┊𖤐₊˚. ࿐ྂ。Bloom was enjoying her last day of bed rest. She had fully recovered but the girls were against Bloom going to class. Everyone wanted her to rest and that's what she did even if it was boring. She had called her parents telling them about the exams; leaving out everything that happened in the chamber. They were happy that she was fitting in so well. Andy on the other hand, when she had called him, she had gotten an earful from him.
The boy had threatened to tell her parents everything so she'd be brought back home but his threats were empty threats.
Andy had just been so worried when he had heard from Stella what had happened. Bloom may have been a bit annoyed that Stella told Andy but she was glad she did. Talking to Andy about everything felt like a weight off her shoulders. She didn't have to hide anything from him. Bloom could unload everything on to him. Things that the girls didn't even know, Andy knew.
Bloom did miss her life back in Gardenia but she also thought that she'd be able to make a life in this dimension—if she could that was.
Bloom was sitting at her desk reading over some of the work they had gotten the past week. The dorm was relatively quiet around her, Tecna having disappeared to work on some project with Timmy, while Musa and Flora both studied for their Magical Reality exams. Stella had left not long ago for her date with Sky. Bloom was convinced that this date of theirs was going to be when they finally become official. Anyone could see that Stella and Sky were head over heels for each other, it would be about time they became official.
The peaceful quiet was interrupted by a sudden, strangled yell. Then Stella’s voice, all but screaming, “Flora!”
“Flora,” Stella said again, this time accompanied by an irritated sounding sigh
“Why don't you take your hippy-dippy research and go save a different planet!”
Bloom emerged from her room after carefully stepping over Flora’s plants that were cluttered around on the floor. Bloom was surprised to see the two girls glaring at each other. “That's not very nice!”
Bloom quickly rounded the pair so she could stand between them before a fight broke out. It was rare for anyone to argue with Flora since she usually stayed away from conflict but it seemed now it was unavoidable because Stella looked pissed at the Nature fairy.
“Come on, guys,” Bloom sighed. “Don’t fight.”
“No,” Stella shot back. “She’s gone too far this time.”
“I'm close to finishing my new potion. It will protect us from the Witches,” Flora told the blonde. “Like, homeopathy can work against dark magic!”
“Hey, it's an alternative.”
Bloom tried to lighten the mood but it didn't work because Stella was now glaring at her as well.
“It's out of control! It wasn't enough for her to turn your room into a stinky twenty-four-hour potion lab, she had to invade my room with her veggies!”
Bloom wasn’t a neat-freak by any stretch of the imagination but even she had to admit that the room currently resembled a pig-sty. It had already been messy before exams had arrived, but it seemed the more Flora studied, the more the plants multiplied, until Bloom could hardly get from the door to her bed without bumping into something green. They were just lucky Griselda hadn’t been by in a while.
Bloom followed Stella to her room and her eyes widen when she saw Flora’s plants in Stella’s room. The base of Stella’s wall of windows were cluttered with numerous plants, many of whom had started using the windows as a climbing wall and were starting to grow along it towards the ceiling. What was more, many pieces of Stella’s wardrobe were fitted over the plants, and their leaves were smeared with what looked like makeup. Even as they stood there they saw a vine creep out and snag what Bloom knew was an expensive lipstick, and start to draw with it on the fern next to it.
“She crossed the line with those grabby little fashion victim plants! They're shrinking my clothes, using my make-up!” Bloom wanted to laugh at how the plants looked but she knew she couldn't since this was serious.
“They adapt to their environment,” Flora said guiltily. “There’s a reason they’re called ‘menmosa- vain atosa’.”
Beside Bloom, Stella let out an agonised sound and turned away as if the sight physically pained her.
Her eyes fell on something and she let out a loud gasp. “That's my Goblin Govanna! It is my favorite dress forever! You see what's happening here? Oh, my poor poor clothes!”
Stella turned to Bloom. “Do you see this Bloom? Tell me now that I'm overreacting because I'm sure as hell am not.”
Both Flora and Stella looked at her expectantly, both confident she would side with them. Bloom bit her lip; she knew Flora really wanted to continue creating potions and also studying for her exam, but she could also see at least a couple of hundred credit’s worth of damage right in front of her.
“Maybe we can fix them,” she said, not picking a side.
Stella shook her head at Bloom. “No, they're couture! Do you know what that means? They're one of a kind! The shrinking's bad enough, but they're also mixing stripes with florals, it's like a horror show!”
“Maybe we can find a better place for the plants,” Bloom suggested.
“They need sunlight,” Flora said. Bloom looked out the window. “Well, how about our balcony,” Bloom suggested, trying to be patient.
“Yeah, maybe,” Flora said, sounding happier. “And maybe Tecna will know a counter-spell,” she added, glancing at Stella. The Solarian princess looked reluctant to let go of her anger, but she sighed and nodded anyway. Bloom smiled happy that they could compromise.
Bloom led the two of them across the common room to Tecna and Musa’s room. Musa was on her bed, surrounded by textbooks, highlighters, and pages of music sheets, headphones on and blasting music. The headphones explained how she didn't hear the argument. When the girl caught sight of the other three, Musa tugged her headphones down around her neck.
“Hey, what’s happening?” Musa asked confused as to why all three of them were in her room.
“Have you seen Tecna?”
Musa shook her head and she went back to highlighting a passage in her book. “Nah, she's been off of the radar.“
Bloom clapped a hand to her forehead in sudden realisation. “Oh! I totally forgot, wasn’t she going over to Red Fountain to work with Timmy?”
“Oooh,” Stella cooed, grinning wickedly.
“Is that what the kids are calling it these days?” Stella asked wiggling her brows. Bloom decided to ignore the innuendo.
“I know she was planning to, but I don’t know if she ended up going. I didn’t hear her leave. Why? What did you need?” Musa questioned.
“Flora needs a spell to fix my clothes,” Stella put in quickly.
“Doesn’t the nocturnal ivy have restorative abilities?” Musa asked the girl.
“Oh yeah! I could boil it and combine it with a drop of sparkly parsley oil,” Flora said with a smile. She hurried over to Musa and Tecna’s wardrobe. “I’ve been keeping the nocturnal ivy in here, since it likes the dark and this room gets the least amount of light,” she explained as she swung open the door.
A little shriek escaped from Flora when she saw what was inside the wardrobe. Standing inside the wardrobe, wrapped from head to toe in vines was Tecna, looking very unimpressed and red in the face.
“Oh, dear,” Flora said, while Bloom, Stella, and even Musa gaped behind her.
Tecna tried to say something but the vines across her mouth made a makeshift gag and all she could do was make a muffled, disgruntled sound. Sparks flew from Flora’s fingers and the vines slithered away, releasing Tecna and leaving her to scramble out of the wardrobe, rubbing her sore wrists.
“How did you not hear me?” Tecna asked furiously. Musa shrugged, looking vaguely apologetic. “I had my headphones on.”
Tecna turned her outrage on Flora. “All I wanted was a jacket and the blueprints for the computer Timmy and I are working on and this psycho plant grabbed me.”
“You see what Flora is doing to our living conditions?” Stella was quick to say. Bloom nudged her side with her elbow.
“That's not cool, Flo,” Musa said. “Not cool at all.”
“The blueprints are gone,” Tecna interrupted. “Is there any way to get them back?”
Flora paled. “Uh, get them back… not really.”
“What about a spell?” Tecna asked, voice rising. It was clear to them all that she was struggling to keep her cool.
“The ivy is really good at restoring other things, but anything it eats has to be caught straight away or it's pretty much gone.”
Tecna yelled out sarcastically, “Great!”
Flora ran a distressed hand through her hair. “I really didn’t think it would grow so fast! I’m so sorry!”
“What am I supposed to tell, Timmy?” Tecna spat. “We worked on that for a whole month. All that hardwork is now all gone!”
“Oh, Tecna,” Flora said, eyes brimming with tears. “I’m so sorry. I really am.”
But Tecna wouldn’t meet her eye, and busied herself with her phone, where she was presumably texting Timmy an apology.
“It’s all well and good to say sorry,” Stella spoke up. “But this is our dorm and we shouldn’t have to be dealing with these issues here.”
Flora swallowed visibly and inhaled sharply as though she was resolving herself, before nodding. “You guys are right. I’ll clear out all my plants and take it all over to Black Mud Swamp until after the exam.”
“No!”
“I'm so sorry for all the trouble I've caused you,” Flora said, hanging her head low.
“You can't move to Black Mud Swamp! There are keekbugs, not to mention subterranean sludge slugs! She should stay, right? Tell her to stay!” Bloom said turning to the other three girls. They can't let Flora live in Black Mud Swamp. It was too dangerous.
Flora hurried from the room when no one said anything, shutting the door behind her. There were a few thumps audible from the next room, the Nocturnal Ivy abruptly vanished, then they heard the door to the dorm open and close again, and then finally silence.
Throughout all that the four girls were still in Musa and Tecna’s room. Bloom was staring at the door, Tecna was fiddling with her phone, Stella was staring at her nails, and Musa was ‘reading’ her study notes, but her eyes remained in one place the entire time.
Bloom turned to the girls. “You guys are unbelievable,” Bloom said coldly to the other three once Flora had left. “I can’t believe you just let her go like that.”
“There are plants everywhere, Bloom,” Tecna pointed out.
Bloom sighed looking at the girls. “Flora's our friend, you guys. So she's made a couple of mistakes, that doesn't mean she needs to go live in a swamp,” she said to the three.
“She said it was fine,” Stella muttered, but she didn’t sound too sure of herself. “And my makeup…”
“I don’t care about the stupid makeup,” Bloom retorted, surprising everyone including herself. “Flora is our best friend, not something you can buy more of in some store.”
“We know, B,” Musa sighed. “And we love Flo—”
“Could have fooled me.”
Musa was surprised by the tone of Bloom’s voice. “We love Flo,” she said again. “But this is our dorm, we have to be comfortable.”
“This is as much her dorm as it is ours. How many hours have Musa kept us up playing music? Or when Tecna is working on a new invention? Or when Stella leaves the common room a mess because she can't decide on clothes? Or when I stayed up all night just two weeks ago studying? Have we ever complained about that?”
The three girls ducked their heads with shame. Bloom sighed as she stared at the three of them. “Girls, we can't just kick her out for something like this. We could've all come up with a way to solve this. I agree that we should respect each other's space but arguing will never fix it,” Bloom told the three. There was a long minute of silence in which Bloom just waited.
“You’re right,” Musa finally said. Her voice sounded small, and her shoulders were hunched. Her eyes were filled with regret.
“Flora’s our friend and we acted like complete bitches,” Stella agreed. “We should…” she trailed off for a moment before visibly bracing herself for whatever she was going to say. “We should go down to the swamp and apologise.”
Stella hated Black Mud Swamp but she would go to into that Swamp to go get her friend.
“And ask her to come back to the dorm,” Tecna added.
Bloom nodded satisfied. “All right then. Let’s go get our friend.”
-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-
In the middle of Black Mud Swamp a few specialists were stomping through the swamp with the supervision of Levi. He had been given the green light to take a few freshmen to Black Mud Swamp to do some training. The boy was rather excited since he hadn't been able to go out on any training missions in a while. He would usually go with the guys but since Riven didn't talk with any of them; Timmy was off working on his project and Sky and Brandon were off training. Levi and Riven had slowly drifted apart and no matter how much Levi tried to talk to Riven, the boy would do his best to avoid him.
Levi had decided to leave him for now. Riven can't go long without at least commenting on something, so it wouldn't be long until Riven was back to being his old self.
“Levi, was it wise to bring the freshmen to Black Mud Swamp?” Dino asked Levi. Dino was also a second year with Levi and he was very skilled in swordsmanship, not as skilled as Riven and Brandon but he was skilled nonetheless.
“A keekbug?!” a freshman yelped and the others jumped back, their eyes wide with fear.
“They're all cowards. Maybe we should've picked a better place to do this,” Dino said. Levi sighed and he grabbed an arrow. He held it up and waited for the right moment. He shot the arrow and just like every other time, the arrow hit the small lizard right on its tail causing it to screech. The freshman who stood nearest to the tree screamed, jumping away from it.
“Listen up. We're not leaving this swamp until every single one of you catches a black necked lizard alive. It has to be alive. Don't kill it,” Levi told them. The boys grumbled and complained.
“That's not fair!”
“You don't have to catch it with an arrow. Catch it with anything. Be creative but each of you better have caught one by sundown,” Levi told them. “Oh, don't catch it with your hands though. Black necked lizards will bite off your fingers. Be careful.”
He gave them until sundown since he knew they wouldn't be able to catch any lizards right now.
The freshmen still grumbled with complains saying how it was going to be impossible while the others had fear written all over their faces. They went on to try and catch the lizards. Dino leaned over to Levi's side. “Is that such a great idea? You do know how this Swamp gets when you harm its animals.”
Levi shook his head. “Don't worry. As long as they don't kill the lizards, we'll be fine.”
Dino knew he should've said no when they asked him if he wanted to accompany Levi on a training mission.
Levi walked through the swamp away from the freshmen when he heard a yelped followed by loud voices. His hand instinctively moved to his pen in his pocket. As far as he knew, they were the only ones in the Swamp. He pressed the top and the sword extended.
The boy followed the voices leaving the freshmen with Dino. He was responsible enough to handle them.
The voices got louder as he got closer to them. Levi rounded a tree, and the source of the voices came into a clear view for him. It was the Alfea fairies but not just any Alfea fairies. It was Stella, Bloom, Tecna and Musa. Flora was missing from their small group Levi noted. They seemed to be arguing over Stella who refused to enter the swamp water.
Levi was surprised that he had bummed into the four of them here in Black Mud Swamp, especially Stella. The girl who probably hated the Swamp more than anyone else.
He put his sword away, as he trambled through the muddy water.
“I never expected to see you four in this Swamp.”
The girls stopped arguing and they turned to the source of the male voice. “Levi?” Musa asked, surprised to see him.
“What are you doing here?” Bloom asked the boy. Levi gestured to the path he came from. “I'm here with a few specialists for some training. Why are you girls here? Especially you Stella. I thought you hated mud.”
Stella rolled her eyes. “I don't hate mud. I just hate this mud.”
“We're here looking for Flora,” Bloom informed him. “We had a fight and she basically moved out of the dorm. We're here looking for her.”
“You haven't seen her here, have you?” Tecna asked and Levi shook his head. He would've remembered if he had ran into Flora.
Stella grumbled as she stared at the mud water. She would have to step inside the water if she wanted to go find Flora. “We'll have to keep looking then.”
“Thanks for your help anyway.”
“I can help you girls look for her. I practically know this place like the back of my hand,” Levi said exaggerating a bit. He had spend more time in Black Mud Swamp then any other person since he had done most of his training here, and even if he was knowledgable about the place, he still didn't really know the Swamp.
“Would you?”
“You don't have to.”
Stella and Bloom said at the same time. The two girls looked at each other before the redhead turned her head to the boy. “You don't have to. We don't want to disturb your training.”
“Oh, that's fine. I won't be gone for too long.”
Levi walked toward them, Stella's eyes on him as he walked up to her. He stopped in front of the girl and then he grabbed her by the wrist. He pulled her toward him, her foot stepping into the water causing it to splash all over her and the person closeted to her, which was him.
Stella glared at the boy but he just smiled. “Why the hell did you do that?”
“I saw your eyes Stella. You were contemplating if you should get into the water. So I just sped up your decision,” Levi said with a smile. “You're welcome.”
“I hate you so much Levi!”
“Love you too, Stella,” Levi winked at the blonde before turning to the other three girls. “All right. I know a place where I think she could be.”
“Really?”
He nodded at Musa. “Yeah. Let's get going.”
He beckoned them to follow him and they did so, through the muddy water. Stella was yelping every other minute as her foot squished in the water. Levi was trying his hardest not to laugh at Stella’s disgusted face. “So, what kind of training are you specialists doing here in the swamp?” Bloom questioned.
“Just an annual training with some freshmen. Red Fountain does this thing every year with the freshmen. It's kind of like orientation,” Levi said as he walked carefully avoided stepping on the vines in the water. “Be careful of the vines. Don't step on them.”
The girls followed him. “What about the others? Is Sky also here?” Stella asked.
“Nope, they're back at Red Fountain. I'm the only one here.”
Stella groaned under her breath and Levi chuckled when he heard it. “I know you missed me this past week, Stella,” Levi said and the blonde rolled her eyes. She kept her mouth shut, trying to stay focus on not ruining her outfit.
Levi glanced over to the redhead who was walking behind him. “Also Bloom, shouldn't you be on bedrest?” he asked her. The last time he saw the girl, she was unconscious in the infirmary. “I've already recovered and today is my last day. I'm going back to class on Monday.”
“Oh, that's great. I hope you'll stay out of trouble and not scare us like that.”
The redhead chuckled. “I'll make sure to stay out of trouble.”
He nodded with a small smile. The five of them made their way through the warm, muggy place. As they waded further in, searching for their friend, the girls had started stripping off the jackets fanning at their faces. It was winter so it was surprising for the girls that it was so hot in the Swamp.
Eventually, they found Flora with a camp already set up beside an offshoot of the lake, the area cluttered with a tent, small chemistry station, and many familiar-looking plants.
Flora glanced up from a row of ferns and a look of surprise crossed her face, quickly chased away by hope and relief.
The surprise on Flora’s face when she saw Levi was priceless. “Girls? Levi?” she asked, standing and stripping off her gardening gloves.
Bloom smiled at her friend. “Flora, thank goodness we found you.”
“We sincerely want to apologize for the way we acted. We behaved poorly, Flora,” Tecna said. “We hope you can forgive us.”
“Yeah,” Musa agreed, scuffing the toe of her sneaker in the dirt. “We acted like real bitches, and we want you to come back to the dorm.”
“Can you forgive us?” Stella asked.
Levi stood at the side watching the four girls look at Flora with pleading eyes. He wondered what exactly happened for the girl to have had ran to the swamp after an argument.
Flora didn’t even hesitate and she skipped over to hug the girls. “Of course,” she grinned. “And I'm sorry as well.”
“No need to be, we overreacted,” Stella said “I overreacted.”
“We're really sorry.”
Flora smiled, hugging the girls more tightly. “It's okay.”
The five broke away, all relieved to have sorted out their fight. Stella, it seemed, had other things on her mind as well however, judging by the way she looked around furtively.
“Not that I’m not glad that everything’s peachy with us again but can we move back to the dorm now. Where there's less mud.” Stella glanced mournfully down at her mud-splattered wedges. “And bugs,” she added, slapping an insect away from her thigh.
“Can we help you carry this stuff,” Bloom asked, gesturing to the plants.
“Well, actually I was hoping to go look for a Cheerful Gladiolus. If you plant them they ward off nearby creatures with malicious intent,” she continued quickly, when her friend’s smiles started to droop. “I thought I could use it in my exam, you know as a defensive measure.”
The girls glanced at each other not sure if snooping around the swamp was the best idea but Flora's next words seemed to change their minds. “I think it could really boost my marks.”
Flora dug a book out of her backpack, and flipped it open to a marked page, flipping it around so the girls could get a look at it. She showed them what the flower looked like.
Levi stepped forward as well to look at what the flower looked like.
“If that's it, couldn't you have gotten it delivered?” Stella asked the girl. Flora shook her head. “There aren’t many of these flowers left, and so they’ve gotten really skittish and won’t let themselves get picked. But I’m hoping if I show the local Junior League my newest invention, they’ll help us catch the flower. Check this out.”
Flora beckoned them all closer and untwisted the lid of a vial. Then, with the others watching closely, Flora used the stopper to drip a single drop of the potion onto the leaf of a nearby fern. The drop glimmered on the leaf for a moment before sliding off and splashing to the ground; and where the drop landed another fern, identical to the other suddenly sprang into existence. Gasps of amazement echoed around the friends.
“Cool!”
“I hoping this invention helps so that the flower won't be endangered anymore," Flora informed them. “So let's go and get that flower.”
“Levi, do you wanna come with?” Flora questioned the boy. He was supposed to go back to the other guys but it would be a while before any of them succeeded on the small task he gave them. He might as well kill some time searching for this Junior League.
“Sure.”
“Uh, you know, I think that I should stay here and look after Flora's stuff,” Stella said. She didn't want to walk around the swamp with her leather boots. Levi had already ruined it and if she kept walking through the swamp water with them she was afraid she'd have to throw them away.
The five pairs of eyes narrowed at her dangerously. “Get your butt moving, girl,” Musa growled.
Stella pouted and sighed, but started walking with the others in front while Levi stayed behind Stella to make sure the girl doesn't sneak back.
“But I have this bad feeling. It's creeping me out!”
Musa rolled her eyes, “Any place five miles away from the mall creeps you out.“
Stella shook her head, “No, I'm telling you, I feel like there's something out there.”
“You don't have to worry so much, Stella. We can protect ourselves and anyway, we have Levi here if we need help in any way,” Flora said, gesturing to Levi who send Stella a wink when she turned to him.
Stella looked at Levi and she almost whined. “That doesn't make me feel any better.”
Levi chuckled as he trudged after the girls. They all wrinkled their noses at the stench of the swamp and trying to stay as mud free as possible.
Eventually, they all began to tire and Stella began to drop behind, heeled boots not being the ideal footwear for swamps after all. Levi had to stay at the blonde's side to make sure she doesn't fall behind too far. Every time the girl's foot got stuck in mud, he would laugh and Stella would try to blast him with some light but every time she missed him.
It wasn’t easy to traverse the swamp, the mud stuck their feet to the ground, the sun was hot beating down on them, and it seemed no matter how much repellent they slathered on, the insects zoomed to them.
“Stella, hurry up. You're keeping us behind,” Musa said to the blonde. Levi was helping the girl get her foot out of the mud. “Can't you see that I'm stuck?”
“Should've worn something other than leather boots,” Tecna told the blonde.
“Why did you wear these shoes when you knew you'd be coming to the swamp?” Levi asked after helping the girl. “I didn't think we'd be trampling through the swamp after we found Flora.”
“It's a swamp, Stella. What did you think?”
Stella tried to kick Levi but he dodged her foot. “Ugh... I can't wait until we find the nymphs and go back to civilization!”
“Chill out, Stella!”
Stella laughed nervously. “Not that I can't handle a little swamp,” Stella said as she wiped some mud off her shoe again.
“Yeah right! You couldn't even handle a kiddy pool if it was in the garden of your castle in Solaria!”
“Please! I've traveled all over the universe. I've been in far harsher environments then—” Stella whirled on her heel, to continue her argument but the mud was slippery beneath her, and her feet went skidding out from beneath her. She toppled over with a loud scream, and went from being completely clean, to being plastered in cold mud in a matter of seconds. While Stella laid there, blinking up at the sky in shock, Levi who had been a few steps in front of her bursted out laughing at her. Musa gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth. But Musa didn’t stay shocked for long and was quickly fighting off laughter while the others hurried over.
Stella groaned as she lifted herself up. She glared at Levi who was cracking up, bend over laughing. He seemed to enjoyed her misfortune the most out of everyone.
Bloom’s mouth twisted at the sight of Stella, still lying soaked on the ground, as she tried not to laugh. “Oh! Are you okay?” Bloom asked sympathetically.
Stella groaned in frustration. “No!” Stella sobbed. “I'm not okay, I'm a princess! I shouldn't be subjected to slimy environments and neither should my shoes!”
Levi wiped a fake tear under his eye as he continued laughing. Bloom bit her lip, hard, while Musa let out a loud snort of laughter which made Levi laugh even more. Tecna shook her head at Musa scoldingly, while Bloom and Flora each grabbed one of Stella’s hands each and hauled her to her feet.
Levi stepped forward, stumbling as he laughed. The blonde stood in front of them, shivering and covered in dirt, while Bloom, Tecna, and Flora did their best to use cleaning spells to get the worst of the mud off before the sun dried it. Musa and Levi was trying to sober up from laughing so much.
“The worst is off now but you'll definitely need a hot shower later,” Bloom told the girl as she stared at the girls dirty hair. Stella will have to give her hair a clean wash as well.
“Thanks girls” Stella sniffed, before shooting Musa and Levi, a pointed, acidic glare.
“Sorry,” Musa mumbled and Levi chuckled, “Sorry, Stella.”
Stella was about to say something when Flora interrupted them.
“Guys, the Junior League’s headquarters is just over there. It's like most Junior League’s all over the universe, is run by the undines. Water nymph’s,” she added when she got a few blank looks.
Flora pointed out a small stream clustered with water lillies and what looked to them like silvery-grey fish. The girls and Levi moved closer and Bloom realised that the fish weren’t fish at all but little water nymphs. They had the faces and torso’s of a regular human, with hair that fell in waves over their shoulders, but from the waist down they had a tail, making them look similar to the mermaids. The same webbing that ran between the fingers of the undine’s little fingers, also connected the nymph’s wrists to torso, creating gliding style wings.
Upon closer inspection they saw that the nymphs weren’t silver at all but were actually coloured in pale greens, blues, and purples. All in all the little nymph’s were about the length of the girl’s forearm.
A small group of nymphs raced along the water, disappearing for minutes at a time under the surface before bursting up to catch the wind and glide around their little glade, before diving back down into the water. Their delighted laughter as they played sounded like a chorus of chiming bells.
“Wow, they're really small,” Levi and Bloom muttered at the same time. The two exchanged a glance, chuckling at themselves before they looked back at the nymphs.
“They're like tiny mermaids.”
The redhead had thought the mermaids would be bigger but she was not at all disappointed.
“Are those their houses?” Musa asked, pointing to a cluster of large bubbles visible through the surface of the lake.
“Looks like it,” Tecna said, peering at the bubbles curiously. It looked like a miniature city made out of bubbles.
“It’s really cool,” Flora told them. “Each bubble is a personal sleeping pod that houses one nymph.”
One of the nymphs spotted them and she came closer. She smiled up at them with folded arms over the bank of the pond. The girls knelt down in front of them.
“Hello,” one of the nymphs said in a high-pitched voice.
“Welcome to the Black Mud Swamp Junior League Headquarters, ladies. I suppose you are here to get tickets for the literacy for butterflies tea party benefits?”
The second nymph neared them. “There aren't any left, but we could put your names on the wait list. Follow us.”
The girls looked at each other before they followed the nymphs further in. Levi was a bit hesitant but he followed after them anyway.
The nymphs stayed close to the edge, leading the girl’s around the bank and further into the grove. They came to a halt in a little alcove off the main pond, shielded from sight by a thick curtain of willow fronds. There they found a regal looking nymph sitting on a throne set into the base of a tree sitting close to the water’s edge.
“Her Royal Majesty, Queen Edhelnim,” the first nymph, Mitriel, declared proudly before pulling herself out of the water to sit on a chair to the Queen’s right, while her friend, Thalne, took the seat to the left.
“She’s their queen,” Flora murmured to the girls and Levi as they settled on the ground across from the queen.
“Welcome to our headquarters,” the queen said warmly.
“They’re interested in the Literacy for Butterflies High Tea,” Mitriel told her.
“This literacy for butterflies benefit will be an event to remember. It will be bigger than our annual Swamp Palace Tour,”the Nymph Queen said.
“The thing is that's not why we're here your. . .” Stella said before she leaned over to Levi and whispered, “Should I call them your littleness or your highness?”
“Why are you asking me? You're the princess,” Levi whispered back. Stella cleared her throat.
“Sorry, your Majesty.”
“So you must be here to volunteer for our Pollywog Playground Improvement Project,” the Nymph Queen said looking at the five teenagers.
“Actually we’re here to ask if you would help us catch a Cheerful Gladiolus.” The queen’s eyebrows rose slightly, the only indication that she was surprised. “A big request,” was all she would say for a moment. “May I ask why you need one? They are very rare, you know?”
“I’d like to use it in my exam,” Flora said.
“Now that’s interesting,” the queen said, before Flora could tell her about her vegal cloner she had invented. “Because we might need something from you. Please excuse me if this is unladylike, but please tell them Mitriel.”
“We are in very dire straits,” Mitriel said. “Are you at all good with monsters?”
“What? A monster's after you?”
The five glanced around at each other wondering how the seemingly peaceful community could possibly attract the attention of a monster.
“Allow me to explain. That is Xylith island,” Mitriel pointed to an island just a few miles away from them. “It is the one place in the swamp where our food grows. We had full access to this island and it's xylith leaves until a giant water creature attacked us. Now we cannot go anywhere near it or the monster will eat us,” the Nymph Queen explained.
“Why is he attacking you?” Levi questioned. It would be unusual for a water creature to attack them if it was an inhabitant creature. From what he knew about the swamp the animals have lived in harmony for a few centuries now.
The Nymph Queen sighed. “We don't know. All the creatures in this swamp have lived in harmony for as long as anyone can remember.”
Mitriel nodded, “But all that's changed and I'm afraid were in terrible trouble. We might put up a good front but the truth is our food supply is so low some of us wont last past tomorow.”
Bloom looked at the girls. “Things are so desperate that a few nights ago one of our members snuck out over their all by herself. It was brave but foolish,” the Queen said and the nymphs sighed.
“Oh no. But what happened to her?” Bloom asked in concern. “She never came back.”
“That's horrible.”
“I hate to impose, but perhaps in return for the Cheerful Gladiolus, you could help us.”
“Of course,” the girls chorused together. They certainly weren’t going to let the little nymphs face the monster on their own.
“I have to ask though,” Levi said. “Why didn’t you go to Alfea for help, surely Miss Faragonda would be happy to help?”
Alfea was the nearest to the Swamp so he was sure Mrs Faragonda would've helped them if they asked.
“Oh no,” the queen said, while Mitriel and Thalne shook their heads. “It is the undine’s responsibility to provide help and care not the other way around. When a bargain must be made, it must be an equal one, for example, the junior league ensures the safe passageway of Alfea students in the swamp, and in return Miss Faragonda uses her magic to strengthen our own protective enchantments. A fair trade,” the queen repeated. “It is the only way it can be.”
The fairies and the specialist frowned at each other but didn’t push it; the nymph’s seemed particularly set in their ways on this subject and they didn’t want to risk offending them.
“We’d be happy to help you, Your Majesty,” Musa said.
“And in return we’ll help you catch a Cheerful Gladiolus.”
The girls scrambled to their feet, and transformed into their fairy forms while Levi tightened his cape.
“Good luck,” the queen said. Stella turned to Levi and she asked, “Do you want a lift or will you get there on your own?”
“Since you offered, why not?”
Stella nodded at Musa and the two lifted Levi and they flew through the curtain of willows on their way to the island.
I𝗍'𝗌 𝗅𝖾𝗏𝗂'𝗌 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗀𝗈 𝗈𝗇 𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗍𝗅𝖾 𝖺𝖽𝗏𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗎𝗋𝖾𝗌 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗀𝗂𝗋𝗅𝗌.
𝗁𝗈𝗉𝖾 𝗒'𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋!
— 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘯 ♡