Into the World of Twisted Wonderland Pt 2

👑 The Beautiful Tyrant: Chapter 42 👑

"...An' that's the long an' short of it," Epel finishes.

"You picked a fight with a housewarden on your first day f school?!" Deuce exclaims in shock.

"Ah didn't know how crazy strong the housewardens were, okay?!" Epel retorts. "Didn't you an' Ace picked a fight with yer housewarden right after orientation, too?"

"Erk!" Deuce grunts in surprise, not thinking that Epel would know about the situation. "That wasn't intentional..."

"Back home, the only way anybody ever saw you as powerful was if your were big an' buff an' strong," Epel says with a sigh. "...So Ah've always been a soft target fer teasin'. Lookin' back now, Ah don't think Vil meant nothin' by what he said, but still..."

"Yeah, I get you," Deuce nods in agreement. "You felt like you had to make a point right out of the gate."

"But Ah've never beaten the housewarden once. Ah've been stuck doin' what he says ever since."

"Now I get what you guys meant when you were talking about 'the usual' during practice," Deuce says in thought. "Rook was right when he said it wasn't a fight. It was more than that to you guys."

"Vil says Ah can act however Ah like if Ah kin take him in a fight. But it just ain't happenin'," he sighs. "Ah wanna be stronger..."

Deuce quietly listened to his complaints, letting the waves fill the silence as the two look at the ocean. "You know," Deuce speaks up after a while, "before I left campus, Kalim, Rook, and Angel told me something. They said that we have a 'power' all our own, and that we should make the most of it. So I thought about it, and figured something out. I think...my strength might be this hard head of mine."

"Huh?" Epel asks in surprise. "Ah thought you said you hated that about yerself?"

"Yeah, it frustrates me a lot," he smiles. "But sometimes, it means I can take off running without stopping to second-guess myself."

"...!"

"I'm not smart enough to think about a lot of things at the same time. But that also means that once I put my mind to something, I can make a beeline for the goal without stopping," he confidently says. "I think that's a power I can call my own. My weakness can be my strength."

"That's all well an' good fer you, but it don't mean much fer me," Epel states. "In mah case, it's mah looks, right? Ah look all dainty and effeminate. How's that s'posed ta be a strength?" Suddenly, a ring starts to fill the air, making the two look around for the sign, only to see Epel's pocket vibrating. "Oh, that's mah phone," he says as he takes it out of his pocket. "It's..." He looks at the screen in confusion. "Mah folks?" He answers it. "Hello?"

"Epel?!" A panicked feminine voice calls out. "What in tarnation did ya do with that juice we sent ya?!"

"Huh?" He asks in confusion. "The apple juice? Ya said ta give it ta mah friends, so that's what Ah did. Why?"

"We're getting' slammed with orders from all over the world!"

"Yer WHAT?!" Epel exclaims in shock.

"Ah was wondering' what the deal was...So Ah asked one o' the customers callin' in, 'Where'd ya hear about our juice?' And y'know what they said? They said they saw it on 'Vil Schoenheit's camera' or somethin'! Ain't Vil the leader of yer dorm?!"

Epel eye's widen at the news. "Vil's camera...?" He says in thought. "Wait, you mean Magicam?! Hold on a sec!" He looks at his phone, tapping and swiping around until he found the picture she was speaking of.

In the photo was a picture of Vil in the Pomefiore ballroom, smiling at the camera with a bottle of the apple juice in the background, drinking out of the glass. In the description, it states: "My routine! #PostLessonHydration #HarvestonAppleJuice #NaturalFlavor #GoodForTheSkin"

The two looked at the picture in shock, seeing how there were near a million views already even though it was posted only about an hour ago. "Wow, you're right," Deuce says in awe. "Vil posted a picture of your apple juice on his Magicam account!"

"The phones are ringin' off the hook!" Epel's mother exclaims. "It's total chaos over here! Ah'mma hafta call the co-op head an' get help from the neighbors just ta keep up with the shippin'! Ah' here Ah was wonderin' what ta do with all our leftover stock. Now the whole village overjoyed! You done pulled through for us, Epel! You tell Vil the same, y'hear?" The sound of ringing continues throughout the phone. "Welp, these phones ain't gonna answer 'emselves. Gotta go! Ah'll send you more juice along later." The call suddenly ends.

"Maw, wait-" Epel exclaims, only to hear a dial tone. "Ah, she hung up."

"This is amazing," Deuce says as he looks up the picture, seeing that the numbers kept rising. "I'm seeing a whole flood of comments on the Magicam post saying they ordered the juice."

"Oh...!" Epel says as he looks at the post, the number of comments increasing every second.