The Flower Blooms

"How's the baby?"

The wet nurse gently carries the newborn over to his mother and lowers him into her arms. "It's a healthy baby bo-" The intense look in the mother's eyes causes the wet nurse to freeze. The mother tosses the baby back over to the wet nurse and grabs onto her hair as she screams in frustration.

"Kill the child. A boy is useless." The mother leers at the baby in disgust. "Take it out of my sight. Now."

The wet nurse bows to the mother and leaves the room. As she quietly walks down the hallway, she couldn't help but pity the child. "You poor thing. You were born at the wrong time." Shaking her head, the wet nurse bites her lip as she realizes the horrible thought that flashed into her mind. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but I can't kill this child. Not another one. Not again."

---

With hair like orchids settling on his shoulders, a young man swings open the door before catching his hat from being blown away by the wind. "I'm leaving now!" he shouts.

"Be safe, Florentine. It's still a bit chilly, so make sure you have your light jacket." A middle-aged woman pops her head out of the doorway with a jacket in her arms. "Goodness, you're already 18, but you're still giving me a hard time," the woman jokes, helping the boy put the jacket on.

Adjusting the jacket, the one named Florentine brightly smiles as he gives the woman a kiss on her head. "I'm your only child. Gotta keep you on your toes so that you will stay with me forever."

The mother slaps her son's shoulder then shoves his off. "Go on, now. You've got to stay out of the house while I prepare your birthday party, so don't come home until the sun touches the water, you hear?"

"Yes. Yes." Florentine jogs away, waving at his mother before turning back around.

---

At the same time, a completely different situation is going on just a couple of hours away.

"None of the seven princesses have manifested the Spring Vessel powers?"

"Your Majesty, the Spring Vessel powers don't normally manifest until a child turns 18," a burly man reports as he stands in front of the empress's desk. "You still have the two youngest princesses who haven't come of age yet, so there may be a chance."

The empress's hair flies like cherry blossoms in the wind as she furiously slams her hand on the desk. "Queen Viola is here to visit. She already has children manifesting the powers of the Winter Vessel on her first try, but I have seven princesses who aren't displaying anything. What if she sees this as the Spring Vessel's bloodline weakening?"

"The Queen of the Northern Country has already been here for two weeks in order to establish relations between the two nations. She shows no signs of interest in the next Spring Vessel, so you shouldn't need to worry about it." The man sets pours a glass of water for his empress and offers it to her. "We still have time before you return to the earth. The next Vessel will show up before then."

With a long sign, the empress takes the glass of water and chugs it down. Not long after, she feels a strong tug in her chest as if it's taking her breath. Clenching onto her chest, the empress frantically gasps for air. "Ri-Richard, help me," she asks between gasps. A strong scent of flowers radiates off of the empress as pink trails of petals float out of the open window.

"Guards!" Richard yells, picking up the empress. "Guards! Get the Imperial Doctor immediately! Tell him that Empress Iris is having another attack!"

---

"Florentine! Florentine!"

A group of children who accompanied the young man into the forest to pick berries vigorously shake Florentine as he starts to have another one of his episodes. Gasping for air, Florentine grabs onto one of the kids. "Go get my mother, please," he asks while trying to regulate his breathing.

The little girl quickly nods her head and runs off.

'It hurts,' Florentine says to himself. 'It hurts a whole lot more than it normally does.'

"Florentine?!" the mother screams from the great distance between her and her son. "I'm coming!"

---

All the while, another person seems to sense that something is wrong. With her snow white hair showering her back, the woman jerks her head over to the nearby island. "Captain, what is that island over there for?" she asks, pointing.

"Ah! That one? It's the capital's fishing island. All of the fishermen and their families live over there since their smell can disturb the residents on the mainland," the boat captain answers as he slows the boat down.

"Your Majesty, what's wrong?" asks a woman whose grass-like eyes peer down at her queen.

"There's something big happening on that island right now," the queen answers. "I don't know exactly, but my heart feels a bit tight now that we are next to it. Can we visit the island?"

The boat captain hesitates while glancing at the island. "Queen Viola, the island has a strong scent of fish. I don't think it's a good-"

"The scent will not bother me, if that's what you're worried about."

"Then, I will change course and head to the island."

Within a few minutes, the boat arrives at the island's pier, but the queen could not wait any longer. She leaps out of the boat and runs in the direction of the pink flower petals that she sees floating around.

'It doesn't look like anyone else can see the petals,' the queen thinks to herself as she watches the islanders casually walk through the petals. 'This looks like it might be a Vessel only problem which could spell trouble if not dealt with immediately.'

The snow queen arrives at the entrance of a forest when she hears children crying inside it. Turning into a red fox, the queen dashes into the forest, still following the trail of petals, when she finds a group of children surrounding a young man with looks similar to the empress lying on the ground gasping for air. The young man's body glows a soft pink as it absorbs the flower petals.

"Move! Give him some space!" the queen instinctively shouts after turning back into her human form. Confused by what's going on, the children and mother back up, and the queen slides over to the young man's side. The queen places her hands over the young man's chest and starts flowing her powers into him.

She doesn't understand why she knows how to calm him down. She simply felt a pull and reacted to it.

"Viola!" shouts one of the men from the boat as he watches the queen.

Before the woman could answer, the young man deeply gasps one last time then relaxes. The queen holds out her hand to the one who shouted her name. "Give me my shawl. The boy is sweating a lot."

"Who... who are you?" asks the young man when he is able to open his eyes.

"My name is Viola Winter, the Winter Vessel. What's your name, Spring Vessel?"

"Spring... what? What's going on?" The young man begins to sit up with Viola's help. Viola's partner hands her a handkerchief instead of her shawl, so she offers it to the young man.

"It seems you are unaware. Aren't you the child of Empress Iris? You should already know about the Spring Vessel."

The young man shakes his head. "What are you talking about? My mother is right next to you. And why are you calling me the Spring Vessel? Everyone knows that only the empress's daughter can become such an important person."

Viola glances over at the one who the young man claims to be his mother. She can't look at Viola in the eyes, so she stares at her hands as she fidgets with her fingers.

"... I think I see what happened," Viola remarks. She stands up and holds out her hand to the young man. "Would you care to talk with me? I feel like we have a lot to discuss and then some."

Unsure, the young man debates on accepting the woman's hand. "Florentine, you should have a conversion with Miss Viola. I think it's time that you know."

Heeding his mother's advice, Florentine reaches out and takes Viola's hand. "I don't know what's going on, but if mother says that I should speak with you, then I guess I have to."

"That's the spirit, kid. Let's go find a good place to sit and chat for a while."