The War Of Gemstone: Owl & Flower
Something That Can't Be Done

In his beautiful dream, where he stood rigidly in the vast expanse of sunflower fields and the ever-bright sky. No tree, house, or insect will ever harvest honey. Faye did nothing, just remained silent like a statue, and her gaze was fixed forward. As far as the eye can see there is only yellow, warm and bright. Then came a small fire that splashed on one of the petals of the flower, slowly spreading out. A faint voice sounded from the sky, like a god calling out to him. The voice was familiar and the longer it got louder. “Faye, wake up!”

Faye flinched, waking up from her dream. The blanket on his back slumped onto the chair.

“His tree is back in pain,” said the voice that woke him up which turned out to be Rynn.

Faye wanted to get angry for making her wake up all of a sudden, but couldn't, there was a more important problem. Faye and Rynn then rushed towards the magic tree.

In front of them, Archie and the Black Knight were already waiting. “What happened?” ask Faye curiously.

Under the sunlight, the tree shriveled even more. Now on one of the branches there are not a single leaf left. The wood skin cracked, revealing its white interior.

Archie shook his head. “I don't know. This tree has been this way ever since me and the Black Knight came to check it out.”

“Maybe we have to water it with pool water again,” Rynn said. Rynn and the others then splashed the pool water on the tree.

“Tak successfully.” Faye surprise. Magic energy no longer flowed from the tree. “What really happened? How can?”

Rynn embraces Faye's shoulder and stroks her, trying to calm the panicked girl.

Archie squatted near a tree. His eyes were observing the brown ground around. “It's confusing.” The man scratched a bit of soil in his hand and rubbed the grains of soil with a finger. “Land around here, does not contain any poison. Other plants also appear normal,” he said.

Recalling something, Rynn said to Faye. “Maybe the answer is in your mother's magic workshop. I see a lot of books and notes. The answer should be written there.”

“Nobody can enter that room!” snapped Faye. “From this problem because you entered the magic workshop! If only I had been here at night, maybe I could have prevented this tree from hurting.” The girl broke free from Rynn's embrace.

“I'm sorry about that," Rynn bowed regretfully.

Archie gets up and approaches Faye. “Rynn right. If we find an answer in that workshop, we can save this tree."

Faye closed her lips. Stare at Archie and move on to Rynn, and look down. There was no reason for him to refuse. Despite Faye's fear of losing her mother's relics in the workshop and a note that could have been disastrous, she also did not want the tree to die. “Alright,” says the girl resigned.

“I will stand guard here, if anything bad happens I will report soon,” said the knight.

Faye, Rynn and Archie enter the dark room. Since the door seal was weakened again, Faye did not need to use magic to open it. The girl plucked her finger, as soon as the candles stuck to the wall of the room lit up. Candlelight shone on the shelves and tables made of the same wood as the door.

In the middle of the room, there were two shelves containing books arranged randomly. The shelf behind has a small size than the other shelf, the books are arranged even less.

“I will search on a small shelf,” said Rynn.

Archie headed for a wooden cabinet containing parchment scrolls behind a small shelf. The rope from the hemp plant fibers tightly binds the coils. While Faye looking on the other shelf is larger. “Let me remind. I always check books and notes. I don't remember anything related to healing the Magic Tree.” Faye looked at the backs of books.

“Don't give up first.” Rynn cheered as his index finger traced through the books and stopped at a book with a green cover. The girl swept the cover of a book called ‘Serba-Serba Caring Plant’. “This is it,” murmured.

The girl opened the first page. “Living plants like other creatures, require water and sunlight.” Then he turned the page looking for the names of the plants. “Mangoria, Anadalia, Rainbow Fir, Sintila..

Faye grabs the book with a grey cover. As the book was in a tilted position, Faye put it down again. “No.” His mind was agitated, the girl could not focus on looking for answers in the book. Faye herself knew that there was no way the answer would be here. He had been checking one book at a time and another since his mother's death. Since the Magic Tree only existed after the departure of the Great Witch, there was no record of any of it.

Archie's excited. Running in a tight spot is like a messenger that brings glad tidings to everyone. “Maybe this can help.” He stood beside Faye. “See, this is a note about the Silver Tree belonging to the Great Forest Queen.” His hands spread the scroll in front of his stomach. “Said that when the tree was dying, Queen Avaina used Sunflowers and Moonflowers to heal the Silver Tree. The opposite great energy of day and night stored in the two flowers can suppress the disease in the tree. Here is also written how to make the medicine. Maybe this worked,” happy grin was drawn on the man's face.

Archie's shoulder slumped. “Why do you always give up. There is no harm in trying, right?” Archie clutched his shoulders and pulled the girl's body close to him.

“I told you, this won't work.” Faye brushed off Archie's arm. “Are you so stupid that you don't understand?”

The man folded his hands. “Of course I understand. Do you have any other way?”

“No.”

“Then let me help you, even if only once.”

“Basic stubbornness.” Faye bit her lip. His face was red as if it was burning. The girl pushed Archie with her hand. “Why do you always insist on helping me. You used to be like that too, right? Always refuse the help of others, trying to solve all problems by yourself.” Faye's voice is rising.

The driven Archie hit the bookshelf that was swaying like it was about to collapse. The man held the bookshelf by holding the edge of the wood. A number of books fell down as the shelves were back up. The books landed at Archie's feet. Rynn then placed the book on the smallest shelf and came to try to calm Faye by holding both shoulders.

Archie picked up the books that had fallen off and placed them back on the top shelf, along the wide gap between the white and brown books. “Therefore I hated the old me. I don't want you to look as pathetic as I do!” said the man. “If it doesn't work, I'll find the cure to the end of the world. Trees are important to you, right?” Archie steps past Faye and Rynn.

“Where to go?” ask Rynn curiously.

“I will look for Sunflowers, you just prepare the other ingredients. Moon Flower should grow a lot in the fence.” The man passed through the door and disappeared away, carrying a scroll of parchment in his hand.

Faye sat hugging her knees. The reddish light emanating from the candle shone on the two girls. “I miss Mom. If only there was Mom, all the problems would have been solved easily.” Although, Faye lived for hundreds of years but she was still a normal girl. Feeling fear and confusion, not much different from village girls like Rynn or noble girls like Meredith.

Rynn sat next to him, his arms hugging Faye's shoulders. “As Archie says, Faye should be upbeat. We'll all help you.”

Faye glanced at Rynn. “Why do you always insist on helping me.”

Rynn smiled sweetly. “Of course because we are all your friends.”

“I don't need friends.”

“Then, why not just kick us out? Faye must be able to drive us all away with your power.”

“I can't, Rue picked you,” muttered the girl.

Rynn took a breath and exhaled it. “What determines your life Rue or yourself?”

Faye silently did not reply, looking into the eyes of the girl in front of him who was as bright and as warm as the sun.

“You didn't kick us out of your own will, did you? You used to be alone, no one to talk to. And little by little, good people come to you, of course with their good intentions,” Rynn said. “You don't want to kick us out because you feel the warmth of gathering with the others after so long, don't you?”

Rynn leaned his head against Faye's shoulder. “We all feel the same way we do here. Lose our previous place and find a new place that accepts us. We are all grateful to meet you,” continued the girl.

Faye glanced at Rynn. The girl could not deny more to the sincere remarks that Rynn gave. Faye misses her mother more than anything, but now she's not here to watch the moon, make warm tea, and tell adventure stories. His mother had been gone a long time and now his friends were the ones who replaced his mother to continue to be by Faye's side whenever and wherever. “Go. Archie told you to prepare the ingredients, didn't he?”

Rynn jerks. “Oh, you're right, I go first.” The girl got up and headed outside. “Don't forget my words, always smile,” he shouted from the outside.