Chapter 27: Five Second Rule
With the disaster of the Overblot is over, they still have the rose maze garden to worry about. The rose trees and bushes are lying on the ground, and the hedges have holes and burned areas. In other words, the maze and the garden is a complete mess.
Just then, Cater says, "Welp, looks like we got some cleaning up to do. All that work making the garden Magicam-worthy, and now it's a total tire fire. Laaame."
"I'll help out," Trey volunteers.
But Cater denies the help, "No, why don't you get Riddle and Briar to the nurse's office. That was a full-blown case of overblot, and some powerful magic has been performed. We need to make absolutely sure they're okay."
"Mr. Diamond is correct. I will go along with you," Crowley agrees.
"Understood. Thank you, sir," Trey says.
The twins then say, "We'll help too."
Trey then helps Riddle back on his feet and helps him to the nurses office. Jasper and Tanzanite help Briar up.
"You think you can walk, Briar?" Tanzanite asks.
"I think I'll be fine," Briar says.
Before leaving, the maze, they hear Grim say, "Man, am I STARVED after usin' so much magic!"
Suddenly, Grim finds something, "Hmmm Hey, check it out!""
The group looks to see what Grim has found, and it's a black stone
Grim holds it up in excitement, "That's another black magestone, just like the one we found at the Dwarfs' Mine!"
"You're right," Deuce says, surprised.
Then Sereia asks, "Where did the stone come from?"
"Just don't put it in your mouth this time," Ace says.
But Grim says, "No way. After how great that last one tasted, I can't get that thing in my mouth fast enough!"
"Grim don't!" Sereia cries out.
"Bad cat! Don't you dare eat that thing!" Briar says.
Trinket tries to get him to stop, but it's too late. Grim begins to eat the stone.
Ace groans, "Aaand there it goes."
Cater grins and says, "Oh, Grimmy... Have some self-respect, honey! That was literally trash.
After eating the stone, Grim expresses his satisfaction, "Ahhhhh! Rich and sweet, but with a complex hint of bitterness in the aftertaste. Equally delicious, but with quite a different mouthfeel from that last one I ate."
"Let's hope it doesn't make him sick," Briar says, concerned.
Jasper sighs and says, "I guess this is just a thing now?"
Then Ace says, "As a monster, maybe his stomach works differently than ours?"
"Even still, eating trash can't be good for anyone," Deuce replies.
Suddenly, Grim says, "Oooh! I just tried the grass, and the flavor was surprisingly pleasant! Crisp, even!"
And begins to eat the grass some more.
Deuce calls out, "That's our lawn! Don't eat that!"
Cater kind of feels a little sick, "Uh, A-F-K while I go throw up…" But then says underbreath, "But...seriously, guys. Thanks."
Ace turns to Cater and asks, "Did you just say something?"
"Hm? Nope. Not a thing," Cater says, playing innocent.
Sometime later, in the infirmary, Briar and Riddle are both lying down in separate medical beds. Briar is sitting on the medical bed as she writes down in a notebook. The notebook has a black cover and it has the academy's school symbol on it.
Curious, Riddle asks, "Briar, what are you doing? You should be resting."
"I know, I'm just finishing writing my journal entry," Briar says.
"Journal entry?" Riddle replies, confused.
Briar finishes writing and places the book in her backpack, "Um yeah. I started writing it after I got this along with some of my other school supplies. Crowley did say he wanted me to make entries involving memories, and take pictures, so I decided to write some in the notebook and use it as a journal."
"I see. So I suspect you're writing what has happened today," Riddle says.
"I did," Briar says.
Riddle sighs and says, "Briar, again I am very sorry for what happened today, and yesterday. I even dared to lay a hand on a lady, and I went out of control and was ready to hurt someone. I can't believe I've gone to such lengths."
"It's cool. I'm just glad that you and I can be friends now," Briar says.
"I suppose, but not sure if the others really feel the same," Riddle says.
"I'm sure they'll warm up to you eventually," Briar says.
Riddle can't help but smile and says, "I have to admit, you're actually a good person. I have to envy that."
"How so?" Briar asks.
"Well, you were willing to defend the others, including Ace and Deuce, despite them not being in your dorm," Riddle replies.
"Um yeah. They're basically my friends. Although, they don't act like we care. But still, I'm just willing to do the ring thing, and that all that counts," Briar says.
"Hmm, I suppose you're right. It just means that you're pretty brave, and rather reckless. The others told me that you rushed to me and got yourselves covered in the ooze in order to rescue me," Riddle says.
Briar nervously giggles and rubs the back of her head, "I suppose you're right. Still, I'm also glad we all got out of that mess alive."
"I think you're right. It will be best for us to get some rest, I still have an Unbirthday party to plan," Riddle says.
"I think you're right," Briar replies.
Briar and Riddle and lay down on their beds and soon fall asleep for the night after the exhausting day they have. As she begins to sleep, Briar begins to dream.
In Briar's dream, there is a little girl who strongly resembles Briar, but as a small child. She is also wearing a green dress. She seems to be in some kind of garden. She sits out as she plays with her toy ball.
Suddenly, she hears a voice, "Briar! Briar, I'm back!"
"Coming!" Young Briar happily says.
Briar then runs to the source of the voice. What she sees is a grown woman, but the woman is very blurry, that's it's hard to tell what she looks like. Briar soon reaches to the grown woman.
"I'm glad you're back, I miss you. Can we play together, if you're not busy?" Little Briar happily says.
And soon, the dream vanishes, Briar continues to sleep in her bed as she continues to have the strange dream in her mind.