I thank KatherineOzawa of Wattpad for helping me.
"There is NO! POSSIBLE! ALTERNATIVE!"
"Riddle, stop!" but it was too late….
The dripping in Niho's ears became a rainfall, filling her eardrums with nothing but the constant noise. She closed her eyes as she tried to block out the noise, putting her hands over her ears as well, but it did nothing, the dripping becoming louder and louder by the passing seconds when…..it stopped. She opened her eyes, wondering where the noise went, when suddenly…..something, or someone, caught her eye.
Riddle's skin became an ashen grey like cinders. His eyes became a bloody red tint, his right eye lit a flame by red. A web of black markings trailed across the right side of his face. The gold crown he wore became a web of black, retaining its shape, black ink oozed from a choker that looked carved into his neck. His uniform changed drastically as well. His suit and the cape looked melded into one article, as splashes of red and black splattered onto the tattered ends of the cape, the white collar now looked like a backpiece of black iron wrapped behind his neck, the white collar torn. The suit was a dress meshed with red and black alike, sleeves shredded at his upper arms, revealing bare arms covered in black goo like opera gloves of sorts. Across his chest were black leather straps with gold heart buckles. His hips sprouted black and white flowers, drifting into a skirt of torn material and strands of playing cards. The boots had shifted into black armored boots, dripping with the same back stuff on his arms.
Niho's jaw dropped open. "A dark aura is flowing out of him!"
What Riddle spoke next sent her freezing on the spot, his voice malicious and demented. "Heh heh heh… AH HA HA HA! You are fools to defy me! You are not welcome in my world. In my world, I am the law. I am order made manifest! The only response I will accept from you is "Yes, Housewarden Riddle." All who defy me will lose their heads! Ah ha ha ha ha!"
Crowley put his hands to his head in despair, wailing, "Dear me, what have I done? I've allowed a student to overblot in my presence!"
Grim turned to him, asking, ""Overblot"? What does that mean?!"
"Overblot is a dangerous condition that mages must avoid at all At the moment, he is overcome by negative energy, and has lost control of his magic and emotions." Crowley answered, confusing them.
"Okay, sure…but what does that mean?"
"Please explain!"
Cater clenched his hands at their stupidity. "To put it in layman's terms, he's in evil berserker mode!"
"If he keeps releasing magical energy, we could be looking at a loss of life here-his included." Trey grimaced.
"Uh, WHAT?!"
"You mean… he'll die?!" Niho quivered.
"The well-being of my students is my top priority." Crowley instructed. "Therefore, I must evacuate them immediately. As for Mr. Rosehearts, we must restore his consciousness before his magical energy runs dry. For as bad as losing him would be, there are scenarios that are far worse…" he didn't finish. "Listen well: I need all of you to seek help from the other housewarden's and members of the faculty."
Niho whispered fiercely to the others to attack Riddle with all they had.
"Hiiiyah! Take that!" Ace blasted a Wind bolt Riddle's way, taking the others back with his brash move.
"Huh?!"
"I summon thee, cauldron!"
"Myah?!"
A black cauldron and a stream of fire were thrown in, hitting Riddle with all they had in an explosion. The dust cleared to see that Riddle had taken some damage, clutching his arm and glaring at the first years.
"What do you fools think you're doing?" he growled.
"Um, hello?! 911? We've got an idiot emergency!" Cater looked at them as if they lost their minds.
Niho turned to look at him, Trey and Crowley. "The teachers will never make it in time if we wait!"
"You DID hear the part about how reeeal bad things are happenin' with him, right?!" Grim agreed.
Deuce raked his hands through his hair. "That's why we need to stop him now! I don't want that on my conscience!"
"And I'm not givin' up till I hear him say "I was wrong and I'm sorry."" Ace finished.
"We're taking action whether you want us to or not!" Niho glared at Trey in defiance.
Trey could only gape at her, his brain swarming with confusion. He wanted to scold them for their irrationality of challenging Riddle, but he sighed, knowing there was no other choice in the making. "All right, let's do this. I can overwrite his magic for a little longer. In the meantime, do what you can! Headmage, please evacuate the other students!"
But Crowley was not one for it. "Wait! This is dangerous!"
Cater stood with the headmage on the debate. "Are you S-R-S, Trey? You can't beat Riddle!"
"So what, you're not even gonna fight unless you KNOW you can win?" Ace spat back.
"Yeah, he's right. That's weak." Grim gripped.
"This is the only way we can think of to snap him out of this!" Deuce rebelled.
Trey nodded stiffly. "Yeah… I don't want to lose him. There's too many things I've left unsaid."
Niho finished, "We just have to do this, whatever it takes!"
Cater could only stare open mouthed at each of them, his eyes on Niho last before he shook his head. "Ugh, I do NOT like or subscribe to this, but fine!"
Crowley sighed, "Ngh… I'll be back as soon as I've gotten the students to safety. Stand firm until then!" he ran off with the last of the other Heartlabyul students.
"Such defiance, from every last one of you! I shall take all your heads!" Riddle screeched, sending tremors through the ground. Behind him, a large figure wearing something akin to his own uniform hovered behind him. The figure looked reminiscent of the monster from the mines, except it's head was heart shaped and cracked, a few dribbles of ink spilling from the crack. It wore a crown on its head and in its hand, it wielded a rose tree for a sword.
"Riddle's body can't take much more of this. We need to stop him before it's too late!" Trey fixed his glasses so that they were not askew. "Sleight of Hand!" he commanded, as Niho ran for cover.
The collar snapped around his neck in a flash. "Confound it all! Still you oppose me, Trey?!"
"Alright! We've locked down Riddle's collaring attack!" Grim cheered.
"But not for long. We're still in kind of a tight spot here." Cater grabbed his own pen.
"Yeah. Get this done quick, while I keep Off With Your Head sealed away!" Trey ordered.
"YEEEAAARGH!" Wind, Fire, Earth and Water attacks were thrown in large scales toward Riddle. Cater even summoned a few clones to get more firepower on their side, but he found it quick to nearly drain him of his strength. Riddle broke off the collar in a flying rage as the mammoth figure behind him swung the tree in an arch, sending rose thorns their way. Niho screamed as a few nearly pierced her skin had she not ducked behind one of the archways for protection.
"Gah! Shouldn't he be outta magic by now?!" Ace shouted.
"I am absolutely, positively right-beyond any possible shadow of a doubt! I have to be! Otherwise, what was any of it for…?!" Riddle wailed.
Trey felt a pang of guilt stab him in the chest. "Riddle…"
"Trey, focus!" Cater snapped him back to his senses, helped up by a few clones to his feet. "Any distraction now will be giving him an extra advantage!"
"Ah, sorry!" He managed to pull himself together.
The attacks kept coming, Niho holding onto the railing for life when from her bag, something began to glow. She scrambled to snatch it out when she saw it was the Ghost Camera. She looked up in time to see Ace deal the final blow. Literally. He threw up his left arm into a swing, sending a hurling bolt of lightning at Riddle, striking him in the stomach and sending him to the ground. Riddle screeched in pain, the incarnation behind him falling behind as well. Riddle smashed into the ground, hitting his head on the dirt, knocking him out. His voice croaked, eyes glazed over and looking up into the sky. "I…was wrong?! But that's…impossible… Isn't it…Mother?" his head laid back in the dirt, signaling total knockout.
Niho managed to snap the photo, albeit a bit difficult, going into shock from the events that transpired, when she felt her vision go dark.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Her eyes opened to see that no one else was around her. Everything had disappeared. The gardens, her friends, even Riddle. She was all alone.
But….something had changed.
She was in a dining room. A long oakwood table with four matching chairs stood neatly on either side of one another. Three windows, their shutters open, were on the right side of the table, and a china cabinet stood by the wall next to them. And a gorgeous chandelier hung from the ceiling high up. Yet….Everything was in a shade of black and white…..
"Where am I?" she looked around, confused, until her eyes landed on a small child. He wore a typical schoolboy uniform: white collared shirt, brown shorts with suspenders and simple dress shoes. He sat in one of the chairs, swinging his legs over the edge, a small sad smile on his lips. But out of everything in the room, he was colored. His slated grey eyes looked downcast and the familiar wine red hair and heart ahoge stood prominent on the small boy. She gasped, "Riddle?"
From the kitchen doorway, a woman who looked to be in her late 20s/early 30s came in. She was dressed the same way as Riddle: white blouse, long brown skirt and her hair was pinned up into a high bun, the same polished red as her sons. It was his mother, and she held a cake in her hands. "Happy eighth birthday, Riddle. This year's birthday cake is a low-sugar recipe made with nuts and lecithin-rich soy flour to improve your cerebral function." She smiled and placed the cake, candles lit, in front of her son.
Child Riddle smiled shyly, "Thank you. But, Mom..." He fiddled with his fingers as he spoke up, "Just once, I'd like to try one of those tarts covered with bright-red strawberries…"
Niho raised an eyebrow. "I'm in Riddle's past?"
"Absolutely not!" Mrs. Rosehearts looked appalled at her own blood's request. "Those tarts are monstrously unhealthy. I might as well feed you poison! Even just a slice would exceed your recommended daily intake of sugar. Now, dinner tonight will be a tuna saute rich in DHA and omega-3 fatty acids. Now that you're eight, your caloric intake should be 600 kilocalories per meal, so don't eat more than 100 grams of it. Understood?"
Little Riddle looked away in defeat and begrudgingly nodded. "Yes, Mom."
Although Niho didn't understand a word Riddle's mother said, all she could feel towards the woman was anger. It was her own son's birthday, for cryin' out loud! He should have whatever he wants! And she had the gall to shoot down a simple request?!
Before she could speak her mind, the ghost of present Riddle appeared next to her, not in his insanity. He spoke as if he were narrating a story.
"I'd always wanted to try one of those tarts with the bright-red strawberries. The local cake shop had them in the window. They shined at me like forbidden jewels."
The scene changed into another. This time, several books were lying around the table and Riddle, in the same spot, was dotting down notes in a notebook, his mother standing beside him, a book in her hands.
"That's enough classical magic study for today." She shut the book in her hands. "Your homework is to read the first fifty pages of the philosophy of language book referenced in today's magical philosophy texts. You may now have one hour of independent study before your potionology lesson."
"Thank you, Mother." Little Riddle nodded.
"I need some time to prepare the lesson materials. I will see you in one hour, okay?" with that, she took her things and disappeared from the room.
"Geez, how could she push him to do stuff like this?" Niho murmured.
"I was studying every possible subject, scheduled down to the minute." Riddle's ghost spoke. "When I didn't understand something, the lesson was extended until I did. That was my "normal.""
The scene was altered a bit. Child Riddle looked so peppy when he began his work, but as the scene morphed, he looked almost ready to pass out. He held up his head with one hand as he furiously wrote with the other.
Then the sound of knocking on the window snapped him out of it. "...Is someone knocking at the window?" He perked up, sliding off his seat and moving to the window, he opened it to look outside. Niho followed behind carefully, seeing two smaller figures whom she immediately recognized as Trey and Chenya in their child versions.
"Whoa, he heard us!"
"Hey, come play with us!"
Riddle looked off put at the newcomers and backed away a bit scared. "Who are you?"
"I'm Chenya, and that's Trey. Let's all play croquet. Oh, but it's LOTS of fun!" Little Chenya grinned.
"I can't." Riddle looked away shyly. "I'm supposed to be doing independent study, and I have a lot of homework to do."
""Independent study" means you pick what to do, right?" Chenya rebuffed. "My grandpa says play is a form of study!" Niho giggled, liking his grandpa immediately.
"Just play with us for a little bit!" Trey suggested.
Riddle looked conflicted, between completing his studies or making new friends. He smiled and nodded timidly, "...O-okay… Just a little, though!"
Trey smiled and asked, "Hey, what's your name?"
"R-Riddle. Riddle Rosehearts."
"I had the best time playing with Trey and Chenya. We did so many things I'd never done before. They taught me lots of things I didn't know. After that, I snuck out of my room everyday to play with them during independent study time."
Now it was outside in the front gardens. The trio of children were sitting in a circle, talking to one another. "Whaaat? You've never even tried a strawberry tart? They're out of this world." Chenya gasped.
"Yeah. My mom says sugar is basically poison." Riddle puffed his cheeks and looked away.
"I mean, you probably shouldn't eat too much of it, but calling it "poison" is kinda…yikes. You know, my family runs a cake shop. Let's go get a tart right now!" Trey patted his shoulder with reassurance.
"Really? But…I shouldn't."
"Just one slice. It'll be fine." Trey smiled, lifting Riddle's spirits.
"One slice for YOU, maybe. I want a whole one!"
It showed the three in a small bakery in a village where they all crowded around a table, three tarts stood before them. Little Riddle took his time savoring the treat he so longed to have as Riddle's ghost smiled at the memory, watching with happiness. "A bright-red strawberry tart on a white plate. To me, it shined more brightly than any gem could. That first bite was so sweet. It tasted like nothing I'd ever eaten before. With each bite, I became more entranced…" But then he frowned as the scene morphed back into the Rosehearts household. "…and completely lost track of the time."
"I can't believe this!" Mrs. Rosehearts scowled as her son cowered before her angry aura. "Not only are you cutting independent study time, but I find you eating a mountain of sugar?! Those two hoodlums must have incited this behavior. You must never play with them again!"
Riddle, in tears, kept pleading for mercy. "I'm sorry, Mother! I promise, it will never happen again."
"Be quiet! You've broken the rules, and I'll not hear another word from you. Clearly, you're not able to handle the freedom of independent study. I need to keep a closer eye on you." she crossed her arms and kept muttering to herself on keeping a tighter leash on her son.
Niho hated her more than ever. "Trey and Chenya aren't the ones who are bad, it's you!" she spat at her, not caring if the past ghostly figure couldn't hear her. "You may be a skilled healer, but a pathetic excuse of a mother! It's YOUR doing that Riddle became this way! If only you could see what a monster he became, but you're too blinded by your own arrogance to see how much he's hurting inside!"
The scene melted away, Niho seeing Child Riddle's tears flow as the last thing before darkness engulfed her surroundings. Only Riddle's ghost stayed with her. "Because I broke the rules, my favorite part of my day was taken away from me. I vowed to never break my mother's rules again. After all, she was the most accomplished mother in the city, and therefore, the most correct." His voice cracked as he felt sadness overwhelm him. "But Mom... Why? Why does my heart hurt so much? I want to eat a tart! It's my birthday, so can't I have some just this once? I want to play outside all day long! I want to make lots and lots of friends! Tell me, Mom, please… What rule do I need to follow to make this pain go away?" he turned away to hide his tears as Niho looked at him, feeling sympathy for the guy. She walked up to him and rested both her hands on his shoulders. He gasped, turning around to see her, as if she were the ghost instead of him.
"Your mother was wrong. She doesn't know how to be a good mother. I bet she only sees you as her trophy and nothing more." she shook her head, disgust still held towards his mom. Riddle could only look at her with shock and admiration as she kept speaking. "One broken rule doesn't end the world, and a little bit of strawberry tart wasn't gonna hurt you." she smiled as she recalled something she liked in her world when it came to strawberries. "I like putting strawberries in my lemonade or when I have chocolate sandwich cookies, even with peanut butter, they taste great!"
"You speak as if you have freedom that I never had..."
Niho smiled at Riddle and made him face her. "You can have freedom. But going by absurd rules isn't going to help you in the slightest. There's a line between being rational and irrational. You were leaning more towards the second one. And that's what made everyone turn against you and your tyranny. You need to let go of the uptightness and let loose now and then. Give the reins some slack. Who knows: it may just make a difference." but then she frowned. "You can't let your mother influence your life forever. One of these days, she's going to see that you're not a child, and that you'll have to make decisions for yourself when the time calls for it."
Riddle seemed a bit hesitant on the offer, but nodded nonetheless.
Niho smiled, "We'll do things one step at a time towards the change. And first things first: apologize to everyone you wronged."
The last thing she saw was Riddle sending her a small smile before she was pulled back into reality.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"Riiiiiddle!"
Niho's eyes fluttered open. She was lying down on her side on the grass, the Camera tucked close to her chest as a means to protect it. She sat up, rubbing the haze out of her eyes, to be met with something drastic in front of her: the entire gardens were ruined from the battle.
Grass and dirt were torn up in spots, the trees ripped from the grounds, partially barren of leaves and roses, their petals fell like blood droplets. Several paint cans were overturned, their contents spilled. And the archway of the maze was completely wrecked. Barely anything looked recognizable in the wreckage.
Niho looked over to see Riddle's prone form on the grass, Trey beside him. Riddle gasped sharply as he woke up.
"He's back!" Ace and the others rush over when they see their housewarden awake.
"Well, it's about time… We were just about losin' our heads here-figure of speech, sorry- 'cause we thought you might never wake up!" Cater sighed.
Riddle took in much needed air as he surveyed what his rage caused. "...What in the world happened...?"
"Ah, Mr. Rosehearts appears to have regained consciousness. Excellent." Crowley sighed.
"Don't worry, Riddle. Just try to rest." Trey helped him sit up properly.
"Yo, that's just the sort of coddling that led to him going nuts in the first place! Now the garden is tore up from the floor up, not to mention that we could've died!" Ace rolled his eyes.
"He's right. It was looking bad for a while there." Deuce breathed.
"For cryin' out loud. When you humans let that stress build up, the results sure ain't pretty." Grim added.
Niho approached Riddle and squatted down beside him, resting her hand on his shoulder as well. "...you okay?"
Riddle stared at her with tears welling in his eyes. "The truth is, I… I really wanted to eat the chestnut tart."
Ace perked up at the timid voice. "Huh?"
Riddle's voice became soft and tearful, blurting out everything that was on his mind. "And I don't care if the roses are white or the flamingos are pink. And I prefer honey to sugar cubes in my tea, and I like milk tea better than lemon tea anyhow. And after a meal, I want to be the one sitting around talking with everyone…"
"Riddle…?"
"And I really wanted to play with you and Chenya more, Trey." he became too choked on his words that he couldn't help but start bawling.
Cater nearly dropped his phone in shock. "Riddle Rosehearts, in tears… Hashtag #WOW."
"You think a few crocodile tears is all it'll take for me to forgive you?" Ace snapped.
"Give the guy a break, Ace." Deuce glared at him half-heartedly.
Trey hugged Riddle, speaking, "I'm sorry, Riddle. I knew you were suffering, and all I did was pretend not to notice." He moved away to face Riddle and looked him in the eyes with a resolve. "So I'm gonna say what I should have said earlier. Your way of doing things was wrong, and you owe everyone an apology."
Riddle sniffed. Trey helped him to his feet as he stuttered out, "…I'm sorry... I'm really sorry."
No one said anything for a while. Then Ace stepped forward. "I know I've been saying I wanted an apology from Riddle, but now that I got one, y'know what?" his face contorted in anger. "One stupid "I'm sorry" doesn't even come close to making up for what he did!"
"DUDE! Way to be a capital-J Jerk!" Cater gaped.
"Ace, will you let it go already?!" Niho screamed at him.
The ginger glared at them both. "Why wouldn't I! And I'm proud of it! Have you forgotten how he made a total fool outta me?! Have you forgotten how he just threw away that chestnut tart we worked so hard on?! That ain't something you can make go away with a few tears and a flimsy "I'm sorry"!"
"Wow. I ain't never met anyone who was better at holdin' grudges than I am." Grim rolled his eyes.
Riddle looked at him tearfully. "Then... Then what do you want me to do?!"
Ace's anger calmed down a bit and he said, "You know… I don't got a birthday coming up anytime soon."
Deuce became confused. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
But Ace wasn't finished. "So I demand a do-over for the unbirthday party! Except this time, we ain't gonna do squat. This time, YOU'RE the one who brings that tart! And no getting Trey to make it for you! Do that, and then things are square between us."
"Except you had lots of help making YOUR tarts…?" Niho spat back, making Ace look at her.
"Quiet from the peanut gallery." turning back to Riddle, "What do you say, Riddle? We clear?"
"Yes… We're clear." Riddle nodded solemnly.
Crowley broke the tension with a, "Ah, yes. Compromise is a beautiful thing. I believe that concludes this matter."
"Welp, looks like we got some cleaning up to do. All that work making the garden Magicam-worthy, and now it's a total tire fire. Laaame." Cater wailed sadly.
"I'll help out." Trey offered but Cater shook his head.
"No, why don't you get Riddle to the nurse's office. That was a full-blown cas of overblot. We need to make absolutely sure he's okay."
"Mr. Diamond is correct. I will go along with you."
Trey hesitated but a pained moan from Riddle made him agree. "Understood. Thank you, sir." Hauling up his friend carefully, Trey and Riddle walked slowly to the infirmary, Crowley following right behind them.
Grim felt his stomach rumble. "Man, am I STARVED after usin' so much magic! Hmmm Hey, check it out!" he started sniffing the air. He kept following his nose until he came across an eerily familiar black stone. "That's another black magestone, just like the one we found at the Dwarfs' Mine!" he picked it up.
Deuce squatted down to see he was right. "You're right. Wonder where it came from?"
"Just don't put it in your mouth this time." Ace warned.
But Grim's stomach thought ahead of his brain. "No way. After how great that last one tasted, I can't get that thing in my mouth fast enough!"
"Geez, Grim…" Niho rolled her eyes, watching him swallow it whole.
"Aaand there it goes." Ace gaped.
Cater joined them with morbid curiosity. "Oh, Grimmy… Have some self-respect, honey! That was literally trash."
"Ahhhhh! Rich and sweet, but with a complex hint of bitterness in the aftertaste. Equally delicious, but with quite a different mouthfeel from that last one I ate." Grim swooned.
"Let's hope that doesn't make you sick." Niho was weirded out a tad.
"As a monster, maybe his stomach works differently than ours?" Ace shrugged.
"Even still, eating trash can't be good for anyone." Deuce murmured.
"Oooh! I just tried the grass, and the flavor was surprisingly pleasant! Crisp, even!"
Deuce caught the creature trying to nibble at a few weeds in the grass, making him shout, "That's our lawn! Don't eat that!" and ran to apprehend him.
Cater snickered, watching the scene with a small smile as he whispered to himself. "Uh, A-F-K while I go throw up… But…seriously, guys. Thanks."
"Did you just say something?" Ace turned back, but Cater faked ignorance.
"Hm? Nope. Not a thing."
While Niho wanted to stay and talk with the others, she knew there was some unfinished business. "Guys, there's something I need to take care of. So I can't help out this time." she apologized, and took off without waiting for their answers.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
She ducked and wove her way through the never-ending halls, potentially asking a few ghosts for help with directions, until she found a door labeled in black lettering on the glass: Infirmary.
She nodded. "This is the place." she knocked a few times and then entered, peeking her head in first. On one of the cot beds laid Riddle, his crown off his head as he laid down, eyes closed. Trey sat close to him in a chair, until the sound of the door opening alerted him. He looked up to see Niho approaching. He put a finger to his lips, telling her to hush. She nodded and kneeled beside him, whispering.
"You two need to come with me." she whispered. Trey raised an eyebrow at her claim, but all she said was: "There's something we need to take care of."
"In a while." Trey assured. "He needs some rest." Niho nodded, deciding patience would be worthwhile.
About an hour or so later, Trey and Niho chit-chatting now and then, mentioning that he and Riddle are from the Rose Kingdom, Riddle woke up.
"Trey….how long was I out for?" he yawned.
"About an hour. Niho decided to visit. He said he needs us for something." Trey answered.
At the new girl's name, Riddle stumbled to sit up in a shock. "N-Niho!"
"Hey." she smiled warmly. "How are you?"
"I-I'm fine…." he mumbled. "But you wanted me for something?"
She nodded. "Now?" another nod.
"Riddle, are you strong enough?" Trey worried.
Riddle nodded and massaged his head. "I'll rest some more when we finish with his task." but at that, Riddle looked at her. "What is it that you need us for exactly?"
"You'll find out soon enough." was all she said.
After getting Riddle back on his feet, the three walk to the Mirror Chamber where the Dark Mirror resided.
"Dark Mirror!" Niho called. "Send us to the Rose Kingdom!"
The Mirror warped and light engulfed the three bodies.
When the portal spat them out, there they were in a village that seemed like out of a fairytale of sorts. And up ahead in the North was a magnificent Castle. But that wasn't Niho's destination. No….it was something much more important to her than that.
She turned to see Riddle and Trey's confused faces. "No time for questions. Just point me to the Rosehearts Residence immediately."
Riddle immediately knew what she was trying to plan and went to shake his head no, but Trey stopped him, despite the uneasy feeling in his gut. "T-This way…" he mumbled and led her down several cobblestone streets, past shops and people and other houses. Niho took it all in as fast as she could, but the reason she needed Trey is for a specific reason: to get back to Night Raven College since she had no magic when all this was over.
Out from the village and into the countryside, they walked on, grass surrounding them with other houses. And very soon, they made it to a quaint house, almost a gingerbread house of sorts. Two storied, wooden roofed, polished glass windows, brick chimney, the works.
"Is this the place?" she asked, feeling her anger towards the monster behind the door surfacing.
Both Trey and Riddle nodded silently. But Trey's was more grim and Riddle's was more scared. Satisfied with the answer, and without waiting for either of them, Niho charged up the doorbell and rang it. After several seconds, someone opened the door.
That someone whose wine red hair has several silvery grayish ones peeking out from her tight bun. Small wrinkles and lines littered parts of her face and her eyes held a somewhat scholarly look to them. She had on her standard white blouse and plain long skirt, this time, a deep black, the tips of her boots peeking out from the hem of the skirt. She looked over to see the two students standing beside one another and made to ask something. But Niho interrupted her.
Niho knew all too well who this was. "I'm sorry for intruding…" she began. "I'm a friend of your son, Riddle. And we need to talk, now."
Mrs. Rosehearts stared down at the girl and her rude interruption with a cold look in her eyes, but complied when she saw her son and Trey behind her, almost several feet away. "Very well. How may I help you?" she asked.
Niho's let her own eyes glare back at the mother, not an ounce of fear in her veins as she ripped at the old woman. "Your son became a tyrant at Night Raven College and went into overblot, and you are the cause! I saw what you did in the past from the ghost camera. And so, I've come to tell you what I think EXACTLY of you." Riddle's mother was about to interrupt, but Niho didn't let her speak as her voice raised, "Enforcing rules can't bring somebody happiness! And I'm not gonna let you hurt Riddle anymore, you hear me?!" she pointed an accusing finger at her with malice. "I'm warning you, you better not mess with him and his friends ever again!"
Riddle's mother became a bit taken back by the outburst when it melted into anger at the girl. "You dare march onto my property and tell me how my son's life should or shouldn't be run?!" She snarled. "How dare you!"
"Having children is a privilege, not a right. And your son is not your trophy!" Niho didn't hesitate to rip her to pieces like the monster she was. Even stepping inside the house and ripping down one of the woven tapestries from the wall like it was a sheet of blank paper. "It doesn't matter that you're Riddle's mother. If you threaten all of us, we will crush you just like any other enemy!"
At this point, Mrs Rosehearts felt fear course inside her veins. She moved her mouth open and closed like a fish out of water. She couldn't think of a comeback to tell the young lady off and put her in her place. Even Riddle and Trey were shell-shocked at Niho's sudden aggressive tone and behaviour change. But Riddle felt somewhere inside his heart, he felt….gratitude. No one ever had the gall to stand up to his mother like that. Not even himself when he was younger. Maybe he really was wrong about Niho. He shouldn't have judged her like that….
"It didn't have to be this way if you just noticed how much Riddle was hurting!" Niho felt the tears from before burning in her eyes, but like before, she forced them back. "Riddle needs to be accepted for who he is, not who his parents are!"
"Riddle, is this true?" his mother looked over Niho's shoulder to stare at her son, quite sternly. Riddle felt his legs tremble beneath him, knowing that no matter how much he wanted to speak up to his mother and say she was wrong, he couldn't find the balls to do so. So, he tugged on Trey's sleeve nervously and whispered something to him. Trey nodded and decided to speak for them both.
"It's true. And before you say anything about wanting to hear this from Riddle, you're hearing this from us both whether you wanted it or not. I know I'm forbidden from coming into contact with your son, but as of now, the rules don't abide to one's sanity at this time and place as of now." Trey scolded. "These past few days had been harsh on not just Niho and I, but Riddle as well. Making him aware of following every rule accountable just makes you seem like a lunatic. We're not enforcing irrational and ridiculous rules just because it's your mindset. And just because it's your way of life doesn't mean it should be Riddle's. From now on, he'll be doing things his own way. And even if you decide to disown him, we'll be there for him to put him back on his feet. And treat him like family, with warmth, compassion and acceptance. Something you obviously never did."
And with that declaration, the three left without another word.
"Riddle! Riddle, get back here and answer me! I will not condone this behaviour!" his mother kept shrieking. But Riddle, Niho and Trey ignored her banshee screams and kept walking along the dirt road back to the portal where they landed in the Rose Kingdom, her voice growing fainter and fainter the further they walked. No one said a word or anything on the way back to Night Raven. But it wasn't until they landed back in the chamber did Trey look at Niho in a long time.
"I'll, uh…." he pondered off nervously. Niho nodded to save him time.
"He needs his rest." she nodded, feeling a great weight off her shoulders. "I should go back and make sure Grim didn't set fire to anything else in the gardens…" she turned to leave the two to their own devices.
"No, wait…" Riddle held up a hand and struggled to stay up as he looked at Niho. She stopped and looked back in confusion. "Before you go…..I have something to say…." Riddle's form began to waver, but he stayed upright for her sake.
"N-Niho….I'm sorry for everything I said to you earlier….. From the moment you came here, I thought you were just a weak magicless being who couldn't do anything for himself. But after what you said to my mother just now...I was wrong about you." he laughed dryly. "I was too blinded by my own arrogance to see what someone like you held underneath….I know it won't be so easy to receive your forgiveness, but…."
"Hey." she interrupted politely. "For now, we'll deal with re-building the bridge later. You need rest after dragging you to your own house and lashing out at your pathetic mom. No offense or anything." she waved away and threw a goodbye over her shoulder, she ran off.
Riddle watched her leave with confusion and admiration in his eyes. "Trey…"
"Yea, me too, Riddle. Me too…" he nodded and took him back to the infirmary, her words echoing on between them like a mantra.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
-Several days later-
The trumpets sounded once more in a grand flare. "All hail our leader, the Red Sovereign himself… Housewarden Riddle!" a student announced.
"We salute you, Housewarden Riddle!" the dorm cheered.
Riddle's cape swept behind him as he walked out into the now spotless gardens of Heartslabyul after the incident. "Hm. The garden roses are red, the tablecloths are white… This seems a proper unbirthday indeed. Is there a dormouse asleep in the teapo- Er, well, I suppose it's fine either way." he shook his head.
"Not everything has to change completely, you know. Like, maybe spread the jam on your scones, instead of one the dormouse this time? Let's try to set the bar at "it's great if it's this way," not "it absolutely has to be this way."" Trey stepped up to his side and smiled.
"Yes, that makes sense." Riddle nodded after thinking silently.
"Ah. Everything's back to normal…." Niho smiled, smoothing out her party outfit.
"I can't believe we got roped into cleaning up and prepping the garden again." Ace moaned, massaging his tired hands.
"Well, at least the housewarden recovered from his overblot without complications." Deuce chided him.
"And the garden is Magicam-worthy once again! Hashtag #noflilter on this gorgeousness!" Cater winked.
Grim started hopping up and down like a rabbit. "Blah blah blah! Let's just eat already!"
Niho sighed. "This party will be better than last time...I hope."
"Then eat we shall! I'll get the-"
"Wait a minute!" Riddle rose a hand over Cater.
Cater turned to look at him. "Huh?"
"There's a white rose…!" Riddle's eyes narrowed as he pointed over to a whole treeful of pure white roses straight in front of the group.
"We missed one?!" Ace choked.
"Ace, Deuce, I told you to make sure to paint EVERY rose!" Cater gritted his teeth and spoke tensely.
"Wait, this is our fault?!" Deuce glared at him.
"R-Riddle, listen…" Trey tried to calm him down before he began to lose his cool, but after a while, Riddle's stern face vanished.
"Well… I suppose I can overlook one or two missed roses."
"R-really?! That's so generous of you, Riddle!" Cater sighed happily.
"I'd we work together, we should be able to get them painted in no time."
"What? They still gotta be painted?!" Ace gawked.
"Even so… I'm impressed." Trey waved it away as he looked to his friend and smiled. "You've changed, Riddle."
Grim scowled. "I'm starvin' here! Let's just get these stupid roses painted or whatever!" And paint them they did. Well, mostly Riddle, who kinda showed off his skills that put the others to shame. Once the white became red, all was set.
Riddle returned to his place at the table. "All right, is everyone ready?"
"So what happened to that tart, Housewarden?" Ace pushed the topic forth first.
"I made it for you, as I promised I would. Here: one strawberry tart, crafted by yours truly." Riddle assured and pushed forth a red platter with the tarts.
Trey picked it up and inspected it closely. "Nice! The shape's a little off, but I can tell you put a lot of work into that glaze. A fine job indeed, especially considering it was your first!" he critiqued his work.
"Looks pretty adequate." Niho added.
"Oh, plush-lease. How about we actually TRY it before you start fawning all over him, Trey?" Ace shrugged and picked the tart up. But Cater stopped him before anyone could eat.
"Hold it! Don't you start cutting that before I get my Magicam snap!" he fumbled with his camera in one hand, holding the tart in the other and snapped a pic faster than lightning. "...Okay, got it!"
"Tch. I see Cater hasn't changed a bit either. All right, let's dig in!" They all bit into the sweet treats….
….is what should've been what they tasted. But they weren't tasting it. No, what they tasted was something….much different.
"Hmm…?" Deuce's lips suddenly puckered at the weird taste.
"This is kinda…"
"Salty!" the group began to frantically spit out the tainted treats like they tasted vomit mixed with cat piss.
"Whaaat?!" Riddle stood there in shock at their negative reactions.
"Err? This isn't KINDA salty-it's a full-one salt lick!" Ace spit out the chewed up chunk into his hand and threw it away far off into the gardens, turning to glare at Riddle. "What did you put in this?!"
Riddle held up his hands in surrender. "But I followed the rules exactly, and measured everything precisely! Unless…" his eyes lit up in realization. "Oh! Could it be…from the oyster sauce?"
"You did WHAT?!" Niho looked at him like he lost half his brain.
Deuce pounded his chest, coughing to get the stuck wad of tart down his esophagus. "Wait…did you actually use that Walrus-brand oyster sauce Trey jokes about?"
Riddle nodded. "But Trey said that oyster sauce is an unlisted secret ingredient in all tarts! He said all the finest bakers use it…"
"And you actually believed him?! How could you not tell that he was joking?!" Ace frantically wiped his tongue on the edge of the tablecloth since there were no nearby napkins at the moment.
"You fell for it too, Ace!" Niho smirked at the freshmen and his idiocy.
"Even if you believed the joke, it was only supposed to be a splash. How much did you put in?" Cater looked ready to throw up.
"It's an unlisted ingredient! How could I measure it if he wouldn't tell me how much to put in?!" Riddle twiddled his fingers out of nervousness.
Trey could only gawk at his friend's naiveness for believing his joke when he started to snicker and then laugh. "Pfft… Ah ha ha ha ha! I can't believe someone actually fell for the ol' oyster sauce prank!"
It wasn't long before the others began to join in. First Riddle, then Deuce, Niho, Ace, Grim and Cater.
"Ha ha ha… Yes. Quite humorous indeed. I truly am a fool."
"Ha ha! It really is so disgusting that it's actually kind of funny!"
"Yeah, what else can we do but laugh?"
"Ah ha ha ha! Nothing wrong with just laughing it off. Ha ha!"
"You know, in its own weird way, I think it's actually kinda good!" Grim chewed off another chunk.
"Right? It really isn't half as bad as you'd think." Cater agreed, earning a crazed stare from Deuce.
"Seriously? You're agreeing with Grim, Cater? He literally eats garbage off the ground."
"Look, I'm not saying it's amazing or anything!" Cater brushed it off like a fly on his shoulder.
Trey approached him with a knowing smile. "But you like it because it's not sweet, right?"
"Huh?"
"You've never really liked sweet things, right?" This earned stares from the others.
"But didn't he want to try our tart?" Niho remembered.
Cater could only stare helplessly at the others and his guilt. "Yeah, you got me. But how did you figure it out? I've never told anyone that."
"Because you casually bring up my Paint the Roses spell every time we're eating sweets. You hide it pretty well, but that was a giveaway."
"Ack! My secret is out! This is so, so embarrassing! Especially after what happened to you and Riddle. I should have learned by now that keeping your feelings on the DL is not a great idea." the third year sagged his shoulders in surrender, a sad frown on his lips.
"How about I cook up a quiche for the next unbirthday party." Trey saved him the embarrassment and patted him on the shoulder.
That seemed to lift his mood a fraction. "That sounds totes amazing to me. Just make sure it's as photogenic as the tarts!"
"Mm mm mmm! Your baked good as always so delightful, Trey." A familiar voice perked up and everyone turned to see Chenya sitting by one of the tables nibbling one of the sugar cookies with a smile on his face.
"Chenya! What're you doing here?!" Riddle asked in surprise. What was even more surprising was how none of the other students had noticed him and how he got in!
"Hm? I came to celebrate my unbirthday with all of you. A very merry unbirthday to you, Riddle." Chenya sat and sent a smile towards his childhood buddy and then winked at Niho next. "Plus, I came to see the newbie! I heard everything that went down at your house, and how he stood up to your "mom"ster. Got guts, I'll give 'im that!"
Niho was surprised to learn that. "You know?"
"The unbirthday party is a Heartslabyul tradition. It does not pertain to you." Riddle scolded him.
"And these two? What about them?" Chenya waggled his finger at the Ramshackle duo.
Grim perked up immediately. "Hey! You're that weird semi-invisible cat guy from before! So you never told us-what dorm are you from?"
"Chenya isn't even a Night Raven student. He's a student at our long-time rival school, the Royal Sword Academy." Trey answered.
This raised red flags on Ace and Deuce.
"Whaaat? You go to a different school?"
"The frickin' Royal Sword Academy, no less?!"
"So there are other magic academies?" Niho let the information sink into her head, just as Ace's little outburst caused a few students to look up at the name.
"Did that guy just say the "Royal Sword Academy"?!"
"He's one of those pompous jerk-faces?!"
"What?! Who's from Royal Sword? We gotta run 'em outta here!" It wasn't long before more of them joined the angry mob.
"Well, now that I've tasted some tart, perhaps I should see myself out." Chenya teased and faded little by little.
One student saw him vanish and shouted, "He's running for it!"
"After him! Don't let him get away!" They clambored from their seats at the tables and ran into the gardens and around the dorm to search for the neko like it was a wild goose chase. It wasn't long until the tea area was clear of the other dormers.
"Whoa, everyone turned bloodthirsty real quick." Grim curled his tail inwards at their hostile and aggressive auras.
"The vast majority of Night Raven College students perceive the Royal Sword Academy as the enemy." Riddle explained, arms crossed over his chest.
"No surprise, given that they've kicked our busts every year for a hundred years straight…" Trey shrugged helplessly.
"Hey, stop harshin' the vibe! This is supposed to be a day of celebration. Can't we all just enjoy our unbirthdays?" Cater slugged his arms over the two with a smile on his lips.
"Myah! Merry unbirthday or whatever! I'm gonna eat till my stomach explodes!" Grim cheered, but Niho stopped them.
"Wait!" she called out and cleared her throat after six sets of eyes were on her. "Since the other students aren't here, I should tell you guys something, but Cater needs to leave, too. He hasn't really earned my trust yet.'' She sent a small glare at the third year, who relented, hands up in surrender and walked off, far, far off so that he couldn't eavesdrop on their conversation.
When he was a good distance away, she began. "I haven't been very truthful from the start either. I've been hiding something from you two….er, three, but for now, two since we first met." she looked at Riddle and Trey with a bit of fear. But Ace and Deuce knew what she was going to tell them and moved to either side of her and placed their hands on her shoulders for reassurance, with silent and encouraging smiles, That seemed to have lifted her spirits and she continued, "I'm not who you think I am…..and the truth is…..I'm really a girl."
"Oh I see….wait, what?!" At that claim, Riddle felt himself go red all over. But not from anger. Rather, embarrassment. Before he could let anyone make fun of him he threw the cape over his head and crouched down into a ball. Knowing the new student was actually a girl made him want to crawl into the bushes and rethink how he treated her these past several days. THOROUGHLY.
Trey laughed awkwardly at his friend's silence, "Uh…..you might've broken Riddle there, Niho…" he placed a hand on his shoulder for comfort. "But….we understand why you would want this to be kept under wraps. It may be alot for us to process, but we'll be okay." he nodded reassuringly. "Don't worry. Our lips are sealed. We won't let the secret get out to anyone. Not even Cater, until the right time." With a tip from his hat, Trey led Riddle away to let him rethink his choices on the matter, the redhead not even bothering to chide the first year boys for dying of laughter at his flushed out face.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Over at Savanaclaw, in a messy bedroom, two figures were doing different things. The first, Ruggie, was leaning on his elbows against the stone balcony's railing, overlooking the party that was going on next door. He sighed longingly, "Aww, sounds like those Heartslabyul twits are having some kind of feast today. Must be nice. How come Savanaclaw doesn't have any traditions that involve eating lots of free food?"
"Bah, it's a beautifully sunny day and they're stuffing their faces with cookies and cake? Grossin' me out over here.'' The second, Leona, laid out on his bed, arms up and behind his head, feet crossed at the ankles and his eyes shut. But they opened soon after and he side-eyed the second year. "Anyway, Ruggie. You know that's not what I'm here to ask you about."
Ruggie caught on fast and leaned upright with a smirk and mock-saluted. "Ah, that. Just leave it to me, Boss. All the preparations are proceeding smoothly!"
Leona nodded and stared at his hand, speaking quietly, "Then those fools won't be happily guzzling tea for much longer. That goes double for that snob, Malleus. They got no idea what's coming…" his eyes darkened as he clenched his hand into a tight fist as a dark chuckle left his lips. "Heh heh. Ah ha ha ha ha ha!"
XXXXXXXXXXXX
NEXT TIME...
"Being told that I'll never be first… is the thing I hate most. Life's not fair. Isn't playing dirty a skill all its own?"
"All that matters is winning. If I can't overthrow the world, I'll turn EVERYTHING TO SAND!"