Lucky Rabbit {Twisted Wonderland} [Various X OC]

A Rabbit Left Inside

The first years and the janitors gasped for air just outside of the abandoned cottage, safely out of the mine.

"This should be far enough, I think?" Grim questioned, panting for air. Ace and Deuce were in a similar state, Deuce sending occasional glances behind him as if the ink monster would pop up and attack at any moment. Ace rubbed his arm, wincing from the pain.

"Owwww... What was that thing? No one said there'd be anything like that!"

"That was no normal ghost, that's for sure." Deuce shuddered.

Ace let out a frustrated groan, sinking onto the floor. He was tired, he was sore, and he was freaked the hell out by whatever was in that mine. You could not pay him to go back in there. Yu stood between the two of them, catching his breath.

"Let's just give up and go home." Ace sighed, causing the other three to turn to him in shock, "I'll happily take the expulsion if it means never having to fight that thing again."

Deuce did not like that.

"What?! Nuh-uh, not happenin'! I'd rather die than get expelled from Night Raven! How can you give up when the stone is right there?"

Yu could already tell another argument was about to start, and his eyes instinctually searched for Elle's, only to find that she was nowhere in sight.

"Pfft. Big talk from someone who's not even half the mage I am. You want that stone so bad, go get it yourself. I'm out."

He quickly, panickedly, looked around the clearing. No sign of her. When had he last seen her? He looked up at the mine with building horror.

"Oh YEAH?! Fine, go back to your coop, you big chicken!"

No. No no no. They can't have left her in there. He couldn't have abandoned Elle in the mine. Maybe she fell behind? It was a long run...

"Whaaaaat?! Who're you callin' chicken, huh?"

Maybe she didn't hear him? No, wait. He lost sight of her long before Deuce started attacking, he realized. There was no guarantee she was anywhere near him at the time. The truth hit him like a sack of bricks. She was still in there.

"Whoa, Deuce... Is it just me, or did you, like, turn into a totally different person just now?"

"Huh?! Ah-! Ahem, Sorry... lost my cool for a second there."

The other three were completely oblivious to Yu's revelation, continuing their conversation as if the boy wasn't frozen on the spot behind them. Grim crossed his arms, pouting at the two students.

"Can't you guys just blow that thing up with magic?"

Deuce shook his head. "Using magic at a greater scale, or using different types of magic— those things require training."

"Yeah, that's why magic academies exist." Ace chimed in. "It takes a lot of training before you can snap your fingers and turn your thoughts into magic. And the more flustered you are, the more likely you are to make mistakes."

Deuce glanced over to Yu, thinking he may find the information useful, but saw him instead looking up at the mine with a troubled expression, reminding him why they were even there.

"Anyway, we need to find some way to defeat that creature and get the magestone."

"Yeaaaaah. Just like the time with the chandelier, right?" Ace jeered, "You 'found some way,' and now here we are. We just fought that thing and it creamed us. So what exactly is your plan here, genius? Because I sure don't trust you to improvise!"

"What?! You're the one who—"

Yu felt his breath shorten. He left her in there. They all left her in there. Why were they arguing when they LEFT HER IN THERE?! There wasn't time! She could be dead!