It had only taken Phon, Kada, and Xard mere moments from Drim’s scream of terror until they’d all reached him, offering words of concern and reassurance. But they all became speechless when they saw what he saw.
Drim himself struggled to come to grips with what he’d done, but it became undeniable as he stared more at the new creature standing before him. He had created new life—not a clone, not a minion or subservient creature that he could unsummon when he was done with it. One glance at its burning flame proved it was as alive as him or anyone else with a will of its own.
This terrified him to his core. For such a power to exist, it went against everything Drim was working towards, everything he believed in. How could he change the world if a being existed that ignored the rules of it? How could life be sacred if it could just be replaced so easily. This power was beyond just that of a Fiend.
It made him a god.
“Someone trade with me. I don’t want this power,” Drim uttered from his purest innocence. He didn’t actually mean to say it, but it had been what was forced to the forefront of his mind—the desire to pass this burden over to someone else. Really, he didn’t want anyone to have it, but why did it have to be him? Of everyone he knew, it suited him the least.
This would be something he’d have to seal away, to never use if it could be helped. Even in an emergency, he’d struggle to use it. Being able to improve the lives of others, that part had merit, but creating new life to serve his whims was just despicable.
What was he supposed to do whenever he no longer had need of the creatures he made, after they’d served their purpose? Was he supposed to just kill them? Absorb their energy until their life was stolen away? Was he supposed to provide for them and give them new purpose? It was too much to bear.
And what was he supposed to do with the creature he’d just made unintentionally—hopefully the last one he’d ever make. The creature was, well it would probably be rude to keep calling it a creature, but Drim was completely lost on what else to call it.
Overall, it was bipedal in shape, roughly the same build as a human. It only went up to about Drim’s knee, so it could almost be mistaken as a regular child at a glance. But if lingered on for even a second, anyone could tell that it was made with plants as its base. Each of its body parts clearly had a different plant at its core, but didn’t quite match them.
Its head resembled a gourd, but didn’t quite have the rigidity. The flesh was definitely more skin-like in consistency and tone. Its limbs looked like they’d been based off of mushrooms, wider near the top and stalky as they went down. It didn’t actually have hands or feet, both ending in nubs, but it didn’t seem to have any difficulty standing.
The rest of its body couldn’t really be seen, since the creature was wearing a short-sleeved dress made of vines. Looking at its life energy, Drim could tell that the dress was actually part of its greater being, rather than traditional clothing. It seemed his subconscious had decided to grant it some modesty when creating it.
While Drim couldn’t possibly know its gender, or if it even had the capacity to have a gender, the dress and its hair certainly gave off a feminine impression. Its hair was made of large fern leaves. A few smaller ones were sticking out at the very top of its head, but most were longer and draping down behind its back. The face itself was a bit disconcertingly human looking—basically an exact copy of the standard eye, nose and mouth structure.
To add to its confusing existence, the plant creature was dancing. Well, it wasn’t quite a dance, but it was swaying back and forth, joyfully to a rhythm based off of its expression. This did placate Drim to a degree, since it seemed happy just to be alive.
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“I’ll take it!” Kada broke the awkward silence by finally responding to Drim’s proposal. By her tone of voice, it was obvious she wasn’t serious, but still seemed amused by the thought. “I’ll make so many plant friends. Gimme!”
This broke the floodgates at least, and it began cautious discussion as to what should be done. However, Xard brought up an important question, well important to some of them at least. “Since Drim was the one who made it, wouldn’t this kind of make it his child—his daughter if we’re assuming she’s a girl?”
Eyes looked at the creature with a different perspective, but she didn’t give anyone else the chance to comment. “Bubuu!” Her hums had grown in volume and vocals. “Bubuu!” she repeated with what sounded like increased excitement.
No one could have anticipated what came next. All of its hair—that is to say, all of the leaves on its head suddenly stood on end. They then flattened horizontally above her scalp and started to spin. Faster and faster the leaves turned until they blurred like helicopter blades.
The plant-creature suddenly shot straight upwards. Before anyone could react let alone try to do something, she had flown out of the barrier and then out of sight.
Maybe the problem had solved itself? Maybe she was gone forever? Or maybe she’d be back soon to further inject some insanity into their lives. It was a melancholic feeling, losing someone who had just so abruptly burst onto the scene as part of their family. But if she wanted to be free, then who were they to stop her?
◆◆◆
“Bubuu!” Drim awoke to a weight on his chest. He was actually in his bed for once, so at least that part was a nice surprise to wake up to. Both Pox and the plant creature were sitting on Drim’s body, just in front of his face.
“Garuu!” Pox cried out in return to the creature.
“Bubuu!” “Garuu!” “BuBu BuBuu!” Were they having a conversation? At the very least they seemed to understand each other on some rudimentary level. Drim was tempted to ask Pox if he could understand her, but then remembered he couldn’t understand Pox to begin with. Maybe one day Drim would be able to pick up on her subtleties like he had with the fluffy monster.
The plant-creature held out its arms and a familiar green portal appeared. A flower bloomed out of it, and then several more. The stems all weaved together into a flower crown that she gently placed on top of Pox’s head. Drim really shouldn’t be surprised at this point, but her being able to control nature energy too had been outside of his expectations.
“Bubuu!” the plant-creature turned to Drim and the portal appeared again. Just one flower appeared this time, about the size of the flower crown as a whole. It was unlike any flower Drim had ever seen—countless petals, all swirling with colors in an almost hypnotic pattern. A florist could sell it easily for a small fortune. The creature placed the flower down on Drim’s chest and then moved over next to Pox.
Apparently, the vine sleeves that slightly covered her arms weren’t just for show. The vines crept out and wrapped around Pox’s body, but the fluffy creature didn’t try to resist. Once he was secured, the plant-creature’s hair started spinning again, causing a torrent of wind around the room. After lifting off from the bed, the creature flew out the open window with Pox in tow.
Drim struggled to fall back asleep, his mind ruminating over the weirdness of the past few days and his new worry over the creatures. At least they looked like they were having fun and getting along. His family sure was a weird one. Hopefully it wouldn’t grow too much larger.
Fiends For Hire Internal Dialogue 7
Eleen: Drim, I would like to offer you a bit of advice regarding that voice, regarding her.
Drim: Hmm?
Eleen: I don’t know why, but it seems that you’ve currently won her favor. You would be wise to keep it that way. Listen to your mother and do not seek her out. Do not pursue information on her, and most importantly, do not upset her. I can’t tell you what would upset her. Just know that if she wants to be found, she will find you.
Drim: You’re really scared of her, huh?
Eleen: She will not let me answer.