I made this picture, I own it. This is also the cover.

This idea came to me while I was listening to 'Secret Garden' and thinking about Ducktales. Then I thought about Flowerfell, but at the same time I was still thinking about Ducktales and Darkwing Duck. Eventually my head put together this picture above. After thinking about it, I decided to make it a story!

So I made my two OCs into anthros and decided to go for it! I chose Hope to have the Flower Curse as it fit with her more then Nicole. Hope's full name is 'Hope Azalea Honey' and she is also on the sickly side. It just fit with her more and made more sense in the end.

Azalea's are poisonous flowers, toxic to bees as well even though the nectar can be harvested via honey bees. Eating small doses may not kill you if treated right away and treated correctly, but eating a ton of them can kill you even with treatment if eaten enough of them. Honey made from their nectar has high concentrations of the toxins in it and can kill a person easily. It is also called "Mad Honey" as it does cause confusion to the eater. Every part of the flower is toxic and can cause serious harm if ingested. So, please, be careful and don't eat them. Even a little can kill you if not treated.

On another note though, Azaleas are very pretty, a nice pink color - in a lot of different shades of pink, and also can come in duel colors, for example; pink and white. - and very oriental looking, they are also said to smell wonderful. But then again, most things that are toxic are enrapturing in one way or another.

So, yeah, I thought that Hope fit in with the whole thing. What is growing on Hope by the way are Azaleas.

This is rated mature because this does have some adult themes in here. I'm not about to put it up and get in trouble for not putting it up once we get to the more darker or mature themes in general. So warnings for that.

Also, I have been told that I can hit the feels hard. So I would get everything ready for when they do come; tissues, ice cream and the like.

-Chapter Start-

~Oh Mary, Contrary~

Wide hazel eyes were glued to the mirror, face blank in shock.

The mirror showed that she almost was completely fine, normal even.

A tall and thin white female duck stood in front of the mirror. She had a light orange beak, was unhealthily thin via genetics and high metabolism, with very short brown hair with red highlights on top of her head, the bangs side-swept while the back was too short to even grab at. Wearing a bluish green sweater with blue jeans. No shoes or glasses on yet as it was early morning and she just got up.

What a surprise she got right in the morning too.

Hope Azalea Honey almost looked fine.

Almost.

~How Does Your Garden Grow?~~

There, on the left side of her face near her left eye, was a pink flower. Not just any type of flower though. Recognizing her middle name was simple, Hope has seen pictures of it her whole life. The flower that was so close to her eyes was a azalea.

Azaleas are toxic. Every part of the flower was toxic and could kill a person even in small doses.

Tears started to form in her eyes as the tall duck realized what was going on. But that didn't stop denial coming in hard and strong at first.

'It hasn't happened in generations! The last one was Great-great-great Grandma! It skipped! It should have skipped me! That's what Dad told me it would do! Everyone said that it STOPPED!'

~Come With Me,~

Reaching up a shaking hand, Hope lightly touched the cursed flower. Heart stopping is too kind of a word for that this is. Denial can only get her so far, and even if she didn't want this, it's here. Right in front of her. On her. Denial fought to come up, but her common sense fought just as hard to push it down.

A war not just in mind waged inside her. Emotions were going everywhere so fast that she honestly was starting to feel sick.

Sniffing, Hope shook and shivered. Cold crept on her. The Reaper's hands were on her now. He was over her and watching for the moment where the flowers will overtake her. He's waiting for the flowers to suffocate her body, for the poison to do it's job.

Was this what her ancestors thought when they saw the flowers on their bodies? Did they see Death right behind them, scythe at the ready like she is?

Or did they see what will become of their life, now that there is a timer on them? Hope's timer was ticking down, and she didn't even know the number on it. Nor will she ever will, all she knows is what was going to be the end of her....Unless she decided to end it herself much like a few other family members possibly did.

...No, she's much too of a coward to take her own life. She's too weak for that.

Why? Why did she have to be born within the Honey family?! WHY HER!?

~And You'll Be,~

Making sure not to blink, not wanting to be blinded by tears, Hope gently felt the flower under her hand.

It was pretty to look at. Soft pink mixing in with rose pink, blooming beautifully. The smell was enrapturing. The type of smell that would attract bees and birds from miles away.

Showed just why they say never to trust something so pretty out in the wild. Most of the things that look so good, everything from plants to animals, are deadly. Bright colorful animals are known to be poisonous. Sweet and pretty flowers are known to be toxic.

All the better that it was now growing out of her body. Ironic as it is, at least Hope knows how the toxins will kill her off. Azaleas are very poisonous after all, killing people and bees alike. If honey bees survive long enough to make it into honey, it's even worse. Azalea Honey is known for causing massive confusion if eaten before killing the person.

It was also called 'Mad Honey'.

Her whole name now had a new meaning to it, and Hope hated it.

Twitching, Hope bitterly wondered if she was going to go mad before dying.

Mad Honey indeed.

~The Seventh Maid In A Row~

The Honey's had a horrible secret.

They were cursed. The whole family was cursed, and no one knew how it started or why. No one even knows why only some get the curse while others don't. None of it makes sense, not one bit. It all ends the same though, with death and grieving.

They named it the 'Flower Curse'. Simple and easy to not understand unless you knew what it was. It had ran for six whole generations that the family knows of, killing off hundreds and dozens at a time. Sometimes it was only a few, but then it grew in numbers. Age, gender, or health didn't matter to the curse. It ran by it's own rules and logic. Although it usually did come around the younger years to young adult years. It was rare to see someone older get it. Now having it was a different matter.

The Flower Curse was simple in a way. Flowers, one type of flower, grows on the body. It was different for each person on what type and color of flower they got. No one knew why they got the type of flower they got, it was random to them. The only thing they ever had in common is that they were all poisonous, toxic and killing the body it was growing on and out of. Time was also random at best. The flowers could kill someone off in a matter of days or even years later. Some grow fast to overtake the body, some grow small and take longer to cover any amounts of space on the body. The flower type most likely had a hand in this too.

Once the host found out about the curse, usually and traditionally, the host isolates themselves. Back in the day, even if it was contagious, if you had a curse or mentioned magic you would be stoned if not burned at the stake. Once magic became more widespread because of adventurers and even superheroes, it became the norm because no one wanted their friends and family to watch them slowly die. Why put them through that? Better to die alone in the end. There was also the fact that no one outside the Honey family knew about the curse, it just became a habit to not say anything and hide it away by the time they could talk about it.

Not that it would matter. There is no known cure for the Flower Curse. The whole family has generations worth or research and time dedicated to finding a cure, but nothing was ever found. Everything from science to magic, nothing was ever found. "Doomed be we", as they say.

After the sixth generation, the curse stopped for about three generations. Not knowing why, the whole Honey family-line was hopeful and worried that this was finally it, that it was done. That, or it was going to come back with a vengeance when they least expected it.

They were right.

Hope Azalea Honey was now the start and end to the seventh generation. With no other cousins or family members around her age, and being 22 herself, she was technically the only seventh Generation Honey.

~My Answer Was Laughter~

"I'm going to die...." Hope whispered before it truly hit her. "Ha.....hahahAHAHAHA!"

The tall duck lost it. Laughing herself silly, all she could do was stare at the flower that her hand was still on.

She was going to die.

And not just any death. Oh, no. Hope was going to die via toxic flowers that were going to slowly overtake her body. Poisoning her from the inside out until her very heart stops after the torture. They were going to kill her, slow her body, numb her until she can't move. The pretty pink flowers, the azaleas are going to slaughter her.

These precious looking flowers are her murders, the ones who will kill her.

So it's best that she laugh. Laugh it all out while she can. Listen to it in case the azaleas decide to take her hearing along with everything else. They might even take her voice for all Hope knew. She didn't know what will come or how it will go, all she knows is how it will end; her dying.

So, yes, better to laugh before her slaughter.

After all, you can't spell slaughter without laughter.

~Soft As I Lowered My Head~

Lowing her head, tightening her hand around the flower, Hope Pulled.

Pain flared, making her laughter turn into near silent screams of pain. Knees buckling, Hope fought not to fall as nausea and temporary vertigo overtook her. Swaying on her feet, Hope happened to glace to the full length mirror right in front of her.

The azalea was mocking her. 

Even under her hand, she could see the pink flower, soft in color so deceiving. Red hot anger boiled inside of her, making her clinch her free hand into a fist so tight that she about drew blood with her nails. Rage was something she rarely felt, Hope was usually too mellow if not oblivious to feel such strong anger.

Sadly, Hope had a feeling that rage would become common to her until she was on her deathbed.

So, without a second thought, Hope shot forward and threw the full length mirror to the floor. Shattering it into a hundred if not thousand pieces.

It felt good.

Now the mirror was like how her life was. Shattered.

~You're Too Late,~

Still silently screaming, Hope started to yank hard on the azalea. It was a mistake. If it was as simple as pulling the flowers off, her ancestors would have done it years ago and this wouldn't be a issue.

It only took one yank to send her to the ground, her legs giving out. Glass shards dug into her, but she paid it not mind, it just mixed in with the rest of the pain she was feeling. Pain, like red hot needles being injected into her from all angles, wreaked her body. Gagging, Hope suddenly threw up all she had eaten yesterday.

Not feeling anything yet feeling everything, Hope's body heaved as it fought to get rid of everything in her stomach. She paid the glass no mind as she clawed at the ground, trying so hard to get feeling back within them. Her hands were numb, she couldn't feel them any more. Fear was clouding her mind, making her want to bang her head on the ground to just prove that she was in fact still alive.

Even as her stomach was empty, she still kept gagging. Coughing, a scratchy sort of pain happened inside her throat. Soon the vomit was joined by red.

~I'm Afraid,~

Hope fought to lift her numb hand, not being able to even move her fingers made the whole thing difficult. Jerking her hand, she was able to wipe her beak. Leaning close, as she didn't have her glasses on and was nearsighted, Hope took in the red color.

Blood.

Blank eyes watched as the sticky red liquid ran down the white feathered hand, dripping into the vomit and glass that surrounded her and was on her.

'It's over, isn't it?'

Taking in a shuddering breath, Hope let her tears fall freely. Rage leaving and leaving coldness in it's wake. The pain was slowly fading to a dull ache, reminding her that it would always be there and waiting for her.

Rage would have been welcomed right now. Yet for the life of her, Hope couldn't muster it up.

Not when she can clearly see her death - vomit, blood, broken glass, pain, numbness, illness, everything fading in a snap - right before her even without her glasses on.

~This Flower Is Already-~ 

Not caring for the vomit, glass or blood on the floor or on her, Hope curled up into a ball on the floor. Listening to and feeling her own heartbeat as if it would be the last time it would ever beat inside her chest.

It very well could be for her though.

Seeing pink out of the corner of her left eye and within the glass shards around her face, Hope closed her eyes. Hope prayed for mercy, knowing that she would get none. Why should she get such mercy when none of her ancestors were able to? Hope wasn't above them or better then them, she knew how this whole thing was going to end.

Didn't make it any easier to swallow or think about. It just made her all the colder. Death was waiting for her, it was only the matter of time.

Hope laid in the mess for over twenty-four hours. Not once moving, she just laid there, listening to her body and trying to memorize everything about herself like it was her last day.

By the time she got up, the vomit and blood stained her and the hardwood floor. Glancing into the shards of glass, Hope stared in it for over two hours before getting up to get herself and her room cleaned. numbly going through the motions.

In her reflection, it showed that another azalea has joined the first one. It was only a matter of when. When will the azaleas overtake her body.

Hope Azalea Honey was going to die.

No....

Hope knew that she was already dead.

~Dead~

-End Chapter-

Hope is the start and end to the seventh generation to have the curse, making her the 'Seventh Maid' as you can say. Although, the Flower Curse has killed off hundreds of her family members before her time. This is only counting the Flower Curse, how many generations it effected, not how long the family-line has been going. If that was the case, it would be way longer then just seven generations.

The average age of mothers at birth of their first child was 20 and at the last birth 31, giving a mean of 25.5 years per female generation — considerably above the 20 years often attributed to primitive cultures. Husbands were six to 13 years older, giving a male generational interval of 31 to 38 years.

Hope's family is on the older side with a lot of younger coming in behind her, meaning that she is smack dab in the middle - at the age of twenty-two. Because of this, she is the only one in the seventh generation. If one of her younger cousins get infected with the Flower Curse, then they would be the Eighth Generation to have the Flower Curse. Not that they will, only Hope has it now.

Every family member had a different flower, or at the least different color flower. It was rare to have the same type of flower and color as someone else. No one knows why they have this curse or a cure for it, it just is for them. It's like cancer in a way, only they can't get rid of it.

Hope is obviously in shock and not in a good mental place right now. Knowing that you are going to die one day is a given, but it's like saying you have cancer right here and it's too late to get rid of it. Her worst fears are coming to life right now - it's not a good thing.

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