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It was the first day of the school year, and two first years were already missing for the hedgehog song.
Frankly, this was quite ridiculous. They have been sorted in Heartslabyul, yet they dare to spit on the rules, the foundation of their dorm, on the very first day. Really, why did this school accept so many unruly students? The headmaster should really rework on the college’s acceptance criteria. But well, it couldn’t be helped. Those two, Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade according to the file he was handed, were now members of the dorm of the Queen of Heart, and they will follow all the laws that comes with it.
Riddle was going to make sure of that.
“Cater, where are the rulebreaker as of now?”
“Apparently the Headmaster sent them to that abandoned mine in the mountain, you know the one? Riddle-kun, should we prioritize the headmaster orders or the dorms’ laws?”
“The dorm laws, of course.” Riddle scoffed. He had no idea what the headmaster had in mind, but sending first years to an abandoned mine while the sky was already dark seemed quite dangerous. Whatever they were sent to do could surely wait tomorrow, so of course the priority should be put on the Heartslabyul ceremony. “How long would it take to go there?”
“I already requested the right to use the Dark Mirror to Crowley” Trey answered on his side. “And I ordered the others to continue on the preparations for the recital while we are away, so everything will be ready by the time we come back.”
“Perfect. Let’s get started then. Hopefully this distraction won’t stray us too far away from the curfew. Really, so troublesome…”
The trip to the Mirror Chamber was silent, only broken by Riddle’s heels on the tiles. The night had already fallen, and so they met nobody on their ways. Not that they wanted to; even if it was only the beginning of the school year, or specifically because it was just the beginning, Riddle would have not hesitated to collar all of them. If there was one thing he had learned from the prior year, it was that harshly enforcing the rules immediately allowed for a smoother time for everybody. Which was why he must fetch his two miscreants immediately. Hopefully, a strict reminder of the rules would prevent any future misbehavior.
If not… Well, those miscreants would hardly be the first one he used his Unique Magic on.
The trio soon reached the Dark Mirror, and from there they were quickly sent to the Silent Wood, just near of the Dwarf’s Mine. Only the squealing sound of the grass under their heels broke the heavy silence that surrounded them all. Only the moon and the stars lightened their way, at least until Riddle swiftly invoked a fire spell, the orange hues reflecting on what must have once been a cozy small home, but that was now worn down by years of abandonment.
“Wow, that forest’s really giving the creep, just like a slasher movie.” Cater finally spoke as he took out his phone to get more light. “Hey, think a serial killer’s gonna come out? It’d fit the vibe just right.”
“Really now?” Riddle rose an eyebrow. “Isn’t it just the same woods surrounding the school, the one Vargas often bring us to? We did a few strolls there with the equitation club too, though we have yet to have gone this far.”
“No, I agree with Cater” Trey said, and Riddle couldn’t help but frowned at how serious his Vice sounded, and at the outright rebuttal. “Something is wrong here.”
“So you also think it’s the perfect place to be ambushed by a slasher, Trey-kun?”
“I don’t know about that…” The Vice sighed, before refocusing. “But isn’t this forest too silent?”
Riddle blinked. Wasn’t it normal? It was the middle of the night, of course it would be silent, just like the school had been.
“Silent? What do you mean by this, Trey.”
“Shouldn’t we at least hear the animals from the area?” Trey asked to his intrigued dorm mates but didn’t wait for their answers before continuing. “Our sudden arrival should have at least startled some birds, and yet it didn’t.”
“They could have fled after our first years came here thought.”
“And that was hours ago already. And even then, this whole place is just too still. I don’t know for you, but this whole situation doesn’t sit right with-“
“HELP!”
As if on cue, a scream resonated within the previously silent woods.
It took several seconds for Riddle to recognize the voice – but to his defense, he had only met their owner once, at the catastrophic orientation ceremony from the prior day. He had heard that the Headmage had let them live on campus (and what a terrible precedent it set, to let a magicless person to reside in such a prestigious academy). But what were they doing here? Were they the one who got their first year in trouble?
… Still, the scream was raw and desperate. Terrorized, even. And sure, the monster at the ceremony had seemed to spoke them more than it should normally, so it could be that they were a scaredy cat who was afraid of magic. But despite Riddle’s reservation they were still a person living on campus alongside the students, and it was a dorm leader’s duty to look over them. Like his mother always said, neglecting even the smallest occurrence could snowball into disaster and anarchy. Besides, his own students had probably been involved into whatever had caused them such a scare. So it was his duty to check what was happening, and nothing else.
“We must check what caused this scream at once, our rules breakers might be there. Let’s go!”
Later he would blame himself for waiting so long, for ignoring Trey’s concern, for even thinking that this scream could be for nothing.
But he forgot that back then he had no way to know.
But later was not now, and the path was covered in thorn and brushes, so it took the three of them more time than they would have wanted to go pass the Dwarf’s House and towards the Mine. The lack of light was not helping, and Riddle’s heels, irritatingly enough, kept on getting caught in the plants. Honestly, the whole situation was quite unnerving. His mouth was getting dry as the scream lingered in his ears, and he couldn’t help but be even more vigilant about his surroundings after Trey’s earliest remark. He didn’t believe those woods were haunted like so many of his schoolmates seemed to think, but he could admit that the shadows casted by the trees and the still silence were quite unusual for him who always lived in the city.
At least Trey and Cater were walking just behind him. They could have go ahead, with their heelless shoes and their, to Riddle’s own regret, taller legs, but they had instead opted to trail behind him, their magic pens rose in preparation for any upcoming dangers. Which reassured him, and let him focus on not tripping on his heels. After all, even if Trey and Cater were the closest to friends he had in the school, as their dorm leader he couldn’t afford to show any weaknesses in front of them. Even more when their trouble making freshmen could be just… ahead- Riddle stopped in his tracks, as the foliage finally gave place to the Mine’s entrance.
Or at least what was once the Mine’s entrance.
It had been months since he last came here during one of his lessons. But he still remembered the entrance caved just between the massive tree roots, the rails that came right from it, the wooden poles still standing right even after so many years. He remembered all of it.
This entrance was no more.
The massive tree that once stood proudly above the entrance was now laying in the middle of the clearing. The railway had been shredded, pieces of wood and steel thrown all around the charred grass. Scorched traces of missed spells lingered on the surrounding rocks and trees, and a beat down cauldron laid just a few feet away from Riddle.
And the entrance had crumbled down.
Dear Sevens, the entrance had crumbled down.
The pillars had broken down, the tunnel having fallen on itself. Tons of rock blocked the once entrance, and a glance was enough to know that it was not structurally sound. Was it Riddle’s imagination, or could he hear a low growling from behind them. And what was the dark liquid lingering along? The sickening smell of ink filled his nose, but there was something more to it, and was it a trick of the moonlight or did some of it look red?
Where were his first years?
“Help! Please help!”
Riddle snapped out of his shock and turned his head to the new voice. The dire beast he had been chasing with Azul not even 24 hours prior was looking right back at him. But his eyes were not as full of arrogance and anger as he remembered. No, they were wide and watery, a pleading terror grabbing Riddle’s own eyes. He looked like a scared child, Riddle distantly noted to himself, so far from the presumptuous and disaster-prone creature who dared to cause chaos in the middle of their important orientation ceremony. Had the rockslide shaken him that much? He didn’t seem to blink an eye when putting everything on fire the day prior though. Just what in the world…
He finally got his answer as he finally looked from the crying dire beast, and to the figure behind him.
The shaking, curled figure of the magicless intruder.
“Hey, are you alright?!”
Trey acted before him, immediately running towards them. He kneeled in front of them, speaking in the reassuring tone Riddle often heard him use with his underclassmen, but they kept shaking, their hands shielding half of their face. Riddle frowned, half set on following his friend in assisting their magicless peer. But they had yet to locate their two first years, the very reason that had motivated their trip. Sure, the two of them could have been looking for help somewhere else, but wouldn’t they have heard them alrea-
Riddle’s heart missed a beat as Trey finally pried the hands away. As Cater gasped just behind him. As his own stomach gagged.
Their eyes was a bloody mess.
There wasn’t any eye left.
Was it the result of the rockfall? How? Don’t tell him they were in the mine when it happened! And what about his first years? Sevens, the smell was awful, the very look of it was sickening. His throat burned. He couldn’t look away. What was that? It was worse than any stories his mother said. Could he even fix it? Did he have a spell for it? He couldn’t remember. He had studied so many books, why couldn’t he remember any spell? There had to be something he could do, right?
But he couldn’t move. Cater was running toward Trey, and Riddle couldn’t move. His stomach kept gagging. He couldn’t breathe. Why couldn’t he breathe? He was training for this. He was supposed to be training for this. It was why his mother always prepared him for. Why couldn’t he do anything?
“No! The mine, they’re there! Help them!”
Ah. They were screaming again. Hysterically protesting as Trey was raising his pen. Gesticulating towards the mine. Riddle blinked, they were alive, they were okay. Don’t think about the eye. Trey and Cater were on it. Taking care of them where he couldn’t. There was something in the mine, something that worried them. And his dorm’s first year were still missing, maybe still in the mine. He needed to find them. Right. He could do that. It was just a few rocks to blast; his magic would be more than enough. He rose his staff and…
“No! They’re under, don’t crush them!”
“Eh?”
The dire beast had jumped on Riddle’s staff, and it was only his training that allowed him to stop the spell in time. In any other circumstances, he would have immediately scold the cat for his hazardous behavior, however the words pronounced by the little creature caught on, and his voice was as cold as his blood when he asked him.
“… What do you mean, under?”
“They’re under! The two others, Ace and Deuce! They’re under!”
Riddle stopped breathing.
Ace and Deuce. Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade. The two first years he had come for. The two who dared to break the rules on the very first day.
And they were under those rocks?
No no no. This couldn’t be happening. They couldn’t be there. They shouldn’t be there in the first place! If only they had not broken the rules, they would be safe and sound at the dorm! He had to get them out. How was he going to get them out. Were they even alive? Would they hear his voice if he called them?
He bit his lip. He couldn’t let this get to his head. If they really were under, then all he had to do was taking the rocks away with his magic. It would require precision and carefulness, and it would be straining for any other mages, but he was Riddle Rosehearts, the best in his grade in magic. He could do it. He had to.
“I won’t blast them, but get out of my staff, beast. I need it to lift the rocks.”
“No need to be so rude, funya!”
Still, he obeyed, and soon Riddle was free to shoot his spells without fearing to hit anyone. Good. Now he just needed to be precise, and…
It took longer than he intended to get really started. This required precision and he couldn’t afford to mess up, which meant that he could not afford to go too fast. The rocks were also precariously piled together, and he wouldn’t admit it to anyone else, but he had a few scares when moving one boulder had shaken the whole structure. At some point Cater had joined him, alternating between wind spells to get more rocks off and his clones to try to locate the missing duo. Still, it was grueling work, and after a while it seemed that Riddle was never going to see the end of it.
Until he did.
Or more accurately, Cater did.
“Riddle-kun, stop! Over there!”
He immediately threw the boulder he was moving aside and ran towards his card soldier. If Riddle was honest, it came at just the right time. The strain on his magic was starting to pile up, more than he was willing to admit, and with every rock he was moving the whole structure became more and more unstable. And he might be excelling in his studies, but he was far from knowledgeable enough to keep digging without causing more damages to the integrity of the mine, and putting the missing first years, Cater and himself in more danger.
He didn’t know what he expected to see in the crack between the rocks the ginger-hair had been pointing at, but it surely wasn’t the black metal he ended up laying his eyes on. A cauldron, and a big one, if its specific curve was to be believed, despite the dents the rockfall had put on it. It was out of place, with no reason to be in present at the mine entrance, which meant it was more likely exactly what they were looking for.
Sure, they were troublemakers, but the fact they summoned a cauldron to protect themselves showed that all hope wasn’t lost for the two first years. That kind of quick thinking and resourcefulness was exactly why they would make fine Heartslabyul members, once they got out of there. Yes, just a little bit of discipline, and everything would be alright.
“Alright Cater, guide me through the motion, and make sure the cauldron stays safe!”
“On it, Housewarden!”
Riddle felt ecstatic. That was it. Just a few more rocks, they could do it, they just had to dig them out and get out from this place. Go back to their normal lives like nothing happened. No bloody eyes, no caved-in mines, just the familiar classes and school life, where they would all be safe. They were so close…
A strong smell of iron hit his nose.
No.
The cauldron should have protect them, shouldn’t it? Then why was he smelling so much blood? Something was wrong. He couldn’t lose any more time.
Riddle started to dig faster, more frantically.
“Riddle-kun, wait don’t-“
He didn’t listen to Cater. He didn’t listen to the growling coming from the piled rocks. All he could focus on was the cauldron and what was more likely under, they had to be safe, they didn’t even have the chance to learn from their mistakes and grow into the great Heartslabyul students they must be, they had to at least be alive. It didn’t matter if he had to pray and beg all the deities out there, if he had to sell his soul to the devil, they just had to be breathing, please.
Finally, after a few grueling minutes that lasted forever, he saw them. Unconscious, covered in blood and scrapes, and pale as a ghost, but their chests were raising. They were breathing. They were alive.
“Alright Cater, help me pull them out…”
“Riddle, move!”
The second year didn’t have the time to react before a hand harshfully pulled him out. He was about to ask what Trey thought he was doing when he heard a crash, and a cloud of dust filled his vision and his nostrils, making him cough and cry. What now…
Ah.
A boulder had fallen just where he had been standing seconds ago.
The mine was crumbling again.
They had to get out of there yesterday.
“Damn it… Trey, Cater, take them, we need to leave!”
“Riddle-kun, it’s not that easy, look at them.” Cater was dead serious as he called out his queen.
“What do you…”
Riddle froze.
In his precipitation, in his relief that they were alive, he had not been careful enough. He had no assess their situation well enough. Or maybe his recklessness had caused it in the first place.
Because how else could he have missed the rocks crushing Ace and Deuce?
The cauldron had been effective enough to shield them from a fatal outcome, but it hadn’t been enough. The ginger’s left leg was buried from the knee down; and just besides him, as if he had been attempting to protect his friend with his own arm, the black-haired boy’s right forearm was disappearing under all the boulders.
And it wasn’t just one. No, dozens of rocks were piled together, their first years students’ limbs stuck right under them.
And the mine kept shaking around them.
“We… We can’t leave them behind…” Riddle barely managed to get out.
“But we can’t stay here any longer, it is going to cave in soon.” Trey replied. “And there’s too many rocks, taking even one of them out might be the final straw…”
“Then what about cutting their limbs and get out before it crumbles?” Cater interjected.
His two friends turned their heads towards the influencer, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But he was dead serious, no trace of a smile visible on his face, and Riddle already had a hard time breathing but his throat closed even more.
“We can’t…” He started, but the ginger interrupted him.
“It’s our only chance to get them out of there before it caves in. We don’t have enough magic left to shield them and ourselves if we end up buried, and who know how long we would have to wait for rescue. It is the only way we can all survive.”
Riddle wanted to believe that another choice was possible so badly. That it was all a nightmare, and they could all get out safe and whole. But as his eyes met Trey’s, he knew they were both coming to the same conclusion. Cater was right, no matter how much they hated it.
… Ah, why had it come to this?
“I’ll do it” Cater turned his back to them, “you two should get ready to take them as soon as it’s done and-“
“No. I’ll do it.” Riddle interjected.
“Riddle-kun?”
“Riddle, you really shouldn’t-“
“I have more magic left than the two of you” He cut his two friends. “And I am the Queen of Heartslabyul, and as such I am the one who must take responsibility. I’ll do it, so get in position.”
Riddle didn’t leave them place to object, as he stepped closer to the two first years. He felt nauseous, and he wanted to run to his mother and cry as she would comfort him. But he was the Housewarden, and as such it was his responsibility to bear. He focused his eyes on them. He wouldn’t look away like he did for the magicless teen, no matter how much it made him nauseous. His very hands were the very ones that were going to take away an important part of themselves; they deserved at least that.
It wouldn’t take the hurt away or make the whole situation better. They might even loathe him for what he was about to do. And it was exactly why they deserved his unwavering attention.
Riddle raised his staff and…
The hospital’s waiting smelled like antiseptic.
Despite being his mother’s son and planning to become a doctor himself, it was the first time Riddle actually put his feet there. The closest he had ever come to one before this was the school infirmary, but the atmosphere was completely different. The sterile walls of the hospital lacked the warmth and familiarity of the school, and nobody was loudly exchanging verbal blows, the atmosphere being instead filled by the quiet chattering of families and the rushed footsteps of the doctors and the nurses. And unlike the infirmary, there wasn’t any window to show the outside, though Riddle knew from checking the clock that the sun had already rose.
As a matter of fact, he should be in his Conjuration class right at this moment. And a part of him was high struck over skipping a class for the first time since he entered Night Raven.
The other part of him, the one that currently choked his heart, couldn’t care less.
He could still hear the bones breaking as he tore Ace’s leg and Deuce’s arm away.
If getting the duo out of the mine had been hard, getting them and their magicless friend to the hospital had been quite the hurdle. At the end, Cater had sent a clone to get the headmage and professor Crewel, who had arranged the necessary transportation.
His hands were still covered in blood from when he pressed down on Ace’s cut arm for what seemed like hours, trying to stop him from losing all of it.
The two Hearstlabyul first years were barely breathing when they finally got them to the emergency room, and their friend, who shakingly introduced themself as Yuu, was quickly whisked away by the nurses (and wasn’t it a shock, to learn that they didn’t have any health insurance, or records for the mater. Riddle realized that there might be a deeper reason of why that intruder was staying on campus, after all). There had not been any news since then.
Trey had come back to campus a few hours ago, to check on the dorm, taking the dire beast, or Grim as Riddle learned, with him. Cater had stayed with him, waiting for any updates about their juniors, but he had started to doze off at some point, the exhaustion of their long night and the drop of adrenaline catching up with him. Riddle was quite sleepy himself, if he was honest.
But he couldn’t go to sleep, even if he wanted to.
Every time he closed his eyes, all he saw was Yuu’s horrified and broken expression as they finally saw Ace and Deuce.
It was not his fault, Trey had said before leaving. They did the best with the hand they were dealt with. But was it really? Couldn’t have Riddle figured out a better strategy, a way to get out without resorting to this?
Riddle hated it.
If only they had followed the rules…
That was right. If they had followed the rules, if they hadn’t scorched the Queen of Heart’s statue and broke the priceless chandelier, then none of this would have happened. They wouldn’t have been sent to the mine by Crowley, they wouldn’t have been taken by that cave-in, they wouldn’t have had to lose their arm and leg to survive.
That was right. They didn’t follow the rules, and so the universe punished them, just like it did when Riddle broke them.
Riddle knew better now. But they didn’t.
It was all their fault.
It had to be all their fault.
It was their fault… Right?
Because otherwise there wouldn’t be any reason behind all of this, no reason for them to suffer, no reason for Riddle to make the call to amputate their limbs, and he wouldn’t be able to stand it.
“Riddle-kun? Are you alright?”
He rose his head, meeting his friend’s green eyes.
“Cater! Don’t you want to rest more?”
“Couldn’t, even if I wanted to… But are you sure you’re okay? Did you catch any sleep?”
“I prefer to be awake, in case the doctors finally come over. I’ll have to get to class after that too…”
“Nobody would hold it against you to skip on for today, you know?”
“I am the dorm leader, I must show everyone the model to follow, especially now.”
“Because it’s the beginning of the year?”
“No, because those two morons broke the rules and got into this mess. We need to show the others to not follow their examples.”
“Riddle-kun, are you saying it is their fault?”
“Of course it is!” Riddle didn’t even realize he had rose his voice, and that the other patients were glaring at him disapprovingly. “None of this would have happened if they had followed the rules! They are here for a reason, why must everyone break them!”
The familiar heat of fury filled his chest. Right. Not following the rules drove people to be hurt, just like they did. And as the Queen of Heartslabyul, he had the responsibility to make sure his card soldiers were all safe, no matter the cost.
So he would just have to enforce the rules even more.
He will never allow anyone to break the rules ever again, so they will be safe and happy.
Lost in his thoughts and his newfound resolve, Riddle missed the alarmed look Cater sent his way. And nobody saw how his magestone lost of its shine, a dark liquid filling it.
Plic ploc.