Vuvi turns to her drink with a snort.
"Okay. Someone say something useful. I'm emotionally exhausted."
The witch smiles dreamily. "Would you like to know about the source of our magic?"
Vuvi pauses mid-sip.
"…What now?"
The team sits up. Even Zora appears beside Vuvi in a puff of blue smoke, quill already scribbling mid-air.
"We were trained under a dryad demi-goddess," the witch explains, her voice a soft hum that makes the leaves tremble on the walls.
"A dryad demi-goddess?" Veena asks, ears perked. "Like an actual spirit of the forest?"
"More than a spirit," the witch says. "She was one of the last demi-goddesses of the Green Vale. She walked in roots and vines. Fed on moonlight. Her touch turned sap into gold."
Zora gasps. "Do you remember her name?"
"She never gave it. Only called herself the Seedmother."
Penelo mouths the words with a reverent squeak. "Seed...mother?"
Vuvi coughs on her drink. "Don't read into that."
