From a silent pin-drop, erupting into heel clacks, Mortelline exits the room. Tulip never caught her facial expression, but her body language read distraught. Perhaps they also saw her almost bear a single tear from her eye? Tulip blinks, unsure of what to make of the situation. What happened?
They glance back at the flowers, now in full bloom. They recognize this type of flower.
Violets.
Suddenly, a loud bang makes the room shake. An earthquake shudders and shifts the ground beneath. Tulip falls to their feet, trying to remain steady. Their ears ring, heart races a million miles a minute. After a few seconds, the shaking stops. Tulip shuts their eyes tight, giving a few seconds to collect themself. Once they open their eyes, they see on the floor a reflection of pink. They blink, slowly lifting their head to see a large, transparent, pink wall where the door usually is. To their left is another pink wall, right where Pepper would normally sneak in through the smaller door. They both glisten and ripple in the same rhythm as the one in the garden.
No...
They gather their footing, wobbling slightly, but manage to stand. As they step closer, bits of static tickle their bare skin. Tempted fingers lift up to touch the surface, but immediately retract once they're delivered with a sudden shock. Tulip winces. They massage their hand as it jolts with a pins and needles sensation for a few more seconds. Something falls beside them.
On the ground is a wilted leaf. As they turn to look, more violets have sprouted. They almost forgot about the flowers. They don't want to bother counting the deaths, but something does strike them as confused. Why do I feel no pain? Quickly they sprint back to locate the book. The shaky floor had moved it almost entirely back into the darkness. The light above still sways, which irritates Tulip. They can't reach up to stop the light teetering back and forth, so they continue with their mission by grabbing the book and flipping through the pages. After a few more flips they find the page with violets.
"Violets, from the plant family known as viola, match their name with their beautiful, rich violet colour. Amongst roughly 600 other species, violets are the largest. It is a symbolic flower representative of many things, such as Virgin Mary in Christianity. Violets are known for "conquering" many types of climates, but its native habitat is in parts of Europe and Asia."
Tulip scratches their chin, their eyebrows furrowed. What an insufficient description. Their eyes travel up to the ceiling, where the light has finally gotten still. The pink walls haven't disappeared, making Tulip worry. They remember what Mortelline said earlier.
"How is my beautiful castle, hmm, prisoner?"
"Perhaps you also took a stroll in my generous garden..."
They sigh. She knew all along. Something stings at their heart, making them clutch their chest. It's a pain familiar to them as the one that usually aches from their back, but this pain doesn't linger on. It pinches them as a feeling of doubt.
Pepper must've known all along as well.
YOU ARE READING
Bloom
RomanceA mysterious deity is captured by a goddess of death and afflicted with a curse for a wrongdoing. During their capture, the descendent of the goddess sneaks in and out to try and mend the prisoner's pain, but the individual isn't too keen on them in...
