Alright, alright. Breathe. Just think.

I took a breath, trying to calm my frayed nerves, firing off signals in my head like there was something to celebrate.

The exit.

The door had opened, so the way out must be open too.

I ran to the cliff, scaling it faster than ever before, only to be met with immediate, crushing disappointment. Still sealed.

Alright. No big deal.

I shifted everything into my right hand, activating my inner flame, moving the energy with precision. Gathering it, slowly, building.

I was ready.

I raised my hand, near direct contact with the stone wall, and released.

An explosion rocked the cavern, sending tremors through the earth, pebbles on the floor humming in response.

The strongest Blasting Wave I had ever formed surged like a tide, colliding with the door head-on. But like a handshake between indifferent strangers, they barely acknowledged each other before drifting apart. Unbothered, unaffected…unchanged.

I stepped closer, ignoring the dull ache in my right hand. Searching for a crack. A dent. Anything, any proof I could escape. I could return.

A scratch.

Barely visible. Like an old scar, no larger than my thumb.

Impossible.

Even if I did this for a hundred years, I wouldn’t make a dent.

And if they needed me? If they were in danger?

I’d be useless.

What if t—No. No.

I took another deep breath.

Elric mentioned the system reward. It shouldn’t do anything to harm them. Who knows, maybe it just sent them outside.

I tried to reason my way through it, the creeping panic dimming. But then...a deep rumble.

The earth beneath me groaned, the foundation of the garden quaking in protest.

The cliff trembled, and I lost my footing, crashing to the ground. Instinct took over. I pressed my hands to the rock, steadying myself against the violent tremors.

It only got worse.

The shaking grew fiercer, wilder, an earthquake tearing through the cavern’s bones. It felt like the entire place was about to cave in on itself. My teeth rattled in my skull as I forced my head up, trying to make sense of what was happening.

While trying to control my eyes, threating to roll from their sockets, I saw the terrarium.

Motionless.

The trees, the shimmering blue grass, the still emerald pool.

Untouched.

The only movement came from the bits of gravel tumbling around me, but the garden? Silent. Unbothered.

The shaking continued, stretching time thin, until it finally faded. Slowly, like the last tremors of a dying heartbeat.

I exhaled sharply, pushing myself up on unsteady legs. My ears still rang, my body swayed slightly, but after a moment, I conquered my inner ear and regained balance.

“Alright, let’s just breathe. Relax. They’re safe.”

Before I could process anything else, my stomach betrayed me with a deep grumble.

Right. The supplies.

I had given them to Thea when we packed up.

Soooo, I guess I’m fasting until I figure something out.

I ran a hand through my hair, glancing at the only other living thing in the cavern, the Vampire Grass.

Not exactly a feast.

I eyed the plant warily. I had no idea how nutritious bloodsucking grass was…though I figured it was probably rich in iron.

I sighed and walked toward the cliff eager to test the viabi—wait.

What are they doing?

My little Vampire Grass friends had abandoned nearly the entire forest. Instead, they had gathered around the pool, clustered together like travelers huddled around a fire.

And rather than their usual luminous blue glow, they had turned the silver they adopted when they retreated.

They pulsed in perfect sequence, flashing over and over again, a synchronized rhythm. A heartbeat as if one organism.

Then, as if guided by some unseen will, their glow shifted.

Emerald.

The exact shade of the pool.

Had I not just watched them gather, I would’ve thought they were part of it.

Slowly, from the outer ring to the center, the green hue traveled, flowing through them like a current.

Then, at the very core, the most central blades of grass bent forward, trembling.

And from their tips, several tiny drops fell into the pool.

My breath caught in my throat.

It wasn’t just the discovery of where the water came from that left me speechless.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

It was the way it felt intentional.

I’m no botanist, but this wasn’t random.

This was deliberate. Primal.

Something about it reeked of a hint of intelligence.

The beginning of a civilization.

Sure, they worked together with the tree monsters before, but plenty of creatures in my world cooperate out of instinct. This...this was different.

As the green glow faded, the Vampire Grass began to pulse again with blue and silver. Alternating independently, each blade dancing in the cool breeze.

I’m no expert on communication or the evolution of societies, but I’m preeeetty sure these little guys are talking… at least, their flashy, glowy version of it.

“I gotta get down there.”

I moved quickly, nearly jumping down the cliff before steadying myself on the dirt. As I made my way toward the festival of grasses, I grabbed one of the sharp petals from the dead tree monsters.

Please don’t let there be any leftover toxins.

Taking a deep breath, I dragged the petal across my thumb, a small but thick drop of blood welling up instantly. And to my undying gratitude, no vein-melting poison coursed through my veins.

I promise I didn’t whimper like a wounded animal when I cut myself by the way.

Instinctively, I raised my head, waiting for the inevitable insult...oh. Right. No one was here to call me an idiot for this.

Maybe there was a little toxin left. This hurt way more than I expected.

I ignored the sting and took a few steps forward, stopping just before the bantering weeds.

I knew this idea had some risk. The scars still lingering on my arms, a courtesy of my first encounter with these guys, were proof of that. Even Elric couldn’t heal them perfectly.

But this was just a small cut.

Couldn’t be too bad, right?

At first, nothing happened. Maybe they were too busy celebrating their little glowy grass festival. But eventually, one blade shook. Maybe as hungry as I was from all its movement and conversation.

It approached me, slowly, cautiously.

Then it latched onto my wound.

A tickling sensation spread through my finger, light but unmistakable.

At that moment, something else moved inside me.

The moment the grass touched my blood, it reacted.

Something inside me surged, ravenous. The red energy.

The gift from the old statue shot outward, meeting the tiny plant like a starved beast lunging at fresh prey.

Half the pulse exited, entering the Vampire Grass.

And my vision blurred.

That was a pretty good meal…what was I doing again? Oh yeah, getting out of here. But no…I was celebrating. Hmmm.

I pulsed with confusion, something about this felt off. I knew there was something important I had to do, but…it was hard to focus.

I looked up at the ceiling. My perfect little home. It seemed…much, much higher, didn’t it?

No, definitely not. Just my mind playing tricks.

I turned, expecting nothing, but instead, I saw them. My friends, faintly glowing.

That didn’t make sense. They weren’t here. They had disappeared, leaving me alone. But then…there they were, just finishing the ritual. I guess we’d all be heading back soon. Back to Miss Star’s inn.

Wait…what’s an inn?

Stop. Stop. STOP!

I flung myself backward, landing hard on my tailbone and, okay, maybe letting out a small shriek.

“What?! Whe—” I whipped my head around.

The terrarium was exactly as I remembered. The ceiling hadn’t stretched, the room hadn’t shifted. But the grass…

Were definitely not any friends I knew intimately.

They were retreating, shifting back toward the voided soil. All except for one.

It was gazing at me.

I know it has no eyes. But trust me, it was gazing.

What was that?

I was the grass. And the grass was me.

Our memories blurred together, and in my humble opinion? I had severely underestimated the brainpower of a blade of grass.

…Or worse, overestimated my own.

Thea would lose it if she knew how much willpower this grass was wrestling over with me right now.

That experience had felt dangerous, not because it was trying to take over, not because it was resisting me. At least, not in any way I could understand.

All I felt in that moment was sharp confusion.

Two minds. Two completely different goals.

Two identities, crashing into each other like waves against a stubborn cliff.

I took a slow breath and looked inward.

The red energy coiled around my violet inner flame like a snake made of lightning.

It was depleted, but not significantly. And I could feel it leeching off my Precursor energy, feeding, growing, replenishing itself like a parasite with a taste for something new.

I looked down at the lonesome, curious, thumb-sized creature in front of me and made a decision.

"Alright, if you won’t give up, I won’t either."

The cut on my finger still bled lightly, but nothing that spelled danger. I lowered it back down. My new brain brother, because what else could I call this thing? Approached, but instead of feasting on its favorite iron snack, it only touched me.

Again.

"Wow. So massive. What are you?"

Excitement pulsed through me. The communication was instant, raw, something that bypassed words entirely.

"Why can I speak to you?"

"I don’t know...I’ve never seen any of you guys glow like me before. Didn’t know you were that smart either. I mean, who attacks those tree guys?"

I turned my gaze away, abandoning the massive creature and moving toward the pool.

"I never attacked anything. What are you talking about?"

"No, not you," I pulsed violently, frustration rippling through the bond. "ME! Or wait...you? Ummm."

"Stop with your questioning glows! Do you talk to everyone like that?"

"Sorry, bad habit. I like to put emphasis on my statements when I’m confused."

Statement must have been its version of glows.

"It is."

I shook my hea—my edges? My body? The frills at my sides tensed in annoyance.

"This was a terrible idea. No privacy in my own mind."

"Hey! I thought it was worth a shot."

Think. Think more.

"How much could a weed possibly think?" I teased myself sarcastically.

"I know what a weed is. I’m in your mind. And I am a beautiful blade of..." I hesitated. "There are no words. One second."

A bloom of bright silver washed over me. Then teals, turquoises, shifting shades blending and bleeding together like the sky melting into the sea.

"That’s me."

"Amazing! Love the name. Vampire Grass it is!"

"What? NO!"

"Well...name me, then. Using your own colors," I huffed, irritated at the rejection of my clearly perfect moniker.

"It is not perfect!"

A flash of shifting hues, an array of lights dancing through the bond.

"That is perfect."

“Hold on. Let’s take a break. We need to work on this.” I took a breath, steadying my form, our form. It felt incredibly familiar, like it had always been mine. I mean, it was my bod—nope. No, Peter. I am Peter.

It’s— “I’m not an it’s.” I interrupted my own thoughts.

I cleared my roots. Our body was easy to move, so, just as a test…

I flashed a brilliant array of colors.

“HEY! Don’t go saying things like that, there are saplings around!”

“Uhhh…sorry?” I don’t know exactly why that was offensive bu—”Yes you do. I can tell your words, you should be able to tell mine.”

BUT I ignored it for now.

“Of course you will.”

“Okay, I’ll let you speak first. Introduce yourself, using my way of speaking.”

“I already am speaking.” I replied. “Seriously, wha—wait, no, I am.”

I flashed a beautiful sequence of colors. “I am.”

Again.

“Okay, I’m Peter, and I am also…” A flash of colors. “Now. I, Peter, will stay quiet. While I,” another brief but quick sequence, this one tinged with slight irritation, “will talk.”

“Deal?”

I flickered a hesitant hue of gold. “Deal.”

“Wait… I can do more than three colors?” I asked, astonished.

“I said I would be quiet.”

Now a tinge of red was stirring from my core.

“I’m right… sorry. Please, go on.”