The Birth of Venus || Various!TwistedWonderland X Siren!Reader

✧16. Painting.✧

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You were right! You weren't good at this. When you'd cast your spell, the rose would turn any shade but red. Chartreuse, gold, neon orange, blue and white polka dots, iridescent white. Anything but red. Your brain knew it wanted to change the color, but it just... didn't know what color. Beside you stood Deuce, who was struggling almost as much as you. "Red... Red... BAM! Wh-whoa! It turned blue?!" Grim was... worse for wear. "Change, o foul color! Change! AHA!" He commanded... only for the rose to burst into flame. "BWAH! The rose caught on fire!" Cater crossed his arms and deadpanned. "Wow. You're even less competent than I thought." Ace frowned and put his paintbrush back into his bucket of red paint. "Yo, maybe you should just leave the roses white! They look perfectly pretty 'n stuff to me." He gestured to the roses. 

"It's a matter of tradition. You can't have an unbirthday party without the roses being red." Cater began on the rules of a proper unbirthday party. "And you can't play croquet without seven-colored flamingos as mallets and a hedgehog for a ball." That seems inhumane. "Oh, but of course, the roses need to be white when the garden flowers put on their spring concert. That's absolutely crucial." Cater explained. "That's so nitpicky..." You mumbled, still trying to successfully turn a rose red. "All your rules are completely insane!" Grim groaned. "They say the Queen of Hearts made up these rules herself - she was one of the Great Seven, you know. And Riddle is all about tradition. Probably more than previous housewardens, T-B-H." Cater fidgeted with a piece of hair. "I'll admit that he's, well... a bit extra."

"Yeah, no kidding. I sure don't have time for this nonsense. Is Riddle here? I gotta talk to him." Ace asked the junior. That's when you tuned everything out. You were really determined to make this rose red. Red and nothing else! This didn't really matter, but you wanted to do it anyway. "red... red... red..." You mumbled to yourself before casting a spell. This time, the rose turned a pretty shade of red. You threw your arms up in accomplishment and looked over at your friends to see if they saw that. They, in fact, did not. They were too busy watching Ace and Cater argue. "whaat... nobody saw that...? Really?" You mumbled, though the sound of your voice was easily drowned out by Ace's indignant yell. "Are you serious?!" He yelled at the third year. "All dorm residents must obey the rules. If I let you slide, it would be off with my head next!" Cater made a head-slicing motion with his hand. "I hate to say it, Ace, but I'm gonna need you to leave before Riddle spots you. Thanx." His tone was a little passive-aggressive. 

"I... think this guy is for real." Ace mumbled before turning to you and Deuce. "You guys, do something!" Deuce crossed his arms. "Why should WE do anything?" You simply let out a confused. "Huh?" Cater was already pulling out his magic pen. "C'mon, please! I can't use magic! Hurry, he's—" Cater used his magic to move your group backward towards the door, it felt like multiple people were coming at you and it was quickly overwhelming your group. Seeing as he was a third year, his magic was simply too strong for a total newbie like you. Deuce and Grim tried to fight back, you mainly stood on defense. Cater was using magic to push you out of the rose maze. He only stopped his attacks when all of you were finally forced out. "Do make sure you bring that tart next time, m'kay? Buh-bye now!" He waved at the five of you before walking back into the rose maze. 

"Was that guy for real?!" Ace grumbled in aggravation. "We hit him over and over, but he just kept coming. Maybe he was using some kind of illusion magic?" Deuce furrowed his eyebrows. "We sure look like a bunch of chumps." Grim frowned. "I guess it makes sense that he'd be more magically inclined than we are... I mean he is a third year." You thought out loud. Deuce sighed. "I guess we'll just have to get an apology tart and come back. Maybe after class, we can-" He checked his phone for the time. "Oh no!" He frowned. "What's wrong?" Yuu looked over to Deuce. "We already missed the first bell! We're gonna be late for class!"