Like A Red Tomato

As Lotus watched the sleeping figure sleep in a fetal position, she poked his cheek softly with a finger. The guy did not budge at all as she muttered curiously, "Seriously, he acts all bossy and all that, but he can get to be like this at times too, huh?"

Lotus moved aside the hair tickling the guy's cheeks as she hummed in thought, "The Crimson Tyrant... Though he looks more like a red tomato when he gets mad. Haha..."

After checking his pulse, she sat next to him and pulled out her equipment onto a flat rock she brought over as she began to study her new findings. If there was anything she was glad about day, it would be when she requires the light to help her study in the day. As she continued to measure and observe the materials in hand, she flipped through the pages in her book quietly with ease recounting the theories used for each medicine. After much time had passed, she could hear footprints coming their way as Lotus got up and regathered her equipment and got up.

"Oh! You're back?"

Lotus looked over while brushing the dust and soil off her red dress and saw that it was Trey who had returned holding a small bundle of white berries. She nodded with a tired smile, "Ah, I could say the same for you. Looks like you had to run another errand. I only just got back."

"I see." Trey looked to her curiously.

Lotus spoke again, "By the way, can I check your pulse for a bit?"

"Hm?" Trey put down the berries next to the tree as he looked to her in confusion.

"You've already had the seeds, it seems." Lotus responded curiously, "I initially thought it would be a good idea to let Riddle take that poison one and Cater to take the green one after he gets stronger, but this is good too..."

She could feel the purple energy radiating from the man before her as she said curiously, "It's good that you took the purple one since you bake alot. Cater also took the green one, right? Did he feel any different after taking it?"

Trey offered her the wrists and responded as she took the pulse, "He felt a little bloated, but Lotus stepped in and gave him a couple pills. Was this the symptom..."

"That he was accumulating too much mana in his body? That's right." Lotus responded with a nod, "Did I not use the water balloon reference? It's a good thing that Lotus could move freely between your dorms or it'd be bad if he didn't get to Cater over time. At least, the Jade lotus won't let him get hurt so easily. The problem is controlling the lotus... The guy is quite reserved though..."

"You can see it too..." Trey finally frowned in concern, "He's been like this often... Please excuse-..."

"There's no need for worries about my opinions with his behaviour." Lotus responded off-handedly with a small shake of the head, "Even if I try to intervene, my involvement will only harm his growth. Only the people around him can help and his own thoughts. Whether he opens up or not is up to his own power. I can only hope his current leadership is enough for the moment."

"What about in the future?" Trey asked with a frown as he pulled back his wrists.

"Before he heads out of the school, I'll hand him a pill to take before he leaves. The pill can reduce the seed from acting out whenever something tries to harm him. The society here is less violent compared to the dog eat dog world I come from. He'll be fine. The seed won't let him overblot if it means risking his life either. Purple Fuschia Lotus is more obedient and to act according to your will. It can't harm its surroundings, but it can protect you from attacks. If you encounter any poison, this lotus can easily counteract the majority of poisons. There are only a rare few capable of getting past its defenses. The poison doesn't exists in this world anymore. You can say they're mostly forgotten by those who did know about it."

She sat back on a boulder with a sigh, "The Lotus is settling pretty well in you, but did you take into consideration what the other two would think if they knew of your intentions? They probably won't stand by doing nothing..."

Surprised, Trey looked up before he huffed a small smile with a hand on his stomache, "How can we be sure of that it works?"

"True." Lotus sighed in exasperation, "They have no idea how lucky they are right now being so naive."

"I'm more surprised that you knew of him." Trey smirked mischievously.

"He's always around the dorm. How can I not notice the guy? I even have to follow him out of the school so many times." Lotus shook her head with a frown, "He's unique magic is really interesting."

She looked over to Riddle, who was still sleeping with a shrug, "I intended to let Riddle take it, but this is better for now. Overblot... I wonder if there's any way to restrain it... Even just a little. Right now... Jamil of Scarabia... I hope he can pull himself together..."

"Sounds like something will happen again." Trey took the berries in hand as he managed to process what she was saying, "Will you need to call the headmaster?"

"I have the feeling that that supervisor and cat will be able to take care of things. Lotus is running some errands right now too." Lotus added, "That duo, though, is staying in Scarabia and already forgotten about the task on hand. The ghosts are doing them in their stead."

"Ah, hah... Already, huh?" Trey huffed amusingly.

"What can be done?" Lotus shrugged, "It would seem that Kalim-senpai enjoys parties, but the three are too oblivious as usual... Still, I worry about the cause of this month's event..."

"This month's event?" Trey raised a brow.

Lotus shook her head and glanced over to Trey with a frown, "Lately, Riddle seems to be having it hard... His health is good, but he lacks sleep. How rare..."

Trey didn't say anything which was normally unusual if she couldn't guess the cause of his condition correctly. She shook her head, "I'm not going to dive into the reason for this problem. I'm just an acquaintance, after all. He's only just recover from the overblot, so he should relax the mind and refrain from using magic. You should know that well, so I won't go into further details that you already know. I just don't want a second incident to occur. If another overblot happens in the same dorm again, I'll be the one in trouble."

"Are you going to charge us?" Trey questioned hesitantly with a look of confusion, "Lotus had also said she doesn't examine patients without payment of some form."

Lotus shook her head in dismay and responded, "You guys keeping Little Jun's identity a secret from the other two is enough. That guy is getting bolder these days and managed to suck one of your students into a separate space. Punishment has been handed out and he's currently memorizing from the textbooks of ettiquete for humans. He can read, but he just can't quite flip pages yet."

"I see." Trey shook his head and sighed, "So you were in the vicinity."

In exasperation, Lotus nodded, "I was dealing with some fleas in the forest and had Little Jun give me a hand. Who'd have thought those guys also got stuck and Little Jun tried to play before work. He does not understand his priorities right now, so he's being taught before he goes out again. It also seemed that he gave your resident student a chase around the space. I knocked him out and had Lotus deal with the rest. He probably thought that most of it was a dream or something."

"So, that was it." Trey said with a short laugh, "That's what happened to him."

"Mh... What happened to who?"

Lotus turned to see that little guy already starting to sit up drowsily. Lotus got up and said with a smile to them, "Looks like he's up. Then, I'll go back to work now."

"Huh? Wai-!"

However, the girl had already left.

As she returned to her spot on the bramble peak, she looked back to the direction of the previous peak with a look of confusion when she recalled the weary look of that child. Just how important is a biological mother that treats you so detachedly? To her, the queen, who has never even had a biological child, may not have been the best mother, but the effort she puts into connecting with her was already admirable. Even though he's older now to understand, why is he so attached to this woman's opinion?

.....

On the third day, they got up bright and early and continued their journey when the heat descended upon them again. There wasn't much wind in the morning as she hurried across the sand. Once again, doubt began to enter Raaji's mind once again.

"Are you sure we're getting closer to an oasis?" Raaji questioned nervously.