The Past Is History, The Future A Mystery

Chapter 1

The sound of chirping birds and the rustling of trees surrounded Chise as she pruned the bushes in the garden, all while politely and quietly thanking them for their leaves, just as Elias had taught her months ago. The leaves would soon be used for things like medicine and such, and now was the perfect harvest time.

Ruth sat next to her, watching as she collected the cut leaves into a woven basket at her feet. He saw how she meticulously selected the brightest leaves and left the overgrown bushes in neat shapes for the next harvest. The wind blew gently and made both of them feel at ease.

"I'm sure the neighbors must be happy today", she thought to herself. Without noticing, a small smile had crept into her face. Pruning bushes was a very quiet task, quiet enough for thoughts to bloom easily. She thought about the last couple of weeks, so many things had happened to them, many of them could easily be considered unpleasant, but she regretted none of it.
Despite everything, they'd all made it through, even Joseph who now slept comfortably in his garden well. She'd also shared one of the happiest moments of her life with Elias, knowing that they'll never be split apart again.

Chise stared at her left hand where the ring on her left hand that Angelica had made was. Her gardening gloves wouldn't let her see it, but she felt it there, Elias wore an identical one too, under his white gloves. It was all still so fresh in her mind and every time she so much as glanced at the ring, she thought of Elias. Ruth could always tell when Chise was thinking of him because he could feel his own heart at ease thanks to their connection.

As they stood in the garden everything else seemed to be still, as if they were in a beautiful painting. It was in these moments when Chise truly felt at peace with herself and her life, because even though things were never normal in her life to begin with, she finally understood what having a home to return to really meant.
However, deep in her heart, she knew that with the life they lead, something would eventually arise.

With that in mind, she looked away from her ring and finished up pruning the bushes, grabbed her basket filled with shiny green leaves, and headed back to the house, Ruth in tow.

Once inside the greenhouse that connected the back of the house and the garden, Chise set down her basket on one of the tables, took off her gardening apron and gloves then went inside.

When she entered the smell of sweet tea filled her lungs, it hung in the air giving the entire house a cozy feeling. Chise headed towards the storage room and looked at the door knob, but swiftly looked away towards the kitchen, deciding that the smell was just too inviting.
"Silky, can you make a cup for me as well?"
Silky turned and nodded slightly, a small smile on her face.
"Thanks, I'll finish up and then head to the living room for study time," she looked at the kitchen counter and noticed she'd also made biscuits, "is Elias still hungry?"
Breakfast had been just about an hour and a half ago and Elias was already eating again?
Silky simply nodded again.
Chise thought it was odd, but Elias had his moments every now and again.

Now that that was settled, she headed towards the storage room again. It was a wide room with book cases covering three of its walls - all of them filled with jars of differing sizes and labels - the fourth wall had a desk in front of a large window where light showered the room. It was a beautiful apothecary with just about any ingredient you could ever need.

Chise walked towards the shelf closest to the desk to retrieve the mason jar she needed for the leaves she'd picked. The one she was looking for was one of the two biggest they had in the apothecary, those leaves were always being used in some way or another. However something felt off, as she looked at the shelf, she noticed a few jars were missing.

"He must've gotten a customer while I was in the garden", she thought to herself, "perhaps a...", she looked at the empty spots, remembering which jars they belonged to and tried to add up the ingredients in her head, "what was it again? I think... a sleeping aid?"
It seemed as much, but one of the ingredients missing wasn't used in making the aforementioned medicine. Chise wondered if Elias had taken anything else from the shelves. She wandered the room looking for any other ingredients he might've taken.