Chapter 5: On Top Of The Mountain

"What brings you two to my humble abode?" Luz said, beckoning Gus and Willow to take a seat.

"Amity wanted us to ask you if you wanted to go to the flower festival tomorrow." Willow said.

"Festival? There's a festival?! What for?"

"There's a magic tree blooming tomorrow! It only blooms once a year." Gus said. "Can I tell the folk tale pleasee!"

"Yes! Take the floor!"

"Ok!"

Gus conjures up three illusions. He explains the story of three star crossed lovers, they died tragically. A tree grew where they were buried. It grows exactly 11 flowers every year.

"It is said that whoever gets a flower from the tree with pure intentions will find their soulmate. But if you get it for other reasons, your love life will be tragic." Gus said.

"WOW! But why would it curse you if you give it away?" Luz said.

"I guess it's because the flower itself represents your love." Willow said. "So you can choose to keep it safe, or giveaway your chance at love for someone else—"

Eda barges in through the door. Hooty groans at the sudden face kick.

"Guess who's going to get a flower tomorrow!" Eda yelled.

"But Eda, you don't even have a boyfriend!" Luz said. "Won't you get cursed!?"

"It's just a myth!" Eda said. "Plus, do you know how many people there are who would wanna buy that flower?"

"Hmm." Luz thought about it. "Ok! That's settled then! You can tell Amity I'm coming to the festival with her!"

"So how do we get there?"

~•✽────── ✿ ──────✽•~

"Jeez!" Luz exclaimed. She takes off her sweat-drenched indigo scarf. "How much longer do we have to climb these stairs?!"

"We're almost there!" Eda said. She points at the floating lights lighting the top of the mountain. The sun was setting already.

"Finally!"

Luz is astonished by the sight of the huge tree, the petals a nice light pinkish color. The circular stone path surrounding it was filled to the brim with merchants looking to make a quick buck. Lots of them were selling saplings, claiming they were 'grown from the branches of the tree itself!'

"Hey Wil— Woah!" Luz looks over at Willow, whose cheeks are red. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's just secondhand embarrassment. I overheard someone get rejected."

Amity visibly winces at the statement, though only Willow seemed to notice. Willow holds herself back from giggling.

"You should see her when she's out in the sun! Her face gets really red."

"Augustus!"

"Okay now that we're here, you four can go do whatever you want." Eda hands Luz a small bag of snails. "King and I are going to catch a flower! See you kids in a few hours."

"What about me!" Hooty said.

"Since when were you here?!" King yells at him.

Willow pokes Amity. It was time to execute their brilliant plan.

"Me and Gus are uh… Gonna go look around for some snacks!" Willow said. "Have fun you two!"

Willow and Gus run off to find something else to do.

They find some master illusionists re-enacting the folk tale. Gus asks Willow if they could watch, but Willow didn't find it all that interesting, but she wasn't stopping him from enjoying the show.

She walks off by herself, appreciating the alone time.

She notices something falling gently from the tree. She tries to grab it, but someone pushes her out of the way.

It's Boscha.

Because of course it is.

"Aha! Got it! Yes!" She yelled in excitement.

"Yeah wow, you really did." Willow dusts off the dirt on her jacket. "Lucky you, Boscha."

"Better luck next time leaf girl!"

"Well you seem excited." Willow remarks, teasing her. "Is there a special someone? A crush maybe?"

"Ew. No. I just promised my followers on Penstagram that I'd catch one!" Boscha proudly holds up the flower.

"Oh..." Willow said. "So you're cursed now?"

"Curse Shmurse! I don't care! What matters is I got the flower!" She grabs her scroll to take a selfie, but she drops it.

It falls through the grass.

"What?"

Boscha steps down on the grass, the ground opens up. She grabs onto Willow's hand, causing both of them to stumble in.

They fall from a massive drop. Willow uses her free hand to summon a bush beneath them to cushion their fall. They look around, the cave is massive. The tree's roots are hanging from the ceiling. Not only that, but the lava below them wasn't exactly the most welcoming thing.

Boscha pulls her hand away from Willow's "I didn't need your help!"

"Ugh," Willow wipes her palm onto her pants. "Why did you have to grab onto me?! Now we're both stuck in here!"

Boscha grunts. She takes off her jacket. The heat was already starting to make her sweat. "How are we gonna get out of here?"

"I DON'T KNOW! DO I LOOK LIKE THE CAVE EXPERT!" Willow yells at her.

Her voice echoes across the walls.

The ground trembles and shakes, something emerges from the lava pool below them.

Author's Note
The chapter was getting kinda long so I had to split it in two! See ya tomorrow!