"Prince Akihiko... My apologies," I dusted my dress and smiled.

He has two secondary powers, time and spirit. It's nothing compared to my 5 but it's still a great feat.

"How do you like the garden?" he smiled back, kneeling down to the raspberry bush.

"It's quite extraordinary, it must have taken years to perfect the array, even those with a greenery attribute would struggle," I complimented.

"Nothing a little time couldn't fix," he said with a flash of playfulness in his eyes.

Oh! I forgot he had time magic. Though he can't turn back large areas and could die if used excessively, a little a day should shorten the time needed by a lot.

"You're smart. And you know I'm smarter than most of you think I am, so ask what you want to ask," I beamed.

"If that's the case. I think you know a Spirit's Arcana when you see one, so, question is, what do you plan on doing with such information?" he looked at me coldly.

Something told me that he didn't want his secret out in the open.

"What do you want me to do with it?" I asked curiously.

"With what? You didn't see anything did you?" he asked innocently.

I smiled and zipped my mouth. "Just some lovely crystal raspberries,"

"Well... Then, what would you like to do today, Princess?" he asked seriously.

Basically, he's asking me what I want in return.

"Perhaps we could go shopping? I know a great market that sells strange wares," he smiled.

"Or maybe a scenic fly above Slade? I could borrow a pegasus and I know the bests spots," he suggested.

"As lovely as that sounds, I think I'd be fine roaming the gardens," I said happily as he frowned.

He didn't want to give me time to think about what to do with such an open favor.

"But I don't like owing things, Princess. There must be something that piques your intrest," he hurried.

"There is one thing," I grinned.

He looked slightly worried but plastered a tight lipped smile.

"What would that be?" he asked as I smirked.

"Snap dragons," I said simply as he looked at me confused.

"Snap dragons... Do you mean Dragon snaps?" he asked curiously.

I kept forgetting that the flower Snap dragon was referred to as Dragon Snaps here.

"Uh, yes, Dragon snaps. You wouldn't have any planted here, would you?" I asked excitedly.

"That... Is your request? To see Dragon snaps?" he asked in disbelief.

"Preferably live ones," I added.

"A live Dragon snap... To have one, I would need living earth and would require multiple complex alchemical formulas..." he explained.

Then he smirked, "Luckily enough, I happen to dabble in alchemy,"

I laughed and put out my hand, "Don't tell me, show me,"

He tried to stay cool but he couldn't hide the excitement of having someone to show off to.

We made our way through the labyrinth he calls his garden into a sunny spot filled with Dragon snaps as big as me and Akihiko combined.

The giant Dragon snaps greeted us by letting out a small roar and friendly growls.

"My goodness! They're adorable!" I giggled as the giant flowers rubbed their silky petals against my face.

"They seem to like you," Akihiko smiled.

I looked on their soil and saw black spots.

I looked to the side and saw some normal pink hydrangeas.

"Seeing normal hydrangeas in a living garden, I assume that living plants don't like acidic soil?" I asked curiously.

"Impressive. Not many know about the special attribute of hydrangeas. How did you know?" he asked curiously.

As Alicia, I loved flowers and planting weird fruits and happened to stumble upon the information that when hydrangeas turn blue it means that the soil was acidic, but when they were pink, the soil was high in alkali.

"Do princesses not like gardening here?" I asked, dodging the question.

"They like gardens, not gardening. They hate getting their hands dirty," he said, slightly annoyed.

"Well, you can't blame them. I just think it satisfying to be the one to take care of such beautiful creatures," I smiled.

"You have a living garden as well?" he asked.

"All plants are living, it's just that only some have a mind of their own," I laughed.

"I see. I'm glad you see it that way," he said going to the hydrangeas.

He put a hand near it as a circle appeared around the hydrangeas.

It turned blue as the Dragon snaps started to whimper and growl uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry, I didn't have time to visit you yesterday, I'll fix this immediately," he said, comforting the Dragon snaps.

Since hydrangeas take awhile to change color, he sped up the aging to immediately see if the soil was acidic or not.

"Living plants hate acidic soil, it makes them uncomfortable, but they secrete it fairly quickly--," Akihiko cut himself off, seeming to remember something.

"Sorry... I'm rambling, you must already know this, my apologies, I must have been boring you," he said apologetically.

"I didn't find it boring at all. You're so passionate about gardening and alchemy that I couldn't help but be interested," I smiled as he smiled a genuine smile.

"That's..." before he could say more, the Dragon snaps started pushing and nudging him in complaint.

The Dragon snaps growled in complaint as I laughed.

"Is the shed near here?" I asked, looking around.

"Oh, I don't need a shed," he smiled, putting a hand on the ground as a large sack popped out of the ground.

"Watch out!" He panicked then pushed me aside to catch the sack.

But unfortunately, the sack exploded when it landed in his arms and I was covered in charcoal from head to toe.

He looked shocked, he definitely wasn't expecting that.

"Princess... I'm so sorry," he panicked, starting to fluster and panic, not knowing what to do.

I started to laugh as he looked confused.

"You wouldn't have a hose around here would you?" I asked dusting myself off.

"Though I have a water attribute, I don't think I have enough mana to summon enough water out of thin air to wash us both," I smiled.

"R-Right. Gaia," he called.

I looked around but didn't see anyone.

"My tools are hidden underground, fertilizer and charcoal are in a hidden corner in the garden. It's more convenient making the earth fetch it for me wherever I am in the garden," he explained.

"That's brilliant. Using the earth as a delivery service," I laughed again.

"Well... Gaia should be here any--,"

Before he could finish his sentence I was sprayed by high pressure water.

I gasped in shock and wiped my face.

"Gaia!" Akihiko shouted as my head turned to a girl with short earthy brown hair and mustard eyes, smiling at me condescendingly.

Akihiko glared at her as they seemed to have a telepathic conversation.

-------------------

'It doesn't matter how funny we think it is, Gaia, if I want to get anywhere near that throne we need her on our side' I glared at my earth spirit.

'That's just it. It doesn't matter. That throne is nothing but trouble, everyone knows that,' she talked back.

'What matters is my life. Gaia. Now do as I say and apologize!' I snapped.

'Hmph! You're a hypocritical two faced, snob,' she snapped back.

Sometimes she can be such a handful....

'And what does that make you? Hm? My spirit who has part of both my soul an personality?' I asked.

'I only have half, so,' then she stuck her tongue out at me.

"Gaia!" I said out loud as she huffed.

"Fine. Sorry," she said begrudgingly as the princess smiled slightly.

"It's alright," she said awkwardly.

She was about to hand me the hose when she pressed the trigger.

I was about to snatch it from her when the high pressure water suddenly sprayed Gaia!

I looked to the Princess who deflected the water with a sly grin.

"Got ya," she smirked as Gaia lowered her head, gripping the hose.

Gaia took a deep breath in and looked directly at the Princess.

"I can respect that," she said, peacefully giving the hose to the Princess and disappeared.

"I think she likes me," the princess smiled a goofy grin, still dripping wet, as I couldn't hold in my laughter.

"So, what exactly did Gaia respect? That I stood up for myself?" she asked curiously.

"No. Anyone can stand up for themselves while simultaneously look like a fool. She respects your timing and smarts, striking your opponent with their own sword, it's funny, isn't it?" I smiled.

"Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me," she giggled.

"At first she thought you were weak, for taking the hit without complaint, but you proved her wrong and made her realize her mistake," I explained.

"Quite admirable," I finished as she turned down the water pressure of the hose and made a giant bubble of water above our heads.

"Ready?" she asked as I nodded and the water fell on both of us.

"It's warm..." I mumbled.

"Of course it's warm, I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable," she smiled as a hot wind blew and dried us both.

I looked at her frizzy hair, curls a little straighter than earlier.

"I should get going. My appearance is not the best," she smiled apologetically.

"Oh... Well, thank you for today. I enjoyed it," I smiled.

She nodded her head cheerfully.

"So did I," she replied.

"Maybe I could repay you sometime, with another outing," I offered.

She flinched in surprise.

"... I thought you didn't like owing others anything?" she asked as I frowned in realization.

"Right... My mistake... I have other plants to attend to so you should go first," I said hurriedly as she bowed and left.

Why didn't she take the favor? Favors are everything in Slade. I made a mistake, why didn't she use it?

She must have an ulterior motive... Or... She's looking down on me.

That must be it. She thinks she's too good for a favor from me... Just like everyone else...

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