The Necromancer's Stone; Witch Apples

"I can't believe I couldn't talk."
"Rose."
Thalia stopped and walked over to the large, neatly trimmed rose bush and inhaled deeply.  She paused and took a mandatory full minute to savor it and reflect on how beautiful the scenery was and how perfectly it fit in with its surroundings.
"As I was saying; how did she even do that?  I mean, I never even noticed the magic invol..."
"Rose."
Thalia stopped again and walked over to a much smaller bush that had sprouted under an overhanging rock.  The shade had made it flourish, and you could see the difference between the roses still under the rock and the ones on the parts of the bush that had grown out into the light.  It was really quite impressive.  Thalia smiled, satisfied by the fragrance of the flowers.
"The magic involved in the spell.  It must have taken a truly powerful enchantment in order to pull it off."
"Rose."
Thalia broke away from the path and headed directly towards the vine that had grown up a nearby tree.  She couldn't remember anything about roses growing on vines, but sure enough there was a little pink rose at the top of the thorn-laden vine.  She breathed in its aroma and considered what else she might not know about roses, or indeed any other parts of the world.
Then, rather than returning to the road, she sat down at the base of a neighboring tree.  Since it seemed like she had stopped at nearly a hundred rose bushes so far, all of them as pretty smelling and perfectly placed as the last, this one, lone rose seemed to be worth an extra moment.  Why was it that this was the only rose not surrounded by other roses?  Or for that matter, why was this one more briar than rose?  Sure, every rose had its thorns, but this one had more thorns than leaves.  In fact, it seemed to have almost no leaves at all.  Thalia leaned forward and gently traced the length of the vine from the rose to the root, and found, to her surprise that it did not end at the ground, but rather at a knot in the tree.  The rose, and she was not entirely certain it was a rose after all, was acting as a parasite, drawing its strength from the tree.
Then she noticed something else.  This tree was the only one in sight that had fruit hanging from its branches.  All of the other trees, none of them close enough to touch this one, were surrounded with half devoured apple cores.  Not only had the rose been draining the tree's energy, but it had also prevented its fruit from being eaten, as intended.  The fruit was, Thalia noted with some irony, forbidden.  She reached up and severed one apple from the branch with a single muttered word, and caught it as it fell.  Forbidden fruit from a unique tree in the garden of an immortal; eating it seemed like a risky proposition, and Thalia glanced around on the chance that there was a nearby snake, about to convince her to try it.  Instead she chose to bring it back to the path, and offered it to Hal.
"Apple?"
"That's not a.."
"I got it off that tree over there.  Doesn't it look great?"
"Thalia, I'm not going to.."
"Fine, I'll try it first.  I swear it isn't poisoned."  She took a bite and chewed it quickly before continuing.  "I mean, honestly, I'd really rather you didn't die.  I kind of like having you around."  His expression shifted from concern to surprise as she spoke.  She paused, still chewing, then realized what he'd heard.  "No, no, not like..I mean I like you and all, but.."  Then the world sort of did two different sorts of twists and the trees stretched out while the ground seemed to rise up under her very suddenly.  Then the sun went out.  Then everything else did too.

Thalia woke to the feeling of something slightly scratchy on her chin, something smelling slightly of sweat in front of her nose, and something feeling skin on her lips.  It didn't take her long to make the connection, but before she could react Hal sat back up.
"What the hell was that?!"
"Witch's Apples; I tried to tell you before you ate it."
"Oh.  So you mean its like one of those things in a fairy tale where only true love's kiss can break it?"
Hal blushed and ran his hand through his hair nervously.  "Yeah, something like that.  I'd have asked if you had been awake; I don't make a habit of this sort of thing."
She never would have guessed.  It certainly wasn't the first time anyone had kissed her, and she could say with some confidence that he was well ahead of the curve.  He'd never been very open to her flirting with him before.  Admittedly for good reason, she had only been trying to manipulate him at the time.  Still, she had to wonder if he, maybe, did actually regard her in more of that general manner.  It was certainly a more welcome prospect than her previous idea concerning his sexuality.
"Then I guess you're just a natural."
Hal's blush deepened.  She could tell he was ready to say something in response, but then he looked away and turned back towards the road.
"Witch's Apples dispel all enchantments when their effect is broken, you should be able to walk without having to stop at every rose now."
"Hal."  Thalia pulled herself to her feet, brushing a bit of dirt off of her clothes.  "Do you like me?"
He turned around.  "You were saying before you fainted that you liked me, but not like that, right?"
Thalia tried to recall her thoughts from right before she fainted and couldn't quite manage it.  She did like him. He was good and kind and smart and was he ever so handsome, but she was a villain; harsh and cruel and ever so slightly hard to get along with.  Did she like him?
"Hal, I do like you.  You're a great guy.  You're a little weird, and you know things about me I find disturbing.  What color underwear am I wearing?"
"Trick question; if I know I'm a creeper, if I don't I'm lying."
"So you do know?"
"Didn't say that."
"But you do know."  There was a pause, Hal continuing to refuse to answer.  "Alright, I promise not to hurt you."
"Hurt me all you want, just don't hold it against me."
"Fine.  Tell me."
"Pink, they're all pink.  And before you say anything." Thalia caught her words before she could speak.  "People who wear dresses should make a point of not high-kicking people."
"I guess I do kick people a lot, but I don't remember ever kicking you."
"You also own a lot of pink, it was a safe guess."
"Wait, you mean you didn't know?"
"Your dad did all of the shopping, if you ever wanted something you'd conjure it.  Since you have no reason to conjure interesting underwear its safe to assume that he bought you mundane, pink underwear."
"Interesting underwear?"
"Not discussing it."
"Did your last girlfriend ever wear 'interesting underwear'?"
"No one ever explained no to you, did they?"
Thalia shrugged.  "So?"
"Probably, I never had much interest in finding out.  Can we go now?"
"You still haven't answered my question."
"Remind me what question this was?"
"Do you like me?"
"Thalia, you're beautiful, stylish, brilliant, and charismatic.  It would be difficult not to like you."
"Please?"
"No, that's all you're getting today.  Come on, lets get you back in time for school."
"When can I see you again?"
He cocked his head to the side and stared at her inquisitively for a second.  She had to smile, it made him look like a confused puppy.
"You mean like what, a date?"
"Yeah, something like that."  She hadn't quite realized it when she'd asked, but that was more or less what she'd been hoping for.  She rubbed the back of her neck anxiously while he mulled it over, a mercifully short wait.
"I'll pick you up on Friday.  Maybe we can get dinner, see a movie.  That sort of date?"
"We could see a play, or go to the opera if you'd prefer?"  She could hardly contain her eagerness.  It had been a long time since she'd actually been out.  Normally she had to throw a party, or hit on Katie, to get this particular sort of attention.
"You like Opera?  Never met a girl who wanted to go to the opera before.  Barber of Seville, Friday Evening, I'll pick you up at six and we can get dinner beforehand.  What color will you be wearing?"
"Purple."  She didn't even have to think twice about it.  She could still picture the ribbon he'd left on his note, and the shade of his mother's crystal pendant; there was no question he'd have something to match it already and it was no challenge for her to come up with an outfit to match it.
"I look forward to it."  And he smiled.  He had a wonderful smile.