The Six of Us

🍄 Chapter Two 🍄 Marigold Aivus's POV

My buzzy thingy, or whatever Dad said it was called, woke me up just an hour before school started. I yawned as I stepped out of bed. I saw Eva through the window. Her usually well-kept hair was all over the place, and she was rushing and stuffing things into her bag.

I opened my window and manipulated the vine that climbed up the side of her house to knock on her window, startling her.

"Sorry!" I said, not really sorry, as she opened her window.

"You scared me nearly to death! But hurry up! We must get to the House of Elders before anyone else does so we aren't late for school."

"Alright, alright. I'm going!" I laugh as I close my window and continue getting ready.

I dashed down the ladder and the stairs, startling my dad, who asked why I was in such a rush.

"Don't worry about it, Dad! Thanks for breakfast! Have a good day at work. Love you!" I said, grabbing a slice of bread and running out with my bag by my side.

I made a left as soon as I got out of the house, and I started to bang on Eva's door. "Eva! Eva!" I yelled. "Eva, come on!"

"I'm out here, ya oaf!" She yelled back from behind me.

"Oh, sorry," I apologized half-heartedly as we started down the path to the House of Elders.

We passed Center Square as we dashed forward—the strong smell of Mr. Owen's baked goods taking over my senses. He offered a free loaf of bread for the two of us, and as much as I would've loved that, we were in a rush and had to decline. We then ran past a group of students in our grade, and it sadly turned out to be Kai Thalsis and his lackeys.

"Where are you two ladies off to?" He asked, about to grab Eva's arm, but I made a giant flower sprout in front of his face, blocking his view.

"Sod off, Thalsis!" She yelled, grabbing my hand as we ran faster.

"Yeah, sod off, Thalsis!" I laughed loudly, gaining the attention of everyone in the Square.

We slowed down a bit after reaching the hill that led up to the House of Elders. The House of Elders wasn't really a house. It was a humongous willow tree where the Elders lived.

When we finally reached the top of the hill, we were out of breath and panting.

"I hope this means we get to skip Training today," I said, laughing and breathing heavily.

"I doubt it. Ms. Evga wouldn't believe us."

"That's true. She's a stingy old woman." I chucked as we walked into the dark, hollow trunk of the tree.

It was dimly lit with firefly lights strung up between the branches. Making it look serene and calming.

"Evangeline," an Elder said calmly, startling us. "Marigold. What brings you here?"

The Elders were majestic creatures. They were once ordinary villagers here hundreds of years ago, but they were turned into tree-ish creatures using their magic, forced to stay attached to that willow tree. It's for the greater good, though. By staying there, the power and stability of nature in the village is much stronger. But for some reason, the Elders were getting weaker. The magic wasn't as strong anymore, even though no one wanted to discuss it.

"H-Hi!" Eva chirped nervously.

"Eva, be cool. This is important." I whisper-yelled at her.

"Are you going to continue to waste our time, or are you finally going to get on with it?" An angry-looking Elder asked.

"Rude much," I thought to myself.

"No, sorry. So, I know this may seem hard to believe–" I started.