Twisted Wonderland: The Seven Treasures

Twisted Wonderland & The Scars of a Ruler-Part 2

Leona looked at the hyaena, pulling it closer. "That you Ruggie?" He asked. "I know you like taking this a bit far, but this is too far. Transformation potions are forbidden unless you're approved to take one."
The hyaena barked and Leona winced. "Keep it down," he said. "I can't understand a word you're saying anyway."
If a hyaena could roll their eyes, this one gave Leona the biggest eye roll.
"Shut up," Leona said. "If I can't understand you, I need to find someone who can...and Ruggie would have been the only one good enough to tell what you're saying...tch."
"Leona sir!"
Leona craned his neck to look over his shoulder. "Jack. I don't suppose you have anything to do with this?" Leona asked bored, holding Ruggie up.
Jack recoiled in shock. "What?"
"I assume it's Ruggie but I have no way of telling for sure," Leona said. "Of course, there's always the idea that you used your signature spell to turn him into the hyena and can turn him back."
"My signature spell only works on me." Jack said.
"Of course it does," Leona muttered. "Figures it wouldn't be that easy."
"Leona," Jack said. "Maybe we'd better take Ruggie back to Savannaclaw."
"..."
"I'm only suggesting it because the savanna is a hyena's natural habitat and because we're not sure how much Ruggie is still himself, it would be best to take him back to the dorm. And it'll be a safer place to hide Ruggie during class."
"...fine," Leona said, shoving Ruggie at Jack. "Take him back to the dorm and make sure he's locked up. If he gets out, it's your fault."
"Yes sir!" Jack exclaimed, tucking Ruggie under his arm and running back the way he had come.
Leona groaned, holding his head in his hand. "I don't need this right now." He groaned.
~~~~~
"Mr Kingscholar," Professor Trein said as Leona walked into the classroom. "You're late."
"My bad." Leona said, taking his seat.
Professor Trein returned to teaching and Leona leaned back, closing his eyes.
Within a few seconds, Leona cracked open his eyes, frowning. Normally he could fall asleep within a few seconds, but why couldn't he do it now?
There wasn't even a remote chance that Ruggie could have turned into a real hyaena so why should he bother himself with worrying over it? Ruggie was a street kid, he could take care of himself.
Shaking his head softly to dismiss the thoughts, Leona closed his eyes again, this time falling asleep.
~~~~~
"What is Ruggie doing here?" Leona asked at lunch break as he discovered Jack and the hyena in the botanical gardens. "I said to keep him in the dorm."
"I did!" Jack exclaimed, standing up. "But one of the other dorm members left the door open and he slipped out."
"So you chased him all the way to the botanical gardens?" Leona asked. "I thought you would have caught him before he reached the mirror."
"Er...I only just caught him." Jack admitted.
Leona frowned. "Only "just" caught him? So a hyena outran you?"
"I'm ashamed to admit it," Jack replied. "But...yes. And I didn't even catch him."
Leona raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"He eventually came here and fell asleep," Jack said. "I plan to take him back to the dorm then get something from the cafeteria for him."
"...here," Leona said, throwing a bag at Jack, who caught it deftly. "There should be some bones in there that'll keep him busy for a while."
"Where did you get these?" Jack asked.
"The kitchen, where else?" Leona replied. "The ghosts were too happy when I asked them for the leftovers and nearly expired food. Apparently Ruggie was supposed to pick them up earlier and never showed."
"Thank you Leona sir!" Jack cried, placing the bag over his shoulder then picking up Ruggie and running out of the botanical gardens.
"This is getting out of hand," Leona groaned, laying down in a patch of sun. "Ruggie better figure out how to turn himself back soon. I hate runnin' around like this..."
"Ruggie better figure out how to turn himself back from what?"
Leona opened his eyes to see Vil standing nearby. "What'cha what?" Leona asked, upset. "You're blocking the sun."
"My deepest condolences, but you mentioned Ruggie and I was curious." Vil said, remaining when he was.
"Tch. If you're not going to move till I tell you, then I'll have to move." Leona said.
"I don't care whether you've lost that little sophomore that's always running errands for you or not," Vil said, stepping to the side, letting a beam of the sun strike Leona again. "I overheard you mention turning Ruggie back. Did something happen between the two of you?"
"That's none of your business, Vil," Leona growled. "Now beat it."
He closed his eyes again and the sunlight came back as Vil walked away.
Then Leona heard his stomach rumble and sat up. "Ruggie better hurry," he said. "I hate doing work."
~~~~~
"Jack, you better not have let Ruggie out again," Leona said, walking into his room at Savannaclaw dorm after class. "I don't want to get pulled into the headmage's office over a student taking a forbidden potion."
"He's under his bed." Jack said, crossing his arms.
"Hiding?" Leona asked, flopping down on his bed.
"Sleeping."
"Hmmm." Leona mussed, half-asleep.
"......"
Leona cracked open an eye to look at Jack. "Do you need something?" He asked.
"I'd like to take Ruggie to Professor Trein to figure out what happened," Jack said. "He's able to speak fluently with any animal so it should be easy to get the story out."
"...Don't you speak a bit of hyena?" Leona asked. "I'm sure you can get by fine without pulling a professor in."
"But-!"
"I don't want a professor herbivore involved," Leona growled. "What do you think will happen if you take a transformed student to a teacher? Savannaclaw will be accused of using transformation potions and we'll all be blamed."
Jack crossed his arms. "I don't like it, but you're right," he said, looking down before uncrossing his arms. "A teacher would just think a transformation potion was used."
Leona leaned back. "So we're going to figure this out alone," he said. "Savannaclaw won't be blamed for something untrue."
Jack was quiet for a moment, thinking. "Alright," he finally said. "I'll go see what Ruggie has to say. I won't be able to understand everything, but I might be able to get a few words out."
"Great. And I'll take a nap." Leona said, closing his eyes again as Jack left the room.
~~~~~
The dark fingers of night had crawled over Night Raven College when Leona awoke, feeling unsettled, like he was being stalked.
Rolling over, Leona blinked, his eyes picking up the faint shapes of the room. No one was there, but the irritating feeling didn't go away.
"If you're sulking in the dark, then you shouldn't be here," Leona said. "And you know it."
A pair of eyes appeared, glowing in the night. "So you're a beastman," Leona said, sitting up. "And one who can see in the dark. Show me what you can-"
A brush of wind moved Leona's hair as the eyes jumped forward, an arm reached out towards Leona, pausing in the moonlight as it appeared in the room.
"Figures it was you," Leona said, meeting Ruggie's gaze. "The hyena was just a prank then? You were hiding this whole time?"
Ruggie didn't respond, his eyes empty as he looked at Leona.
"What'd you steal this time?" Leona asked, his gaze moving up to the object nearly touching his forehead. "I know you're ambitious Ruggie but stealing the King of Beast's Claw is too far."
Indeed. Overtop of Ruggie's hand, pulled on like a glove, sat the King of Beast's Claw, the nails extended.
"You'd better be able to explain why you stole a Treasure," Leona said, looking back at Ruggie's eyes. "But first, take it off."
Ruggie began to tremble, but he didn't move.
Leona growled. "Ruggie..." he warned.
"H...help..." Ruggie managed to choke out. "Help..."
The Claw drew closer and Leona growled again, gripping his magepen.
"Unleash The Beast!" Jack cried, jumping onto Ruggie in his wolf form, sending the boy to the ground with a crash.
"Did he scratch you?" Jack asked, ending the spell.
"No, but you didn't have to run in here," Leona said. "I had it."
Jack growled a little as Leona joined him looking down at the unconscious form of Ruggie. "So the hyena wasn't Ruggie," Leona said. "But this isn't Ruggie either."
"What? What makes you say that?' Jack asked.
"Ruggie wouldn't come in here just to attack," Leona explained. "He'd go for my wallet or the other junk around here."
What about the King's Claw?" Jack asked, motioning to the Treasure still on Ruggie's arm.
"Pull it off." Leona said after a pause.
Jack hesitated for a moment before he reached down and pulled the Claw off, just like pulling a glove off.
"Fake," he said, examining it closer. "These nails don't retract."
"You can tell that by a glance?" Leona asked.
"I studied retractable claws extensively to craft my signature spell," Jack said. "That included lion's claws."
Shehehehe!
"So we have Ruggie the hyena and Ruggie the beastman," Leona said as the spotted hyena padded in, laughing. "Can't say I like the idea of Ruggie remaining a full animal...Did you get anything out of him earlier?"
"Only the word "Claw" a few times," Jack said. "There was a lot of yipping mixed in that I couldn't follow."
"..."
"Is something wrong?"
"...I just realized that Hyena Ruggie vanished." Leona said calmly.
"What?"
"Relax," Leona said. "Most likely he's scrounging for food."
"But-!"
"Leave it Jack," Leona warned. "You'll wake everyone up and I can't take that much yapping right now."
"Sorry Housewarden." Jack said.
"You said something earlier," Leona said, scratching behind his ears. "You asked if I'd been scratched by the Claw. Why was that?"
"That's actually why I was coming here," Jack said. "Some of the other dorm members received scratches after dinner and said they got them either nearby or inside The King of Beast's exhibit room."
"Did anything happen to them or did they just whine about a few scrapes?" Leona asked.
Jack didn't reply and Leona sighed. "Never mind," he said. "It's not worth wasting energy."
He raised his magepen. "I am your hunger. I am your thirst. I am what steals the light of your tomorrows. Kneel before me! King's Roar!"
Jack dusted his hands off then looked over. "What do we do about Ruggie?" He asked.
"Could always turn him into sand." Leona suggested.
"A-are you serious?" Jack exclaimed.
"It's not Ruggie anyway," Leona said, nudging the figure with his boot. "It's a skin."
"A skin?"
"Yeah. Like a snake when it sheds its skin, there's nothing inside it anymore," Leona said. "Someone used Ruggie as a skin."
"That would take a huge amount of magic," Jack said. "To control someone with magic would be a massive feat."
"Hm...it probably wouldn't have left ink though," Leona replied, pointing at a black circle on the back of Ruggie's neck. "Most controlling magic has signs that vanish when the spell ends."
Shehehehe!
Leona looked over. "Hyena Ruggie's back," he said as the hyena walked over, sniffing at the still form. "Wonder if he found anything in here?"
The hyena moved closer to the unconscious form of Ruggie and licked his cheek, making the boy stir.
"Wha-what's goin' on?" Ruggie asked, rubbing the back of his head. "Why does my head feel like it got hit with a Spelldrive disk?"
"Ruggie!" Jack exclaimed. "You're alright?"
"Yeah..." Ruggie replied, sitting up. "I mean, I feel like I've been tossed around the Spelldrive field and got bruised a ton, plus a massive headache, I'm good...what's a hyena doing in your room, Leona?"
Before Jack or Leona could answer, there was a loud noise that came from the lounge and the three turned.
"That sounds like dormmates out of bed," Leona said. "Come on."