Chrysanthemums For You [A Twisted Wonderland Fanfic]

Chapter 4

Persephone woke to something warm embracing her. Persephone woke to the feeling of a gentle fabric resting atop her bare shoulders, and to the feeling of fabric tangled between her legs. She sat up, her eyes still foggy with the linger of slumber, and looked around. She did not know where she was, but there was the familiar scent of flowers and trees. She smiled for a moment, imagining that she was back with Nisi, surrounded by her lovely blossoms, and her mother's wheat field, beyond their little house beneath the mountain. But as the blur started to clear, Persephone's heart sank upon realising that she was not on Nisi. It hadn't been a nightmare after all.

The gentle fabric she had felt was a blanket. A light one. It was the same peach-coloured one that she had been given the day before by the boy. What was his name again? She could not remember. But she did not mind if she did not remember his name. To her, he was simply the boy who had found her on the island in the ocean. He was the boy who had brought her beneath Sea's waves and had warmed her by the fire, ensuring that she was all right. And he was the boy who had given her the blanket of peaches.

But where was she now? She did not remember being surrounded by her namesake when she fell asleep. Had the boy moved her somewhere while she slept? It seemed to be the most reasonable guess, and she decided to leave it at that. The boy had moved her sometime after she had drifted off with Dream, and had left her in a garden.

She smiled and slid out from beneath the blanket. She watched carefully as her toes brushed against the stone path beneath her, and immediately, grass and flowers rose to meet her. She giggled and stood. She took another step. A daffodil blossomed before her and she knelt before it, cupping it gently in her hands and caressing the petals with her thumbs. They felt familiar. They felt like the fabric of her dress. They felt like home. A single crystal tear fell from Persephone's eye and landed on the petal, sliding down until it rested in the heart of the blossom. She smiled. Even her sorrow could bring this little plant beauty.

Rising until she stood, she turned back to the bench where she had been sleeping. She gently picked up the peach blanket and folded it neatly, before setting it down on the bench. Then, she set off in the direction of what appeared to be a large grove of trees. The scent of the leaves called to her as she walked through the paths, unknowingly covering the stones with grass, flowers, and the small little golden orbs that seemed to flicker from her dress.

When she reached the grove, she stretched her hand out and gently brushed the bark of one of the trees. Her fingers ran through the rivers in the wood, following each as though they were a map that could lead her home. As her fingers trailed along the bark, the trees shivered at her touch. To them, she was a princess. To them, she was a queen. And as any citizen would give a gift to a monarch, they bowed and presented the girl with their fruit. Apple gave her fruit of rubies, and the fruit of the sun came from Lemon. The tree with leaves as green as a lush forest gave her cherries, and a tree with leaves of pale green provided her with pears. Persephone smiled and thanked the trees. With a wave of her hand, vines snaked out of the ground, twisting around each other as they formed a beautiful basket for their queen. She held it in her arms and walked from tree to tree, thanking them as she pulled the fruit from the branches.