Chapter 6: A Leaf out of Someone Else's Book

It was already getting dark by the time she got home. That seemed to be her normal ever since Vandalla stopped the pirate poachers and Headmistress Bloodgood gave her the phoenix flowers to care for. They were so sick, so fragile. It took many late nights to save the ones she could… and many late nights trying to save the ones she couldn't. And now that she felt the worst was finally coming to an end, after witnessing three of those precious lives crumble to ash, she was being asked to let someone take another's life to make their lives more convenient.

Venus wasn't mad at Jackson and Holt for asking her for the flower, nor could she blame them for wanting to change the hand of fate. But she wasn't going let them take a life that had as much a right to live as they did. And she would hold to that, even if the entire school opposed her decision. And she was pretty sure the entire school opposed her decision.

Venus sighed tiredly. She could handle whispers and glares and the general disapproval of the student disembody, it wasn't all to unfamiliar, but the direct confrontations hadn't been quite so easy to weather.

Frankie had been the first, which wasn't all too surprising. Venus had merely repeated what she'd already announced in the creepeteria but, while Frankie opted to leave her alone, Venus was pretty sure she hadn't convinced her.

Operetta was next in line. Long story short, she hadn't been nearly as polite as Frankie. Venus got quite an earful from the phantom before she was spared by the class bell. Other monsters had approached her throughout the rest of the day until school finally let out and Venus was able to hide away in the garden. That'd only lasted so long though, as Holt took it upon himself to steal the flower. And to her surprise, he was the first monster who seemed to really hear what she had to say.

But that issue was over for now, and Venus had other things to worry about. Namely, all the homework she'd been putting off over the past couple weeks. Joy.

Venus pushed in the front door to her house and walked in. It wasn't very surprising that the home of a plant monster family resided in the woods, albeit not too deeply so they wouldn't be cut off from society. Unlike most houses, which are built, Venus's had been grown into its shape by her parents. It was a very literal tree house. More modern appliances and insulation had been added, of course, but the structure of the building was comprised of living, twisted trees. (Which, by the way, caused them no suffering.) A lot of the furniture was similarly grown, which made any rearranging a real pain. Windows were held in place by vines, and a carpet of grass grew freely underfoot.

Her mother was already home, and she set aside her book when the door opened. "Hey, sweetie, you're home late again." Aldrovanda was a shade greener than her daughter, and her vines crept all the way to her shoulders. But she lacked the trademark teeth of the flytrap, which Venus got from her dad along with her pollen. He was the legendary monster.

Venus shrugged as she closed the door.

"Come on, sapling," she patted the couch where she was sitting. "I'm starting to wonder if you're keeping something from me."

Venus shook her head. She hadn't told her parents the full truth about the phoenix flowers before, and she wasn't going to now even though she really wanted to. The day had been rough, not gonna lie, but there wouldn't be anything her mom could do so Venus opted to spare her the weight of another problem. Her parents had enough to deal with right now. "Is dad home?"

Aldrovanda sighed and looked away. "Not yet."

Venus nodded in response. "Boys upstairs, or did you find them a playdate?"

"They're in their room. Venus," she hesitated, "I know it's been a bit rough lately, but you can still talk to me if you need to."

"I'm fine mom," Venus assured her. "It's just been crazy with the whole SKRM tournament, that's all.

Mrs. McFlytrap frowned and raised an eyebrow. Venus knew that her mom knew her well enough to tell she was holding back, but her mom also knew how stubborn she was. If she didn't want to talk, she wouldn't. Ran in the family.

The door opened behind her, and Venus saw her dad walk in. He was a proud monster, but lately he'd been looking as weary as she felt. Her mom sharpened to attention.

"Did you-?"

"No," he cut shortly.

Venus saw her mom start to bristle, and she took it as her cue to leave the scene.

"I'm going to go check on the boys," she announced. Her mom drew her into a quick hug before letting her go.

Venus already knew everything there was to know about her family's plight, and all she cared about was making sure her little brothers remained oblivious.

Mr. McFlytrap ran a florist shop that contained both the regular flowers you'd expect to find as well as some extremely exotic and rare plants that he kept for display and for entertaining customers. This was usually more than enough to support the family as plant monsters are built for surviving in the wild; they didn't like to conform to the standards of modern society. Unfortunately, some of her dad's favored plants had caught they eyes of some collectors and of some scientists. These people had put her father in a tight spot, at least so they suspected. Rumors had gotten out about her father mind controlling customers and business all but halted when, 'conveniently,' those same people had offered a very handsome price for her father's favored plants. Both her parents suspected fowl play, but there was no way to prove it. And so that left them with a dilemma: Sell the plants, suffer through fanatical crisis, or find some third solution. Her dad was way to proud to sell the plants but, while her mom didn't like the idea of it, she wasn't willing to put the family at risk. It was something Venus didn't have an answer for, and her parents didn't ever drag her into the arguments.

Things weren't going anywhere, so the tension between her parents only escalated and it was getting harder and harder to hide it form her brothers. Venus could already hear their voices raising by the time she ducked inside her brothers' room.

"Venus!" Fischer was the first to react, and Venus barely knelt down in time to catch him as he threw himself at her. He was the youngest of her three brothers, only four years old. She gave him a hug and rubbed his green hair roughly.

Saxon, who was seven and had dark blue-green hair, dropped the toys he was holding and came to get his hug. The oldest, Droser, watched from his bed-made-fort. He was ten and had vibrant red hair. (He often told of how it was not at all pink like his sister's.)

"Hey, how are you guy's doing?" she asked as she seated herself on the floor. Fischer settled in her lap while Saxon joined his brother in their fort. "Anything fun happen at school?"

Droser gave her a delighted look. "I won a prize!" He ducked behind the blankets and held aloft a can of soda.

Venus frowned. "Mom let you bring that up here? You know those are really bad for you," she warned. Sodas and other drinks of the sort were bad for any monster, but they were really, really bad for a plant monster. It was fine as long as they didn't drink too much, and a full can was definitely too much. Her mom was usually more cautious about things like this.

Droser pouted in disappointment, and Venus sighed. "I guess it can't hurt to have a little. But not tonight." She held out her hand, and he gave her the drink. "I'll hold onto so we can split it tomorrow.

"Yay!" they all cheered happily. It was a rarity to be able to have a treat like that. Although, they got plenty of other sweet stuff all the time. Just not ones bordering poison.

Saxon tugged at her arm. "Can we go get a snack? I'm hungry."

"When's the last time you ate?"

"At school."

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "You're fine. We're gonna run out of veggie straws if you keep stacking every evening." Venus poked at his belly, and he squealed before running to hide in the fort again.

The voices from downstairs rose, and the boys all fell silent. No words were audible, but that didn't matter.

Fischer shook Venus and whispered loudly, "What are mommy and daddy talking about?"

Venus shrugged nonchalantly and said easily, "Oh, you know how mom and dad get into their board games. They're just getting really competitive." Technically it wasn't a complete lie, her family had fun with getting overly serious with their games. But she was going to need a better coverup soon if she was going to convince the boys nothing was wrong.

"I thought it was a card game?" Droser questioned. He was getting to an age where he wasn't so easily fooled.

"Well, today they're playing a board game," she feigned.

"I like board games!" Saxon announced. "Can we play?"

"Oh, no, you wouldn't like this one," Venus assured him. "It's a grownup game."

"What's it called?"

"Finances."

Her parents' voices rose to a dangerous level again.

"You know what?" Venus moved Fischer off her lap and stood up. "How about I see if we can stay the night at Mrs. Kindergrubber's?" She pulled out her phone.

They gasped. "Yes, yes!" Fischer and Saxon agreed while Droser nodded vigorously.

"Okay, I'll go call Becca and let you know." Venus slipped out of their shared room and went into her own. She collapsed onto her bed and dialed Robecca's number.

"Hey, Becca-," Venus started when she picked up the phone.

"Oh, no. Not again?" Robecca asked before she got a chance to explain.

Venus sighed. "Yeah, it's happening again." It was pointless to try to hide things like this from her best ghoulfriends, so both Robecca and Rochelle, and even Lagoona, knew about her parents as well as the phoenix flowers. "I know it's been crazy with SKRM and all, but-"

"Oh, good grief, just bring them over! Don't bother trying to convince yourself not to feel guilty." Venus smiled. Robecca was someone she could always count on in a tight spot. "Goodness knows, Kindergrubber could use the distraction. She's been driving a rivet up my cylinder with making sure I'm ready for the games. But really, there's nothing left to be done. We might as well have a fun night before we head off."

"Thanks, Becca," Venus said. I'll let the boys know."

"Shall I call Rochelle over as well?"

"Oh, please, she'll kill us if we don't," Venus laughed. "I'll see you soon." She hung up the phone and went back to her brothers' room.

They had already gathered their overnight things and were grinning excitedly by the time she walked in.

"Do we get to go?" Saxon asked eagerly.

"Yes, we're all going," she smiled as the laughed and started to tromp down the stairs. She didn't bother hushing them as it served as a good forewarner to her parents. She was glad to see they'd reduced themselves to whispers by the time she made it down.

"I'm taking the boys out for the night," she told them as she held open the door.

"Okay, sapling." Her mother gave her a quick side hug.

"Drive safe," her father cautioned absently.

Venus nodded and went out to her solar powered car. (Not the most efficient means of powering a vehicle, but it was the most environmentally friendly option out there.)

Robecca and Rochelle were already waiting at the front door by the time Venus drove up. Her brothers jumped out as soon as she parked and ran over to them.

"Becca!" Fischer darted ahead of his big brothers and let Rochelle scoop him up. "Shelly!" He hugged the gargoyle enthusiastically.

Rochelle frowned and held him out in front of her. "Now, now, little gamin," she scolded. "I have told you before how to pronounce my name. Ro-chelle. Ro," she emphasized.

"Shelly!" Fischer confirmed before throwing himself back at her. Rochelle sighed exasperatedly, but didn't push it.

"Come on, Shelly." Venus grinned and lead the way inside.

Mrs. Kindergrubber was quick to whisk away the boys to a mini banquet which left the ghouls some time to get a bit of schoolwork done. When the boys finished, Robecca took them outside while Rochelle and Venus stayed it. The evening passed relatively quietly until around nine o'clock when Rochelle spotted the time and muttered something in French.

"It is getting far to late for your brothers to be up."

"Yeah, I suppose." Venus yawned and pushed her clawculous book away. "Let's go call them in. With any luck, Robecca will have worn them out enough and they won't fuss too much."

When they walked out onto the patio, Droser and Saxon were sitting in the grass while Robecca let Fischer ride on her back as she did a lap around the lawn. Rochelle tensed at the sight of the slightly hazardous game, but she didn't say anything.

The older boys reluctantly joined their older sister, well aware that their night of fun was over. Robecca skated over to them when she saw them, and Fischer nearly tumbled off her in a fit of giggles as the ride came to an end.

"Becca?" Saxon tugged on her arm as they went inside.

"Hm?"

"If you're always late, then why do you always win?"

Fischer furrowed his brows as he tried to contemplate what his brother was asking while Droser just looked curios.

Robecca thought for a moment, then pulled Fischer off her. "Well, I suppose it's because it doesn't matter when I cross the finish line, just so long as I get there before anyone else."

"Getting her to the track on time, however, is an entirely different story," Rochelle laughed and Robecca just shook her head. "Now off to bed with you three. I shall tuck you in."

As she led the boys to a gust room, Venus heard Fischer start to prompt the gargoyle for his favorite bedtime song… the one that was in French so he never remembered the name. The other two complained loudly about no singing before their voices where closed off by the door. She was glad she'd brought them over tonight. But it was only one night of escape, so she would have to get creative when all her friends were off at the games all next week.

She followed Robecca up to her room where they sat talking on the bed until Rochelle joined them.

"The littlest one is asleep, and the others should be soon," she announced upon arrival.

"Thanks," Venus said gratefully. "It's a huge help to have you ghouls look after them with me."

Rochelle nodded sympathetically. "Oui, these things are never easy for little monsters. But now it is time to ask the real question." She sat across from Venus on the bed and looked her in the eye. "How are you doing, Venus."

Venus raised her eyebrows. "What?"

Rochelle just gave her a look that said clearly, 'you know what I said and you know what I'm asking.'

Venus sighed. "Fine, I guess." She rubbed at her eyes. "It's exhausting, but it's not like I can really do anything about it. It'll blow over eventually."

Rochelle frowned, but Venus didn't elaborate any further. She didn't like to complain about her family troubles when she still had both parents. Not when there were others with a far better cause for complaint.

"You, don't suppose," Robecca started tentatively, "You don't suppose that it'll go so far as to-"

"No." Venus felt bad about clamping down like that, but she wasn't willing to go there. "No, I told you it's fine." There was a pause of closed off silence before she asked, "So, how've the practices been going? I hardly get to see you ghouls anymore."

They exchanged a brief look before Robecca answered. "Yeah, yeah it's going really well considering we have so many players this year." She dove into the most resent laughs from practice with Rochelle adding in occasionally.

They didn't try to return to the previous topic at all that night, for which Venus was grateful. It was just one rough day, no need to exaggerate it.

School took on a relatively good start the next morning. A couple monsters shot her a few dirty looks, but it wasn't enough to bother Venus. What did bother her was the fact that she got called to the Headmistress's office not ten minutes after her first class started.

Venus wasn't terribly worried as she couldn't think of anything she might be in trouble for, so she left class without a protest. Her heart sank, however, when she saw who was already seated in front of Headmistress Bloodgood.

Venus gave Jackson a sharply suspicious look and he returned it with a look of smug triumph. Bloodgood indicated for her to sit in the free seat next to him, and she did so quietly.

Bloodgood waited a moment before speaking, her folded knuckles pressed up against her lips. "It has been brought to my attention," she finally said, "that you two both want to lay claim to one of the flowers in the school's garden."

Venus breathed in sharply, but didn't dare interrupt.

"As you well know, all plant's in the school garden, with a few exceptions, belong to the school and, in extent, to all of the students."

She had to dig her claws into the seat and clench her jaw to refrain from cutting in unbidden.

"And, by that logic, you each have equal right to the flower. However," she turned to Venus and her expression softened, "I know that you have put more time and energy into that garden than any other monster, Ms. McFlytrap, and that I specifically gave you the task of reviving the phoenix flowers. But it cannot be ignored that both Jackson and Holt have requested one of the flowers." She turned to Jackson. "I do not like the idea of you going through with such a dangerous experiment, but I'm not a fool. I know that is I deny you access to the school's lab that you will just try it elsewhere. I'd much rather have you do it here where we can monitor everything and provide safe equipment. And that brings us back to our current dilemma." She removed her head and placed it on the table. She let another moment of thoughtful silence pass.

"Because Jackson came to me under the claim that the phoenix flower belongs to all of the students, I suppose the only right way to settle this is to let all of the students decide."

Apparently this was news to Jackson because his look of triumph had slid into one of mild confusion. "Are you suggesting…?"

"A vote," Bloodgood confirmed. "We will have a poll to determine the fate of the flower."