Intricate

Chapter # 2

"By the way, Emma, isn't it fading out a bit...?" Liyana said, glancing toward my hair.

"Hmm? Ohh." I touched my wavy, waist-length hair and noticed the fading color. I got my vanilla blonde hair from my mother. However, I dye it plush pink using pink plush berries, which give my hair a soft, warm hue with subtle peach undertones, reminiscent of delicate plush petals bathed in the soft light of dawn.

"Yeah, it's been a while since I dyed it," I added. I'd chosen this color because I thought it would suit my amber-colored eyes.

"Huh, I better get going then. I'll dye it quickly," I said, lost in thought. Usually, it takes me half an hour, but it better be quick today.

"We'll tag along. We don't want you missing out on our daily reporting session before dinner at the palace," Kian added with a warm smile.

"Yeah, we'll come too," Liyana chimed in, holding my hand warmly.

"Let's go then, folks!" I commanded, grinning widely. Thankfully, the plush berry garden isn't far from the Wasarior Falls.

We raced toward the garden, and it was easy to pluck the berries since they grew on creepers. We plucked the pink ones, smashed them with two rocks—one as a mortar and the other as a pestle. Then, I applied the paste onto my hair, and while waiting for the dye to set, we savored the delicious edible plush berries. Yes, they're edible, but if you eat the ones used for dyeing, you'd turn the same color. It's even used as a punishment in the Islet's palace prison.

We were enjoying our time when, out of the blue, I started getting hiccups.

"Hic! Hic! Hic!"

"Are you alright?" Liyana asked in her gentle tone, soothing my back with her hand.

"Yeah, I—hic! Hic!"

"God! Emma, wait, I'll go get some water really quick," Kian said, his voice full of worry.

"Please hurry, Kian," Liyana pleaded, furrowing her brows and not taking her eyes off me.

"I'd better," Kian said, and with that, he sprinted toward the Islet.

"Goodness, Emma, are you alright?!" Liyana kept asking, so worried that she was literally leaning on me. "Open your mouth for me—" She gently compelled me to open my mouth. "You didn't choke on the berries, did you?"

"Hic! Hic! Hic!" I shook my head, still hiccupping.

"We should keep water with us at all times, dammit!"

"I'm back! Here—" Kian placed a cup of water in front of me. "Drink it." He probably made it quickly out of the sour glow leaves, which was why the cup felt flimsy, making him hold it with both hands. Still, he had returned pretty quickly.

I gulped down the water, but their intense concern made me choke.

"Cough, cough!"

"Emma!!" Both Kian and Liyana screamed in unison. Kian quickly struck a hard blow on my back, seeing how badly I was choking, and then he held my face, tilting it toward the sky. Tears streamed down my face as I choked, and Liyana was quick to wipe them away.

Thankfully, the choking stopped, and miraculously, the hiccups did too! Both of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, we rushed toward the waterfall as it was the nearest one to the garden to wash off my dye as it was done setting. We reached the waterfall, the cool spray misting over us, and I washed my hair thoroughly in the stream.

"Phew, all done!" I exclaimed, relaxed now. "Come on, Custard, time to rise and shine!" I called for my creamy-colored ebb hoss to dry my hair; she could radiate light as well as heat. This one also had a spark of enthusiasm in its personality, just like mine.

It purred in excitement and rushed toward me, breaking apart from its own trio of Pumpkin and Pie.

But then, the air grew thick with tension, and an uneasy silence settled between us. We all froze, suddenly aware of the soft hum in the distance—a faint vibration in the air that seemed to shift the very atmosphere around us. My heart skipped a beat.