Chapter 18
Roxana noticed the black rock again.
It’s that thing again if they are connected to overblot then they are dangerous. Roxana stood up walked to it then grabbed it before teleporting it to her trunk with a spell making it join the other rock. It best if I hide them till I find what they are.
She turned around to see Riddle waking up.
“He's back!” Ace said once Riddle opened his eyes.
Cater looked relieved. “Well, it's about time... We were just about losing' our heads here - figure of speech, sorry - 'cause we thought you might never wake up!”
Riddle gasped. “... What in the world happened...?”
Crowley approached him. “Ah, Mr. Rosehearts appears to have regained consciousness. Excellent.”
“Don't worry, Riddle. Just try to rest.” Trey said while putting a hand on Riddle’s shoulder.
“Yo, that's just the sort of coddling that led to him going nuts in the first place!” Ace screamed at Trey. “Now the garden is tore up from the floor up, not to mention that we could've died!”
Deuce nodded. “He's right. It was looking bad for a while there.”
Grim rolled his eyes. “For crying' out loud. When you humans let that stress build up, the results sure ain't pretty.”
Riddle hiccupped but kept his emotions in.
Roxana’s eyes widened a bit. Oh no.
“The truth is, I... I really wanted to eat the chestnut tart.”
Ace raised his eyebrows. “Huh?”
“And I don't care if the roses are white, or the flamingos are pink. And I prefer honey to sugar cubes in my tea, and I like milk tea better than lemon tea anyhow. And after a meal, I want to be the one sitting around talking with everyone...”
Riddle please don’t…please don’t ! Roxana was praying, please god, not her weakness !
Trey aback too. “Riddle...?”
“And I really wanted to play with you and Chenya more, Trey. *Sniff*... *Sniff*... WAAAAAAAH!” Riddle busted out crying.
“Child…child…no…I….haaah” Roxana sighed.
Cater eyes were wide. “Riddle Rosehearts, in tears... Hashtag #WOW.”
“Child, come here” Roxana opened her arms and made a ‘come here’ motion before hugging Riddle who hugged her like a koala and didn’t let her go while crying his heart out. “Tut, tut, shh, shh” She rubbed his back in a circle motion. “It’s going to be alright, let it all out” She pat him on the back.
“You think a few crocodile tears is all it'll take for me to forgive you?” Ace shouted. “And Roxana stop hugging him like that !”
“Give the guy a break, Ace.” Deuce punched Ace on the arm.
“I'm sorry, Riddle. I knew you were suffering, and all I did was pretend not to notice.” Trey said ashamed of himself.
Riddle sobbed harder on Roxana’s shoulder, the woman caressed his head gently as she started to rock him gently left and right, like a mother would do to her sobbing child which made Riddle hug her tighter.
“So I'm gonna say what I should have said earlier. Your way of doing things was wrong, and you owe everyone an apology.” Trey said.
Riddle raised his head from Roxana’s shoulder. “*sniff*... *sniff*... I'm sorry... I'm really sorry.”
Ace eye twitched and pointed at Riddle. “I know I've been saying I wanted an apology from Riddle, but now that I got one, y'know what? One stupid "I'm sorry" doesn't even come close to making up for what he did!”
“Ace !” Roxana gave him a warning glare. “It’s not the time for that !”
“DUDE! What Roxana said ! Way to be a capital-J Jerk!” Cater said.
Ace flipped Cater off. “And proud of it! Have you forgotten how he made a total fool outta me?! Have you forgotten how he just threw away that chestnut tart we worked so hard on?! That ain't something you can make go away with a few tears and a flimsy "I'm sorry"!”
Grim looked at Ace with a kind of respect. “Wow. I ain't never met anyone who was better at holding grudges than I am.”
“Then... Then what do you want me to do?!” Riddle said, still hugging the only woman in the group.
“You know... I don't got a birthday coming up anytime soon.” Ace smiled.
Deuce have him a look. “Huh? What are you talking about?”
Ace grinned. “So I demand a do-over for the unbirthday party! Except this time, we ain't gotta do squat. This time, YOU'RE the one who brings the tart! And no getting Trey to make it for you! Do that, and then things are square between us.”
Roxana gave him a blank look. “Way to bully Riddle for a tart, couldn’t even wait till he calmed down from his breakdown”
She was choosing favorite now so what ?
“Quiet from the peanut gallery! What do you say, Riddle? We clear?” Ace grinned.
Riddle let go of Roxana as he calmed down, he wiped out the tears and nodded at Ace. “Yes... We're clear.”
Crowley grinned. “Ah, yes. Compromise is a beautiful thing. I believe that concludes this matter.”
Roxana had half mind to throw her shoe at his forehead, but she just sighted at Crowley, she gave a side look at the group, then at Riddle.
Damn it child, you are making me care… Roxana though while giving a soft look to Riddle, not that the boy noticed.
“So” Crowley stood besides her. “Crying children huh ?”
“I will punch you”
***
“Welp, looks like we got some cleaning up to do.” Cater said while looking around. “All that work making the garden Magicam-worthy, and now it's a total tire fire. Laaame.”
“I'll help out.” Trey said.
“No, why don't you get Riddle to the nurse's office. That was a full-blown case of overblot. We need to make absolutely sure he's okay.” Cater said.
Crowley nodded at that. “Mr. Diamond is correct. I will go along with you.”
Trey nodded. “Understood. Thank you, sir.”
Roxana turned to look at the others. “Alright, I will help you to turn this garden into its former glory, let’s move”
“Right !”
***
*Heartslabyul Dorm – Tea Garden*
“All hail our leader, the Red Sovereign himself... Housewarden Riddle!”
“We salute you, Housewarden Riddle!”
“Hm. The garden roses are red; the tablecloths are white... This seems a proper unbirthday indeed. Is there a dormouse asleep in the tea- Er, well, I suppose it's fine either way.” Riddle looked a bit awkward.
Trey smiled at him. “Not everything has to change completely, you know. Like, maybe spread the jam on your scones, instead of on the dormouse this time? Let's try to set the bar at "it's great if it's this way," not "it absolutely has to be this way."”
“Trey is right, take your time, Rome wasn’t build in a day” Roxana said.
“Rome ?” Riddle blinked.
Roxana gave him a soft smile. “It’s a saying from where I came from, it’s mean that it takes a long time to create something complicated or impressive, or to change something”
Riddle nodded understanding what she said.
“You know sometimes you speak like you’re older than us” Trey said.
“Oh darling, I am older than all of you, don’t let my young appearance fool you haha” Roxana laughed.
Trey gave her a deadpan look, the image of Lilia appeared in his mind. Another one…
“Blah blah blah! Let's just eat already!” Grim said as he jumped into Roxana’s arms.
Cater smiled. “Then eat we shall! I'll get the—"
“Wait a minute!” Riddle said.
Cater looked at him. “Huh?”
Riddle pointed at a bush. “There's a white rose...!”
Ace’s eyes widened in horror. “We missed one?!”
Cater turned to look at A-Deuce. “Ace, Deuce, I told you to make sure to paint EVERY rose!”
Deuce pointed at himself. “Wait, this is our fault?!”
Trey nervously turned to look at Riddle. “R-Riddle, listen...”
“Riddle” Roxana gave him the motherly disapproving look.
Riddle just looked at her with an innocent smile before he laughed a bit. “I am joking, we should be able to get them painted in no time."
Ace pouted. “What? They still gotta be painted?!”
Trey looked at Riddle impressed. “Even so... I'm impressed. You've changed, Riddle.”
Grim pouted too. “I'm starving' here! Let's just get these stupid roses painted or whatever!”
Riddle smiled. “All right, is everyone ready?”
Everyone took out their pen, Roxana on the other hand just sat down and watched them do their magic before she got lost into her memories.
Ah yes…throwing colors left and right…we did that too back at Hogwarts. Roxana looked at the sky before she shut her eyes. Would it be betrayal if I open up ? I don’t want to replace you.
“..xana…Roxana !” Ace called.
Roxana opened her eyes to see Ace.
“Come on ! Riddle just cut the tart ! Let’s eat it !” Ace said as he gave her a piece of the tart.
Roxana took the place, she was about to take a bite when she saw Grim grimace, she let her forked serpentine tongue out to “smell” the tart.
With does it smell salty ?
“IT’S SALTY !” Everyone said.
“What?!” Riddle looked confused.
Ace gagged. “Err? This isn't KINDA salty - it's a full-on salt lick! What did you put in this?!”
“But I followed the rules exactly and measured everything precisely! Unless... Oh! Could it be... from the oyster sauce?” Riddle said.
Deuce gagged too. “Wait... did you actually use that Walrus-brand oyster sauce Trey jokes about?”
Riddle blinked innocently. “But Trey said that oyster sauce is an unlisted secret ingredient in all tarts! He said all the finest bakers use it...”
Roxana laughed a bit. “Oh child”
“And you actually believed him?! How could you not tell that he was joking?!” Ace laughed.
“Ace you fell for it too, so don’t make fun of Riddle for this innocent mistake” Roxana said.
“Yeesh, talk about being a mama bear” Ace whispered to Deuce who chuckled.
“Even if you believed the joke, it was only supposed to be a splash. How much did you put in?” Cater asked.
Riddle pouted a bit. “It's an unlisted ingredient! How could I measure it if he wouldn't tell me how much to put in?!”
Trey busted out laughing. “Ah hahahaha! I can't believe someone actually fell for the ol' oyster sauce prank!”
Riddle looked at him silently for a moment before he started to laugh too. “Hahaha... Yes. Quite humorous indeed. I truly am a fool.”
“Haha! It really is so disgusting that it's actually kind of funny!” Deuce put a hand on his stomach while laughing.
Ace smiled. “Yeah, what else can we do but laugh?”
“You know, in its own weird way, I think it's actually kinda good!” Grim said as he put another bite in his mouth.
Cater nodded. “Right? It really isn't half as bad as you'd think.”
Deuce gave him a look. “Seriously? You're agreeing with Grim, Cater?”
Cater gave him a deadpanned look. “Look, I'm not saying it's amazing or anything!”
“But you like it because it's not sweet, right?” Trey smiled.
Cater blinked. “Huh” ?”
“You've never really liked sweet things, right?” Trey said.
“I noticed that too, when you asked Trey to use his Unique Magic you looked like you wanted to escape from the Maroon Tart sweet taste” Roxana said. “And I guess you ask Trey to use his spell everytime he makes something sweet don’t you ?
“That’s right” Trey said.
“Meeeh discovered !” Cater putting his tongue outside his mouth. “I should have learned by now that keeping your feelings on the DL is not a great idea.”
“How about I cook up a quiche for the next unbirthday party?” Trey suggested.
Cater smiled. “That sounds totes amazing to me. Just make sure it's as photogenic as the tarts!”
“Can’t wait to try one” Roxana said.
A man cat appeared while eating, Trey’s baked goods. “Mmmm mmm! Your baked goods are always so delightful, Trey. *munch* *munch*”
Riddle looked at the cat man in surprise. “Che'nya?! What are you doing here?!”
“Hm? I came to celebrate my unbirthday with all of you. A very merry unbirthday to you, Riddle.”
Riddle frowned. “The unbirthday party is a Heartslabyul House tradition. It does not pertain to you.”
Che'nya pointed at Roxana and Grim. “And those two? What about them?”
Grim pointed a paw at him. “Hey! You're that weird semi-invisible cat guy from before! So you never told us - what dorm are you from?”
Trey decided to respond. “Che'nya isn't even a Night Raven student. He's a student at our long-time rival school, the Royal Sword Academy."
Deuce looked surprise. “What? You go to a different school?”
Ace looked between frustration and angry. “The fricking Royal Sword Academy, no less?!”
He said it so loud other Heartslabyul students started to get agitated, till they noticed Che’nya who had to get out of Heartslabyul before the students got to him.
“I’ll just guess that the relationship between the two schools is not good at all” Roxana said.
“The vast majority of Night Raven College students perceive the Royal Sword Academy as the enemy.” Riddle explained.
“No surprise, given that they've kicked our butts every year for a hundred years straight...” Trey said with a tired voice.
Roxana got taken aback by that. “I am sorry what ? Hundred years ? What do they have that you don’t for you to lose so many times straight ?”
Cater did not like the gloomy vibe. “Hey, stop harshing the vibe! This is supposed to be a day of celebration. Can't we all just enjoy our unbirthdays?
“Myah! Merry unbirthday or whatever! I'm gonna eat till my stomach explodes!” Grim said before he went to the table full of food.
“Hundred years loss ?” Roxana said.
“Shush !” Cater pouted.
*Savanaclaw Dorm*
“Awww, sounds like those Heartslabyul twits are having some kind of feast today, they even invited that female ! Must be nice. How come Savanaclaw doesn't have any traditions that involve eating lots of free food?” The Hyena beastman said.
“Bah, it's a beautifully sunny day and they're stuffing their faces with cookies and cake? Grossing' me out over here. Anyway, Ruggie. You know that's not what I'm here to ask you about.”
“Ah, that. Just leave it to me, Boss. All the preparations are proceeding smoothly!”
“Then those fools won't be happily guzzling tea for much longer. That goes double for that snob Malleus. They got no idea what's coming'... Heheh, ahahahaha!”
*Slytherin Dorm*
“Did you find her ?” Roxana asked Helia.
The phoenix nodded. You know it’s not hard for me to track down people.
“Good it’s time to make her pay the price”
Both Roxana and Helia disappeared in flames only to appeared in the Queendom of Roses, she walked down the street until she stopped in front of a big house, she knocked on the door.
The door opened after a while, a woman with red hair greeted her.
“Can I help you with something ?”
Roxana had to use all her will power to keep her anger under control. “Madame Rosehearts ?”
“Yes ?”
“We need to talk, may I come in ?”
The woman looked at her up and down, quite rudely before she let her in, the witch casted a silencing spell around the house, before she attacked the woman forced her on a chair and binding her to it.
“W-Who are you ! Why are you doing this ?” Madame Rosehearts panicked.
“Oh, so now you know fear ?” Roxana glared at her. “About your son, forcing him to study day and night without enough break, taking away his freedom, taking him away from his friends, beating him because he didn’t meet your expectation, you really though no one will find out just because you have strong reputation and because you can buy the authorities silence if someone reports you don’t you ? Oh but darling” She grabbed the woman by the hair to the point it where it started to hurt. “I am not going to report you, oh no am going to do something much, much, worst”
Roxana backhanded the woman in the face, the woman wasn’t able to say anything from the fear, the glare those blood red eyes were giving her was enough to make her keep her mouth shut.
“I hate child abusers you know, I promised myself I long time ago, that I will never step so low to my mother’s level, or do what she did to the Longbottom family, but now, I am ready to step that low, I am ready…to torture someone to insanity, and you know, I am not going to feel guilty about it…a child abuser like you, deserves this fate”
Roxana took some steps back away from the woman before she pointed at her with her wand.
“Crucio”
The woman screamed in pain, begging to whoever was above to spare her, or for the people outside to hear her and save her, regretting every single choice in her life when the pain continued.
But no one from the outside heard anything, to them, not a sound came out of that house for them to be alarmed.
***
“Riddle Rosehearts report to the headmaster’s office”
Riddle walked nervously in the hallways directed to the headmaster’s office, once he was inside the office, Crowley gave him a grave look.
“Am…am I getting expelled ?”
“No” Crowley said, Riddle sighed in relief. “But I do have bad news”
Riddle gulped.
“I will be frank” Crowley sighed. “Mister Rosehearts, I received a call from the hospital, your mother ended up in the hospital last night in a critical condition mentaly, no one could find anything wrong with her physicaly or any proof of the reason why she ended up the way she did, but…”
“But…”
“The doctors suspects that she was under some kind of psychological torture, your mother lost her sanity and unfortunately she will never heal, the only things the doctors could do is let her stay in the hospital till the ends of her days” Crowley said.
Riddle didn’t know what to say…scratch that, he did not know what to feel.
He knows he love his mother he really do but…
He doesn’t feel any kind of sadness to what happened to her, actually he doesn’t feel anything at all.
“Thank you for telling me headmaster, I will got back to my classes now” Riddle said before turning away.
“Are you sure that you don’t want to take some days off ?” Crowley asked.
“Yes, I am sure, I will go now”
Riddle walked down the hallways before he stopped.
I don’t feel anything…why don’t I care for what happened to her ? … she’s my mother so why… Riddle though.