Chapter 11: Vas

Time passed and they soon arrived at the forest where Vas is. When people talk about the forest they call it the Forest of Vas or the Forest of Mystery. When the carriage entered the forest Josh couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed due to the its simplicity, but he guessed it was to not attract visitors who only want to look inside. He saw a lot of animals and the forest shined with magical power along with the plants vibrant look.

To see if the stories were true he opened the window of the carriage and stuck his head out of it. He looked around and couldn't see any towers nor tracks of a carriage, but since they were on a dirt path he knew how to get back, since all he had to do is follow the path. While the Prince was absolutely stunned Jack and Ariana just chatted since they have been through this since the place was first created.

Suddenly they approached a crossroad which split of in five directions. The one on the furthest left had a white path, the one next to it had a red path, the middle path is pink, to the right of the pink path is an orange one and the one next to it is a yellow path. Josh started to wonder and asked, "so which path do we take?"

"Neither", said the driver.

Josh then realised the driver must also be a member of the Roses since not anyone could be Ariana's driver while going to Vas.

Curious, he started to wonder who exactly he was and also what he meant by neither. "What do you mean 'neither'" Questioned his highness.

"We don't take the path of the Five Roses. We take the path of The Rose", replied the driver.

Suddenly the ground opened up to reveal a passage with a galaxy looking path. The path looked just like the real galaxy that it felt like as if he was on the actual thing. He was again amazed by all of this and showed a big smile to Jack and Ariana.

They both smiled back at him as the driver explained, "this path only opens up to the members of the Roses. The labyrinth can tell whether or not the person is a member of the Roses and the labyrinth is never wrong".

"What?" Said Josh with a dumbfounded face.

"The labyrinth is actually a living being and since that being and The Rose are good friends, the Labyrinth agreed to Rosa's proposal and created this path for her. This also means that Vas can be entered at other places, but nobody does it due to the high risk of getting lost or killed. Even Black Assassin doesn't dare to enter, because he is not powerful enough to repel its magic and also because he is the enemy of Rosa. Only Rosa enters the Labyrinth since she is safe from getting lost and attacked. It's pretty useful for her since the Labyrinth is linked to everywhere and a two hour long journey to somewhere can take only two minutes in there".

Josh was amazed once again. He already knew a lot about the Labyrinth but he didn't know it's a living being and that it is good friends with Rosa. He was also shocked at The Rose too since she was able to get this much from the Labyrinth, what exactly did she do to get all of this?

Josh soon saw a galaxy looking wall which the carriage drove into. He felt like as if he disappeared for a moment but he was soon back outside, surrounded by many beautiful buildings and hypnotizing plants.

The door of the carriage opened and Ariana, Jack and Josh stepped out. Josh looked around and breathed in the sweet, fresh air while being bathed in a large amount of magic. The buildings that surrounded him are blindingly beautiful and the plants that are placed about are phenomenal. He could tell Vas is smaller than the palace, but Vas felt and looked more magical.

"The place is a beauty isn't it?" Said the driver.

Josh turned around to see the driver was no other than the Orange Rose, Peter. Suddenly Adrian and Selena appeared out of the galaxy wall Josh had just come out of. "Looks like we came back at the right time", smiled Adrian.

"Indeed. It looks like we did", said Selena.

Josh couldn't help but feel weak when being surrounded by the Five Roses and shrieked back a little. "Anyway I have some things to do right now so could you please show Josh around Peter?" Asked Ariana.

"Sure. Wait till I tell the people back at the village that I showed our prince around", replied Peter.

"You know this is top secret right?"

"Of course. I'll tell them about it when he leaves. Anyway, your highness, if you could follow me that would be great".

"Sure", answered Josh.

Selena, Adrian, Jack and Ariana watched Peter and Josh's bodies disappear inside a building. "Now time to get to business".

Ariana then changed to Rosa's form and started to make her way to her tower. The remainder of the Five Roses followed and they were soon seated at a small meeting room.

"So what did you find out Selena?" Questioned Rosa.

"I found out that Black Assassin is the new leader of Black Lilac", answered Selena.

Jack and Peter gasped and looked at Selena with shock.

"No way, that can't be true", said Jack.

"Well sadly it is", replied Selena.

"In that case lets make a meeting at 12am. Every member of the Roses is to attend. Also do they know about his highness?" Asked Rosa.

"I told them everything. I also told them not to tell his highness that you and Ariana are the same".

"Good. I will arrange a meeting and I expect that for now you will try and keep things as peaceful as you can. Thank you for all of your hard work so far everyone. I'm proud".

Rosa smiled sweetly at them and they responded with big smiles of their own. "To be able to work with you is the best!"

"Helping everyone is something we do at our own will. Of course we are incredibly happy to do all of it".

"Yeah! It's really fun?"

Ariana giggled and excused them. She then started to work.

-With Josh and Peter-

"Wah- This place is amazing", said Josh.

He had been to many places before but for surely this place is the best. The gardens are filled to the brim with captivating flowers, trees and even the grass is captivating. All the facilities are high quality and the libraries brought a whole new world to him. He felt like he could spend a eternity in them.

"And there are the living areas", said Peter as he pointed to some towers. "The Orange tower belongs to the Orange Rose, moi. The really planty one is the Yellow Rose's tower and the galaxy looking one is The Rose's tower. The other 24 towers belong to the other members. Three people share the same tower and in there are three apartments that are just like actual houses. The guest house is over there which is where you will be staying".

Peter led Josh to the guest house and inside it looked like a normal home. "Feel free to use the place as you want. You can also use the facilities here too, but I would be careful when entering practice areas and places where people like to use magic. Let's just say it's dangerous, but I know Ariana and Rosa wouldn't just let you walk around so freely without putting a protection spell on you... But still", said Peter. "Anyway have fun and don't get killed. Someone will call you for dinner later".

With that Peter left Josh to a world he was ready to explore. He unpacked his belongings and headed to the Fictional Library. There is apparently a fictional library here for people who just want to relax by reading and despite it being the smallest library here it still had a lot of good books. There are also some books that are written by the members of the Roses, but they are incredibly rare, however they can be read here. He really wanted to read the book Ariana wrote when she was seven which is apparently one of the best books to read if you want motivation. That's what Ariana's mother said when he was talking to her. Every single member of Ariana's family has a copy, but neither of them were willing enough to lend it to him.

Josh crossed his fingers and hoped that somebody hasn't already taken the book and hurried to the Fictional Library. Using Ability Boost Spells, Josh soon arrived at the door and to his luck the book had not been taken yet.

He took the book from the shelf and felt its soft, leather covering then opened it to feel smooth paper. It was hard to believe the book has been read many times before him since the book looked and felt brand new from the spotless paper to the quality of the book.

When wondering where to read he spotted a familiar face and said hello. "Woah, Josh? So you actually are here", said Max (he is the son of a knight Josh sometimes trains with).

"You're a member of the Roses. My rival and friend just seems to be getting more powerful every time I see him", replied Josh.

"Hey you're getting more powerful too. Plus, you've got Ariana as your own tutor. We had to share her but now she's only your tutor so we can't even share her".

"So this is the prince who stole Ariana from us", said a person Josh had never met before. "Hi, I'm Luke from the Kingdom of Frestal, the Kingdom of Health!"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Josh, the Prince of Celeste... The Kingdom With The Most Advanced Magic?" Said Josh.

"Don't say it like a question", said Max.

"Yeah, it makes me doubt your kingdom", replied Luke.

"Sorry I didn't know what to say", answered Josh.

"You don't have to act so polite. Here we all have the same status except for our higher ups but they and us don't act like as if we do most of the time so yeah. There is no need to treat us politely when we're not going to treat you like a prince. Here you're one of us", smiled Luke.

"I am incredibly happy", said Josh.

To be considered a member of the Roses is all he wanted from them.

"Well we'll let you read now, bye", said Max.

"Bye", Luke said while waving.

"Bye", replied Josh.

The two left and Josh was incredibly happy. He was first afraid they were going to be rude to him, since he is a prince but so far it seems like as if they don't care about him because they don't care. As simple as that. He found a corner to read in and read for 30 minutes until someone told him dinner is ready.

He went back to the Guest House and soon found himself in the dining room. The room is simple except for the intricate ceiling with golden patterns. On the table was lamb, peas, carrots, corn, sweet potatoes and potatoes along with water and juice.

Josh dug in and tasted the juicy meat with the scrumptious vegetables and sighed in satisfaction. Once the plate was wiped clean he thought about what he should do with the plate and wasn't sure whether to leave it or clean it. Back at the Royal Palace he always left his plate at the table and the servants would clean it up so he wasn't sure what to do right now. In the end he decided to leave it in the kitchen sink and if it was still there tomorrow morning he will clean it... If he knows how to.

Afterwards he continued to read into the night.

The moonlight shone through the force field, through the window and onto the sleeping Josh's face. It is 12am now and the Roses are having their meeting.

-In the High Meeting Room-

The High Meeting Room is where the most important meetings are held. It is located in a floating sphere and has over 100 seats.

"So has everyone heard about Black Assassin and Black Lilac?" Asked The Rose.

Only yes could be heard and The Rose continued, "good. Now as much as we hate it, due to Black Assassin's new role in Black Lilac it is probably best for us to work with the Galaxious Group and the Royal Family".

Whispers filled the room with mixed opinions.

"Before we vote to either work with them or to not would anyone like to voice their opinions?" Asked The Rose.

A voice soon spoke up, "well it might make us look weak if we do this".

"Yeah but Black Assassin is already acting weak enough with the tricks he plays", said another voice.

"Just because he did it doesn't mean we should either".

"I believe that even though it hurts our pride it is the most safest and quickest plan of action", said the Orange Rose.

"I agree. We no longer have anytime left. We need to focus all of our attention on this now before the effects become worse", said the White Rose.

Silent followed and everyone started to think even deeper.

"Judging by the silence, is everyone ready to vote?" Asked The Rose.

A few seconds of silence followed and soon everyone said, "yes".

"In that case, please cast your vote".

A rectangle placed on the table in front of everyone lit up. Two spheres appeared in the middle of the room, one said yes and the other said no. "Should we work with the Galaxious Group and The Royal Family? Cast your vote now", said The Rose.

Everyone started to cast you vote and the numbers on the ball started to rise. Peter, Adrian, Selena, Jack and Rosa/Rosetta placed their votes, but nobody could see which one they voted for unlike the other Roses since if they could see their votes it might effect their opinions. Eventually the numbers stopped rising and it stopped. It showed yes had the majority of votes.

"Since yes has the majority we shall now be working together with the others. This shall be put in action at 12pm today so be prepared for news and anything. Don't let your guard down and be safe. Good luck everyone. For us, for everyone, we shall never wither, but grow stronger", said The Rose.

"For us, for everyone, we shall never wither, but grow stronger", said everyone.

"You are now excused".

Everyone exited the room and Rosa wondered, 'what am I going to do with Josh'.

She sighed, for now it seems he will have to teach himself. Of course this had to happen at one of the worst times ever. Rosa decided to head to one of the libraries, read something and relax. Who knew she would bump into Josh.