#azusaprogress

[azusawrites]

Kore blinked. Her lungs seemed to suddenly stop working, all the air leaving her body, as she inhaled sharply. This was not the first time that he stood this close to her, but she still couldn’t let go of the strange emotions it brought on. The memory of his face after they won the battle and he twirled her in happiness flashed through her mind. How red his face was – almost as red as his eyes, and perhaps even redder than her own must have been. 

“Kore.”

The word slipped from her lips without her even meaning for it to happen. Her face probably mirrored the same surprise that painted Ace’s. Loosening his grip on her shoulders, he stood up straighter, cocking his head to the side.

“What?” he asked.

“Kore,” she repeated, licking her lips. “My name is actually Kore. Kore Hightower. That’s… uh, my whole name.”

wip: mirror marchen

fandom: twisted wonderland

wc: 6851

next chapter sneak peek

[azusawrites]

“Look, servant!” he shouted. “I did it! I’m gonna be a student here and learn magic and become the greatest mage that ever lived!” 

Her heart skipped a beat. There was something strange gathering at the back of her mind, something like pins prickling at her skin, but she ignored it. It did not matter right now. Nothing mattered right now except that everything worked out somehow. Nobody would be expelled. Grim could attend school at last despite being a monster. She could attend school despite being magicless. 

What will Theo say though when he finds out?

She did not want to think of that. She did not want to consider that avenue and the dread it could bring. 

wip: mirror marchen

fandom: twisted wonderland

wc: 5436

next chapter sneak peek

[azusawrites]

The Headmaster continued, blind to the exchange. “But! Because Miss Hightower has no magic to speak of whatsoever, being just your average, run-of-the-mill, boy-crazy, fashion-conscious teenager girl with a great fondness for her Honourary Uncle–” It was impressive how much he could get wrong in just one sentence. He made it seem like an art form. “–thing are different for her! It’s that very ‘ordinary’ quality of hers which makes her stand out! After all, being so acutely paranoid of the outside has made Miss Hightower be very, very observant in a variety of ways! Not to mention quite adept in a variety of fields! Has it not?”

wip: mirror marchen

fandom: twisted wonderland

wc: 4435

next chapter sneak peek

[azusawrites]

She jumped as he suddenly leaned over the desk, sending the fabric flying as he tried to grab her hands in his, but much like Ace was met with Grim’s claws cutting away at his gloves. “Miss Hightower! My eyes don’t lie! You have the talent – no! The calling of a beast tamer!”

What followed was not a shout of celebration, nor a sigh of satisfaction, as he probably intended it to be but instead, a flat, almost emotionless, “What.”

Not even a question. Just a word, falling off her lips and landing dead at their feet. In many ways, it seemed dead. Or near it at least. 

“Miss Hightower!” he repeated, as if she would understand from just that much. “Isn’t that wonderful? Oh, my feathers are simply tingling with excitement at the prospect! You–”

Professor Corvine began to pull onto his coat quite ferociously then. “Headmaster! Please behave yourself in front of the students!” 

wip: mirror marchen

fandom: twisted wonderland

wc: 3450

next chapter sneak peek

[azusawrites]

Who would even care about a small, troublesome thing like her? Nobody. No one. Just–

Grim shifted in her lap, his little ears twitched and big eyes glanced back at her for a moment. The memory of his terror when they first came face to face with the monster in the cave flashed through her mind briefly. He had trembled even as they ran away, even when he was safe in her arms, trying still to look tough and unshaken despite knowing that she could hear the wild beating in his chest. Kore blinked. Both on her right side and her left side, Ace and Deuce’s shoulders dug into hers, the three of them crammed in this small space. Together – a sort of hollow echo from a few hours ago, when they risked both their lives to protect hers too. 

wip: mirror marchen

fandom: twisted wonderland

wc: 2453

next chapter sneak peek

[azusawrites]

Professor Corvine – she’d only learned the name when the Headmaster, catching sight of them coming out of the Dark Mirror dishevelled and pale, let out a surprised shout, scrambling to greet the woman in the lead very hastily and somewhat apprehensively – had not been what she expected a mysterious figure hanging around old caves to look like at all. What they were supposed to look like, she wasn’t certain, but she knew that they were not supposed to be this short, dressed in plaid and long skirts and elegant shoes, stepping over the threshold as if she was floating rather than walking and with pointed ears and little fangs, which only became visible when she opened her mouth to shout instructions at them in a mix of what passed for a common language among Twisted Wonderland and a dialect she had a hard time figuring out the exact origin of.

wip: mirror marchen

fandom: twisted wonderland

wc: 1160

next chapter sneak peek

[azusawrites]

The air was filled with an electrifying feeling and even she couldn’t deny how relieved and happy she felt. Not only from the adrenaline of escaping death so closely but from the look in their eyes as well, that buoyancy that overwhelmed their senses and suddenly all their animosity from before, their bickering, their thinly veiled mistrust of each other, all of it was just gone. Disappeared off to somewhere far away. Even she was giddy, full of hope and enthusiasm, letting Grim wrap his arms around her head in a hug, which she returned by patting his back before she felt herself swept off her feet and spun around. She screamed, Grim suddenly gone, and then just as quickly her feet were once again touching the ground as she was suddenly facing Ace. His eyes looked brilliant up close, full of mirth and relief, and something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but it sent her heart racing all the same when she realized just how little space was left between them.

wip: mirror marchen

fandom: twisted wonderland

wc: 7967

next chapter sneak peek

[azusawrites]

The force of the wind sucked in the flames almost immediately, and Kore gasped as she felt the heat wave crashing against her. The tornado of fire had completely engulfed the creature, which was now screaming out so loudly her eardrums felt like they would soon explode. For a moment, the screams reminded her of the howls of the mountains back home. There was something so primal about it that it made her shudder. There was something so human about it that it made her want to weep. Hiding behind the tree now, so that the flames no longer threatened to lick her skin, she called out for the final piece of their plan. Deuce reacted before she even finished saying his name. 

wip: mirror marchen

fandom: twisted wonderland

wc: 5891

next chapter sneak peek