[[[ THE MYSTERIOUS FLOWER]]]
It took a while but Valencia finally realized what the flower wanted. She was not as cautious as the village chief and Lucy. She thought the flower was very pretty and adorable. She raised her hands and activated her skill. A huge butterfly appeared once more over her head. It flapped its wings and flew directly to the flower.
The chief looked on without a change in his expression. But, he was silently taken aback. The white butterfly before him gave him the same feeling as the pearl he took. That means she had developed the pearl without the use of a medicinal herb or a cauldron.
It did not even take a second for him to make the connection.
He looked at the little fairy and he could already imagine the hardship she would face ahead.
Upon seeing the butterfly, the flower vibrated with glee and flew to greet it.
The flower flew directly into the butterfly. After a few seconds, The butterfly skill was completely absorbed by the plant. Now it had three more leaves than before on it.
It flew back to Valencia and circled around but Valencia did not cast the skill again. She looked to the chief and Lucy and they looked back helplessly.
She tried to command the flower to go back but it did not listen to her words. It floated upon her head. That was where the butterfly appeared early so it silently waited.
Lucy walked closer to inspect it but she did not dare to touch it.
After leaving the cave, It did not take long for the chief to gather the elders.
The village chief had finished discussing his plans to evacuate the village.
When everything was brought to light. All the elders were gobsmacked and outraged. They were all shocked by the 5th elder's actions. He and the village chief were one of the older members of the board.
Many of them wanted to trample on his dead body. It took a while for them to calm down but they were all wise men luckily The village chief left out the information of Valencia's involvement. There would be too many questions.
Yet he could not stop the elders from occasionally sweeping their eyes over Valencia. The reason was floating above her head was the mysterious flower that was plaguing their village not too long ago.
When they taught about how much pain they went through. They did not feel safe being in the room with the flower.
One of the elders could not hold it anymore and asked, " where are we to go? This volcano has always been our home and what about the wishes of our ancestors"
The other elders seem to agree with him. If they had somewhere to go when the plague first appeared they would have left long ago but they knew what lay ahead.
Utter annihilation.
The villager chief felt the same way but all long as the people were safe. He would do anything.
"We have to ensure the safety of our people. Our forefathers left this place to us to protect but sadly we will have to part"
He signed inwardly but kept his stance. "We are to leave by morning!"
They all left with instructions to prepare the villagers to leave at first light.
Lucy had taken the time to teach Valencia about some of the dangers of the world as well as the ranking of immortals and the usages of magical herbs. So she slowly was beginning to form an understanding of the situation.
She looked up at the flower and wondered how something so beautiful could cause so many problems.
The flower seemed to have noticed her gaze and shook a little bit in the air.
Valencia then turned her gaze to Lucy who was beside her. She could see the sadness and unwillingness in her eyes.
She wished she was stronger. Strong enough to protect the people she cared about.
"Go and get some rest. We will set out in the morning"
The village chief instructed her and Lucy to get some rest. He had long been aware of Lucy's fatigue. The poor girl was barely holding herself up.
He looked at the flower and wanted to seal it but he knew none of his techniques would be insufficient for such as a flower. Especially one that has a consciousness.
The chief knew how reckless it was to walk around with such a flower exposed but he would have to think of a plan tomorrow. He also needs to rest.
The numerous shocks he received today were too much even for an old man.
They both nodded and exited the mansion with the flower in tow.
They both arrived inside Lucy's house. This was the house she woke up in twice since being in this village.
On her way to the house, she did not know where she was going to sleep. Fortunately, Lucy had someone install a bed in her room for Valencia.
Lucy wanted Valencia to be as comfortable as possible staying here. She did not know it would this short. She didn't know if Valencia would like it but it was evident in her reaction.
Valencia was very happy upon seeing this. She inspected her bed. It was not as extravagant as the beds she slept in but she did not care. To her, this bed held more importance.
She looked at Lucy and said thank you. Tears rushing from her eyes. This would be the first time she ever slept in a room with someone other than her mom.
They quickly washed up. It was not until they laid in their bed did the girls realize how truly tired they were.
Valencia was the last to fall asleep. Lucy was worried but she could not hold onto that last string of consciousness. She was too mentally drained
Valencia looked up at the flower by this time it had stop spewing the white mist. Now that petals had turn white. It gave it a different allure.
She stretched out her hand and stroked one of its leaves. It was so soft.
"Why are bad people after you?" She asked but the flower did not respond.
She was a little bit overwhelmed and did not know what to do. This was one of the first hurdles she would have to endure in this adventure of hers.
She slowly closed her eyes. She had fallen asleep.
The flower began to shine with bright light. It turned into countless specks of lights that flew into Valencia's head.
Luckily no one was there to see it. Valencia's body had started to float. Her hair whipping in the darkness. Valencia's hair began to change from a dark black to a white and then black again. It was as if her hair could not decide on a color.
Valencia herself did not know of the changes that was going on in her body. At that moment she was experience a strange dream.
In the dream, she was standing in a hot windy wasteland. The sky was red and the air was hot and stale. She coughed none stop. The air was in breathable fortunately her powers acted and she was able to breathe again.
Her first concern was Lucy's safety. She didn't see her anywhere.
She scanned the area again. There was no life around, no plants, no buildings as far as her eyes could see. The only thing she saw was a tree in the distance.
She was scared and did not know where she was. but she couldn't just stand there. She decided to go towards the only thing she could, the tree.
The more she walked the more despair she felt because No matter how far she walked. It didn't seem like the tree was getting closer. She fell to the ground and began to cry. She clutched her hands to her chest feeling around for her butterfly necklace but it was nowhere to be seen
it would have been expected for her to sink further into despair but the opposite happened. It did not take long for her to stop crying. She was not aware how but for some reason she knew everything was not real. She looked down at her hands and saw the white glow. Her lord was still with her even in this strange place.
She closed her eyes and begun to channel her energy into her eyes. It was then she heard something snap, like a glass shattering.
she slowly opened her eyes and what assaulted her was a worried face lucy.