Chapter 10: Red, Orange and Yellow Rose

Despite being out in the country side the road was smooth and the ride to their next destination wasn't terrible. It was still annoying though. While in the carriage Trevor/Josh waited for Thalia/Ariana whiling sighing; he really wanted to know what Ariana was getting from these different places. In frustration he chomped down on the food Ariana had obtained for him at their first stop and eventually it was all gone and he went back to being frustrated.

"This behavior isn't quite suitable for a gentlemen", said a boy who had brown hair and blue eyes.

He wore a dark blue suit and carried the air of a nobleman as he looked at the currently 17 year old Josh. Josh immediately knew who this person was and tried his best to hide his reaction while freaking out.

The person who was looking at him was the Red Rose, Adrian. Adrian is a noble like Ariana; he is the second son of the marquess house, Addington and is known for his flirty ways and high skill in magic. When he got his powers during his 14th birthday party a big burst of light filled the room and the guests there could immediately feel his strong power which was radiating from him. This caught the 12 year old Ariana's attention who was attending the party and to quickly calm things down she hid his magic and used telekinesis to send a message to him. Using The Rose's voice she told him to meet her in the gardens and there Adrian met The Rose for the first time. Rosetta felt the strength of his powers and knew that taking him in as a pupil would do a lot of good so she offered him the chance and he took it.

Afterwards he found out that Rosa and Ariana were the same person and their friendship further deepened the bond the two houses already had which almost lead to a engagement. Of course that idea was rejected which lead to a heartbroken Adrian who had fallen in love with his childhood friend and a oblivious Rosetta. He had actually been crushing on her since they first met so this was a big impact on him which led to his playboy attitude. The Prince knew all of this because they are close friends and when the engagement got rejected he went to his highness and told him about his shattered heart. When Josh remembered this he smiled wryly because of Ariana's obliviousness to all of this and while thinking that a voice intercepted his thought.

"Adrian, I though I told you to stay back at Vas", said Ariana who was now back.

"Well my heart couldn't wait any longer so I decided to come see you myself", said Adrian as he tried to get a hug from her which she quickly dodged.

"I'm going to guess he knows about the disguises", said Josh while trying to restrain his laugh.

"Indeed but it might have been a better idea to keep it a secret from him", sighed Ariana.

"Hey, aren't we childhood friends", said Adrian.

"Sadly yes".

Josh laughed at her words and was happy to see a new side of her while Adrian made a appalled face. "Don't think just because you have higher status and power means you can say harmful words like that", Adrian said while clutching his heart.

Ariana sighed and giggled. "It has been a while since we've talked like this", she said.

"Yep, I was so lonely and when finding out you were with another man made me wonder if you truly loved me".

"I'm not like the other girls. I only love you as a friend".

Josh couldn't help but pity the poor Adrian who was trying to use his flirting skills on Ariana which ended in failure. "Anyway since you're here why don't you accompany us for the rest of the ride", offered Ariana.

"I'd love to!" Shouted Adrian.

He then took her hand and led her inside the carriage which made Josh's heart sink a little bit as he watched the small action. He quickly concealed his frown as Adrian sat next to him with a beaming smile.

On the way to the next destination the three of them happily chatted and Ariana deiced to forget about acting as Thalia since she was has having too much fun chatting with her close friends.

-1 hour later-

They were now at a village known for its cheerfulness, growth and safety. This village is where Ariana found Peter, the Orange Rose. Peter is a orphan that Rosetta/Ariana found when trying to get rid of the evil in this village. The village was once known as one of the main bases for members of the mafia Black Lilac and it was filled with death and despair. The government had no idea at that time as Black Lilac were covering up very well but Rosa/Rosetta got a lead when she found the words 'help me' written on a wagon coming from that village. She went to the village and investigated to find Peter in a alleyway all bruised up. She brought him to a safer village and nursed him back to health and noticed he had an abundant of magical power hidden underneath his injuries. She also found out he was the same age as her (11).

You should be able to guess the rest. Rosa took him in and he helped her when kicking Black Lilac out of the village with his knowledge of being there since he was born. Afterwards Peter vowed to make the village a great place and his first project was restoring the village to a better state and it worked. With his energetic personality the village blossomed and he was made the Orange Rose.

The village is quite big now and almost everyone was smiling. Seeing this made Josh want to do even better to make it so the whole kingdom is like this. Since he has never been to the village before he decided to take this as his chance and asked Thalia if he could look around. Ariana knew he would ask this question and purposely came here to show him around the village and use this as a learning experience for him.

For convenience she changed her and Josh's appearance back to normal and changed their clothes to make it look like as if they are the children of rich merchants instead of nobles. To be on the safe side Ariana changed her hair and eye colour and Adrian did the same too.

Once that was done they started walking around the market and they became even more happier than before. Josh was able to gather information, Adrian found many cute girls and Ariana obtained some books she wanted for a while, but wasn't able to get because of her schedule. Once the time for their fun was over they headed back to the carriage but on the way there Ariana couldn't help but have a ominous feeling. She told the two to go back ahead of her and she started to investigate it.

She soon found traces of a tainted soul and followed it to the alleyway where she first met Peter. There stood a figure in a black cloak and a lilac on it which Ariana immediately recognised to be a the uniform of Black Lilac. The figure's body faced her and held a bottle which contained a golden flame, a eternal flame. Eternal flame is a fire that burns forever and destroys everything in its path. It can only be put out by a rare type of water which is one of the most hardest things to obtain.

The figure lifted its head up so she could see his grin and he dropped the bottle onto the floor. The glass shattered and a fire instantly appeared. Ariana quickly reacted and opened her infinity bag to get a big bottle filled with crystal water in it and she threw it all over the flame which soon disappeared. "Well there goes my savings of crystal water", sighed Ariana.

With a disgusted look she summoned Adrian who had the cloaked figure in a choke hold. "Telekinesis is a great thing isn't it", smiled Adrian.

Ariana sighed and looked at the cloaked person then at the burnt marks. "Josh is in the carriage right?" Asked Ariana.

"Yes".

Ariana then changed to The Rose and wore her uniform but this time she wore a golden mask that covered all of her face. She stared at the cloaked figure, pointed her finger at him and transported him to the prisons located at Vas. "We'll interrogate him later", said Rosa.

Afterwards Adrian used his magic to create a illusion to make it look like as if there was a wall instead of a alleyway there. They alerted the authorities and summoned Selena.

"I can't believe this", gasped Selena when she heard about it.

"I had to use up all of the crystal water I saved up too", sighed Rosa.

The only things that can contain the eternal flame is the volcano where it is originated from and the most strongest glass there is. The only thing that can put the flame out is crystal water which can only be found in caves deep in mountains. The caves are incredibly rare and the ones that are found are under the government's control. Only people who are licensed can get a cup of crystal water once every year due to certain reasons. There is a story and more information about the eternal flame and crystal water which Ariana will tell Josh about later on.

"Investigate this please", said Rosa to Selena.

"Of course mast-Rosa", replied Selena.

Rosa then changed back to Ariana and went back to the carriage with Adrian to find Josh sitting inside with a worried look. "Is everything alright?" Asked Josh frantically.

"Don't worry about it, only something annoying just happened", said Ariana sweetly.

"Okay then".

Despite her words he couldn't help but feel nervous until she said, "I'll explain later".

Before the carriage took of Adrian decided to leave to the girls he met earlier so once again it was quite in the carriage.

The carriage soon started its journey again and Ariana couldn't help but feel tired. A drowsiness swept over her and she fell asleep.

A intense light filled Ariana's view. She sat up to see a field of flowers in front of her and there was a little boy with blond hair playing in the grass. The boy was playing with some foxes and was laughing happily as they chased each other.

Ariana sat there and watched the cute view of Jack, the Yellow Rose when he was 9. She first met Jack while she was in the forest and some animal friends of hers told her that they had another human friend. Rosetta didn't think much of it at first until one day she suddenly felt a surge of magic coming from the forest. She ventured inside to see the animals of the forest rush to her and bring her to a boy who was lying on the floor with large amounts of magic spilling out of him. Rosetta could tell he had just gotten his powers but all of it was too much for his body to handle. She transferred some of his magic into a bottle and healed Jack afterwards. Apparently he was a orphan who had no recollection of his family and was raised in the forest with his animal friends.

Rosetta pitied the boy and took him in as a student and helped him control his magical power. While in Rosetta/Rosa's care he learned how to behave himself and was eventually able to take back the rest of the powers Rosetta took from him. Since he had an attachment to the wildlife and animals he mainly specialised in those fields and helped out a lot with the forest for Vas. He is a very innocent and happy boy who made friends with almost everyone so he is very well known and could be immediately recognised if he went out without a disguise on.

Rosetta always loved his innocence and thought of him as a little brother which caused her to be a 'tiny' bit over protective. Ariana smiled about these thoughts and turned her attention back to the boy who was happily running around until suddenly a fire appeared and smoke started to engulf the sky. Ariana tried to react but her body wouldn't obey her and she could only sit there and let the smoke strangle her as the flame grew bigger. Suddenly a gust of wind blew the smoke away and some vines wrapped around her waist then dragged her into the forest.

She woke up to see Jack sitting in front of her as magic poured out of his palms and onto her chest. "Just in time", smiled Jack.

"Huh? What's going on?" Asked a confused Ariana.

She had no idea at all about what happened to her and she started to freak out but quickly calmed herself. "Some poison entered your body so I got rid of it", replied Jack.

"It must have been the smoke from the eternal flame!" Shouted Ariana when she remembered how she breathed in the smoke.

"It must have been poisoned. I should have been more careful", said Ariana sadly.

At that time she was too busy to realise the smoke could've been poisoned but luckily Jack noticed it and got rid of it from her body... Wait a minute... How did Jack know?

She looked at him curiously and like as if he knew what she was thinking he replied with, "I was watching everything from a far distance".

"Ahh".

"Um, so... What happened exactly?" Questioned Josh.

Ariana soon remembered he was there and replied with, "I said I'll explain it later".

Josh sat there with a worried face but brushed it of. Ariana and Jack soon started chatting and Josh couldn't help but feel sad even though he was talking with them too. It had been a while since they talked alone together and Josh felt something tug on his heart.

He tried to ignore the feeling but it always came back to him... Was he perhaps jealous?