Key of Souls: Twisted Wonderland

Chapter 60: The Stampede

3rd POV

Dawn was walking down Side Street with Grim walking right beside her as they were taking in the sights of the stalls and games that were being presented for the Magical Shift Tournament. While Dawn was fascinated by what each vendor had to offer, she didn't have the time to stop and check around since she needed to be with Ace and Deuce for the plan and was a bit cautious since she was a bit worried that any members from Savanaclaw might come to take her.

"Dawn!!"

As soon as she heard her name being called, Dawn quickly turned around and suddenly found herself being embraced by two individuals and felt a bit panicky. She stepped back and saw that it was Ace and Deuce wearing their dorm uniforms; both of them looked like they had just run a marathon as sweat dripped from their foreheads and had bags under their eyelids.

"We finally found you!!", exclaimed Ace.

"We were worried when we didn't find you at Ramshackle Dorm and we were searching for you everywhere!", Deuce said with anxiety.

"Ace. Deuce. What happened to you two?", asked Dawn, wondering why they both looked dishevelled.

Ace let out a long sigh as he began to explain everything to her. "Late last night, everybody got woken up by the sounds of loud squeaking in the lounge. We went to see who/what it was and found that it was Perry on the table. Before Riddle could reprimand him, he took out your cell phone and showed him the evidence you got on your recording app."

'Yes! I knew Perry would pull through!", Dawn thought with joy, but felt a bit bad that everyone in Heartslabyul got woken up like that.

"After this, Riddle took your phone and told us that while he would deliver this to the headmaster in the morning, he ordered us at the crack of dawn to go look for you and to make sure you were safe and protected.", Deuce added.

"Yikes! No wonder you guys look like a complete mess!", Grim exclaimed.

Dawn gave the A-Deuce combo an apologetic look and said, "I'm sorry for making you guys worried like this..."

"Just to let you know, it was not pleasant at all trying to find you! Especially when we've been threatened to lose our heads!", Ace reprimanded her. But as he saw how sorry Dawn looked, he took her hand and said, "But, will let it slide this time since you helped get some vital evidence on Savanaclaw."

Deuce took her other hand and told her, "And don't worry about Perry. He's back at Heartslabyul and Trey is holding on to him for you until everything is over."

Dawn smiled at her best friends, knowing that taking that risk had paid off in her favour. "Thanks for coming to look for me guys. I'm glad that you found me before anything else might happen.", she told them; she didn't want to make them more worried by telling them that she used her powers to escape from Leona. Hearing this made Ace and Deuce's hearts at ease and they both vowed not to let Dawn out of their sights out of fear she might be taken captive by any Savanaclaw members; the group then decided to walk down Side Street to watch out for anything that catches their eyes.

"Fffaaah!! Look at it all! There are so many things to eat! Churros, fried cake, and there's smoked chicken, too!", Grim exclaimed, drooling at the sight of the various foods they were selling at the stalls; Dawn had to hold him back in case he got the idea of lunging at the stalls in an attempt to steal the food.

"Tch~ In the end, I didn't get picked...", Ace said, dejectedly; not only were he and Deuce exhausted from searching for Dawn, but they never got selected to play in the tournament.

"Same...", said Deuce. Dawn felt bad seeing the disappointing looks on Ace and Deuce's faces; this probably felt just as bad as their desperate search for her. She smiled and gave the pair a pat on their backs and told them, "Don't let this get you both down. There's always next year."