Hi everyone! Another update ready to go! Last time we checked, Claire and everybody else was painting white roses red. Hopefully, Cater will explain why because I think we can all agree that this is a bizarre gardening choice.

Also, I got some good news to share on the update schedule at the end. Be sure to check out the information.
Enjoy!

Chapter 5:

After about thirty minutes, the group finally stopped for a break, completely exhausted.

"Well, that's not too bad. I can pretty much finish up from here," Cater said, looking at the garden. Several trees still flowering white roses and were devoid of any redness. Claire noticed Cater mercifully didn't mention that he will also have to fix the two trees that Grim had burned down or clean up the paint that formed many pools of red.

"Seriously, what was wrong with white flowers?" Ace said, annoyed as he stared at the results of their hard work. "They look fine."

"This is our tradition," Cater explained, "Roses are red for Unbirthday Parties. We also use flamingoes in seven different colors in our croquet games."

"Why would you need flamingoes for a croquet game?" Grim asked, his head cocked to the side.

"Well, how else do we hit the hedgehogs to score points?" Cater said.

"You hit hedgehogs with flamingoes?!" Claire's jaw dropped.

"Don't worry, they are descendants of the Queen of Hearts' personal set," Cater laughed at her incredulity. "They actually like it. For them, it is like a game. Oh, but going back to the flowers, we do have them white during the spring garden concert. So, we do see them in their natural beauty. If you want" – he winked at Claire – "I wouldn't mind showing them to you personally."

"Those are just a bunch of strange rules," Grim stated, pointing out the obvious.

Cater merely shrugged his shoulders as he gathered the paint tools. "Well, these are the rules that were set up by the Queen of Hearts – our dorm patron. It is our tradition to follow them."

Remembering the statue of the comical balloon woman at Main Street, Claire wasn't surprised by the woman's whimsical nature.

"Riddle is particular in following the rules, even more so than the previous dorm leaders," Cater continued, not using any honorifics, "Though I will say his passion does take him too far sometimes…"

"Oh, that's right," Ace said, dumping the empty paint cans to the side. "I don't have time for this. Cater, do you know where the dorm head is? I need to see him."

"Riddle?" Cater rolled his eyes up to the sky, thinking carefully, "Hmm, I think he is still in the dorm. There is still some time before he needs to leave… But Ace, did you bring a tart for an apology?"

"A… tart?" Ace's eyes widened with bewilderment. He glanced at the rest of the group, but they all shrugged their shoulders. "Uh, no. I just came here first thing in the morning, so I don't have anything on me."

"Oh no," Cater sighed rather dramatically, "That won't do. The Queen of Hearts Rule 53 states that 'One must always return whatever they stole.' I can't let you in the dorm if you don't have it."

"Huh?" Ace's mouth dropped. "What kind of rule is that?!"

"I'll lose my head if I just let you in knowingly," Cater said. His face was no longer smiling, and his eyes were set with a serious-looking expression. "Sorry, but I need to throw you guys out."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Claire said, "You can't just –"

Before Claire could finish her sentence, they were each grabbed by the arm at the same time and then marched right back out to the dorm's entrance.

"Come back with a tart next time, okay?" Cater smiled as he waved, "Bye-bye!" He quickly vanished back into the Rose Maze before any of them could say anything.

"What's his problem?" Ace hissed as he glared at the entrance.

"How did he do that?" Deuce muttered. "How did he grab all four of us at the same time? It was so quick, but he just kept coming back… Maybe it was an illusion spell?"

"Why didn't he just tell us that we needed a tart in the first place?" Ace continued angrily, before realization flashed across his face, "He knew we didn't have one when he saw us! Damnit, I bet he wanted us to paint those stupid roses for him."

"You just noticed?" Claire sighed and shook her head.

"He's a shrewd one," Grim admitted unhappily.

"I'm sick and tired of not being able to use magic," Ace fumed. "What am I going to do?"

"It's hasn't been more than a day," Claire said, "If you can paint for thirty minutes, I'm sure you'll survive."

Deuce couldn't help but stare as Claire continued to calmly reason with Ace. Despite being in this unfamiliar place, she has never shown any jealousy or hatred of their magic, only curiosity, and wonder. She was rather content with herself. It was clear that she didn't understand the implication of not having magic and never experienced the consequences of living in a world that relied heavily on it. Especially outside of school…

The words Cater said kept spinning around in his head, and the unpleasant memories began to surface again.

"Deuce, something wrong?" Claire asked, shaking him out of his thoughts. He looked up and realized a bit too late of the awkwardness he created.

"It's nothing!" he said hastily as Claire tilted her head to the side in worry, "I guess we will need to get some tarts after school – oh shoot!" Everybody jumped by his sudden outburst.

"What's wrong? Don't shout like that," Ace said.

"The time! We're going to be late for class!" Deuce pointed to the giant clock hanging in front of the dorm.

"Nooo!" Grim wailed, "I cannot have my first day tarnished like this!"

"Oh yeah, what class are you two in?" Ace asked as they ran towards the mirror.

"Uh, the Headmaster said 1-A! Right?" Grim immediately turned to Claire for confirmation, and she nodded.

"Yeah, he gave us our schedule this morning." She reached for her book bag, desperate to get the itinerary.

"Oh, then we are in the same class," Deuce said quickly, "First class is Alchemy."

"Alchemy? Sounds fun!" Grim said, excitedly, already heading over to the mirror. "Come on! Let's hurry!"

"Never thought I would see someone so eager for school," Claire stated flatly, but she was secretly curious if not excited on what they would be learning today.

"I wonder what I'm going to do about my magic though," Ace mumbled.

Author Notes:

Of course, Cater tricked them to do his job. And it seems like Deuce is acting rather weird. Wonder what's up with that.

Also, the important news. Starting now and for the month of November, I will be updating twice a week - Monday and Friday - instead of once a week!
I don't know if this will be permanent, but if my work doesn't overwhelm me, I may continue this schedule going forward.

Be sure to check in on November 8 for the next chapter! It will be a lot longer with new characters introduced. See you then!
-JD