Willow was waiting impatiently with her siblings. She hadn’t told the others what she had seen yet, but they understood something was going on. Maple was puttering around the kitchen area with a nervous energy, and Yew was laying down up in the loft with his head dangling over the edge so he had a view of the door.

  “You sure you don’t know why Da called an emergency meeting, little gnome?” Maple asked her sister for what felt like the twentieth time to the young girl. It was the third.

  “I told you. He just said he had to call a meeting and stormed off.” Willow replied from her place at the dining table laying down using two of the chairs, her curly hair fanning out below her as she watched her sister work from an upside down perspective. “I dunno what it could be about.” She lied. She didn’t like lying to her sister, but Yew was within earshot so she didn’t want him to know about her other spirits. Plus without Da backing her up she’d probably get in trouble for going to the Emerald Bloom’s clearing.

  “Whatever it is, it’s apparently important or dangerous enough to make us all stay at home.” moped Yew. The young teen was upset that his time with his friends was cut short for the day, having been sent home after being found with Bai and Rom as usual. Willow used to wonder what they got up to, but since she got friends of her own she stopped caring.

  Speaking of.

  “Do you think Da’ll be able to save Old Ping?” The girl sent to her friends.

  Eos sent back some cheery optimism, the flame next to her heart burning bright and merrily.

  Sadly the rest of her friends were a tad more pessimistic.

  “I am not sure, child.” Harmony hummed.

  “He’s far too weak to do it himself.” Chimed Change. “And I don’t think the rest of this ragtag group is enough to bridge the gap.”

  Willow frowned. “Even if we helped?”

  “And what do you expect us to do?” Harmony gently chided. “Neither me or my brother are suited for direct combat. Our natures simply do not allow for it.”

  “As for you and Eos.” Change continued. “Both of you are far too weak to do anything of note in the coming conflict.”

  Both the girl and the flame puffed up in indignation at that comment, but both deflated quickly when they realized he was probably right. Willow didn’t like not being strong enough to help, especially when someone was being actively hurt and she could do nothing to stop it.

  “Can I be doing more to get stronger?” The girl asked her friends.

  Her spirits were silent, but Willow got the feeling they were somehow talking amongst themselves. This happened sometimes, but the girl understood that she didn’t need to be a part of every conversation the two had despite her curiosity.

  After a few minutes of silence Harmony finally broke it, though she seemed somewhat hesitant. “While we cannot help Eos gain strength until you find the rest of the required spirits, we can progress your training to the next step with minimal risk in the coming days.”

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  “About time if you ask me.” Continued Change. “I’ve personally felt like you’ve been ready for a while.”

  “Brother, you also felt that jumping down a well was a prudent idea.” Harmony rebuked her sibling. Willow imagined the Yin spirit raising one of her brows as she said it, even though she lacked those features.

  “And I stand by it.” He pouted with his little arms crossed.

  And so time continued to pass in Willow’s household. The girl chatting away with her spirits and occasionally being interrupted by her sister’s concern or her brother’s snark.

  Until eventually the patriarch of the family returned from the meeting, brow heavy with worry about the coming conversations. He sat down at the head of the table for a moment, silence heavy in the air. Then after a deep sigh he sat up straight and called out.

  “Yew, get down and join us properly. There’s some things we have to discuss as a family.” His face showed some discomfort. “Discussions of current crises, and past inheritance.”

  The teen reluctantly joined the rest of the family in the center of the main room, too intrigued by what his father just said to pointlessly rebel.

  With her father present, the youngest among them, Eos excluded, felt emboldened and impatient enough to ask what she was most curious about. She sat up from her comfy lying down position and the question exploded out of her.

  “Did everyone go and save Old Ping yet?!”

  Naturally her two siblings looked at her with expressions of bewilderment and betrayal.

  “What’s happened to Old Ping?” “You did know what was going on, you liar!”

  Cried Willow’s sister and brother simultaneously. They then turned to their father with expectant looks on their faces.

  Rowan looked like a man who deeply wished his youngest had inherited at least some of him and his late wife’s patience and tact. With a sigh he answered her question first.

  “No sprout, we have not gone to save her. I’ll explain why once we get your siblings all caught up on the situation, alright?”

  Reluctantly, the girl nodded, curls bouncing at the motion.

  “Very good.” He turned to address the rest of the table. “Now judging from your reactions, it seems your sister didn’t feel the need to fill the rest of you in on the happenings of the Vale, or why a meeting was called.” He gave Willow a pointed look, and she pretended to be innocent. “Which of course makes my job a little harder, but what can ya do?” He gathered his thoughts for a moment before continuing.

  “The short version is that your sister brought to our attention that the Emerald Bloom has become tainted with rot and is doing harmful things to Ping.” He held up his hand to forestall any questions the elder siblings had. “I won’t go into specifics, because quite frankly I wish Willow didn’t know what was happening to the woman, and I won’t inflict that knowledge on my other two children.” The two teens looked unhappy, but knew not to argue with their father when he was this serious about a decision.

  Rowan looked to his children with a great weight on his shoulders. “Sadly, we cannot help Ping with the resources we have available.” His youngest looked about ready to protest. “We won’t be doing nothing.” He hastily added to mollify her. “But what we’ll be doing will take time to accomplish, and we’re unsure how much time she has left.”

  Willow was equal parts saddened, disappointed, and angered by the news. So Old Ping wasn’t going to be saved? Her first attempt at heroism was going to end in failure? She hated being young, little, and weak. Her elders were supposed to be strong and able to fix every problem, but even that was proving to be untrue. These jumbled thoughts and more were going through the young girl's mind as her father continued to explain parts of the plan they were going to use to get rid of the Emerald Bloom. She was only brought out of her worsening mood when her father started addressing his two daughters directly.

  “Which brings us to something I should have dealt with years ago.” He said with no small amount of guilt on his face.

  “The inheritance your mother left for you.”