Blu & the Botanist

Once upon a time in the land of Atheria, there was a princess Nea and a princess Lulu and they went on the most amazing adventures. They had just learned that their two ogre friends, Wahl and O’Lah, were actually long lost elf siblings. 

As soon as the two of them heard that their mother was alive and lived above Larakesh they decided that they needed to go see her, but the funny thing was, she wasn’t an ogre like them, she was an elf. But that story is for another time.

Now, since Princess Ellery had heard about the lost Larakesh babies she was committed to seeing this adventure through. She also wanted to figure out a way to help Morrenvale not be so mad at ogres and dwarfs and uncommon animals that could talk. So Nea, Lulu, Paul, Ellery, Wahl and O’Lah decided to travel back to the beach town together. 

Oleander was kind enough to find a couple of griffins they could ride. For you couldn’t get to the Larakesh by land. They took the two griffins and flew side by side. Paul, O’Lah and Wahl on one and Nea, Lulu and Ellery on another. 

As they came near Larakesh they saw an old friend - Princess Blu from Allaymia. O’Lah and Wahl went with Paul to reunite with their mother up in the elven tower on the cliff where she lived. Nea, Lulu & Ellery headed to the village to see what Blu was doing there. 

Blu was a mermaid, or at least she was one when she was wearing her Torturian Scale. Just like winmaids and winmen had magic Skyrabian Feathers to make them fly, mermaids and mermen had magic Torturian Scales to give them a fish tail and gills. But today, she was walking on land vs. swimming in he sea so she had land legs. After introducing her to Ellery, Blu began to explain why she was there. 

“I came here to elven keep because we’re going to need the elves united. There’s some confusion and disagreement among them. That and, I heard there’s a power crystal here.”

Nea smiled, “Well, guess what we learned?” she asked. 

Blu had no clue. “What?” she asked. “It better be good!”

“Oh, it sure it.” Nea assured her. “We learned the other day something about Lulu - she’s one of the keepers.” 

Lulu revealed her yellow Tornadian crystal, which shined bright in front of Blu. 

“That’s great news. It’s good to know that it’s in good hands!”

Lulu smiled proudly. 

Blu then looked around from side to side. “My problem, now, is that my scale is missing. And without it, I can’t get back to Allaymia.” 

“Where did you last see it?” asked Nea.

“How would I know? I mean, when I get on land, I take it off and put it in my pocket - every time.”

She tore open her pockets. 

“Hm, and what did you do when you last had it?”

“Well, I went to the village and got a snack, I’ve been swimming all day. Then headed up those long, high steps to the keep up there on the cliffs. The sad old lady up there told me she gave it way and when I realized my pocket was empty, I came back down and was just about to ask some of the villagers for help when you guys showed up.”

“Well, maybe we should ask if any of elves have seen it?” Ellery asked. 

So they walked to the village and asked around. 

They came across a small elf family with two kids who were very curious about Blu. They had seen her come out of the water with legs and heard of magic scales and feathers that could change your abilities. They also knew of other magical things like roots that could protect you and coral from under the sea that could heal your body. Earlier that day they had met a dwarf that was looking for such coral. 

“You heard about coral from a dwarf?” asked Blu. It was extremely odd that a dwarf would think of coral for healing, instead of land magic like fairy water. 

“We sure are getting a lot of strange visitors.” The mom elf replied. “Do you think it’s because of that yellow star that fell? We don’t normally get that many visitors here. We’re a small elf village out here.”

The dad elf just nodded, holding a pipe up to his lips and taking a breath. 

“How do you think a dwarf could get here?” asked Lulu, looking around. 

Then she saw something on the ground. There in front of her were footprints. But not elf footprints or human foot prints or even griffin foot prints. They were something else. Something shorter and stockier. 

They followed the footprints all the way to the base of the mountain and to the side of the path that led up to the keep. 

“What on earth?” Nea asked. “They just stop at the mountain.”

Ellery walked up to the mountain and started looking around. “It’s almost like there should be a hole here.” She said noticing an outline in the mountain, the perfect shape of a cave. 

Then she started feeling the side of the mountain until one of the areas clicked. 

[Click]

The mountain rumbled and revealed a cave within the mountain. 

“You really think a dwarf took your scale?” asked Lulu.

“Well, I’m not really sure, but how cool is this cave.” Said Blu, rushing into the cave. “C’mon, let’s see where it goes.” 

As they traveled down into the cave they found an underground city of dwarfs, one they’d never seen or been to before. It was the dwarf city of Darmeda. They had heard of it, but never been there before. 

Inside they came upon a dwarf when they stopped for a snack. This dwarf was kind enough to tell them that there was a dwarf from Wolfmound Hallow that was rushing back to the mainland. But before he would share which direction the dwarf went, he wanted to hear of the princess’s adventures. 

So they told him all about the crystals and ruins. When he heard how they were protected by magic, he told them of an underground fire temple his older sister had told him about once.

When he felt like he’s heard enough about their adventures (because even Ellery and Blu had some adventures to share) he told them which cave this particular dwarf was headed down. The dwarf they were following was heading to Morrenvale. 

In the caves they walked and walked and walked and when they thought they couldn’t walk anymore, they kept on walking. They were convinced they were never going to find this dwarf and be able to get Blu’s magic scale back. 

They finally emerged out of the cave and found themselves on the outskirts of Morrenvale, the cave closing in behind them. And there on the ground, they could still make out dwarf tracks which led them right to an almshouse in Morrenvale. 

“This is where we help those who are sick,” Ellery said leading the way. 

When they opened the door, can you guess who they saw? Jo the Botanist, sitting in the back of the room in a chair, coughing and wheezing. And next to her sat Hickory, the inventor, very quiet and sad. But no dwarfs in sight. 

Lulu realized that the three dwarfs - Elifonia, Potifonia, and Jacob were supposed to be traveling with Jo but were nowhere in sight. She also realized that it must have been the dwarfs who took Blu’s scale. 

“Where are the dwarfs?” asked Lulu.

Jo & Hickory looked up, very confused. But Jo had gotten so sick she could hardly speak up. 

Seconds later two of three dwarfs walked in, Elifonia and Potifonia.

“I think I know what’s going on.” Jo said, looking behind her. 

Jacob, the third dwarf slowly came out of hiding and showed himself to the princesses. He was crouched behind a bed.

“Jacob!” Elifonia yelled. “What did you do!”

Jacob’s face was bright red. He knew he was caught. 

“I took it, well I FOUND it - the scale.”

He pulled out of his pocket Blu’s Torturian Scale. 

“I went to find some fairy water in the Morren Caves but when I heard that a mermaid came to shore I went to go meet her. I was going to ask her to help me get some magic coral from under the sea.”

He motioned to Blu and made swimming motions with his hands. 

“Then I saw her scale fall out of her pocket and I thought ‘well maybe I can find it myself’. So decided to borrow it you know, just for a little while.”

Jacob by new was fully into this story and had almost forgotten about everyone around him. He was waving his arms and making dramatic faces as he continued. 

“Then I realized I didn’t know where in the sea to find magic coal, I mean, I’d never been under the sea before. And it hit me! I’ll give the scale to Jo, so she could visit her friend, Jewel.”

Jacob finally reached the punch line and took a deep breath. His whole face was read by now, partly from embarrassment and partly from all the work it took to act out his story. Jacob was a very animated dwarf.

Jo looked down at Jacob, “Oh Jacob, I don’t need a magic scale to visit Allaymia. And I don’t think fairy water or special coral will help me. I’ve lived a long, long life and I've gotten to go on some amazing adventures in my time. All of this that’s happening - it’s okay. I’m at peace with it.” 

She looked at Hickory and gave him a smile. A small tear left fell down Hickory’s cheek. 

“Nea & Lulu.” She said, calling the princesses over. “I’m glad you both are here. This means you’ll need to find another Keeper for the green Terrainian Crystal. I can’t make it to the other temples like this.” 

As she said that, she pulled out the green Crystal and handed it to Nea. 

“Jo, where are we going to find another Keeper like you?” asked Elifonia. 

“You won’t find one like me. You’ll find the one you need.”

Now when Jo handed over the crystal to Nea it didn’t get darker, like you would expect. The crystals only stayed bright for keepers, which could only mean one thing - there was another Keeper nearby. The only person new to their party was ...

“Blu?” asked Lulu, “Take the crystal.”

“Why?” she asked. 

“Because you’re the only one who hasn’t been around the green crystal before.”

“No. You don’t understand. I can’t be a Keeper. That’s not for me. I’m not a Keeper, I’m a fighter.”

“You might have to be both.” Said Nea. “Atheria needs you. And these dwarfs need you.” 

“Yes, yes! You can help us heal the world!” the dwarfs chanted. 

“Travel, with THESE guys?!” she said unsure.

“We’re not that bad. We’re not that bad at all.”

“In fact, we’re pretty tough.” 

When she saw how happy it made the dwarfs and how sick that the botanist was, Blu decided to take a chance.

“You know what, I think I WOULD like to go on adventure with you guys. Maybe it could even be fun.”

Although she didn't like the idea of being a Keeper of the green crystal she thought she could get used to it. She spent the night talking with Jo the botanist and then spent some time with the dwarfs. The very next day they set back out to continue on their mission to find all of the temples and heal all of the plants in Atheria.

The end.