I thought I could get away without OCs for this one. I was wrong, haha. Jo is my Goosebumps OC from yesteryear, and Strelitzia's parents, Acis and Valentina, are also OCs. Thank you for reading this unintentional twoshot!

For the next few weeks, young Ventus became a frequent helper to Strelitzia. She could only imagine it was because Terra as unavailable. But, on the other hand, it was a small relief that the future arl had an interest in nature. It meant that -for now- he had an understanding for the smaller things. Certain things tend to be unseen when you sit up higher than everyone else, after all. Ventus would make a great arl some day, so why did the current arl and arlessa insist on keeping him hidden?

Unfortunately, Strelitzia was going to experience first hand why they kept him away from others.

The day started out as usual and predictable as any other. Strelitzia was asked to gather grape vines for a friend of hers; a basket weaver that lived in Redcliffe's village. The basket weaver, Jo, did not get to visit Strelitzia often, but when she did, she often took her work with her. Today was going to be one of those days with Strelitzia gathering vines, soaking them, then Jo would work her magic into weaving the vines into baskets of all shapes and sizes. But there as something else that Jo wanted to make today. She didn't tell Strelitzia what she was making either.

It took some time before Strelitzia realized what Jo was making. Caught in a hypnotized awe, Strelitzia could not help but stare as Jo worked to weave the grape vines into a circular crown. Her hazed over eyes trained to Jo's long, bony fingers as they expertly worked against rather stubborn materials. It was with a sudden jolt that Strelitzia realized she been staring for too long. A quick blush appeared on her face that Strelitzia hoped Jo didn't see.

Jo was beautiful. At least, she was to Strelitzia. Her shoulder length hair was pulled into a loose braid- naturally a light blonde, Jo's hair looked slightly darker than that at the moment. She must not have been washing it as often. Admittedly, that worried Strelitzia. Jo had been claiming to be more tired than usual now, even occasionally withdrawing from invitations to small parties and celebrations the Redcliffe villagers had. There were even times when Jo would turn down the offer to join Strelitzia in practicing their needlepoint- an activity that Jo had once enjoyed due to the mildly crude things she could stitch with colorful threads.

Thinking about it made Strelitzia scoot a bit closer to Jo. She needed to say something. Anything. She needed to say anything to get these thoughts out of her head.

"What are you going to do with your crown?" she finally asked. She even unconsciously placed a hand at Jo's elbow.

"Dunno." Jo mused as she looked it over. "Might give it to the most hardworking person here."

"Arlessa Yuna would look lovely in it." Strelitzia nodded in agreement. Jo looked over at Strelitzia and gave her a funny look for a moment. The weaver eventually let out a small sigh before continuing her work. Not a word was said between the duo as Jo finished the crown.

"There." she decided. She smiled a little, but something about it seemed forced. Jo played with the crown in her hands for a moment before looking around the garden. "You know," she softly said, "Your garden is lovely, Strelitzia."

"It's not my garden." Strelitzia bashfully rebutted. "It belongs to the arl and arlessa."

"You chose and tend to the plants that reside in it." she said as she placed the crown on Strelitzia's head. "Ergo, it is your garden."

If there wasn't a blush on Strelitzia's face before, there certainly was now.

Strelitzia did her best to gather her words, she even refused to look Jo in the eye. That was when something in the garden caught her eye and any thoughts Strelitzia would have had were lost.

"Huh..." she mumbled to herself, "That's odd..."

"What's odd?" Jo asked. She tried to look where Streltizia was looking and could not find anything out of the ordinary. Not that flowers had ever been her thing.

Strelitzia was still trying to figure out if what she was seeing was true as she absently replied, "The flower Ventus planted. It's blooming already."

"Perhaps it's an early bloomer?"

But Strelitzia shook her head. "This flower is supposed to bloom during the winter- not early autumn." Now curious, Strelitzia got up and went over to the flower in question. She mentally retraced the days to remember if this was the flower she saw Ventus plant that gave off that odd glow. It must had been- that had been a snowdrop. This flower, this odd flower that looked to have a face, was also a snowdrop. Strelitzia would be able to recognize its characteristics anywhere.

She should have immediately walked away. She should have tried to find Ventus to see if he knew of this flower's odd condition. She should have done anything than get down to her knees to better see the snowdrop. It looked back up at her with something that boarded a suspicious expression. Above everything she could have done, moving her hand over to the flower should have been the absolute last. Her curiosity was matched with a rather nasty bite from the flower.

"It bit me." she remarked as she recoiled, sounding even more surprised than she looked.

"How could a flower bite you?" Jo immediately questioned as she came over to Strelitzia. When she saw the snowdrop, she let out a horrified, "Maker! How in the name of Andraste…?!"

"Not sure." Strelitzia admitted as she carefully got back to her feet. Her balance seemed a bit off from before, but she chalked it up from getting up too quickly. Jo certainly didn't seem to notice it. "But it doesn't seem to be harm-"

Strelitzia paused mid-word as her mind finally realized that her dizziness hadn't gone away. If anything, it had worsened. Jo noticed when Strelitzia had stopped mid-sentence. There as a small furrow of worry on her face as she questioned, "Strelitzia? Is something wrong?"

"Ven..." was all Strelitzia was able to say before crumbling to the ground.

"Strelitzia!" Jo shrieked as she got down to Strelitzia's side. In a panic, the basket weaver tried to shake her friend awake, but when it did not work, Jo immediately got to her feet and ran inside Redcliffe castle for help. This sudden frenzy made the small snowdrop realize that it had made a grave error. It made a small little purr before gently nuzzling its head against Strelitzia's hand. It didn't mean to hurt her. It hadn't meant to do anything mean at all. Unfortunately, with this one mistake, the little flower had changed the fates of everyone in Redcliffe.

. . .

To this day, Ventus could never recall why he felt the need to go to the audience chamber room. Maybe he knew he was being talked about in that moment. Maybe it had just been another sign of his magical affinity before he could control it proper. Regardless, what he had expected when he walked into the audience chamber was not what he ended up seeing.

There were his parents, Arl Tidus and Arlessa Yuna, holding audience with two men and a woman. The woman and the youngest of the two men looked a lot alike with their wispy pink hair. The oldest of the two men had dark blonde hair with blue-green eyes that reminded Ven of someone else. It took him a moment, but Ven soon realized that this was Strelitzia's family. The woman was her mother Valentina, the older man was her father Acis, and the young man was her brother Lauriam. But where was Strelitzia?

"Is something wrong?" Ven curiously spoke up as he entered the audience chamber. All eyes immediately fell onto him. Tidus and Yuna in particular were quick to pale at the sight of their son.

"There was an accident in the gardens." Tidus carefully spoke up. "Strelitzia is..."

"Strelitzia is dead." Lauriam cut in. His voice cold as he shot Ventus a dark glare. But it was that last word, dead, that caught Ventus's attention and buzzed in his ears like a persistent fly.

"H-how?" the boy stammered, looking between his parents to Lauriam. It was Tidus who took a few steps closer, but did not leave the grieving family's side.

"One of the flowers… bit her."

"Bit…?"

"The woman that brought Strelitzia to the healer said that it was one that you had planted earlier this year. A snowdrop."

"What did you do to that flower?" Lauriam demanded, shooting Ventus a dark glare.

Ven started to back away, his eyes growing wide in fright. "I… I didn't do anything… I was just..."

"Everyone knows that you've been helping Strelitzia in the gardens for the past few weeks." Lauriam excused. "Everyone knows that bad things happen around you too. You must have done something the flower, didn't you?"

A small gust of wind brushed past them, despite the company being inside. "N-no," Ven stammered, "I… I didn't… I wouldn't..."

But he had. He could remember that day like it happened yesterday. The snowdrop sapling looked sad and drooping, so Ven had tried to focus his budding magical powers to make it cheer up a little. He didn't think it would actually bite anyone- let alone Strelitzia, who likely would not have done anything to truly provoke it. Ventus looked up at his parents and Strelitzia's family. A sense of determination shown in his eyes as he prepared to tell them all the truth.

When he tried to open his mouth, Tidus beat Ven to the punch.

"Ventus, please go to your room." the arl requested. His voice sounded broken, wounded, as he said it. Ven's eyes expanded in shock.

"But-!"

"Ven," Yuna quietly requested, "Please."

No one in the audience chamber moved while the boy remained frozen in his own shock and guilt. Eventually, slowly, Ventus backed out from the very door he had entered only moments before. If he had been thinking clearer, Ven would have tried to eavesdrop on the audience chamber as he normally would. He did not, and so he would not know of Strelitzia's fate for many years. He spent a lot of that time in guilt. But that was a story for another time.

For now, Lauriam was pissed.

"You're just letting him walk away?! Sending him to his room like… like this is all just some sort of game?! STRELITZIA IS DEAD!"

"Uh… Arl Tidus…?" a healer timidly spoke up. No one could recall for how long she had been standing there. Apparently it was long enough to look like she expected Lauriam to lash out at her too. "I came to give word that the girl is actually conscious. We're not sure how, and we honestly did believe her for dead, but she started to stir while the carpenter was taking measurements for the casket. And while she is bit confused at the moment, it seems that she is still in good health."

"Thank the Maker." Lauriam sighed before rushing out of the audience chamber. His mother followed a few steps behind him in silence. Acis, on the other hand, was stopped from leaving by Tidus.

For a long time, the two men just stared at each other. They both looked incredibly weary.

It was Acis who said, "You can not hide that he is a mage forever."

Tidus only looked away in shame.

When the arl did speak, it was in a near whisper as his hand dug further into the groundskeeper's shoulder. "We will arrange for your family to move out of Redcliffe by tomorrow morning. Your family has done a great service to ours for years, so please do not take this as a personal affront."

"It's always about family." Acis agreed in a particularly cold voice as he forced Tidus's hand off of him. He started to leave, but paused for a moment. He turned one last time to his arl before adding, "But sometimes you have to let go of your family, arl. Death is permanent, allowing your son to live in a gilded cage is not."

And with that, Strelitzia's family never served under the Guerrin family ever again.