8. Impressing Some Elves

The day had finally come Marlet announced her project with the tree seeds would come to a close. This confused a lot of people in the familia because besides the cornered off area nothing had changed. Nevertheless, all the elves could feel the ground thrumming with magic. It got to the point that any elf that did not have any prior commitments could be found trying to find out what the girl seemingly loved by nature was capable of. "What can I expect exactly Marlet? I already have people snooping around trying to figure out how we grew that hedge of your as well as a few people asking for those flowers as alchemy ingredients" Loki asked the girl in question. Before Marlet could explain what she had done and plans for the immediate future, she felt a tap on her shoulder where she saw Riveria pointing with her chin in a direction. Seeing Bete coming towards her direction she gave Loki a questioning look.

Bete stopped right before her, keeping his back straight and making direct eye contact with her he said "I will not apologise for what I said, the strong will always rule over the weak and they should stay out of string's way… that being the case though, I know not everyone can start strong and currently I am not the strongest out there" Bete sounded satisfied with what he had said and looked expectantly towards the little girl before him that has caused him so much frustration. With a look of confusion Marlet could only tilt her head and ask "why are you telling me this?" Bete also put on a confused face as well "you said I had to admit I 'wasn't at the top of the food chain', those were your exact words!" he was getting angrier as he spoke. "Why are you telling me though? I already know you are not at the top and neither am I, so that brings me back to my question. Why are you telling me?" Marlet was now more confused than ever. "SO THAT I CAN PUT A FORK IN MY MOUTH AGAIN!!!" Bete shouted at the top of his voice, attracting the attention of the surrounding people. Realising what he was trying to do, Marlet had a look of sympathy on her face "Bete, I have no qualms with you personally. In that moment it was your pride and arrogance that irritated me and led me to curse you" a look of realisation came upon Bete's face but was dashed by what she said next, "but the only person who can break the curse is you. You mustn't convince me, it's yourself that you must convince." This statement surprised the werewolf and flabbergasted Loki and Riveria. "Wait, wait, wait! You mean you can't remove it?!?" Loki all but screamed. "Of course not, I told you I can cast curses. When did I saying anything about curse-breaking?" Marlet responded as though it was the most obvious bit of information. Loki fell on the floor, Riveria could only smack her forehead and Bete who had the worst reaction of all looked on the brink of vomiting blood.

Finished explaining to Bete how to enjoy his meals again, Marlet moved to the centre of the 5 planted seeds and crouched down. On one knee she seemed to be muttering something no-body heard or understood and then spread her wings wide. Inhaling a deep breath as though focusing a lot of concentration on her current task. That was until every elf in the surrounding saw the tame magic in the air form a whirlpool with her in the centre. Marlet slammed her fist into the ground and made as though grabbing something, once it looked like she had a strong grasp of whatever she was holding she shot up into the air and the magical vortex slammed into the ground. As everyone was mesmerised by the spectacle, everyone saw five little stems break through the surface ground. Before anyone could voice their confusion the little sprouts started growing and the strangest thing yet, was that they started weaving between one another. This created a beautiful spiral pattern with the bases as the pattern. The mega tree kept climbing into the morning air unbothered by the gasps of astonishment that could be heard throughout the entire Manor, some elves started having tearful eyes as the tree reminded them of their homeland. Once the tree reached its apex and the branches started spreading out forming a huge canopy that covered a few training grounds and a small section of the Manor something very strange occurred. Within 3 of the grooves that indicated the different seeds planted positions started shifting apart and smooth wooden steps chocks be seen forming going up in the form of a spiral staircase. The tree was by no means small, needing 15 grown men to simply surround the tree. What really started shocking the elves though were the balconies and slanted roofs that started forming in the sides of the tree.

Being the first to wake from her shock Riveria started looking around for the person responsible for the utter chaos she has just caused herself and the other executives. Already feeling the headache forming she looked around more intensely for the culprit but found her busy falling stomach up to the ground. 'That idiot must be in mind down again!' As Riveria was about to start chanting for a spell to blow wind and lift her slightly to lessen the blow from hitting the ground she saw a grey blur shoot past her.

Bete had just seen something straight from a story book. A tree grew from nothing but a girl with wings doing strange dances and muttering strange things, the sheer size of the mega tree nearly made him fall backwards on his backside. Noticing the tree had already fully formed but the girl that shot into the air was descending uncontrollably. He made a split second decision and shot at his full speed towards her in an attempt to catch her before any permanent damage could happen. Catching her mid-fall and then placing her down gently on the ground Bete could only shake his head with a wry smile and think 'You really are a weakling for passing out after only that' Bete shakes his head but then forms a small smile looking at the little girl who just did the impossible, 'but you are strong in your own way.' This thought was uninfluenced by any external factors and thus unbeknownst to Bete a golden wave of energy shot out from above his head, the cursed werewolf didn't know this though as he was looking down at the sleeping fey.

Whilst Marlet was sleeping the rest of the familia were extremely curious. Their goddess didn't even wait for anyone's permission and shot towards the pair of stairs as if someone would take it away at any moment. Riveria followed after her after giving instructions to another elf to inform Finn of what happened. Once she reached the first balcony the stairs led to she was shocked to see that the insides of the tree were grown in such a way that it resembled a house. There was enough space for a bed and leading down some internal stairs she found a hollowed out pit-like structure that she assumed to be a bath. Going up the same pair of stairs was space enough for a small library. Riveria continued up to the very top where she found her goddess looking over the whole Orario, visible just over the Twilight Manor and through the thicket of trees. This feeling gave them the sense that they could see anything the view allowed and non would be the wiser. "She will eventually leave the Manor to have her own adventure, you know that right?" Riveria could immediately infer what this topmost floor was meant for. "I know, but you know how the world treats those who are different. It can be a cruel and heartless place." was the goddess's only reply. After that, the two of them watched the sunset together in solemn silence, just enjoying the moment.

After many of the elves had walked through the shell of what looked to be a building and marvelled at what was accomplished Riveria had to step in and remind everyone that this was indeed to be someone's home and they shouldn't be coming and going as if it were the dungeon. There were many who agreed with what she said but as always there was a jealous minority that wanted to claim it for themselves. This group however received a major backlash from Marlet's friends the twins as well as Aiz, Lefiya would also have said something but was too caught up watching Aiz be heroic to voice her stance on the matter and when she had finally broken free of her trance there were already a few elves knocked out and had a few bruises on their heads. Suffice to say that Finn had to step in and chastise both groups for their rash actions and explain to everyone that just how they wouldn't appreciate it if the whole familia constantly walked through their rooms, Marlet would feel the same for her little tree house she has created. This caused a new picket fence to be built around the whole training ground and be marked as a separate 'room' by all.

The person in question was still laying peacefully within her bed in Riveria's room. This caused a few of her close friends to worry as mind down shouldn't have taken this long to recover from. It was only later explained by Riveria that it was a combination of mind down and physical exhaustion that led to her predicament and that she had explicitly asked that in the case something like this happened she be left to sleep it off. The familia as a whole decided that they would protect their little forest creator once she is allowed outside of the manor with the elves having a slight look fanatic gleam in their eyes. Some were having the selfish thoughts of kidnapping or luring her into the elvish forest so that should any harm or damage fall upon their home, they had the greatest 'handyman' a forest of trees could ever need. The look these certain elves would receive from their goddess and after some time, Riveria herself deterred majority of those thoughts out of their minds.

After waking up from what Marlet called 'a light nap' she first moved along the tree inspecting her hard work. Seeing as though the tree took on a snow white colour for the trunk and had vibrant green leaves she was very satisfied with her own room. After moving in her belongings to their required places except the bed, which she left in Riveria's room. She explained this by saying that she wanted to install a hammock with two spreader poles at the ends that kept it flat for her, this way she could sleep more comfortably with her wings not causing her discomfort. Understanding what she meant and what she wanted the Loki familia made a quick order at one of the minor tailoring familia with the finer details left to the craftsmen, the only thing they wanted was for it to be comfortable and big enough for 4 grown men to lie next to each other. The craftsman were excited at the new hammock design and got it done within a day, they also asked if they could start using the design for themselves and received permission with no strings attached, after all, the money from the hammocks were gonna be pocket money in comparison to the enchanting business they were going to start soon. Once all the furniture for the Tree-House (the unofficial name for Marlet's room) were installed, it was only the final few specific changes Marlet wanted to implement. The branch that reached the Manor was slightly extended and had railing like designs built into it, the intention was to make a bridge that led into one of the corridors so that a person wouldn't have to always walk through garden to come and visit her. Marlet also made sure that non of the roots from the tree grew into the second half of the training grounds she claimed, this was for a little side project she would implement a little later on. At the very top of the tree a strange wooden cave was formed and when asked why, she replied that if it gets colder the heat won't escape as easily and they could still enjoy the atmosphere at the top.

Whilst all this was taking place, the whole Orario was in a confusing state. Regular people marvelled at the spectacle of the tree that grew overnight, adventurers got scared of the magic they felt before the tree formed and gods schemed for methods to find out how the trickster goddess did it and of possible, how they could replicate it and possibly make their own better.