"A-a dream?"
He looked around in bewilderment.
"Maybe?" Lotus shrugged, "Anyway, I found the grass. Only two stalks though. There wasn't more."
"Woah! It's really blue!" Ace took the stalks into his hand in bewilderment, "Where did you find it?!"
The grass stalks was basically grass with wider leaves and a teal blue color. Because teal blue was known to have a calming effect on humans, the first person who discovered this tested it out and recalled his days of a nostalgic past. He named it as it held a lasting place in his heart.
The most important characteristic of the plant was its smooth exterior that shined under the sun and allows it to slink in the shadows of the trees.
Such an interesting plant held no place in this world since it never even existed, but it does in her homeworld. Though, it wasn't very high. It was a common herb that had little value to alchemists as, to them, it was no different than grass with very little demand and need.
However, for things like this, it was required...
As they made their way back to the school, Ace spoke to her in confusion, "Since you know so much about these things, why didn't you just go to a normal school and start a pharmacy? You're obviously very smart anyway."
Lotus shrugged, "Like I said, I don't go to school. Since my adoptive family aren't humans, they attract a lot of unwanted attention and they also don't have the human funds to support me to attend school. I learn what I need from the library I work at and homeschool myself. Starting a pharmacy requires a lot of connections in society. It's not simple and I don't have the money to start one."
"Seriously?" Ace shook his head and sighed, "You'd probably be great at it, though..."
Lotus shrugged, "Maybe. But I prefer to keep my distance from others I'm not familiar with. School is different since we have some very good people. Those who come looking for me are usually after my family, after all."
"Really?!" Ace's eyes widen when he heard this, "They're not some big shots, are they?"
Lotus shook her head, "My family are unique in some manner. They also don't like humans nor interact with them often. So, they're very detached from the human society."
"Ah... There are some who keep a distance from humans, but aren't you a human too?"
Lotus nodded, "You could say I was tossed away by some humans when I was young. I wandered around the wilderness and came across my mother in trouble. After I helped her, I was in a deadly situation as well and was alone. She brought a family member out and found me before taking me in."
"Wow..." Ace's eyes widen in disbelief, "That's like straight out of a game plot."
Lotus laughed, "Like a novel, right? Yes, but that's what really happened. Father didn't warm up to me right away either since I was a human, but mother insisted. Since he loves her so much, he couldn't push me away. Even now, he hasn't fully accepted me, but he's seen that I've been sincere with everyone around me anyway and he knows of my personality. so he has no complaints."
"Talk about a harsh life." Ace groaned as he walked up the winding path, "I wouldn't be able to sit around my dad if he held doubts about me doing weird stuff."
Lotus smirked, "Right, right. But he's usually busy and I've made a point before after I started working a few years back."
"A point?" Ace raised a brow looking to her curiously.
Lotus nodded as she wore a firm look on her face, "A family are people you can rely on or you can fully trust. Even if you have your secrets, that's fine, but it'd be a different story if you plan to intentionally hurt them in any manner with bad intentions."
Ace sighed in exasperation, "Well, obviously. Even if you have fights with your family, planning to purposely hurt them with bad intentions just isn't a functioning family anymore."
"But there are family that would even turn on their own blood relatives regardless of how close they were for benefits." Lotus clarified with a frown, "But, to me, relatives, like that, are just people who share the same blood as me. It won't mean that we are family."
Ace was stunned to hear her words spoke so bluntly! Wasn't she an orphan who was adopted?
But it sounds as though she had been through some harsh time with her biological family. Well, it was a given since she said she was thrown out of human society, but...
She sighed as they entered through the entrance, "Enough dreary talk. I'll go clean the herb and make a pill."
"Then, I won't have to eat it as a potion?" He looked to her in bewilderment before sighing in relief, "Thank god..."
Lotus laughed, "I'll let you decide on its taste later on."
As they walked on, Ace frowned in thought, "Do people still throw children out of human society? That sounds like something from a long time ago..."
.....
Back in the dorm, Ace watched as Lotus began to boil the herb in a small pot at the Heartslabyul's kitchen for hours on end as she sat in the corner reading her book. Curious, Ace peeked over a few times to check what she was reading. He was surprised to find that it changed from herbs and alchemy to strange stones that he's never heard of. He raised a brow in confusion when he saw the pictures of medicine and body structures.
"This guy is really a bookworm..." Ace gaped at her in bewilderment before shaking his head and sighed as he returned to look at the pot.
After a few hours had passed, she returned to the pot and released the steam with the stove fan above the stove on. She had the blue liquid filtered and what was left was a strange-looking vine grass structure. She morphed the remaining vine in the gummy leftover substance. Then, she left it out to dry before tossing it around in a strange floury substance and handed it to Ace, "Have it before you go to bed, but remember that you might need to go to the restroom for a good while tomorrow night."
"Eh?"
"Good thing it won't be tomorrow morning." Lotus smiled after cleaning out the equipments.
"Eh?!" Ace cried out in shock.
"I thought you must've found it."
The two looked over to the entrance of the kitchen and realized that Trey and Riddle walking in.
"Pretty much." Lotus responded with a nod, "Ace fell asleep part way through though."
"I did not!" Ace scowled when he heard her words, "I-I..."
He didn't want to say that he tripped on a stupid root and had a weird dream of being chased by a white horse in the trees. He shook his head and sighed, "It was a nightmare... Gah-!"
He looked up to find his dorm leader glaring down on him harshly.
"You..." Riddle glowered down upon him as he was at a loss for words.
Trey laughed, "I guess everyone was tired today."
Lotus sighed, "True. We spent hours searching around the Isle before we found it, but, when I spotted a Peony flower, I turned around and saw that Ace had fallen asleep."
"Eh?" Trey raised a brow when he heard this.
Riddle looked to her in confusion before shaking his head and sighed, "Fine. I'll let this go this time."
Trey wore a dry smile before turning to Ace, "You should take the medicine then head to bed."
"Ah, right." Ace nodded and threw the pill into his mouth before his eyes widen in bewilderment, "Geh!"
Lotus quickly slapped a hand over his mouth which prompted him to swallow down the pill. Seeing that it had gone down by the movement of the throat, she released her hand and sighed, "Don't throw it back up. It wasn't easy finding the herbs, you know."
"You..." Ace glared at her in irritation when he tasted an unfamiliar bitter taste under his tongue, "Bleugh!"
He stuck out his tongue and rushed around to find water. Lotus sighed, "Drinking water weakens the effects of the herb or even delay the effects. You don't want to be stuck in the restroom during school, right?"
"Seriously..." Ace groaned.
Lotus shook her head and pulled out a piece of dried fruit. She placed it into his hands, "Have that, then. Honey has medicinal properties so it shouldn't delay the process for too long. See ya tomorrow!"
She then walked out the room with ease. Riddle turned around but saw that Ace had already gobbled up the fruit.
"Where did you guys go?" Riddle looked to him.
"Eh? A forest near the town down the mountain." Ace responded unflinchingly.
.....
Seeing Ace returned to his room, Riddle and Trey noticed the door open as Lotus stepped in. Riddle was secretly relieved that he didn't need to go to the dorm to find her and said, "What happened? You mentioned Peony?"
"There was a battle in the area." Lotus replied, "A fluctuation in space occurred around the area, so she was there in time when two people in black came out. She knocked out Ace with a fragrance drug and went to take care of them. I was told to go find the herb after she was done."
"Take care..." Riddle sighed in dismay but did not ask for clarification as he continued, "Well, at least, all of our students are accounted for and unharmed."
Trey nodded, "So, you were able to find the grass?"
Lotus nodded with a grumble, "When she threw Ace at me, I almost didn't catch him and he was about to crash onto the grass."
"At least, he's back in one piece..." Trey wore a dry smile.
"How strong was those guys?" Riddle questioned curiously.
Didn't he saw an example before?
"I didn't get to watch. If I remained there for too long, I'd be dragged into the conflict." Lotus explained, "Once a fight occurs, the entire forest could be considered a battlefield, so all I could do was drag Ace somewhere safer."
"I see." Riddle shook his head, "Then, it doesn't matter. Be careful on your way back, then."
"I see. See ya!" She responded and took her leave.