EXAMS ARE OVER!!! LAPTOP IS FIXED!!!
Kuroko whipped around in a panic. One moment she's in bed, and the next she's in a maze garden. She took a good look around and wondered if she'd ever get any rest here. What she saw confused her for the tenth time that day. She appeared to be at the entrance of a garden maze, where animated playing cards were painting something.
They're painting ...roses?
As they did, they sang about how they would be in trouble if they weren't quick enough. Then, a little girl in a blue dress appeared and inquired to the action. The cards explained how the wrong colour of flowers had been planted. They were trying to cover it up by painting them red, as getting caught would result with decapitation. The girl exclaimed in surprise, and everything faded to black.
I could have sworn I was asleep in my dorm...
Kuroko awoke and realized it was a dream. As she considered the possibility of her experiences affecting her dreams, she heard a sound.
Is someone knocking at the door?
She was loathed to wake Kayra after what happened a few hours ago, but they made a plan and they had to stick to it. So Kayra and Grim opened the door to:
"Ace? It's the middle of the night!" Grim gasped. "That collar!"
"I can't go back to Heartslabyul. I'm joining your dorm. For good."
According to Ace, on his way to bed he had been caught in the act eating a slice of tart. He was collared because it had violated a dorm rule. After a bit of bickering, Kayra let him sleep on the couch. Kuroko wasn't happy, but they were all too tired to argue. Ace & the dream had to wait for later.
A few hours later, Deuce came to Ramshackle. He and Kayra talked Ace into apologizing. And before Kuroko could say anything, Kayra was out the door.
She grunted in frustration. All she could do was hope that Kayra made some progress.
Kayra didn't get a good look at the mirror Deuce walked out of yesterday. But now she could appreciate the craftsmanship of the playing cards and roses. Unlike the Dark Mirror, this one had a metal frame. Her intrigue was short lived as Deuce pulled her into the mirror.
Each mirror seemed to be a preview of the Dorm. Kayra found herself outside a hedge maze, rose bushes lined along a path leading to a wacky castle in a colour scheme of red, black and white. She seemed to recall Kuroko mentioning a maze as well.
"Dang, this place is swank! This is nothing like our dumpster of a dorm."
"Comparisons will only make you more miserable."
Grim noticed a student in the garden. He was painting the white roses, red. With ginger hair that was pulled away from his forehead, and a red diamond on his cheekbone. After a moment, he noticed the group.
"Huh...? You guys need something?"
"What are you doing there?" Ace asked.
"Are you blind? I'm paining these roses red, duh."
"What? Why?!" Deuce voiced everyone's confusion.
"Ah ha ah. So naive, you put the 'n' in newb. Hold the phone, I know you! You're the ones who broke a billion-thaumark chandelier and nearly got expelled for it, yeah?"
Ace sighed. "That chandelier is gonna haunt us till the day we graduate, isn't it?"
"And you! You're the one who ate the housewarden's tart that same night! You guys are the hot topic around campus! I've gotta get in on this fleeting fame. I'm just gonna grab a selfie real quick-"
He whipped out his phone with unusual speed, and before anyone could recover, was ready to post the photo.
"It's cool if I post this on Magicam, right? Gimmie your names so I can tag you."
"Deuce Spade."
"Ace." He was not happy.
Kayra had no intention of giving her name to someone she started off badly with. "I don't have an account, so-"
"I'm Grim, and that's my henchman, Kaye."
He turned to face her, "Seriously? Your name is Kaye?! I was gonna say call me Cay-Cay, but I guess now we're Cay-Kaye! Oh, I'm Cater Diamond, by the way. I'm a junior here at Heartslabyul. Soooo nice to meetcha."
"It's a pleasure."
"You're also the prefect of that so-called Ramshackle dorm, right? Like, I can't believe you actually live there! It's all gloomy and looks like hot garbage on Magicam. No filter could salvage that dump."
It was no longer a pleasure.
• • •
Kayra poked her head into the Ramshackle lounge. "Kuro?"
She did not receive an immediate reply.
"Upstairs." said a voice, causing her and Grim to jump. It was a ghost.
"Oh... Thank you."
Sure enough, Kuroko was scrubbing away at the showering stalls on the second floor. She had removed her crop sweater, and the skinny she was in had turned dull and dirty from wearing them for three days strait while cleaning.
Grim gasped. "Whoa, you look like you've been living here your whole life...!"
"Hence, why you need these more than I do." Kayra held up the bags in her hand. "I think you've done enough for today. We don't even use these showering stalls."
"It's just in case the boys stay over again."
Curious, Kuroko wiped her wet hands on her pants and stepped into the hallway. Taking a bag from Kayra, she saw them full of clothes and other necessities.
"From where...?!" She breathed.
"The teachers."
She did a quick recap of day. How Cater had roped them into his painting spree, only for him to say that Ace couldn't talk to Riddle without an apology tart, due to another weird rule. How they were kicked out and almost late for class. How they had to stop Grim from bunking class. And getting into a fight in the cafeteria. She slowed down when she noticed Kuroko's grim expression. [pun intended]
"Kuro...?"
"I had a dream this morning, similar to what happened to you..." She proceeded to recount said dream with some difficulty speaking.
She must be really tired. Kayra thought. She was ashamed of running off and not taking on more chores.
"What do you thi-?" Kuroko was cut off by a sneeze.
"It's too soon to make assumptions." Kayra handed her a handkerchief from the bag. "We should observe a little longer. As for the meaning of the dream, I'm clueless."
"Figures." She blew her nose.
Kayra continued; As they finished lunch, she had quietly asked another junior, Trey, if any of the teachers had daughters or sisters. He was confused, but pointed her to Professor Trein. Appalled by her situation, the Professor had provided her with the money to afford everything they needed. As well as excuse her from the next class to go to town and purchase them. When she came back, Professor Crewel was holding two bags full of clothes. It was then that Professor Crewel noticed and tended to her wounds.
"He teaches potionology. He's ...quirky. His vocabulary is concerning, but I can't think bad of him aft-"
"After ...helping us. I know" Her voice softened for the first time since they met. She leaned against the wall, relieved. "What about the elderly teacher?"
"Professor Trein? He seems to be the most sensible, teaching History of magic among other subjects. He also has a cat familiar" Lucius was an unexpectedly welcome sight to Kayra. Both the professor and his familiar seemed so typical of a human and cat that she was at ease around them.
"Then, there's Coach Vargas... Reminds me of why I hate physical activities." She knew it was too soon to judge, but he seemed quite demanding and toxic. "And who in the world eats a dozen raw eggs at once?!"
"What's wrong with physical activities? And you need to elaborate on the eggs."
"Naturally. But first; we both shower."
When When Kuroko returned from using the very showers she was cleaning, Kayra was wearing a Heartslabyul T-shirt and matching sweatpants. Kuroko's own clothes were the same, with the exception of the school logo instead of a dorm one.
"How was your day?" She asked.
"It was boring." Grim whined and jumped on the bed. "I wanna blow stuff up."
"Like you haven't done that already." Kayra pulled out some snacks she had gotten. "Oh, the boys also said that they would give their old clothes. That might take a few days though."
"I'm gonna get straight to the point; What did you learn that can help us?"
"About that. Remember the statues on main street?"
"Yeah." She thought of the six remaining sets of school merchandise.
"There are two dorms that I think can help. Dia-something-nia and Ig... Ig... -I won't even try to say it."
Kuroko furrowed her eyebrows, her lips parted in confusion.
"Those dorms are a mouthful." Grim snuggled into a torn pillow.
"Basically the Dragon dorm and the Tech dorm. Even if they don't have the information, the Tech dorm can point us in the right direction, or help filter said information. As for the Dragon dorm, their demeanor is 'mysterious' and their aesthetic is European mythology. Not to mention their Housewarden is an O.P. Fae prince. If he doesn't know about inter-dimensional travel, then no one does. So while you go over the Grimoires, I'll try to befriend the Housewardens."
"Kayra, you can't just walk up to them you know. Especially with Signature spells involved."
"Kuro's got a point, you know." Grim added. "That collar was no joke."
"That's not a problem if they walk up to you. Or, float..."
Kayra continued at Kuroko's silence, unaware that she was more concerned with the oncoming headache. Grim however, noticed.
"I already met the Vice Housewarden of the Dragon dorm. He looks like a bishounen, but his personality is mischivious. Pulled a freaking upside-down vampire on us."
"Uh, Kaye?" Grim spoke, but was interrupted by Kuroko.
"...What? Nevermind..."
"Kuro, are you okay?"
At that moment, she doubled over, almost falling off the bed if Kayra hadn't caught her..
• • •
Kayra followed the boys, lost in thought. Kuroko had woken up this morning, and Kayra left her in the care of the ghosts. Making her drink the painkillers Kayra got from town. She let Kuroko have the room all to herself, while she recovered. They only shared it because it was the only one with it's own lavatory. She didn't stay behind because they both agreed that Ace could be out of the dorm faster.
I'll have to buy a thermometer and more appropriate medicine on the way back.
They were headed straight to the Botanical garden to get the baskets that the boys used yesterday, while Kayra was shopping in town.
"We might have to get something for Grim too." Ace added. "The three of us wear gloves as part of the uniform, but Grim will need to cover it's paws.
To Kayra, the Botanical garden was the only place that trumped the library in both beauty and value. But that was because gardening was her favorite hobby. Like before, she spun around taking in the dome of colour. Again, like before, her ecstasy was short lived as the boys suggested splitting up- they had to find the Groundskeeper.
While Grim pounced around sniffing edible-looking but possibly-poisonous fruit, Kayra took in the scent of the flowers. To her dismay, she couldn't identify many of the plants.
Why can't I just build a shack and live in here...?
Distracted, she stepped on something. The following exclamation of pain told her that it was neither a rope, nor a watering hose.
÷
I present; the LONG overdue update!
I won't bother with excuses, guys, I am REALLY sorry for the wait. But I will admit that I got stuck with this chapter. I rewrote it more times than I can count. To make up for it, the next chapter will be out ASAP!
BTW: I noticed something odd.
The cafeteria scene happens on a Tuesday as mentioned by an extra. That very evening, the braincell gang proceeds to collect 200 - 300 chestnuts, which is honestly unrealistic. And the Unbirthday party is first thing next morning. Which I don't think any teacher would allow on a school day. So I changed up the timeline. As I mentioned above, only the boys go chestnut picking on Tuesday. Kayra and Grim join them on Wednesday evening, when they run into Leona. And on Friday evening we get delinquent Deuce and they finish the tarts. The party is on Saturday, which makes more sense.