M: Hey there, everyone! Guess what I have for you?

Crow: Food?

Jack: Cards?

Yusei: Parts for my runner?

M: No, sillies, a new chapter! Yusei was the star of the first one, but now it's Crow's turn!

C: I'll try my best!

J: Forgetting someone?

M: Nope. Your turn is in Chapter 3.

Y: She doesn't own rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds.

Trial of Roses-Chapter 2

The Princess led us from the Garden to a staircase that seemed to disappear into the ceiling. "This is my personal wing." she explained, gesturing us to follow her up the stairs that eventually leveled out into a hallway that stretched a few yards. "Your rooms are connected to mine just for security reasons. The bathrooms are on both sides of this hallway."

The walls were a dusky purple color with rose patterns in a light pink. There were lantern shaped lights casting a warm light on us as we walked behind the Princess, giving the paintings of various landscapes appear to be windows. Who knew that this place would be so...girly.

Hearing a crunching sound, I turned and saw that we had left muddy footprints in the carpet that was the same color as the roses on the wall. I almost felt bad for wearing my dirty old shoes inside the castle, but it helped the place seem less stuffy. Yusei caught my glance and grimaced as he took in the mess we had left. He tapped Jack on his shoulder and gestured to his feet. He took the hint and kicked his shoes off, which landed with a loud thump

I looked to the Princess, half-expecting the other half hoping her to throw a tantrum at Jack's casualness and the fact that we had brought mud into her wing...but she was still talking! She was still giving the tour as if nothing had happened!

"Here is where you will eat." She opened another door to reveal a long dining hall with a long table that was covered with a white lace table cloth. The walls were a lighter purple, but the carpet was still a girly-pink. A servant, who looked like she could have been our grandmother with all those wrinkles around her hazel eyes and the warts growing from her nose, came forth and declared that dinner was served.

"Wow! Look at all this food!" My jaw dropped as a giant roasted boar surrounded with various veggies and an apple stuffed in its snout was placed in front of the Princess as she took her seat at the head. "We get to eat like this EVERYDAY?!"

"As my servants, you must all be in prime condition." the Princess stated, buttering a golden biscuit. "That means three square meals a day, plenty of exercise, and at least seven hours of sleep."

"We will do our best, Princess." we chorused over our suddenly verbal stomachs.

She looked up from her biscuit and told us to sit, gesturing to the empty seats next to her. I immediately took the one on her left since it was closest to the main course. Yusei sat on her other side, and Jack sat next to me. I reached for my own silverware, licking my lips with anticipation, and yelped in surprise as Jack slapped my hand.

"What was that for?!"

"Must you always act like a complete child?" he snapped, folding his hands in his lap.

"I am only seven! Must you always act like a stuck up?" I threw back, rising out of my chair to stare him down. "You're not that much older than Yusei or me, so don't act like you're the one in charge!

He smirked. "She hasn't given us permission to eat yet, idiot."

I blinked. That's right! We were servants to the Princess! Plopping myself back in my chair, I bowed my head as heat seared across my face. She must think I'm a moron...

A tinkling sound brought my head back up, and my jaw dropped. The Princess was laughing! Little tears were trickling down her cheeks as one of her hands covered her mouth, slightly muffling the giggles she was making.

I looked to Yusei, whose eyes were wide in shock, then looked to Jack, whose jaw was open like a fish's. It would be so easy to stuff one of the biscuits in his mouth right now... I thought to myself, glancing at the basket that held the golden orbs.

"It's...It's alright, Crow," she gasped, wiping her eyes and giving me a bright smile. "Everybody, dig in!"

"ALRIGHT!"

"I'm so full..." I groaned, sitting back in my chair. My belly was sticking out farther than I have ever seen it! "That was great!"

"Thank you very much for the amazing meal, Princess." Yusei said, bowing his head in the Princess's direction.

I rolled my eyes at Mr. Mannerism and reached for another biscuit... only to grasp the tablecloth. Blinking, I looked from left to right. They were there a second ago!

"I think that's enough for you."

I glowered at Jack as he took a biscuit and slid the basket out of reach. "Oh, yeah? Who says?"

"Let's see, now," he said, taking a small bite of the golden loaf. "You finished half of the main course BY YOURSELF, consumed one of those miniature stuffed ducks in under a minute, finished the garlic mashed potatoes, then polished off the steamed vegetables that I was so looking forward to! So yes, I would say that you have had quite enough!"

"You just weren't quick enough, so too bad!"

"Guys, come on, stop shouting." Yusei pointed a finger to his lips, trying to shush us.

"Stay out of this!" we shouted, slamming our fists down on the table as we stood. "Alright! That's it! Time to settle this with a duel!"

"Boys!"

"Bring it on!" I yelled, pulling my cards out. "Me and my dueling deck will put you to shame!"

"It's 'My dueling deck and I', moron, and I'd like to see you try!"

"Boys"

We turned our fiery eyes on the Princess. "WHAT?!"

I gulped. Her eyes went from amused toffee color to deathly tiger orange and a dark aura surrounded her. Looks like I just got myself in a whole lot of trouble...

"I don't like shouting..." Her eyes flashed in silent warning as Jack and I pointed fingers at each other. "I don't care whose fault it is. I. Hate. Shouting."

"W-w-w-we ap-p-p-pologize, Princess!" I rushed, clenching my eyes shut tightly as I stood and bowed. "It won't happen again! We promise!"

When she didn't speak, I peeked up and found the Princess standing above me. I shrank as her eyes burned me to my bones. She was going to put me back out on the streets for sure...

Her heavy sigh caught me off guard. "I just can't stay mad at you."

I blinked. "Huh?"

She suddenly cupped my face with her hands, squeezing my cheeks, and smiled. "It's those eyes of yours. They are just too pretty!"

I couldn't help but smile as she clapped her hands, even though my face was caught in the middle. She really had a thing for my eyes, huh? Though they were a rare gray color, I couldn't be the only one she's met that has them...right? "Umm...Princess?"

"Yes, Crow? What is it?" she said, growing serious. "Are you still hungry?"

"Oh, no, I'm stuffed fuller than the pig we had for dinner!" I chuckled, pointing to my now sandwiched face. "Could you by any chance let go of my face, please?"

"Oh, goodness, I'm so sorry!" she immediately released my face.

"It's cool," I said while massaging the feeling back into my cheeks.

"Looks like I won't have to beat you in a duel after all, loser." I heard Jack mumble under his breath.

As I turned to throw a punch in his face, the Princess suddenly reached out and grabbed my arm. I blinked, surprised at her quick movement, and noticed that she had her head tilted to the left. "Princess?"

"What's a dueling deck? Aren't you supposed to duel with swords?"

I felt my eyes bulged out of my sockets. "You don't know what a duel deck is?!"

"Crow, be nice." Yusei stood and smiled kindly at the Princess. "It's like this; you find cards that you like and put them together to form a deck. A deck can consist of up to 60 cards. There are different kinds of cards: monster, spell, and trap." He pulled out his own and showed cards matching his description, pointing out the affinity and different effects monsters could have.

As Yusei was explaining the basics, I looked down at my deck, and couldn't help but feel sorry for the Princess. My deck was my treasure, my very soul, and shared a special bond with every card in it. It helped me get out of a lot tight situations, and I felt safer when I carried it with me. The fact that the Princess had never heard of dueling blew my mind, but that was going to change.

"Alright, everyone, listen up! Come on, eyes up here!" I gestured for everyone to gather around me. "I think it's time the Princess got her own deck."

"That's a good idea, Crow!" Yusei smiled. "Good thinking!"

"But it's eleven o-clock, bird-brain." Jack huffed, turning away from us. "It can wait until morning."

"Jack's right," the Princess nodded. "Let's head to bed and get up early to get a head start. How does that sound?"

I flashed one of my best smiles, giving her thumbs up. "We are going to construct the best deck for you better than Pegasus himself could ever hope to build!"

"I doubt that, bird-brain."

"Alright, Jack, that's it! Bust your dueling deck and throw down!" I bellowed, grabbing his shoulder and turning him to face me. "Right here, right now!"

Yusei pulled me into the hallway, sighing heavily. "Can't you two put your fighting off for more than four minutes?"

"I find it quite amusing, but their volume could use some work." The Princess half-smiled as she disappeared into her room.

Jack stuck his head out of the dining room, his eyes wide. "Did she just insult us?"

"She's telling the truth, you know..."

"What was that?!" Jack and I shouted, grabbing Yusei by the front of his shirt.

He broke free, a giant grin on face, and disappeared into the neighboring room. There were three twin-sized beds, each a different color. Yusei chose the one with a dark navy comforter that had galaxy-like prints. Jack chose the one that looked like it was on fire. The only one left was an orange one that made me think of sunsets

Leaping onto my bed, I sighed as it slowly molded to my body. Memory foam was truly the best invention ever... "So this is our new home..." I whispered, pulling out my deck of Black Wings. "What do you guys think? Pretty nice digs, huh?"

"Wow!"

I smiled as the Princess grabbed my sleeve, her caramel eyes wide and filled with wonder as she took in the towering buildings. We were walking through New Domino square; Jack was in the lead while Yusei and I were on either side of the Princess. She insisted on wearing a hooded coat and a white porcelain mask with light pink roses.

"Almost there," I said, pointing to our destination. This was the best place to find every card in existence. "They say that this place was once owned by the Motous."

"The King of Games was Yugi Motou, right?" she asked as we entered the store.

"You catch on quick!" Yusei nodded, taking her over to the monster cards. "What kind of deck do you want?"

"Well," she took off her mask and pulled something from the inside of it and showed it to us, "I do have one card. Maybe we could find some cards that are similar?"

My breath caught. She had a card that I have never heard of! It looked just like the fountain that was in the Garden!

"Ah, I see you are in possession of the legendary Black Rose Dragon, young miss." the elderly clerk said, his curled mustache tilting in the corners as he smiled. "You must be a special child."

"Um...well..."

"Sooooo you got any cards that she could make deck from?" I jumped in, seeing the Princess begin to look uncomfortable. "Maybe some plant monsters?"

The clerk reached into the drawers behind him and pulled out multiple black binders. "Here are all the plant monsters." He pulled out a smaller blue binder. "Here are all the spell cards every used in a plant deck." Finally, he placed a similar sized binder on top; this one was a deep maroon. "This one is full of traps that I think you will find very useful. Have fun kids!"

"We will!" we chorused, carrying the binders to a nearby table and spreading them out.

After half an hour, I had a couple cards that would be awesome additions to her deck. "I have ten cards for you, Princess." I said, handing her the monsters that I had found.

"Thank you, Crow!" she smiled, looking through them and holding up Rose Fairy. "Ooh, I like this one!"

"You special summon this monster if moves from your deck to your hand by the effect of a Spell, Trap, or Monster card." Yusei explained, pointing to the description under the dancing fairy. "Her attack points are 600, and her defense points are 1200."

"So, this card should be played in defense mode, which is placing the card horizontally, right?"

"Right!"

"For a girl, she catches on fast." Jack mumbled, sliding the cards he found across the table. "Take these."

"Jack-"

"It's okay," she said, smiling, as we combined all the cards and taking them to the counter. "Jack will just have to pick up the tab."

"I WILL WHAT?!"

"Fine selection, miss. Your total comes to this..." the clerk said as the total was displayed on the screen.

I laughed as Jack's eyes bulged from his head. "Aw, come on, it can't be that much. Just suck it up-" My words died as he grabbed the front of my shirt and shoved the screen in my face. "T-t-t-hat's a lot!"

"I was only joking," the Princess giggled as she counted the money to the clerk. "That should cover it!"

"Thank you for your business, miss. Please come again!"

She threw the clerk a small smile, and then placed the mask back over her face. Why did she feel the need to wear that thing? I frowned. She was pretty enough, so why wear something that covered her face?

"There's a food stand. Are you hungry, Princess?" Yusei asked, pointing out the hot dog stand about a block away.

Her eyes grew wide as she read the sign. "Hot dogs?!"

"They aren't actual dogs, Princess, they are actually similar to pork sausages." I explained as Yusei and Jack went to retrieve the food. "It's actually really good."

I looked down to see her hands shaking, nearly dropping her new deck. "Princess?"

"Hey, girly, Halloween is still a long way off." My eyes narrowed as three men surrounded us, sneering and snickering. They had torn clothing and smelled like month old fish. "Come on, hand over the deck before we get handsy."

"Hey, back off!" I spread my arms out wide. "Go get your own!"

"Hand it over now!"

"I want to go home..." I heard the Princess whimper. "I want to go home NOW!"

I grabbed the Princess as wind suddenly tore through the street, knocking the men over. The sidewalk cracked and thorny vines began to wrap themselves around the three men, piercing their skin and drawing blood. I blinked as a familiar scent in the wind caught my attention...it was something I remembered from recently... That night in the Garden flashed in my mind. That's it! This was happening because the Princess was distressed!

"Princess, it's okay!" I yelled over the screaming of the people around us. "They won't lay a hand you! I promise!"

The wind stopped as I caught the Princess before she fell to her knees, the vines disappearing and the three men took off running down the street. She was shaking like a leaf! I turned her around and picked her up piggy-back style. "It's going to be okay, I promise." I whispered, glancing back at her worriedly. She was really pale and there were little beads of sweat trickling down her face.

She shifted as I stopped to wait at a crosswalk, her mask sliding off down a few inches as she lifted her head and blinked as the sun came out from behind a cluster of clouds. "...Crow?"

"Well, hey there, sleepyhead." I grinned, removing the mask completely and revealed her confused features. "You have a nice nap?"

"What am I...?" Her eyes suddenly grew wide and watery. "Oh no... It happened again, didn't it?"

Oh no! She started crying! What do I do? Yusei is the one who can handle people crying, but he was still across the street! "Hey, its okay, Princess! It was actually really cool! You were the bomb!" I yelped , dropping her mask as her hands gripped my hair tightly.

"Wait, why am I on your back?!"

"You fainted after kicking those guys' butts! Now let go of my hair!"

"Put me down this instant!" she screeched, pounding my back.

"Keep that up, and I will drop you!" I warned. My hands were starting to slip from her struggling and I didn't want to risk upsetting her any more than she already was. I didn't want her to get hurt if I accidentally lost my grip either, so I only tightened my grip, earning another pull on my hair!

"The second you drop me, the second you lose supper!"

"WHAT?!" I stumbled, nearly losing my grip on her. "THAT'S NOT FAIR!" The aura from last night suddenly came back, making me shiver. Oh no...

"Crow..."

I slowly put her down and took a step backward. "Hey, P-P-P-Princess?" I squeaked, shrinking half my size.

"Crow..."

Oh, crap! She's giving me a death glare! Say something, Crow! My salvation suddenly sparkled in the sunlight, just inches away from my hand. "Y-y-y-y-your mask?"

She blinked as I held up her fallen mask. Her cheeks suddenly turned bright red and the aura disappeared as she felt her face. "But...how..."

Now was my chance to divert her attention! I offered a small smile, stood, and tied it back on. "I don't know why you even want to wear this thing, but if it helps you feel better, then go ahead and wear it."

"I'm sorry, Crow...I didn't mean to-"

"Don't worry about it, Princess." I said, grinning. Before I could stop it from surfacing, my humor kicked in and blurted the first thing that came to my mind: "Did you know that it makes you look kinda like a clown? The pink roses look like targets on your cheeks."

"WHAT?!"

The light turned green and I ran for my life as she screamed my name, chasing me to the hot dog stand. Yusei and Jack were watching with looks that said "What could that moron have done now?". I couldn't help but grin as she finally caught up, getting ready to rip me a new one, and shoved a hot dog into her open mouth.

Back in the Garden...

One of the rose bushes was glowing brightly, almost as blinding as the setting sun itself. The greenery of the bush grew more vibrant as the orange rose blossoms became tinted with the faintest hint of gold on the petal brims.

Beneath the Garden...

The Concealed One's eyes opened, revealing faint gold orbs. She raised her head slightly, glancing up at the surface of her dwelling. The Princess was experiencing something new...something that made her growl lowly... Her head fell back down to its resting place, closing her eyes to return to her dreamless slumber.

M: What do you guys think?

*All boys are silent*

M: Was it that bad? Let me know your thoughts!