Twisted Wonderland Book 1: The Rose-Red Tyrant

Chapter 4: Student Multiplication

Time has gone by, and it's proven that painting the roses red with magic is a lot more difficult than it appears to be.

Deuce thinks of the color, "Red... Red..." Then cast his magic on the rose, "BAM!"

However, the rose has turned into a blue color, "Wh-whoa! It turned blue?!"

At another bush, Grim gives it a try, "Change, o foul color! Change! AHA!"

However, that causes the rose to burst into blue flames, making Grim scream, "BWAH! The rose caught on fire!"

Briar becomes shocked and turns to Sereia, "Sereia!"

"Got it!" Sereia replies.

She then uses her magestone pen to cast her water magic and puts out the fire.

"That was too close," Briar says.

She then waves her magestone pen at the rose, "Alright. Red Rose. Red Rose."

Briar cast her magic on the rose, and it does turn red, but the wrong shade.

"Using magic is a lot harder to use than I thought," Briar replies.

Cater calmly crosses his arms and says, "Wow. You're even less competent than I thought.

"Yo, maybe you should just leave the roses white! They look perfectly pretty 'n stuff to me," Ace replies.

Briar hears this and says, "Yeah. The White Roses look very pretty the way they are. Why do we need to change them to a different color?

"It's a matter of tradition," Cater answers, "You can't have an unbirthday party without the roses being red. And you can't play croquet without seven-colored flamingos as mallets and a hedgehog for a ball. Oh, but of course, the roses need to be white when the garden flowers put on their spring concert. That's absolutely crucial.

Then Grim says, "All your rules are completely insane!"

"And complicated," Jasper adds.

Trinket nods her head in reply.

"They say the Queen of Hearts made up these rules herself - she was one of the Great Seven, you know. And Riddle is all about tradition. Probably more than previous housewardens, T-B-H. I'll admit that he's, well... a bit extra," Cater explains.

Yeah, no kidding. I sure don't have time for this nonsense. Is Riddle here? I gotta talk to him," Cater says.

Yeah, probably," Cater answers.

Then questions, "But are you sure that's wise? Did you even bring an apology tart to replace the one you ate?

"Uh, no...?" Ace answers, confused. "I came here first thing in the morning!"

But Cater says, "Ah ah ah... That could be a problem. Have you forgotten rule 53? 'Stolen items must be replaced.' If you're not in compliance, I can't let you in."

This ends up catching everyone off guard, especially Ace.

Ace exclaims in shock, "Are you serious?!"

"All dorm residents must obey the rules. If I let you slide, it would be off with my head next! I hate to say it, Ace, but I'm gonna need you to leave before Riddle spots you. Thanx," Cater explains.

This causes everyone to be wary about Cater's statement.

"I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this all of the sudden," Briar says.

Ace grows concerned, "I... think this guy is for real. You guys, do something!"

"Why should WE do anything?" Deuce questions.