Chapter 4
Garden of Singing Flowers
At once, the potion's effects took place as Yuu felt himself get smaller and smaller, the vial growing in his hand until he stopped, his hand completely around the vial. Looking in the closest mirror, the boy saw he was once again in his normal size.
A smile on his face, Yuu leaves the room and exits out of the house and very soon joins the other kids. "Sorry you had to endure that." Fumie says with a sincere smile on her sweet face.
"Those two chicken bunnies always worry over the smallest things. Besides, their appointment with the Queen is only for a few more hours, they have time to relax." Kōta adds with his thumb jabbed in their direction.
Then the ten year old turned his attention back to Yuu. "Mikaela called you Yuu. Is that short for something?"
"Yes. My name is Yuichiro Amane."
As soon as his name slipped out of his mouth, the four kids froze. Then Mika stood close to Yuu and says as he place an arm around his shoulders, causing a blush to creep onto his cheeks, "Yes, he could be 'The' Yuichiro Amane, but do us a favor and don't freak out or spread this out too far."
This had confused his friends. "Why would we freak out?" Fumie asks.
"How come we can't spread the news?" Kimizuki follows.
"Well, if the queens hear about Yuichiro, two of them of course would be happy while their sisters won't be as thrilled as everyone else in Wonderland." Mika points out and all four of them understood his warning.
"Well, we'll just have to watch what we say out there." Yoichi says.
"We'll be certain that Mahiru or Aoi don't hear about him." Kōta agrees. Then the four head inside the house to clean up the mess from the incident.
Once alone, Mika takes Yuu's hand and says with a smile, "You ok after that?"
At first he was confused then remembers he became a giant stuck in Fumie's room. "Yeah, that was weird though."
"It's good to keep items like that on hand if you can't find a way out of a sticky situation. But for now, I want you to come with me, Yuu-chan. I want to show you something." Mika answers the question before Yuu could ask.
Walking down a path Yuu didn't notice that was there before he entered the house, they see huge flowers all around them with a few strange bugs zooming and flying around the pair. The first few insects that caught his attention were these funny looking butterflies that look like slices of bread and once they all settle together on a large leaf, form a loaf of bread. "Mika, what butterflies were those?"
"They are bread and butterflies. They are unique, just like the rocking horseflies and the dragonflies."
That was when two of the mentioned flies zoomed right by their faces, one a small silver rocking horse with white wings and the other a very tiny red dragon with black wings, the dragonfly chasing the rocking horsefly. "Two very beautiful creatures." Then they heard a new voice behind them.
"Excuse me but did you just spoke?" Yuu faces the huge flowers.
Then the beautiful red rose lean closer to the boys, her face now visible among her petals. "Of course. We do talk in this world." the rose said gently.
Next to speak is a purple iris. "As long as there is anyone worth talking to." she had quite a snobbish attitude like a rich woman.
Then the two hear a giggle from a daisy. "Or about." the daisy squeals like a high school girl.
"They all sing as well." Mika adds as he kneels by the flower bed with the childlike pansies with Yuu joining him.
"Would you like to listen to Tell it To the Tulips?" the pink tulip asks nicely.
"How would our guests like to hear about us, the bleeding hearts?" the white flower ask with her sisters nodding.
"What about the shy little violets?" a small voice spoke from behind the boys as a few violets hide shyly from Yuu's sight.
"Oh no, not them." one lily waved her leafy hand at the violets. "Let's sing Lovely Lily of the Valley."
Just as every flower in the garden talk over each other, Yuu leans closer to Mika and whispers, "Are they always like this, Mika?"
The Cheshire Cat simply nods. "Every flower in Wonderland are known to be proud of their voices and the music they make. The red rose is the only one in this garden that can keep the other flowers under control." Mika explains just as the rose taps taps her small branch she uses for the orchestra, causing all of the bickering flowers to fall silent and face her.
"Settle down, ladies. We shall sing the song that is about all of us; Golden Afternoon."
At the name of the chosen song, everyone agrees greatly, certain that the boys will enjoy this song. Given the signal, the lily began as she started her 'A' with a long
La
The pansies follow with
Mi
Mi
Mi
Then the daisy
La, la, la
Then the iris
Ah ah ah ah
Lastly with a dandelion before the song began,
Dum du dum dum
As the flowers begin to harmonize together, Yuu and Mika share a quick smile as the bread and butterflies flutter around the garden.
Little bread and butterflies
Kiss the tulips
And the sun is like
a toy balloon
A couple of the bread and butterflies playfully flutter around Yuichiro, causing the boy to laugh and Mikaela to smile at the behavior before the bread and butterflies tap on the morning glories.
There are
get-up-in-the-morning glories
In the golden afternoon
Then the bread and butterflies flutter around the playful daffodils with the young boys laughing when one daffodil smacks another's, causing the head to spin
There are dizzy daffodils
on the hillside
Strings of violets
are in tune
Tiger lilies
love the dandelions
Watching the said lily kiss the mentioned flower next to her, Mika copies the action and plants a kiss on Yuu's cheek, causing Yuu to go more red than the blushing dandelion.
In the golden afternoon
In the golden afternoon
There are
dog and caterpillars
And a copper centipede
Then the rocking horsefly reappears as it buzz around a few yawning daisies.
Where the lazy daisies
Love the very
Peaceful life
They lead
The slow tune had made the two boys yawn slightly before the pace picks up starting with the pansies.
You can learn a lot
of things from the flowers
For especially
in the month of June
Then the two hear a beautiful voice and turn to see a beautiful white rose join in.
Ah ah ah ah
There's a wealth
of happiness and romance
All
In a golden afternoon
To her beautiful voice, Mika scooches closer to Yuu, holding his hand with the other boy leaning against him, a light blush coloring his cheeks.
Then the bells started to played with by the white daisy. The next parts of the song was when all of the flowers made wonderful music before the bread and butterflies flutter around Yuu once more as they get him to stand with the pansies.
All in
the golden afternoon
The golden
afternoon
To see they now all had their attention on him with Mika giving him an encouraging smile, Yuu calms himself down first before he began to sing.
You can learn
a lot of things
From the flowers
For especially
in the month of June
There's a wealth
of happiness
And romance
But Yuu couldn't complete the song as his voice broke but everyone around him just smiles as the white rose took over for him.
All in
the golden afternoon
As the flowers complete the beautiful song, Mika stands beside Yuu as they both applaud to the performance. "That was amazing!" Yuu exclaims to Red Rose as she bows to them.
"I'm glad you think so dear. And I must thank you for the visit, Mikaela." Red Rose says kindly.
"Of course, Rose." This had surprised Yuu. "Do you visit often, Mika?"
"I come to this garden since it's closest to the Duchess's home so I could escape from her nagging."
"Anyway hun," the white daisy speaks up as she plays with her petals, "what part of Wonderland are you from?"
"I don't live in Wonderland." Yuu answers simply.
Wrapping an arm around his shoulders, Mika adds, "Yuichiro is actually an outsider."
To hear his name, every flower in the garden froze with a mix of surprise and shock with Red Rose speaking up, "You mean you are Yuichiro Amane?"
This only made Yuu confused. "Yes. But what is so special about my name?"
Before giving him an answer, all of the flowers bow low to him with Red Rose saying, "The only one that can answer you specifically is the wise and absolute Chihiro. She knows more than any of us in Wonderland and could explain better than anyone else can."
"I can take you to see her, Yuu-chan, after we see my mistress"
Deciding that it would be best to hear it from her, Yuu nods once, agreeing to pay this Chihiro girl a visit. Facing Red Rose, Mika says with a smile, "We should get going. Thanks for the performance, Rose."
"Anytime, Mikaela. You two take care until next time." Rose replies as the Cheshire Cat leads Yuu out of the garden and down a path that leads to where the duchess lives.
After walking in silence for a while, Mika stops in his tracks and let's out a whistle, one that summons an animal to an owner's side. "What are you doing, Mika?"
"There is a friend I want you to meet." Mika gives Yuu a smile as they wait for a moment. In a few seconds they see a small plump body appear out of the bushes that had surprised Yuu as he hid behind the Cheshire Cat; the creature has a large frame, a barrel chest and fore-paws that are quite dexterous, covered in shaggy white fur with dark gray spots, and has a somewhat flat but not pug face, with a wide mouth that has multiple rows of sharp teeth and a long tongue and has a long tail.
Just seeing the creature had scared Yuu, but one smile from Mika and his fear slowly starts to disappear. "It's ok, Yuu-chan. I just want you to meet Obsidian, a baby bandersnatch."
Cautiously stepping from behind Mika, Yuu slowly approaches the bandersnatch, one hand slowly rising. Sensing no harm from the boy, the bandersnatch walks forward and place its head in Yuu's hand, causing a small gasp to escape his lips. Hearing it start to purr like a cat, Yuu gently strokes the creature on the head.
"Some time ago, I had found this young fellow in a field after being left behind by his parents, badly injured. At first he was terrified of me, but once I showed I meant him no harm, Obsidian let me tend to his injuries and he has been my companion ever since."
"What do you suppose that had hurt him?" Yuu asks as the small bandersnatch climb into his lap and curl into a ball.
"My guess was either the jabberwacky or the jubjub bird. Those two plus the bandersnatch are all known to be very fearsome creatures in Wonderland. You would be lucky if you get one of them on your side because they are loyal and powerful.
"I would love to have Obsidian live a peaceful, non fighting life, but with the prophecy, we will need all of the help we can get against the Queen of Hearts and the Queen of Spades when they start the war."
"What are you talking about, Mika?"
The Cheshire Cat simply shook his head in a playful manner. "You're going to have to wait to find out when we see Chihiro. Let's keep going." With that, Mika helps Yuu to his feet since Obsidian decides to take a nap in his arms and they continue on, however with the way Obsidian looks so comfortable in Yuu's arms made Mika jealous for some reason.
