Chapter 7 - Idle Time

One, two.

It was no surprise to Holly that she didn’t sleep well; her body thought so, only restoring two of the four berries she had lost the night before.

It was now morning and the zalavan was alone in the log cabin with her thoughts.

She had nearly thrown away her life last night. Or at least that’s how Natacha had put it.

The dramatic rescue was something she had only thought possible in story books. A roar of thunder strikes down the gathering darkness, and the hero descends from above to cleanse the world from evil and save the damsel (Holly) from distress.

“I’m not bitter,” Holly huffed. In truth, the little berry tree bristled up at the memories of her scolding by the bird.

“You stupid moron!”
“What did you think you were doing?!”
“You think this is a game?!”

The chastising went on for what felt like hours. Even her mother hadn’t ever given her such intense admonishment.

Yeah, she messed up, Holly knew that much.
Yeah, she wasn’t invincible, Holly was also aware of that fact.
Yeah, she could have died, Holly was acutely cognizant of her mortality.

But even if Natacha had very fair and valid points, did she have to be such a bitch about it?

Grousing to herself wouldn’t solve any of her issues. What remained was fact – if Natacha hadn’t been awake at that exact time last night, Holly would have died. It was as simple as that.

With that in mind, there was only one thing to do – analysis. What went wrong?

The Scherzando actually weren’t too difficult to deal with using magic. Dare she excite the wish sage? Holly considered the Scherzando pushovers.

No, the crux of the issue was the element of surprise; which the Scherzando were masters of, and she had the unfortunate displeasure of experiencing last night. They could be anywhere at any time as long as the sun was set. In a dense forest like this one, that gave them all of the advantage and left none for Holly.

“Seems like I’m a day walker then,” Holly sighed. She furrowed her brows. Issue point number two: she had no idea where any civilization was. She had run away from the road, the only trace of non-zalavan society she knew of.

Happening upon this little cottage in the dense rainforest was pure coincidence.

What was worse was any trust she had garnered in Natacha’s appraisal of her capabilities had been thoroughly uprooted last night.

The mask came with downsides. Yet-

“Oh, you’re awake.”
“Good morning, Miss Natacha!”

It snapped to her face like a magnet, even if she wanted to drop it.

---

And then Holly had a curfew.

This was getting excessive. Holly barely knew this bird woman, and yet she was getting fawned over like one of her saplings. Was it pity? Who knows?

Either way, Holly needed to practice and she didn’t feel comfortable enough casting spells around Natacha to do it near the cottage. For that, Holly made her way into the woods. It also had the benefit of helping her become familiar with the area and possibly scout new seeds for her to add to her collection.

The vast majority around were basic seeds – those that granted wood and plant-based magic. While good to know they were around, it didn’t help her in the variety department. She had an entire library’s worth of spells in her head that remained trapped as long as she lacked the ability to tap into the other aspects of elemental casting.

“Aha, here we go.”

A particular flower tickled her fancy. A vibrant one with long blue filaments extending from the flower’s corona. The reddish-brown stamen stuck out in a vivid display for all to see. Greens splashed the petals and even the underlying structures.

It was not the flower that drew the zalavan’s interest, but the orange orbs that graced the plant.

“Perfect. This is exactly what I need,” Holly grinned widely, grabbing as many of the fruits as she could carry.

---

“What do you got there?” asked Natacha, as Holly returned, arms full of small orange fruits.

“Passionfruit! Mom says they’re good for making teas. I want their seeds for my collection,” Holly told the bird as she got to work cutting open the fruits as she had done with the day prior’s cacao.

The meat around the prized seeds was kind of bland in the girl’s opinion. It wasn’t her first choice of edible fruits. The cacao meat from yesterday was a much better treat.

With a “have fun,” Natacha left her alone in the cabin.

As soon as she was confident she had been truly left to her own devices, Holly spun the knife around and slicked the side of her wrist with the sharp edge. She allowed a moment for the sickly red to gather at the injury site.

With a couple of newly freed passionfruit seeds, Holly channeled their power.

“La Bella Vita, Adagio,” came the mental chant.

She glowed with warm, healing energy and the magic sped up the recovery process until her self-inflicted transgression was erased from the records.

“Healing and electricity magic. Not a bad start if I do say so myself,” Holly grinned with self-satisfaction. However, a new problem was posed – she had plenty of the two seed types, as well as her four shots of nature element magic. But what should she look for next? Ideally, she wanted to replenish her collection and…

“We’re set for life if we can get her and these apple seeds back to Mr. Noel!”
“The Grand Malus is one who grows apples, which are said to be the most powerful of all fruits. The zalavan's greatest treasure.”

Holly stiffened, lowering her head at that thought. She couldn’t claim to be the most loyal to Inverna. She had always planned on leaving when she worked up the willpower. But there was something about the idea that those men stole apple seeds from her people that got under her roots.

It was a terrible idea, but she wanted back at them. Pay them back for her kidnapping and rough treatment, and to reclaim her people’s treasure.

The zalavan leaned back in her borrowed chair. They must be looking for her still. Based on how roughed up they were when they broke into Inverna it must not have been easy to get into. She could vaguely recall they went down a mountain trail. But…

“Wait… what roughed them up then? That trail almost felt traveled…” she realized.

Before she had considered the idea of trade with the outside world. Inverna had books from the other parts of Riterra as well as goods that couldn’t have been produced in the little city. Some entity traded with Inverna, that much was a concrete fact.

“Hrm…” Her memories of before the truck were hazy. Well, that wasn’t right – she just hadn’t focused on anything that helped her piece together this puzzle. The majesty of the unfiltered night sky, all the beautiful trees, the path itself. It was all so new and enrapturing at the time she was distracted to put it lightly.

“Damn it, Holly,” she cursed. Shaking her head, she leaned forward and resumed work on freeing the passionfruit seeds. “A mystery for another day I suppose,” she mumbled.

---

Seed sowing didn't take all day, as such Holly had plenty of idle time. This was practically a crime. And so that was how Holly ended up standing outside the little cabin, sorting through her seeds. Natacha was thankfully off… somewhere, so Holly wouldn't be bothered while she turned her theoretical knowledge into practical experience.

“Preschiverò!” called the nature element. Three cacao offered their rhythm for this exercise. For a moment the zalavan’s body felt weightless. She had become electricity! Though the effect lasted only briefly.

The feeling of her mass returning from a state of pure energy was strange, to put it lightly. She stumbled once her weight returned. “Okay, that was weird,” she mumbled.

It was a useful effect. Well, there was something she wanted to try first to make sure. Three more cacao beans were sacrificed for “Preschiverò!”

This time, rather than remaining stationary, Holly moved while she was electricity. “Ah! What?!” She had moved a lot further than she had intended. “A spot dodge could be useful,” she mused.

The events of last night replayed in her mind; being pinned to the ground like a prey item. Some carnivorous plant she was. That was one thing books could never prepare her for – real combat. Her mind totally blanked when faced with actual danger. Knowing every spell in the world wouldn’t help her if when it mattered most, she couldn't remember one.

“How do I fix this?” she wondered.

It was at that moment the answer came fluttering down from above. “It’s almost time to go inside,” Natacha said, her voice firm. There was a tense moment where Holly stared at the much taller bird woman. Natacha opened her mouth, but Holly was faster.

“Teach me how to fight!” the innocent little zalavan demanded.
“E-excuse me?” Natacha uttered, flinching at the sudden heartfelt request.
“I want to try to find my way home but if I get lost at night I’ll run into those things again, so Miss Natacha should teach me how to fight,” Holly laid out.

Though part of her rationale was twisted, there was a grain of truth to it. Natacha’s performance last night was breathtaking – there was no fear, no hesitation. Even without a Maestro she still could fight. If Holly could get those skills with her ability to cast spells on her own then she’d never have to fear the night again.

Now the only hurdle was convincing the bird that this was for the best. Natacha studied the little sprout child, humming deeply as her scrutinous gaze attempted to wilt her.

“Fine. Don’t expect much though,” Natacha warned.
“Oh, thank you, Miss Natacha!” Holly jumped and hugged the bird woman’s waist tightly.
“Get off!” shouted the lightning element, trying to pry the clingy girl from her hips.