Chapter 45: Every Rose Has Its Thorns
"TAKE ME WITH YOU!" Roxy cried as Raeger's eyes widened. "Please...let me speak on behalf of me and my friends Raeger...now I know that all of this I can't possibly wait around." the faerie of animals murmured softly as she looked at him with her pleading lavender eyes. Raeger paused as he looked at his grandmother. She only gave him a simple nod. "Very well Roxy. You can accompany me." "Thank you Raeger...and you Granny..." she offered an appreciative smile. Raeger felt his cheeks redden slightly as he averted his gaze unable to look directly in her eyes.
"Try not to be nervous dear. Speak in a clear and honest manner and you can't go wrong..." Granny Emiko told him. "Thank you, Granny." Raeger offered a smile. "You always seem to know what to say." Loore smiled. "Meow!" the familiar spoke up switching her tail back and forth and twitched her ears. "See? Loore's cheering you on too!" Roxy exclaimed as Raeger picked up the black kitten and gently scratched her under her chin. Loore purred happily before the redhead paused as a carriage pulled up. "Raeger take this..." Granny Emiko murmured as he pulled out a charm and placed it in her hand. "Take care dear. I'll keep super hot for you." Raeger smiled and hugged her. "I'll be back as soon as I can." he murmured as she saw both Roxy and Raeger off. Raeger stopped in front of the carriage and offered her and hand. Roxy smiled and took his hand gently as he helped her in only getting in himself afterward.
Slowly the carriage moved forward Roxy watching the falling snow as Loore sat in her lap Raeger sitting across from her. "This is amazing...a horse-drawn carriage...in the snow...i've never seen anything like this before...this is all so new...but it really has been an experience..." the faerie of animals murmured in awe. "Really? I suppose this is normal for us...we do have some technology but I'm afraid in Covenant it's rather limited. Each world is different and has its own unique properties. If you don't mind me asking Roxy where exactly DID you come from?" Roxy paused as she tried to search for a believable explanation.
"Uh well...from a world where magic is everywhere...it's called Magix...me and my friends crossed over from The Earth Faerie's magic seal...she called your worlds the Sealed Worlds..." Roxy murmured. Call her crazy but she felt like she could trust Raeger with the truth. "Oh, my! That DOES certainly explain why you're unfamiliar with our worlds...I'm afraid that you'll find these worlds VERY different from Magix...my parents were originally from Magix as well...but we came here..." "Truly?! Wow, small world...I mean world eheheh..." Roxy laughed nervously as did Raeger. The faerie of animals paused as she noticed that there were other carriages passing them. Each with different emblems on the sides.
"Raeger." "Hmm?" What are those carriages? They all have different symbols on them..." Roxy questioned. "Those are the houses. Each symbol belongs to different kingdom though sometimes the kingdoms can be split into two...it's a bit complicated...but I'll try...you see The Shield And The Sword is House of Elixer, The Thorned Circle with Blood Wings is House BriarBlood, The Black Skull With The Snake is House Black, The Gothic Cross is Dawnshire, The Shooting Star is House Twilight, The Tree is House Aura, The Flower And The Bow is House Emerald, and last but not least The Dragon on top of the world is House Draconia. Raeger pointed the carriages out to Roxy as they passed them by.
Roxy remained silent as she stared at the BriarBlood crest. Fear nearly made her blood run cold. The Guild Master frowned as saw Roxy's expression change. What could have upset her so? Did she recognize one of the houses? But that was highly unlikely...wasn't it? "Roxy? Are you alright? You seem a bit pale..." Raeger asked the faerie softly before she shook her head. "Y-Yeah I'm sorry. I thought I was looking at something else for a moment. "But yeah that sure is ALOT of houses! " "Yeah it makes me nervous just thinking about it..." the redhead swallowed hard. "When I'm nervous I close my eyes...take a deep breath and shake out ALL of the nerves!" Roxy told Raeger as she demonstrated. Raeger couldn't help but laugh.
"I tend to talk a lot when I'm nervous if you couldn't tell." the Guild Master spoke up. "Mmm, maybe a little." Roxy giggled as their carriage finally arrived at The Guild. "We're here." the driver announced. "And that's my cue to panic..." Raeger half teased before he got out. "Here take my hand." the redhead smiled as he extended his hand out to Roxy. "Thanks." she smiled and grasped it before she gasped tripping slightly as she grazed some ice under her foot. "Woah!" Raeger exclaimed as he was nearly pulled down with her. Instead, the Guild Master pulled her towards him bringing Roxy into his arms.
"Oh! How embarrassing!..." the faerie of animals giggle as she blushed. Raeger also felt his face redden. "A-Are you alright?" the Guild Master asked. "Yeah just REALLY embarrassed is all...I can't believe I just did that." "Yeah, you'll want to be careful around buildings. Their sidewalks are slippery. Just hold onto me." "Roger that." Roxy giggled as he helped her towards the entrance. "I hope the others are doing better than we are." the faerie of animals admitted.
Away from the village Flora and Joey worked their way upwards away from the village. "Phew! Granny wasn't kiddin! Further, we go the snow starts to go full out blizzard!" Joey exclaimed as Flora moved slowly beside him. "Yes but look!" the faerie of nature exclaimed as they soon gazed at a flower bed. The Winter Roses were pure white as the snow which fell down upon them. Outlined with ice crystals which were colored in a soft light blue. Even the stem and leaves were ice. "Oh, Joey look at them! They're so beautiful...I've never seen anything quite like them...to think out here in this bitter cold...something so wonderous could grow within the dephs of this never ending snowfall..." Flora smiled as she got down and gently touched its petals.
"Day are somethin aren't day!?" Joey exclaimed and sniffed one of the roses before a tickle ran through his nose and sneezed falling backward. "Oh!" Flora giggled as spores from the roses shot out a blue dust causing Joey to float in mid-air rather than him landing on the Winter Roses. "WAH! Why am I floatin!?" the blonde cried before Flora blew a green dust to slowly pull him from above the flowers. "Tanks." Joey sighed relief before he laughed as did she. "But man who woulda thought flowers could even grow in da snow and ice! I sure didn't!" the blonde exclaimed. "Seein places like this ya know is kinda excitin! I waunda just what kinds of otha places we'll come across." Joey grinned.
"Yes. I hope to experience all kinds of wondrous plant life and flowers just like these Winter Roses..." Flora smiled. "It's just such a shame that these flowers are all the way up here where it's so difficult for people to view them..." "Yeah I agree with ya there." the blonde admitted before Flora used her nature magic to take a single seed from a Winter Rose. "Floral Rebirth!" the faerie of the flowers cried as she spun around in the air and spread the seeds all over Covenant making them grow creating Winter Roses to blossom everywhere.
"WOW!" Joey exclaimed as he watched Flora's magic at work. Afterward, Joey and Flora looked down from the hill to the village below them. "Flora dat was absolutely incredible!" the blonde exclaimed as his breath was taken away. "If only I could use magic like dat!" "Do you really think so Joey?" Flora asked as their eyes gazed into the others. "Really. I'm glad dat ya came with us, Flora..." "I am too Joey..." the faerie of nature murmured as she cuddled up next to him. Down below Layla and Marik were situated in the middle to the village sitting outside near a cafe.
"I think I'm addicted to this peppermint hot chocolate." Layla giggled as she took a sip. "I fear I am as well," Marik admitted as he looked around their surrounding area. "Though this does make the best starting point for my map...this village is in the center of it after all..." the tomb keeper mused. "And the best place for snowboarding! I'd love to shred these hills though that might draw TOO much attention." Layla pointed out. "Yes well, all of this snow is new to me. I grew up surrounded by the sands of Egypt...my body is not exactly acclimating to the cold very well..." Marik muttered. "Oh, this is NOTHING compared to the Omega Dimension! It freezes you solid...well most people..." the darkly skinned faerie murmured.
"Well, the majority of the time my family and I lived in the Pharoah's tomb. We were forbidden to leave until his return to the world of the living..." Marik muttered. "You've GOT to be kidding! That's horrible! I mean what kinda life is THAT!?" Layla nearly exploded. "Yes and I resented that accursed destiny...so much so that I evoked a darkness within myself...I couldn't deal with my life being predetermined by a 5,000-year-old Pharoah..." Marik told Layla as he gripped his pen lightly in his left hand. "My parents also tried to control my life ever since I was born. They wanted to have my dress like a princess, talk like one, walk like one, they even picked out my husband. The only way I could break free from it all was by dancing. I'd take out all of my frustration and just dance...it was like the whole world didn't exsist...just me and the music...it was a friend that taught me how. Though I kept it a secret from my parents." Layla offered a smile. "How did you vent your frustrations?"
"...Well...you could say I used MIND over MATTER..." Marik answered rather bluntly. "Oh! I get it like positive thinking!?" "I suppose you could say that." the tomb keeper mused. "However I eventually accepted my fate and family's legacy...it was Yugi and Atem that helped me do it," Marik told Layla. "Yeah every once in awhile you're parents can be right...like the guy they picked out for me it turned out that he and I were perfect for eachother...but..." "...Layla?" Layla frowned as she looked down. "Ogron took him from me...about a year ago..." Marik frowned softly and placed his hand on hers. "My deepest sympathies...I know a thing or two about loss...especially because of my OWN mistakes that I made in the past...I've tried to make amends...though honestly I'm not even sure that's within my reach anymore." the tomb keeper sighed.
"At one point in time, I let darkness into my heart too...I was in such despair after Nabu died that all I could think about was getting revenge...so much so that I left my friends...but I realized that Nabu would have never wanted any of that...and in the end, my friends forgave me...and you know what Marik. I think that whoever you hurt...will forgive you also...after all everyone deserves a second chance don't they?" Layla murmured softly with a smile as she looked up at him. "...It is precisely because of the madness I caused that I must uncover the secrets of that scroll...to learn what it is my family hid away for all these years...then maybe I can finally make amends for the wrongs I've committed..."
"And you Will," Layla told the tomb keeper. "How can you be so sure Layla?" "Oh...just call it a faerie's intuition...WAITER ANOTHER ROUND OF PEPPERMINT HOTCHOCLATE!" the darkly skinned faerie exclaimed as the waiter passed them by before they paused as they noticed carriages. "Wait is that Roxy and Raeger?" Layla questioned as Marik stood up for a better look. "Yes...rather interesting..." "Hmm, I wonder what's going on...well we can ask Raeger later. Let's get back to working on the map." "Very well." Marik agreed as they turned their attention back towards the map. Further away near the entrance gate of Covenant Yugi and Kaiba were both trying to locate the ruins as Bloom made her way over to them.
"I wonder what was with the high security...they just turned me away from The Guild...then there were all those carriages...whatever this is I have a bad feeling about this..." Bloom murmured as she rubbed her arms to warm herself. Slowly a carriage with an emblem of A Sword And A Shield pulled up towards the area and came to a halt. Bloom looked around for the boys before she spotted them and hurried towards Kaiba and Yugi. The driver looked towards the older looking man with blonde hair and scarlet eyes sitting within the carriage. "My lord you're going to be late for the meeting..." the driver warned. "Stay here...I shan't linger long..." the man told the driver before he removed himself. He wore a black leather cloak outlined with gold wearing black the sides of them and his chest was the crest of Elixer. Silently he watched the party try and dig out the ruins from the heavily piled on snow.
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