A Scale of Sapphire

Evelyn

The day after our little experiment I worked my first shift as the resident plant-pire. Erica infused a vial of Willow’s blood with her own intent and I got to work. Honestly, I was pretty excited to help out. Until now, I’d essentially been freeloading, depending solely on the other’s good graces. I’d been itching to do something, to help out, but until recently, my disastrous feelings and lack of practical survival skills had kept me locked up and useless.

Speaking of feelings, I really liked being a woman. I still found myself spiraling into feelings of doubt and self-loathing on occasion, but it was getting easier and easier to shut those thoughts down. Being Evelyn just felt right.

If Maria could see me now…

Time and place, Evie. I clearly had some shit to work through, but right now I had a job to do. This potion wouldn’t last forever. I didn’t have time to dwell on the past. On Willow’s suggestion, I started by walking the garden’s edge. I did my best to let the magic flow naturally, but the mechanics of this vibrant, lively nature magic were gonna take some getting used to. Shockingly, life magic didn’t come easily to an unbreathing vampire.

WIth more effort than I’d like to admit, I managed to produce a continuous stream of the stuff, and I let it wash over the tangled garden. Something within its borders was moving. Some tangle of vines and thorns tracked my movements, a sickly sweet scent wafting out towards me. I started at the edge for a reason, after all. I needed to demonstrate that I could provide the powerful magic the plants craved before I entered its depths. According to Willow, that would make the plants at least marginally less likely to eat me.

Plant magic is some scary shit.

My initial loop was over faster than I’d like, and before I knew it, I was taking the plunge. Dense leaves above me eclipsed the ever-irksome sun, and the roiling mass of fibrous vines that had been following me the whole time crept into view. The potent stench that kept rolling off of it reminded me of fresh blood, and I had a passing thought of corpse flowers, mimicking the smell of death to lure in their unusual pollinators.

Acting on a hunch, I directed the brunt of my borrowed magic on the strange creature, smiling as it shuddered, retreating back into the undergrowth. Crisis averted. The big guy was just hungry.

Actually, a lot of these plants were sentient, weren’t they? Did they have genders? Was big guy appropriate? I’d have to ask Willow.

The rest of my time in the garden was fairly uneventful. A few of the more mobile plants had startled me, for sure, but none of them made any attempt to hurt me, and a puff of magic was all it took to send them on their way. While there were still logistical issues to deal with, balancing Willow’s blood supply with her magic, my help would be able to give her much needed breaks. I was genuinely starting to feel like I could do this.

My second shift, a few days later, wasn’t quite so smooth. It started out fairly simple. I walked the perimeter, then slowly ventured deeper inside, orbiting the garden's core in tighter and tighter circles until I reached the center, where Crab Apple made their home. I arrived on the scene and drained all the rest of my remaining magical energy on the massive plant, ending the potion’s effects by force. Everything seemed normal, it played out exactly how it did the previous day, and then it didn’t.

Crab Apple shuddered, and the garden shuddered with them. A cacophony of whistling wind, rusting leaves, and creaking branches rose up in a hellish moan. Just as the frightful noise reached its peak, a towering treant awakened among the nearby trees. It kneeled down before me, inscribing a single letter on the ground with its gnarled wooden finger.

W.

They wanted Willow, then.

Willow

I was in heaven. It was my day off, and I was in heaven. The fact that I even had a day off was the most exquisitely beautiful thing I’d ever felt. That I was spending that day wrapped up in the arms of my massive bull of a girlfriend was the cherry on top.

Aoife was outside, doing some flight training, and since Erica couldn’t join in, and neither of them would’ve allowed me to on my day off, my day was spent reading, basking in the sun, and most recently, kissing Erica. I didn’t know how long our make out session had been going, and honestly, I didn’t really care. I’d wanted to get to know her better, but with how busy things had been, I never really had the chance to. I needed to make up for lost time, and that’s exactly what I intended to do.

“Willow…”

I froze, and Erica pulled back, a worried look on her currently human face. A voice was calling out to me, beckoning me to the garden. It sounded almost like Crab Apple, but there were dozens of voices in the chorus. Every single one of them unified into a single word. My name.

“You ok, pix?” Erica’s arms were still around me, and she was gently rubbing my back between the wings. “I do somethin’ wrong?”

“No, you’re fine. More than fine, actually. I was really enjoying myself.” I leaned in and pecked her on the cheek, smiling softly at her. “I think I might be getting called into work though.”

“Pix…” Her voice sounded stern, yet pleading, as though she might start lecturing me at a moment's notice. I deserved that, honestly. Working till I dropped had left my girlfriends confidence in my capacity for self care waaaaay down in the dumps.

“I know, babe. I really wanted to just hang out the rest of the day, but it sounds like it’s pretty urgent. I’ve never heard them call for me like this before. I can at least check it out, right?”

“Willow.” She sounded a little exasperated, but I knew there was only so long she could hold out against the look I was giving her. The pleading eyes of a pixie are a powerful weapon, if that pixie happens to also be your girlfriend, the effect is even greater.

Wait for it.

Stay strong, Willow.

…

“Not one drop of magic, ok? And I’m coming with to make sure.” 

A knock at the door cut our conversation short. Evelyn’s muffled voice calling from the other side.

“Hey Willow, are you free? I think the plants need you or something.”

I was halfway to the door when I remembered I wasn’t wearing a shirt, or a bra, or pants, or pretty much anything. Erica and I had planned to do a lot more than just kissing, after all, and this work call had thrown a serious wrench in those plans.

...

This better not take too long.

“Just a second!” I hurried over to the fabric hoard, grabbing a random dress from the pile. It tangled awkwardly around my wings, but it left me mostly covered. By the time I got back, Erica had already opened the door, and was talking casually with Evelyn, and she glanced over as I approached.

“You ready to go, pix?”

Together, the three of us ventured out into the garden, but we didn’t have to walk far. Crab Apple’s voice echoed around me from all sides the moment I crossed the boundary.

“Goblins are coming. Over a dozen, all in a group.”

Shit.

Ok.

I hope they’re friendly.

I needed to get Aoife.