For the next few minutes they worked, turning the white flowers red. Or at least trying to.
"Red, red… There! Ah! It turned blue!" Most flowers turned by Deuce had become a navy blue, though some had tips of red.
Grim was having even worse luck. "Color Change! Take that!" he spat out magic only for the rose to burst into flames. "Gyaaa! The roses are burning!" the monster hurried to put out the Blaze, becoming discouraged by the action.
Cater sighs, putting a hand to his temple. "You guys are worse than I imagined you'd be."
Xiniya giggled before putting her brush down. "I-Is it alright if I try something?" she asked, looking at Cater. "I-I don't know if it would work b-but it may help."
He glanced at her and then at the two magic users. "I don't see why not. Just don't take too long." With that, she went over to them, a friendly smile on her face.
"I want you both to close your eyes while performing the spell." She instructed.
"What!? I won't be able to aim." he retorted, crossing his arms.
"If it helps then we should at least try," Deuce says, already in position to cast the spell.
Grim grumbles before getting in position, eyes closed and ready to go.
"Good, now all I want you to do is listen to my words before casting the spell." she begins letting her own eyes fall as well. "Visualize the color red in your mind. Red represents passion, life, and vigor. Something imbued with red should represent the same." she opened her eyes, looking at the two. "Now go beyond and into your memory. What does red mean to you, what memory does it bring forth." Both faces were relaxed but a small smile formed on their lips. "Now select the strongest memory and bring it forth, foraging it into the spell."
With that both open their eyes yelling out the spell, none noting the golden string flying through the air. The rose bushes shutter a bit before the white shimmers and turn red. Cater claps his hands, happy with the results.
Ace smiles faintly at their accomplishments before looking at a white unpainted rose. "Aren't the roses fine being white? They're pretty," he asks looking at Cater.
The senior huffs a bit glaring at the plants. "This is a part of our tradition, okay," he explains before going on a rant. "Roses must be red for the Unbirthday Party. For croquet, we use seven different colored flamingos as the bats, and hedgehogs as the balls. Oh, but an important thing to remember is that the roses must be white for the spring concert of the flowers."
"Not one of those is normal!" Grim states, hopping back onto Xinyi's shoulder.
Cater smiled slightly before getting back to work. "These rules were made by one of the Great Seven, the Queen of Hearts after all," he explains, turning another rose red. "Riddle is particularly passionate about following the rules even compared to other strict dorm leaders. I won't deny he goes a bit overboard sometimes."
"That's right. I don't have time for this." Ace says in realization, putting down his paintbrush. "I want to speak to the dorm leader, is he inside?"
Cater thought for a moment. "Hm? I think there's still time before he leaves…" he looks at Ace. "By the way, Ace the tart thief, did you bring a tart as an apology?"
"What? No, I came first so I'm empty-handed…" the freshman states, slightly confused.
"Oh number Is that so?" Cater glanced at Xinyi who looked to be about to say something, but she looked hesitant to do so. He did not stop, knowing that she may have something to help. "Since you're going against Laws of the Queen of Hearts, Number fifty three: 'One must always return what they stole', I can't let you in the dorm."
Ace jumped back slightly, shocked by the words. "Huh? What the heck!?"
Cater smiled sadly looking at him. "I'll lose my head too if I knowingly let you in while you're not obeying the rules." He then looked at Xinyi, giving a slight look to be silent on what she wished to say. She gets it and closes her mouth, clutching her bag slightly.
Cater smiled again but it was laced with menacing intent. "Hehe, I feel bad but you need to leave before Riddle notices." he glared at Ace who immediately backed away.
"Woah, his face got serious! Guys, help me out!" he yells looking at his friends.
"Why me?!" Deuce asks slightly confused about what was going on.
"Please!" Ace begged. "I can't use magic right now! Ah! Here he comes!" The fight that ensued was an odd one. Deuce and Grim used many spells against the senior, finding after a few minutes Cater's injuries had vanished and he was at full strength once more. Ace tried to help but couldn't do much without his magic. Xinyi on the other hand had been taken by Cater at the beginning of the fight and brought back to the entrance of Maze. She was about to return to her friends, but Cater sat her down sternly and told her to wait. So she stayed only to be greeted by her friends being thrown out of the rose hedges a few moments later.
"Now, Go get a tart, and then try again! Bye-bye!" Cater called beyond the hedge as Xinyi tended to her friends.
"What's his problem!" Ace growled as he was helped up.
Deuce and Grim pant vigorously on the grass. "No matter how many times we took him down he kept coming back… I wonder if he was using illusion magic?" Deuce mumbled trying to discern what happened.
Ace looked at his friends and back at the entrance. "On top of that, we get turned away at the gate without a tart?" He continued to grumble. "We didn't have anything to begin with and made us leave after we helped him paint."
Grim climbs back on to Xinyi's shoulders. "I'm disappointed." he sighs as he starts to relax.
Deuce relaxes a bit too. "Then we just have to bring a tart and try again. After school, we can- Ah! Crap!" suddenly jumps up looking towards the exit.
Xinyi's eyes also widen when she realizes what the chime is. "Oh no!!" she bolts up causing Grim to fall off her.
Both looked at each other and started running."This is bad, the bell already rang! We're gonna be late!" Deuce calls as the others rush to follow.
"Ffgna! My shining school life is going to be tarnished on day one!" Grim jumps back onto Xinyi's shoulder. "Let's get a move on!"
"What class are you two in? You're both first years, right?" Ace asks when they make it to the hall of mirrors.
Xinyi looked back slightly. "The headmaster told me to meet him at his office for a test of some sort." She then turns to Grim. "He said you needed to follow Deuce and Ace to class 1-A until I returned!"
"What? We are in the same class. The first period is Potions." Deuce exclaimed as Grim jumped over to his shoulder.
"Woah! Sounds like fun!" Grim yells as they continue to separate.
"But I still can't use magic, remember? Will I be okay?" Xinyi looked at Ace and put a hand on his back as a way of reassurance. She then took one last look at her friend before turning to the headmaster's office.
Actions speak louder than words. We can apologize over and over, but if our ations don't change, the words become meaningless.
- Golden Flower