Five weeks had passed since then. The boy mindlessly followed the girl through the muddy fields, then up steep hills, and then through freezing mountains, and all the way to stop at a lake. His shoes were ground down to reveal his soles, which were bleeding. He could not take a single step.
“I...I need a break.” He kneeled down. Rafflesia stopped soon after and rushed to him.
“Yeah, probably. I’ll join you.” She sat down next to him. For a moment, the two said nothing, instead looking at the lake in silence. It was, by all accounts, a beautiful lake. A perfectly clear lake where no flaw could be seen, surrounded by conifer trees and rolling hills. Deers frolicked in the ground. The air of summer engulfed them, warming them to their cores. The winters here were brutal, but the summers were pleasant.
“You know,” said Rafflesia, “this used to be known as Lake Baikal.”
“Lake Baikal?” He had only heard of that in history books. Old, dusty history books.
“Yes. It was one of the few places untouched by aliens. That, and East Asia in general. It’s where your city was located.”
Sun grimaced.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to. Let’s just enjoy nature.” Sun rejected Rafflesia’s offer, instead he stood up.
“I’m going to keep walking to our destination. A city named ‘Moscow’, I recall. You told me as such.”
“Huh? I thought you were going to take a break?”
“That’s because I committed the folly of walking on my feet, instead of using someone else’s. Were I to use you as a mount…”
“A mount???” Rafflesia’s face went red. “That’s silly! I can’t just run on all fours!”
“Yes you can.” Sun said, being stern. “If you can punch through concrete, you can carry a person.”
“I can, physically, but it’s a mental restriction. That’s just...weird and I refuse to do it.”
“Do you have a better option then? My feet are bleeding.”
“I don-” suddenly, her eyes and head darted around. Before Sun could ask what was wrong, he felt it in his bones- a deep and rapid rumbling, like an earthquake. The rumbling grew louder and louder- before coming to an abrupt stop.
A girl walked out of the forest. She was the spitting image of Rafflesia- only, her hair was blue and so was her outfit. In her hands, she held a Dane axe. And unlike Rafflesia’s calm gaze, her eyes held nothing but fury. “You. Dumbass. You got that city destroyed.” she pointed the axe at Rafflesia, who did not flinch. Instead, she imitated a buzzer with her mouth.
“No such thing. They were just too much for me. I was assigned to this city in the first place. It isn’t my fault.”
“And you shouldn’t have been born, let alone be assigned to the city!”
“Hey!” Sun shouted, stepping forward. “You should never say that to someone else!”
A gash in the earth split open in front of Sun. It was to say ‘Shut up or you die’. He looked at the blue haired girl, who stared at him with unparalleled furor. A chill ran down his spine. For a moment, he felt as if he could die at any moment. He stepped behind Rafflesia, seeking her protection.
“Why are you so harsh? I’ve never been mean or cruel to you- not ever.” Rafflesia pouted. Even in this scenario, she was calm. It was as if she knew that her ‘twin’ was all talk. “Hydrangea, are you here to check up on us?”
“Yes! Yes I am! I ran for hours! Do you know how long of a time that is for someone that can run as fast as me? Do you???”
“Please stop shouting. What matters is that I’m alive. And so is one citizen, Sun. Let’s go.”
“There’s someone you’re forgetting about. Cornflower, also known as Akiko?”
“Akiko?” Sun exclaimed. “You mean Hanayama Akiko? That’s my classmate!”
“You had a Flower as your classmate?” Hydrangea’s eyebrow rises. “No fucking way. Eh, I guess she does like going to school…”
“Is she- is she alive?”
“I saw her under some rubble,” Rafflesia said, “when I did some cleaning up. She thanked me and began to purge the alien assimilation.”
“She...she lives! Yes!” Sun almost leaped in joy. A quick glance from Hydrangea changed his mind.
“If she’s living, we should go after her.” Rafflesia said.
“No need. She can find her way back. The bigger thing is sending you back to headquarters, Little Imp. You’re the weakest Flower by far. If this continues, you’re gonna get terminated for your inferiority.”
Weakest Flower?
The girl who moved faster than the eye could see.
The girl who could set objects on fire just by hitting them so fast.
The girl who could smash through concrete.
The girl who could leap from building to building.
The girl who could kill thousands of car-sized monsters.
That girl. The girl he saw yesterday.
Was the weakest of her kind. It was unbelievable. The sheer scale of the world imposed itself upon him with force. It was overbearing.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“We’re getting back to the headquarters in Moscow and I’m gonna team up with the rest of the Flowers to beat your ass. That’s final. Follow me.” She turned her gaze towards Sun. “You’re coming too. You’re a survivor. We might need to decontaminate you.”
----------------------------------------
The city of ‘Moscow’ was rather small compared to the city that Sun grew up in. Vast arrays of wooden shacks were divided by dirt roads. Since they were on flat ground, they couldn’t see much of the city.
“These are where your headquarters are located? It’s shabby…” Sun hoped that wouldn’t be an insult. At least, judging from the faces of the Flowers, it wasn’t. It was also strange to him that there were no defenses, but this was the headquarters of the Flowers. No alien could survive for long. He got off of Rafflesia’s back.
“Yes. The specific location is in the center of the city. Only a bit more. Then we will be there.”
A few minutes later, and they came face to face with a large concrete building, so big it made the wooden shacks look like ants in comparison. It was as undecorated as it was large, having a sort of minimalistic aura.
Through the glass doors was a hallway leading down to a staircase, to the left a counter, and to the right two sets of bathrooms- one male, one female.
Hydrangea turned around. “This is where our paths split, ‘Sun’. You’ll go to the counter and request that you be decontaminated. It’s free, so do it. Rafflesia, come with me.”
Sun nodded and did as he was told.
INTERLUDE
The two girls went down the long and winding staircase, which was dark and dry, and through the doors at the end, the three were exposed to the council room- twelve holographic men and women floating above raised stands. The room itself was circular, nothing visible save for a white platform. Everything else was dark, like a void.
“Rafflesia,” said the female at the very end of the room, “you failed to defend the Eastern City.”
“You are by far the weakest Flower out of ninety-nine,” the man standing closest to the entrance at the left side said. “an accident. Your sister did not absorb you even in your vat, so we got an additional Flower. We expected more from you, but your performance is consistently lacking. You have been knocked unconscious during alien gatherings, failed to defend the bases assigned to you, and have been repeatedly defeated by your sparring partners.”
“In addition,” the man on the right said, “you have failed to improve for your sixteen years of existence. If this continues, we’ll have to exterminate you.”
A strong dagger drove itself through her heart. Extermination...meant death. Nothing more than pure death, grinded up and recycled into food. Let alone being reminded of her own failures.
“We shall begin the disciplinary process. The five Flowers stationed here will be called to spar with you, giving you no mercy. Even if you lose to one, the others will continue their sparring with you. One on one.” the woman said, surely emitting an inaudible signal.
“Hydrangea is already here,” the man on the left referred to the blue haired girl who remained silent, “therefore she will begin first. Please direct yourselves to the sparring room.” A door opened beneath the stand of the woman, leading to a large arena.
With a smile, the blue haired girl leaped in front of Rafflesia and ran down the hallway. With a sigh, Rafflesia ran after her. The doors closed behind them.
The two girls stared down each other, weapons in hand.
“So, Rafflesia, it’ll take you one week to heal from the injuries I give you. One thing I can give you is that you heal fast. The only thing I can give you, in fact.”
“Left cheek, left shoulder, sternum.” Rafflesia recited something familiar to Hydrangea.
“Tch. Those were flukes. You never hit me in any other duel, and you never hit me ever again in that duel.”
“It’s silly-willy to keep on flapping ya gums. Why not fight?” the pink haired girl said with a smile.
“Fuck you!” Hydrangea rushed forward, Dane axe held high and ready to bring it down on Rafflesia’s skull. She did it with such speed that even if she dodged, she would cleave through her collarbone and lung- just like she did the last time.
Her blade hit only ground, however, bouncing off of the super-hard super-tough material with no effect. She was then sent flying towards the wall, slamming into it hard enough to shake the entire five hundred meter radius arena.
Rafflesia’s foot ached. So did the rest of her body, though less so. She didn’t have time to reflect on this- Hydrangea was rapidly flying her way, Dane axe pointed for her.
A quick step to the side and a duck underneath was all she needed to get an advantage over her opponent. Aiming her spear upwards, she sunk it deep within the belly of her opponent, then promptly stood up and threw her back against the wall. This would be lethal to a normal human, even if they were supernaturally tough, but Flowers had regenerative abilities. Hydrangea could easily heal something like that.
“You...How could you get this strong?” Furious, Hydrangea gripped her axe tightly, dispelling the illusion on it. The true form of her axe was revealed- a gargantuan double-bitted behemoth no man could wield. It was a deep, dark black, ominous in color. The head was bigger than her entire body.
In response, Rafflesia did the same. She took a deep breath in...and started on her work.
Normal Flowers, like her, have the ability to use ‘spiritual powers’ as an extension of her existence. A branch of spiritualism called ‘strengthening’. None of the other Flowers use this, save for Chrysanthemum, the strongest Flower there ever will be or ever was.
Making her life force flow through her. Then, order it to intermingle with the waves that make up her body. It hurt like all hell but the benefits were immense. She used it on a level she never did before or since this match.
There were no external effects. But her enemy, Hydrangea, who was running at her with her weapon held high, would feel them.
Two stars faced against each other.
One was bright, rising above the other in a display of dominance.
The other was dim, but had a power within it that the other could not understand.
They clashed again and again. They clashed thousands of times. Metal against metal. Will against will. Martial skill against martial skill.
Each of their clashes broke the sound barrier.
Each of their clashes could liquefy a human that could stand nearby.
Each of their clashes would shake an entire city- as if a bomb or ten had been dropped.
They were beyond human. Totally beyond even the slightest conception of human.
They were Flowers. Made to kill.
“You! Stupid! Brat! How! The! Fuck! Are! You! Winning!” Hydrangea’s anger grew more. Her strikes grew more intense by the moment. But Rafflesia did not yield. She did not grow wrathful, either. She only felt sorrow.
Sorrow that she could never be friends with Hydrangea again.
The blue haired girl leaped back, panting and huffing. “That’s enough! I’m going to show you what you never could achieve.” Her axe expanded, revealing a green energy within.
There was no need to call it out. Rafflesia saw it in action. An immense tide of energy blasted forth from the axe. It was easily enough to destroy an entire building, more than a thousand bombs could do. This was her Full Release. It was not something Rafflesia could overcome.
But it was something she could match. Gritting her teeth and gripping her spear, she rushed through the tide. Every part of her body hurt. Burned as if she were in the fiery pits of Gehenna. She could feel her skin melting and popping underneath the sheer heat of the energy.
She pushed forth regardless, and gave Hydrangea a good blow to the chest. Her spear went in one end and went through the other.
Hydrangea gurgled. The pink haired girl kicked her twin off of her spear and sighed. “Sorry!”
Then she collapsed.
END INTERLUDE
“So, as far as we can tell, you’re not contaminated.” the doctor said as she looked over Sun, who rested on the bed covered in a night gown.
“Good. Now I can go back to sleep.”
“Right. We’ll leave you to yourself.” The doctor got up and left the room. Sun was by himself now. He stared at the ceiling, contemplating what to do next.
I have no home.
I have no family.
I have no friends.
Wait…no. There’s Akiko. I have to talk with Rafflesia about Akiko. The boy got up and walked outside of the door, heading down the staircase. On the lower floor, he was greeted to a ghastly sight- Rafflesia, bleeding out of her every orifice, skin melted, being carried on a stretcher to the right. He rushed to her.
“Hey! Rafflesia! Can you speak to me! What’s going on?” The pink haired girl’s bloody eyes blinked.
“I pushed myself too far...I’ll be back in a week or so.” She smiled as she was carried away.
Sun stood there in shock. He didn’t know what to think or say or do.
Then, someone tapped his shoulder. He turned around and saw a familiar face.
“A-Akiko?” She was wearing a strange outfit- a lot like the other Flower’s outfits, but with a large bow affixed to the back.
“The very same. Although my real name is Cornflower.” Cornflower bowed. “It’s nice to meet you again, Sun. I thought you had perished. I was called here by the signal of the Auditors.”
“...I wish I had.” he mumbled under his breath.
“Don’t. You have me and Rafflesia. I’ll always be with you, okay?” Akiko held his hand and Sun didn’t know how to feel. His heartbeat sped up and his body began to shake. He could feel the blood rush to his head. Akiko immediately noticed what was going wrong, soon pulling her hand back.
“Oh...I never thought you felt for me that way…” She wasn’t dumb. She knew when a boy had feelings for her. She stuck her tongue out playfully. “We could...go on a date, you know?”
“A date? This early?”
“Yep! Since you almost died back there, I’d figured you wanted to be with the girl of your dreams.”
“...You bet I do!” This was the best day of his life. After the disaster of yesterday, he had to do anything to retrieve some semblance of happiness.
And so they went on a date, travelling across the city. There, Sun saw
-A fountain, that although overgrown with moss, was pouring clear water.
-A store that sold ‘cotton candy’, an ancient recipe
-A shady businessman who tried to sell 300 year old VCRs
and so on and so forth. It was an exciting city. At the end of the day, when the sun was meeting the horizon and the sky turned red, the two teenagers looked at each other, both on a wooden bridge. They enjoyed the moment together in silence.
One question welled itself from within Sun’s mind, however.
“Uh, one question. I don’t have a home. Where am I supposed to stay?”
“With me, obviously.”
“Oh.” He mentally smacked himself. The answer was obvious. “A boy living in a girl’s place- that seems weird.”
“Flowers aren’t bound to cultural norms. They make them.” Akiko answered as if it was that simple. “If people see you live in my house, they’ll think it’s normal.”
“I...see.” Wow. The boy thought. Flowers have power both institutional and physical. That’s amazing! “Can you show me the way to your house?”
“Yup! Grab my hand!” And so they went to her house- a large wooden house painted white and red.
“It looks...better than the other houses. By a significant margin.”
“I built it myself!” Akiko smiled. She led him into the house, up the stairs and into her bedroom. It was rather plain- all it had was an emperor-sized bed. Or empress-sized in this case.
“Whoa. Are we really going to sleep in the same bed?”
“We will. But don’t try anything naughty.” Akiko giggled as she sat down on the bed. Sun didn’t have that in mind, but he had something else. One last thing to do before he went to bed.
“I...need to ask you a few questions. About Flowers.”
“Oh, yeah, we convert raw spiritual material into spiritual energy. It’s just something we do.”
“...huh, really?”
“Yes.”
“Fair enough.” By now, Sun’s stamina had since been depleted. He had to sleep. “Oh, it’s okay if I sleep here?”
“Sure!” Akiko said with a smile.