A few more minutes of rose-painting passed fairly smoothly.
Deuce and Grim had actually been doing extraordinarily well for most of this little interlude... However, they seemed to be running out of steam.
Deuce stood in front of a rosebush, fists clenched as he pumped himself up.
"Red... Red.... C'mon, turn RED!"
With a grimace of concentration, he pushed his hands forward, sending out a burst of sparkles. Instead of red, however, the white flower flushed blue.
He gave a frustrated shout, putting a hand to his head.
"AUGH! Dammit-- why'd it turn BLUE?!"
Grim, meanwhile, was glaring at a rose, trying to stare it into submission.
"Color, I command you-- CHANGE!"
His pendant flashed.
Instead of a burst of sparkles, though, he spat out a tiny jet of blue fire. Of course, the rose immediately burst into flame. He shrieked, jumping back in a panic.
"GYAAH! Th-The rose is on FIRE!"
Hurrying over, Kat beat the flaming rose out with her wet paintbrush. A small section of foliage had been charred, with the leaves curling up and crisping. The rose itself was completely unsalvageable...
Grim flopped down onto his stomach, breathing heavily. "I-- I must've reverted to old habits," he panted.
"I've never really done this kind of magic before... This is a lot more tirin' than I thought.."
Kat crouched down next to him.
"Hey, c'mon... You've done really good up until now! And this just means one less rose to paint, right?"
She petted his head with a smile. He grumbled wordlessly, but didn't otherwise complain.
Cater came over, twirling his hair around his finger.
"Wow... You were doin' pretty good for a while there, but I guess you guys are even worse than I thought," he said cheerfully.
With a growl, Ace dropped the bucket and brush again, crossing his arms.
"Ugh... In that case, wouldn't it just be easier to leave 'em white?! I mean, they're pretty enough as is, right?"
"Ahhh..."
With another dramatic sigh, Cater walked over to him, draping an arm around his shoulders.
"If only it were that simple... Unfortunately, this isn't a matter of aesthetics-- it's a matter of tradition."
He raised the index finger of his free hand, closing his eyes with an expression of venerable wisdom.
"See, for an Unbirthday Party, the roses HAVE to be red! And, you can't play croquet without seven-colored flamingo mallets and a hedgehog ball!"
Then he snapped his fingers, like he'd just remembered something.
"Oh-- but for the garden flowers' spring concert, the roses have to be white, though. That's, like, SUPER essential."
Grim grumbled, getting back to his feet.
"Like I said, all these rules of yours are totally bonkers!"
Laughing again, Cater strolled over.
"Huh, really? Well, betcha didn't know that all these rules of ours were thought up by one of the Great Seven-- the Queen of Hearts herself!"
He crouched down, ruffling Grim's head affectionately.
"And if there's one thing to say about Riddle, he's real passionate about 'em... Like, way more than any of our other dorm heads."
Getting back up, he put a hand on the side of his neck, giving an awkward sigh. "I'll admit that he IS a little extra about it, though..."
"Ah--!!"
Ace smacked himself in the forehead, cursing. "Dammit, I completely forgot... Look, is the dorm head here or not? I need to talk to him about something..."
"Mmm..."
Checking his phone, Cater nodded.
"Yeah... Yeah, at this time, he's probably still somewhere around here... But..."
Putting it back in his pocket, he looked Ace up and down, then glanced around at Deuce, Kat and Grim.
"Speaking of, Mr. Tart-Thief Ace-chan, it doesn't look like you've brought your apology tart..."
Ace frowned.
"Huh? I- I mean... No, I pretty much came straight here first thing in the morning..."
Cater hissed through his teeth, smacking himself in the forehead and grimacing. "Yikes-- yep, I thought so. Yeah, this might be a problem..."
Getting to her feet cautiously, Kat looked around, catching Deuce's eye.
He shrugged, looking just as uneasy as she felt.
"Ace-chan, don't tell me you don't remember the Queen of Hearts' Rule number 53?" Cater continued.
" 'All stolen items must be replaced by the culprit'. Without that replacement tart, I'm afraid I can't let you see the housewarden."
"HUH?!" Ace demanded.
"Come on-- are you SHITTING me?!"
"Nope," Cater chirped, shaking his head. "Welp..."
Pulling the pen out from behind his ear, he twirled it again between his fingers. "In this dorm, all the students are expected to abide by the rules... Sorry about this, but if I let you guys slide, it'll be MY head up on the platter next!"
He was still talking in a cheerful voice, but the friendly beam on his face had taken on a slightly different edge.
"Sorry, but... I'm gonna need you guys to leave before Riddle figures out you're here, mmm-kay?"
Kat shuddered.
His voice had dropped a couple of octaves, and even though he was still smiling, he had a chilly look in his eyes all of a sudden.
Ace grimaced, taking a few steps back.
"H-Hey, what the-- is this guy for REAL?!"
He looked around at the others frantically. "Hey, you guys-- you gonna do something?!"
"Why do WE have to do anything?!" Deuce demanded, glaring at him.
Cater was advancing on Ace now, still smiling coldly.
Ace started walking backwards, looking frantically between him and Deuce. "D-Dude, c'mon! Please! You know I can't use magic right now, and I-- SHIT!"
He ducked, and Kat skidded out of the way as Cater shot a beam of sparkles. It zipped through the air, splashing against the hedge behind them.
"Oops," he chirped. "Sorry-- wasn't aiming at you, Prefect-chan!"
"Are you SURE?!" She demanded angrily.
"ACK--"
This time, it wasn't a simple beam of sparkles.
A stream of shimmering water shot from Cater's pen, and Ace wasn't fast enough this time. He flinched, raising his arms, but the water hit him full in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
Surprisingly, it didn't seem to be actual, physical water. As soon as it made contact with him, it faded out of existence, almost like a hologram, leaving him only slightly damp.
She stared.
W-Wow...
She really hadn't seen much magic up close yet, and most of it had just been the sparkle thing, or Grim's fire.
"S-Senpai!" Deuce protested, running forward. "What is this all of a sudden?! If you want us to leave, you can just say so, okay?!"
Cater sighed again, shrugging with his hands out to the side.
"Yeah, but what if I asked you nicely and you just said no? I mean--"
He laughed.
"There's no telling what somebody might do... Even if they seem nice on the outside, you never know when they might decide to flip the script on ya, you know?"
"I'm sorry, are you talking about US or YOURSELF here?!" Ace demanded, struggling upright.
"GAH--!!"
Cater twirled his pen again.
This time a shower of shimmering, semi-transparent leaves appeared in the air. With a flick, they shot forward like bullets.
Ace covered his head with his arms, barely managing to duck out of the way.
The leaves vanished with puffs of green sparkles as soon as they hit the walls or the ground. The hedges still rocked slightly with every impact.
"Cool," Kat muttered, entranced.
So there were different types of magic...
It kinda looked like Pokemon attacks, actually! The ones in the anime, at least...
I mean, that last one was basically straight-up just Razor Leaf, right?
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Grim running up, chest already puffing out.
"NO!" She yelled, pouncing on him and snatching him up. "You are NOT breathing fire in here, okay?!"
"But--" he protested, but she clapped a hand over his mouth.
"NO!" She insisted, shaking him a little bit. "This whole maze will go up like a damn bonfire!"
He made a couple muffled noises.
"Nice call, Kitty-Kat!" Cater chirped. "Guess that's why you're the prefect and not Gri-chan, huh?"
She grumbled, ignoring him. "Ugh-- we're getting out of here," she muttered.
Turning, she ducked towards the arch in the hedge, glancing back over her shoulder.
"HEY! You guys coming or not?!"
Deuce ran full tilt towards the arch as well, hands up over his head.
Ace started forward too, but got hit with another stream of ethereal water, falling over again.
"SERIOUSLY?!" He demanded, crawling back up to his feet and glaring. "I'm literally RUNNING AWAY, you asshole!"
"Oops-- sorry," Cater chirped again. "Slip of the pen, honest!"
"Yeah, RIGHT!" Ace snapped back. "Who the hell would believe-- SHIT...!!"
He ducked again, sliding through the arch in the hedge and narrowly avoiding another barrage of leaf bullets.
Ducking through the arch, the three of them pressed themselves up against the wall. The hedge shook as the magical leaves collided against it.
"Rrrgh..."
Ace gritted his teeth, looking around. "Dammit-- there's no way I'm gonna be chased out like this!"
"Seriously?" Kat asked, looking at him sideways. "It looks like you are from where I'm standing, dude."
"SHUT UP!" He snapped, scowling at her. "I'm not gonna leave here without talkin' to the dorm head! Come on!"
He started running again, but took a different turn than the one they'd used to get here. "I'm gonna hide somewhere in this maze until he--"
Suddenly, Cater popped up from around the next corner in front of him, waving cheerfully. "Ooh, ooh-- are we playin' hide-and-seek now, Ace-chan? Sounds fun!"
"AGH!" Ace shrieked, skidding to a halt and almost falling over backwards.
"Wh-- what the hell..."
Kat looked back over her shoulder towards the rose garden they'd just left, frowning.
Was there another doorway or opening over there that she hadn't seen?
Wait, speaking of over there--
"Dammit," she muttered, dropping Grim and running back towards the garden. She'd left her stupid jacket over there... She just had to try and avoid getting paint on it, didn't she?
She was barely a few strides back through the arch when Cater popped up in front of her again, waggling a finger chidingly.
"Hey, hang on there, Prefect-chan... Where d'ya think you're going, huh? This area's off-limits to tartless peeps... And I'm afraid that includes you, little lady!"
She jumped, giving a strangled half-swear.
"Wh-- what the... H-How the hell'd you get over here so fast?!"
"A magician-- or a Magicammer- never reveals his secrets, Kitty-Kat!" He scolded, winking. "Like I said, though-- this area's VIP only for now, and I don't see your wristband! I'm afraid you're gonna have to run along, 'kay?"
He raised his pen, and she swore, running backwards and ducking through the arch again. A stream of sparkles splashed against the hedge mere inches from her back as she continued to run, growling under her breath.
"COME ON!" She yelled at the trio of boys, hurrying past them and back towards where she thought the entrance was. With various exclamations of frustration, they followed her.
Like clockwork, though, Cater would pop up, seemingly out of nowhere, and they'd have to run in the other direction.
"Almost there, almost there!" His voice cheered from somewhere in the maze. "You guys got this!"
Kat skidded to a halt suddenly, looking around.
Ace and Deuce ran right into her, but they didn't fall over this time. "H-HEY!" Ace snapped. "What's the matter?! Why'd you stop?!"
"We're going in circles," she muttered. "He's HERDING us."
Deuce looked at her in surprise.
"A-Are you sure?"
"Almost positive," she replied, crossing her arms. "This is taking way longer than coming in. Plus, we just went through a three-way fork-- we didn't see that on the way in."
"Oops-- looks like I've been found out!"
They whirled around, staring.
Cater had just appeared behind them, strolling forward with a cheery smile.
"Wh-- S-SENPAI!" Deuce protested, drawing back. "Seriously?! Why?"
Cater snorted with laughter again, fist to his mouth. "Sorry, sorry, sorry," he apologized, waving his free hand. "I just couldn't resist! You guys are just so cute, ya know? Besides, a little morning exercise gets the blood pumping! Your brainpower'll be boosted to the max for your first day-- trust me!"
Ace growled, fists clenching.
"Why, you..."
He started forward, but Kat grabbed his arm forcefully, yanking him back.
"The fuck are you doing?! Stop!"
"But he's FUCKING with us!" Ace protested, pointing angrily at Cater.
"Look at him-- he's ENJOYING this!"
"Yeah, and you can't use magic right now!" She snapped. "You've got just about as much chance doing anything as I do, stupid!"
"I'd listen to Prefect-chan, Acey," Cater warned, fiddling with his hair again. "I mean, I really don't wanna go too overboard here..."
He pointed. "Okay, look-- the entrance is over there, 'kay? I'll even walk you out!"
They didn't even get a chance to say anything. He suddenly had his hand on Kat's shoulder, pushing her along from behind as she stumbled awkwardly forward.
"Wh-- HEY!" She protested, running a few steps forward and turning around to glare. "Hands off, man! I do NOT like getting touched without permission-- especially by randos!"
Cater laughed apologetically, taking a few steps back and raising his hands.
"Oops-- my bad... Hey, it's only a little ways further from here-- as long as you skedaddle on your own, it'll be paws-off from me from here on out, okay?"
"Rrrrrr," she grumbled.
But she turned around and kept moving, seeing the entrance to the maze up ahead.
With a final burst of speed, she emerged back out on the path to the dorm building.
Turning, she flipped him off, scowling.
He just winked, giving a peace sign and sticking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth cheekily. Then he turned the corner, disappearing out of sight.
Not even a full second later, he reappeared, holding a squirming Grim under the armpits gingerly.
"FNYAGH!" Grim spluttered, thrashing around angrily.
"HEY! What's the big IDEA, huh?! An' where'd you even come from?! You went one way with Kat, an' then you popped up behind me again all of a sudden! You--"
Cater dropped him unceremoniously onto the path. He landed on all fours, turning around and bristling.
"Why, you--" he began, but the boy just winked again, ducking back out of sight.
He repeated this performance two more times, once steering Deuce by the shoulder, and finally dragging a swearing Ace by the upper arm.
He gave the other redhead a friendly slap on the back, pushing him out of the maze, where he stumbled and almost fell. Then he brushed his hands together in a theatrical show of completion.
"Well then-- make sure to bring that tart next time, mmm-kay! Bye-byyye~!"
With that, Cater gave a two-fingered salute, waving.
With a creak, a wrought-iron gate that she hadn't seen before, since it was buried in the leaves of the hedge, started to swing shut.
"HEY!" Kat yelled angrily, jumping forward. "I left my JACKET in there, you fuckin' twink! I didn't get a chance to grab it before you went all psycho on us-- give it BACK!"
"Oops," she heard Cater mutter.
Then some hurrying footsteps scurried through the maze...
A lot more than just one person should be able to make.
Frowning, she turned, looking at the other three, who didn't seem to notice what she did.
After a second, the balled-up jacket sailed over the gate, accompanied by a cheerful "Heads-up, Kitty-Kat!"
Jumping forward, she managed to catch it just in time, huffing angrily.
"And don't CALL me that!" She added to the closed gates, but didn't get a reply.
Grumbling, she shook it out, then turned to face the others as she pulled it back on.
They all looked a little shell-shocked, but after a second, Ace shook his head, scowling.
"Wh... Hey, what the FUCK is that guy's problem?!" He demanded, voice cracking slightly with anger.
"He was always two steps ahead of us... N-No, it was more like he was everywhere at once!" Deuce muttered, brow furrowed.
"Was he using some kind of spell? Like illusion magic?"
"Man, who CARES if he was?!" Ace snapped, clenching his jaw. "More importantly-- we can't go and talk to the dorm leader without a stupid tart, and he KNEW that, but he STILL roped us into paintin' all those stupid fuckin' roses anyhow?!"
Angrily, he kicked the ground, sending up a few pebbles and a small scuff of dust.
"Some senpai HE turned out to be! Pawning off all the work on us, what a jackass!"
"Yeah, an' we DID it, too," Grim grumbled, crossing his arms. "We sure look like a buncha' chumps, huh?"
Deuce sighed, shaking his head.
"Well-- looks like there's nothing else for it," he said. "We'll just have to get our hands on another tart... Maybe after class, we can--"
Suddenly, his eyes widened, and the color drained from his face.
"Oh, NO!"
"...Shit," Kat hissed.
"We missed the first bell!" Deuce blurted, looking around at the others in a panic. "We're gonna be late for class!"
Grim bristled, ears flattening.
"FNYAGH! N-No way... I can't start off my brilliant school life with a slip-up like this!"
He started running.
"Hey-- you guys better hurry up!" He yelled back at them. "Don't just stand there like a bunch of idiots!!"
Kat looked around at Ace and Deuce, then yelled back at Grim.
"Where are you GOING? We don't even know how to leave the DORM!"
"Huh?!"
Grim skidded to a halt, blinking.
"Oh! O-Oh, yeah..."
He skittered back to her, and she looked at the Heartslabyul pair.
"Well? How DO we leave?"
Ace rolled his eyes, motioning for her to move aside. "Look-- you just gotta think real hard about leaving and walk past this streetlight, okay?"
She did so, and he backed up a few steps behind the aforementioned streetlight, then stepped forward.
The air rippled and shimmered, and he passed through it and vanished.
"Wow..."
Raising her eyebrows, she looked down at Grim, then shrugged.
"Okay..."
Following the redhead's lead, she stepped back behind the wrought-iron streetlight. Then she took a breath, thinking really hard about the interior of the Hall of Mirrors.
She felt the air ripple again. She couldn't breathe for a few seconds, then she stumbled down the stairs leading up to the Heartslabyul mirror.
Ace was already out, waiting impatiently with his hands on his hips.
As she regained her balance and moved towards him, the mirror rippled again. Deuce and Grim emerged in quick succession, starting to run across the Hall and out the door.
Kat shrugged, and she and Ace started running too, catching up with them as they burst out of the building and up towards Main Street.
"H-Hey, speaking of which--" Ace said, panting slightly and looking over at her. "What class are you guys in, anyway? You're first-years, right?"
Grim looked back over his shoulder.
"The Headmaster said we're in 1-A," he huffed.
Deuce looked over too, beaming.
"Really? Hey, that's the same one as us!" He exclaimed happily. "We've got Potionology first period!"
"Really?! WHOO!"
Grim jumped mid-sprint, cheering excitedly. "That sounds like a blast!"
Ace grimaced.
"Ugh... M-Maybe I won't need magic for that?" He muttered uncertainly.
"We'll just have to wait and see," Kat replied, shrugging.
Skidding onto the cobblestones of Main Street, the ragtag little group pelted towards the castle, jumping up the front steps two at a time.
_______________________________________
*Makes shit up about how they leave the fuckin' dorm-dimensions 'cause the game doesn't explain it, the manga doesn't either, and the novel hasn't even finished the prologue yet and the only dorm poor nervous softboi Kuroki Yuuya's been in so far is Ramshackle*
Cater playing Undertale: *spams the FLIRT button repeatedly in every single encounter*
I enjoyed working his Unique Magic in like this without outright coming out and saying it/explaining it like in the manga.
(but I'm probably gonna use the manga as reference sometimes, 'cause it helps me visualize events a little bit better. You should read the manga, it's good. I really like the art style and Jumbo King Prawn Yuuken Enma is a good boi who deserves more love. Haruhi Fujioka enby Yuu, otome heroine Yuu and nervous softboi Yuu like Yuuya Kuroki from the novels are all very good but Jumbo Shrimpy has such a comforting presence that you can tell why he actually gets these idiots to listen to him and even like him. He's just doing his best, and it's a bonus that it's actually working.)
(Oh, also Overblot!Riddle literally has a magical-girl transformation and basically does Mami's Tiro Finale but with card suit spears instead of flintlock muskets. The meguca is real.)
(...Also babby!Riddle in it is too precious. We haven't gotten the full backstory flashback yet, at least not in the translation I've found, but he's just so skrunkly. An infant. Just a babey.)
When did Crowley find the time to tell Kat and Grim which class they're in?
Who knows!
Not me, that's for sure!
And not the game either, apparently, since it just drops that out of nowhere during this chapter.
Also, I've just realized I was subconsciously thinking about the Alice in Wonderland ride at didney land/worl for the maze chase scene. Lol.
Next chapter, we're gonna go a little more in-depth with the teacher introductions, I.E. actually have them interact with at least Kat individually, and possibly more of the Braincell Squad depending on the situation lol
Also another chase-Grim Twistune chapter, yaaay!
...Where did Ace get that net that he uses in it?