Midgar is not a place meant for earth witches. It closes them in with concrete and metal, cuts them off from the element they are bound to. It breaks the weak and forces them to leave the family land.
Ifalna was too strong to do that. She stayed, tending the earth that had known her mother’s touch, and her grandmother’s, and all the witches than had come before them. Her sister stayed, Elmyra’s water magic a compliment to her own. Her daughter stayed, Aeris’ affinity for flowers cheering the land in a way mere power didn’t.
Year after year, their garden is full of flowers. Aeris has some for every season, ensuring that there is always the pleasant feel of green and growth, and the land – the earth – loves her for it. Ifalna and Elmyra have the strength, but Aeris has the passion. Elmyra is the stream, Ifalna is the tree and Aeris is the flowering vines climbing it. Elmyra and Ifalna can nurture the land, but Aeris is the one who brings it joy.
When Aeris first brought the young Hunter to their home, Ifalna knew that all she needed to do was support her daughter. The vines were snaring him, binding feral instinct beneath a cover of harmless petals. The seeds of friendship would fall in fertile soil and even Elmyra could see they would grow tall. An oak, perhaps.
And now, as the Hunter brushes one of the water lilies with gentle fingers, Ifalna knows the lure of flowers have brought her an invaluable gift… A link to her grandmother’s cousin.
Some day, Vincent will follow the Hunter back to the land that saw his mother born and buried.
Oak = hospitality, peace, protection
Water lilies = truth (or pristine beauty, but it was the truth part I had in mind)