Key of Souls: Twisted Wonderland

Chapter 37: Forgiveness and New Beginnings

3rd POV

"Riddle!!!"

"Dawn!!"

Dawn slowly opened her eyes wide as she sat up on her knees, she looked around to see that she was now back in the Rose Maze; Ace, Deuce, Trey, Cater, Grim, and Perry were surrounding her and Riddle, who was still unconscious and lying right beside her.

"Dawn! You're awake!", exclaimed Deuce as he hugged her, he and the guys were relieved to see her awake.

"Deuce... What's happened?", Dawn asked him.

"You don't remember!? After we defeated Riddle, you somehow used that key on him, and then the next moment you were unconscious in a second.", Trey told her.

"I-I was?", Dawn asked in disbelief, she just remembered she did use her key because the voice in her head told her to and that weird place she was in with Riddle.

"Geez. Don't go scaring us like that!", Grim complained, secretly glad his minion is alright.

"Kyu!", Perry squeaked in relief as he climbed on Dawn's shoulder and hugged her cheek with his whole body. As she was starting to become more aware, Dawn remembered something as she looked over to her right side and found Riddle next to her.

She gasped as she saw him like this and moved closer to him. "Riddle!", she called out. Riddle's face scrunched a bit as he started to regain his consciousness as he woke up with a jolt. He sat on his knees as he surveyed the surroundings; the results of his rampage had left a heavy amount of destruction in the maze.

"Huuhh, his eyes opened!", Ace said.

"For real, we were agonizing over whether you'd wake up or not...", Cater said as he let out a sigh of relief. Riddle's eyes gazed over the ruins of the Rose Maze; the rose trees were torn out of the ground, the hedges were damaged, many roses were crushed and withered on the ground, and the current state his dorm members were in. His eyes widened in dismay as his body shook lightly and he breathed heavily. "What... did I...?", he tried to ask.

"I'm so glad. He came back to his senses.", Crowley said, feeling relieved that his students were okay.

Trey knelt beside Riddle, placed a comforting hand on his back and told him, "There's no need to think about it now. Just sleep."

"Uuugh, of course, he goes berserk after getting a little mad if you're coddling him all the time! The garden is a disaster and we were in big trouble! Dawn and I almost died!", Ace said." Dawn looked over at Ace and gave a firm stare. "Now's not the time, Ace.", she told him.

"It was a crazy situation.", Deuce said.

"Seriously. Bottling up all your stress isn't admirable.", Grim said, crossing his arms.

"...I...really wanted to eat that Mont Blanc.", Riddle said in a soft, gentle tone. Making everyone stare at him in surprise and confusion, especially Ace who was angry at Riddle the most. "Wha?", Ace went.

"Riddle...", Dawn muttered.

"The roses are fine white, and the flamingos are fine being pink. I like putting honey in my tea more than sugar cubes, and I like milk tea more than lemon tea. I want to chat with everyone while we eat...", Riddle says as tears threaten to fall from his eyes; the reality of what his actions caused was starting to sink in.

"Riddle...?", Trey asked, amazed by what he was hearing; he had never heard any of this before. But now, he knew that Riddle, of all people, hated those over-the-top rules like everyone else did and to just live a normal, happy life. "I wanted to spend time with Trey and everyone else...", Riddle said. He soon saw Dawn looking at him worried and without warning, he lunged at her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him as he began to cry loudly. Dawn was caught off guard by Riddle's action but relaxed as she returned his hug as he was crying out everything he kept bottled up over the years. Perry looked at Riddle with sympathy and began to stoke him on the head and let out a small, sad squeak.