Twisted Wonderland: The Seven Treasures

Twisted Wonderland & The Queen's Card-Part 1

The nightmare began with darkness, thick, inky darkness that dripped onto the ground.
Riddle strained against black chains that wrapped around his wrists, but in vain.
"Stop," he said through gritted teeth. "I don't want to live in your world anymore!"
"You will never be free," a harsh voice replied, making Riddle wince as the sound grated on his ears. "My world is perfect and you will be a part of it."
The darkness around Riddle caught fire, surrounding him in rose petals and flames.
In fear, Riddle screamed, awake now in a cold sweat and breathing hard.
Trey, who was reading nearby, looked over. "Riddle?" He inquired, putting his book down.
"What are you doing here?" Riddle asked as he looked over, now mostly controlling his breathing. "You need your sleep."
"You were screaming and it would have woken up everyone in Heartslabyul," Trey explained. "You were also very close to firing off spells, so I came to cancel out your magic using mine."
"I'm fine," Riddle said. "Sorry for making you come."
Trey frowned. "Riddle, you've done this since the Overblot incident. You can't really be fine."
Riddle looked to the side. "It's just some nightmares, Trey. I can handle them."
Trey didn't look convinced but he stood up. "Alright," he said. "I won't push you to tell me. Goodnight Riddle."
"Night Trey." Riddle said, then looked back over just as Trey vanished around the doorframe, debating whether to call him back or not.
Then Riddle froze.
Peering around the doorframe, a wicked grin on its face, stood a shadowy figure, a red flame around where the right eye should be. Then the figure opened its eyes, revealing the same colour as Riddle's.
Then Riddle sat up, breathing hard and fully awake. The sun was streaming in through the window, implementing morning.
Riddle looked at a strip of sunlight across the floor then looked away. "Just a nightmare," he told himself. "And nightmares can go away."
~~~~~
Trey noticed Riddle rubbing his forehead in class and frowned in puzzlement. Riddle wasn't prone to headaches, less so in class.
"We will now have a special presentation on the Seven Treasures," Professor Trein said, inducing a slight groan from the class. "All classes are being instructed to head to the assembly hall and I expect every single one of my students to be able to compose a report on one of the Treasures after the presentation."
Trey waited by the door as Riddle walked over and they exited shoulder to shoulder. "I can send a freshmen to get an aspirin." Trey said softly.
"I'll be fine," Riddle said. "It'll probably fade during the presentation."
The assembly hall didn't require classes to sit with one another so dorms often sat with one another.
Cater waved Trey and Riddle over to where Heartslabyul was seated and pulled his school bag off of the seats he had saved for them.
"I hope I can get some good pics for Magicam," Cater said. "The Seven Relics would be totally rad on my profile."
"Their official title is "Treasure", not "Relic". " Deuce said, sitting on the other side of Cater.
"So what?" Ace inquired, sitting next to Deuce. "They both mean old and dusty."
"There's a great difference!" Deuce declared, standing and facing Ace. "A treasure often has sentimental value and a relic is as you said: "old and dusty". "
"Deuce. Keep your voice down," Trey said, noticing Riddle rub his forehead again out of the corner of his eye. "We don't want to disrupt anyone."
Deuce had the decency to look chastised. "Yes Vice-Housewarden."
He sat back down just as Headmage Crowley walked over to the podium.
"Welcome students," he began, the room growing quiet. "To our Seven Treasure's Presentation. This is a momentous opportunity for you all as this is the first time we've ever pulled these priceless artifacts out. Without further ado, let's begin!"
The student body clapped in unison as the first Treasure was rolled over, covered in a velvet cloth.
"The first Treasure is the Thorn Fairy's Staff," Crowley explained, as the cloth dropped away, revealing a tall glass box with a black staff inside. On the top of the staff sat a dull, cracked, green orb. "Sadly, it's lost any magical value after many years, but it still retains a level of nobility that every student of Diasomnia strives for."
There was another polite applause as the staff was rolled out of the room and Trey withdrew a piece of paper, determined to write down all of the Treasures to do some personal research later for his History presentation.
The Fairest Queen's Apple, The Underworld King's Flame, The Sorcerer of Sand's Staff, The Sea Witch's shattered Shell Necklace, The King of Beast's Claw then...
"The Queen of Heart's Card." Headmage Crowley said.
Trey looked up, surprised. 'Shouldn't it be her scepter?' He wondered, adjusting his glasses. 'A card isn't anything important.'
The card in question was facing away from the students, it's black-and-red back showing intricate hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs all stenciled in with thin white borders.
"I'm afraid that the card will remain facing away," Crowley explained. "The reason for this is that this specific relic's magic has not faded and anyone who looks into the eyes of the Queen's artwork will fall victim to never-ending illusions."
Trey quickly made a note of that as the Headmage made another announcement.
"For the next week, we will have all Seven Treasures on display in seven specially themed rooms, each one dedicated to one of the Great Seven. The Seven Treasures will remain in their glass cases, under magical lock and surveillance, but they will be available for viewing with additional information for your history reports. Thank you all for joining us today and have a wonderful week immersing yourself in the history of the Great Seven's Treasures."
As the students began to leave, Trey turned to Riddle. "Is it any better?" He inquired.
Riddle shook his head, his hand clasped over his eye. "I don't think I'll make it through the rest of the classes. I'm going to head back to the dorm and try to sleep this off. Make sure the rules are followed."
"I'll walk you back." Trey said, but Riddle looked at him strongly.
"I'll be alright without assistance Trey. Enjoy the displays and find a good one to do your report on." With that, he stood up and walked out of the hall, vanishing.
What's going on with the Housewarden?" Ace asked.
"Headache," Trey replied, looking towards where Riddle had vanished. "But say nothing about it. Riddle wouldn't like to be teased about it."
"Yes Vice-Housewarden." Ace and Deuce said in unison.