Author's Note 2: For some reason, keeps saying that this story is deleted. I'm hoping that this is the final attempt and that will stop.
Author's Note: I usually work on different versions of something before coming to one that I like. And while I liked the previous Henley one, unfortunately after my very long break, I've read through it and decided I needed to move things around and redo it completely. I hope you enjoy the story.
Also, I have the first novel which is the Heartslabyul book, so I may or may not take some inspiration from that. I might also keep it all one story instead of separate stories. Though the events might be their own story, maybe. I know that the events are considered parallel universe or something, but I may find a way to work a few of them into the story as canon.
If I do, most of them will just be from Henley's Point of View like the Bean Fest or Glorious Masquerade. This way, stories hopefully aren't too spoiled and hopefully I won't have to write the parts that are already apart of the event so it's not just a word for word copy of the event the story is for. It's a thought but we'll see when we get there.
Disclaimer: I don't own Disney, the game, or the characters.
Summary:
Henley Veil is 15 and amnesic. He wakes up at an institute of magical education called Night Raven College where he's been enrolled as a student even though he possesses no magic. By his side is a protective dire cat named Grim. They know each other, somehow, though neither fully knows the details. Grim, however, insists Henley is his to protect. And Henley, somehow, knows this is true.
He has no idea where he's from. But he does know he has family. One that's waiting for him somewhere in this strange world that's so familiar and yet all together foreign. He just doesn't know who or where they are. Which is a big problem for him and his current emergency guardian Dire Crowley, Head Mage of the school.
Henley and Grim become the school's newest odd ball case as they get used to their surroundings, learn about the world around them, and make both friends and enemies alike.
They have plenty of obstacles ahead of them including bullies, rivalries, over blots, kidnappings, and events that tend to take an unexpected turn. They have quite a few trials and experiences to face as they continue on the adventure of their pasts and future as they learn their connection to each other, those waiting for them, and to what is hunting them.
Chapter 0 1: Temporary Goodbye
"Are we sure this is how we want to do things?" A voice asked in the previously silent clearing. It was surrounded by thick trees with a singular pond in the center that took up at least half the area. The speaker was a tall, 19-year-old man with long, dark brown hair and tan skin. His dark grey eyes were focused on the hand mirror on the ground in front of him.
"We don't have the time to do anything else James." Another replied with a grimace. This was a 17-year-old boy with fair skin. He had short, neat, black, red tipped hair and pale blue eyes.
"Ridley's right. We indulged too long in this peaceful life and now we have to rush." Another 17-year-old said. His skin was deeply tan, and his hair was long and black with braids. His green eyes looked at the others briefly before returning to the task at hand. A smile played at his lips. "I can't say I regret it though."
"I think we can all agree to that Leo." A tall, pale, caramel brown haired 19-year-old agreed, his pale purple eyes lighting at the thoughts of their past years. "Uriel, these are the correct runes, right?" He asked a white-haired man of the same age who had dark blue eyes and fair skin.
"Yes, Levi. They're correct. Ridley and I checked over them several times." He assured. There was a sudden unique chuckle to the side.
This one was older than them, though not the oldest, at 21. His hair was long and slate gray with electric blue highlights. His eyes were a golden amber and his skin only a few shades darker than Levi's or Uriel's.
"You can relax Levi. Super Shady Uriel and Straight and Narrow Ridley are always reliable for cultist information."
"It's not cultist information Dis! It's information directly from home! And we're not a cult!" Ridley cried while Uriel scowled and threw one of his spare pencils at the man who yelped and fell back with a thud on his side of the pond.
"And I am not 'Super Shady'!" He cried. "If anyone here is shady, it's you."
"Oh please. I am an open and innocent book. Bright and cheerful. Nothing shady over here." Dis laughed his unique laugh once more.
"If only we didn't need you." James grumbled in exasperated annoyance though there was no heat in his tone. Just pure fondness.
"Don't go hurting my feelings, James. Or I'll tell Henley that you're bullying me again." Dis said warningly though the grin on his face was all wide and amused. But the blackmail was a very real threat. It was for all of them, after all. James blushed.
"Uriel's the one who threw a pencil at you!" James defended, and immediately bickering began as they pointed out who bullied who.
"Finish up you all." A deep voice said, interrupting the bickering with fond annoyance in his voice. They looked over at the oldest and tallest of them at 22. His hair was a long raven color with a green blue sheen, and he had pale skin. His green eyes practically glowed under the growing moonlight above them.
"Once we're done here, we can go home and talk things out with our baby brother. I'm sure Hen's wondering where we all are by now. We didn't call and tell him we were staying late at the office tonight." He reminded them.
"Yeah, yeah Malic. We hear you." Leo grumbled, turning back to his mirror. There was a small hand mirror at each of their feet around the pond- 7 total. Each possessed hair, blood, and a strip of cloth that was one full color on their reflective surfaces.
"Do we know our parameters and offerings yet?" Ridley asked softly a few minutes later as he finished up his section. Before anyone could reply, an explosion came from the direction of their home. The glow of a fire is immediately visible and soon the smoke and alarmed cries of animals fill the forest in a cacophony of noise.
Then the miasma started. "No. No! How can we be out of time?" Levi cried.
"We were supposed to have another day." Uriel cursed.
"It must have gotten impatient and knew we were up to something." Leo snarls, hackles raising as they all know what this means.
"Henley!" Dis breathes brokenly.
"He knows to come here. The protections we put in place will get him here safely. But we need to have the gate ready for him when he does." Malic ordered the others.
"But the offerings and parameters!" James cried frantically.
"We'll give ourselves as the offerings."
"Then he's going to be alone!" Uriel hissed.
"Doesn't Dis have something on the other side?" Ridley asked desperately.
"He's tied to Hen so he'll wake up and find him as soon as Hen's through." Dis assured, relaxing marginally. But they were all still panicked as the miasma grew stronger within the trees.
"Besides, they're there too." Malic added, almost as an afterthought.
"Great. A cryptic mirror and a damn crow who are both cursed like the rest of us. Who have probably also forgotten us due to it being two centuries since we've left." James hissed.
"We don't have a choice." Malic grimaced.
"He's going to be lost! He's so young that the transmigration will affect his memories. One of us was going to go with him so we could be the trigger he needed to remember everything." Levi cried. That wasn't possible anymore as that particular path required more time to set up correctly than what they had left to them now.
"He'll be fine with his protector. And the memories will return gradually." Ridley said with some trembling in his voice. He knew this, they all did. But it wasn't going to make this any easier.
"He's almost here." Leo's voice said, getting their attention. "We can get some goodbyes in. But they're going to have to be quick."
Veiled Forest
A short, 15-year-old boy rushed through the burning forest around him. He knows where to go and keeps steady on the path there. He flinches only slightly when he hears the snarls of whatever is hunting him as it loses him again.
His ears pick up the sound of a crackling snap and immediately dodged with a forward roll to avoid being crushed or burned by the fallen branch. He springs back to his feet and continues his running. They were supposed to have a simple dinner together. So, how had it resulted in him running through the flames towards their family's favorite spot within the woods?
He shook his head and focused on the path ahead of him. His eyes widened when he saw the slight break in the thicket that would lead into the clearing. He put on a burst of speed and rushed through. He had made it. "You guys!" He cries only to be startled when he's grabbed into a tight hug by his eldest brother. He blinks as he takes in his older brothers all dressed in weird black and purple robes that have golden decals.
'Those are new.' He shakes his head. They had more pressing problems than his brothers' wardrobe changes. Their home was on fire. But something else is in the air and he's hit with a wave of foreboding. "Guys?" He asks softly, seeing their sad smiles.
"We wanted to tell you everything tonight. But that's not possible. Not anymore. We've run out of time, and this is the only way to ensure you get home and have a chance." Malic's voice rumbled around them. "None of us are from here. All eight of us come from another world, as hard as that might be to believe."
Henley's mind races because he hears only honesty in his oldest brother's words. "If you say it's true, I believe you." Henley replied softly. The arms around him tighten in gratitude and relief.
"You don't fail unless you stop trying." Ridley says suddenly and Henley is frozen as he realizes this is sounding like a goodbye.
"You belong to my Pride, and you shouldn't take any crap from anyone."
"Always read through something before you sign. We've gone over contractual agreements. So, make sure you wring out your desired outcome before signing."
"Eat plenty and don't lose track of your surroundings. Be aware of any plots forming around you and prepare to face them."
"Know your worth. You're a flower in bloom and you should never let others try to trample your worth."
"You're diligent and can do anything you put your mind too. We've seen it. And for Seven's Sake. Try being careful would you!"
"You are never alone, no matter how it may seem. And be careful when you heed what you see." Henley's mind races at the word of his brothers.
'Are they really saying goodbye to me like this?' Tears began to fill opalescent eyes. He was brought from the spiral when a hand gently pushed his chin up, so his eyes met with his eldest brother's own.
"This isn't goodbye Hen. We will see each other again. It just might be a while. Besides, you'll have others by your side. I know this." He pushed a tightly curled strand of burgundy hair behind the boy's ear. "But you have to stay strong."
Henley nods, resolute. "Okay. I will." He promises. It's all he can do in the face of this unknown, strange, chaotic tide.
"You're going to have a companion when you get there, Hen. He'll find you as soon as he can. He's always going to be by your side. You'll know him when you see him." Dis added, soothing the boy's still shaky fears. A crash keeps them from continuing.
"We love you Hen." Malic says before the boy finds himself turned and pushed back into the surface of the pond that has a glowing seven-point star crossing its surface.
Then he breaks through the surface, the sound of glass shattering fills his head before blackness takes his vision. The last thing he heard as a pulse of something washed over him was his eldest brother's voice. "Close the gate!"
Henley is falling through a swirl of darkness, when he sees a near wasteland that is so familiar yet so wholly different. He can see something in the distance. A large beast and flames and dust filling every crevice. 'Why is this so familiar?' he wonders, seeing several figures in the distance fighting the beast.
The desperation is so strong he feels like he's choking on it. Then he's swallowed by darkness once more. He glances around in alarm when his eyes snap open again. Only this time the void has something else in it. There's a mirror before him. Old and ancient with a frame of gold. A hand reached through the glass.
'To me. To them. To yourself. The hour grows long, and time is scarce. Keep steady your grip, no matter what may come...' Henley accepts the hand, feeling as though he's signed a deal without reading it. He just knows Uriel's going to scold him.
Then his vision is dark once more. And he's left floating in the empty void of his scrambled mind once more.
Night Raven College: Mirror Chamber
A tall, pale man in a half crow beak mask walks through the room full of floating coffin shaped gates. Many were present. Many had yet to arrive. And orientation was nearing.
He stops before a gold framed mirror, looking into the dark void of its surface. "Oh, magic mirror... Thy wisdom I entreat... Show unto me... The visage that I seek." He requests. He's forgotten, sometime over these past 100 years, who he's been hoping to see whenever he does this. The result is usually the same. Darkness. Nothingness. A void.
He sighs and is about to turn from the glass, not wanting to stay to witness the disappointment again. A flash of green flames in the mirror stops him. He's frozen, watching as the blurry image of one Ebony Carriage in the midst of others appears in the glass. It's strange, knowing that someone has finally been shown to him. He doesn't know who this person is. But they're here now, and the relief lifts what feels like a centuries long burden from his shoulders. Now, he wonders what lies ahead for this school year.