Darion cackled as he mixed in fairy dust in the glitter for the presents. As he predicted, he was sent to a toy-making factory. The fairy dust would attract fairies. It was not made of an actual fairy but was their preferred dessert. This factory was going up in flames in about an hour. But until then Darion would mix the glitter diligently, as was his task.

Back at the apple grotto Theanore stared at the empty ant hills and sighed. Only 10000 ants had remained behind. A lot of the ants had even gone to Alerion. Was she an inadequate dungeon core? But she didn’t want to hurt anyone.

At least her plants didn’t want to kill anyone. All they wanted was water and sunlight. And, in some cases, they didn’t even want sunlight. So, she decided to take her mind off the betrayal of the ants by tending to her plants.

She checked on the deep wheat and saw that it was showing from the soil, small cute stems swinging in the draft of the cave. She placed a finger to the soil and pushed down. It was moist. Nothing to do here.

Then she went to her mushroom tunnel. There were a lot of mushrooms now that they didn’t eat as often. There were so many mushrooms one can eat before they refused to see another. But the goats liked them. She picked four mushrooms and placed them in a bag.

The nettle tunnel looked like it was overgrown, but the ants have kept it from spilling out. The Colorful Egg specters really liked the weed. With a quick order for the ants, twenty nettle plants were shipped to the chicken coop. Then Theanore was out into the main cavern of the grotto.

The saplings of the other trees that her father planted were not showing over the soil. No new nymph came from them. Theanore had 480 mana to spend so she spends it all to get the trees to break the soil and become as big as her apple tree. They looked so cute, poking through the crimson clover.

The crimson clover was in full bloom and Theanore noticed something strange. One of the clovers had four leaves. She picked it up and placed it behind her ear. She would show it to her father later.

Then she was out to the garden of the house. The radishes were ready and the turnips were poking out of the soil. The leaks were green stems over the earth and the salad was curled up like the frills of Theanore’s dress, even if the salads were tiny.

The wall with the grapes showed vines curling up the wall and clovers at their base. Another clover turned out to be with four leaves. Theanore placed it behind her other ear. Perfect gift for Mari.

The Ogre’s demise was out of flowers, which was a shame since the tea with them was delicious. The Dragon’s kisses were almost all harvested too, but there were a couple red and yellow flowers here and there. Theanore picked one, it has seven flowers on it and placed it in the bag as well.

The stem of the taunting itchweed swayed towards her and she was tempted to touch it. It was magical, she was sure. But she didn’t have gloves on so she left it be.

She did pick some Yore. The plant had only a stem and a single leaf. The leaf was so aromatic a single one can make a cup of tea very fragrant. She picked three leaves for the entire kettle and looked for any Yore with more than one leaf. She didn’t find any and she passed.

She sneezed when she passed the sneeze fig but didn’t take any of the small berries shaped like figs it had. She had enough for a good, solid, kettle with tea. She didn’t need more.

She passed the Diqees and then stopped. It was a good spice for fish. She picked some and placed them in her other bag. It simply wouldn’t do for the strong spice to rub off on the tea plants.

Clovers behind her ears and two bags at her hips Theanore then went to her goats. The ram pranced around proudly and happily and Tania had told Theanore it was because he had mated with all the goats, whatever that meant.

The nymph left the mushrooms where the goats could find them and went to check on the giant hamsters and the babies. Her father had warned her not to touch them yet because they were very fragile. So, she gave extra pets to their mothers.

She found Petunia and Chrysanthemum with the babies. Little Rose, Lily, and Poppy were with their mother Petunia, suckling. While little Tulip, Orchid, and Hyacinth were snuggled with Chrysanthemum. They still couldn’t see and Theanore found this weird. She could see just fine when her tree had taken root.

Theanore took some wheat in her hands and went to the two hamster mothers, careful not to spill any.

“Hey, mommies. Are the children good?” Asked Theanore.

They would like you to know that their sons will one day feel insecure with names taken from flowers. I am speaking about Rose, Orchid, and Lily.

“Well, Mari doesn’t mind having a girly name. They will be fine. It is not like Poppy, Tulip and Hyacinth will make fun of them.” Said Theanore, sure of her words.

They also would like you to know that they want you to hold a wedding for their children when they become old enough in a year.

“Oh, absolutely! But if they don’t like each other I can get more giant hamsters. Don’t put pressure on them.”

Petunia nuzzled Theanore and then touched one of the four-leaf clovers with her nose.

Petunia would like for you to leave one of the clovers in their pen so it can bring them all luck and keep them healthy. You found a magical artifact, you know?

“Ok, your health is more important to me than a strange clover, Pet. Yours and everyone else’s.” Said Theanore and she went to the door to place the clover between two loose boards. Years from this day the clover would still stay fresh and green and the pen would remain standing. The giant hamsters living inside thriving, happy, and content.