Roses & Ferns (An OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes Love Story)

Chapter 15: Fern's Past (Part 3)

By Jen Joyce

On the last chapter of; "Rose and Ferns"

We've learned more about Fern's past; how Fern and Mr. Gar knew each other and how the promise was made. We last left off on a cliffhanger, with Fern finding a map to a place called "Rosa-Tracheophyta Manor" which is somewhere in Hero's Forest. After making sure that Hero's Forest was a real place, Fern found out that not only is Hero's Forest a real place, but it's also the forest behind the Plaza! What'll happen now?! How will Fern take this in?! Let's start off with a small flashback before going into the story.

A small ding noise interrupted her, signaling to her that the results popped up. "Wow, that was fast. Okay, let's see what we've got here." Fern looked over the results and was shocked with what they said. "No way." Fern backed up a bit from what she was seeing. "I can't believe that Hero's Forest is behind Lakewood Plaza Turbo!" As improbable as this sounds, the map says that Hero's Forest not only exists, but it's behind the Plaza!  

Third Person's POV

   "I don't believe this," Fern muttered to herself. "Hero's Forest, the place that supposedly has this "Rosa-Tracheophyta Manor", is directly behind my future workplace!" 'It has to be a glitch.' Fern thought to herself. She clicked on the "refresh" button on the computer and waited; once it stopped, it just showed the same results. "Ugh! I know this can't be right! Right?" Fern pondered for a moment, wondering if either her computer was glitching out or not.

   "Okay, if -- and that's a very strong "if" -- the results are accurate, how am I sure that this isn't a prank from one of the other kids in the orphanage?" Fern thought for a moment, thinking about where she could possibly find information elsewhere. "Wait a minute! I there might be something about Rosa-Tracheophyta Manor in the library!" So Fern embarked on an expedition to find the aforementioned book from the library. 'This better not be for nothing in the end. I just hope that the hall isn't too-' Fern, not paying attention to her surroundings, ran into something, landing bottom first onto the floor.

   Looking up, she saw that in front of her was a slightly turned around red-furred 15-year-old cat wearing a black cape, a blue shirt, jeans, and no shoes. "Hey!" The boy exclaimed in a slightly cracked voice. "No pushing! We all gotta wait for Ramon "Slow Poke" Sunil to move outta the way so we can get to where we need to go." He said, irritation lacing his cracked up voice. Fern got up from the floor of the orphanage, a confused expression on her face. "Wh-Who's Ramon?" Fern said, brushing herself off. "A-And why is he taking so long to cross the hall? I-It's not even that long."

   The cat turned around to face Fern completely, an irritated look on his face. "Well, Ramon arrived last week, from what I heard, his mother died a few years ago and his father was a villain and used him as some kinda relief from his stress. It's sad really, but thankfully P.O.I.N.T. managed to save him and now he's here." The cat explained, his voice squeaking at every third or fifth word. "And the reason for why he's so slow is because he's, well..." He crouched down on his arms and legs and looked up at Fern. "See for yourself, kid." Despite the number of voice cracks, there were, she did as she was told and climbed onto his back as he stood back up.

   As soon as Fern found her balance on the cat's head, she saw in the middle of the crowd of impatient people and animals waiting, there was a humanoid gray male snail with a giant brown shell on his back; he was wearing a black shirt and glasses, was carrying a brown, unzipped handbag in his left arm, and was moving at an incredibly slow pace with snail slime trailing behind him. "Oh," Fern said in realization. "Now I see why." "Yup," The cat said, holding her up and making sure that she doesn't fall. "Since he arrived, everyone has had to wait longer to do things and get to places."