Twisted Wonderland: The Seven Treasures

Twisted Wonderland & The Shell of Magic-Part 1

  Azul was falling, a slow descent, like drowning, in dark waters.
  "Such a crybaby..."
  The voice echoed through the water, making Azul half-open his eyes.
  "Ink-spewer."
  "Freak."
  Something began to wrap around Azul's leg, hardly noticeable.
  "I'm not any of that," Azul said softly. "Stop it."
  "Inky crybaby. No one wants to be around you."
  "Stop it."
  "You're no mermaid. You're too chubby to be a real mermaid. You're always hiding in that octo-pot of yours. That's never going to change, octo-twerp."
  The thing, now identified as a black tentacle, continued twisting around Azul and more grabbed onto him, dragging him down faster.
  "No, it's not true," Azul replied. "Stop it!" He struggled against the tentacles, trying to stroke upwards, but the tentacles tightened, making Azul gasp as the air was thrown from his lungs.
  "You gonna cry, octo-twerp? You gonna ink us?"
  Azul gritted his teeth and strained against the tentacles, managing to break one arm away.
  The tentacles continued wrapping around Azul, and he reached up in vain just as the tentacles covered his eyes, sending him deeper into the darkness...
  Azul sat up, gasping for breath. His eyes flickered around the room, taking in the housewarden dorm room he had at Night Raven College.
  Slowly, his breathing evened out and Azul closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, calming his pulse.
  "Just a nightmare," he told the empty room, laying back down. "It was all in my head."
  "Oh no," a voice said from behind Azul. "I'm afraid nothing about that was in your head, Azul Ashengrotto."
  Azul turned, freezing as a purple flame appeared around his door frame, framing the closed left eye of a shadowy figure. Then the eye opened, revealing the same colour as Azul's eyes.
  In panic, Azul turned back over, reaching for his magepen.
  "I know your desires," the voice continued. "I know what you fear. I know all of it, Azul Ashengrotto. I know you."
  Azul's fingers wrapped around the magepen and he turned back over, ready to fire off a spell, but the shadowy figure had vanished.
  Breathing a bit harder, Azul stood out of bed and walked towards the shadows.
  "My dear Azul, I have come to know you better than you know yourself," the voice said, seeming to come from around thè entire room. "Wouldn't you like to know what I know?"
  "You're not wanted here," Azul replied. "Leave."
  "You still drink that foul potion to hide your mer-form. You're wondering if students are judging you behind your back," the voice continued as if it hadn't heard Azul. "You fear failing in your endeavours and you revel in trumping over others."
  "Stop it." Azul said, gritting his teeth. "Stop pretending you know me!"
  "But I do know you," the voice replied smoothly as a golden glow began to appear in the dark room. "And I will have you as part of my collection."
  Azul spun around, but the light and the voice was gone.
  Releasing a breath, Azul returned to his bed, placing the magepen on the dresser. "Just another nightmare," he told himself, laying back down. "It wasn't real."
~~~~~
  Jade knocked on Azul's door the next morning. "Azul. It's morning," he said. "Are you awake?"
  Floyd, who was standing nearby, frowned. "Come on Jade," he whined. "Azul's probably up already and at the cafeteria. Where I wanna be!"
  "Then run ahead Floyd," Jade invited calmly. "I just want to make sure Azul's alright. We were up late last night after all."
  "Aw..." Floyd moaned. "But then it's no fun if I enter alone. I'll have no one to sit with."
  "So then you'll wait," Jade informed his twin before turning back to the door and knocking again. "Azul?"
  "I'm coming," Azul said, opening the door and stepping out. "Thank you for your punctuality Jade. And your patience Floyd."
  "It was no trouble," Jade said. "Shall we hurry to breakfast?"
  "For Floyd's benefit, we shall." Azul said, grinning.
~~~~~
  "Have you both begun your report of one of the Seven Treasures?" Azul asked over breakfast.
  "Yes," Jade said. "I have chosen the Sorcerer of Sand's Staff. I find it a stunning piece of terrestrial history and wish to study it closer."
  "And you Floyd?"
  "I'm still thinkin'," Floyd said. "None of them really appeal to me right now."
  "Is that so?" Azul inquired. "Very well. I plan to do my report on the Sea Witch's Shell Necklace. Morning class has been replaced with free time, so I'd like to get a closer look at the shattered remains."
  "I'd like to know how it was shattered," Jade said. "It's the only Treasure not in one piece. Even the Thorn Fairy's staff is in one piece and it's the oldest Treasure here."
  "Indeed," Azul said, pushing his glasses up. "A true mystery, lost in time."
  "Who cares about it being broken?" Floyd asked. "Replicas of the shell are created and sold back home so you already know what it looks like in one piece."
  Azul didn't respond to that. There was no point in arguing with Floyd while he was in that mood.
~~~~~
  After breakfast, the three of them headed to the Sea Witch exhibit room and Azul leaned down to examine the shattered fragments of the Sea Witch's Shell Necklace. "Truly remarkable..." he mused softly. "A golden spiral shell shattered into hundreds of pieces..."
  "Azul. You're magepen appears to be glowing." Jade said on the other side of the glass case.
  Azul straightened and withdrew his magepen, noticing that the jewel was indeed faintly shining.
  "You tryin' to cast a spell?" Floyd inquired. "We could get kicked out for that."
  "I'm not casting any spell," Azul assured the two sternly. "At least not of my own violation."
  As the three watched, the pen suddenly jumped out of Azul's hand and hit the glass around the Sea Witch's Necklace, a stream of magic escaping from the magestone, seeping through the glass and affecting the pieces.
  The shattered pieces began to glow weakly and some of the smaller shards shifted over to connect to each other, flashes of gold appearing as they merged.
  Azul gritted his teeth and attempted to pull the magepen away from the glass, but couldn't pull it away.
  Jade and Floyd walked over and grabbed onto the magepen and helped pull, but it still didn't move.
  "If this keeps up," Jade said, releasing the pen. "Azul may end up overbloting again. Perhaps we should find Riddle."
  Azul was about to say something when his pen suddenly dropped to the ground, the magic stopping.
  "Whoa," Floyd said as Azul picked up the pen and repocketed it. "Talk about weird."
  "Indeed," Azul siad, adjusting his glasses. "I shall have to take it easy on casting magic for the rest of the day to avoid accumulating too much blot. I'll be heading back to the Lounge. Will either of you be joining me?"
  "I shall decline," Jade said. "My report is due soon and I have planned to gather information."
  "I'm gonna hang out with Jade for a while," Floyd said. "Maybe I'll choose a relic to report on."
  "Very well," Azul said. "I shall see you both in class later then."
  Azul left the Sea Witch's room and walked back down the hall, his intent to head towards the Hall of Mirror.
  The exterior hallway was unusually crowded and Azul frowned as he saw a large group of students gathering around a bulletin board.
  'What's going on here?' He wondered, walking over, the students parting so he could see it better.
  Pinned to the center of the board was a flyer with Octavinelle's colours, sporting the words "Wishes CAN come true!"
  Azul found himself reading the rest of the flyer, somewhat curious and mostly interested.

  "Wishes CAN come true!
At midnight in two days, a free night of wishes will happen!
Text your desire to this number and be prepared to have it come to life!
The first 50 who text in will have their desires granted today!"

  Already, the students were withdrawing their phones and typing the number in.
  Azul was still confused. "How can one promise hundreds of wishes to be granted in two days?" He wondered out loud. "And even more strange is the promise of granting 50 wishes in a day. Who put this up?"
  "No idea," a nearby Heartslabyul student replied, distracted as he was texting. "It was here after breakfast."
  "So no one saw who put it up?" Azul asked, but before the student could answer, a cry came from father in the back of the crowd, making Azul turn and walk back through the crowd to where the cry had originated from.
  "It came true!" A Pomefiore student cried. "My wish came true!"
  Azul raised his eyebrows in surprise as the Pomefiore student showed off a pair of new shoes, ones that wouldn't be out for another month.
  "It really did come true..." Azul pondered as more of the students began pulling out their phones to text their wishes. "How interesting..."