Chapter Text
"YOU DID WHAT?!"
The house shook, and if anyone who didn't have the context heard that scream, they would probably think that some angry matron was disciplining her kids.
But no, it was just Yuuka, shocked by Ace and Deuce's stupidity. If you're wondering about what happened, she learned about what Ace and Deuce planned to do in retaliation. To challenge Riddle for the throne of House warden.
Yuu had her little blot monster on her lap, watching Yuuka yell at ADeuce while the rest of the Ramshackle residents did their own thing. Yuuta and Yuuka were making dinner with what little ingredients they bought with a bit of their first allowance, Yuuta was for sure being a nerd and reading up on what he just learned in class. Yuuken was sitting next to Yuu, with just a small distance separating them.
"Oh, wow."
"Indeed, 'oh wow'."
What a lovely evening!
Yuuta came back with a few plates, handling them all like some sort of catering pro. "Food's ready!"
As soon as Yuu's tongue touched the food on her spoon, she felt a flavor burst in her mouth.
Yuuta sure was reliable. She hoped she could experience his cooking everyday. "This is so yummers, Yuuta." Yeah, she actually said that, but it seemed like Yuuta took it as a compliment, laughing joyfully. "Haha! Thanks, Yuuo. I'm happy you think it's good."
The others didn't have much of varying opinion, they certainly thought that the food was 'so yummers'.
They had a happy dinner. It was very nice.
(Grim, who never experienced any kind of warmth apart from his fire, was pleasantly surprised by the lovely atmosphere and gentle smiles that were exchanged.
He once thought to himself, 'Hmph! I don't need that! I'll become the best mage so I'll have a bigger feast!' But really how much of that did he mean?
Bitter feelings clawed up at his throat, threatening to burst. But he'll just lash out and fight it away, because that's all he has ever known.)
∎∎∎∎∎∎ walked through the muddy path in the wonderlandian forest, slapping away the tree branches that dared to touch Yuu's WHITE dress, mind you.
Several of the flora recoiled from her aggression, leaving Yuu with a straight path that lead to... nowhere.
She growled, frustrated with the never ending plants that seemed to block her sight from quite far away.
However, ∎∎∎∎∎∎ was startled by the sudden appearance of a Cheshire Cat, suddenly up in her face and giggling like this: (о＾ω＾о)
"Why so angry, hmm?" It asked.
"Shut up, cat— Wait, don't you have some kind of short cut? Take me to Alice!"
"Now, that's not very nice... But, oh well, I'll do as you say, young maiden."
Yuu was quickly sent falling a few feet from the ground. She landed with a harsh thud, shocking everyone in court. "Ugh..."
Alice was rightfully bewildered by her new friend's sudden appearance. "∎∎∎∎∎∎?! How did you get here?" The blonde helped the older girl stand, stabilizing ∎∎∎∎∎∎ by becoming her cane for just a moment. The sting of their skin to akin contact quickly made both of them pull away from each other.
"Cat." She rasped out, groaning from the bruise she gained.
"Oh."
Now that ∎∎∎∎∎∎ got her shit together, she soon noticed The Queen of Hearts, perched atop a pillar. Stupefied, but only for a moment.
Quickly, her face bursted into red, hot anger, pointing her scepter at the two girls beneath her. "HOW DARE YOU DISRUPT MY TRIAL!! SEIZE HER! OFF WITH BOTH OF THEIR HEADS!!" She screamed, and the card soldiers soon sprinted to capture the young girls.
∎∎∎∎∎∎'s breath hitched in her throat as she grabbed Alice by the scruff, her feet hurrying in the opposite direction of the soldiers. The searing pain of touching unreachable dreams burned into ∎∎∎∎∎∎'s skin, like acid upon flesh.
She yelped, nearly tripping over the weirdly sudden rough terrain.
Alice didn't seem as effected, her face only twinged with a grimace. ∎∎∎∎∎∎ shouldered most of the burden.
"∎∎∎∎∎∎! Alice gasped out, "A-are you alright?!"
∎∎∎∎∎∎ coughed, spitting out inky texture. "Go—" She placed Alice down, her dress tainted with the substance dripping from her mouth. "Run, Alice!" It was the smart choice, ∎∎∎∎∎∎ wasn't in the best shape to run as a fugitive. So, she had to give Alice a fighting chance, at least. Make sure she sent her away so she could live for longer.
Alice, who saw a glimpse of the sharp blades in the distance, threatening to cut her throat, felt a pit of dread form. But she wasn't leaving ∎∎∎∎∎∎ alone! No way, not after all she did to help the girl.
∎∎∎∎∎∎ gritted her teeth, her hand twitching like glitching screens as her insides spasmed from the pain. "Miss, please just come with me!" Alice couldn't understand why ∎∎∎∎∎∎ would sacrifice herself and stay behind when they still had a chance to live.
"Just go, Alice. I'll be fine." The glitching and stinging in ∎∎∎∎∎∎'s arm momentarily stopped, the sight of her damaged limb only scaring the girl further. But she had a little girl to take care of first. Her own life was a later subject.
Hesitantly, Alice backed away from ∎∎∎∎∎∎, only continuing to run when she saw the spears get closer than before. I'm sorry, Alice could only think. Because silence would benefit ∎∎∎∎∎∎ in that moment, not her screams.
The girl finally continued her run, following the path to nowhere, where all things begin and end.
∎∎∎∎∎∎ exhaled, relieved that at least one of them would survive that impossible situation. "Hahh... Hikk—" She spat out the unknown substance building up in her throat, choking her. Was it blood? No, it lacked the metallic smell. Vomit? Ew, but no, it didn't have chunks of half-digested food in them.
Ink, it was. It painted her dress with disgusting darkness, it ruined the ground around her.
She always poisons every little thing, doesn't she?
The Queen arrived at the scene, and as she pointed her scepter to the kneeling girl, she said a cutthroat sentence;
"OFF WITH HER HEAD!"
Caged birds like her don't soar. She's trapped, fated to never touch freedom, to never fly with clouds and feel the harsh winds rock at her feathers.
Her wings have always been clipped, even before the first day she opened her iris.
That morning, Yuu felt strangely empty. Her dreams felt weirder last night too.
For some reason, she couldn't remember the ending.
Oh, well. As far as she remembered, those dreams were only premonitions for the OBs, so it wasn't like she was missing out on anything.
She bit her bottom lip, her teeth sharp and pointy digging into her skin as nervousness clawed at her chest, rattling her bones beneath her skin like quaking earth. She knew full well what was going to happen to Riddle. After replaying most of the game and stories.
Yuu's breath hitched when Yuuka put a hand on her shoulder, snapping the girl out of her anxious state. "Yuuo, it's time to go." Yuuka said before her touch slipped away from Yuu.
Right. She still had her friends by her side. If they could handle the overblots all alone in the canon Yuuniverse, she could definitely handle it with them by her side.
(ꃳ꒤꓄ ꇙꁝꏂ ꇙ꓄꒐꒒꒒ ꊰꏂꏂ꒒ꇙ ꇙꄲ ꒒ꄲꋊꏂ꒒ꌦ.)
Ridiculous, isn't she?
The group of people arrived in the mirror chamber at last at the end of the school day, everyone anxious in different measures. Ace and Deuce were the ones who were the most nervous out of everyone, obviously, because they were the ones who were going to be actually dueling Riddle.
Unlike everyone else, Yuu was nervous because of what was going to happen after the duel. Her throat was closing up from the fear she felt. She could only hope that she wouldn't be hurt in the process and perhaps be useful enough in the upcoming fight between the tyrant and the rebels.
Yuu's hand was intertwined with Yuuka's when she stepped through the mirror, closing her eyes in fear as the mirror's shards moved around her, accepting the girl into their dimensional fortress. What she saw next made her think she was tripping.
Bursts of color exploded in Yuu's mind as soon as her eyes were met with the colorful gardens of Heartslabyul. She would've gotten sensory overload if it weren't for the very helpful human feature called closing one's eyes.
"Holy shit, did a Unicorn barf out rainbows? What's with all the colors..." She took a peek at her surroundings, testing the ability to process the many shades of Heartslabyul dorm. Yuuka chuckled, "My exact reaction." She told Yuu. Yuuna, who was listening in, "Colorful place!" Yuuna helpfully observed, peering at the various kinds of flowers. What caught her attention were the roses, all painted as they dripped with crimson paint. Imagine if it were blood... Yuu shuddered. She didn't doubt that the Queen of Hearts would use blood as paint, or at least the Red Queen in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.
"Anyway, I still don't understand why you guys want me here. I'm not even involved," Yuu mumbled, tensing when Ace suddenly hooked his arm around hers, dragging the girl forward along with him. "You're here for moral support! So, come on and support us!!" Yuu soon relaxed, just a little uncomfortable from his sudden touchiness. She just took it as a sign of Ace being nervous, which was understandable. Even Deuce was visibly anxious, his fingers tapping against his thigh as he inhaled a breath of air.
Yuu sighed, her cheeks puffed and her gaze fixed on the ground, "Yeah, whatever, man..." She was a little flattered that Ace deemed her important enough to be their moral support, but she would rather die before admitting that to him of all people.
Soon, the chatter of afraid subjects reached the ears of the rebelling group.
"Did you hear? They say someone's challenged Housewarden Rosehearts to a duel!"
"Riddle Rosehearts? Seriously?! Whoever it is has gotta be outta his mind. Riddle will have his head off in five seconds flat."
"Still, it's the first challenge since Rosehearts took power. I'm pumped!"
Said Heartlabyul Extra #1 and Heartlabyul Extra #2.
From the corner of Yuu's eye, she could see Cater having a conversation with Trey, "You're joking." Cater mouthed to Trey with a deadpanned face, who looked away guiltily. "I tried to stop them, but they're all too persistent..." He tried to defend himself. Yuu decided to stop eavesdropping on their conversation after that.
She mostly tuned out Crowley's words, only looking up and paying attention once she heard Ace's relieved exclamation. "FINALLY, that stupid collar's off!" He yelled in relief. Riddle didn't seem to find it as amusing, his expression cold and stern while he metaphorically looked down on the ginger-headed boy (Cause Ace is taller, yk). "Enjoy your momentary freedom, it won't be long before you're collared again. I couldn't believe my ears when I was informed of your wish to duel me for my throne. Are you sure you aren't joking?" Ugh, how arrogant. It left a bad taste in Yuu's mouth. Guys with that much pride put Yuu off, even if it was well warranted.
Ace's positivity disappeared quickly, a scowl painting his face. "Is this the face of a joker? Of course not!" Deuce had a similar expression, but instead of a scowl, it was a frown. Softer than a scowl, but it still conveyed his upset emotions. "I'd never joke about such a thing." Yeah, okay, pro-wrestler Deuce...
Riddle huffed, "Have it your way, then."
Cater chimed in, stammering as his mouth moved to warn about another nonsensical rule. "Uh, Riddle, what do you want to do about today's afternoon tea?" He told the Crimson Tyrant. "What a foolish question, you know full well that the rules stipulate that I have tea every day at 4 P.M, Cater."
The referred boy flinched, "it's just that... it's 3:30 already—" "And you fear I'll be late? All the more reason to end this quickly." Cater sighed, resigned to the fact that Riddle wouldn't fully listen to him unless it was about any rulebreaker who slipped past his eyes.
Riddle walked to the front, a crowd of Heartslabyul and Ramshackle students surrounding the three duelers. "Instead of facing you two one on one, I will be dueling you at the same time, to end this quickly." Riddle had his head up high, reaching beyond the clouds where oxygen couldn't enter his lungs. All it took was one look at his magic stone for Yuu to notice the heavy stains upon the gem. Contrasting Ace and Deuce's clean stones, untainted and pure of ink.
But despite their cleanliness, the one the audience cheered for wasn't the anti-heroes of the story, but the villain who chained the maddened subjects, their Tyrant.
"You've got this, Housewarden!"
"Show them who's boss!"
"Yeah!"
Cowards, the lot of them. But Yuu couldn't blame them. If Riddle was her mother, then Yuu would act the same as them.
Ace seemed to think the same way, for he muttered under his breath and spat out an insult for all of the members of Heartslabyul. "Cowards..." He seethed.
"The rules are simple, disarm your enemy in any way you can. As soon as the mirror is shattered, you may begin your duel." And just as Crowley stated, when the mirror was thrown and shattered upon impact, the two teenage boys sprinted.
They ran on opposite sides, closing in on Riddle's short stature as seconds went by.
But all of that was for nothing.
"Off with your head!"
He screams.
Tight collars clamped around Ace and Deuce's neck, their airways momentarily blocked before they collapsed onto the ground, their bodies so suddenly heavy in their skin. The tightness lessened, leaving only gasping breaths from the shock they got beneath their bones.
The collars weren't just punishments. They were psychological impacts that separate's one magic from them. It was like dying over and over with each second that passed for those afflicted.
No wonder everybody in Heartslabyul dreads his collar... Yuu hummed as she observed the battle, Deuce had hunched over a little, his fingers touching the skin uncovered by the collar on his neck. Ace was taking it better it seemed, he was slouching sure, but all that was in his eyes were anger, not any sort of pain or anything. Maybe it was because he got used to the feeling of his magic being cut off after the second time.
"Myah... they didn't even stand a chance." Grim looked surprised, to say the least. He probably expected for them to lose, the quick defeat just caught him off guard.
"That's all you had? You didn't even last five seconds. Humiliated, aren't you?" Riddle haughtily taunted the defeated boys, reeking of superiority complex. "My mother was right, a man who can't follow the rules is a man who cannot achieve anything."
"But it comes to a point! Punishment over the simplest and most niche rule is just nonsensical tyranny." Yuuken shouted, his eyebrows furrowed as his lips pursed into a thin frown. Riddle's scathing remarks shifted to his new opponent, "Tyranny? This is just corporal punishment to ensure discipline and obedience." Oh god, Yuu wanted to throw up so badly. Riddle was so brainwashed, it actually physically hurt Yuu. "By your words, I'm guessing you were poorly educated to be unable to understand the concept."
Excuse me?
"Clearly, you were born from magicless people. And as a result, lack the basics, much less the knowledge to attend a school such as this—"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" And a very loud sound of knuckles to cheek rang through the air, surprising nearly everyone around it.
"Wh-what...?" Riddle himself seemed shocked as well. That was what he got for assuming and undermining Yuuken's IQ. He truly needed that punch. "You punched... me?!
"That's all I can take. Forget Riddle. Forget the duel. I'm done." Ace sneered, his hands still balled up into a fist, tempted to swing once more, but refraining to do so for his friends' sake. "Children aren't living trophies for their parents to show off. And a child's accomplishments aren't determined by their's parent's worth either."
And finally, he let go of his fists, relaxing the tense muscles in his hand.
"And I get that you had rough parents, but you haven't made a friend in your entire year at NRC who would give you the reality check you needed because you're under the delusion that those people aren't worth your time, and that's on you." Wow, really goin' at it isn't he? Yuu felt a bit bad, but as soon as she had that thought, the words Riddle uttered about Yuuken's upbringing was enough for her sympathy to disappear.
Baffled, Riddle stood there mouth agape as he held his reddened cheek. "Wha— What are you talking about...?!—"
"I'M NOT DONE. Your helicopter mom fucked you up pretty badly, sure, but when you're away from that house, she doesn't have any control. You're your own person, but clearly, you don't want to be an individual and stay as extension.
Now it's clear what you are, a big, red baby who can't do anything without directions to save his life."