Aether's Legacy | Elysium [Dreamnotfound]

Project Salvida

"You'll do it?" was the first thing Wilbur asked George the moment he stepped into the kitchen while rubbing the sleep from his eyes and yawning. Wilbur held the fridge open with his hip and a lemonade carton in hand and stared at George, awaiting a response. George stood frozen at the entrance of the kitchen, having been caught off guard. In the living room, Tommy, who was spread on the couch watching a Mission Not Possible movie with Tubbo, overheard and spun to look at them.

"Gogy's gonna join us?" he said, making Tubbo also turn with a big smile and hopeful gaze.

"Dream mentioned it this morning before heading out to help Techno and Phil pick out some supplies," Wilbur said.

"Oh." George pulled his shirt down, took a breath, and said, "Yeah."

On the TV, Ethan Chase jumped off the roof of a building that detonated into a cloud of flames and ashes just as Tommy and Tubbo sprung onto the couch and threw their arms in the air, wooing. George couldn't say it felt like a good sign.

"Brilliant," Wilbur said with a smile, ignoring the two boys dancing in the background. "Phil's probably going to gather everyone so we can go over the plan as soon as they get back which," he looked toward the clock, "should be soon. Would you mind fetching Niki? I reckon she's in the lab." He let the fridge close and took a sip straight from the carton.

"Um, sure, I guess." George turned up his nose and made a note to avoid drinking their lemonade before he backed into the hallway to search for the lab.

The door was half-open when he found it. It was a large room that had a few tables with potted plants ranging all the way from small fruit trees to flowers to even carnivorous plants, all organized into neat lines under a long lamp. The room felt warmer and more humid than the rest of the building when he stepped inside, and he noted the fans spraying mist in the corners of the room.

Niki's back was to him, and she was humming a gentle tune while moving down the rows of plants and watering them. When George approached her, she was tending to a pretty marigold plant like the one she had grown when they had first met her. Although there were a lot of other plants in the room, Niki paid extra attention to the marigold bush in front of her.

She caressed one of its petals and leaned closer to smell it, her eyes closed and her smile distant like she was reliving a happy memory. As he stood at a distance beside her, George felt like he was intruding on a moment, so he cleared his throat to make his presence known.

Niki turned with a questioning gaze and then her smile grew wider, and she said, "Oh, hello, George," and continued down the line to water the next plant.

"Wilbur said Phil's gathering everyone to talk about the plan."

"Tell him I'll be there in a moment."

George nodded and took a good look around the room. Although there were beakers, microscopes, test tubes, and other obvious lab supplies scattered about on the counters that lined the front and back walls, the room looked more like a botanical garden with the diverse range of plants overtaking the place, some even hanging from the walls and ceilings. He supposed it made sense considering they had two Geos, Niki and Phil, in their team.

"What is this place?"

"Originally it was the spare room that we used as a lab for one of our missions. Now I just use it as a garden room. Nobody around here seems to care about making this place look nice, so I had to take it upon myself to remodel a little."

"It looks great," George replied while strolling between the tables, examining every individual plant, many of which had little note cards with unique names and information about how to care for them. He stopped in front of the marigold which was sitting on a pedestal at the center of the room. "You like marigolds?"