Hi everyone! This is the second chapter as part of the holiday gift special!

Enjoy!

Chapter 17:

The mirror called out to her once more.

This time, she was in the nosiest courtroom she had ever been in. Claire stared confused and then with horror when she realized who was at the center in the defendant's box. Little Alice looked quite miffed despite the army of card soldiers that surrounded her. Towering over her was judge and jury – the Queen of Hearts.

Standing on its own little podium next to the queen was a strange plump white rabbit in a waistcoat with a giant pocket watch. He fumbled with his glasses as he read the long parchment paper in his hands.

"The prisoner is charged with enticing her majesty, the Queen of Hearts, into a game of croquet, and thereby willfully…" he said, fumbling through the words with stutters.

"But…" Alice protested but was silenced by the soldier cards with their spears, and the white rabbit continued.

"And with malice aforethought, teasing, tormenting, and otherwise annoying our beloved…" the rabbit continued on.

"Hurry up!" the Queen of Red Hearts snapped, "Just get to the part where I lose my temper."

The white rabbit fumbled with the paper before he managed to find the written words at the very bottom. "T-thereby causing the queen to lose her temper."

The queen squealed with excitement now and reveled with a vindictive grin as she stared down at the infuriated Alice. "Are you ready for your sentence?"

"Sentence?" Alice looked startled but held her ground, "But there must be a verdict first!"

"Sentence first! Verdict afterward," the queen snapped.

"But that just isn't the way!" Alice shouted. For such a young girl, she was rather brave to stand up to this deranged woman and her army of cards with spears pointed at her.

"It is my way; you know why? Because I said so, that's why!" She said and pounded the table to emphasize the finality of her words.

"Then you're not a queen!" Alice declared with a confidence that Claire wished she carried regularly. "You're a fat, pompous, bad-tempered old tyrant!"

A collective gasp filled the room, and silence descended on the mad courthouse.

"What did you say?" the Queen of Hearts snarled. Her hands gripped tightly around the gavel in her hand. Suddenly, a wide-grinning stripped cat materialized on top of the queen's head – first the head and then the body.

Cheshire Cat… The voice whispered in her head again. Claire stared confused at the sudden appearance. It reminded her of someone she had met before…

"She said that you're a FAT, POMPOUS, bad-tempered old TYRANT!" the Cheshire Cat crackled manically.

The Queen of Red Hearts roared with such anger that the whole room shook, and Claire flinched in terror. The woman pounded the gavel against the lectern screaming, "OFF WITH HER HEAD! OFF WITH HER HEAD!"

"Charge!" A shower of red and black cards jumped from the ceiling, surrounding Alice. "It's the Queen's order! Off with her head!"

Before Claire could react or even try to save the terrified Alice, the mirror pulled her away, and she was standing back in her room. Reeling from what had happened, she desperately tried to go back into the mirror for the first time. However, the mirror remained cold and unmoving.

"Don't do this to me! Let me in!" Claire yelled and pushed her fingertips on the cold glass. All she was greeted with was silence. She slumped to the ground, unable to stop shivering from fear.

What happened to Alice? What were these dreams trying to tell her? Were Ace and Deuce to meet the same fate?

Claire woke up and found herself curled up tightly in her bed. Her nails dug tightly in her arms. She trembled as she tried to gather her bearings. Another bad dream. These couldn't be a coincidence.

"Claire, you awake?" Grim said, pawing at her cheek.

"Oh, hey Grim," Claire said and pretended to yawn. "You slept okay?"

"Yeah, good thing we don't have class today." Grim hopped off the bed and growled in irritation as he grabbed his collar. "Stupid thing. I can't wait till we get it off."

Last night, Claire and Grim got together with Ace and Deuce to try and come up with a plan of attack, but other than what Claire came up with, there was nothing she could really contribute. However, Ace and Deuce kept asking for her thoughts and opinions until she finally told them that they needed a good night's rest.

"Are Ace and Deuce awake?" she asked as she sat up on the bed and rubbed her eyes. Pink morning light streamed through the curtains.

"I think so," Grim said before heading to the door. "When's breakfast?"

"I'll cook something. Go get the eggs and bread from the fridge, and I'll be down in a sec."

As soon as Grim left, Claire glanced up uneasily at the smoky mirror and gently touched its surface. However, the mirror was just a mirror. Nothing strange happened. Giving up, she got dressed and stepped out of her room just as Ace was heading up the stairs.

"Finally," he said, "You slept in pretty late."

"Morning, Ace," Claire said as she shut her door, "You sleep okay?"

"Yeah, thanks for setting up a bed for me and Deuce."

"You're thanking me? Are you okay?" Claire said, tilting her head to the side.

"Hey, I still have some manners…" He then noticed the look on Claire's face and asked quietly, "But I think that should be my line. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? Both of my friends signed up for a suicidal duel that might get their heads cut off for the rest of their lives. Completely okay," she said in her most cynical tone.

"We'll be fine," Ace insisted, "We got your plan. It's easy enough to follow – even for Deuce."

"I feel like I'm getting you guys killed. I wish you guys stop having so much faith in my plans and realize how crazy all this is."

Ace laughed. "But where's the fun in that? Besides, this would be a perfect excuse to teach that guy a lesson."

Claire didn't crack a smile.

"I'm serious, Ace. Whatever you do, don't hit him, even after he uses his Unique Magic," she warned, "And make sure to hold back Deuce if it gets to it."

"Stop worrying. When this is over, you and I are both going to be dorm heads," Ace grinned before he turned serious and spoke in a stern tone. "Today we're going to finish this once and for all."

"So, it's true? Someone challenged the dorm head to a duel?!"

"I can't believe it!... Should we go watch?"

"This is going to be over in a flash!"

News had spread rather quickly, and even though the match was set for 3:30 pm, the Rose Maze, where the duel was to be set, was already filled with Heartslabyul students by two. Everybody seemed to be eager to see their genius dorm head trounce the newbies who were foolish enough to issue a challenge.

"Trey! What happened?" Cater said frantically coming over and waving his phone high in the air. "Why did the headmaster approve of this duel?"

"I tried to stop them…" Trey sighed and shook his head despondently. He noticed Claire and Grim at the opposite end and the only ones on the challenger side.

Claire wore a rather anxious look on her face as she kept glancing over at Ace and Deuce. When she noticed Trey watching her, she turned her head away and refused to acknowledge his presence.

It stung him, but he couldn't blame her for the cold shoulder. He wondered after all of this if they could still be friends though that seemed unlikely. He had desperately spent all night trying to find some way to resolve this and go back to normal, but in the end, there can only be one winner.

"Psst, Trey," Cater whispered, interrupting his thoughts, "This looks like it will be a slaughterhouse. Are you sure those two have a plan?"

"Yeah," he mumbled back, "But the question is if they can follow through with it. The chances of winning are already slim."

"The decisive match for the title of Heartslabyul Dorm Head is about to begin!" Crowley announced from the center of the garden and was clearly enjoying this far more than he should. "The challengers are Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade, and the one defending his position is Riddle Rosehearts!"

As they waited for Crowley to finish with introductions and rules, Deuce and Ace stretched their arms and legs and warmed up.

"Remember, Deuce," Ace said, "Just like we planned."

"Right, just like we planned…" Deuce said.

Last night…

"Time?" Deuce repeated, wondering if he heard correctly.

"Yeah, time." Claire slammed a giant old book down on the table, sending a shower of dust everywhere. The sight of such a heavy brown tome made Grim, Ace, and Deuce recoil with apprehension. "While we were waiting for Trey, I found a copy of all the rules of your dorm, and it said that…"

"Wait, you were reading this?" Deuce said, staring at the book with apprehension.

"And you memorized it?" Ace gagged.

"No! I was trying to see if there was a rule that was overlooked to get you back in the dorm!" Claire said, turning red at the creeped-out looks on Grim's, Ace's, and Deuce's faces. "Look, do you want to listen to my plan or not?"

"Okay, okay, fine," Ace sighed, hands raised in resignation. "So, what is this rule that you keep mentioning."

Claire opened the book to the first half. She pointed triumphantly at the section in the top left, and everybody craned their necks to read it properly. The rules were written in block-like Gothic font and dyed in red ink, making it difficult to read.

"Rule… two three… nine?" Deuce said, squinting.

"Rule 239," Trey spoke up for the first time, "Afternoon tea is always at 4 pm."

"Right," Claire nodded, "we set the duel at 3:30 which means that it needs to be finished in less than thirty minutes if Dorm Head Riddle wants to make it for his precious afternoon tea."

"So, you're saying that if we duel past the time…" Ace said.

"Riddle will be breaking his own rule," Deuce added.

"And thus, he would be put into a corner," Trey concluded, secretly impressed at Claire's intuitive ability to utilize such an obscure rule.

"No offense, but how is that going to help us win?" Grim asked impatiently, still not making the connection.

"Us? Don't you mean me and Deuce." Ace rolled his eyes.

"Hey guys, focus," Claire said, snapping her fingers. "Look, if we can get Dorm Head Riddle to break the rule, then he will have no choice but to 'cut his own head'. Though highly unlikely, he may even surrender if that would mean getting to his tea time."

"But why not just have the duel at 4?" Deuce pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right! Why don't we do that?" Grim said.

"Because he memorized all the rules and will figure out the ploy," Trey said. "If you put it at 3:30, then at the very least, it is less suspicious."

"You heard Dorm Head Riddle earlier, breaking even an insignificant rule can lead to problems down the line. You will have a better hand in negotiating if we can put him in a corner, especially if there are a lot of eyewitnesses," Claire finished, pleased with her own ingenuity.

"That is a possibility," Trey muttered though looking slightly unconvinced. He knew Riddle would do whatever it takes to follow the rules, but could Ace and Deuce pull it off and sell the idea?

"You actually think he would do that?" Ace remained skeptical at the very notion too, "I mean, just in hopes that he really wants to drink tea?"

"Do you have a better plan?" Claire slammed the heavy book shut and gave a duo a rather familiar glare that she used before when she threatened to bury both of them six feet under. "Because the way I see it, you two have no chance of beating him once he activates his Unique Magic. In fact, you guys might not even get a chance to use your magic before that happens. If I was a sane person, I would be wagering that both of you will lose. And badly."

Ace and Deuce looked at each other, too stubborn to admit that out loud that Claire was right again.

"You got that?" She glared at them again. "If you cannot use your magic, you need to stall out long enough to get past 4. You need to be able to withstand whatever magic he throws out, even if it kills you. That is the only chance you have to win."

"Winning even if it kills us…" Deuce mumbled as he recalled the absurd words Claire spoke.

"She makes it sound like it's so easy," Ace said with a crooked half-smile and shook his head.

Only she could come up with this ludicrous plan.

Ace could still remember that night when she had forced all of them to work together to get that magic crystal from that monster and avoid expulsion. He glanced over to where Claire was sitting, but she was too busy clasping her hands together in prayer to notice. She could say all she want about betting odds, but Ace knew that she would always side with them.

"Let's not disappoint her," he said quietly.

"Agreed," said Deuce.

"Gentlemen!" Crowley called out, "Front and center."

"Just you wait." Ace glared angrily at Riddle, who came walking to the center from the other side. "Once I'm dorm head, I'm going make you apologize! And then I'm going to stop you from terrorizing all of us with those stupid rules."

Author's Notes

Well, at least we have a plan. A rather flimsy plan, but a plan nevertheless. XD

We're reaching the climax of the story, and you know what that means... boss battle! :D

Also, that rule number for 4 pm teatime was something never mentioned in the game (in other words, the rule is stated but not which number), but I figured to add one (and change it later if it is brought up) in here to add a bit of authenticity for the plan Claire came up with.

I hope everyone has a good winter holiday and I'll see you next week for the final update of this year!

-JD