Elaina’s steps were lighter, and the air around her seemed fresher as her and Carline walked to the dining hall for lunch. It was still a bit disconcerting that everyone had seemed to move on so fast, but Elaina was a little more at peace with that now. Things just seem like they’re going to be alright.

Lunch for the day was more interesting than it had been the rest of the weekend. Shipments of fresh vegetables had stopped while the school had done a security revamp, but they were back now, so Elaina had an assortment of colorful roasted vegetables on her plate as the main course today, probably forgoing meat to make up for the lack of them over the last few days. 

“Cheapskates aren’t even giving us real food today; what a joke,” Elaina heard someone say as she sat down with Carline. Carline herself hadn’t said anything, and she’d been in a good mood since they left their dorm, still looking perfectly happy as she dove into their meal.

Elaina took a bite as well, closing her eyes and smiling. She’d eaten all sorts of things at Endrin by now, sometimes things that didn’t really appeal to her, but this just tasted like home. It was something she’d eaten a thousand times, vegetables cooked with just a bit of seasoning by her father on the stove back at her old house. 

“Hey girls.” Elaina looked over to the side, seeing Tira sit down next to her with a plate of her own. “Looks like we’re getting the supreme vegetable treatment today.”

“Yeah,” Carline said, covering her mouth, “it’s not bad though.”

“Oh, for sure. My mom makes stuff like this all the time. How bout you, Elaina?”

Elaina nodded. “Yeah, my dad cooks stuff like this a lot.” 

They finished the rest of their meal in relative silence, and somehow the food tasted even better. The first few days at Endrin had been filled with bland food, but it had gotten a little better after meeting Carline. Now thought?  It’s perfect.

“So,” Tira said, stretching after she dropped her fork on the empty plate, “who’re we meeting again? And where?”

“Carline still won’t say. We’re meeting her at the grove though.” It was out of the way, somewhere they could talk without being overheard, but still right next to the System out there if they decided they were going to add Carline’s friend to the party.

“Still don’t quite get all the secrecy, not to us at least. And this girl doesn’t know what we’re talking about yet, right?”

Carline shook her head, standing up and straightening her skirt. “No, I just said I was going to introduce her to Elaina and you. She asked if I mentioned who she was and I said I hadn’t yet, and then asked me to keep it a surprise.”

Tira rolled her eyes as she and Elaina stood up as well. “Overdramatic I say, but surprises can be fun I guess. I still don’t really know where we’re going, so you’ll have to lead. Onwards, you two!”

“Haven’t you been there before?” Carline asked.

“Yeah, but I don’t really know the way. I just ran there once I heard Elaina screaming. I’d been wandering the forest for a while before that, so I’d be hard pressed to get back without directions.”

“It’s not really that hard,” Elaina said. “Mostly a straight shot if you enter at the right spot.”

“Says you. I would’ve gotten lost if I wasn’t following you that day.”

“Oh yeah,” Tira said. “We haven’t talked about that. How did Carline end up getting involved with all this? I know you said it was an accident, but you never went over the details.”

Both girls went flush. Elaina was remembering Carline walking in on her naked that day, just before Carline had followed her. Carline could be remembering that, her tumble down into the cave, or both, she supposed. “We can talk about that later,” Elaina said. “When there are less people around.”

The change as they stepped out into the outside world was stark. The past week had been cool, the chill air of early spring, and the rain from the other day hadn’t helped matters, but today was different. It wasn’t overbearingly warm, but crisp, fresh as they walked onto the field, the sounds of birds singing filling the air as they stepped closer to the forest. Feels even more like home.

“I love this,” Tira said, beaming as they stepped under the trees. “The only birds I’m used to from back in the capital are pigeons shitting on me.” 

Carline stifled a laugh. “It is nice, but it more reminds me of home.”

Elaina’s ears perked up. “I thought you said you were from the capital too?”

“I am, but my family owns land on the outskirts of it. I didn’t live in the city proper, though I did visit often of course.”

“Oh.” Elaina turned back to Tira. “You did though?”

“Sure did! City girl from the beginning, right here.”

“What did your family do? Or, well, own?” Elaina wasn’t quite sure how these things worked.

“Well, not much. We own our house in the middle of the city, which is more than most folks in the capital can say for sure, but no real land or anything besides.”

Elaina couldn’t help but notice that Carline looked a little skittish at that comment, turning her head and even looking a little ashamed, but Tira didn’t seem to notice, had just made the comment and carried on with their walk. Still, Elaina thought it best not to stir that pot anymore, so just continued walking in silence, each of the three taking in the nature around them on the walk.

They eventually came to the opening in the trees, the clearing in the middle of the forest, and Elaina almost gasped. It had been overtaken by yellows, white, and blues, flower sprouting forth all around it, covering the grove in a blanket of color illuminated by the sun directly above as is streamed in through the break in the forest canopy.

“Damn,” Tira said, walking into the grove with wide eyes. “The rain sure did this place some good.”

“Yeah…” Elaina reached down, brushing a soft yellow flower that she’d never seen before, one that looked like two stars overlaid on top of each other, with a speckling of red dots of pollen in the center. “They’re beautiful.”

The three continued walking through the field of flowers, Elaina and Tira enraptured by the sight. “Guess your friend hasn’t shown yet?” Tira asked, still looking at the ground instead of at Carline.

“No, she’s definitely here.” 

Elaina looked over at Carline, seeing her staring at a spot on the ground. Elaina followed her gaze, expecting to see some new wild breed of flower, but instead she saw a patch on the ground devoid of almost any color. Wait… The bundle had white, not too out of place in the field of flowers, and blue too, but not the vibrant blues of the petals around them. It was a darker, more muted blue, the same color as—

“Is that what I think it is?” Tira asked.

Carline blushed, looking at her feet. “I, uhm, yeah...”

“Hey girls!”

The voice was almost a song, a singing out from the side of the clearing, from the small pool of water on the edge of the treeline. Elaina turned towards it, seeing a figure emerge from the small pond. The woman coming out of it had brown hair almost as long as she was tall, a slim figure, large green eyes.

And she was completely naked.

“Nice to meet you again, Elaina,” Flora said.