Rose Blumen ~

(Rose)

R - I really missed you Blume.

B - I know... And I truly missed you too.

She's talking with a similar kind of sad shyness as myself. We're being reunited truly at long last. I think we both cried over our hard separation.

R - How was it for you... Being dead?

B - It was similar to the time before I first met you...

R - You keep referring to me as her, but I'm not the original myself anymore. I'm just the copy you made...

B - Oh please don't feel bad about it. To me, you are you. You are the same. What I did, I did because it was the only chance for me to be one day able to truly meet you. You are yourself fully, no matter what. See, you were able to live despite me being gone. Please don't see me as your creator. That would be wrong.

R - I know, but sometimes those feelings do come back a little... I've doubted a lot without you...

B - I did too... Being back to nothing was, well, nothing truly at first, but as I regrew over my own pieces and memories, it became really painful. Rebuilding my persona, my memories, my feelings, my emotions, it was terribly painful... And I feared every instant that you wouldn't be there anymore when I would resurface to the world. Either dead, or gone, I feared I would reappear somewhere else, much later, without you... And I couldn't truly tell how much time was gone meanwhile. How sad would I have become had I regrown on your long dry bones... What would have I become had I taken too long to heal and return... And missing the chance of returning to you...

R - ... I'm glad it didn't take that long.

B - You helped me a lit. With that water you found surely, but also wishing for me, wanting me to return. You helped what was left of me in your body survive and regrow. Had you wish for my death instead, your organism would have cleansed itself rapidly from the remaining dusts of me. But you wanted me to bloom again... I love you so much.

R - I love you too... Little flower on my chest.

She laughs, ringing invisible bells. I sit on the bed now free to move more normally. The rosebushes growing everywhere are withering, disconnected from her and me now. Only the lively bush growing onto my thorax remains attached to me. Its colours are a little different from before though.

I dress, buttoning my shirt where I can. I exit the room, looking for my friends, and water. I'm still thirsty.

I find out I'm not in the house they inhabit but another one. Maybe I've slept for a long time, or rather they didn't want to see plants grow everywhere in their house because of me.

It's been an odd week or so, even for me.

I find Zeslinry outside, doing some mechanic work on an engine. I have no clue of what she's doing. She's working with a shirt that has no sleeves, and her rather strong arms are covered with dirt.

I go bow to her to express my gratitude. She brushes it off with a smile. Blume thanks her too. She's amused to hear it.

Once she's done with her work, on which I could barely help, she pushes the engine back into the monster of steel. I help her push. She fixes a few more wires and plugs. She then hops into the cabin and starts the engine. It makes a great ruckus and sends vibrations everywhere. She's glad and proud.

We then go toward the house to speak a little with the book again.

~

They did go on an expedition to retrieve mechanical equipment, but not where I looked for. Her daughter helped her a little in caring for me while I was ill, and then went back alone to the garage they found.

I'm a little surprised. The girl (whose name I have trouble remembering) is young, and she went back into a second expedition to scavenge equipment alone.

Zeslinry tells me this was her own choice. She needs to grow self-dependant fast I understand.

Zeslinry is as worried as I am of course, and surely more.

B - Would you like to go after her?

R - I guess. I wonder how they travel and I'd like to say hi too.

We discuss over a soup and maps. I point to her the woods where I found the rejuvenating source. Blume tells her that used with caution, in little amounts, this water can help grow almost anything. Using it too much would however attract diseases, microscopic lifeforms, and perhaps monsters too.

It's a power to use carefully so.

Though Blume and I also have our plans, Zeslinry could use that thing once in a while. She's still not sure to understand me right of course.

I show her with the water left in my flask. I make a thin cut on my left arm, with a sharp razor blade.

Applying a wet cloth on the wound for a minute is enough to heal it entirely. She tries too, unfazed, and it works for her as well.

She takes a closer look at the fingers from my left hand now that she understands where they come from.

We split the remaining water, and we'll each go on our way. I'll go toward her daughter while she'll go take a look at the source.

On the next morning, we share a breakfast and separate after a hug.

 ~

I'm looking at myself in a broken piece of mirror lying by the road side, next to a crashed bus.

R - Is my hair regrowing normally?

B - Ah yes, I took the liberty of fixing that too. Having bones broken and skull fractured changed your marrow a little, and your skin too... Well, the important thing is that a few enzymes your body had lost the ability to produce are now back to normal.

R - Thanks... But why did it turn white and not just grew white then?

B - I think it was your doing when you last attacked the Ogre. You probably oxidised everything you could, and burnt most of your hair and skin in the process.

R - How could I do that?

B - With what was left of me and the wishing stone, I guess you had your first go with manipulating the energy I use to exist. And you bleached your hair to white in the process, silly woman.

R - Ey! Well... I'm glad it's all over now. And thanks for my hair and my ribs.

B - Your missing ribs aren't fully set anew yet, don't go try jumping above a broken bridge for a few days.

R - Well, I can't promise that I won't, but I'll try not to then. And I kept that piece as a memento.

I show her a piece of bone I had picked up and kept. A fragment of one of my own ribs, I think. It's like keeping a fallen tooth, only far more grim.

R - Maybe I can make a necklace out of it? It is a good bone.

B - You have surprisingly bad tastes.

R - I was joking! I keep it as a reminder you could say. It's my warning sign for the future.

B - But, I'm there. Remember? I'm the reasonable one of us two.

R - I guess that's true. Hopefully there aren't many beings-like-you that turned into such monsters.

B - Probably not indeed. But we're just like you. We're only trying to find our rightful place on this new world.

I didn't know what to say to that.

I helped.

I was right... Right?

~

The road is so heavily damaged that it turned into a set of walls and holes for miles. I'm walking on a path a little aside. I follow some flying yellow lizard things, translucent and ephemeral as usual.

Blume said it's a new organ I grew that allows me to see those. And that my brain turns the information into those colourful ghosts everywhere.

They're not what I see, but depiction of what I can perceive she says. I don't get it.

Another city is in sight ahead, surrounded by quite tall trees. And a little further on the road, I find traces of someone camping.

She was already on her way back. The ashes of a small fire are still warm, but there's no one around.

R - Did we miss each other?

B - I don't sense anything unusual. She might still be around.

I call for her loudly. I wait and call again. I repeat it for a minute.

The scenery is calm, quiet, as quiet as ever. And finally, I hear a reply.

In the distance, she reappears. She was further down the road actually.

We walk to each other. The black skinned teenager seems as happy as always to see me. We hug like old friends, almost laughing.

She invites me to come with her a little further. I follow her gladly.

She carries like it's nothing pistols on her hips and a rifle that looks dreadful on her back.

I thought she had no luggage beside that but she only dropped it when coming to meet me, so we recover it. A backpack as tall and large as she is. It stretches to the ground where it has small wheels to roll behind her as she pulls it forward while walking. I never saw such a strange backpack. Almost a carriage.

She says a few words. Happy, mostly. And our names. We only repeat a few words mindlessly until we burst out in laughter at how ridiculous we sound. We really are.

I walk her back and we switch for the luggage from time to time along the way.

When camping for the night, she unfolds a tent that fits into a mere pocket. Once set, the tent colours change to mimicry the surroundings. It almost couldn't be told apart if you're not close enough.

While I set a fire, she presents to me her loot. She's like a proud cat right now.

Mostly tools, batteries and electrical apparatus still in good shape. A kind of rifle with some ammo too. Some cans of food also. A few clothes. Some books. A drum of something called phenol. It's not a drink apparently. I have no clue what it's used for but it looks more precious than gold to her. She didn't gather any jewel or money I notice. We've returned to a very different time in a way...

She plays with Blume a little while the night slowly settles over.

The tent is for one but she insisted for me to sleep inside too. I'm used to sleeping outside more

 Than anything currently, and not used to sleep with someone else's arms around me.

She could be my daughter given her age, and this thought weird me out.

Somehow a little like me, everyone else alive these days must have lost everyone else and everything. It's tough growing back from scratch. And she does.

She's brave.

She doesn't want me to go away while she's asleep.

The next morning we pack up and proceed to return home. Her mission was a success and Zeslinry praises her clearly.

This place sure is peaceful. I'm relieved it can stay that way for a longer while, now that the Ogre is gone.

~