The seeds we plant

Natasha's POV:

I was reading as usual in my teacher's room. These quiet moments made my heart feel at peace. My teacher on the other hand was looking at a book while kicking her feet or squealing excitedly from time to time. While I admire my teacher for being so true to herself, I'm worried that she's forgotten what's really important. I carefully raised my voice in search of attention, but it seemed to be ineffective on her. Even when I tried to be as loud as possible, she would simply ignore me as she sat on her couch with Max and Terrence sleeping at her feet. Angry at my teacher's indifference, I left the room heading towards the endless hallway where the other doors were. After leaving my teacher's door, a noise caught my attention. When I turned around, I saw Carla also leaving her door. When we met eyes, a huge smile took over her face.

- Nath! What a surprise to see you here.

- Car- I mean, Teacher Carla, what a surprise to see you here.

Perhaps noticing my surprise, she quickly closed the distance between us and knelt in front of me until her gaze met mine.

- Carla it's okay, even though I'm your teacher I don't want you to be so formal with me.

- …understood Carla.

- By the way, what are you doing out here?

- Ah… well… I was bored of studying with my teacher so I went out to play!

Suspicious eyes pierced me when I tried to excuse my teacher. It seems that Carla is also very good at reading me. I touched my face just to make sure if my expression had given me away, but it was still the same as always.

- …I understand, if you're really that bored, don't you want to come with me to explore? I want to explore a new area in search of rare materials.

- Yes!

After giving my approval, Carla stood up and held out her hand for me to take. After that we went to the door, she placed her hand on the door. After a few seconds she opened the door and the scene had changed completely. A vast mountain appeared before my eyes. We were surrounded by a lush forest full of different types of plants. I was amazed at the sudden change of scenery.

- Is this your first time using the door?

- Yes! Although I had used it before to enter, I had never left through it.

- … I see.

While saying that, she knelt down next to a tree and put her hand in a hole between its roots. From there she took out an object that looked like a stick with a peculiar shape.

- And what is that Carla?

- This? It's my anchor of reality.

- Ohhh, it's the first time I've seen that object.

- This? It's called a hand fan.

- Hand fan?

- Yes, it's a very useful object on hot days. It's also perfect for hiding your face when you talk to someone.

- Really?

- Yes, look.

After saying those words she opened the fan until it covered everything from her nose down. I couldn't help but get elated by how great Carla looked right now.

- Great!

- I'm glad you like it so much.

After saying that, she closed the hand fan and put it in one of the sleeves of her strange dress.

- Well, it's time to leave.

- Yes!

After that Carla and I carefully advanced towards the mountain while we crossed the undergrowth. As we advanced I found a huge amount of flowers on the path that I had never seen before. I couldn't help but marvel at what I was seeing. Before I knew it I had stopped, carefully observing a flower that looked like a red eye with a beautiful yellow iris.

- Are you interested in that evil eye?

- Evil eye?

- Yes, that's what the locals call it.

- How do you know?

- Well, as I told you before, it's part of my power. When I look at something that could be a material of some kind, I can see its name and important properties. I can even get those "recipes" I mentioned to you before if I've analyzed all the components needed for that "recipe."

I couldn't help but be amazed by Carla's power.

- What a cool power!

Carla puffed out her chest in pride as she looked up slightly.

- Naturally.

As Carla strutted around, I was looking at the flower she called the evil eye. Before I knew it, I had grabbed the flower by the stem and a sharp pain shot through my hand. I instinctively pulled my hand away from the flower, but the pain didn't go away. My sudden agony had surprised Carla who held me to keep me from falling backwards.

- Natasha? What's wrong?

I couldn't respond immediately because of the pain, it took a while until I was able to recover as Carla looked at me somewhat pale.

- Are you okay?

- I think... so.

- Can you see me?

- Yes I can... but I'm looking at you from a strange angle.

Even though my eyes were closed, I could see Carla perfectly as she held me. However, the disturbing thing about this was that I could also see myself from that strange angle. When I opened my eyes, my vision returned to normal. When I looked roughly from where I was looking before, to my surprise, there was also an evil eye looking in our direction.

- Carla… I think I just unlocked a part of my power.

- Huh?

- A moment ago, when I closed my eyes, I was looking at us from that angle.

Pointing in the direction of the evil eye, Carla watched uneasily until she understood what had just happened.

- Don't tell me… you can use flowers as if they were your eyes?

- It seems so…

Carla suddenly stood up while carrying me in her arms, then she began to jump happily.

- Congratulations Nathasha! You just discovered a new power.

I couldn't help but smile wryly at Carla's enthusiasm.

- So, you can see us from that flower over there?

Carla pointed at a different flower that was a few meters away. It was a red flower with a strange but quite striking shape. I tried to focus to test this new power I had learned, but it was useless. I was still seeing us from the same perspective as before. After a few attempts to change the perspective I could only change it to the flower I had originally touched.

- It seems not... I can change perspective between the 2 evil eyes we found, but nothing else.

- I see... so does that mean you can only see things from the point of view of an evil eye?... Or perhaps it means you can only do it with flowers you had touched before?

As Carla thought deeply, I approached the flower Carla had mentioned and grabbed it by the stem. Just like before, my hand and head began to feel a deep, sharp pain before finally stopping dead. Apparently I could now bear the pain better. Carla noticed what I did and held me until the pain went away. After that I tried to thank Carla for holding me.

- "Thank you for holding me, Carla"

Both Carla and I were perplexed by this new development. Obviously that was the phrase I wanted to say, the problem was that it didn't come out of my own throat. We both stared in a stupefied manner at the flower from which those words had come. After a brief period of silence, Carla stood up again while she lifted me into the air, repeating what had happened a few moments ago.

- You got a new power!

I looked at Carla happily as she celebrated. I touched my face to make sure I was smiling or not but my expression remained the same as always.

With Carla's investigative spirit fully excited, we continued touching some flowers and observing what kind of power they gave me. Despite our 2 surprising initial findings, the others were not so surprising. To sum up our research it seems I could release my voice from any "red lips" as long as I knew they were there. The same thing happened with the evil eyes, if I knew they were there I could see things from their perspective if I concentrated hard enough. We also learned that I could only apply my powers to plants that were alive, when I tried to use my power on cut flowers I was unable to use it in any way. The second thing I discovered besides the powers they granted me was that I could make a flower grow at will. As long as I was in contact with the flower in question I could make it grow, deform, and I could even make more flowers grow from its stem, though they were always the same type of flower as the original flower.

After several experiments I was able to establish some limits to my powers, dusk was already coming but I kept trying to make the flowers grow in a specific shape. Even though I said I could do it, it was quite difficult to grow new flowers or give it a specific shape. Before I knew it while training my newly arrived powers my legs gave out and I slowly fell to the ground. Before I fell completely, Carla had held me to prevent me from hitting myself. After that, she wiped the sweat that fell from my forehead with a handkerchief in a loving manner while she looked at me.

- Natasha, that's enough for today. I know you're excited about today, but it's not good for you to exaggerate.

- ... Yes, Carla.

Although reluctantly, I accepted what she said while I leaned against Carla. She lovingly lifted me up in her arms very carefully. After that, she went to the same tree from which she had taken her hand fan in the morning and put it back there. After that, she remained silent for a few moments until a kind of door appeared out of nowhere in front of Carla.

Struggling to open the door, Carla entered with me still in her arms. After a few moments of reflection, I realized that because of me, she didn't really have the time to look for the materials she was looking for. Without being able to help but feel bad, I lightly grabbed one of the laces on her dress and gently pulled it to get her attention.

- Uh? What's wrong Natasha?

- I... I'm sorry I took up your whole day with my research.

At those words, Carla began to laugh out loud. I couldn't help but look at her with some anger for taking my sincere apology that way. After stopping laughing, she realized it and quickly apologized.

- Sorry Natasha, I really didn't want to laugh, but you don't need to apologize. I really enjoyed this little time between us.

- ... Really?

Perhaps noticing the doubt in my eyes, she brought me closer to her chest leaving me wrapped in a comforting warmth. Her sweet scent embraced me as she gently hugged me.

- Don't worry, I mean it. There is no greater happiness for a teacher than seeing their student grow.

Without being able to really respond, I just buried my face in her chest enjoying her comfort.

- Hey Natasha, do you want to sleep with me tonight?

- Huh? But my teacher…

- Don't worry, everything will be fine. It was her fault for abandoning you to your fate.

- …

It seems that my lie about running away from the studio had been discovered. Although I wanted to retort because my teacher used to get lonely very easily, the warmth that embraced me was making me too sleepy to refuse.

- Then I'll take your silence as a yes. Today we're going to bathe until we're totally clean!

After saying that, Carla took me to her room where we bathed, had fun for a while and finally I fell asleep while being hugged by Carla. After leaving the bathroom, her scent was even more relaxing than before. Apparently Carla and my teacher had a serious confrontation the next day, but that will be a story for another time.