𝓦𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝓘𝙩 𝓑𝙪𝙧𝙣, 𝗔𝗡 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗛 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗬 𝗙𝗜𝗖

𝓒𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝓢𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣

Marigold Sun's POV

Marigold dabbed a bit of green onto her canvas, blending it with the other shades of emerald. The Emerald City had inspired her, overflowing with gorgeous variations of green, and she was just compelled to paint, draw, or do whatever! Everything was emerald, from the furniture to the building with tinted green glass panels. After arriving at the Capitol, Aurelio had hauled Emerick to the Royal Palace of Oz and found medical support. 

"Please don't tell me I need to cut off my leg to survive," Emerick said once he regained consciousness.

"Nah, they'll just cut off your arm instead," Scout teased.

"What?" Emerick was mortified. "I'm going to become Captain Hook?!"

Aurelio elbowed Scout. "He's still under the laughing gas."

Now that Marigold was alone up on the balcony, she uncapped another tube of green. Since Rapunzel was an artist, Marigold tended to see the world differently. She saw how objects faded into each other and cast shadow and light on each other.

There was a knock at the balcony door and Aurelio stepped out. "Hey, Mari, we're supposed to meet Scout and Emerick in the Grand Library. Apparently, we're meeting Emerick's dad." He paused, noticing the painting kit. "Seriously?"

"In my defense, I didn't pack it, I had to borrow it from the palace staff."

"Can't argue with that. Wait, did you actually paint that?" Aurelio squinted at her painting which made Marigold embarrassed slightly. She didn't like others seeing the unfinished product. "Damn, you're actually really talented. Is it an inherited skill...?"

"Well, that's like saying you just happened to inherit your father's science skills without doing any hard work," she said pointedly as they headed towards the Grand Library. Marigold was sure that she was going half-blind with seeing all the green. "I supposed you can't actually weave gold?"

Aurelio rolled his eyes and laughed. "Bane of my entire existence."

"Hey, look at who's doing better!" Marigold gestured to Emerick and Scout who were sitting on the floor. Emerick was rapidly yapping about robot mechanisms whilst Scout just nodded along. "The library here is so, well, grand." It was vast and shelves of books up to the ceiling. It was a fever dream for Bree Beast.

"Where's your dad, Diggs?" Aurelio questioned.

Emerick let out a sigh. "He likes to make a really dramatic entrance—"

Suddenly, a smoke machine went off and a middle-aged man stepped out from the shadows. He wore a green sweater and had a dignified expression on his face. "Welcome, my fellow visitors," he said as robots gathered, moving animatedly.

"Dad, you promised you wouldn't make a big deal out of this," Emerick groaned.

"You are so boring," Mr. Diggs said, walking up to them. "Ah, so these are your friends! Pleasure to meet you all. Now, now, I know you've travelled a long distance and are tired, so why did you request to meet me?"

Aurelio explained their situation and how they needed to find the lost Storybook of Legends pages. "Pages, you say?" Mr. Diggs stroked his rather long beard. "That's funny, because a bundle of pages appeared in this very library a few days ago!"

Marigold's eyes lit up. "Oh, well, that's perfect—"

"Unfortunately, I was reading my book at that moment and needed a bookmark. I used the pages to mark my book and later forgot about it. I can't quite recall what book it was..." Mr. Diggs shrugged, gesturing to the large library. "Welp, you're free to look for it here." He strolled away before any of them could pepper him.