Me: Hello, again! I was in such a good mood that I wrote you guys another chapter!

Crow: Well aren't you little miss sunshine.

M: We get to move into our new apartment next week! I'm so excited!

C: Awesome!

M: Enough about that! Story time!

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

Trial of Roses-Chapter 5 The Feathered Rose

"Crow, can you come help me with this problem? I'm stuck on part b."

I gulped as the Princess called me over to her desk. A lump formed in my throat as she showed me the problem she was stuck on:

If an 18th century steam locomotive departed Jamestown at 6:00 a.m. and a six-horse drawn carriage departed at 6:15 a.m., which would arrive in Knoxville first?

a) If the locomotive was carrying 140 passengers, 6 cargo cars, and a cabuse, how many passengers are in each car?

b) If the carriage had five female passengers and each had brought along two trunks that weighed forty-seven pounds each, what would be the total weight of the carriage?

c) Now calculate the speed that each would be traveling if they were facing forty mile/hour winds from the east.

d) If one of the women from part b was pregnant, how much more weight would the carriage be carrying?

e) Add a crew of six to the locomotive, including two conductors. How much more weight would the locomotive be carrying if they were all middle aged men?

f) The carriage has lost horse! How much longer will it take for the carriage to get to Knoxville?

My stomach began to churn as images of horses and passengers and trains swam in from of me. I fell backward like a board and lied twitching on the ground as my mind shut down. When the horses finally stopped running around in circles, I opened my eyes to find the Princess and her tutor standing above me. I bolted up into a sitting position, scratching the back of my head in embarrassment as the Princess handed me a glass of water and downed it in one gulp.

We were all sitting in her study with a few tutors. Jack was making sport of a tall suit-wearing twig of a man with bright green eyes sparking from behind silver half-moon spectacles. The man's face was slowly turning from dusty gray to an angry pink as he read Jack's notes. He glared over his spectacles at the blonde leaning back in chair, a small bubble coming from his nose.

Yusei was scribbling away as a petite bluenette with a curly ponytail drew a diagram on the screen. Her lab coat was a spotless white and hugged her body as she reached across the board to write a quick note. I felt my chest tighten as her big brown eyes twinkled at Yusei's answer to her question. She was so pretty...

"Crow, are you okay? You have steam coming out of your ears again."

I jumped to my feet as the Princess' curious face appeared on my left. "I'm perfect! Totally okay! Yep!" I laughed, turning and walking back to my desk to hide my burning face. That was too embarrassing...

"Well, done!" Turning, I saw the tutors applaud as the Princess sheepishly hid behind her book. "Very impressive, Princess! You solved that problem quicker than your mother did!"

"She didn't actually solve it, did she?" I asked, my mouth hanging in shock. "That problem was impossible!"

"It was simple, really." She peeked over her book. "I just calculated in the average weight of each person by their gender and then took the cars of the locomotive, found their weight by determining their materials, and then it was easy. The carriage was easiest since only 20% of the carriage was steel, not really affecting the overall weight of the carriage."

We looked at each other, Jack, Yusei, and I, and steam exploded from our heads. She was a few years younger than Jack, and yet she was four times smarter than Yusei! How was that even possible?! Her face turned scarlet then she slowly disappeared.

Six hours later, we walked out of the study finally done with our lessons for the week. I threw a glare at Yusei as he nodded respectfully to his tutor, who waved. "Looks like you're getting pretty comfy with Miss. Noelle."

He smiled. "At least I pay attention."

"Shut up." I growled, adjusting the books in my hands.

Yusei took a few books of the top of my stack. "Need some help with your homework?"

I blinked at him, trying to tell if he was joking or not. "Serious?"

"Of course." he smiled.

My lips lifted into a smile. "Thanks, man. I appreciate it."

"Are you qualified to help him?" Jack asked, walking past with the Princess.

"Say that to my face, jerk!" I shouted at his retreating back. "That's right! You better keep walking!"

"Why not try using your brain for you homework instead of throwing insults at those who are superior to you?"

A loud smack suddenly rang through the hallway. Yusei stepped up next to me, his eyes wide. I couldn't believe what I saw! The Princess had slapped Jack across the face! I slowly looked to Yusei, who looked to me, and together looked back at the pair. The Princess' eyes were glowing a dangerous shade of red and flashed angrily when Jack locked eyes with her.

"You need to know your place, Jack." Her voice was distorted, almost as if a crowd of people were talking over each other. "You are a servant, MY servant, so act like it."

"You need to calm down." Jack snapped, rubbing his red cheek

"You are no better than any of my other servants," she growled, taking steps towards him and cornering him against the wall. "So get off your high horse, before I pull you down myself."

Yusei and I dropped the textbooks as Jack shoved her away roughly, almost knocking her into the opposite wall. "Jack, don't!"

"Bring it on!"

Her face suddenly distorted, warping into something inhuman. A creepy grin spread across her face, revealing shark-like teeth. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as she giggled, her eyes dilating until they were black. "This will be fun!"

I saw her hand twitch and thorn covered vines appeared from behind Jack, wrapping tightly around his wrists and ankles. He struggled, flexing and thrashing in every direction, but he was stuck. With another creepy giggle, she skipped forward to stand before him. "I came up with a game we could play! It's called Hungry Jack. Want to know the rules?"

"Princess, stop it!" Yusei and I grabbed her arms, pulling her back.

"You guys can join too!" My blood grew cold as her black eyes turned to me, freezing me to the core, and took a step a back as she held up what looked like a golf-ball of thorns. "We have to feed him these until he apologizes."

Even though he was a jerk and deserved her slap, this was going too far. I stood between her and Jack, my arms outstretched. "Hey, Princess, that problem you solved today was pretty cool."

Her eyes locked with mine as she tilted her head to the left slightly. I saw Yusei move to stand behind her, ready to act in case I needed backup. He nodded for me to keep talking to her as she reached past me to shove one in Jack's face.

"The whole figuring out the passenger's weight and the carriage and the train," I continued, gesturing with my arms to accentuate my words. "I mean, that was INCREDIBLE!"

The ball froze not a millimeter from Jack's lips. "The locomotive...going to Knoxville..." she whispered, color slowly returning to her eyes and her hand began to shake.

"Yea! You remember now?" I coaxed, placing my hand on her shoulder and gently began prying the ball from her hand.

Her eyes seemed to struggle between black and her usual caramel brown as she looked at me closely. I met her gaze head on as the ball was released slowly into my hand. "That's right, Princess, look at me. Remember my eyes?" I whispered, tossing the ball down the hallway and gently squeezed her shoulders. "You like their color, don't you?"

The caramel won, and the black disappeared as her face returned to normal. "They are gray, which are very unusual. Only less than 3% are given that color."

"There's the Princess I know!" I smiled, opening my arms wide once more. "Give me a hug!"

A low huff interrupted our little moment. "Get me down."

"Is the great Jack Atlas asking for help?" I asked, throwing him a smirk over my shoulder as the Princess giggled.

My stomach growled loudly as lunch was placed before us. Today we had smoked salmon with steamed fresh veggies and a side of Cesar salad. To drink there was ice tea and freshly made juice. I was overjoyed to find that it was apple, my favorite!

"So, Princess, what are the plans for the rest of the day?" I heard Yusei ask as I dove into my food.

"I believe that's it, to be honest."

"Finally! Thought I was going to die of boredom!" I stared at Jack, who had mirrored me. "Are you copying me?!" A sheepish smile found its way onto my face as the Princess smiled and laughed, nearly spilling her tea.

She suddenly froze as a deep gong rang through the wing. Her eyes wide, she bolted from the room, gesturing for us to follow. I shoved one last bite of salmon down the hatch before being grabbed by my two friends. We sprinted through the hallways after her until we screeched to a halt at a balcony over looking the Garden. The Princess was standing next her parents, the King and Queen, in a balcony overlooking the Garden as two people entered the Garden and placed on tiles that stood out from the others.

"What's going on?" I whispered to Yusei, hoping he could explain the hushed silence.

"I can't believe we are about to witness a Judgment..." he whispered, his eyes wide.

"Judgment is when someone receives punishment for something they did, right?"

He nodded. "That's the nice way to put it.

"Shut up, you two. The victim is making her statement."

After sticking my tongue out at Jack, I turned my attention to the brilliant colored "victim" as she took her place on the white tile. She had crimson hair that reminded me of Brixly's dress, and wore many layers of jewelry on her neck and wrists that dangled and clinked with every move she made. Tossing her long black hair over her shoulder, she fixed her bright green eyes on the large woman standing opposite of her.

The "accused" was none other than the Princess' music tutor, Ms. Brixly herself! She was just as fat as ever, her rolls stacking on top of other rolls from within the very deep v-neck navy dress that she was wearing. She held her head high, as if she was attempting to look down her nose at the taller woman in front of her.

"Please make your statement." The rose bushes of various colors seemed to shudder as the King's voice thundered over the Garden.

"I, Lily Anne DeNyx," the tall woman began. "accuse you, Elizabeth Cordellia Brixly, of treason against the royal family of the Enchanted Rose Kingdom."

Murmurs broke out from the court that was in the neighboring balcony to our left. I looked to Yusei, who explained that accusing someone of treason could be a double edge sword; either way, one was going to face punishment. But what did she mean by treason against the royal family?

"After many months of observing your role as the music instructor for the future heir, Princess Akiza Izinski," she bowed her head in the Princess' direction, then continued. "I have accumulated many forms of proof to show your plans of deception." With a flourish of her hand, many screenshots of the musician appeared on the screens that were showing the Judgement.

There were many of the musician coming out of rooms that were strictly off limits to anyone without clearance from the King himself and a few showed her sneaking in and out of the chambers of the King and Queen. I felt my face grow hot as a screenshot of her sneaking out of the Princess' chambers. The time stamp in the lower right corner showed that it had been taken at the beginning of the week...the day before we arrived.

"There is more." She pushed a button on her personal pager and Ms. Brixly's voice echoed across the Garden. "This recording was taken shortly after the Queen's accident."

"You spoiled brat, play it right! You missed more than the allowed four notes!"

Crying was heard in the background followed by a loud slap.

"If you are going to open your mouth, you better be singing!"

A shrill, unmistakable voice cried out. "You are pushing me too hard!"

"Nonsense!" The sound of struggling was heard. "Now you listen to me very clearly, Princess..." Her voice suddenly dropped into a growl. "After they kill the current Queen, I need you to become Queen so I can kill you and take your throne..."

I couldn't believe my ears. Slowly, I turned to look at the Princess, but she was avoiding eye contact with anyone. Why hadn't she do something about it?

"I now present her with this," Slowly, she reached out and threw a black rose at Brixly's feet. "For she was the cause of the Prince's early death."

Brixly threw her head back, laughing. "You could have tampered with the audio files and Photoshopped those images. Everyone here knows that you have been after my job for months now."

An earsplitting growl suddenly erupted from where the royal family stood. At first I thought someone had let in a very large dog, but I gasped as the Princess stood on top of the banister. Her eyes were a bright red and flashing brightly, a sign that I had come to know very well: she was very angry. What I wasn't prepared for was her now distorted voice.

"Are you blind?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat as a breeze carrying a scent that I didn't recognize swept threw the Garden, making the air heavy and thick with a light fog. Her eyes were nearly blood red and her hair was billowing like a cloud around her head. "Princess, don't!" I shouted as she jumped down and slowly walked up to the black rose bush and reached a hand out.

A guard suddenly shoved his hand over my mouth and grabbed me from behind. "Be quite, son. This isn't the first time the Princess has done this. She will be alright. Look."

She had plucked another black rose and was handing it out to her music tutor. "If you are innocent, the rose should change to a different color." The creepy smile from earlier stretched across her face as the large woman hesitated.

It felt like everyone drew a breath as the large woman snatched the rose from the Princess. The seconds passed so slow that you could swear that an eternity passed between each one.

One second...

Two seconds...

Three seconds...

Four seconds...

The air was pierced by a shrill scream coming from the woman: the rose had wilted and died in her hand. "It's not possible!" Her eyes widened as the rose began dripping with red, as if it were bleeding. She raised the flower, showering herself in red, as she prepared to throw it away...only to have it wrap around her hand. She screamed as the stem wrapped its way around her arm, heading straight for the rest of her fat body.

The Princess laughed. "Did you really think you could hide the truth? You are nothing but trash, spreading filth in your wake."

The large woman fell to her knees as the ground around her cracked. The stem was now wrapped tightly around her like a glove, it's thorns drawing blood from the woman caught in its deathly embrace. What skin was visible was starting to change color, and I covered my nose as the smell of poison and rotting flesh filled the Garden. With a one last scream, she vanished from view as the ground beneath her fell away into a pit that seemed endless.

"Did you see the look on her face?" the Princess laughed, holding her sides as she nearly doubled over. With one last chuckle, she turned to the remaining woman, her eyes glittering as the fog dissipated. "Lily Anne DeNyx, please step forward." The lithe woman stepped forward, her head bowed and she kneeled in respect before the Princess. "You have done this kingdom a great honor by bringing that criminal before the court. With the permission of everyone here, I wish to award you with a new position as my music instructor. I know that you are very passionate about music and have been playing since you could write your name. You used to practice at a music store in Domino when you were a child, yes?"

The woman's head shot upward, her eyes big and full of awe. "That's right, miss. I first learned the piano then continued onto singing once I started going to school to study musicology."

The Princess' smile grew as she looked up at her parents and the court. "I think she is more than qualified to fill the position, don't you?" An applause rose from the onlookers as she helped her new teacher stand. "I know you will treat her well. Take care of her, Miss DeNyx." she said, smiling, then fainted.

We ran to meet Miss DeNyx at the staircase as she carried the Princess to us. Placing her on my back, I carried her back to her room as requested by the King and Queen. The aftershock I felt coming from my friends lightened slightly when she finally regained consciousness hours later.

Sitting up, she rubbed the back of her head, yawning widely. "What time is it?"

"It's almost dinner time." I answered, my stomach growling loudly to confirm me.

"That late already?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

Yusei handed her a glass of water. "Princess, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Do you remember the Judgment at all?"

I held my breath. For him to come out and ask such a direct question so soon after the whole...thingy was really bold. Then again, when he was curious about something, nothing could stop him from diving in and learning everything there was to know about something. Finding out whether not she remembered the afternoon's events was an interest of mine too.

She nodded, tipping the glass back and downing the water in a gulp. "Yes, I do, but I really don't want to talk about it..."

"That's okay!" I jumped in, bouncing on the bed to sit next to her. "We can talk about something else! Like what's for dinner!"

Jack shook his head while leaning against the bedpost. "Is food all you think about?"

I thought for a second. "Now that you mention it..."

The Princess' tinkling laugh filled the room as Yusei rolled his eyes. Seeing her eyes sparkle with humor, I continued to tell her about all my favorite foods to help keep the Judgment off the menu until she was ready to talk about it. There was no hurry to bring up the horrible fat lady and whatever her fate was.

Beneath the Garden...

The Concealed One's head lifted as the ground shook. A shrill scream tore through the Dwelling as a fat figure fell from the ceiling. A terrible roar came from the pit underneath her and she hugged the cave wall as the figure was snatched up by the creature that rested farther down. The scream was choked off by the sounds of bones breaking, followed by a low growl-like purring that nearly deafened her. She shook herself as blood exploded from the dark depths, showering her from head to tail tip. The Musician had finally pained for her sins.

M: What you guys think?

C: Scary!

M: Was it really? Huh. Please read and review!