Chapter Text
The fog lifted once a wind spell was cast. Thing is, that spell came from within the fog, not outside of it where most of the students were still struggling to regain their footing.
A faint hum echoed before a voice, smooth and faintly amused, cut through the silence. "That was quite a fall, wouldn’t you say?"
The tone carried a composed elegance, each word deliberate, as if the speaker were commenting on a mild inconvenience rather than chaos. As the mist thinned completely, Lucian stepped into view, silver hair slightly tousled yet somehow still refined. His golden eyes glimmered behind his monocle, a trace of amusement resting in them. The faint curve of his lips made it impossible to tell whether he was genuinely concerned or simply entertained.
Several students turned toward the voice, their wands still raised, tension lingering in the air like static. A few of them exchanged uncertain glances—none had seen Lucian arrive, let alone cast the spell that cleared the fog.
“Professor Lucian?” one of them asked hesitantly. “Was that… you?”
Lucian brushed a bit of mist from his sleeve before replying, his tone calm, almost languid.
“Of course. It would be rather unflattering if I let my own students trip over each other like frightened kittens.”
A few nervous chuckles broke through the group, but most simply stared, caught between awe and embarrassment. Lucian’s gaze swept over them briefly, sharp yet patient, before he clasped his hands behind his back.
“Now then,” he said, voice lowering just enough to reclaim the crowd’s attention. “Shall we try that again—preferably without turning the courtyard into a disaster scene this time?”
“Where… are we?” a voice murmured soft, curious as its owner looked around, eyes scanning the unfamiliar surroundings. Then her gaze fell upon a familiar figure. “Brother…!” she exclaimed, rushing toward him.
Lilia froze. The ancient fae felt it — that immense, unmistakable power radiating from the two supposed siblings. A knowing unease stirred in his chest as his gaze shifted to Malleus. The young prince was watching them with an expression Lilia hadn’t seen in ages — one filled with recognition, gentleness… and the quiet protectiveness of a father’s love. The expression he once had on his very face.
“This is a cute family reunion and all, but… where exactly are we?”
The voice broke the silence casual, steady, and edged with mild curiosity rather than threat. The tall girl crossed her arms, posture easy but confident, her eyes taking in the unfamiliar surroundings with quiet focus. She didn’t seem alarmed, just… assessing.
Leona turned toward her, his golden eyes narrowing slightly. There was something familiar in the way she stood relaxed, self-assured, like she already knew her place in any room she walked into. Confident. Grounded. A little too sharp for comfort. And those eyes — sharp and calculating — made him pause for half a second. Why does she look like me?
There was an odd sort of recognition there, like seeing a reflection warped just enough to be unsettling. She carried his sharp mind, that instinctive read of her surroundings, but there was a touch of something rougher — resourceful and quick-thinking in a way that reminded him of Ruggie.
Beside him, Ruggie’s ears flicked. He glanced between them, a crooked grin forming despite the odd tension. “Uh… Boss,” he muttered under his breath, “tell me I’m not the only one getting déjà vu.”
Leona didn’t answer right away, just kept his gaze on her. “You’re not,” he said finally, his tone dry.
Zahra caught his look and smirked faintly. “Relax, old man,” she said, her voice carrying an easy confidence. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Epel’s eyes landed on the girl in front of him — bright-eyed, grinning like she’d just solved the mystery of the universe. For half a second, he looked back at the others still stumbling out of the fog, trying to make sense of where they even were.
Then she blurted, loud enough to wake the dead, “We’re in the past!”
Everyone froze.
And before anyone could even process that, she pointed her thumb at the bewildered boy beside her without missing a beat.
“That’s Papa’s past self!”
A collective what?! rippled through the group.
Epel’s jaw dropped. “I— I’m sorry, WHAT?!”
“Well, looking at everything from the very beginning — where I was quite literally sucked into a portal…” drawled a boy with platinum-blond hair, his golden eyes gleaming with the same intensity as Idia Shroud’s when he’s three coffees deep into coding. “Summary is… we’re in the past, and we need to find a way back.” He concluded with a resigned shrug, as if time travel was just another Tuesday.
“But… can we really be here?” another boy asked, fidgeting a little. The Heartslabyul emblem on his uniform glinted as he tried — and failed — to subtly glance at Deuce and Ace. “I mean… my parents are still… well, in denial.”
“Hm.”
The boy Lilia instantly recognized as the next Briar King—Malleus’ offspring—looked thoughtful, too calm for someone who just learned they’d fallen into a temporal mess. His gaze lingered on the group, a faint spark of amusement flickering in his eyes.
“Then we ought to find a way quickly. We all have school or work to do in our timeline, and I’m sure some of us got sucked into a portal during a really important time.”
A boy with Jade’s unmistakable hair and heterochromia eyes that carried both Jade’s and Azul’s colors—glanced toward a girl who shared the same refined features as Azul.
“That is true... I’m sure being here just messes up the timeline,” the girl added with a calmness that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
At that moment, Jade’s expression shifted—intrigued, curious, almost amused. Azul, however, looked as though someone had hit pause on his entire system. His mind was spiraling, panic flashing behind his glasses as he tried to piece the impossible together.
‘If they’re my future kids… did I have them with Jade?! Or—Seven forbid—is it Floyd????!!!’ His thoughts screamed louder than his voice ever could, and his hand twitched toward his face like he might faint at any second.
“How exactly did we get here?” A blonde-haired girl raised her hand, her green eyes flicking toward the Headmage—Crowley—whose expression screamed I was not prepared for this.
Lilia hummed softly from the side, eyes glinting with nostalgic mischief. He couldn’t help but reminisce, remembering just how long he’d watched Silver struggle with that certain someone in their time. And now, seeing this blonde-haired girl standing there, the resemblance was uncanny.
Ah, so that’s Silver would've turned out. The Knight of Dawn’s genetics truly were something.
“Then how about this,” Lucian began, tone thoughtful yet carrying that underlying urgency everyone felt. “I’ll try to find a way back into our timeline while… well, I suppose we can try to spend some time with our parents’ past selves?”
A pause followed, the room buzzing with disbelief before a boy—bearing Trey’s familiar green hair and matching eyes—raised his hand hesitantly.
“So, like… do we have to spend our current time with our parents in their dorm?” he asked, the uncertainty in his voice clear.
“Yes, that is correct, Mister Sage,” Lucian replied matter-of-factly. “Please drop the honorifics, professor…” Sage muttered, exasperation written all over his face.
Lucian blinked, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Ah. Right. Old habits die hard, I suppose.”
The silence that followed was awkward—part disbelief, part quiet panic—as everyone slowly realized they were about to live with the teenage versions of their parents.
Somewhere in the crowd, a muffled, “This is going to be a nightmare,” could be heard.
A long, weighted silence hung in the air before the realization hit everyone at once.
Trey’s eyes widened slightly, the faintest twitch forming at his temple as he looked between the boy and the others. “Wait—parents? As in… us?”
Riddle’s grip on his clipboard tightened, color draining from his face. “This—this is a violation of every rule of time and conduct!” he sputtered, clearly one breath away from a meltdown. “There are protocols for this sort of—”
“Relax, Riddle~,” Cater said with a grin, already whipping out his phone like this was the best event of the year. “We’re literally looking at our future kids. This is peak content, I need a selfie—”
“Cater,” Riddle snapped.
“No phones, got it.” He lowered it an inch. “...after one photo?”
Meanwhile, Ruggie was doubled over laughing, tears pricking his eyes. “Oh, man, this is gold. Future brats and timeline mess-ups? This is better than free lunch!”
Leona groaned from his seat, dragging a hand down his face. “You’re all loud. I was sleeping.”
“Your future kid might be somewhere in here, Leona,” Ruggie snickered. “Shouldn’t you be, I dunno, at least a little curious?”
Leona cracked one eye open, unimpressed. “If they’re mine, they’ll find me. Survival of the fittest.”
Epel, who had been staring between the group and the crowd of time-displaced kids, mumbled, “This is weird. Real weird.”
Rook clasped his hands dramatically, eyes shining. “Non, non, mon ami! It is magnifique! The miracle of lineage, the mystery of destiny—truly, a sight worthy of poetry!”
“Or a headache,” Vil muttered, already massaging his temple. “If any of them inherited my haircare routine incorrectly, I swear—”
Silver blinked slowly, still processing. “So… we’re supposed to look after them?”
Lilia chuckled, voice melodic. “Indeed, my dear Silver. Consider it… practice.”
That earned a collective groan from more than a few of them.
Crowley, sensing the tension rapidly turning into chaos, clapped his hands together. “Wonderful! It seems everyone understands the situation perfectly!”
He absolutely did not understand the situation himself.
The murmuring only grew louder as more faces turned toward the strange mix of familiar and unfamiliar features standing before them.
Jack’s tail bristled as he crossed his arms. “So… these guys are really our kids?” he muttered, disbelief heavy in his tone. “That doesn’t even make sense—wolves don’t mix timelines.”
Ace snorted. “Forget timelines, I can’t even imagine me having kids. No way. Nope.”
Deuce, beside him, already looked like he’d been hit by a truck. “W-We… we’re parents? Future parents?! I still can’t even cook rice properly!”
Ace elbowed him, grinning. “Guess your kid’s gonna learn chaos firsthand.”
Deuce spluttered. “Ace!”
Across the room, Idia had somehow retreated halfway behind Ortho, his hair flickering in nervous pulses of blue and pink. “This is… this is like one of those ‘bad-end’ routes from a time paradox visual novel,” he whispered rapidly. “Do you even understand how many timeline flags we’re tripping right now? This is cosmic bug-level nonsense!”
Ortho patted his shoulder. “But brother, doesn’t that mean you might get a family someday?”
Idia froze like a corrupted file. “Don’t say cursed things like that, Ortho.”
Meanwhile, Sebek was practically vibrating with emotion. “OUR DESCENDANTS?!” he bellowed, voice echoing through the hall. “THIS IS A MATTER OF THE UTMOST HONOR! WE MUST PROTECT THEM WITH OUR LIVES—!”
Silver sighed quietly, “Here we go.”
“SEBEK,” Malleus interjected gently, his voice calm yet resonant. “Compose yourself. Though…” His gaze softened as he looked at the group of displaced children. “It is… curious. To think the future allows us to see the next generation.”
He tilted his head, faintly smiling. “How delightful.”
Lilia beamed. “See? I knew you’d like the surprise.”
Off to the side, Kalim was practically glowing with excitement. “Future kids?! This is amazing! I can’t wait to meet mine—oh, I wonder if they like sweets, or maybe they inherited my dancing skills!”
Jamil pinched the bridge of his nose, already exhausted. “Kalim, please. We don’t even know if they’re yours yet.”
Kalim gasped, eyes wide. “What if they’re yours then?!”
Jamil froze, visibly glitching. “Why would you even—?! Kalim, that’s not—just—stop talking.”
“Aw, don’t be shy, Jamil! Our kids would totally get along!”
“Kalim.”
Yuu stood a little off to the side, hand on their forehead, trying to process it all. “So let me get this straight—time travel, alternate timelines, and now parenthood? This isn’t even the weirdest thing that’s happened this week.”
Grim, perched on their shoulder, groaned dramatically. “You’re telling me! I didn’t even get breakfast before this mess! If my future kid doesn’t bring tuna, I’m suing fate itself!”
Yuu gave him a flat look. “Pretty sure that’s not how lawsuits—or time travel—work, Grim.”
Crowley, who had been pretending to take notes on a clipboard that was actually blank, clapped his hands together with too much enthusiasm. “Marvelous! Now that introductions and emotional breakdowns are underway, let us proceed to—uh—dorm assignments!”
“Wait, we’re what?” several voices said at once.
Crowley laughed nervously. “Oh, come now! What better way to understand each other than to live together, hm? It’s… bonding!”
Azul’s muffled groan could be heard from somewhere in the back. “Oh, this will definitely end in catastrophe.”
Leona muttered, half-asleep again, “Wake me up when the timeline collapses.”
Crowley’s voice echoed through the hall like a death sentence disguised as cheerful instruction. “Each dorm will temporarily house their… respective future kin! Please make them feel welcome, yes?”
A collective groan rippled through the room.
Vil muttered something about stress wrinkles. Ruggie was still laughing. Jamil had given up trying to reason with Kalim, who was already inviting half the kids for a feast. Azul looked ready to faint, and Jade looked ready to document it.
Riddle was muttering rules under his breath. Leona pretended to sleep through the disaster. Malleus, meanwhile, looked oddly serene—as if watching the threads of fate twist was simply another passing day.
Yuu exhaled, rubbing their temples. “This is either the weirdest family reunion in history… or the start of a full-blown timeline crisis.”
Grim raised a paw, deadpan. “I vote both.”
The chatter swelled again, overlapping voices filling the hall with chaos and disbelief. Somewhere in the middle of it all, Lucian glanced around the room—at the stunned faces of the past and the nervous glances of the future.
“Alright then,” he said quietly, half to himself. “Let’s survive this day first… before the universe figures out we shouldn’t exist.”
And with that, the future met the past.....awkwardly, noisily, and with absolutely no idea what kind of storm they’d just unleashed.