Stone Flowers
Violet awoke early and stretched. Her light brown hair had been tangled with bedhead, and her brown eyes watered sleepily. Getting up and changing into her nurse's clothes, she prepared for a usual day working at the clinic. Her home at the town inn wasn't too far from the clinic, located inside the church. She daydreamed on her way to work, feeling the summer air carry an ocean breeze. Fenith Island was beautiful this time of year, and full of oddball residents. Today Violet would have an encounter with one of those oddballs.
At first Violet was too sleepy to know exactly what was off about the appearance of the church. Something became increasingly wrong with the color as she approached the building. Walking around the flowerbeds she had so tenderly cared for, she saw something completely, horribly wrong. Each and every one of her colorful summer blossoms had been turned to stone. Tears began to well up in the shy girl's eyes when she saw how her hard work had been petrified. The flowers crumbled at the touch, and all of the flower beds would have to be replanted. Attempting to hold back frustration and sadness, Violet went into the clinic. She knew exactly who had done this, and couldn't do a single thing about it.
Some Wednesdays, Maerwen liked to walk Lady Electra to work at the clinic. The maid enjoyed any opportunity to dote on the Lady, especially since these opportunities proved to be rare. The two chatted on their way, and time passed quickly as they walked in the summer heat. Going up the stairs to the church, Maerwen heard Electra gasp and followed her eyes to the stone flowers. Outraged, she burst into the clinic to find Violet crying at her desk. Electra hurried in frantically, and rushed to Violet's side presenting a handkerchief. The most timid girl on the island had been made a victim, and Maerwen would not stand for it.
Pandora, the town witch, had been living in the church's spare room for a couple of weeks. Aden and Sonja, a pair of local adventurers, had found a stone statue of a woman at the bottom of the sea. With some nagging, Sonja finally convinced Aden to take the statue home with them. As it turned out, they had actually discovered a young sorceress trapped in stone. Pandora admitted to accidentally turning herself to stone, as well as having some dreams of world domination. Of course, she admitted these things after Aden and Sonja figured out how to free her.
And now Maerwen was staring a witch down with her piercing glare. The dark elf had always been seen as intimidating by most of her neighbors, but this was possibly her scariest moment. Pandora didn't even blink.
"Good morning Maerwen. This is impolite, even for you," Pandora said coldly, throwing silver hair over her shoulder, "To what do I owe this ruckus so early in the morning?"
"Violet is crying in the other room because of what you did to her flowers. Fix it." Maerwen insisted, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
"Don't you think they look nicer this way? Now they're preserved at the peak of blooming. Besides, my talent lies in turning things to stone, not turning them back," Pandora said sneering, "Sorry."
"That doesn't sound sincere. Truly, you're too weak to turn them back. Those flowers don't even have a strong form. If you can't even turn flowers to stone without them crumbling, you must be the weakest witch of all," Maerwen said, her voice like poison. She swept out of the room, a woman on a mission.
Maerwen knew that the town had a very talented Earthmate (someone who can create living plants with rune magic). She posted a request on the town bulletin board, and waited for a response in the inn that evening. Aden met Maerwen there, his clear blue eyes meeting hers across the table.
"So you have an Earthmate job for me?" he asked, somewhat eagerly. This was his trade before being transported to the island. He lived on a different Fenith Island. No one really knew how he and Sonja turned up there, but they had.
"The flowers outside of the church were turned to stone by the island's newest resident," Maerwen said in her monotone voice, "I'd like it very much if they were fixed. At least clear the beds for new planting. You do have some responsibility, bringing Pandora here." Maerwen had always been a bit more blunt than people were used to. She had no desire to hold back in this case.
"I'd be happy to take care of that. I apologize. Someone decided it would be just a grand idea to revive a stone sorceress," Aden mumbled, slightly frustrated.
"Aden! I'm right here!" Sonja's angry voice rang out. Of course she was here, though it was sometimes easy to forget. Her soul had somehow been trapped in Aden's body when they appeared on the island. Fenith's people only knew Sonja as a voice in the air, and no progress had been made in freeing her. "I'm sorry, I just relate to someone being trapped somewhere they don't want to be!" Sonja said, her voice hinting at tears. She'd always been easy to anger, but she was a benevolent girl at heart.
Sighing, Aden said, "I know Sonja. Don't worry, we'll free you soon enough. In the meantime let's help Violet okay?"
Aden woke up at the crack of dawn and began tilling the flowerbeds and emptying the flower pots of rock fragments. The stone flowers crumbled away easily, and after everything was plowed and ready, Maerwen came out to check on his work.
"Do you want me to start my Earthmate magic now? I can fill the place with sprouts with a flick of the wand," Aden said, not shy about bragging.
"No, I have plans for this garden," she said with a hint of a smile, "Lady Electra is taking over Violet's work for today. We'll have a gardening day together."
Aden and Maerwen went to fetch Violet. She presented several seed packets and invited her friend to come join them in the gardens.
"Wait," Violet said in her soft voice, "let's teach Pandora how to garden," and the way Violet smiled, no one could deny her.
"And why would I demean myself to such manual labor?" Pandora asked in a haughty tone, "I am a powerful sorceress. The work of a simple elven maid is sinking far too low." She said disgustedly
Sonja's voice burst through the air, "How dare you! We could have left you at the bottom of the ocean! I'm starting to have regrets about waking you from a 400 year slumber."
Something changed in Pandora's expression. Her two strongest allies on the island were Aden and Sonja. They were the closest things she had to friends, and they'd lived together for a time. With almost a hint of sadness, she finally consented.
"My hands are filthy! How can you endure this in the summer heat?" Pandora said, entitled as ever.
Violet gave a sigh, an angelic little noise, and said, "This gives me a way to express my-myself," she said, searching for the correct words.
Maerwen finished for her, "It's important to give life to something. I care for flowers because Lady Electra doesn't let me take care of her as much as I should."
"Why can't I express myself by turning things to stone? It gives me power. Power is what I'll need if I intend to rule the world, you know." Pandora said, shoving seeds into the dirt.
"How would Father Gerard say it?" Violet stared into space for a moment and said, "'Taking life away isn't power. Anyone can do that. Giving life away is true power.'"
"You do live in the church, you know. You might want to learn some of what the Father teaches," Maerwen added on without tact.
This little spiel about power seemed to strike a chord with Pandora. They finished planting new flowers that would survive until the end of fall, but the church would look sparse for a few weeks.
Violet was a bit gloomy the next morning, but picked herself up and trudged to work. A burst of color met Violet at the door of the church. She ran around the whole building and found that every seed had sprouted overnight. Pandora was lying asleep under the church bell, exhausted from her late night gardening. Overwhelmed, Violet sprinted up to the de Sainte-Coquille manor to find Lady Electra and Maerwen.
When the three of them returned to the church bell, Pandora was rousing from her sleep.
"I had an interesting idea last night. I'm changing my plan. Instead of turning the world to stone, I'll make plants my minions and overrun society!" she said with a mischievous gleam in her eye, "You'll help me won't you?"
The other three had to fight back laughter, because Pandora looked like a small child planning a grand prank. They reluctantly agreed, under the condition that the experiments would be small and controlled. Although the compromise inspired the witch to pout, this was certainly a step in the right direction.