace, everything in my life was problem after problem, and I also dragged innocent people with me. I just wanted to think what would have happened if I hadn't fallen for my vanity. I just wanted to be an ordinary girl, that's why I asked you to change places that day, Aria... But I feel like I made a mistake. I should have taken responsibility for my actions," the girl holds up her Magic pen and her necklace.
"Miss Elise! Do you want to come with us? "Sebek asked. The boy thought that Ghost Calling's special ability would be very effective against Malleus and in saving the boys from trouble.
To everyone's surprise Elise refused.
"I'm sorry, but even though my unique magic can summon a ghost that needs its help, every time I use Ghost Calling, a month is subtracted from my lifespan, it would be best for me to wait and let you solve the problem with Mr. Draconia, Aria, I want to tell you something before you leave. Even though it was my fault that I ended up with a curse, I promise to try to make up for my mistake. I want to do my best to capture these 444 ghosts that neither my grandmother Ellelein nor my mother could do. If I die in my 20s... at least I want my future heir that I should have with Riddle not to suffer this terrible curse that I carry. "I will do my best to break my curse and end this cursed legacy."
"You will…" Aria replied. "Silver, it's time to go to another dream"
Silver nodded and took his necklace and her wand, as they all held onto him.
"To the person I knew, to the person I will meet one day, Meet in a Dream"
Thus the group disappeared from Elise's sight. And Elise confidently, grabbing her necklace, silently wished our heroes luck, hoping that they can solve this problem... And that she can keep her promise to remove the curse. Maybe she will die young, but Elise decided that if she was going to die young, at least she would have done something to save her future offspring.