The Rose-Red Tyrant (part 5): Tarts aren't supposed to taste like ink. . .
Prologue: part 1, part 2, part 3 || The Rose-Red Tyrant: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 (Here)
Basically this chapter:
Lia: I can't live without my phone.
Cater: I've found my people.
Trey: *uses his UM on the tart*
Ren: *bites the tart* This shit tastes like ink.
The group minus Lia: *concerned about Ren's taste buds*
Lia: So glad it wasn't me.
Ace: You can't gaslight people into thinking you have UM
Ren: Watch me.
Lia: Watch her.
Ren: *dreaming of Alice in Wonderland again*
Ren: It's Disney bs again
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Cater is walking his way towards the kitchen. Why you may ask? To snap a quick pic for Magicam of course! Plus the hottest topic of the college will be there too and Cater will be taking advantage of this.
Soon enough he reached the kitchen's doors and entered the room, "Hey fam!" He looked around the room and the two freshies looked totally wrecked and the other two were chatting with Trey. "You look wrecked! Are the tarts done?" Glancing towards the counter, there they were. The tarts! They looked Magicamable. "Ooh, those look soo cute! Lemme snap a quick pic for Magicam.." Cater swiftly took out his phone and took the picture.
Upon noticing the snaps coming from his phone, one of the first years, Ace called out clearly annoyed, "What, NOW you decide to show up?"
"I just came to see how my little newbs were working." He continued to take a couple more pictures.
"FINALLY access to the internet!!" Oh what's that a fellow internet enjoyer? Cater jerked his head towards the voice and saw Lia cheer, "Not gonna lie, I want this place's version of TikTok."
He made his way towards Lia and the group.
"Li, your addiction is showing heh." Ren snickered as he swiftly moved his body aside, barely missing the swat of Lia's arm.
"It's not an addiction. I can stop whenever I want!" Lia huffed as he rolled his eyes. "Let's stop bickering, help yourself to some tarts. We went a little overboard."
Ah, right. Does he really have to eat it? Cater really doesn't want to eat those tarts, too sweet for his taste.
"YAY!", Acey and Grim cheered.
"Pretty funny how you showed up when it's was ready to eat, Cater."
"Less talking more eating." Lia stated, taking a bit bit of the tart. "Why did I stop baking, this is heaven."
"Wow, this is like something from a fancy bakery."
With tart in hand, Cater should probably make Trey use his Unique Magic so this can go down easily. "Trey! You gotta do the thing."
Ren perked up, "Thing? What thing?"
"The thing?" Trey looked confused for a second until- "Oh... That. What's everyone's favourite food?"
"Alright, you've got it. 'Doodle Suit'!"
Yes! No more sweet taste, Cater took a big bit. The tart tasted just like a lamp chop with diablo sauce, no sweet taste in sight! Just the way Cater likes it.
Acey looked sceptical but neither less took a bit. "Huh- This tastes like cherry pie!"
Ren glanced at Trey. "So your Unique Magic changes characteristics of things?"
Wow- that's spot on!
"Good observation. I can change taste, colour, smell, whatever. It only lasts for a while."
Ren and Lia exchanged glances and looked at the tarts. "I'll try it." Ren nibbled at the tart and after a few seconds rushed towards the sink to spit out what he had just bitten.
Huh? That doesn't usually happen.
Cater was confused and looking around...ya everyone else except Lia was confused too.
Lia immediately filled a glass of water and handed it off to him.
Watching Ren gulp down the water, Ace finally spoke. "Um.. what-"
"It tastes like ink.." Ren cut him off gulping down the rest of the water.
"What?!"
"Henchman you're favourite food can't be ink! It tastes disgusting!"
"That can't be right.."
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Oh wow, the that tart did a number on Ren. She should NOT have gone for the third nibble, the acidic and metallic taste hit her in full force after that third bit.
Does this count as ink poisoning?
So food enhanced or changed by magic specifically Unique Magic tastes like ink, fascinating. She has to tell someone about this! Maybe she can experiment how other forms of magic react to something close to this world's humans but isn't quite there yet. Gotta write that down in the notebook.
"That can't be right." Trey answered successfully cutting off Ren's newly formed thought. Swiftly making his way to where Ren left her nibbled tart. He took the tart, eyes scanning for anything out of place.
"You can taste test it if you want.." Ren commented. "Li, I need another glass of water. The only taste is still there, ugh."
"First not knowing Common now this.." Ace abruptly faced towards where the tart was and chose to take a tiny bit. "Prefect, I'm starting to think you need to get yourself checked. This tastes just like your favourite food."
Ren blinked. That can't be right. It tasted like ink to her, maybe it's because she didn't actually tell her favourite food?
"Ok, maybe it tastes like ink cause I didn't exactly tell you my favourite food? I just told you what I was craving at the moment."
"No, my Unique Magic changes properties to what I want. It wouldn't matter if it was your favourite food or not."
... It's because she is not from this world, but she can't say that to Trey. That might be a problem. It's either: make him feel bad, thinking he did something wrong or she lies her way through this.
Both options sound good not gonna lie.
"Maybe it has something to do with Ren's magic?" Cater spoke, unintentionally gave her a third option. The belief that she has magic and only recently found out about it, that could work. Heads snapped towards her staring at her to explain. She blinked twice as gears on Ren's head started to turn.
Word play it is.
Twisting the truth into something that lines with their beliefs and mixing in a lie or two. Hopefully Lia can do crowd control after what Ren is gonna say. Ace and Deuce might butt in, in the middle of her lie, Grim's not gonna be a problem because she already talked it out with him.
She briefly looked at Lia and blinked slowly to convey the message. Getting the message she blinked back.
"Maybe that's it? Li and I are from the same place. Magic isn't well known at all so I didn't know I had magic until like around 48 hours ago?"
"B-" Deuce was cut off Ace with him stuffing the rest of his tart in his mouth as he murmured something Ren couldn't hear. Probably tell him not to blow her cover so early. Lia sighed in relief.
"Wow- so you're like newer than new. Like a baby."
"Ya, that's why I'm starting classes next week." Ren glanced towards the Ace and Deuce. "To catch up with these guys, gotta even the ground somehow." She sighed, finally the only flavour was gone. That lingered longer than she would have liked.
"You can ask me anything about magic, just buy me lunch~" Ace teased.
"You can't even use magic right now Ace. Maybe get that collar off and then talk."
Trey huffed out a sigh as he spoke, "Let's call it a day, Ren it's best you go to the infirmary and it's too late for Ace to give Riddle the tart. Do it tomorrow at the unbirthday party."
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"Prefect I can crash with you again right?" Ace stated at Ren waiting for him to answer. He better say yes, Ace saved him so he owned him.
Ren blinked once. "Sure. But you're still sleeping on the couch."
That thing was one bad day away from falling apart. Ace made a face to show his disappointment.
"You're welcome to sleep in dusty room. If the sofa is not for you." Lia commented.
"You can't keep mooching off of, Prefect, Ace." Deuce butted in the conversation.
"If you're gonna stay, pay up! 10 cans of tuna! Cough it up!"
Man these guys are no fun. Let Ace bunk with Ren and Lia. "Welp I'm going to the infirmary now" Ren grabbed his bag and walked towards the door. "Li, wanna keep me company?" Lia didn't say anything but followed him as the two exited the kitchen.
. . . These two are definitely planning something and Ace will get to the bottom of it tonight.
"Ok spill, what are you two planning." Ace demands as he sat crisscross on the deformed thing that he called the couch. The collar really isn't helping him being in a much comfortable position.
The two looked at Ace then glanced at each other. Until finally Ren spoke, "You know how we can't use magic and magic was basically fantasy from where we are from?"
Ace nodded. Ya that was still strange, not knowing magic existed and not knowing what Common is but can speak it? And that corrupted sound these two called music.
"Well I gotta blend in this place somehow, I have a theory that since I and Lia by association don't have contact with magic until now it reacts differently than it's supposed to."
That. . . kinda makes sense..? But the more Ace thought about it the more confusing it got.
"Don't think too deeply about it, it's just a theory. Maybe Trey messed up somehow or something, that could be it too." Lia stated.
"So we're basically using these guys assumption of the Prefect having magic to blend in?" Ace continued, "What if something like today happens later? Giving the same reason each time will get old real quick."
"Yeah, but what if it was my Unique Magic?"
. . . Huh?
"Think about it? If we tell people that magic not working as it's supposed to on me IS my Unique Magic. It can help in the long run."
He's officially lost his mind. "Prefect, have you lost your mind?."
Ren gestered towards Lia. "It's already out that Li here is magicless, if it's get out that I'M also one. It will paint a target on my back. This is a prestigious college, teenagers would literally commit crimes to study here. If they find out that I'm magicless AND enrolled here, that's public execution right there!"
Lia continued from where Ren stopped. "The only reason I'm not in that position is because I'm kinda like a teacher's assistant. I'm doing stuff that headmage or teachers don't want to do. Small things. If we're going with Ren's idea, we have to test all kinds of magic to see if there are any exceptions or not."
Ace stared blankly at the two, these two are gonna drive him crazy. Is he gonna agree with the idea? Most likely.
Is he happy that he's backing Ren up with his diabolical idea? No, Ace is pretty sure he'll regret it soon.
"Ok sure, if I agree to this absurd idea. How will Ren use magic during class? This 'my Unique Magic makes magic go haywire' will be debunked real quick."
"That's where Grim comes in, he's gonna be using magic. I can just act arrogant like how Mr. Crowley says everyone here is. Make it so that I'm above wasting my magic on people here or something like that."
Oh Ace already knows that will piss off like 75% of the students. "You really want to get into another fight? Was the one in the cafeteria not enough?"
"See that is when all that self-defence classes and MMA comes in handy!" Ren got up but continued to speak, "Oh, and tell Deuce what we just told you. He almost blew my cover. I'm gonna be in bed reading books and thinking of what to name my nonexistent Unique Magic heh. And Li, don't stay up too late."
With that Ren went upstairs, soon the sound of a door opening and closing is heard.
"Is he always coming up with absurd ideas or is this a new thing?" Ace asked turning towards Lia, since he has known Ren the longest out of the two.
"He's always been like that, but hey it never failed us. So maybe he thought of something we haven't. Or maybe he just wants to mess with people."
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A maze full of roses can be seen, it was full of white roses painted red. The Queen of Hearts could be seen dressed in her royal attire with a small crown in top. Her face was the picture if anger and sternness, her brows furrowed deeply and her eyes blazing with fury.
"For painting my roses red, someone will lose his head!"
Wow Ren is out here watching Alice in Wonderland in her dreams. It was so vivid too.
Alice who was flat on the floor, glanced towards the queen with the three cards on their knees blaming each other and asking for mercy.
"Y-your Majesty, if anyone is to blame, it's him!" The cards with Three of Clubs pleaded, joining his hands which were coverd in red paint.
"Have mercy, Your Grace. It was Ace!" The Two of Clubs pointed towards the Ace of Clubs.
The Ace of Clubs who had a bucket of paint on his head with paint dripping all over him panicked, "Gah, no. It was the Two!"
Dang, all Aces be causing trouble to the Queen. First Riddle and the Queen of Hearts.
"Then he will pay." The Queen walked closer to the cards and Alice.
"It was Three I say!"
"Enough of this. Off with ALL their heads!"
And with that the cards were dragged ways by the red cards.
Why is Ren dreaming about about Alice in Wonderland? Sure it's a good story but she isn't obsessed with Disney. Maybe her being in a Disney inspired world made her subconsciously dream about Disney? Li would find this funny.
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Lia was in bed with Ren by her side sleeping peacefully. It was 4:30 in the morning and she should probably sleep more but she woke up around 4 and hasn't been able to fall asleep again.
So here Lia is reading the history book about the Great Seven. It was pretty interesting to read. The villains from the movies were seen as the good guys here and the stories are told differently too.
As Lia continued to read, then she saw out of the corner of her eye Ren abruptly opening her eyes and slowly straightened her torso as she stretched her arms and yawned. "Li, I had a bazaar dream."
"Do dream ever even make sense? What did you dream of?"
"Alice in Wonderland."
"Alice in Wonderland?. . . Weird" Ren usually doesn't dream let alone about Alice in Wonderland.
"Ya, the Queen was like 'Off with their heads!' and everything. Wonder if Riddle's gonna be doing that in the unbirthday party. That would be so funny." Ren continued asking a question. "How long were you awake for?"
Lia sighed. "Fell asleep around midnight. Got like 4 hours of sleep." Insomnia really isn't helping her get energy. Luckily it isn't so bad otherwise she would have to take medicine. "Just reading the history book you got me. It's like reading a fantasy novel."
"I'm thinking about doing the period talk with Mr. Crewel today. There a high chance I'll get my period in like the next week." Ren stated scouting closer to Lia as to see what book she was reading.
"Good luck, hope men are better here than in our world." Lia was also worried about periods in another world where periods apparently don't exist. It is UNFAIR she says, so unfair.
"We really gotta do something about our smell too. That lion guy knew I was a girl just by the smell and I'm pretty sure that hyena one also knows."
Ugh, so much to do and so little motivation to do it.
"Do what you do best and gaslight them. You are gonna gaslight them into thinking you have magic and your Unique Magic makes magic go haywire. Commit to the bit!" It will be so interesting to watch.
Ren got up from the bed slowly walking towards the window to see the outside. Her eyes were scanned the area looking for something but a sigh came out. She mumbled something under her breath and spoke much clearer, "Oh by the way, we can get like 40k by selling a magestone, can you do that with Mr. Sam's shop."
Dang, it never gets old. Money following Ren like a desperate ex. Now Lia has to prepare herself to talk to people. "Sure, but I don't think we are in a place to bargain. We literally don't exist in this place until like 2 days ago, but I'll see what I can do."
"I need a spell name for the 'Unique Magic' and what it does. Gotta do more research about Unique Magic. Already see this end horribly for me if I'm not careful enough. I'm gonna have so much fun."
Yeah, Lia knows. She already saw Ren has written a few pages on her notebook.
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Author's Life Update:
Sorry for not uploading guys, my room flooded cuz it was raining and hailing like CRAZY.
I was THIS closer to possibly being electrocuted in my sleep cuz the water was about to high five the outlets, wires and stuff.
Thankfully I woke up cuz I wanted to use the bathroom, saw my room getting flooded and called my mom. Nothing important was damaged (thankfully) but the carpet has seen better days.
Luckily my room was the only one that had flooded (cuz the balcony is next to my room), if it had rained any harder, I would have to say good bye to the kitchen too. (The kitchen was close to being a swimming pool like my room lol)
I'm not surprised about the rain cuz one minute it's hot like the desert and the next it's raining like it hasn't rained for 1000 years. (Was concerned of how hard the hail was hitting my windows though, they sounded like big stones)
And to add into the bad news, my classes are moving 30 minutes later from now on. This results in me being home at 5:30pm...I would like to curse whoever thought this was a good idea.
Oh and I got bit by a dog... And the dog didn't bitw me in a normal place like arm or the leg. No no no cuz it would be too simple. The dog bit me in my inner thigh and knee. It took a little chunk of skin of thigh and a bruise and gave me a swollen knee.
The tetanus and rabies vaccine are giving me a headache, swore arm and eye pain
What a great way to start my new semester!... :'D My will to live is detracting as each semester passes by. Like I literally FEEL the joy being sucked out of me. And if I have to remember ONE more algorithm, I will be killing myself. (But making websites are fun!)
As compensation some drawings of Ren and Lia!!! Also the new chapter might be uploaded within this month!
If anyone has questions about the fic, feel free to ask!!
