Twisted Wonderland: The Seven Treasures

Twisted Wonderland & The Queen's Card-Part 2

Riddle, alone in a side-hall, leaned against the wall, focusing on his breathing, his head in his hand. That card...The Queen of Heart's card...Why had the headache gotten worse after the card had been brought out?
  "Do you see yet?"
  Riddle looked up quickly as the voice came, looking over to the left.
  His Overblot form stood there, black ink dripping from his hands. "You are weak, just a shadow of your true power. Return to me and be perfected."
  Riddle shook his head. "I refuse. Get out before I call someone to get rid of you."
  "No one can get rid of me," Overblot Riddle said, grinning wickedly and walked over. "For I am a part of you that will exist forever."
  Riddle, gritting his teeth, raised his magepen. "Off With Your Head!" He cried, the spell flying through the air towards the figure. And vanished though the figure.
  "What?!" Riddle exclaimed, before a weight dropped around his own neck and he reached up to feel a collar.
  "I'm you," Overblot Riddle said. "And I'm afraid your own spell has now canceled out any other magic. Till next time, Riddle,"
  "Get back here!" Riddle yelled as his overblot form began walking away. "Get back...here..."
  The headache blossomed in the front and center of Riddle's mind and he slumped against the wall, then slid to the floor. "Trey..." he muttered. "Cater...Ace...Deuce...someone..."
  Che'nya appeared nearby just as Riddle fell unconscious. "I guess I'd better find Trey and let him know where Riddle is," the cat-beastman said. "I'd hate for Trey to panic over where his friend is. Now, stay put Riddle. I'll go grab Trey and bring him right back here."
~~~~~
  Trey was leaning on a wall in the Sorcerer of the Sands room when he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Trey."
  "Che'nya. What are you doing here?" Trey muttered. "People would be furious if a Royal Sword Academy student was spotted here."
  "I originally came to look at the Seven Treasures, but a more pressing matter had come up. Riddle isn't doing well."
  "Riddle said he was heading back to the dorm," Trey said. "So what happened?"
  "He never made it to the dorm," Che'nya replied. "Riddle's in a side-hallway, out cold. Come on."
  A hand appeared in front of Trey and he accepted it, a sick feeling entering his middle as he slowly faded away from the room and reappeared in the hall next to Riddle. "I will never understand how you do that every day." Trey said before crouching beside Riddle.
  Che'nya yawned. "Doesn't bother me anymore. I'll come back and check in later. See ya around Trey."
  The cat beastman faded away as Trey looked over Riddle, who was pale faced and breathing shallowly, and nodded to himself. "Fever," Trey mused. "Riddle's one to push his own self care back in favor of academic study."
  "Hey!" Ace called from down the hall, making Trey look over. "What's going on?"
  "Riddle collapsed," Trey repiled. "Lend me a hand. We need to get Riddle back to the dorm."
  Ace ran down the hall and copied Trey in wrapping Riddle's arm around his neck, supporting the housewarden back to his room in Heartslabyul.
  "Trey?" Ace asked one Riddle was on his bed.
  "Yes Ace?"
  "Do you think Riddle's going to be alright?"
  Trey paused, adjusting his glasses. "I do Ace," he said. "Riddle can pull through. He's been doing a lot better mentally since the overblot incident so I have little doubt he'll be able to pull through this as well."
  Ace nodded. "Right," pushing his hands into his pockets, Ace felt something he had picked up earlier. "Oh, I found this near Riddle."
  He held out a playing card to Trey, a distinctive black and red pattern facing up to the both of them.
  "Isn't that..." Trey started. "The Queen of Heart's Card?"
  Ace looked down at the card and recoiled in shock. "Yikes!" He cried. "Thank goodness I didn't turn it over then. I'd hate to be plagued by illusions."
  "Agreed, but what is it doing out of the case and why hasn't anyone noticed?" Trey wondered, holding his chin in his hand.
  "So..." Ace said after a moment of silence. "Should I run this back to the Headmage?" He flapped the card up and down.
  There was a flash of colour and Trey looked up. "Hold on." He said, taking the card from Ace and flipping it over to look at that art.
  "Hey!' Ace exclaimed. "What are you doing? You wanna get illusions coming after you?"
  "This isn't The Queen's Card," Trey said, turning the card over to face Ace. "Look. The art is wrong."
  Ace looked at the card, leaning forward then recoiled. "You're right! It's not a queen!"
  "Correct. It's an ace of hearts," Trey said, throwing the card down on the nearby table. "Something's strange about it all. Riddle's headaches and subsequent collapse, this card having the same backing as the one of the Seven Treasures...I wonder..."
  Knock. Knock.
  Before Trey could finish the thought, a knock interrupted him.
  "Trey-Trey. You in there?" Cater called through the door. "Deuce wants to know which Treasure you choose so that he doesn't end up copying you."
  "Tell Deuce I'll be doing The Queen's Card." Trey called back.
  "Kay, bye!' Cater said, before the sound of retreating footsteps echoed.
  Ace looked at Trey. "What're you thinking Trey?" He asked.
  "I'm not sure how, but maybe Riddle's been affected by The Queen's Card," Trey said. "So some information on how to end the illusions will be needed, but no one outside of this room discusses the idea of Riddle being affected by a Seven Treasure, got it?"
  Ace nodded. "Yes sir."
~~~~~
  The Queen of Heart's room had black walls with red drapes and a few rose bushes growing in the corners.
  Trey painstakingly recorded everything on The Queen's Card's pedestal into a small notebook he always carried.
  "Anything?" Ace asked, walking over.
  "Not quite," Trey replied, closing his notebook and tucking it into the inner pocket of the school uniform. "Not a lot about ending the illusions except for one account of the subject waking themselves. However, that was hundreds of years ago so we can't ask the subject ourselves."
  Ace frowned. "Dang it. I was gonna suggest that."
  "Also, are dorm students missing?"
  "What?"
  Trey turned halfway then reached down and picked up a card. "It's a joker. And it's wearing a dorm uniform." He tapped the artwork.
  Ace recoiled. "Gah!"
  "Look around as well," Trey said. "Cards, all marked like the Queen's Card. Someone's laying claim."
  He waved his arm around, indicating the empty room. Playing cards littered the floor, some showing the suites of cards and others showing the same distinct black and red blacking.
  "Also," Trey continued. "You haven't been acting like yourself Ace. So..."
  Dropping the card, Trey whipped out his magepen and pointed the red jewel at Ace. "Who are you really?"
  Ace put his hands up, surprise on his face. "What are you talking about Trey? I'm totally Ace!"
  "Back in Riddle's room, you called me sir instead of Vice-Housewarden," Trey said. "You also referred to Riddle using his name when you asked if I thought he would be alright. The real Ace would have feared breaking a rule directly in front of Riddle, no matter what contidon the Housewarden was in. That includes referring to Riddle as Housewarden and myself as Vice-Housewarden."
  Ace put his hands into his pockets, smirking. "Wow. You really are good." He said.
  Trey refused to lower his pen. "What did you do to the real Ace?" He asked.
  "I'm sure you can figure it out," False Ace said, putting his hands behind his head. "But if you really wanna know...I added him to the deck."
  "Meaning you turned him into a card," Trey said. "Probably the ace of hearts card you so conveniently had on you. Which would make you..."
  "The true Queen's Card," False Ace bowed deeply then looked up at Trey. "Nice nickname by the way. It's much easier to say than "The Queen of Heart's Card". "
  "So now what happens?" Trey asked as the imposter rose from his bow. "You turn me into a card before I cry for help?"
  "Perhaps," False Ace said, stepping around Trey, putting the physical form of the Queen's Card between them. "But I don't think anyone will be coming this way soon."
  "Someone will notice the missing students," Trey replied. "One of the teachers."
  "How can someone notice what no longer is here?" False Ace inquired. "Illusions are my specialty after all. You didn't realize Ace was missing because I needed a form to get close to you. If I were to change my form, you wouldn't remember who I looked like before. Therefore, no one is coming."
  "So then what actually happens to the students you turn into cards?" Trey asked.
  "Their consciousness is trapped in an illusory world of my making," The Queen's Card said. "They have no idea they are no longer in this world. Now, I'm missing a king of clubs and I believe you will be a very good representative of that card...."
  Trey looked down as the physical Queen of Heart's Card began to glow brightly, causing him to raise his arms to cover his eyes, before vanishing, his glasses falling to the ground with a clatter beside a facedown playing card, a black-and-red pattern on the back.
  Ace walked over and picked it up, smirking again. "Two down. Two to go." He said, pocketing the card then grabbing the abandoned glasses, sliding them on as the illusion shifted and remoulded into a reflection of Trey, the same smirk on his face.