He had become determined to actually see what his own body was capable of and gritted through the oncoming dizziness. Multi-colored fragments of light had already begun to seep out of his body and float above him. Fuck. They contorted and hardened, before slowly forming his creature, bit by bit.

For whatever reason, it had gotten built directly on top of him, quickly distracting him and smothering his view of his surroundings while he was plunged into darkness. Hey! Get off!

The thing ended up quite a bit bigger than he had initially thought it would be. He might not have had any way to measure its size accurately, especially when it wouldn’t stop wriggling around to let him get a better look! Although, if he had been forced to guess, he would have said the thing was double his own size. 

Two-inches in both girth and height? Showoff. 

Of course, he wouldn’t be jealous, it had all made completely perfect sense that he would have been able to create creatures bigger than himself. Totally fair.

His own personal insecurities aside, he had really become quite pleased with his new creature. With how much of its body-mass he had managed to create using only flesh, he had been genuinely grateful that it had a little extra meat on its bones. Which had in turn made him wonder if it even had any bones? He didn't really remember putting any in there… but he also hadn’t been given the option to. He mentally shrugged.

Too late to worry about something so insignificant anyway. Come on out in the open little guy and let me get a better look at you. It had slid off the top of his core after being built, though it was still too close for him to be able to get an aerial view of the thing. Would it even respond to his commands? Or, had he just tossed a senseless abomination into the world, with only a slightly shiny rock as a companion?

There hadn’t been any real reason for him to think it wouldn’t follow his orders. That had been something the voice had been willing to answer, after all, claiming he would have complete and total control over whatever he built. He hadn’t been sure how to feel about being a core after hearing that, to be perfectly honest.

The creature had clearly heard his command, however, and had already moved to the edge of his bowl in an attempt to give him a better view. Or it’s just terrified and cowering in the corner. 

Not that he could relate to such a thing, of course. 

With his new view, he quickly assessed his first living creature. 

...five, six, seven… While he had been verifying the exact number of limbs, he had also been quite pleased to note it had responded to his second command of turning around to let him finish counting. Ten in all! Welcome to the club, little guy. He had had plenty of time to count his own number of tendrils during all of those dirt-baths.

Putting the brunt of his focus on his creature, he had been surprised to see it cease moving entirely, obviously waiting for his next command. It looked absolutely adorable to him now and any past disgust he had felt vanished the moment he had laid eyes on the thing.

Alright! This is going to take a bit to explain but here’s the pla-- Oh. 

Although the room had been difficult to see in, due to the current time of day, that had only helped to further highlight the shining yellow orbs presently staring at him from across the gap between him and Alma.

That light-show from him completing the building process had clearly given him away, that much he could tell. He had been careless after all… 

Creating the creature had woken her, but would she be able to see it from her resting place? With a swift command to slowly hide, it had contorted its body until it had concealed itself behind his core, out of view of the woman. It had obeyed him without hesitation.

Idiot core. Why hadn’t he learned his lesson yet? Clearly, anytime he tried to do something a core might normally do, that rainbow-hued nonsense involved itself. He vowed not to make the same mistake again, lest he embarrasses himself even further, before focusing back on his current captor.

While the flower witch might not have been able to see his creature any longer, he still had a perfectly fine view of its motionless form behind him, waiting for him to tell it what to do next. Well. This just got a lot harder.

He would have sworn his creature had subtly nodded with one of its tentacles. Alright, that was a little cute, I guess.

There had been no time to get distracted though, as he could still see those glowing irises staring unblinkingly at him. It worried him that he couldn’t remember if her eyes had been as bright during the daytime or not. 

Why had her eyes been constantly glowing? Now that he actually thought about it, why the fuck had he been constantly glowing?

What possible significance that glowing eyes had, he did not know. Maybe it let her see in the dark and he just happened to be fucked, being toyed with by a manipulative petal-lover. It could have also had something to do with her plants, considering the amount he had seen in the room. Or, maybe she couldn’t see shit either, and the light had simply woken her up, which meant he might have still had a chance.

More risks and variables I have no chance of controlling. What could he control…? 

While his original plan hadn’t been nearly so dangerous, he had just been forced to take a few chances. Wave at her.

His creature did as instructed, but the shining orbs never wavered. Both never flicked towards his creature’s sudden movement, although admittedly it had been literally right behind him.

He couldn’t remember her going so long without blinking, it was very unsettling. Not even during their initial staring contest had she done so well, which likely meant she hadn’t even been trying during their first round. The nerve of some people. 

Eventually, however, she had blinked. It came as such a surprise that he laughed to himself at the fact he had won their second contest, only to watch her focus back on his form once more. Ha! Haha-ha! Finally! It had taken a while longer than he would have liked, but he had gotten another stroke of luck. How grateful he was that he didn’t have such a predictable body.

All he had to do was be patient. Or, rather, his creature would have to be. One… Two… Three…

While he counted, he went over the new plan with his creature. It nodded a tentacle at him every so often, making sure he knew it had understood him. It would have only a moment to make the jump he needed it to.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Admittedly, it had been a lot of pressure to force onto his freshly built creation, but he knew it would perform when asked. Because if it didn’t, they would both be fucked. 

If the hag hadn’t planned to imprison him permanently before, she likely would after catching a glimpse of his nightmarish creature. 

Eighty-seven… Eighty-eight. Eighty-eight seconds. He confirmed his findings by waiting for two more cycles before he told his creature to prepare for the jump to the next shelf over. It had to be at least a two-foot gap between the one his bowl had rested on and the various harvesting tools that sat on the other. He had no interest in those useless things, however.

Eighty-five… Eighty-six… Get ready… NOW! Even as he verified the orbs had momentarily vanished, his creature had already gone airborne. His bowl had shaken a little from the movement, though he was still eternally grateful to his creature that it hadn’t made any noise loud enough to alert the witch. Hopefully.

Sailing through the air, he watched in awe as every tendril spread out at once. It reminded him of a very grotesque starfish, though he felt confident his creature would win in just about any contest against a crustacean. Look at that perfect form!  

The uppermost tentacle of his meat-star had latched itself onto the small wooden ledge, before hoisting itself effortlessly above. I can’t believe it actually made that. Hah! Of course, he had known it would make the jump... everything had unsurprisingly gone according to plan.

The only sound he had even heard the thing make had been its initial impact against the shelf, he was actually quite impressed by the sheer display of agility.

Being able to see everywhere at once had turned out to be quite a helpful boon for him after all. He could keep his focus on that smiling lunatic from the comfort of his bowl and still watch and guide his creature.

Although considering it had no vision, it had done quite a good job of guiding itself without his help. He had been pleased to discover it must not be blind if it could move so confidently without being ordered to. Sure, he had no idea how it had been able to navigate itself around the various instruments on the other shelf, but it had dodged and weaved past any and all obstacles with ease. He breathed a mental sigh of relief. 

After a follow-up order for it to hide behind a nearby jar, he waited once more. 

Ten minutes later and Alma still hadn’t moved from her position. She was, however, still staring intently at his form. His, not his creature’s. She’s bluffing. Although, he had no idea why she had remained silent. She hadn’t been so shy talking to him after he had done anything new before, what had changed? Maybe she’s just tired…? Yeah, right. 

While he couldn’t be one-hundred-percent sure, he no longer felt like he had to be a moment away from eternal imprisonment in a flower fanatic's lair.

Which meant he would continue with the plan. It had been quite simple, really. He needed to slip under that doorway without being seen. Of all the potential exits, that was the only thing that screamed to him it may have actually been one. 

A reality certainly existed where he could command his creature to attempt to carry him out immediately, bearing the brunt of the fall in hopes that it landed quietly, but he wouldn’t take a risk that great until he had no choice.

The room was still cast under the blanket of night, which had meant to him that he still had time to choose how he went about his escape. 

His creature had slipped out of his line of sight a few times, though he had been intrigued to realize he could feel… something… attaching their minds together. He didn’t have any clue what it might be thinking, but he could clearly feel a connection between himself and his creature, giving him an idea of its basic emotions and location. Well isn’t that convenient? It was about time that something involving cores had actually gone his way.

With the majority of his focus now on the little guy, he couldn’t contain his curiosity, I never felt this with the non-living one… Why can I sense you, little guy? Is it because you’re alive? Why would that matter? 

He hadn’t meant to distract his creature with his internal monologuing but it tried to answer him anyway, turning around and putting its body in a direct sight-line for his core.

After a minute of waving and charades, he just told it to forget it and focus back on the task at tendril. I’ll work that one out later. Yet another thing to add to his core to-do list.

He had begun to feel anxious almost immediately after it had resumed its mission, nervous to have forced his creature into such a vulnerable position simply because it had to listen to him. Keep looking. You’ll know it when you… see it. Insensitive remarks aside, he had ordered his creature to use its own discretion while navigating the shelves of the room. 

It had become quite entertaining to watch his little ball of horrors swing from shelf to shelf as it searched. Oftentimes, the distance had been too great to leap, and he had been amazed to see his creature literally cling to the walls, slowly shuffling itself toward the next area it wanted to scout. 

It had been able to get a strong enough hold to silently move, even on a vertical surface? I knew you were the right choice. There was just no chance that a creature made of stone or crystal would have been able to do anything similar.

His creature seemed to preen at his compliments, pausing slightly before it decided to stop moving entirely. Why did you stop? He hadn’t intended to inflate its little ego so quickly.

In response, it gestured towards the potted plants hanging from the ceiling. Oh, right. 

He needed it to be absolutely positive, however. Which one, exactly?

There had to have been at least twenty different kinds of flowers growing out of those things, it would make sense the witch would have hidden it far out of his view and reach. His view and reach, anyway.

It hadn’t been impossible to see in the dark, but he was still struggling and felt nervous because of it. He could barely even see his creature anymore, using whatever had connected them more than anything else to try and verify it was where he needed it to be. 

Are you sure? He couldn’t afford it bringing back the wrong glowing rock, after all. A sense of certainty emanated from their bond. Then, well done!

Now the hard part. Bring it here. Without being seen.

If the other cores knew what he had planned to do, he felt positive they would have understood. The love he had already begun to feel for his first creation, not to mention his first creature, had only continued to grow as more time passed. 

The more he had thought on it, the more certain he had become. The mental attachment to his creature had only solidified it for him, he would not leave anything he had built to survive alone as he had been. Lifeless replicas included.

With one final jump, his creature latched itself onto the bottom of what he assumed to be the correct dangling potted flower. 

It had been devastating to see how his creature began to slip and lose its grip, the material of the pot likely too smooth and the angle too steep even for all that muscle to get a hold of.

He commanded his creature as it struggled. Do NOT fall.

He didn’t care what his creature had to do, but if it alerted Alma then the game would simply be over. A drop from that height would be impossible to muffle, even for something as nimble as his creature.

In response to his order, his creature had reeled back two tentacles as far as it could. It had spiraled both together until the tips formed a fine point.

With what he imagined to be its entire body’s strength, it forced the two limbs into the pot, breaking through the fragile material and allowing it to get a proper hold. Uh...

He had clearly heard the crack of the ceramic and the subsequent scrambling as his creature lifted itself over the top. Had she?

While it had certainly been an ingenious idea, his creature had just placed their plan in jeopardy. No... I did. He had been the one to tell it not to let itself fall. He had never said how.

What would he have done in place of his creature? Fall, likely.

Her eyes had been staring solely at him during his creature’s expedition. Now, they had locked onto the dangling flowerpots to her right. Fuck.