"The gardens are our pride and joy here in Midas. The plants here range from the absolute most exotic to the common beauty. There's not another like it." Nyel stated, proudly.

"I take it you have an interest in gardens then?" Serenity wondered.

"I find plants quite interesting. The things you can create from them. I hope to that through these we discover new cures for existing ailments." Nyel touched the colossal leaf of towering spiluoux. It had no petals or flowers but was a strange shade of yellow. Other than that it looked like a collection of large vines.

Aurelia and Lucas hung a little ways back, not wanting to intrude or be apart of the prince and princess's conversation. It seemed Serenity and Nyel were far too comfortable on their own.

"Lucas, you're always in a rush aren't you?" Aurelia wondered, quite peacefully.

"Yes but only because time is a fleeting thing that once lost can not be recovered." Lucas stated. "You should be more concerned with how long this shall take. I'm worried sick about Atharia in my absence."

Aurelia's eyes narrowed. "I am worried about Atharia. Of course I wish we could speed things up, but we can't so I'm not going to waste my time moping. I don't wish to dawdle, but I'm still not going to waste a second complaining." She huffed. "You need to learn to stop and smell the roses."

She gestured to a lovely bush covered in large roses of every color and gave a smirk.

Lucas rolled his eyes before leaning down to smell the bush. It didn't smell like roses. There was something so distinctly different about it. Was it just his imagination or was this bush something more peculiar? It smelled like old parchment and books and fresh grass and something vanilla he couldn't figure out where he'd smelled it before.

Nyel turned around and noticed what they were looking at. "It's actually a rare form rose bush known as Rosaceamoure. It's supposed to smell like what you love."

"I wonder how that works? I mean how can it know what you love and change what chemicals it sends out to mimic that smell?" Aurelia wondered.

"I don't smell anything besides roses." Lucas mumbled his lie.

"Do you like roses?" Aurelia wondered.

"No."

"Oh..." Maybe he was right. Maybe they were just legends. Maybe they were just colorful roses. She took a whiff of them, just to see. There was something coppery- reminding her of right outside the mill, grain, and books. The scent of old paper was the strongest. Seawater, grass, and wood all came to her mind as she smelled. Together they reminded her of something close and familiar, but she couldn't quite remember what.

"I smell something. It's strong. And it's definitely not roses." Aurelia hadn't even realized she was smiling. Some of those smells reminded her of home. It faltered when she remembered how far she was from her family. Her heart sunk. Her parents were probably worried sick.

"What's wrong?" Luke's expression changed from skeptical to worried. He didn't like the frown that had suddenly appeared on his companion's face.

"Nothing, Lucas." Aurelia murmured as they passed by a fat, thorny vine that was the color of a stewed blueberry. She faked a smile and nodded towards the plant. "I read about this in one of your books. Zeliousope supposedly can heal minor injures, but the plant has been so  recently discovered that-"

"Aurelia," Luke's tone was stern and perturbed, as he noticed Aurelia's change in subject. Her false smile faltered. "What's wrong?"

"I miss my family." Aurelia sighed.

He had forgotten. She had a family to leave and she had left them.

"Oh."

"They are probably really worried. I mean one day the knights just showed up and took me away and they haven't heard from me since. I hope they're okay." Aurelia sighed.

"I'm sure they are." Lucas tried to reassure his companion. Aurelia knew he was just saying that, but it comforted her anyway.

As they moved past the Rosaceamoure and the Zeliousope something scratched at the back of her mind. The saltwater smell was so strong and yet she'd only been on a boat once before. It didn't fit with the other scents. She shrugged off. What did it matter?

"Uh, Nyel, what's this?" Serenity wondered as they entered through an arch to an area full of golden statues. The one she was looking at was quite odd and attention drawing. It was a statue of an elf holding a golden droplet.

"That's to honor the Furati, an ancient race of elf. They were known for their immense magical power and their habit of kidnapping children." Nyel explained.

"Why do you need to honor them? They sound horrible." Aurelia wondered.

The royals around her stared, besides Lucas who rolled his eyes.

"Furati try to steal newborn princes according to legend. The droplet the elf has is supposed to be the prince's blood." Lucas explained, disbelief thick in his voice.

"Blood?!" Aurelia gasped. "Why-"

"It's a legend. Blood of a true prince can grant them immense magic or something." Lucas shrugged.

"You don't sound very worried." Nyel stated. The people of his kingdom took the superstition very seriously.

Lucas smirked. "I have no reason to be. No one would be after my blood." Aurelia understood what he meant. He hadn't been born into royalty. He wasn't a blood relation to the king in power. But he probably didn't have much faith in the legends anyway.

"Well here in Midas we may be a little superstitious. There have been instances of mysterious kidnappings. We decided to erect a statue to show honor and stop them. So far there hasn't been much activity but maybe that's because there are so few left." Nyel stated.

"If they even exist." Lucas reminded him.

Aurelia spoke up, fearing an argument. Lucas was incredibly skeptical whereas Nyel and Serenity were both very open minded. She had to admit she leaned more to Luke's side, but it wasn't like she was a complete nonbeliever. She had seen the magic of a mysterious little man with her own eyes.

"Look at that! A real Olihp? I heard that they can magnify the effects or taste of another plant. Such a weird thing. I wasn't even sure they were real." Aurelia rambled, as they walked farther away from both the golden elf statue and the plant she was speaking of.

They headed towards a beautiful pavilion in the middle of the area of statues. Something glimmering gold stood inside. As they drew closer Aurelia realized that like the others it was a beautiful statue. It was a young woman around their age with long curly locks and bright eyes. There was something off about this statue. Compared to the others it was so much more detailed and... Realistic.

"Who's that?" Aurelia wondered, without thinking. The sculpture didn't have to be based off a real person of course. The words simply slipped out as she marveled at the beautiful piece of art.

A look of hurt washed over Nyel's face. "My sister, Evangeline."

"They did a great job with it. Do you know the artist?" Aurelia asked.

"There was no artist." Nyel stated, sadly.

"What do you mean?" Lucas wondered, raising an eyebrow. Was it anonymous work?

"This sculpture is different from every single other sculpture here. It actually is Evangeline. That statue is my sister." Nyel left Aurelia and Lucas with one specific question.

"What?"

What do you think of the awesome new cover by NinjaGo_KJLCZ? Personally, I think it looks great. I hope you're enjoying! If you are leaving a vote and/or a comment is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!