Twisted-Wonderland: Our Precious Treasure (Part 1)

(20) TCT: Take Me Home, Down Country Toads

Jonah was still wondering how he never realized this place. It is a forest behind the campus, how could he not see that? But then again, he had been only attended this place for two days. After some arguing, they finally managed to share the job. Jonah and Grim were in chestnut picking duty while Deuce and Ace were on the shopping duty. Cater followed Jonah and Grim to show the way while Trey went back to Heartslabyul to prepare the tools they need.

"Whoa! There are a lotta chestnuts here!" Grim said excitedly, flying to the center of the open area of the wood. "If we have this much, then it's all-you-can-eat mont blanc for us!" He flew closer to one of the hanging hairy fruit. "Let's hurry and-"

When his paws touched the chestnut, he immediately pulled them back. "Gah! The thorns pricked my paws!"

Diamond laughed at him. "You should find a bucket first unless you want to carry those things all the way back to the kitchen." He then pointed at a building made out of glass. "There's a botanical garden over there. You can find a bucket or something."

Jonah nodded. "I'll get it." He then paused his steps and turned to Diamond. "Aren't you going to help?"

The senior gave him a cheeky smile. "I've done my job bringing you here. It's your turn now."

Jonah let out a sigh. He should've expected that answer.

-----

The botanical garden was bigger than he expected. The air in that sunshine-filled room was sweet because of the various fruits and flowers. Jonah walked through the brick pathway, looking around. It was pretty in here. Like a smaller, more colorful forest than earlier. It seems like a good place to take a nap. But he wasn't here to laze around or to explore as much as he wanted to. He had a clear mission here: find some buckets. Now where to start looking...

"Ah..."

Jonah looked up. Where did that voice come from? He looked around as saw a student in their lab coat uniform, crouching in front of the box at the corner of the room under the shadow of a small tarp tent. Jonah walked up to him, stopping just a few steps behind the student.

"They're looking good," the student said.

Jonah cleared his throat, trying to gain his attention. "Excuse me?"

It worked because the other boy perked up and turned around, standing. That was when Jonah realized that this boy was so tall that he had to tilt his head up. Why was every boy in this school so damn tall? He had teal hair, with a longer, darker grey strand framing his left side. His eyes have heterochromia iridium; his left eye was yellow, while his right eye was olive.

Wait a second. He had seen this boy before. He was passing their table at the cafeteria with his look-alike. Didn't Diamond say that he's close to Azul Ashengrotto?

The boy was surprised a little from the brief raise of his eyebrow, but he soon regained his composure. "Hello there," he said, putting a hand on his chest as he bowed slightly. "Can I help you?"

Jonah blinked, still amazed by his height, and cleared his throat. "Well, I'm just looking for a bucket," he said, "what about you?"

The boy smiled. "Oh, just tending my mushroom garden here," he said, crouching back down. Jonah tilted his head and walked closer to him. True, he could see there were some small mushrooms with various widths of caps, mostly brown-color. The boy turned his head toward Jonah, gesturing him to come closer. Jonah raised his eyebrow but then shrugged. Eh, why not? He crouched down next to the boy. "Why are you planting mushrooms?" he asked.

The boy looked at him as if Jonah just grew a second head. "Why not?" He turned back to the small patch. "This is just an experiment. And it's working quite well." He chuckled again. "You can eat them actually."