Glorious Masquerade: What If Morgan Leech Went Too
This is a work of fanfiction of another piece of fanfiction: "the seven habits of highly unfortunate souls: a transmigrator’s guide to the coral sea" by mercen, found here. This work is not canon to Twisted Wonderland or mercen's world and I own none of the characters involved. Spoilers for the Glorious Masquerade event in the game.
The story begins with back when the threels and Azul are first years at NRC, their class getting an assignment to write to a school-assigned pen pal as a form of cultural exchange. The idea is to learn more about what school is like in other places in Twisted Wonderland and several notable schools are participating, including Royal Sword and Noble Bell college.
Azul gets assigned to some nobody fae from Briar valley and both he and his assigned pen pal are polite but distant, only writing bare bones details and what is required of them to complete the assignment. There's a bit of deliberate hiding on both their parts because they don't want the other to know their personal details or any weaknesses. Of course, Azul is still the type who loves to get leverage on everyone he can while holding all his cards close to his chest so he spends waaaay too long on each letter. Neither writer is interested in fostering a connection, so after the month is up, both stop writing.
Jade gets assigned a student from Royal Sword and he has a delightful time trying to lead his pen pal around by the nose, coming up with all sorts of "woe as me, truly I am so misfortunate" stories that are technically true but definitely don't tell the full story. Things like moaning about leaving home for months at a time and missing it dreadfully. (True-ish, but he isn't exactly heartsick like he's implying.) Also, food not made by the loving hands of his caretakers making him ill for how he misses the cooking of home. (True-ish, he was in for a shock about food not made by personal cooking staff and he definitely ate some weird stuff in getting used to land life. This includes such joys as raw fish from the class about sanitation on land vs at sea, as bleach doesn't work the same underwater. He wasn't the only mer who ate it at land bootcamp, nor was he the only one to get food poisoning.)
By the end of the month, the Royal Sword student is about ready to report him to CPS and is trying to ask him for an address to send him money so Jade can be on the first plane home possible. Jade, of course, finds this hilarious and also mildly panic-inducing because the Royal Sword kid is bugging the teachers on his end about Jade's personal info and he doesn't want his own teachers catching wind of his nonsense. Azul rolls his eyes and tells him to sort it out, which Jaded does by stopping writing at the end of the month too. Unbeknownst to them, Royal Sword kid ends up mildly traumatized by the assignment as he thinks Jade perished of heartbreak and it's his fault because he couldn't do enough to help. This inspires Royal Sword kid to get a pilot's license with the ill-thought-out dream of picking up unhappy teens from wherever they are and flying them 'home', wherever home may be for them. He does not consider gas, small plane rental, or the practicalities of the endeavor but has enough money not to care, either.
Floyd is fed up by the assignment almost immediately, he's in no mood to humor some random stranger, but unfortunately, Jade and Azul are very invested in his partner in the Shaftlands. Floyd got the dubious honor off being picked to write to a minor heir of a silverware manufacturer and Azul really, really wants some custom silverware and maybe a sponsorship out of this. As such, Floyd, Jade, and Azul all take turns writing to the pen pal. Floyd usually just sends a sentence or two, though he did send several paragraphs about the taste of chicken vs fish once, and a few letters on types of shoes. Jade and Azul are polite and charming, playing it up as much as possible and occasionally getting stuff wrong (ex. how best to cook toast, the exact purpose of socks) as they try to write like a sophisticated person who 100% knows everything, including how land stuff works. Between all three, the pen pal is a little overwhelmed by letters and thinks his partner is a lil' kooky (fun to watch from a distance, glad I'm here and don't have to live with 'em), so Azul doesn't get his sponsorship but does get his nice spoons by the end of the month.
Morgan is only partially aware of all of this, but finds it charming when Jade and Azul are hovering over Floyd's shoulders, backseat writing. He even goes so far as to write a letter for Floyd too, mostly sounding normal, if a little formal. However, he's very distracted by his own pen pal: Rollo.
Morgan and Rollo begin kind of distant and stiffly polite but then Rollo mentions some of his homework regarding the history of magical law, citing a few books he's read about when or if magical education should be legally required. Morgan has Opinions on this and has read the books, so he very politely disagrees and offers up some alternative titles he's read that he think Rollo should try. Rollo writes back a letter that sounds appreciative on the surface but is slyly derisive, commenting on how of course Morgan would think such things, he's from NRC, a lovely school known for its potions and practical magic classes. He very intentionally does not say NRC is known for its history curriculum, which Morgan picks up on.
A bit irked by this but in the same way as when you want to see a colleague at work dig themselves into a hole, Morgan writes back and he and Rollo fall into a debate. Over time, Rollo and Morgan find out that there is actually some overlap in their opinions, as Morgan can approach magic like a non-magical adult and rightfully sees the horrible potential of people not knowing what they're doing and accidentally causing harm. (ex. An adult knowing that handing a 6 year old their credit card is BAD). A powerful child having a temper tantrum can really hurt people if they have the right Unique Magic in the wrong circumstance. As such, regulation is needed, even if that's a little unthinkable to many people in Twisted Wonderland, as their society is strongly individualistic and having fetters on magic is considered a personal slight in some circles
Rollo, in turn, finds it hard to argue that magic is all bad when Morgan can point out exactly how a task could be done without magic and how doing it with a spell is better. (ex. medical advancements without human trials, pasteurization).
However, while the duo can agree that there's some overlap in their opinions, their points of view vary wildly and they go back and forth like academic rivals writing thesis papers for the express point of proving each other wrong. A LOT of shade is thrown between them and they both get way too into it, enjoying the challenge of one-upping each other and making the other agree with them.
Morgan thinks he's helping some brainwashed kid from a very backwards family become less extreme in his views. He views Rollo with a of pity and respect for how hard he works to uphold his personal tenants, like doing all his cleaning by hand and learning how to do tasks without magic. Rollo sees Morgan as someone who could maybe be brought to share in his vision of a world without magic because Morgan can actually concede that magic is dangerous. Having someone actually agree with him, even if only a little, is enough to reinforce his views on magic and his own personal brand of delusional. Surely, surely, if he can find the right combination of words, Morgan will see the light and recognize magic as the scourge it is. (And maybe he'll finally have a partner in his plan, someone else to share the burden of being the only one right in a world of wrongness.)
Of course, as the duo are so fired up about writing about their views, trading book recommendations and opinions backed up by logic and citations, they kind of fail to talk about their personal lives at all. Rollo has no idea that Morgan is a mer, only that they lived somewhere very different from NRC and are still getting used to life there. Likewise, Morgan knows about Rollo's duties and his self-assigned gardening project, but not what he's growing or what got his pen pal into gardening in the first place. As far as he's concerned, Rollo's just really fond of growing plants and he's trying to grow some ancient ones in the name of the challenge and the preservation of ancient species.
As Rollo opens up more, if only slightly, he starts to ask Morgan to research things in the NRC library about fire lotuses, albeit not by that name. He complies, which sparks some joy in Jade as that's his hobby is researching and asking him questions about. (Cue Jade info dumping.) Morgan begins to grow a little suspicious about what exactly Rollo is growing but he never learns about the name of the flowers or their properties, just that under the right conditions they spread rapidly and that magic helps them grow. Like, straight magic, not any of the fertilizer or growth enhancing spells he offered up to Rollo. Despite this, Morgan's not actually all that invested and they settle for just the occasional update, not really asking further.
Rollo and Morgan wouldn't consider each other friends but they have been writing each other letters every few weeks long past when the assignment ended. Jade, Floyd, and Azul don't exactly think Morgan's pen pal is a friend either, and are happy to tease them over it. Morgan never reveals Rollo's name or anything about him, especially about the conversations surrounding magical legislature and the mechanics of spells. This only ups the mystery for his brothers and friend, the eels especially joking about love letters when they catch Morgan with another envelope.
Floyd and Jade never really ask that many questions though, happy enough to tease and leave it at that. Why should they care who their brother is writing? It's not like there's any harm in it and Morgan himself insists he and his pen pal aren't that close.
The last letter Morgan receives before the Glorious Masquerade event has Rollo mention that his gardening project is complete and that he hopes to show Morgan someday. He also implies that Morgan and him may see each other in person, which is different from before as Morgan thought they were on the same page about that not being an option. This makes Morgan a little pensive and quiet leading up to the raffle for the chance to visit Noble Bell college during Halloween. Azul, when he gets to take one of the spots, is smugly gleeful. Morgan puts their thoughts to the side and settles for tentative excitement, happy to see new things but dreading the inconvenience of travel and having to appease their brothers later.
On the back-end of things, Rollo had actually requested Morgan's presence just as he had Malleus', though Crowley forgets to inform Morgan of this in his rush to inform the fae prince.
When they get to Noble Bell college, Rollo treats Morgan just the same as the others, giving no hint that he knows them. Morgan's eyes widen slightly when they hear Rollo introduce himself but they follow Rollo's lead, keeping their familiarity with him to themself. Instead he passes his focus and attention to the college itself, taking in the swooping arches and towering spires that make up the architecture of Noble Bell.
Rollo then offers up outfits for everyone, letting people fit into the celebratory atmosphere. Morgan would get an SSR here, plus a lovely teal and black outfit styled after a tropical fish with bright gold "spikes" to up the implied danger factor. Think something akin to the outfits from Six the musical but more GloMas, complete with flowing train, than punk. His cool hat would be a tricorn like Azul's but with scale-like cut-outs in the brim and decorated with big fancy feathers and more spikes. Lots of little gold chains would decorate the outfit. The card typing would be fire and cosmic, the duo partner would be Deuce, the supports Azul and Ruggie.
After getting the outfits and toured through the school, everyone gets the chance to wander through town. Epel, Deuce, Azul, and Morgan end up together with Azul trying to find business opportunities and the two first years looking for souvenirs as in Canon. Morgan is mainly looking for books and ends up idly noticing the flowers and green spaces in Fleur, as he's heard a lot about them from Rollo. When Epel asks Azul, Morgan steps in the answer questions about the gardens of Fleur city, which Azul tries to spin as it being him who's helpful. Of course he knew all that. Let me add some more trivia, I definitely read a guidebook on this. Morgan lets Azul have his moment and is the first to notice Rollo coming by to chat with the group.
Canon proceeds apace and Rollo offers up some shop locations that sell scented ink to Morgan as a place to maybe get a souvenir. Morgan agrees that this would be good, but politely hints that if he gets any it would be for himself, as he's sure his brothers wouldn't want it. This is the first Rollo has heard of Morgan having siblings and tries to push for how many people Morgan is buying souvenirs for. Azul sidles in and points out that he intends to get small things for everyone in Octavinelle, Morgan could perhaps chip in with his money and thus the gifts could be from them both. Voilà, souvenir problem solved! Morgan is indulgent and offers a bit of money to Azul, then is too distracted to answer Rollo's question about sibling counts and souvenirs by the collective group turning their interests towards food.
Morgan tries to puzzle out the recipes from tasting the Fleur treats in hopes of replicating them- both for Azul to sell, and also for their siblings, who'd happily eat the failures. Rollo gracefully departs and Canon returns to how it plays out normally.
One thing of note is that when the magic handkerchiefs are explained in Idia's group, Rollo mentions that other enchantments can be embroidered into the fabric too. Anything from self-ironing to cleaning and warming charms can be found in Fleur city textiles, for a price of course. The trick hankies that release small explosions and sparks are merely the tip of the iceberg.
Later, everyone is gathered in the ballroom and Rollo kicks his plan into action, releasing the flowers. He cautions everyone that fighting back is pointless and self destructive, then when everyone immediately takes that as a cue to start blasting spells, he scoffs and says something along the lines of providing incentive for good behavior. He then uses the chains that decorate Morgan's costume to bind them and take them as a hostage, yanking them up to the balcony like a yo-yo. Morgan is furious and shouts for the others to run, Deuce shouts back that running is a coward's move and Rollo is scum and stupid. Doesn't he know that taking a hostage only pisses NRC students off more? Now they're definitely gonna take him down!
Rollo scoffs, knocks Morgan out, uses the trap door to drop all the NRC students out of the ballroom, and leaves for the bell tower to oversee the city. Yuu/MC is left to flee into the city and Canon again marches on.
Malleus has competition for how pissed off he is this time around; everyone is surprised at how incensed Azul is about Morgan getting yoinked until he starts whining about how he's absolutely gonna get eaten alive by Jade and Floyd if he comes home without their brother. His profits would be ruined! They'd never work with him again! And what kind of employer would he be if he couldn't keep his staff safe, really, this whole thing is a blow to his reputation as an entrepreneur. He should have picked up on Rollo being shady, he had everyone's clothes sizes down to Azul's glasses prescription.
Ruggie asks Azul if he's team "rush in and fuck 'em up" like Malleus, Deuce, and Riddle seem to be edging towards, Azul immediately back peddles. Yeah no, he's getting Morgan back... after Malleus does his thing.
Epel once again does his thing and points out that the plants around Malleus when he was raging died of magic overload, which inspires everyone to ring the Bell of Solace to use its magic to wipe the fire lotuses out.
Professor Trein once again cautions them about Rollo likely being at the top of the tower guarding the bell, but admits that he has no idea where Morgan might be being kept. Nor does he know why Morgan was a target; he asks Azul why this may be the case, Azul just goes "I wonder..." and ominously trails off.
Idia mumbles about this being the worst sort of "save the princess" quest; Jamil and Ruggie bemoan that Morgan has it easy what with getting to be unconscious for this whole mess; Epel states that they can just beat Morgan's location out of Rollo, so let's get going! For lack of better ideas, everyone agrees and canon proceeds apace as the students of NRC move to storm Noble Bell College by force.
When Azul, Malleus, Sebek, Silver, and Idia get to the room that holds Rollo's diary, they begin reading it and quickly discover that Rollo makes mention of receiving letters as part of his routine. Then everyone goes HUH?! and it's revealed that Morgan and Rollo are pen pals. They know each other. Rollo invited the strongest mage of NRC and Morgan specifically. (Everyone else was just death fodder to make the specific requested people showing up less suspicious.)
Sebek is screaming about betrayal, Azul is pissed off that Morgan never mentioned knowing Rollo (a useful connection), and Malleus is, surprisingly, the most reasonable of the bunch.
He's just even more pissed now because Rollo kidnapped Morgan after specifically inviting him to the festival. That's not just an affront to invites, that's an affront to friendship. You Don't Do That.
This actually calms everyone else down enough to get back to reading, at which point it's revealed why Rollo is trying to infect the city with fire lotuses, prompting a long, sad silence.
Back to canon, Idia, Azul, and Malleus finally reach the top of the bell tower to see Rollo waiting for them, Morgan unconscious against one of the pillars holding the belfry up. He's fortunately not tied up, but he's slumped over like a doll with his strings cut, and Azul hypothesizes that he'd been drugged because normally Morgan would be awake by now with all the commotion.
The battle begins and it immediately becomes apparent that it's a lot harder to fight this battle when there's a hostage. Idia and Azul insist that Malleus not go all out against Rollo because it'd take everyone in the belfry down with him and Morgan can't shield himself. Azul's on the side of Jade and Floyd killing him dead if he returned Morgan home to them as a pile of ash- and forget that, he'd be a pile of ash too! The twins would kill him double dead! Idia frets about killing the 'princess' being an 'instant game over', plus yeah, he likes being alive thx. Please don't blow them all up.
Malleus reluctantly concedes, Rollo mocks Malleus for not going all out, Malleus notices how Rollo is fighting and points out that Rollo isn't going all out either: he's conspicuously standing right in front of Morgan. Realizing what the ploy is, Idia sends a blast of magic right at Morgan and Rollo steps in front of it, pulling up a shield to deflect the blow. Rollo's eyes go wide as the NRC boys catch on and start aiming their spells at Morgan directly, forcing Rollo on the defensive.
While this happens, Idia tries to talk Rollo down about how Rollo's actions really stem from the guy's own self hate, as irresponsible use of magic is what got Rollo's younger brother killed. Being unable to stop it, then manifesting magic later in life? It must have burned like fire, so it's no wonder that Rollo is using that same blaze in his heart to take his anger and sorrow out on the world. But throwing a tantrum isn't going to fix it, and when some rando guy shows even the slightest hint of understanding your pain, you don't get to just kidnap them until they agree with you!
Azul throws in a snarky comment at that point that if you have to kidnap someone to win an argument, the point you're arguing from is stupid. Get better at rhetoric. Idia snarks back that that's not rhetoric, that's just common sense.
Idia ends on a jab at Rollo for his position and his actions up to this point being a joke, laughing at him, at which point Rollo snaps and throws a giant fireball at the trio. As in canon, Azul takes the brunt of it and uses Deuce's borrowed signature spell to return the blast right back at Rollo. Due to the nature of Deuce's magic being a form of magical payback, the blast avoids Morgan entirely, as they'd had no hand in the damage dealt.
Tired and furious, Rollo sets himself ablaze with his unique magic and throws everything he has at the NRC trio, well past the point of caring about anyone's safety, including his own. This still isn't enough however and with one last push from Malleus, he's extinguished and thrown backwards into Morgan's prone body. This is enough to wake the eel mer... and wake up Morgan does.
He hurts. His costume is in tatters, he's a little bit on fire, his mouth tastes like sand from the drugs Rollo forced down his throat (he may have tried to bite him with his pharyngeal jaws for that), and he is done. Morgan has also just woken up and is more than a little running on autopilot.
As such, when Rollo is bodily thrown into them, the first thing Morgan does is wrap their arms around him in a parody of a hug and bite down as hard as they can on Rollo's shoulder.
The next moment is what's shown in their groovy card; Morgan stands up, squinting at the shaking body of his supposed friend, fierce and furious and a little bit groggy with an expression somewhere between 'ready to kill' and 'where the fuck am I'. On Morgan, these expressions look very similar.
Morgan growls out that usually when people ask him for gardening advice, they don't try to kill him with the results- oh wait, Rollo didn't try to kill him. He tried to kill everyone else. And that's worse. Morgan points out that if those flowers got out of the city limits, all of Twisted Wonderland would be in danger. Jade. Floyd. All his family, all his friends; the people who built the school Rollo so loves, the people who make the pastries he eats, the costumes they wear, the people that make life possible in Fleur City. And... at NRC too. For that reason, Rollo had to be stopped.
Malleus agrees with Morgan, saying that that was well said; Azul is annoyed because Morgan just woke up and it was him, Idia, and Malleus who did all the work. Idia tries to jeer at Rollo in gamer speak but at this point Morgan turns around and glares at the trio, prompting them to shut up.
At this point Rollo wheezes out a question about what Morgan is doing, as the eel mer is now moving to lean over him. Morgan just silently places his hand over where Rollo is putting pressure on his wound, gathering some of Rollo's blood on their fingertips. They then reach down and grab some ash, mixing the two together, before moving to the four corners of the belfry to sketch out some runes.
Malleus grins fiercely and points out that the marks are wards for amplification and healing. Morgan nods, distracted, then goes to the bell pull, looking right at Rollo as he raises his hands to the rope, a thin frown on his face.
For the good of the world, Rollo had to be stopped, Morgan states coldly. This? This is for me. And with that, Morgan rings the Bell of Solace, magic pealing out with each loud chime to resonate with the wards to cast a visible wave of power over the city. In the wake of the traveling wave of sheer magic power, fire lotuses wither, wounds are healed, and the city begins to recover just the slightest bit.
Trein's back even cracks back into place; it truly is a miracle.
The quartet from NRC watch in wonder as normalcy returns while in the background Rollo snivels, sobbing into his left hand as blood trickles sluggishly from between the fingers of his right.
Idia, as in canon, points out the error of Rollo's ways and how his ego blotted out the fact that ridding the world of magic only served Rollo; it wouldn't actually help his dead brother any. Morgan mostly stays quiet through this, only chiming in once to comment that saying that you're doing something for someone else's good doesn't automatically mean you're helping them. This silence continues as Malleus sweeps everyone away to check on the gargoyles and the other NRC mages.
When Azul and Malleus force Rollo's hand and convince him to make sure the ball will the happen as planned, Morgan is with Idia, commenting that even though he slept through all the drama, somehow hearing about fancy events like this makes him feel tired again. With that, everyone returns to their rooms to sleep. Morgan doesn't pay attention to, nor can they muster the effort to care, when Rollo's eyes trail after them as they retreat.
Time passes and eventually, the NRC students gather together again in preparation for the ball. Morgan arrives with Yuu and Grim, commenting how he had been checking on Trein.
Apparently, despite being healed from the strain of pulling up flowers for hours, Trein had still opted not to attend. Their professor had settled in for a nap and refused to be woken, heh- out like a light. Ruggie snickers at that, snidely commenting on Trein's age. At this point Rook points out that Morgan's clothes are fixed, and here Grim chimes in, saying that that was what Trein had been up to before he'd settled in for his nap. After all the work the great Grim and Yuu had done to fight back against the fire lotuses, their clothes had been wrecked, so Trein had decided to fix it.
Morgan smiles a little and says that Trein has a way with a needle and thread that the man claimed to have picked up from his daughters. When he saw Morgan's costume in tatters, he'd decided to fix it too since he was already helping Yuu and Grim.
Malleus arrives on the scene soon after this and canon proceeds apace with NRC going on to perform one of Fleur city's traditional songs as a gift for being invited to the event to begin with. Morgan is the one playing the instrumental accompaniment. Finally, everyone disperses to partake in the festivities.
Malleus goes to dance with Rollo, Azul to schmooze, Idia to hide, and Morgan goes to the snack table. He gathers a small plate of nibbles and goes to stand in a corner, but upon bringing a bite to their lips, he's unable to convince himself to eat it, the memory of Rollo drugging them still fresh in their mind. Rollo, free of Malleus' attentions, finds Morgan thus and while he isn't aware of the larger trauma around poisons and drugged food, he still realizes the problem.
Swaying close to hide what he's doing from the crowd, Rollo takes a few grapes from Morgan's plates and bites into them, showing Morgan the other half of the grape so they can see there's nothing in them. Rollo then breaks a cracker in half and the two eat through the rest of the plate together. At the very end, Morgan says that he can't forgive Rollo... But he's willing to be convinced.
This is an invitation to continue being pen pals and Rollo recognizes it as such, wryly claiming that he'll put more thought into his arguments from here on out. And with that, the ball ends.
When everyone gets home to NRC, Azul and Morgan trudge back to Octavinelle with heads held high and exhaustion in their hearts. Neither of them are looking forward to explaining the events of their trip to Morgan's brothers and Azul is halfway pondering if he can throw Morgan under the bus and get out of it. Unfortunately, eels are excellent ambush predators and so Floyd and Jade find the pair immediately.
Morgan offers up the souvenirs they got their brothers as a distraction, which works long enough for the quartet to set up a blanket fort in the threels' room and change into pajamas. Then Floyd brings out a bag of popcorn and everyone pauses when Morgan hesitates before having any.
This is enough to break Azul's silence and he begins to explain the events leading up to Morgan's kidnapping and Rollo's betrayal. Morgan chimes in where he's able, at which point Azul then rounds on Jade and Floyd to complain to them that Morgan had apparently known Rollo all along. This prompts some complaints from them too, dramatically flailing about how Morgan just loooooves their secrets, and why couldn't he swing them some invites to the ball too?
Morgan grudges out that all he and Rollo really spoke about was academics, Azul bites out that six page letters on the topic of magical law in regards to minors and the mentally infirm is hardly just 'academics'. Floyd teases Morgan for writing essays for fun, Jade prompts everyone to get back on topic.
When Morgan gets to the bit about how Rollo used their costume against them as a trap and dumped everyone else down the trap door, Jade and Floyd very carefully don't get quiet. They just tease Morgan for being put out of commission so easily and how he really should have gotten the two eel mer passes to attend the ball too. Floyd smirks and says that a chance to 'let loose' and meet Morgan's 'friend' would have been a lot of fun; Jade does his 'woe is me' routine about a waste of good food when Morgan gets to the bit when Rollo drugged him; and everyone gets a good laugh when Morgan admits to trying to bite Rollo that first time.
From there Azul takes over telling the story and with plenty of good cheer and popcorn to go around, Morgan relaxes enough to eat freely, something that pleases their friend and brothers a lot. Not that he notices, of course, beyond just kind of idly eating whatever is handed to him as he twaddles on about which runes exactly he used to amplify the magic from the Bell of Solace and why.
All is well that ends well, yeah?
(When Morgan gets a letter from Rollo next week, there's a lot of screaming involved. Jade, Floyd, and Azul all liked it better when they thought Morgan was getting love letters.)
