Key of Souls: Twisted Wonderland

Chapter 33: A Reckless Duel

Dawn's POV

At Ramshackle Dorm, I spent a few hours helping Ace and Deuce in creating a battle strategy against Riddle for their upcoming duel tomorrow. As time went on, Grim was already asleep on my lap and Perry was snoring lightly on my shoulder; seeing them like this made me know that it was now time for bed. Ace and Deuce told me they'll be fine sleeping in the lounge without me tonight and I should sleep in my room instead since they wanted me to feel a bit better after I argued with Riddle. After changing into my pyjamas, I placed Grim at the top corner of my bed and Perry at the other and tucked myself in; the moment I did, I felt a wave of sleep overtaking me and I closed my eyes.

Soon I opened my eyes and found myself in a strange place where all was black. "Another strange dream?", I said as I wondered where I am now. The scenery was now changing into a weird courtroom, where the Queen of Hearts was sitting in the judge's seat and the little girl was standing in the defendant's box. The little girl was staring at the Queen with a defiant look on her face. "Your Majesty indeed. Why you're not a Queen! You're just a pompous, bad-tempered tyrant!", the little girl scolded, showing no fear in her eyes. The Queen of Hearts had a wide smile on her face as her eyebrow twitched, showing that she was holding in her rage. "Fufufufu. What did you say?", she asked in a sickly, sweet tone.

Seeing the Queen of Hearts like this made me know that this will become a disaster. But before the little girl could respond, a strange cat suddenly appeared out of nowhere and sat on the queen's head. With a wide grin on his face, he gleefully repeated the little girl's words. "She said you're a pompous, bad-tempered tyrant~!♪", the cat said as he let out a laugh before vanishing. At that moment, the queen's face turned red as she screamed, "ENOUGH!! OFF WITH HER HEAD!!!"

"Waaaaaah!!!" At her command, hundreds of card soldiers came rushing toward the little girl and rained down on her. A little man wearing a crown appeared before them, I assumed that he was the King of Hearts. "You heard what Her Majesty said! Off with her head!", he commanded. The card soldiers were cluttering up the entire courtroom, and I could no longer see either the Queen or the little girl. I tried to run out of the mess, but my legs wouldn't move a muscle; I was frozen in place as the madness went on. As I looked on I thought, 'Why didn't anyone stop the queen? Someone should've stopped her before it got that far...' Just before I could see what happens next, I suddenly blacked out.

I gasped as I opened my eyes wide and found myself breathing heavily; I looked around to see that I was back in my room as I got up. Once I calmed down, Perry jumped on my shoulder and rubbed his cheek against mine. "Kyu, Kyu", Perry squeaked happily.

"Oh~~! You're already up.", Grim said. I looked up to see him and saw him, Ace, and Deuce standing by my doorway, with Ace looking raring to go. "Today is the day! Let's get going.", Ace said. That made me just remember that today has finally come, Ace and Deuce will battle Riddle for the title of Dorm Leader of Heartslabyul. "Alright, I just need to get change and will be on our way.", I told them. Ace, Deuce, Grim, and Perry left my room to give me some privacy so I could change into my school uniform. But just as I started to get myself undressed...

*Drip, drip, drip*

The image of that black ink puddle flashed before my eyes. Three more ink droplets fell on the ground, and merged with the ink puddle, making it a bit more larger. At the time, my heart was racing from the uneasiness I'd been feeling ever since I'd seen this. '...Why am I seeing this black puddle? ...Is something bad going to happen?', I thought as I tried to calm myself. I'm not sure why or how, but for some reason, these images are trying to warn me about something, and I need to be ready. Once I got changed, I meet up with the guys and we all made our way towards Heartslabyul.