Wither And Bloom

The two boys headed outside to see a mass of students gathering together. I spotted Miri and called out to her. She turned and grinned. "Hey! We can do the tours ourselves! We just need a map and thats it." She said when she walked over.

Lart nodded. "I wanted to check out those ruins in Lorehold." He said. "I wanted to see the sculptures in Prismari." I said, smiling. "Here." Miri handed us maps and I stared at it. 

"Apparently the map will change depending on the campus we are on." She explained, raising a brow at my blank look.

I nodded. "Yeah. I knew that. Should we go to Witherbloom first? It's the closest." I asked. The other two agreed. Miri squealed excitedly as we set out on our way. The campus was at least 30 minutes away which was a pretty long walk.

"Why the fuck is it so far away?" I gasped, stopping to breathe after 20 minutes of non-stop walking. Lart laughed at my distress. He didn't look the least bit tired. He wasn't even sweating.

Damn it. I really wanted to see him sweating. 

"See something you like?" Lart asked, raising a brow. I blushed and looked away. Oh god, he caught me staring. "Nope! Let's go!" I said and sped up as Lart laughed again in amusement.

Miri grinned at my tomato red face before following.

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"Um...Miri why don't you go in there first?" I suggested. In front of us stood an imposing wall of trees. And it looked dark in there. Miri scoffed.. "Scaredy-cat..." She muttered before storming her way into the forest. I nervously followed Lart right behind me. 

But as we stepped further in lights began to appear. Small floating lights. Fireflies gently moving around us. They illuminated the dark trees and I found myself smiling. I touched one and it spiraled away. 

I turned and noticed Lart staring at me, his eyes open. "Should you be doing that?" I whispered, unwilling to break the spell this place had on me. "No. But I'm doing it anyways." The gorgon answered grinning.

I shook my head exasperated.

 We began to walk again and we finally broke through the tree line where Miri was waiting. I gasped. In front of us stood the biggest tree I've ever seen in my life. It towered over us, its. leaves blocking out the sun. Houses and buildings were built into the tree and fireflies were everywhere bathing the area in a warm glow. "Wow. It's beautiful." Miri whispered. I nodded, unable to speak. 

"Um, I'm gonna look. Don't look at me for a minute, Miri." Lart said. She nodded and closed her eyes as Lart opened his. His mouth parted in surprise, forming a silent "O". 

He chuckled and closed his eyes again. "It is beautiful." He said smiling. "Come on! We have to look around." Miri exclaimed pulling out her map. I sighed and followed. But a loud ding stopped me. 

[New Quest]

[Wither and Bloom (EXP: 200)]

[Explore the Witherbloom campus. Collect materials. Don't die]

[Collection Progress: 0%]

[2 Flame flowers]

[3 Mocah Berries]

[2 Cob Weed]

[1 Slumberweed]

I stared at the notification in stunned silence. Lart stopped walking and tilted his head. "Hey, you ok?" He asked. I coughed and cleared my throat. "I'm fine." I said. Jesus.

'Choal what the fuck is this?' I asked. The small system appeared next to me.

[I am sorry, but I cannot disclose any info on the quest.]

'I'm gonna kill you.' I snapped. The system bobbed around almost as if it was laughing at me. One of these days I was gonna kill that stupid mass of pixels.

"Come on. Let's explore!" I shouted running ahead. LArt grinned and followed MIri sighing in annoyance before she followed as well.

------------------

We ended up getting lost. The map began to malfunction twisting and turning, creating paths that weren't actually there. After an hour of going in circles I huffed and sat down on a stump near a bubbling swamp. Nothing but trees surrounded us. 

"So...What do we do?" Lart asked, wiping sweat off his brow. I growled, fire sparking in my palms for a second. "What do we do? Nothing! We are lost! Lost!" I snapped pulling my hair. Lart frowned as Miri sighed.

Lart grabbed my wrists pulling my hands away from my hair. "Calm down. Breathe." He said softly. I took a shuddering breath following his instructions.

"How are we gonna get back?" I asked, biting my nails as I glanced at the surrounding vegetation. Something flashed and I whipped my head towards it. There on the other side of the swamp were clumps of bright red flowers. They looked like they were slowly burning but not actually wilting because of it.

Flame Flowers I assume. I sighed. "Hey, Miri why don't we collect materials while we try to find a way out?" I called. The dryad turned and squealed clapping her hands. "Yes! Ooh, what should we get first?"

I pointed to the burning flowers on the opposite shore. Miri nodded. "OK." She started making her way around and I rolled my eyes and followed. What kind of quest was this?!

-----------------

We spent the rest of the afternoon collecting flowers. The others were fascinated by my inventory which I had discovered that morning. It could hold 200 items with some items taking up more than one slot depending on rarity. The flowers only took one spot and I had collected about seven. Of course I had to control some water first which was surprisingly difficult considering it was a new element.

"Any luck?" I asked Lart after we had returned to the makeshift camp we made. It was getting dark and the tour guide had told us we had 10 days to explore all the campuses. 

Which was great...but we were still lost. 

Lart shrugged. He was constantly tilting his head and stomping. I already knew why. "I can't feel much. There seems to be large structures that way but they are far so I can not really tell. You guys find anything?" the gorgon asked crossing his arms. 

Miri sighed and plopped down on a log by the campfire we made. "Nope. Other than the occasional monster." She answered. She began fiddling with a flower crown she was making, braiding the long twigs together expertly. 

"How bout we take a break? Get some rest. We can head toward those structures in the morning." Lart suggested. I nodded and Miri hummed in agreement. SHe waved her hand and leaves floated down from the canopy above and neatly arranged themselves into 3 soft piles. 

"Ooh makeshift beds!" I squealed and plopped down on one. It was surprisingly soft. Lart laughed again his snakes waving in amusement. Hmm. I found myself getting better at telling what Lart's moods were due to his snakes.

We all laid down and stared at the map of stars above through a small opening in the trees above. 

"Guys? What do you think this year will hold?" I whispered. It was silent for a minute.

"Friends. Knowledge. Who knows?" Miri answered. Lart laughed quietly. "Well can we promise to stay together for it all?" The gorgon whispered. I smiled.

"Of course." With that the three of us fell asleep dreaming of the new year

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MIles away hidden deep beneath the earth something shifted. Something woke up and observed the world above it.

"Oh, how beautiful the world looks. We must make it wither to let it bloom." It hissed. IT shifted again, its large black wings spreading, green eyes glowing with knowledge. She was old. Older than the school. And she could feel it. The bright burning fire of fate. 

"Klothys....you intervene again?" She hissed, the vegetation around her turning black and falling apart. But as she breathed they all grew again. Yes. She would meet this Champion of Klothys. Why was a god of the pantheon of Theros interfering with her school? Her campus. And so she spread her great decaying wings and lifted up into the sky both destruction and growth following behind her. For she helped found this school and she would make sure it stayed safe. 

Even if it meant taking on a god and its champion.