The Gardenkeeper's Daughters

Lotus- 12

Luckily for all of us, Aislyn doesn't rush us back to the castle immediately. We take in as much of our break as possible, relaxing in the warm sunlight and testing out the limits of Natrina's new powers.

"Alright... make a pumpkin!" I demand.

She closes her eyes and crouches down for a secord, and before her paws grows a large pumpkin, its vines wrapped around her paws. With a single shake, the vines retreat, leaving only the pumpkin behind.

"If we end up on a hostile dimension with no food, this should be really helpful. As for combat situations... I'm not so sure." Vivian tells us.

"Weren't you the one who said we could weaponize anything?" Natrina asks her.

"True enough." she consents. "Now... weaponize it!"
"Just going to make demands and then give me no hints. I see how it is."
"You could make Firefruits." Aislyn points out.

"If you could make plants grow fast enough, you could encircle your enemies in those vines and then feed them poisonous berries." Gash suggests. "It's a little harsh, but it should work."

"Grow a tree over top of them!" I say cheerily.

"Fly traps the size of a tree!" Vivian calls, outdoing my request, probably on purpose.

Natrina closes her eyes and sets to work on our requests, wisely avoiding trapping anyone within her large vines or actually creating a fly trap the size of a tree.

"Oh, so that's a fly trap." she muses as she looks at the large mouthed plant, which snaps viciously at her approach. "Nasty little thing."

"You didn't know what it was?" Vivian asks.

My sister shakes her head with a resigned sigh.

"How did you make it then?"

"I just... knew when I began working on it. Whatever creates these powers knows far better than I ever could."

"That's not very reassuring, knowing something else is using these powers through you."

"It's a Terreskian." Natrina says.

I shift my own petals, looking at them in a new light. "How do you know?"

"I remember what Aislyn showed us. Feeling their bodies, their forms, their energy... all of that felt a lot like this. That's why I had those weird flash forwards of hearing Gash talking about the rope bridge before the song. That's why Lotus and I saw a shooting star before we met Aislyn! All the Keepers, Aislyn's arrival, all our powers... they're behind all of it! We really are their heroes!"

"You saw the star too?" Gash exclaims.

"You heard voices before the song and didn't say anything?" I say, half annoyed and half amused we've managed to find ourselves in this situation again.

There's another silence and Natrina's ears lower guiltily.

Taking a deep breath, I tell her, "It really doesn't matter. Tell me more!"
"While you're at it, you still need to make that fly trap." Vivian points out.

"Could you work on some food, too? I'm starving right now." Gash says.

"One at a time! One at a time!" she tells us as we all pile on the requests.

I watch my sister close her eyes and the telltale vines begin spreading around her paws, amazingly fast. I close my own eyes and reach out to her. Her presence is so powerful, so warm and gentle, that I can sense it without trying. I want to hold onto her forever, even if I know we're only mentally touching. Opening my eyes, I see a garden growing around her. The four remaining Canis sit about enjoying the luxuries of this new and beautiful place. Taking a place beside Vivian, I sit down and watch the garden erupt with fresh fruit and plentiful bounty. The two of us curl up together peacefully. When Natrina finally finds us watching her in awe and crunching on apples and wild strawberries. Looking about, I can see that the sun is setting now, the bright spectrum of the sky visible in parts through the dappled trees. The whole thing is a stunning effect, and just seeing it makes me feel warm inside, though there's a sense of bittersweet and almost despairing resentment towards it.