“What’s wrong, Your Majesty?” I heard a noble-sounding male voice say. I opened my eyes and was greeted by two big flowers staring at me.

“G-Get away! I don’t want to hurt you!” I said while sweeping my claw between me and the Weed.

“You were crying in your sleep, I thought you needed to be woken up from that nightmare.” He brushed my hair with his vine.

As I looked around, I noticed I wasn’t in a bush anymore but rather a king-sized bed in a beautiful bedroom. I looked around and saw the curtains were open revealing an amazing view of the forest, “Where am I?” I pulled the blankets over my chest after realizing I was only wearing a nightgown.

“In your room, your majesty. I wanted to talk to you about a few things.”

“And you don’t want to kill me?” I was confused.

“Why in heavens would I do that?!”

“You guys tried to kill me before.”

“Ah, the war. I apologize for that Your Majesty. We’re on your side.”

I rolled my eyes, “I’m not on anyone’s side, I just wanna get out of here.”

“Maybe that is so, but your heart says otherwise. Let me tell you, Your Majesty, everything you were taught until now was a lie.”

“And why would I believe that?”

“Why did you believe Aura? Was it maybe because she knew where your friend was? Was it perhaps because she looked angelic and we look like this?”

“Well… um, I guess it was because she was the first person we found.”

“Would you change your mind if I showed you?”

“How are you gonna-” Suddenly, through the window, everything started to change. The scene was changed to a young blonde girl walking through a field of flowers.

“This is Aura.” The plant started, “She was the first to find this secret forest, and we loved her as much as she loved us. As time went on, her heart became colder and colder. Soon, she was luring children into the forest to keep her company, which isn’t the worst thing but, as she grew, she started to make them her slaves. We tried to stop her but, she sealed us from the central portion of the forest.” As he spoke, the scene through the window changed like a storybook.

“She made them her slaves? But they seem so happy to be here.”

“It may look like that, but just think of your friend.” The scene changed to Vallory fighting the Blight, “What happened to her?” He showed a scene of her playing board games with me, “She loved you, Ivy. But now she serves Aura. When Aura gave you soldiers your weapons, she also set an enchantment upon you, and that is to steal the life from us.”

“By sniffing your flowers?”

“Exactly, we were able to regrow before, but now, Aura has made a plan to eradicate us so we don’t interfere with her plan.” he paused for a moment and looked at me, “But you, Ivy. You can stop her madness!”

“And why’s that? Why me, I just want to go home.”

“You were immune to her brainwashing. You’re the only one who can save us, and that’s why we made you our queen!”

“Well, you gotta find someone else.” I relaxed my muscles, “I’m not the one you’re looking for, I don’t want to be here anymore. Can you take me home?”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. We can not take you out of the forest, only Aura can bring you in or take you out.”

“I just don’t understand. I can’t do this, I can’t do anything right.”

“I understand.” He wrapped his vine around me gently, “You want your friend back to the way she used to be. Only you can bring her back, Ivy. Tell her what Aura’s done and tell her that you all need to bring back the forest and stop the destruction Aura’s causing.”

My eyes glistened, “I’ll try my best, what’s your name?”

“You can call me Buttress.”

I held my hands up to my mouth and tried to contain my laughter, “What’s wrong, Your Majesty?”

“Nothing, I got it, Buttress. I’ll try my best to save the forest!”

“Very well, you are dismissed.”

I fell backward and watched as the ceiling above me slowly morphed back into the bush I was hiding in.

“Well, that was strange.” I stretched, “But at least I feel refreshed!”

“There you are!” I heard Vallory call out as she landed next to the bush I was in, “Now come back and stop being ridiculous!” She pulled me out by the shoulders and started to drag me back to the camp.

“Stop! I can walk myself, just give me a few seconds to stand up.”

“Stop being stupid! Why did you run off like that?! You could’ve died!”

“I’m okay, okay? I just needed some alone time.” I pulled easily out of her grip.

“And how productive was that?”

“More than you would think.” I chuckled.

We approached the camp and Vallory sat me down next to the campfire, “Okay, I just want to apologize for pushing you too far last night. I should’ve known better and I promise to be more thoughtful in the future!”

“Thank you, Val.” I said while the boys watched, “I’m sorry for storming off like that, I guess I could’ve handled it better and not make you guys worry about me so much.”

“I forgive you. Thank you, Ivy. Now can we move on and pretend this never happened.”

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Can I have a hug?” I smirked.

“Yes, of course.” She wrapped her arms around me, “Please never do that again, you really had me worried.” She let out a few tears on my shoulder.

“I promise I won’t. I just get a little grumpy sometimes. I understand why you don’t want to leave this place.”

My mind began to wander, was the dream I had true? Could the dream I had earlier be true or was it all my imagination?

As we packed the camp, Victor asked, “How’d you sleep last night?”

“Better than you would expect. How’d you sleep?”

“I couldn’t sleep without you.”

“Awe,” I whined, “I’m sorry, I just- needed some space to clear my head that’s all. Do you think you could keep a secret?”

“What’s up?”

“Well, I’m having mixed feelings about this.”

“About what?”

“About all of this! Before I was here, I wanted to escape and leave my life behind just like Val, but now, I just want to go back to school.”

He let out a sigh of relief, “I’m glad I’m not the only one feeling like that. I wanted to say something but I didn’t want to upset you.”

“Awe, you really are sweet! I wish you would’ve told me though… this was supposed to be a search and rescue mission, but now it’s evolved into a save the forest mission. I’m sorry for dragging you into this…”

“I’m just happy I can be with you.” He replied, flushed in the face.

“You really mean it?”

“Yes! Don’t you know how much I love you?”

“Maybe you should say it more just to remind me.” I chuckled.

Suddenly, we heard rustling from all around us. Weeds soon surrounded us from every direction.

“An ambush!” Vallory drew her greatsword.

“No! Stop!” I tackled Vallory to the ground, “You can’t do this!”

“Get off! What are you doing?!” She tried to struggle her way out of my pin, “H-How are you so strong?”

“That doesn’t matter! I don’t want you killing my friends!”

Ash lowered his bow, “You know them, Ivy?”

“That’s nonsense! Ash kill them before it’s too late!”

“Please! You all have to listen to me” I continued to pin Vallory to the ground, “They’re not our enemy!”

“She speaks the truth!” The Weeds spoke in unison, “We aren’t here to fight.”

Vallory stopped struggling, “What is even happening right now?”

“I’m sorry, I was scared to tell you. I thought you’d think I was going insane, and I don’t think it was a good time anyway, we were all upset.” I let go of her hands and sat on her belly.

“What didn’t you tell me?”

“Well, I’m kinda their queen now and I want to help them. And you kinda got brainwashed by Aura to think they’re bad. I wanted to tell you but I didn’t know how to bring it up, but I guess this is a good time to tell you.”

“Do you know how crazy that sounds?” Vallory pushed me off of her belly and grabbed her sword.

“No! Wait! It’s true! You gotta believe me!” I grabbed her ankle.

“Let go! We have to finish our objective!”

“They’re not hurting us, you meanie! Look at them they’re so sweet!”

“I think you’re the one who’s brainwashed!” She started to kick me in the face, “Let me go now!”

“I can’t let you go! You’re the one killing the forest! They were here before all of us, including Aura.”

“Why are you two just standing there!” She yelled at the boys, “Get her off of me.”

“Val, I think we should listen to her. I don’t think she’s crazy. These Weeds would’ve already strangled at least one of us if she was spouting nonsense.”

Vallory took a look around us and her eyes started to water as she saw the beautiful faces of the weeds, “I-I’m a monster.” she dropped her sword between her feet, “How could I be so stupid! They’re not Weeds, they’re Flowers!”

As she said this, the dark forest grew lighter and the fog dissipated. The sunshine illuminated the Flowers making their leaves and petals open. As the sunshine warmed the flowers, they all slowly morphed into the ground becoming bushes again.

“B-But why? Why would she curse her own forest?” She started to stroke a nearby bush, “I’m so sorry.”

“Ivy.” I heard Buttress’ voice from around us, “I knew you could do it, kid. I want you all now to finish this once and for all. Here’s a little gift to help you out.” A flower grew from the ground between my thighs.

I gasped when I saw its petals bloom. They were transparent like a crystal, “So pretty! Thank you so much!”

“Take it and keep it close. Whenever you do smell it, be prepared to make a wish.”

“Say what~”

“Think of it like a dandelion, it’s a wishing flower except you don’t blow it into the wind, you smell it. Don’t do it now, think of what you’re going to wish for and rethink what you’re going to wish for. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you.”

I nodded, picked the flower, and placed it in my hair next to my fluffy ears, “Thank you, Buttress.”

“Don’t mention it. I know you out of anyone will make the right wish.”

“You gave that brat the flower?!” Another voice boomed around us.

“You didn’t have the heart for it Aura!” Buttress defended me.

“Well, Buttress, thank you for finally revealing the flower for me. I’ll pick it up as soon as possible.”

“You can’t take it from her, it’s her wish Aura.” We waited and there was no response, “Aura?” Buttress called again with no response, “Ivy, protect the wishing flower at all costs. If anything happens to it, this whole world could be doomed.”

My heart pounded, “Should I wish now then?”

“No! You must think about it before you wish for it! It reads your wish as much as your heart, you have to be in a calm state before you wish!”

“Well, that’s gonna be hard when you say it like that!”

“I apologize, but you have to understand the urgency of this.”

“Fine, I’ll try my best. Thank you, Buttress.”

“Thank you, Ivy.”

After a minute of silence, Vallory spoke, “What are we gonna do now? For a first, I’m stumped.”

“Me too.” Ash replied, “I think, maybe we should put Ivy in charge.”

My face turned red, “No, no, I can’t! I’m a follower, not a leader.”

“Come on, Ivy. I know you can do it!” Victor cheered.

“I can’t! For real, I can’t. I honestly I never had to-”

Suddenly, a knife skimmed past my cheek. I clutched my cheek in pain and felt the warm blood run past my lips, “What the heck!”

“Well, well, well, what do we have here.” I heard a calm, seductive voice from a nearby tree. A tall, voluptuous girl was standing on a branch above. Her hair was a dark shade of red and fell past her butt. Her eyes were the color of blood and intimidated me the longer I looked into them. On her head she had two sharp brown horns and on her back were two scaly wings that matched the color of her hair and eyes.

She spotted the flower tucked behind my ear and licked her lips, “You three must be the rebels we were sent to terminate. Well, how do you want it? Do you wanna struggle and die painfully or accept your fate? I’ll make it quick for you all.”

“Who are you?” My voice trembled.

She flapped her wings and landed inches away from my face. She gently caressed my face with her long, sharp nails, “I was going to ask the same thing, princess.” she guided her hand to my ears and started to pet them, “I didn’t know we had a cat spirit in this part of the forest.”

“I thought they’d be a little stronger.” Another girl stepped out from behind the trees. It was a blonde girl with blonde hair and floppy bunny ears. She carried a comically large hammer over her shoulder, “She got a little scratch on her cheek, and she’s out of commission.”

I felt her hand slowly approach the flower. I grabbed her hand and dug into her wrist with my claws, “I’m sorry, but I can’t allow you to take that.”

“Awe, such a pity. I thought you’d be a good kitty, and I just might’ve let you live.” She said while the blood from her wrist trickled down my arm, “Now we’re gonna have to take it from you the hard way.” My eyes grew wide in fear as flames started to escape the corners of her mouth.