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Music, sung along to by a certain flower child, rang out from the Perennials section of the garden, from a small set of speakers he’d brought with him. Elst was in the back room of the Lobby, messing with a few of his orchid bulbs.

Look in my eyes,
What do you see~
A cult of personalityyyy…

I know your an-ger,
I know your dre-e-eams,
I’ve been everything you want. To. Beeee~

I’m the cult of personalityyyyyy~

Click, song switch, that one’s getting a little boring, Aoi’s listened to it too many times to find it interesting, now, next song, let’s see…

Here we stand…
Worlds apart, hearts broken in two, two…twooooo…
Sleepless nights,
Losing ground
I’m reaching for you, you, you~

Feelin’ that it’s go-o-o-one,
Can change your mind,
If we can’t go o-o-o-on,
To survive the tide, love diviiiiides-

Someday, love will find you,
Break the, chains that bind y-

Click, damn, that one’s getting old too. Next…

I must have dreamed a thousand dreams,
Been haunted by a million screams,
But I can hear the marching of feet,
Moving. Into the street.

Now did you read the news todayyyy…
They say the danger’s gone away.
But I can see the fires, still alight,
Burning, into the night.

There’s too many men, too many-

Click, pause. Gah, he just couldn’t decide on a song today…oh well. It was edging to evening anyway, and the rain dance he was performing seemed to have soaked the flowers well enough, that was what mattered. Wait, what was that ringing sound? Crap! The phone!
The Alter booked it for the lobby, running as fast as his not-exactly muscular frame would carry him, the screen door flying open as he ran in. As the phone rang the last ring before it switched to the answering machine, he made a grab for it, pressing the receiver to his ear. Out of breath, he spoke into the phone.

“Hello, Elysian Gardens.”

Aoi listened to the voice on the other end of the line, easily determining it was Ellandra before she said her name. “Oh, hello Ellandra, of course they can come over, anytime… During customer hours we can just stay in the areas of the Nursery where no one will see u- …Wait.” There was something wrong here. Something in her voice just sounded off -wait, was she crying?- This couldn’t be good, he could tell she was unhappy about something, and he hadn’t even read her yet…

“Ellandra…Is there anything wrong…?” His former smile wilted with worry. From the very little he could read off of her over the phone, this was nothing minor. What was going on...

Elst stood quietly in the back room of the Lobby. Before him, on the desk, sat his violet orchid, the orchid he'd had for so long...The one which refused to grow. Now, Aoi...Aoi had managed to get it to sprout a second bloom, but Elst hadn't quite figured out how to separate it into a separate stalk, and so it remained a single plant. He'd heard the phone ring, but Aoi apparently got it, no need to go out and stop focusing on the orchid...

A frown slowly creased Aoi’s face as Ellandra continued to speak. An uncomfortable situation? Likely much more than that. What was wrong? What went wrong? Wait…He heard quiet sobbing now, felt her emotions quite clearly as they wrought themselves forth in liquid form. He remained silent, however, to allow her to continue speaking. It’s…gone wrong? What…wait, everything has gone wrong? The only thing he could imagine Ellandra calling as her ‘everything’ was…

It hit him. A wave of emotions, the usually fragile telepathic connection he could establish over telephone lines becoming all too clear in an instant. Something she’d held back, for such a long time…This was truly horrible. A strong, lightning-fast current of thoughts projected to Elst; Dad! Ellandra needs our help, now. Please, drop whatever you’re doing, get out here fast, we need to get to the carnival as soon as possible. I’ll explain on the way.

Aoi stood up straight, stretching his legs. “Ellandra, you don’t need to say anything else. Get ready for us to come pick you up, whatever you need, you can stay here. We’ll be there for you as fast as we can.” He sent the strongest feelings of relaxation he could over the phone line, however unlikely they were to be able to travel all that way, and without another word, hung up the phone gently.

Elst came running out from the back room, eyes wide with curiosity of what was happening, but he understood enough to know they had to get to Ellandra, as fast as they possibly could.

Elst’s mind raced, wondering how they could fastest get to Ellandra. They usually walked wherever they went; it was slow doing so, but Elst was patient. There were bicycles, but…they couldn’t bring Ellandra on a bike that way. What could be done…Wait. The delivery truck. He grabbed a pencil and paper before exiting the Lobby, and with Aoi tailing him, immediately behind, Elst ran to a large-doored warehouse, unlocking the large padlock that held it shut after fumbling around his pockets a moment for the key. The doors swung open, to reveal a variety of tools and in the center of it all, a large, oddly military-like truck.

A long while back, just after the Nursery had gained success in Vargash, Elst had begun receiving orders for things like arrangements for entire cathedrals, and, simply put, all that could not be transported on foot. It would be expensive, but an absolute necessity. Elst searched long and hard for the best possible deal on a suiting vehicle, and after a while, found just what he was looking for. One of the failing militia factors of Vargash, still fighting a war that had long since ended, were low on funds. They had to get rid of one of their old troop carriers, and were willing to sell it for dirt cheap. And hey, cheap price, sturdy as hell, and high storage potential was all Elst needed, and Elst drove it back to the Nursery that afternoon. [He had previously learned to drive, before he went out car-searching. A reasonable precaution, if not a bit eager.]

Of course, it needed to be cleaned up a bit, and repainted to remove the military look, but with a bit of effort the undertaking wasn’t too difficult, and Elysian Gardens soon had a new delivery vehicle; it even had the Nursery‘s logo pained on and everything. And so it remained in that makeshift garage, used for the occasional large-order customers, and now it had a new purpose. The duo climbed in, and they were off. A side gate, large enough for a vehicle to pass through, as used for their exit, and faster than ever before, they had made it to the carnival, parking the truck about a block away where there was space. As they left the vehicle, in Elst’s hand could be seen a handwritten note; he’d hurriedly written it, however dangerously, as they’d driven over, while Aoi filled him in a bit on the situation.

They rushed into Farstep, taking the most obscure route to the camps as possible to avoid catching attention and wasting time. The entire maneuver was performed with surprising efficiency, and as they reached the vardo, instead of knocking, Aoi sent out a mental note to Ellandra within, in case she wanted to exit discreetly. Ellandra…? We’re right outside, are you ready…?

The duo waited as Ellandra finished packing, Elst greeting her on the doorstep with a sorrowful look upon his face, seeing that the ribbon she once wore was gone from her wrist. He’d been informed of the situation, a little, by Aoi, but…this was far more dire than he had imagined. To actually cut such a thing was serious; from what he understood it was like a more heartfelt wedding ring. To actually sever such a thing…Elst looked her straight in the eyes.

“Ellandra…do not apologize. Please realize this isn’t your fault. You simply need somewhere to go, and we have absolutely no problem providing that to you. Hold on, though, I need to leave something for...him.” He pulled the note from his pocket, folded into thirds. His voice was calm, level, but his eyes pictured emotional conflicts and empathy beyond words, deep in those dark jade orbs. He walked past Ellandra, into the vardo.

He looked around; things were quiet. Yes, Lauss was there, but…the room was devoid of the life he’d once felt coming from it last he saw of it; the good cheer, the bliss…all gone. He’d been about to place the letter on a table, when he spotted them. The ribbon, severed, and a necklace he wasn’t quite familiar with. From its location, though, Elst could see it had quite the significance. And thus, the letter went next to them. It read:

Faolan;

As you have doubtlessly noticed, Ellandra is no longer residing here. She has, in essence, run away. I have a very limited scope of what precisely has happened, but this second marriage of yours to Miss Lee seems to have caused so much strain on her that she could not take it any longer.

Earlier today, she called the Nursery, and Aoi answered. He, from what I can tell, knows much of what has happened, has gleaned almost every tearful thought, nearly every worried feeling passing through her mind that has contributed to this torment of hers. He told me a small portion of what he learned, but only just enough to understand what needed to be done. He said that Ellandra very much needed us to come to her aid, and bring her back with us, at least for a while. I obliged to her call for help, and by the time you are reading this, she will be residing with us.

Even now, I still do not fully understand all this, but I cannot help but feel you would never cause this on purpose.

I did not bring her here to hide her from you. If that was what I wanted, I wouldn’t have brought her to the Nursery, yet I did. I brought her here to give her somewhere to find a haven in which to think in peace. The Nursery is in the same place it always has been; you know where. I have attached one of the Nursery’s business cards in case you have forgotten the address. It has all my contact information as well.

I beg of you not to consider this as some sort of betrayal; I am simply doing what needs to be done for her. I can honestly say you are the very first friend I can remember making. I do not want to lose that friendship, and if you decide that you despise me for this, so be it. I will still consider you as my friend.

I value that friendship more than the world, Faolan.

-Elst

As a whole, the letter was rushed, but it suited the purpose. Elst hated doing this, but knew Ellandra needed it. Before he turned away, he placed one last thing next to the letter; the petal of a grey-infused daylily.

He passed Ellandra, nodding to Aoi softly as he passed them by. While Elst was gone, Aoi had walked up to Ellandra, hugging her, trying everything he could to soothe her, sending wave after quiet wave of calm feelings to her as best he could. Elst stopped walking, gesturing for them to follow.

“…let’s just get out of here as fast as we can…” All of this…conflicted him deep past his seemingly calm mentality. He began leading them back to the truck.

Yes, fragments of the past, they were...ashes come to fall upon this cheerily decorated tomb built for them. The only question was, this chagrin mausoleum...Would it remain sealed?

Or would...would this tomb be exhumed, brought to light again with the return of Ellandra; she held one of two keys to this grave, both needed to bring this eidolon back to life...So the question here...was simply if Ellandra would let this spectre lay at rest, and leave it behind...

Aoi loosened his hug, however, at Rhian’s request, letting go only once they had reached the truck. Elst unlocked the doors, walking over to the passenger side and opening the door for Ellandra to reveal the interior: A front row of seats for the driver, passenger, and a center seat too, in front of a second row with four more seats. “Yes...I don’t drive it often, but it’s the Nursery delivery truck...and the fastest way I could get to you...Come on in and we’ll be off as fast as we can.” Aoi hugged close to her once more, before letting her go to get in the truck.

Aoi tried his best to help Ell up into the truck, before getting to the other side of the chassis and climbing into the middle seat. Elst soon followed, climbing behind the wheel and shifting the truck into gear. “Ellandra, please, trust me on this; I am perfectly willing to do this for you, anytime, it is absolutely no trouble, so please, no apologies. I’m glad to help, however horrible the circumstances. Just know you may always rely on me, and I will never have any problem helping you when you are in need of it.”

A bit awkwardly phrased, but...It suited the purpose, at least; Elst meant what he said. And so they drove off into the evening. During the drive, especially at Rhian’s comment, Aoi tried to remain as close to the distraught woman as he could, just make sure she has a feeling of them being there for her.

The sky was beginning to darken.