When we came out of the portal, we saw the ruins of the once great castle of the Kingdom of Hainer. Beside it, laid a gravestone. Keesha Halcourt enchantress and wife to the late King Gian it said and below these words was a riddle.
"A rose lies beneath these ruins. This rose has three petals. Each one scattered among these ruins. When all three petals are found, the rose will reveal itself."
Thoughts cluttered my mind. Come on, this riddle couldn't be more complicated. It tells us that there is a rose hidden under these ruins and then it tells us that there are three petals attached to it but it says they are scattered about these ruins and then the rose will only reveal itself when all three are found.
Paige glared at me.
"Kaze, I can hear your thoughts. You're just as confused as we are. I mean, this riddle throws for a real loop. I have an idea though. I will once again contact King Gian and see if he can help us."
"Sure. Do that. It's not like he'll be in your body long enough to tell us exactly where it is. He'll probably just throw us another hurdle."
"You're right. He may do that. But maybe he can give us a clue as to where the three petals are hidden."
Paige looked up at the sky as her eyes turned white.
"I, the once great King Gian, have seen that you are all torn about the riddle of the hidden rose. I will give you some help by helping you find one of the three petals of this three petal rose. You may not know this but all three petals are hidden under a different colored rock. I will sprinkle magic over these ruins and they will turn into a rainbow of colors. The center of these ruins is where the first of three petals lies. When you find the first, the place of the other two I will tell you where the others are with a riddle."
Paige's eyes turned back to normal as the wind blew and out sprinkled a mist of colors. Then the center of the ruins turned red. The opposite sides of the center turned the color of blue and green. Above the center turned gray. The ruins below the center turned purple.
All three of us ran to the center and threw stones to the wayside as we searched for the first of the petals. Then to our amazement, we saw a glowing light and there laid the first petal. Paige then froze into place as her eyes once again turned white as the spirit of King Gian entered her body again.
"I am glad you have found the first of three petals. Here is the riddle I have promised: 'The last two petals lay across from each other. Two of the four remaining areas of ruins of this once great castle have no petals beneath them and these two areas are diagonally across from each other. That is all I have to say. "
Paige's eyes again turned to normal. Paige looked at me as she fell to the ground.
"Liana what happened to paige?"
"My little bro, don't you know what happens when Mediums use their talent too many times in a day?'
"I'm sorry. I don't."
"They collapse because of the low levels of consciousness in this world."
"Really? Why is that?'
"When Mediums use their powers, they're sharing their body with the other side. This, like everything, has a cost. That cost is everytime they use their gift they lose a portion of consciousness in this world. So when they use it too much they go into a coma for the next 24 hours."
"Is there any way to heal her?
"No. Sadly there is not. This is a contract she signed when she was given her gift. Just like all mediums do. With every gift whether it's physical or mental, there is a cost."
"Give me the answer in simplest terms. Can we save her or not?"
"No. I will give you an example. Just like when a singer uses their voice at a high pitch their voice cracks after a while. The same is true with mediums. This is the contract she signed when Natasha lost half her power. That event awoke this gift in Paige and because either good spirits or bad can enter her body she signed a contract with the devil once this talent awoke."
"So what if the devil doesn't uphold his end of the bargain?"
"She may be in a coma forever."
Tears fell down from my eyes as I hit the ground and stood over her sleeping body.
Liana knelt down beside me.
"Kaze, it will be okay. We just have to trust that the devil will uphold his end of the bargain."
"And what if he doesn't?"
"Then we get up and finish this quest. If Paige is taken by the devil, she must not be lost in vain. We must avenge her spirit. It's what she would want."
"You're right. That is what she would want. And maybe just maybe when the new rose is activated, she will come back or maybe the devil will uphold his end of the contract and we will have nothing to worry about."
"That's the spirit. Now we must search these piles of rocks and uncover the two remaining petals."
"Right. The riddle said that two of the four remaining spots have petals and two do not."
"It also said that the two remaining spots must be diagonally across from each other. "
"Exactly, Liana. So, once we have found one of the two petals we will have already found where the final petal will be because the petals have to be diagonally across from each other."
"Alright then I will search the top and you search the bottom."
"So you suppose that either the top or bottom pile of rocks has the second petal.
"Yes. Also because of the rules of the riddle, when we find one petal we find..."
""I know, I know, we find both because they are diagonally across from each other."
We searched the piles as we threw rocks to the wayside. Then in the corner of my eye, I saw a glowing light. I ran to the glowing light.
"Liana, I found it! I found it!"
"Really? That quick?"
"Yes. I can't believe it either."
So where in the pile have you found it?"
"On the right side of it."
"So that means the last petal is in the right pile and not the left or the top pile."
We ran over to the designated pile and searched and searched until we saw a glowing light. We headed over to the light as beams of light shot up into the air. An orb came down from the sky. When it popped open, Out came the three petal Rose we sought out to find.I reached out for the rose as it fell down into my hands and turned into a pink stone.
"So it's true. The powers of the Three-Petal-Rose are shared between three stones that each of the sisters held."
"So the story of the ancients is true then."
"You thought it was just a story didn't you?"
"Yeah kinda. "
"You're stupid then. The rose weakening is the whole reason we're on this quest. We want to restore the power of the three sisters"
"Why? I think we're better off without it anyways."
"So you think having our sister in an endless coma because she has contacted the other side too many times is the better solution."
"No. I just think we could solve the problems of our towns without the help of magic."
"You're an idiot. Just so you know there's magic in everything. Magic is the lifeblood of the world we live in."
"It's also the reason we're in this whole catastrophe of trying to find a new rose by opening a secret cave."
"So you don't think the cave is real don't ya?"
"It's not that. I'm just saying that if we want to truly reunify the Kingdom back to its roots then we must work as a whole and not rely on some rose to save us. I mean what's gonna happen when we find the rose and Kiplee's advisors take it from us?"
"I think we should focus on the quest at hand and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
"I think we should try to prepare for it. I mean, They could already be on our tails."
"I don't think so."
"Then why do you think Paige collapsed conveniently while we were searching for the remaining two petals of the three petal rose. I mean, It can't just be because of some contract she signed with the devil."
"You think I was lying about that?"
"No. It's not that. I just think it's clear that Paige is not going to make the rest of the journey with us."
"Really? What do you mean by that?"
"I mean what I said. Paige obviously is not gonna be with us to help us find the Hidden Rose."
"I wouldn't say that just yet. The day is still young. He could come back to us form the other side."
"I'm sorry. But, I will not bet on that. Lucifer is the father of lies as we all know."
"You're right. He is. So I agree with you. I also don't wanna admit it but I think Kiplee's advisors are completely against us. I really do believe they are on our tail."
"Me too. I think we need to finish our quest quickly."
"I also think the reason why that is is because the stone we have was Kiplee's stone and her source of power."
"You're right and I believe that they want all of the powers."
""I too think that. Plus, I think that she didn't die of natural causes. I honestly think the she was killed by her advisors."
"If that is true, then Natasha and Mildred might be on the chopping block."
"That is why we must go back to Natasha and tell her that Sia and her minions are out to get either her or Mildred next."