*drums fingers on table nervously* Okay, guys, I can explain.
I know what you're thinking: "BoneyFide13, you said that the 'Lost in the Book with TNBC' event was the next one! Why are you doing 'Wish Upon a Star'?" Well, I am drafting the NBC Book event, that much is true. It's just taking a lot longer because Jill has personal ties with Nightmare, as well as a connection to Scully and Jack, so I need to flesh out the extra layers of the story. In the meantime, I realized that I had a few 'dead' fics—some Books and events that I wrote with Jill's inclusion, but never published. So while you wait, I decided to get the shortest event out of the way.
This is Jill's very first event within her timeline, and this is where she meets Trey, Idia, and Ortho for the first time. I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: Twisted Wonderland and all its properties still belong to Disney, Aniplex, and pretty much everyone except for me.
CHAPTER 1: SECRET LONGING
Roughly two years ago, when Jill was thirteen…
The Bones' funeral home was always quiet and stale; it came with the territory. The walls were white, the roof was black, there were few paintings or decorations on the walls… there really was nowhere to look when you needed a distraction. But right now, it had an especially-deafening atmosphere. Jill stared at the beige thin carpet, her words as soft as a whisper.
"I want to be a mortician, like you guys."
Catherine and Christopher Bones gazed at each other. They always seemed alike, with their pale skin and dark hair, but they seemed exactly identical now as they turned to stare at their daughter.
"Are you sure, Jill?" Christopher asked. "We don't want to feel like we're pressuring you…"
"No, of course we don't want to force your hand," Catherine chimed in. Her voice was a bit more hopeful. "But if you mean it…"
"I mean it." Jill managed to look both of them in the eye. "I've had lots of time to decide, and honestly, I don't know what else I would want." Various possible futures flickered through her imagination—a teacher, a scientist, an explorer, a politician—but none of them seemed to fit her.
"Jill, I think you would make a very good mortician!" Catherine said with a grin. "Of course, we'll have to train you, get you used to cadavers and the like…"
"Of course," Jill said, ignoring the uncomfortable churn in her stomach.
"Jill, just so you know," Christopher said quietly, "if you ever change your mind, we'll understand."
"I know, and I'm grateful," Jill replied. "But I mean, I've volunteered here and at church plenty of times already, so I know the basics… I think. And I know how important this job is to everyone in town, and how hard you work. And Grandpa even helped build this place when he worked here! It's the Bones family legacy, right? So… I want to uphold it."
It all sounded phony in Jill's own ears. She could only imagine what her parents thought. Sure, being a mortician wasn't the most glamourous job in the world, and Jill felt queasy at even the thought of preparing a dead body for burial… but it was a duty nonetheless. After all, Catherine inherited the position from Daniel—father to daughter—and Christopher was already in the business when he met his future wife. There had to be something about mortuary work that appealed to them. Jill was a self-proclaimed goth, so she had to like everything dark and spooky, right? This would be okay… right?
As Catherine launched into a lengthy lecture about the history of funeral work, Jill forced herself to listen. She would learn to love being a mortician, eventually.
Mom, Dad… I wonder where you are right now, and what you're thinking about. Please don't presume me dead yet. I'll come back to you soon, I know it. And then things will go back to normal…
Jill was suddenly jolted awake as Oingo Boingo's "Just Another Day" played from her phone. She pulled herself into a sitting position, yanked her phone out of its charger at her bedside, and sighed as she got ready for the day. Again.
It was little after a week since Jill Bones was ripped from her home in Crittenden, Kentucky after receiving an odd inheritance from her late grandfather. Eight days after falling through a strange magical door into the world of Twisted Wonderland. Eight days of being a student in the prestigious Night Raven College. Eight days of nonstop worry and agitation, thinly veiled under a mask of contentment.
Oh, it wasn't all gloom and doom, she had to admit. Getting to be part of a Disney-esque magical world was exciting, and she even had her very own Nightmare Before Christmas dorm to live in! She had new friends, she had powers of her own that she was starting to figure out, and every day seemed to bring something different. And Dire Crowley, the head of Night Raven College, had promised he would spend his every free moment helping to find Jill a way back home. So really, she should stop worrying!
Jill put on her Hallowgrim school outfit and her grayish makeup, then pulled her dark hair around her shoulder, tied in an orange ribbon. Breakfast was a quick slice of cinnamon toast, though her "boss", Grim (short for "bossy direbeast") nearly ate the whole loaf. As soon as Jill was ready, she waved goodbye to the ghostly trio and raced Grim down the stone steps onto campus. The lawn was slowly coming back to life, and little pumpkins seeds were strewn everywhere; soon they would become a massive patch. Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade were already at the bottom, and Jill immediately threw her arms around both their shoulders in a greeting hug once she approached them.
"Morning, geeks!" Jill sang.
"Jill, cut it out! Hugging as a greeting is weird!" Ace scoffed, though he didn't remove Jill's arm.
"What do you mean? I hug my friends at my old school all the time," Jill said, finally stepping back.
"Well… no offense, but you said that most of your other friends were girls," Deuce explained. "It's a little different for guys."
"Ah." Jill blushed. "Oh, well… I mean, how would I know that? I'm not a guy!"
"Yeah, as you keep reminding us…" Grim muttered.
The four of them walked towards the main Night Raven castle like they did every day. They were lost in typical banter for a moment—Jill was still trying out different clubs, there was a history test this week, Grim was bragging about greatness that he still hadn't earned yet…
"Hey, you must be lost!" yelled a raucous voice. "Prissy Princess Academy is on another island!"
It was an Octavinelle student with dark hair and a stocky build; Jill knew he was a first-year named Cecil Seymour. It wasn't the first time this guy heckled Jill just for existing. Ace, Grim, and Deuce all turned to glare at the offender in question.
"Wow, princess," Jill said dully. "How clever. It must've taken you all morning to come up with that one."
"Why are you even still here? You don't belong here!" Cecil snapped. "Night Raven College is for boys!"
"I didn't have a choice—" Jill argued, ready to explain her circumstances for the umpteeth time. But the other three moved in front of her, looking ready to throw down the gauntlet. Cecil in turn straightened up and took a step forward.
"Oh, get over it and find a real problem to worry about!" Ace snapped at Cecil.
"You're protecting her?" Cecil scoffed. "Figures. She can't fight her own battles, can she?"
"Do you seriously want to fight Jill? How pathetic do you have to be?" Deuce cracked his knuckles.
"If you're gonna mess with my hench-human, you'll have to deal with me!" Grim added, getting up on his hind legs.
"…Ugh, whatever. Not worth my time. You're lucky you have little knights to protect you, princess!" And then Cecil finally went on his way.
"Thank you," Jill sighed. "His body language seemed pretty aggressive. He might've actually tried to hurt me if you hadn't stepped in."
"Sheesh, why does everyone have it out for you? You're a girl in a school for boys, big deal!" Grim huffed. "He's like the third guy that's tried to pick a fight with ya this week!"
"I've noticed," Jill harrumphed. At this point, she had mentally organized the student body into three separate groups. There were the gentlemen, the boys who would speak nicely to her and offer to help her out sometimes. Then there were the neutrals, like Ace and Deuce, who just treated her like anyone else. But the third category was the bullies, the guys that seemed to have a genuine problem with Jill. Whether it was simply sexism or some other factor, Jill didn't know, but it still sucked.
"Are they really that upset about Jill breaking tradition?" Ace asked himself. "I mean, I heard that there was a female student here a long time ago…"
"…No, I don't think it's about upholding tradition. If that was the case, these jerks would also go after Grim, since he's the first direbeast student," Deuce said, a dark tone in his voice. "But they know Grim would breathe fire on them. Instead, they go after Jill because she's weak… and they love picking on the weak."
"You really have a way with women, Deucey," Ace said dryly. "But yeah, you might be right."
"You are right." Jill sighed. "I can't throw a punch, and my magic is still pretty weak. I need to find a way to defend myself…" The goth proceeded to wrack her brain. When she first established Hallowgrim and adopted the Pumpkin King as her patron, she wanted to try and act more like him. She had to be confident, suave, powerful, and on good days, she could pull it off. But on days like this, where jerks would heckle her and even try to pick a fight… her mask would slip, revealing the scared Kentuckian girl that just wanted to go home. There had to be a way to fight back…
"What about your signature spell, 'Fright Master'?" Grim asked. "It can scare people away, right?"
"Ah, but it doesn't work on braver people, or anyone who might be expecting it," Ace replied. "She's tested it out a few times… on me and Deuce, no less!"
"You both agreed to that. It's not like I use that spell for fun," Jill corrected him. And then a lightbulb flickered in Jill's head. She clapped her hands. "Braver people… that's it! Deuce, you can help me!" she announced.
"H-Huh?" the spade-eyed student blinked. "I can?"
"Yeah, anytime something happens, you always look like you're ready to throw hands!" Jill said. "You must know a lot about fighting! We can spar, and you can teach me about self-defense! You know, for when my magic isn't enough!"
Ace cackled. "Jill versus Deuce. Oh, I'd pay to see that."
"My money's on Jill," Grim said with a smirk.
"Shut up, you two!" Deuce said, then he sighed heavily. "Listen, Jill… I'm sorry, but I can't. I can't hit a girl, even for teaching! It just wouldn't be right!" he insisted.
"But… I want to be a fighter, like you," Jill muttered.
Deuce glared at her. "I'm not a fighter. I'm just a Night Raven College student. Now let's get to class before we're late."
He ran ahead of the group, cutting off all conversation.
"Well, that was weird," Ace commented.
