Author's Notes: Here is our new prologue with a lot of new information, including who our Main Character Henley 'Hen' Veil's brothers are. Think you can pin them to who they are? The 'how' of Henley's migration to Twisted Wonderland, some statements.
And a lot more information on them, a couple other characters, and the similarities you'll be seeing with our other characters as the stories continue. I plan on spacing out the Prologue a lot more than it was in the other story. I hope you enjoy it.
0. Prologue
The clearing was empty save a pond and seven male figures surrounding it, a small hand mirror laying on the ground in front of each of them. On the face of each small mirror was a scrap of colored cloth, a lock of hair, and a few drops of blood.
"So, you think this will work?" One of the figures asked, a hint of doubt in his voice. A need for reassurance in their path.
"Yes, James. It'll work, Uriel and I did all the necessary research." A man with black hair with red tips assured the long-haired brunette.
"And we all know 'Super Shady Uriel' and 'Straight and Narrow Ridley' can be relied on to get the cultist information we need." A man with long, dark gray hair with an electric blue tint snickered.
"I am not 'Super Shady' Dis!" The ash gray-haired Uriel growled, throwing a pen at the second tallest in their group from across the pond. His aim was true, and the other man fell back on the ground with a yelp.
"Don't act like following rules is a bad thing!" The black with red tipped Ridley scolded him as well. "Or are you forgetting who graduated high school earlier than everyone with honors and with him."
He indicated the oldest and tallest of them, whose shoulder long, raven hair with its green sheen, glowed under the moonlight above them. Who wasn't paying them any attention as he focused on his part.
"You are grown men, not boys! Behave!" A man with dark brown, nearly black hair said.
"Oh, let the children have their fun Levi. We can take care of things without them." A deep voice chuckled.
"Don't encourage them, Leo!" Levi scolded the man who had mid-back, dark brown, with lighter brown tipped hair. "And you're the same age as Ridley, making you two the youngest after Hen. Don't forget that."
The six of them began to argue about one thing or another when the eldest spoke up.
"Focus. It's almost ready. Then we can go grab our baby brother and explain things." He told them.
"It's obviously because we're all nervous about what's to happen that we're having trouble focusing." Ridley said with a huff sent the raven-haired man's way.
"Yeah Malic. And stop acting all cool and collected. We know you're even more nervous than we are." Dis told their eldest brother.
Malic scowled, but before he could retort an explosion sounded in the woods their little family called home. They all froze as a dark miasma began to fill the forest alongside the smoke and flames.
"We're out of time." James said, horrified as they realized what this meant.
"We have to hurry and finish this now!" Malic ordered.
"But Hen-!" Levi cried.
"He knows to come here in case of an emergency and the protections will make sure he gets here. But we need to finish this, or we risk his life. Hen isn't ready for what's to come yet. He needs to return home."
"We still need a sacrifice and parameters!" Uriel cried, waving at the pond that began to ripple.
"We'll be the sacrifices. And that should put parameters in place." Malic said without a second thought.
"You want us to send him there without a guardian?" Dis and James cried.
"Malic! That parameter includes amnesia for the migrator. We'll be locked away until he remembers everything. Including what we haven't been able to tell him yet! That could take years! He'll be lost and clueless." Ridley cried.
"But it will give him time and a chance he doesn't have now. And he won't be alone. They'll be there." he said.
"Wonderful. An irresponsible crow who probably doesn't even remember us because it's been at least two centuries since we left. And a cryptic mask stuck in a mirror. Both of which are just as cursed as the eight of us." Dis scowled darkly.
"It's better than nothing! And they can still help him." Malic growled, eyes flashing dangerously. Very nearly glowing in the fire light that now reached even them.
"Hurry you guys! They're almost here!" Leo growled. "If I manipulate it just right, we can at least get in some good-byes... Even if there's a chance, he won't remember them." He added, his voice holding a tremor despite how firm he was trying to sound.
It was with a renewed determination that the seven got into position, and with the final words of the verse, a single line of light crisscrossed the surface of the pond, creating a seven-point star, one of the seven mirrors at each point. Now all they could do was wait for their baby brother to get to them as they held the gate.
Twisted Wonderland
A short, 15 years old boy ran as fast as he could to the clearing, the one he was always told to go to. He ran, ignoring the pain in his lungs and the stitch in his side.
He tensed, hearing the crack and dodged the burning, falling tree on ingrained instincts. He heard a howl of rage and grinned, knowing he had gotten even more distance on the thing that hunted him.
Thank goodness for his brother's training regimens. It had been a normal day up until he was about to start dinner while awaiting their return. Instead, a horrifically loud explosion happened in their yard, and everything had been on fire.
And when he left the house to go find his brothers at the clearing, it had appeared and began to charge him. He didn't know what was hunting him, but it wasn't human, considering the growls and snarls.
He yelped when his foot met open air and realized he hadn't been paying attention and he rolled down the hill. He grunted as he stood up, ignoring the pain in his side from where he had crashed against a lone rock. He was close.
Finally, he burst through the trees, hearing several of them crash to the ground and blocking off the path once more to his hunter.
He panted. "Are you... Guys here?" He asked from his bent over position. He wasn't expecting the sudden hug. Like the one holding him was afraid of letting him go. "Malic?" He asked, glancing over his eldest brother's shoulder to see his other six brothers staged around the pond that took up the majority of the clearing.
"What... What's going on?" He asked, seeing their black and purple robes. He had never seen those before.
"There's so much we wanted to tell you, Hen. We didn't want you to go into any of this without a clue about the truth. But time is not on our side." Malic's deep voice said next to him.
"What are you-? Why does it sound like you're saying good-bye?" Henley asked, voice starting to fill with panic.
"Always do your best in everything you attempt." Ridley told him, instead of answering. "And remember that failure doesn't mean you've failed. You've only failed when you don't try."
"Don't take crap from anyone Hen." Leo ordered. "You are a part of my pride, and you shouldn't bow to anyone." He added with a cocky smirk, genuine despite the heaviness of their last words to him for who knew how long.
"Always read through what someone gives you before signing it. Only fools sign without reading the contract." Uriel said sternly. "And always be benevolent in your mercy."
"Be mindful of your surroundings and those in them. You never know what someone's planning at any given time." James added with a pained smile. "And eat plenty."
"Don't let others walk all over you. Bloom like the flower you are." Levi spoke up. "Embrace your aesthetic and elegance."
"Be diligent in what you do. No matter what your goals are, I know you can accomplish them." Dis told their youngest with firm conviction. "And for sevens' sakes, be careful!"
"I wish there was more we could send you with." Malic murmured into his baby brother's ear. "But time is run out, I'm afraid. Let me send you off with these last words Hen."
Malic looked into his baby brother's blush pink eyes. "No matter the difficulties ahead of you, even if it may seem like it; You are never truly alone. Never. And we will meet again."
Before Henley could say anything in response to what he had heard, Malic pushed and Henley found himself falling towards the pond, hand reaching for brothers who desperately wanted to reach back but couldn't. He fell through the water, but he didn't get wet.
Coolness rushed around him as he saw the last glimpse he would of his brothers in the world he had known for the past 15 years. Then he was surrounded by darkness- 'Close the gate!' he heard Malic roar, and it was followed by the sound of something shattering, filling the empty void. And a dark fog filled his mind
Twisted Wonderland
"Close the gate!" Malic roared; sensing Henley had breached the barrier. The seven of them were quick to drop to the ground by their designated mirrors and with a Herculean amount of effort, they shattered them in sync.
With that, seven colored lights shone brightly from the mirrors and enveloped their owners as a wave of power swept through the burning forest. Extinguishing the flames and when it finally broke through the now dead foliage, it was too late.
It roared in fury as it took in the empty clearing and the dried-up pond that was once a gate to another world. And the deep grooves that indicates a barrier it had no hopes of getting through. Not with the keys and locks in the world it had tried to reach.
But it wasn't over. It was only a matter of time. Everything weakened in time.
Twisted Wonderland
'Poor, suffering soul...' A voice murmured softly, waking Henley up slowly. 'So beautiful... So tragic...'It crooned. 'My lovely... Most noble... Flower...'the words fuzzed in and out, making them difficult to properly discern. 'Most beautiful... One of this world.'
Henley grimaced, opening his eyes to take in the void around him filled with a dark fog. Before him, a large, golden ornate mirror appeared. He noted the pale hand that reached out of the mirror, followed by a dark robed figure.
'For me. For you. For them.' he sounded urgent as he stepped closer to the boy, his hand held out and asking to be taken.
'We are all running out of time.' Henley reached out his own pale hand and grasped the other. 'No matter what, never let go of my hand.' the other ordered. And darkness filled the void once more.
Twisted Wonderland
A tall, pale man approached the mirror, from its place floating above a green filled fountain. It was an old mirror, older than even himself. And it was filled with ancient magic. He looked into the dark void and spoke. "Oh, magic mirror. Thy wisdom I entreat... Reveal to me, the visage I seek..." he requested.
He wondered why he did this anymore. It's been the same thing he's done every year in the past century since he took over as the head mage of this school. And the result was always the same, nothingness. A darkness that couldn't be pierced. He had forgotten, at some point, who he was looking for whenever he made this request of the mirror.
But it was his ritual every year for 100 years before orientation. It was something he couldn't stop now. He was about to turn from the mirror, there was much to do after all. While several of the gates had arrived, there were still more arriving even now. He was frozen, however, when the darkness in the mirror was pierced and lit up with bright verdant flames.
It didn't show him who he was expecting to find, whoever that may be. But he witnessed as a Black Carriage bearing another gate was entering the school gates, alongside many others. Whoever he had been waiting a century for... they were finally here. He placed a slightly trembling hand on the glass. Too many emotions were crashing around in him, but one that stood out clearly was relief. Alongside it was anticipation and worry.
He turned from the mirror that the image began to fade from. And he made his way form the room.
"As flame reduces even the stars to ash. As ice seals away even time itself. As great trees swallow even the sky. Fear not the power of Darkness. And demonstrate your power." he spoke into the very air and magic itself. This was the blessing he could provide to the one who it was for.
Now, how would things be from here on out?
Author's Notes: And there we have it. I hope this answered questions and left you with more. Until my next chapter.
