Key of Souls: Twisted Wonderland

Chapter 70: Easy Studying for a Price

Dawn's POV

The moment I opened my eyes, I found myself in what appears to be the middle of the ocean. What shocked me the most was the bolts of lightning flashing in the night sky, the thunder roaring, the heavy rain crashing down, and the waves swirling around like there's no tomorrow. "This is a crazy storm...", I said as I tried to see what was happening.

Suddenly, I heard a voice call out, saying, "A storm's comin'! Hold on tight!" I looked over to where the voice came from, and to my horror, I saw what looked like a giant sailing ship caught on fire and about to sink. Then I saw in the distance what looked like a young teen girl who was swimming with an unconscious man in her arms. "Who are they?!", I wondered as I tried to get closer to them.

Just then, the scene suddenly changed, and I was no longer in the middle of the ocean but on what appeared to be a beach. "Look, he's still breathing.", I heard someone say. I looked and saw the same girl who rescued the young man's life; what shocked me even more was that she was a real-life mermaid! But just as the male was regaining consciousness, the sound of a dog barking alerted the girl, and she quickly returned to the ocean.

"Prince Eric!", someone called out. The stranger with the dog saw the young man and quickly helped him to his feet and carried him off somewhere. The young man known as Prince Eric was still in a daze as he said, "A girl helped me. She had a beautiful voice."

Once everyone on the beach was out of sight, the mermaid emerged from her hiding spot behind a nearby rock, still looking at the prince. I could tell from the look on her face that she had fallen in love with him. "I wonder why my heart is racing? I know my will come true, and someday I'll be part of your world!", she declared out loud. But just as she made her vow, I noticed a pair of moray eels popping out of the water; they looked at the mermaid, who was filled with hopes and dreams and gave sinister smiles at her. "Fufufu", they gave an eerie laugh as they sank back under the water. But as I was wondering what they were up to, I felt my vision blurring as my mind started to go black.

I felt my eyes opening, and my vision was a bit blurry until it was clear enough for me to see. After rubbing the sleep from my eyes, the moment I saw myself in my bedroom in the Ramshackle Dorm, I realized that I had another of those bizarre dreams like before. 'Did I have a dream about a storm in the middle of the ocean...?', I thought.

"Kyu, Kyu!", I heard squeaking, and Perry was now on my shoulder, nuzzling my cheek; I giggled and stroked Perry under his chin. "Good morning, Perry.", I told him. As I looked over on the other side of my bed, I noticed that Grim wasn't there. Perry saw that I was looking for Grim and pointed to the green chair in our room. As I got out of bed, I walked towards the green chair and to my disbelief, Grim was reading my studying notes with complete focus. "...If the trend for the questions is... Option 2 means it's a trick...", he said as he mumbled.

"Good morning, Grim. Did you actually study all night?", I asked the little monster. At the sound of my voice, Grim jumped from his seat and noticed me right behind the chair. "Kyu, Kyu!", Perry squeaked as he waved at Grim. "Ffna! Don't surprise me like that. You're gonna make me forget everything I memorized.", he said as he placed my notebook inside my bag.

Grim looked up at me and said, "Today's the last day of final exams! The two of us together count as one, so don't go dragging me down." I couldn't help but chuckle at his statement; despite Grim not having the best results in his tests, his determination never ceases to amaze me. However, I was confident that he could pull this off, since we had been studying diligently together for these exams, and today was the last day. So I said with a big smile, "Alright, time to get ready and take those tests!"  

"Yeah!/Kyu!", both Grim and Perry cheered.

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3rd POV