Key of Souls: Twisted Wonderland

Chapter 59: A Sudden Arrival

Dawn's POV

(A/N: Thank you Lightgail25 for the inspiration for this chapter.)

After escaping from Leona, I found myself running as fast as lightning; I didn't stop running out of fear that Leona might give chase to me after I used my powers to get out of his grasp. Soon, I made my way to Ramshackle Dorm, went inside and went straight to my room. I quietly entered so I wouldn't make a sound to wake up Grim who was sleeping at the upper corner of our bed. I panted heavily as I tried to settle the adrenaline racing throughout my body; my heart was pumping out of control from everything that happened back at Savanaclaw. Sneaking into their dorm and recording their confession, Leona almost made me his prisoner, and I used my powers to stun him so I could escape. 'I can't believe I did that!', I thought with concern, I was even more worried at how I exposed my power to Leona like that.

Just as my heartbeat was finally settling down, I felt a wave of exhaustion overpowering me as my body was asking for much-needed sleep. I soon collapsed right onto my bed; I was so tired that I didn't bother to change into my pyjamas. As soon as my head hit the pillow, the sensation of sleep overtook me and I felt myself drifting off.

'I smell... dirt?', I thought as I opened my eyes to see that I was now standing inside some cave. I walked around to see exactly where I was this time when I came across a poor blue hornbill bird that was trapped in a cage; the cage was the bones of an animal's ribcage with a large rock blocking its escape. "Do stop Zazu, you're bringing the mood down.", a familiar voice said. I turned around and to my shock, it was the same black-maned lion who was lying on a stone porch as he picked his teeth with a bone.

"Oh, I'd never have to do this with Mufasa...", muttered the bird called Zazu. Suddenly, the lion pounced near the cage bared his fangs and growled at Zazu who backed away with terror; I also felt frightened by what I had just seen. "What!? What did you say!? I am the king!", the lion furiously yelled at the bird for what he just said.

"Hey Boss, we gotta bone to pick with you.", a voice called out. Soon, three hyenas entered the cave with one of them looking very upset and hungry. Before he could say more, the trio leader stepped forward and began to speak. "There's no food, no water! And we're starving!" Hearing this made me curious, so I looked out of the cave and to my horror, the once-beautiful grasslands were now a complete wasteland where the skies were dark, the plants were dead, no water was seen, and nothing but hyenas circling the area; it was now a place of death and ruins.

The lion didn't seem to care about them or their complaints as he told them, "I don't care. Ohh, eat Zazu." The moment the hornbill heard this, he panicked and tried to dissuade the hyenas from eating him. One of the male hyenas whispered to the leader, "Things were better under Mufasa." That caught the attention of the lion as he menacingly glared at the trio for comparing him to the former king. "Hmph, is that so? You're an eyesore! Get out!", he roared. "Uhoohoohoo!", one of them chuckled with fear as the trio quickly left the cave to avoid the lion's wrath.

I looked on with shock; this lion, who wanted to be king so badly that he was willing to commit murder just to claim the throne, allowed his homeland to become a wasteland under his rule. 'What happened to the motivation he had before becoming king...', I thought. Soon I felt myself losing consciousness as the urge to sleep overpowered me and I closed my eyes.

Slowly, I opened my eyes to see that I was no longer dreaming, but I was lying on my bed in my room. "Was that dream?", I softly spoke. As I wondered why I had another weird dream again, when I noticed that Grim was still sleeping soundly in the corner of the bed; I got up carefully so I wouldn't disturb him. I noticed that it was a bit early when I looked out the window and saw the sun just rising. I thought since I was now awake, I'd use the time to get myself out of my hoodie and pants and change into some clean clothes; I needed to get ready and hoped that Riddle delivered my phone to the headmaster. 'Perry... I hope you're safe.', I thought as I found a clean uniform to wear.