"Lia, are you feeling alright?" It was Lucas who spoke this time.

"Of course! I'm fine!" Aurelia gave a little smile. "Remember those plants I mentioned earlier? Well I have an idea of how to use them to possibly fix this golden situation." She turned to look directly at Nyel. "It's worth a shot." She shrugged.

"What do you need?" Nyel asked.

"A mortar and pestle, a knife, and cutting board would help." Aurelia stated. "Mind if I pick-"

"Take whatever you need." Nyel interrupted, quickly leaving to fetch the supplies.

Serenity gave her a worried look. "You're not just giving him false hope, are you."

"Serenity, you're not a disbeliever. I think this could actually work." Aurelia admitted.

"This seems a bit too close to fiction to me." Lucas crossed his arms. "There's no way that she really turned to gold." But he didn't sound very sure.

"Well I don't know about that. Gold is a very mysterious and mystical element. As for this cure, it's not too far off what you did you save me. All you do is mix ingredients." She made it sound so simple. Lucas rolled his eyes and it didn't go unnoticed by Aurelia. "Lucas, just trust me on this."

He didn't believe all this, but if anyone could do it it would be Aurelia. He sighed. "Alright I trust you."

Aurelia gave him a grateful smile. She wasn't so sure why she believed Nyel. Perhaps it was the heartbroken look in his eyes. He had seemed so genuine she couldn't help but believe him. She didn't know why she was so certain in her capabilities either, but there was this strong feeling that she could do this.

She picked a thorny, blue vines of the Zeliousope as she waited for Nyel to return.

The Olihp towered over her and the nearest leaf was just barely out of reach.

Just a little more! Her finger tips barely brushed it. Her toes wouldn't boost her any farther.

"Would you like a hand, Lia?" Lucas asked as he noticed the peasant struggling. It was almost amusing.

"Nah I've- erg- got it." She grunted. Lucas laughed. There was no way she could make herself another inch taller.

"Let me help, Aurelia. Please?"

"Alright," Aurelia huffed.

Lucas bent down, propping himself on one knee. Aurelia quickly flung off her shoes as not to hurt him and carefully climbed to stand on it. She steadied herself by holding onto his shoulder with one arm and easily grabbed the leaf with the other.

Neither was sure who caused it but there was some wobbling and they both toppled over. Lucas chuckled and Aurelia apologized profusely for landing on him. 

In the distance they saw Nyel walking back over to them with an assortment of things, as well as a man by his side.

The man had the same auburn hair as Nyel, except it was much neater, and crystal blue eyes. He was tall and walked in large strides that made it seem like he thought he ruled the world. The man had a thick auburn beard and wore strange golden gloves. There was no doubt in any of their minds that this was King Midas.

"He brought the king?" Aurelia whispered.

"It looks that way." Lucas mumbled back.

"Can you really save my Evangeline?" The king's eyes were filled with guilt and hope.

"I can certainly try." Aurelia stated.

"Please, do what you must." King Midas begged.

Aurelia smiled as she took the supplies from Nyel. Now it was time to get to work.

She sliced open the Olihp leaf exposing the green juices inside. Aurelia crushed the leaf slices with her blade, while Lucas used the mortar and pestle to crush the vine for her.

"My neighbor was very skilled with healing. We used to think she was a witch." Aurelia commented, crushing the leaf. "She would crush up all sorts of herbs from her garden and make it into this paste. She'd give it to the neighborhood kids when someone got injured. She used to let me watch her make it."

Aurelia added the juice into the crushed vine and Lucas handed the tools over to her. She crushed the vines some more and mixed the Olihp juice in.

"It's done." She sighed, what seemed like an eternity later. It had felt odd to have everyone watching her in anticipation.

She looked down at what she had created. It was slimy and green, almost like paste but not as thick. It was quite runny.

She took a deep breath as she began to cover the statue with it. The green droplets rolled down the golden statue, spreading the mixture farther.

Serenity grabbed Nyel's hand, worried and hopeful. He gazed at her with a mixture of gratitude and some other emotion Aurelia would have pegged as love. She could have guessed that his heart had sped up by the look on the prince's face. Serenity didn't even see.

King Midas looked like he knew he was about to get his heartbroken but was hopeful anyway. Aurelia sure hoped that she wasn't getting his hopes up for nothing.

Lucas could help but hoped that Aurelia was right. His head told him that this all was impossible, but for once he refused to listen to it. He watched as his hope soared.

And something strange began to happen to the statue. The golden color began to fade.