Adrian practically stopped dead in his tracks, turning his head towards where he heard the elderly woman's voice.
"You can?!" he excitedly exclaimed.
Did they truly have the answer he was searching for this whole time!?
"Of course, son! Why else would we offer help if we could not grant it?" the old man cheerfully added.
The magician in the purple cloak was overjoyed. In an instant, he forgot all about being blinded by the lightning, he forgot about getting lost in the forest, and he forgot all about the others who tried to help whom he owed so much to.
...well, he almost forgot that last one.
The gardener's heart sank almost as fast as it took off, reality reminding him that fate was not on his side of the story. He had been promised a solution so many other times, what would make this time different? The elder man helping him walk took notice of the change in his demeanor, seeing how fast the smile erased itself from Adrian's face.
"My child, why do you frown? We have the cure to your ailment!" the old man reminded him.
Adrian sheepishly shook his head, running a hand through his amethyst hair as he averted his blind eyes to the floor.
"I just... It's too good to be true," Adrian bluntly stated before recollecting his manners. "Thank you both for thinking you can help, but I have tried every possible method offered to me and my wife, and nothing has come close to succeeding."
He felt bad shooting down their offer to help, but he just didn't think he could bear to get his hopes up anymore. After traveling to many distant worlds and retrieving their fancy medicines and cures, both Adrian and Jewel had been so hopeful, so CERTAIN that one would work. However, after not seeing any progress, they both seemed to have silently agreed that they just simply would never have a child of their own.
Adrian remembered how long he and Jewel had planned to have a child in the first place, long before they knew of their horrible childless fate. They had such a nice list of pretty names picked out, too... Oh, how they both cried and cried when they discovered that the child they wanted wasn't coming.
"And what makes it impossible? Have you been cooped up in your precious family garden of weeds for so long that you have forgotten what true magic can be like?" The older woman harrumphed as she walked ahead of Adrian. "Miracles can come in more shapes than just your bland leaves and fruits, boy."
Now Adrian felt personally attacked by her remarks, and this time her husband didn't scold her to be nicer either. He knew that having magic only for growing flora wasn't much, but it was still his! Adrian and his family before him always prided themselves on having the best plants, fruits, herbs, and vegetables around. It wasn't his garden's fault that his magic couldn't produce a cure for his problem.
In his rage he forgot to even question how this woman even knew about his garden in the first place, considering he had no idea who this was.
"My leaves and fruits work just fine, it's just the worlds that decided to hate me so," Adrian retorted. "Grambi left my household long ago, and he has yet to show his face to me since!"
The elderly couple were now both staring at him. Even though he couldn't see it, he could sense their hardened gazes and he realized that he didn't exactly phrase that statement very kindly. Adrian paused, taking a deep breath as he attempted to crack a reassuring smile.
"L-look, I apologize, but I just don't have in me to try some... some... s-some random potion that's supposed to somehow be the cure that no one else has," Adrian replied with a huff, though keeping his tone in check.
The couple's judgemental stares seemed to fade as soon as his words sounded less hostile. Real cure or not, Adrian didn't want them upset with him. They were helping him get out of the woods, after all, and they still most likely meant well.
They'll reach a nearby town...eventually... probably? He couldn't tell right now. It was taking an AWFUL long time to reach a town, and he didn't think that he had wandered that far out.
"Well, then you will be happy to know that this cure isn't a potion, but a plant," the woman stated. "A pair of fruit with magic capabilities, to be precise."
Now Adrian was intrigued as he arched an eyebrow and tilted his head in her direction.
"A plant?" He questioned, giving her a skeptical look. "I had always assumed that my family was the only gardening family that dealt with magic flora and the like."
Ever since he was a baby, it was all his family could brag about. They didn't have much to their name, but their gardening magic was something of pride to them that no one could take away.
Hearing this elderly couple suggest that they knew some sort of plant-related magic that he and his family did not infuriated him...but also made him quite curious. After all, who's to say he can't learn something new? New plants are discovered all the time in new worlds whenever the seeds get carried, intentionally or not, through that fancy new town of Flipside!
"We don't deal with plants per se," the elderly man elaborated, "but we just happen to know of a certain fruit that can do just what you need."
Adrian paused to think, weighing his options. So far, with the luck he's had, their offer of help would be another dud. However, going off of the same idea of "luck", wasn't he bound to at least succeed once eventually? He needed to weigh the pros and cons carefully...
"...what's your price?" Adrian asked.
That was the first problem that came to mind. He already owed so many other people so much, and he didn't know how he could possibly repay any of them. Being indebted to another person seemed like one of the last things he needed right now on top of everything going on.
"Isn't your vision payment enough? Or do you suppose your vision wasn't a fair trade?" The elderly man asked with a smirk in his voice.
Adrian didn't like the way he said that. It made him shudder. The tonality of his voice made it sound like they were the ones who caused his loss of sight in the first place.
The elderly couple had now stopped walking Adrian along. For a moment, he thought that they were going to leave him here... wherever here was. What they said next came as a surprise.
"We can offer you either a cure for your vision... OR a solution for your inability to bear children," the elderly man said.
"If you choose to have this child, your vision will never be the same," the woman stated. "A child you shall never watch grow up, but you must care for them regardless."
The way they offered it did bring up many horrible thoughts in Adrian's head... What if he DID have a kid now that his vision was supposedly gone? There was a chance his eyesight could recover, yes, but what if it never did and he managed to have a child with his wife?
With his sight lost, would he even know what his child looks like? He would never know the color of their bright and curious eyes, see the happy giggling smiles as a baby, watch them take their first steps, nor anything else as they grow older... It was already painful enough knowing that he might never see his wife's beautiful green eyes, blonde hair, and pretty smile again.
But could he truly be so selfish to deny his wife's wish for a baby just because he wanted his eyes to work again? Adrian knew that he might not be able to watch his baby grow up regardless, but he couldn't dream of taking that away from Jewel too.
"If it's a choice between my eyesight and my future child, then the choice to me is obvious," Adrian calmly answered. "I stated before, and now I'll say so again. My wife and I have tried almost everything we could...so I will try your 'miracle cure' in hopes of having a child with her."
Adrian said this confidently, a firm look on his face. The elderly man grinned ear to ear, turning to look at his wife as if bragging that Adrian made the right choice. She replied with a silent eye-roll, but she acknowledged that Adrian chose right.
"Very well," the woman said, nodding her head. "Gardener, listen to me closely."
Adrian arched an eyebrow in response to her demand but turned her direction regardless. She might be very rude-sounding at the moment, but this old woman claimed she had a cure for him, and this was probably the last chance he had. He crossed his arms and waited for what she was going to say next... Probably just some snake oil nonsense.
"When you get home, in your garden, in the branches of your smallest apple tree, you shall find fruits" the old woman stated.
"Two very special fruits akin to apples you normally grow," the old man chimed in.
This confused Adrian a bit. Meanwhile, the elderly woman shot her husband a brief glare as if asking him if she was the one who was supposed to be doing this or him. The glare was enough to convince him to back down as he gestured for her to continue.
"As I was saying... You shall find two fruits. One red and one white in color, both native to The Overthere and Underwhere," the elder woman continued. "When you retrieve these fruits, you shall feed ONE to your wife."
Adrian was gawking as she explained further. Plants that came from the After-Game?! He could only DREAM of growing something like that in his garden! Now this lady was saying that it would just appear there?!
"Are you listening, gardener?!" the older woman demanded.
She snapped her fingers in front of Adrian's face, making him jump with a yelp of surprise.
"Two fruits, one red and one white," Adrian quickly repeated.
The elder woman slowly nodded in response.
"Feed the red fruit to your wife if you wish to conceive a male infant. Feed the white fruit to your wife if you wish to conceive a female infant," she explained. "Eat either and you shall have a perfectly healthy child. Eat both and there will be dire consequences..."
Adrian nodded again vigorously to show that he was paying attention now. The woman seemed satisfied with the reply, opting not to scare him a second time with another finger snap.
"Y-yes, yes, I think I understand," Adrian stated, still nodding along.
Both of them seemed to have opposite temperaments regarding helping the gardener, the old man smiling while his wife crossed her arms. The old man walked up to Adrian, giving him a gentle and reassuring pat on his shoulder.
"I wish your family happiness, my child. No matter what your choice shall be," the elderly man told him.
The old man removed his hand from Adrian's back, and the gardener could now hear both of them walking away, making him panic a bit. He still didn't even know where he was!
"B-but- Where are you going?! I don't know where I am or how to get home! Wait!" Adrian called out.
He was met with no reply. Just the quiet rustling of leaves from the treetops as the calm drizzle washed away debris from the chaos before.
".....but what happens if she eats both fruit?" Adrian murmured in confusion.
For being something they stated he shouldn't do, they didn't exactly do a good job of telling him WHY his wife shouldn't eat both fruits. Also, they didn't do a very good job of helping him get to civilization either! Adrian had no clue where he was, and it could be ages before he managed to stumble upon-
"Oh my Grambi- Adrian?!"
The gardener perked up instantly, recognizing his wife's voice in a heartbeat.
"Jewel? Jewel!" Adrian excitedly called out, trying to listen for her voice again. "I-I'm over here! I can't see anything right now."
What Adrian didn't know was that he was now right outside of his home. Jewel had heard the sound of Adrian calling out and came rushing to him. Now, she sped out the doorway, straight toward her husband with open arms.
"I thought that something horrible happened to you!!! Thank Grambi you're alive!" Jewel cried out.
Adrian held out his arms and she practically threw herself into him. He let out a small "OOF" as they collided, almost sending both of them to the floor as Jewel locked him in a tight hug.
"Well... I think losing my eyesight for the foreseeable future would count as something horrible, eh-heh..." Adrian weakly joked.
Jewel paused her tearful hugging and looked at her husband's face. Sure enough, it was obvious that he couldn't see a thing. Adrian's eyes could no longer focus, and no longer provided any use besides just being pretty.
"Adrian, oh my-" Jewel paused, shaking her head and grabbing him by the wrist. "I-it's fine! I'll get you inside, and we can visit town tomorrow to see a doctor."
She began to lead him along, urgency evident in her fast pace. Adrian was a tad shocked that she didn't start lecturing him for being out for so long or just flat-out scaring her. Then again...if he hadn't come home blinded, then maybe she would've yelled.
"I'm sure that someone can fix up your eyes. But for now, you need some rest!" Jewel exclaimed.
Adrian quickly shook his head, gently grabbing her hand holding onto his wrist and pulling her to a halt.
"Jewel, wait," he said.
Feeling him take her hand, Jewel stopped and turned around, looking at him confused. Adrian gave her an excited smile as he took both of her hands into his, looking like he was going to overflow with joy any moment now.
"I think we might have one more chance to have our baby," Adrian excitedly stated.