Into the World of Twisted Wonderland Pt 2

✨Side Story 52: Err to Growing✨

A/N: This chapter is long (Almost 7k words!) and based off Lilia's vignette "Let's dance, shall we, boys?"

Which gives me a thought: if you had a garden, what would you grow more?

Vegetables or fruit?

"Hmmm..." Angel hums as she looks at the plants in front of her. "I'm doing everything I can...but why isn't anything working?" She looks at the plants in the communal garden, seeing how despite its lush abundance of herbs and crops, there is a small yet noticeable barren plot right in front of her. She sighs at the sight, seeing that compared to everyone's plots, hers was the only one with nothing green, or at least, not as green as everyone's plots at least. She looked at the plants in confusion, observing them as she see them losing their color, limping, drooping, and even dying. "What am I doing wrong...?" She mumbles as she checks the book, flipping through the pages. "I've been watering them, using fertilizer, using some spray, but they never grow," she sadly says as she looks at the pictures of the book and the plot of dirt and forgotten plants in front her. She almost wanted to cry at the sight, it truly was that sad. "What can I do...?"

"Huh?" A familiar voice calls out, and she turned around, seeing Epel heading towards her. "Oh, it's you, Angel," he says. "What are you doing here during lunch?" He asks.

"Checking on my plants," she answers, only for her to sigh at the words. "Though, they're not doing too good," she says as she steps aside to let him look at them.

Epel looked at the plot in shock. "What have you been doing to these plants?!" He exclaims, making her flinch a bit at the raised voice.

"Well, I've been doing what it says in the book!" She says as she shows him the book. "Everything the book says, I've been doing."

Epel quickly glances at the book, opening it and skimming through the pages. He noticed that it was just basic gardening tips such as adding fertilizer to crops, simple watering techniques, and even planting techniques for beginners. He looks up from the book, eyes on the plot, seeing that the plants were completely unrestorable. "Angel," he asks, making her confused. "Did you follow everything in the book?"

"Yes...?" She asks in confusion, wondering why his voice sounded different.

"How often do you water the plants?"

"Everyday," she responds.

"...How do you put fertilizer in the soil?"

"I just dump it on the ground then put the plants in it."

"...What KIND of fertilizer do you use?"

"There's different kinds?" She asks.

"...How did you plant the plants?"

"I just put them close to each other so they wouldn't be lonely. Just like the book says."

"..." Epel looks at the plot again, them looked at Angel in disbelief. "Angel..." He quietly says. "YER KILLIN' YER PLANTS!" He angrily shouts.

"H-huh?!" She exclaims in shock.

"Yer plants are dyin' because of yer darned gardenin'!" He angrily exclaims. "These poor plants are goin' through heck and back just tryin' to survive and yer killin' them like they're a darn fly! Why I outta burn these plants and keep ya hands offa them so they have at least a chance to survive after ya touched 'em!" He looks at her, seeing her look at him in both confusion and fear only to realize what he said. He cleared his throat and composed himself. "Sorry, I didn't mean to go out like that. It's just...seeing your plants really riled me up."

"N-no that's fine..." She quietly says as she reels in the outburst. Deuce did say that when Epel got angry, he would speak in his dialect, but she didn't expect it to be like that.