Riddle was annoyed, to say the least. There was a reason he didn't get involved last year over those damn study guides.
"Why won't the housewarden interfere? I thought he was against cheating?" asked Deuce.
Cater winced.
"Yeah, Riddle is terrified of the Octavinelle dorm," said Cater.
"Terrified? Why?" asked Yuu.
"Thalassophobia," said Trey.
"Thal...what is that?" asked Ace baffled.
"Fear of open water," said Trey. "It came out pretty damn fast during swim class."
"Yeah, Coach Vargas was pretty unsympathetic about the whole mess, and Riddle has one of the rare passes to ditch the class entirely. He does know how to swim, but anything bigger than a small pond and he starts to hyperventilate," said Cater.
"Hence why he never goes near the Octavinelle dorm...it's completely underwater," explained Trey.
Rather than mock him, Ace showed actual concern.
"Any idea what caused it?" he asked.
Trey shook his head.
"I only met Riddle when he was seven, and I honestly thought his mother refused to let him near the community pool or the ocean. I had no idea he had an actual fear of it until he came here."
"I asked him once, and all he would comment is that he's afraid some 'sea hags' would try to drown him again," said Cater. "He refused to elaborate further than that."
From the way he described these...'sea hags'...Cater was fairly certain Riddle had run afoul of some pretty nasty mermaids. Explained why he had such issues dealing with Floyd.
"So Riddle won't help us?" asked Deuce.
"You made that deal without looking up the terms and conditions, you get to deal with it," said Trey. That had been what Riddle told the other fools who had fallen for the same trick. "Riddle will only intervene with Azul if he absolutely has to, and by then it would be easier to get the headmage to help."
A few days later...
Riddle was only peripherally aware of Yuu making some deal with Azul to free everyone from the contract. He had little sympathy for anyone stupid enough to make a deal with Azul this close to exams.
However he heard about the aftermath pretty fast. Azul had gone into Overblot, and had begun snatching magic left and right without a contract to buffer it.
Just the description of the Octavinelle dorm made him shiver.
~*~*~*~*~
When he woke up and began shivering, Riddle instinctively knew something was wrong. Once he left his room, and saw the panic in everyone's eyes, he went into damage control mode.
He began barking orders to help the faeries protect the maze and the animals within. Since the animals had limited shelter, he didn't want them to become sick due to the much lower temperatures. The flamingos in particular were more used to warmer climates. The hedgehogs were able to burrow into the ground to stay warm.
He left his room and saw everyone in a panic, not sure how to handle this.
"Calm down!" he barked. Some semblance of order began to form, mostly at his presence.
He mused at how well trained his Card Soldiers were when it came to responding to orders, for that to happen. Without hesitation, Riddle began barking orders. He knew the faeries would be hard at work keeping the maze alive, as the roses were temperamental when it came to changing temperatures.
That was mostly due to the fact that a good majority of them were transplanted from the remnants of Wonderland and required a specific mixture of faerie magic to keep them alive. Having the dorm at set at a specific temperature made it easier, but if it dropped too quickly it could damage them.
The next set of orders was to secure the habitats of the flamingos and hedgehogs. They wouldn't react well to the sudden drop and could become very ill, which was unacceptable.
With the dorm dealt with, as it was unlikely the teachers would demand they attend classes with the dorm in such a mess, Riddle went to find out what was going on.
He had an incredulous look when he got his answer.
"They're holding the Fairy Gala here?" he said incredulous.
"You've heard of it?" said Vil.
Of course he had heard of it. He had gone a few times with his father before he was taken. Hell, a few times the Rose Maze had become the stage for the long party to celebrate the coming of spring, and he could vividly remember how much fun it was.
With that in mind, Riddle paid very little attention to the fools being chosen to infiltrate the Gala and retrieve the missing magestone that was used to control the weather spells.
He would chose a more direct route.
Riddle bypassed the majority of the card soldiers still hard at work to keep the maze and the animals in good health and headed straight for the Queen's Retreat, as it was officially called in the old records.
Seeing the flower faeries there, he smiled.
"I need your help. It seems they're holding the Gala here, and I wish to make a proper impression on the royals hosting it."
"Why do you need our help? Humans aren't allowed," said one of the pixies.
"I wish to prepare a proper gift to the Queen hosting it," said Riddle. "It would be beyond the pale to arrive at such a gathering without one."
The pixies looked at each other, then at him.
"We'd need a proper centerpiece to show off. The other school faeries gave her a crown with a big mage stone in it. They were bragging about it for hours."
"Which is why I need to make an appearance. The mage stone they used wasn't theirs, and it's caused the maze to freeze."
That got their attention.
"They stole the weather stone?!" they said angrily. Now they had the proper incentive to help him.
"We still need something to act as a centerpiece. If they're going to do something so stupid, we need something big to show that Underland pixies are better!"
Riddle smirked.
"I completely agree. Let me create the main body of the centerpiece...you just need to help me decorate it to Underland standards," he said.
They nodded, and went to work gathering what they'd need to make a big impression.
Riddle went to his room and took out the seed packet he had gotten. He returned to the retreat and dug a small hole. The pixies watched with open fascination...as he began to pour his full magic into the ground once the seed was planted.
They nearly dropped from the air in shock when a long knobbly staff began to grow. It had a deep red hue with silvery white veins threaded through it. The staff grew to be a good five feet, and ended with a large top that looked like a rose in full bloom. The tips were a dark red color, with the insides being a soft white that almost looked like moonlight.
Dead silence as they stared at the half-complete creation, then at Riddle. No words needed to be spoken, as they felt the high fae magic threaded within the staff. Only one bloodline had this sort of ability, and it had been thought lost.
Without a word, they went to work. They kept it up well into the night and into the morning.
While Leona and the others were busy preparing for their show, Riddle was helping the pixies finish up their offering to the Queen who was in charge of the Gala.
Once done, he quietly made his way to the Gala. He was unsurprised that he was stopped at the door.
"Humans aren't allowed beyond this point," said the pixie firmly.
Riddle allowed a bit of his magic to flow out freely, catching the pixie off guard. It also caught the attention of the guards within.
"Rose's blessing upon you. I come bearing a welcoming gift for Queen Reina," he said formally.
He felt a brief surge of magic in return, and made sure to match it.
A young fairy flew rather quickly towards the guard.
"Hollow's blessing be upon you," said the guard. He stood to the side, and allowed Riddle passage.
The Fairy Queen took one look at him, and the staff he was carrying, before a wide smile crossed her face.
"Hollow's blessings be upon you...Prince Osiria," she said.
"Rose's blessing upon you, Queen Reina," he replied formally.
Queen Reina smiled at him, as she hadn't expected to find her missing nephew here.
Riddle reached behind carefully, and pulled something out. It was wrapped lovingly by the Underland faeries that lived in the dorm.
"The fairies of Underland would like to present this gift to you. A symbol of good will between our kingdoms," he said.
Queen Reina carefully unwrapped the gift to reveal a beautiful staff. It was a proper gift for a royal fae, and went well with her current outfit and crown.
The moment her hand touched the staff, she knew that he was indeed her missing nephew. Which really begged the question of why he was missing for so long.
With a bit of magic, his current outfit was changed to suit the theme of the Gala. Riddle had a soft smile as he allowed his inhuman heritage to come out for the first time in years.
His rose red hair became a softer pink, almost the color of Sakura petals. His dark gray eyes became a silvery color, with cat-like slits. His ears gained a bit of a point, and his skin gained a sort of shimmer.
The most astounding thing was what appeared on his back. Soft gossamer wings that had the pattern of rose petals flowed from his back. They were a lighter shade of ruby with tints of silver. All the pixies began to hover around them, in awe.
Reina smiled widely. It had been a very long time since she had seen that particular pattern of faerie wing.
Once Riddle took his place at the guest throne, Reina asked the one thing that everyone wanted to know.
"What happened to you after you were taken?"
Riddle had a tired, unhappy scowl on his face.
"I was taken to Neverland by a faerie who disliked father," said Riddle quietly. "But he was almost immediately shot down by the feral children, and eaten by a crocodile."
Reina paled. All faeries knew of Neverland...and of the demon that lived within it's limits. Every so often it would find an opening, and leave it's borders to take another child.
No child was ever seen again, and any hole found around the barrier was promptly sealed up the second the demon went back in. It was safer that way.
"How did you escape?" she asked.
Riddle noticed that all the pixies were listening with baited breath.
"I woke the Road and walked it. I was the only one to complete the path, though I was unaware that my home was now sealed."
An idea occurred to him. Leona and the others were busy trying to come up with a show that would get everyone's attention long enough to swap the stones. A story would work just as well.
Riddle had a smile on his face as the plan hit him...besides, it would annoy everyone else he pulled it off so easily.
So with the promise that he would return tomorrow and tell the story in full, Riddle left the Gala. His human guise fell back into place as he returned to the dorm.
The Underland faeries waited with baited breath.
"The Queen loved the gift...though I plan to swap out the mage stone tomorrow."
The faeries cheered, glad that their hard work had paid off.
The next day, Riddle was allowed entry almost immediately.
Once he settled in, with refreshments of course, he began his tale. As predicted, every fairy present was enraptured by his story.
When he left the gala a second time, he headed straight for the mirror chamber and replaced the missing magestone. It would take a few hours, but equilibrium would be restored in the magical controls for the dorms.
Vil confronted Riddle two hours after he was done.
"HOW?" he demanded.
"I went in and told them a story," shrugged Riddle.
"You told them a story," deadpanned Vil.
Riddle smirked.
"It doesn't hurt that I happen to be the Queen's missing nephew."
Vil froze.
"What."
"The fairy queen hosting the gala? She's my paternal aunt," explained Riddle. "I just had to get the Underland fairies in my dorm to help me make an appropriate gift before I was allowed entry."
Vil looked like he had a headache.
"You're telling me I had to deal with Leona's nonsense for nothing?"
"You're saying you don't want to watch them embarrass themselves in the Gala? I can easily convince the other fairies to keep things at a slightly lower temperature until they're done."
Vil thought for a moment. If he had to suffer, then he was going to make sure the others had to suffer as well.
"I know nothing about how the weather controls got fixed, and as far as we know it was a temporary measure," he said firmly.
"Deal," said Riddle smirking.
The look on their faces when they saw him there was particularly amusing.