Mascot of Ramshakle (TWST Fanfiction)

Planning Ahead (I'm back!)

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-"