As they walked down the main road, Hoshi watched exasperatedly as Grim strutted proudly down the Main Street shouting, "Move it! Outta the way! Night Raven College student comin' through! Oh? Did my collar catch your eye? It is way better than the one you're stuck with! You know, the one that makes it so you can't use magic? But hey, the school could always use another janitor! Bwahahaha!"
Hoshi shook her head in disappointment as she noticed Ace's expression getting darker, "Way to take the high road, Grim... But, I think he's suffered enough."
"Grrrrr! Trust me Grim, when I get my magic back, your hide is first up on the chopping block!" Ace grumbled.
"Didn't the headmage JUST tell you yesterday, no more incidents?" Deuce shook his head too only at the sight of Ace's threats, "Regardless, you're not going to be able to participate in class if you can't use magic. So why not just apologize to the housewarden? It's a small price to pay for having the collar removed."
"Aaaaargh!" Ace stomped his feet angrily, "I hate this so! SO! Much!"
"We know. Unfortunately, you still need to stay calm, otherwise you'd even attract those who haven't noticed your collar." Hoshi tried to reassure him, "Besides, I'm sure you're not the only ones to get the collar."
"That's not very reassuring." Ace grumbled despite her obvious efforts.
"Hmm. Ya know, we do still have some time to kill before class starts. And I am kinda curious about the other dorms." Grim pointed out as he turned to Ace, "Guess I'll go along and scope out the place while you make with the groveling."
Ace was taken aback in horror as he exclaimed in disbelief, "Since when did this become a field trip?!"
Having said this, Grim and Hoshi followed Deuce as Ace trudged after them reluctantly. They approached what looked to be a small round dome they were in yesterday as Hoshi noted aloud, "It doesn't look like it can house a thousand students..."
Hearing this, Ace huffed, "This small thing? Nah. Come on, I'll show you inside."
Hoshi followed them into the empty building as Grim noted in confusion, "Hey, where is everyone? All I see is a few stragglers..."
"They've probably went to the cafeteria for breakfast." Deuce replied, "We'll follow them after we see our dormleader."
Hoshi followed the two into a large mirror decorated with poker cards, roses and a trail of colorful mushrooms. Once on the other side, they found themselves infront of a rocky path lined by heart shapped rose bushes down towards a beautiful large red building decorated with shapes of daimonds and hearts. She looked on in surprise as the others walked ahead.
"Dang, this place is swank! This is nothing like our dumpster of a dorm." Grim exclaimed in awe.
"Our dorm is a work-in-progress!" Hoshi refuted in dismay, "Urgh… Forget it! Comparisons will only make you more miserable."
Suddenly, Hoshi noticed something flashing from the corner of her sight and followed the direction curiously to one of the bushes by the road.
"Come on! This way!" Deuce called out to them as they strayed from the road and onto a grassy road into a maze of bushes and rose bushes.
"Ah, coming!" Hoshi turned around and followed after the two pushing her curiosity to the back of her mind.
Pushing through the greenery, They could hear someone exclaim, "Aww yeah, I am getting my paint on!"
"Ah, someone's here." Grim tilted his head in confusion and hurried after the voice.
"Ah, wait! Don't stray too far, Grim!" Hoshi ran after him.
It didn't take long before they found themselves before a large clearing with many different unusual tables placed all over the area surrounded by rose bushes! Before one of the bushes was a teenage boy in a uniform consisting of an outer jacket, a patterned vest, a white, scoop-neck undershirt. The boy sat on top of a ladder with a bucket of red paint and paint brush in hand as he muttered aloud, "They all gotta be red, or it's 'off with my head'!"
Emerging from the bushes, Hoshi couldn't help but sense a strong feeling a dejavu. She looked around hoping to remember something but all she could feel was a strong sense of familiarity with no memories to sprout from it. Unwilling to give up, she looked back to the scene that gave her the strongest sense of this familiarity: The boy painting the bush. However, her mind became clouded and a sharp pain came to her as she grimaced and rub her forehead. Struggling to remember, she accidentally muttered aloud, "I've seen this somewhere before…"
Her voice caught the boy by surprise as he looked down to find Hoshi and the others in surprise, "Huh...? You guys need something?"
"What are you doing there?" Ace emerged from the bushes with a look of confusion.
"Are you blind?" The boy raised his bucket and brush, "I'm painting these roses red, duh."
"What? Why?!" Deuce questioned in bewilderment.
Looking around, Hoshi was impressed as she noticed the large number of rose bushes painted around them, "There's so many..."
"Ah ha ha. So naïve, you put the "n" in newb." Cater laughed till he noticed Grim and the other two freshman, "Hold the phone, I know you! You're the ones who broke a billion-thaumark chandelier and nearly got expelled for it, yeah?"
Ace groaned, "That chandelier is gonna haunt us till the day we graduate, isn't it?"
"And you!" The boy hopped off the ladder and tossed his bucket and brush onto the ground carefully, "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."
He wiped away the paint on his hands and slipped out his phone from his pocket, "I'm just gonna grab a selfie real quick... It's cool if I post this on Magicam, right? Gimme your names so I can tag you."
"I'm Deuce Spade." Deuce responded hesitantly.
"Ace." Ace grumbled.
"I'm Grim, and that's my henchman, Hoshi." Grim exclaimed before she could even stop him.
"Uploaded! Sweet." He smiled wide as they could hear a ping from the phone tablet.
"Oh no..." Hoshi groaned as she pondered what to tell the headmage after this. It was only yesterday when they were told not to cause any trouble. But, now here they are. Though, they have yet to cause any trouble...
It did not erase the terrible premonition she had.
Despite thinking this, a glance to the other two and Ace's collar made her feel otherwise. Well, at least a picture was taken. Just not with the ghost camera hanging around her neck.
"Oh, I'm Cater Diamond, by the way. I'm a junior here at Heartslabyul." Cater waved with a wide smile, "But Cater is fine. Or Cay-Cay if you're cray-cray! Soooo nice to meetcha."
"It's... a pleasure." Hoshi said hesitantly and shook his hand. However, while doing so, she could feel a sense of worry come to her. Yet, why is she so worried?
"Ah, you're the prefect of that so-called Ramshackle House dorm, right? Like, I can't believe you actually live there!" Cater smiled, "It's all gloomy and looks like hot garbage on Magicam. No filter could salvage THAT dump."
His words left her flabbergasted! Did he really have to be so rude? There's a difference between rude and blunt but, for him, he was both! Grim growled, "Y'know, you've done nothin' but diss us here, pal!"
However, Grim's irritation did not affect anyone as Cater suddenly noticed another bush of white roses behind them. He jumped up in horror as he spoke, "Gah, what am I doing? I don't have time to chat!"
"The party's tomorrow. If we're not ready, it's "off with my head"!" Cater quickly grabbed the paint and brush but soon noticed something as a sly grin came across his face, "Hey, you kids wanna help me paint some roses?"
"Yeah, uh..." He took the brush and bucket from him whilst in a state of confusion, "Why are you doing that exactly?"
"Because red roses are so much more photogenic! Or...something...?" Cater replied seemingly also uncertain of it himself, "And after that, I've gotta start getting things ready for the big croquet tournament. And that means coloring all the flamingos."
"You're colorin' flamingos now? Isn't anything the right color around here?!" Ace exclaimed in disbelief.
"Now it's coming into focus, Ace. That tart you ate must have been for the housewarden's birthday." Deuce pointed out in disappointment, "That explains his reaction!"
Having heard Deuce's words, Cater looked to them in surprise, "Hm? Oh, no, it's not Riddle's birthday."
"It's not?" Hoshi looked to him in confusion.
"Then whose birthday is it?" Grim added.
"It isn't anyone's birthday." Cater chuckled as he continued to explain, "Tomorrow is our dorm's traditional unbirthday party. It's a special tea party we throw when no one has a birthday— if the housewarden feels like it."
"And why would you do that?" Ace questioned curiously.
"Again with the questions!" Cater shook his head in disappointment and instructed, "Listen, I need these roses to be red. Like, yesterday. Can't you guys help out with magic or something? Oh, but Ace is on magical house arrest and Hoshi is a total normie without any elements, so you two better stick to paint."
"Recolor the roses with magic..." Deuce hesitated.
"Can't say I've ever done this before." Grim muttered nervously as well.
"Relax, it'll be fine. You got this!" Cater encouraged them as he quickly added, "But maybe do it before I lose my head? K-thanx!"
As soon as he finished this, he quickly disappeared behind the other bushes and before they could stop him!
"Oh no..." Hoshi noted nervously before looking around and turned to Ace with a shake of her head, "I guess we are stuck painting before he comes back."