Kira turned to Crowley. "Crowley, what's happening to Alice-chan?!" she demanded. "It seems Miss Liddell suddenly has a Crystal Heart in her possession." Crowley said. "Huh?! What does she have?!" Ace asked, raising a bewildered eyebrow. "A Crystal Heart." Crowley responded. "What's that?" Deuce asked.
"A gem that possesses magic of great proportions. Even more powerful than the gems on your pens." Crowley explained. "It is said that only a maiden with a pure and innocent heart can possess a Crystal Heart and wield its power."
He then turned to look at Alice's Crystal Heart. "I thought they were merely a legend, but to actually see one appear before my very eyes..." For a brief moment, Overblot Riddle could only stare at the now magical girl in front of him with wide eyes. But he then furiously shook his head as he glared murderously at Alice.
"I do not know what you are, but I won't let you stop me! Not a rule-breaking brat like you!" he growled. He then summoned thousands of inky spears and flung them towards Alice. Alice readied herself as the deadly shower of spears flew at her. "Quick, use your Crystal Heart to block his attack!" the familiar voice said in her head.
Alice quickly grabbed her pendant. "Vorpal Blade!" she yelled. Her Crystal Heart pendant then unfastened itself from her black bow and, in a flash of magical light, transformed into a magnificent gleaming silver rapier.
The glittering red jewel was embedded in the sword's silver hilt. With one swift swing of her sword, Alice cut through the sharp spears, shattering them into thousands of blot shards. Overblot Riddle's blood-red eyes widened in shock by her ability to pierce through his magic. "What?! How—?!" he gasped in disbelief.
Everyone else was just as astounded by her new powers. "Hello?! She just sliced through all of them like butter sticks!" Cater exclaimed, his mouth hanging open. "Incredible...!" Trey whispered in disbelief. Alice sure was something else.
"Riddle-san, please stop this! This isn't you! You're not acting like yourself!" Alice said, facing Overblot Riddle confidently as she pointed her Vorpal Sword at him. "We're here to help you! You need to come back to your senses!" Overblot Riddle just scoffed at her declaration.
"Hah! Don't be a fool! You're just a pathetic, weak little girl who likes to break rules! What help are you to me?!" he mocked as he threw another deadly spell towards Alice. But Alice quickly blocked off his attack by swinging her sword, deflecting it.
"You have to see the truth, Riddle-san!" Alice cried as she pointed her Vorpal Sword right at him. "Look around you! Is this what you really want?! Do you really wish to live your life being a miserable, lonely and unloved tyrant?!" Overblot Riddle gave her a murderous glare. "What did you say?!" he growled.
Alice flinched a little when he glared at her spitefully with pinprick-sized eyes. "You know I'm speaking the truth, Riddle-san!" Alice continued. "Are you truly happy just mindlessly following your mother's absurd rules like a subservient puppet?!"
"What?! Me, a puppet?!" Overblot Riddle asked, looking at her incredulously. "You obviously don't want to live such a sad, lonely life, do you?" Alice asked. "You shouldn't blindly follow the path your mother chose for you! Only you have the right to choose your own path! No one else should choose it for you!"
"SILENCE!!!" Overblot Riddle bellowed as he then summoned an array of blot spears and flung them towards Alice. Alice quickly sliced through the spears with her sword. "How dare you speak to me that way?!" Overblot Riddle yelled as he kept flinging more blot spears towards Alice.
But Alice managed to deflect every spear he threw at her with her graceful movements. She swung her sword with such graceful poise, it captivated the onlookers. But Alice wasn't focusing on them. Her focus was solely on Riddle.
"I'm nobody's puppet! My mother is always correct! That means I'm also correct!" Overblot Riddle growled. "You're just a weak, common girl who knows nothing about rules! What can someone like you ever hope to achieve?!" As Alice looked at Overblot Riddle's state, she felt her heart break at the sight of him.
Overblot Riddle was hanging from the Phantom Queen helplessly in midair, like a puppet dangling on its strings. That's all he ever was: a mere puppet hanging on his mother's strings. It must have been torturous for Riddle, not being able to make any decisions for himself.
Alice trembled as she recalled how her father kept an iron grip on her and her sister, how he forbade his daughters from ever leaving the house except for school, how many times she constantly feared for her and her sister's safety.
Alice gripped the Vorpal Sword so tightly in her hands her knuckles became bone white. Watching Riddle suffer the same way she had was simply unbearable. She wasn't planning on running away, not while Riddle is in desperate need of help. She had to make Riddle see the truth, whatever it takes! She had to save his life!
"Riddle-san! Stop being so stubborn!" Alice said, her voice becoming strong. As she summoned every ounce of her courage, she pointed her Vorpal Sword at Overblot Riddle. "Your mother was wrong, and you're also wrong."
Overblot Riddle stared at her, his mouth dropping open in shock. "You—!" he started to say. "Which is okay!" Alice then said. Overblot Riddle stopped in surprise. "There's nothing wrong with being wrong! What is wrong is that you desperately repeat the things your mother forced you to learn because you know nothing else!"
When he heard that, Overblot Riddle looked at Alice with a vicious glare. Any rational train of thought in his mind was blocked off by the blot from his magic pen as he aimed for her neck. "Silence! Off With Your Head!!" he screamed.
However, when an unstoppable force meets an impenetrable object, nothing can occur. The spell that would have solidified around Alice's neck only shone as the collar tried to take its place around her throat. However, the light only dimmed before fizzing out completely. "What?!" Overblot Riddle exclaimed in shock.
"You're not your mother's puppet, Riddle-san! So stop acting like it!" Alice yelled before she wielded her Vorpal Sword over her left side. Red sparkles surrounded the sword's blade as it glowed. "Vorpal Blade!" she yelled as she swung her sword towards Overblot Riddle.
As she swung her glowing blade, it unleashed a surge of magical energy, sending it flying towards Overblot Riddle. The blow struck him hard, sending him reeling backwards. Overblot Riddle gritted his teeth, feeling the sting from her blow.
Alice then turned towards her friends. "Everyone, I need your help! This will be a team effort!" she pleaded. "Huh?" Ace asked before he realized what she meant. He then smiled in understanding and nodded. "Gotcha! We got your back, Alice-chan!" he said, giving her a wink.
He turned towards the others. "C'mon, you guys! Let's go help her out!" he exclaimed. "Right! Let's go!" Deuce added. "OK! We're right behind you, minion!" Grim exclaimed as everyone moved forward to aid Alice. Time for round two!
The fight between them was mainly a blur. After watching the battle in awe for a few moments, Crowley then quickly got to work and ran off to gather up the remaining students who had not yet evacuated while Ace, Deuce, Trey, Cater, Grim and the other girls provided as much backup as they could.
"A futile effort!" Overblot Riddle shouted. "I've had more than enough of your foolish nonsense! If none of you will follow my rules...I'LL TAKE ALL YOUR HEADS!!" With his motions, the Phantom Queen slammed the rose tree into the ground, causing huge thorny roots to emerge, threatening to impale the heroes.
Alice turned to face her friends. "Grim, Cater-senpai! Use your fire magic!" she called. "And Ace-kun, use your wind magic to fan it towards Riddle-san!" Grim, Cater and Ace all nodded. "Got it, Alice-chan!" Cater yelled as he readied his magic pen.
"GREAT GRIM'S FIRE SPECIAL!!" Grim shouted as he blew out another jet of blue flames towards Overblot Riddle, making him stagger backwards. "Eat this!!" Cater shouted as he and his clones waved their magic pens, creating a blast of fire that merged with Grim's blue flames.
"Here we go!!" Ace exclaimed as he waved his magic pen, unleashing a huge gust of wind which ended up making the flames grow and devour the roots, as well as surround Overblot Riddle and the Phantom Queen in a large ring of fire.
"YAAAAAAAARRGH!!" Overblot Riddle roared as he waved his blot-stained hands. "OFF WITH YOUR HEADS!!" More blot spears sprang out from the black puddle underneath him and he aimed them towards the group, ready to impale them. But Trey quickly stepped in and waved his magic pen at him.
"Doodle Suit!" he shouted, and this time, the blot spears transformed into a shower of rose petals which scattered all over the ground. Ace then fell to his knees, panting with exhaustion. "This guy's magic is endless!" he exclaimed.
After their fierce battle, he and everyone else were almost at their limit. "I'm absolutely, definitely in the right! If not, then all that I've worked for was...!!" Overblot Riddle said, his voice nearly cracking as inky tears brimmed near the corner of his eyes. "Riddle..." Trey whispered worriedly.
He then felt a firm hand grab his left shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. He turned and saw Cater grabbing his shoulder. "Trey, focus! The moment you let your guard down, we're done for!" Cater said firmly.
"...! Sorry!!" Trey replied, nodding as he quickly got his head back into the battle. "Bow before me!" Overblot Riddle screeched and attempted to attack again when he suddenly stopped. Gasping, he grasped his chest and began to cough violently. Black ink drops started to spew out of his mouth every time he coughed.
"Uh... he's coughing up that black stuff, y'know!" Grim called out worriedly. "That's super bad, ain't it?!" Alice, Trey and the others looked on worriedly as Overblot Riddle gasped and wheezed. It was clear to them that he was quickly losing his life.
"We have to finish this, now!" Trey urged, becoming anxious. "If we don't... Riddle will...!" As Overblot Riddle recovered from his cough, he glared at the group viciously. "Stop resisting me!" he screamed at them. "Your fates have all been decided!"
He then continued to summon blot spears and hurl them towards the group, hell-bent on bringing them down. But Alice quickly focused her attacks on the blot spears thrown at her, deflecting them one after another with each strike.
"Why won't you just obey me?! Why can't you see that it's in your best interest to act in deference to my wishes?!" Overblot Riddle shrieked. "Everyone has the right to make their own decisions! They should be free to find their own happiness!" Alice countered. "Why can't you do the same for yourself?! Stop doing the wrong things!"
Overblot Riddle glared at her. "Shut up! Shut up! You dare you talk to me that way?!" he snarled. "I'm correct! I'm always correct! It's you who is wrong! You don't know anything about what I've been through!"
He then raised his inky hand, and the Phantom Queen raised the rose tree high above Alice and threw it down towards her, preparing to slam her to the ground. But Alice saw the attack coming. With one swift swing, she sliced through the rose tree, splitting it into two.
Overblot Riddle's blood-red eyes widened with shock when he saw what she did. "What?!" he exclaimed. "Even so, I still want to help you see the truth!" Alice countered. "I'm not going to let these shackles tie you down anymore!"
The Phantom Queen's body was starting to deteriorate, turning into ash and smoke. The cracks on its glass head grew larger as black blot began to pour out from them. Overblot Riddle became more and more agitated. "You're wrong! You're wrong!" he cried, clutching his head desperately. "I am in the right!"
"Stop fighting it, Riddle-san! It's time you are freed from your doubt!" Alice yelled as she then raised her Vorpal Sword high in the air above her. The blade started to shimmer with a bright white light as red sparkles surrounded it.
The crystal heart glowed brightly, pulsing with magic. Alice could hear Grim and Ace yelling something, but she concentrated on the Phantom Queen's deteriorating body. She aimed her rapier right at the monster's cracked head, and then charged towards it.
"No! Stop it!" Overblot Riddle frantically shouted at her. "Don't come near me!" Grasping her rapier firmly in her hand, Alice bolted towards the Phantom Queen's head. In an act of desperate resistance, Overblot Riddle made a rosebush pull out from the ground and flung it towards the girl.
But Alice gracefully swung her sword at the rosebush and sliced it perfectly in half. Before Overblot Riddle could stop her, Alice had raised her sword above her head, aiming directly at the Phantom Queen's glass head.
"Vorpal Blade!" she yelled and, with one mighty swing of her sword, slammed it against the monster's glass head, shattering it instantly. The Phantom Queen screamed and roared in an unearthly manner, as did Overblot Riddle as he felt his magic weaken, seeming to resonate with its agony.
As he sank towards the ground, Overblot Riddle's blood-red eyes were wide with shock and filled with tears. "Was... I wrong...? That can't be right...Mo...ther..." he gasped as he felt himself weakening, the tears streaming down his face.
Once her Vorpal Sword transformed back into her Crystal Heart, Alice then pointed the gem at the weakened Overblot Riddle's chest. Bright red sparkles of pure magic surged out from the Crystal Heart and surrounded Overblot Riddle's body as blot poured out from the Phantom Queen's head.
Overblot Riddle clutched his chest and let out a painful scream as his body started to glow red and the blobs of black blot left his body, shooting up towards the sky. As the real Riddle started to transform back, the Phantom Queen behind him let out a roar as it disintegrated into a puff of smoke and ash.
Once the bright light surrounding Riddle vanished, he exhaled weakly before his body went limp and he collapsed towards the ground. As his body fell towards the blot puddle, Alice quickly caught him and cradled his body in her arms as bright red sparkles surrounded them.
Once Alice's feet touched the blot puddle, it immediately dissipated into a flash of sparkles. "Riddle!! Alice!!" everyone yelled as Alice knelt down and gently laid the unconscious Riddle down onto the grass.
"Riddle-san? Riddle-san?!" Alice said as she gently touched Riddle's pale cheek. All of a sudden, she felt dizzy, and her body somehow felt heavy. Alice tried her best to fight it, but she soon collapsed and fell directly onto Riddle's chest as she slowly passed out. The last thing she heard was Riddle's faint heartbeat.
When Alice woke up, the first thing she noticed was that in standing in the middle of the dining room of someone's home. All that could be heard was the ticking of the ornate grandfather clock and the birds chirping outside. "Huh? Wh-Where am I?" Alice wondered as she looked around the dining room curiously.
As she looked around, Alice then spotted a little boy who looked to be about 8 years old. He was sitting at the end of the table next to her, reading a large textbook that looked a lot advanced for someone his age. Alice gasped when she instantly recognized the boy in front of her as Riddle Rosehearts when he was a child.
"Ri-Riddle-san?!" she gasped as she reached out to touch him, but her hand passed right through him. She quickly retracted her hand in shock. She then realized that this was the world of Riddle's memories. She was nothing but a ghost here.
"Happy 8th birthday, Riddle." she suddenly heard a woman's voice say behind her. As Alice turned to look, she saw a tall woman with wine red hair and similar heart-shaped strands appear before her, clad in a ruby-red dress. She was carrying a simple, nut-filled cake with an eight-shaped candle towards the table.
"Your birthday cake this year is a low-sugar cake made with soy flour and nuts filled with lecithin to make you smarter." the woman said as she set the cake on the table in front of young Riddle. Alice stuck her tongue out in disgust.
That cake certainly didn't look appetizing. Even young Riddle seemed to grimace at this dull, plain-looking cake, but he tried not to show his disappointment as he instead gave the woman a small, yet forced smile. "Thank you, Mama. But, uumm, I..." he said politely before hesitating.
Young Riddle fidgeted a little in his seat as he turned to face his mother. "Just once, I really want to try a tart covered in bright red strawberries..." he said. His mother, Mrs. Rosehearts, gaped at her son in shock before she glared at him.
"How can you say such a thing?! Such a mound of sugar is basically poison!" she said sternly. "Just one slice will make you exceed your daily sugar intake." The smile on young Riddle's face instantly disappeared, replaced with a sorrowful look. Mrs. Rosehearts then crossed her arms.
"Today, we're having a healthy tuna sautee with plenty of docosahexaenoic and eicosapentaenoic acid." she said before she paused. "Aah, but at age eight your ideal caloric intake..." She then turned towards Riddle.
"...should be within 600 kcal per meal, so don't eat more than 100 grams, alright?" she asked. Riddle hung his head; his slate gray eyes dull and downcast as he nodded sadly. "...Yes, mama." he said meekly as he picked at his meal. Alice stared at the entire scene with disbelieving eyes.
"She can't be serious...!" she gasped, feeling her hair bristle. Trey said this woman was a renowned doctor, yet here she was, practically starving her own son! It was no wonder Riddle looked so scrawny and so short for someone his age!
As much as Alice wanted to yell at Mrs. Rosehearts for treating young Riddle so horribly, she knew she couldn't. In their little world, she didn't exist. So the best she could do was wander around the room and search for the older Riddle. She could only pray that he was alright.
"For so long, all I wanted was to eat a bright red strawberry tart." she heard Riddle's soft voice echoing throughout the room. "The tarts on display in the cake shops around town that I'd sometimes get to pass by always looked like jewels."
"Riddle-san, it's me! Where are you?!" Alice yelled, looking around frantically, trying to pinpoint Riddle's location. But he was nowhere to be seen. Alice then headed towards the door, opened it, and walked down a long empty hallway. She looked around for any sign of Riddle until she soon came upon another door.
As Alice opened the door in front of her, she found herself in what appeared to be the study room of the Rosehearts' household. Young Riddle was sitting at his desk with several stacks of magic textbooks piled up around him.
From what Alice could tell, they looked to be pretty advanced magic books for a child his age. His mother was hovering over him as he was reading an overly large textbook in his hands. "Let's end your classic magic studies here for today." Mrs. Rosehearts said as she turned to face her son.
"Make sure to look over 50 pages of the textbook on the philosophy of language in magical ethics that we've just studied today by tomorrow. Now, I will give you an hour for self-study until your Alchemy lesson."
Alice was stunned. She couldn't believe what she was seeing and hearing. "Is this what Riddle-san had to do every single day...?" she thought. "He never gets even a small break from all this?" Riddle nodded timidly. "Yes, Mother." he said obediently. He wasn't smiling at all.
His mother, however, was smiling brightly. Mrs. Rosehearts gave Riddle a gentle pat on the head and began to walk towards the door. "Your mother has an errand to run, so I'll be back in an hour." she said. With that, Mrs. Rosehearts walked out the door, leaving him all alone.
Young Riddle sighed as he quietly turned the page of his book before he glanced out the window where he could see young children his age playing outside. A look of longing formed on his face before he went back to studying.
Poor Alice felt her heart break as she watched young Riddle reluctantly read through his textbook. He looked so tiny and lonely in that big room, being forced to study textbooks that looked far too advanced for a child his age. This just felt too cruel. The atmosphere around him felt like a prison, cold and lonesome.
"Every minute of my day was filled to the brim with studies from all manner of disciplines. If I couldn't do I, the lesson was extended until I could." Riddle's voice said as if he was mulling over his own thoughts. "But this was my "normal"."
Alice choked back a sob. Riddle was never given the chance to live his life like a normal child. No friends. No laughter. No time to play and have fun. He didn't even receive any love. He basically had his entire childhood taken away by his own mother. What a sad life he lived. He basically lived the life she once did.
Alice then took a seat beside him. Even though she knew he couldn't see or hear her, she just had to be by his side, no matter what. The memories soon shifted, showing young Riddle still seated at his desk, reading yet another thick textbook.
Then suddenly, the sound of something hitting the window caught his attention. "... Someone was knocking at the window?" young Riddle murmured as he got up from his seat and went to open the window. Alice followed him as he opened the window to investigate the noise.
Outside the window, Alice saw two young children throwing pebbles at the window. Her eyes instantly fell on the boy with ivy-green hair, a clover sweatshirt and spectacles. She instantly recognized him.
It was Trey when he was young. And the young cat boy standing next to him with faded lavender hair was definitely Che'nya. His cute cat ears twitched gleefully as his signature large toothy grin sat on his face. "Trey-senpai...and Che'nya-kun!" Alice exclaimed. "This must be when they all first met."
"Oh, there he is!" young Trey said with a smile. Young Che'nya let out a laugh and began to jump around while waving his arms. "Hey, hey. Come play with us~!" he said cheerfully, his voice high and squeaky.
"Who are you?" Riddle asked shyly, slowly shrinking away from them. Che'nya gave out a cheerful laugh as he introduced themselves. "I'm Che'nya~! This is Trey. Let's play croquet." he said invitingly. "Croquet?" Riddle asked curiously. He didn't know what croquet was, but it sure sounded like fun.
"Yeah, catch!" Che'nya said as he suddenly threw something towards Riddle. The redheaded boy fumbled a bit, but he finally managed to get a grasp on whatever it was. When Riddle was able to get a good look, he gasped softly.
A cute little pink hedgehog greeted him, staring at him with big eyes. His slate gray eyes went wide, sparkling with amazement. This was the first time Alice ever saw him this happy. Her heart leapt with joy at the sight of his cute smile. "Oooh, he likes you! He wants to play too!" Che'nya said.
Riddle smiled joyfully at the thought of playing croquet with the two boys, but then his smile faded as he looked over his shoulder towards the many textbooks he had on the table. He hung his head sadly.
"Um...I can't. Now is my self-study time. I have to keep studying." he said. Young Trey and Che'nya looked over to see the textbooks, but then Che'nya gave out another laugh. "Self-study means you decide what to study. My grand-paw says playing is kind of a self-study, too." Che'nya said in a factual tone.
"Will you come down for a bit?" Trey asked as he held out his hand towards Riddle. Riddle was hesitant. He didn't want to disobey his mother... but at the same time, he wanted a chance to go have fun, even if was just for one day. He just wanted to go out and have fun like any ordinary child.
Riddle looked back at his books, then he slowly looked back towards the two boys. "...J-Just for a bit." he said as he reached out and took Trey's hand. Young Trey and Che'nya both shared a smile as they invited Riddle over to join their little game. "Can I ask your name?" Trey asked. "R-Riddle...Riddle Rosehearts." Riddle replied.
Alice was surprised because she certainly didn't expect Riddle of all people to have pulled such a stunt. But then again, a little wish for freedom will make a kid do just about anything. As she watched, the memories moved by her like scenes of a short film.
"Playing with Trey and Che'nya was so much fun. I learned new things, played new games. They taught me so much. From that day on, I'd take the single hour I had to self-study every day and sneak out without telling my mother." Riddle's voice echoed, the tone in it now light and happy.
As Alice heard his voice, she couldn't help but smile as she watched just how happily young Riddle smiled and lived so carefreely, even if it was just for a single hour of the day. His mother would prattle on in the day, and he would quietly sneak out of the house in the afternoon to join Trey and Che'nya in their activities.
He finally got to experience freedom, playing croquet and all sorts of fun games. He didn't know how to play most of them and was terrible at them. Even so, both Trey and Che'nya were there to teach him.
She watched as Che'nya taught him how to handle a flamingo mallet for croquet. Young Riddle even learned how to climb trees and play Old Maid. This was the time that he started to look forward to in the day and it really showed that Riddle had more fun than he had ever experienced.
These were the happiest days of his otherwise confined, scheduled life. Alice knew that these memories were very precious to Riddle. "He truly has such an adorable smile." she thought as she watched young Riddle hold the hedgehogs in his arms, giggling as they cuddled up to him.