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It mostly started small. Occasional dandelion seeds that tickled the back of the throat. A stray petal that’d float away.
Simple and manageable. Naive.
As much as she hated to admit it, Aunt Morgan was right. A woman who fell for another was weak, and no rightful heir should be taken in by the allure of romance. To be blessed with the power to channel the dead takes its tolls in mysterious ways. The burden of a heavy heart is a curse, and the spirits don’t take lightly to distractions in their short time within the realm.
To think Phoenix had caused this damage in the Fey family twice was unbelievable. Granted, it wasn’t his fault… he couldn’t have known.
Much later, behind the cold glass of the detention center, Iris recalled in excruciating detail the moment entire blooms formed in her chest. And while her smile was warm, she shuddered as she recalled the surgery, a gap in her memory she couldn’t quite place.
It was the day he met Dahlia for the first time.
How fitting, she had remarked, that the flowers that almost doomed her were dahlias, cloaked in a satin black and speckled with blood.
Perhaps that was Morgan’s plan all along, allowing little Pearl to go off on her daydreams of fairy tales—handsome princes and special someones. Perhaps it was her fault for falling for such a simple ploy. Falling for him.
“What did I ever do to deserve you?” he asks out of the blue, with a look of admiration that makes her eyes begin to well.
“Geez, Nick,” Maya manages, holding her breath between each word and hoping he doesn’t notice. “I would ask the same to you.”
She found out after their third case together.
Maya was happy to celebrate Mr. Edgeworth’s acquittal, with the night ending in the office where it all started. Phoenix was sound asleep on one side of the couch.
She woke up feeling nauseous. Bleary-eyed, she got up and approached the restroom. She could barely make out the clock’s time—2:46 AM. Why did she feel like she needed to throw up? He was the one who was just drinking, after all.
The itch in the back of her throat shifted into a small cough, then, petals and flower buds that immediately sprung open, landing in the sink. Camellias. Maya recognized the flower from ikebana lessons in Kurain, and a sense of dread crept through her.
Staying in the city was an escape from the insurmountable pressure of leading a village. The city meant spending all her time with Nick, a friend who trusted her implicitly and didn’t ask for much in return.
If she stayed around too long, she might fall in love.
There was no way she could tell him to his face that she desperately needed some time away from him. She left a note, scribbled hastily. Maya wanted to tell herself she barely knew him, that this was a chapter of her life to inspire her to be more useful. But of course he came running to the train station in the biting cold to see her off.
“You’re hopeless without me!” she had teased. He rolled his eyes and smiled as the train doors closed, waving fondly.
The flowers came less frequently for a while after that. Maya assumed it was because she wasn’t thinking about him all the time, although she would sometimes consider the big “what-if” of if he could ever feel the same way.
She dismissed the thought immediately, as the flowers returned each time she thought of him. Small, delicate blue ones barely the size of her fingernail. Maya knew the name, ironically—forget me nots.
Training meant clearing any and all thoughts, and channeling required focus. Still, the days leading up to their reunion, the petals grew larger and harder to hide. Maya wasn’t exactly frail, but the potpourri that she was coughing up wasn’t doing her many favors.
She had already given up, trying to spare him from the mess that was the Fey family. He was protective to a fault, and it honestly hurt the most to see him worry. When she was finally acquitted, Maya could breathe easy in more ways than one. He had poured his entire heart into protecting her, revealing Aunt Morgan’s worst intentions in the process.
If she couldn’t trust the woman who should have raised her, she could take the risk of loving her best friend—even if it killed her.
Honestly, being in his company assuaged most of the painful symptoms. Despite the long history of the flower curse within the Fey family, nobody seemed to understand it. She was blindly hoping she’d fall out of love.
Nothing was as simple as that, she found. Especially with someone as stubborn as Phoenix.
He refused to give up on her.
Bound and starved, she used the last of her strength to insist he pursue justice instead of save her. She couldn’t bear for a murderer to run free just because some creep had an ego trip and a creepy butler killer under his thumb.
Somehow, it was the longest amount of time she could remember without coughing up a single petal. Was it her body shutting down as a defense mechanism? Was there some twisted level of comfort knowing he cared enough to take on De Killer for her sake? She was so weak the whole time, it was hard to say.
They finally let her into the courthouse. And by let, it really was that she shoved her way past the guard using the last of her strength. The fluorescent overhead light hurt her eyes—actually, everything felt too loud and harsh for her in the moment. But she threw herself at him anyway, trembling as he wrapped his arms around her, neither sure if it was real.
“Oh, Nick! I knew you would come through!
Even though she could feel the tears streaming down her face, it was so, so much easier to breathe, seeing him again.
“You got Engarde convicted, like I knew you would… And on top of that, you even rescued me!”
“Well, of course I did! You know I would never desert you!”
She smiled, relieved. Her heart felt lighter than it ever had before.
The high of Phoenix rescuing her made her feel on top of the world.
She was fine—thriving even—until the following February. Until the moment she saw the look on his face as he studied the magazine cover, a recognition in his eyes that scared her. Distracted, he agreed to take her and Pearl, suddenly so lost in thought that he didn’t take notice of the way she snuck off to the bathroom to hack up a full marigold bloom.
Yellow flowers often meant jealousy.
He was acting differently, but Maya didn’t have it in her to pry further.
Pearl didn’t know. Thank God, or Ami, or whatever divine being is up there, Pearl didn’t know. That little girl would probably smack him so hard he’d see stars.
The distance between them felt familiar, as if she was meeting him for the first time. The bus ride was quiet. Painful. Even though there was no denying it anymore, Maya continued to keep it all in. Evidence only becomes damning once it’s discovered.
She had been discharged from the clinic after a quick checkup, mostly because hospitals aren’t equipped to recommend much besides sleep after an exorcism.
Sleep sounded heavenly at that moment, but Maya knew she wouldn’t be able to rest until they talked through the awkward way they had been dancing around each other since the trial ended. About what exactly? Emotions, or evil exes, or losing yet another family member… she wasn’t actually sure. She took a deep breath.
“Do you… like me Nick?” Maya felt a strange sense of peace, knowing perfectly well that there was a chance his answer could kill her.
He scoffed, raising an eyebrow. “Maya, you’re the closest person to me.” She could see his face trying to understand the sudden seriousness.
The dull pain in her chest faded slightly, though suddenly he couldn’t look her in the eyes.
“Look, Nick.” Maya took a step forward, a note of caution in her voice. “I love you. And you are slowly. Killing. Me.” Each word was punctuated with small petals escaping from her throat, forcing her to speak deliberately.
Phoenix’s eyes widened. “I… can’t lose you. Not after I failed to protect you again.” He grabbed her by the shoulder tightly.
“You’ll be fine.” She was so tired.
“You know I’m hopeless without you, Maya.” Congestion in her lungs began to dissipate, save for a lump in the back of her throat.
As haunting and beautiful as it was in concept, choking on flowers twenty-four hours a day was exhausting. Maya hacked a few times.
A single red rose.
“Hey, it’s a flower you actually know the name of,” she teased him a bit, smiling weakly.
He sat there silently for a few seconds, making sure she was still breathing. “I hope you know I love you,” Phoenix said, his voice barely a whisper.
“What did I do to deserve you?” Maya asked, crumpling into his arms.