“It’s bad,” Kallie added.
“Marcus, you’re failing. If this helps Professor Warbright give you a better grade, you really have nothing to lose,” I said.
He hesitated, before he gave a sigh and woefully conjured themeticulous miracula.My mouth fell open when I saw the dreadful sight before me.
There wasn’t much left resembling a plant. A sad looking dry stem sat straight up in a tiny pot, with strands of twigs poking out the sides. The few leaves that were left on the plant were absolutely shredded, like Rishi had been chewing on the ends. There was no telling what the plant had looked like before, because it resembled nothing more than a shriveled-up shrub now.
Marcus deposited the plant into Charlie’s hands. Charlie made a couple of astonished whimpering noises as his Earth magic wrapped around the plant. Green sparks touched the ends of the plant before it fizzled out helplessly.
“I was supposed to use the leaves in an alchemy experiment,” Marcus said woefully. “But I—”
“Youkilledit!” Charlie yelped. He carefully touched a stem, and it snapped right off.
“I watered it!” Marcus said defensively. “But then, I think I overwatered it, and I forgot to put it in sunlight, so I left it alone for a month, then Rishi got his paws on it and ripped it all up… Then I put it in my stash, and well, there’s no sunlight there…”
“I can’t do anything with this! It’s basically dead!” Charlie yelped. “You’vetorturedthis poor plant!”
He was deeply offended. Oberi sniffed it and said,Well, it certainly won’t be winning any awards.
“There has to be a way you can save it,” I argued.
“I don’t think there’s a way. There’s not even any roots that have enough life to help it out. Everything’s limp in the soil,” Charlie said.
“Let’s use simultension,” I offered. “Combine your Earth magic with my Spirit power. Maybe we can make it regrow.”
He sat down and put the plant on the round table. I wheeled up beside him, and both of us put a hand on either side of the pot.
“We’ve gotta push our magic outward, instead of sharing it with each other,” I informed him. “Let’s use both at the same time.”
Charlie attempted to grow the plant again, and once his Earth magic had wrapped around themeticulous miracula, I joined my magic with his. I didn’t think my Spirit magic would have any effect on the plant, not unless I put it into Charlie’s abilities, so I directed my healing power to intertwine with his Earth magic, giving it a boost. I could feel Charlie’s energy willing the plant back to life, and I guided it along, instructing the plant to heal from the inside out.
It began to work. The dead parts of the plant blossomed into healthy new stems and vibrant green leaves. But that’s not all that happened. I gave a gasp of excitement as I watched the plant grow tiny arms and legs. Miniature black eyes and a tiny mouth formed on a woody face.
The plant gave asquee,then pulled itself out of the dirt. It dizzily spun around in the pot before it noticed us above and started dancing.
Charlie could feel it moving with his Earth magic, and he reached out to touch it. The plant latched on to one of his fingers, and held on as Charlie lifted his hand up. The plant climbed upward onto the back of his hand, then scrambled onto Charlie’s shoulder to give a clumsy hug to his cheek.
“Charlie, you made it come to life!” A huge smile spread across my face.
“Me?” Charlie was baffled. He reached up to touch the plant, but it’d taken a running leap from his shoulder back down to the pot, belly flopping onto the dirt.
“I think so? We healed it together,” I said, leaning down to look closer. The plant reached up to bop me lightly on the nose.
A loud, obnoxious snort came from beside me.I don’t like it, Oberi said, turning his nose up at it.It’s creepy.
Marcus and Kallie hurried over to look. “Mother Miriam’s bosom, she’s alive!” Marcus exclaimed.
Rishi’s tail flicked as he jumped onto the table to watch the plant. His eyes moved back and forth as he watched the plant run from one side of the table to the other, before he pounced. Rishi grabbed the plant, attempting to swallow it whole. The plant gave asqueeof surprise.
“Don’t hurt him!” Charlie yelled.
“Rishi,” Marcus scolded, and he snatched up his cat. It was similar to watching Marcus tussle with a lion as he pried the plant out of Rishi’s mouth. He set the plant down on the table, and it began wiping cat spit off his leaves. Rishi yowled, and the plant flipped Marcus off with one of his tiny leaf fingers.
“He doesn’t remember you well.” I snickered.
“Aw, it’s so cute,” Kallie sang. “It’s like a little spriggan.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
