“So what is this big surprise you got for us, Alyssa?”
Alyssa had been the president of their school’s gardening club for a few weeks now. Not because she held a particular interest in the art or beauty of gardening, but because the rich honor student wanted the credit of being a club president for future college applications and the gardening club was conveniently lacking one. Thankfully she was a quick learner.
“Something that's going to make this club’s popularity skyrocket.” Alyssa confidently pushed up her glasses. She grabbed the tarp and shouted, “Now watch and be amazed!”
As the tarp was removed, the reactions of the other club members were quite varied.
“It's… beautiful.” The rather shy beauty Leilani was, unlike Alyssa, very interested in gardening. Even after graduation she was already planning to become a professional gardener. It was just that she wasn't that good with numbers or responsibilities, which was why she happily handed over all of those to Alyssa.
“What the fuck is this thing?” Zinnia stood out with her rebellious personality and attire that usually fell somewhere between goth and punk. Surprisingly enough she was also the best friend of Leilani, who was the main reason for her joining this club to the point some suspected they were more than just friends.
“Man, getting this thing here must've been a chore. Why didn't you ask me?” Cass was one of the school’s best athletes and a massive health nut. While not as close a friend with Leilani as Zinnia was, she was voluntarily helping out with the harder, more physically demanding work, seeing it as additional training.
What the four gardening club members were looking at was what appeared to be a multicolored chrysanthemum. Except it was the size of a human.
“Is this what I think it is?” Leilani asked.
“You’re guessing right. It's an Alarune flower. With this the school will finally take us seriously.”
“Say wha?”
“This thing must've been mighty expensive,” Cass spoke up.
“Yeah, even I know the club doesn't have enough funds for something like this,” Leilani added.
“I paid it out of my own pocket. What of it? I just see it as an investment into my– our future.”
“Remind me to ask you if I ever need an investment,” Zinnia joked. “But seriously, I feel a bit out of the loop. What makes this thing so special?”
“An Alarune Flower is a magical flower someone can enter to merge with it and temporarily become an alraune,” Leilani explained.
“Wow, that sounds badass.”
“So, who wants to try it first?”