Bloom

34: The Hasty Chase

Stomp, stomp, stomp went the goddesses' heels against the floor. Pacing back and forth. Closed fists. Furrowed eyebrows. Red eyes.

"I cannot believe you rummaged through my spellbooks!"

Pepper's head is lowered. Fingers fiddled with their cloak.

"I only wanted to learn one spell. I wanted to... to try it out."

She turned her head to them with anger.

"You know some of these spells need to be carefully handled! Some take eons of practice so as not to injure yourself! Of all the damn spells in the book, you tried the most risky one! Now look what happened!"

Pepper rose their head up. A red scratch appeared across their forehead. They looked like they were about to cry.

"Mother, I am sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, but I am tired of only being praised for my memory. I want to be more than that!"

"But you cannot-"

"I just want to make you proud!" Pepper yelled it out.

They fell to their knees and began to sob, defeated arms by their sides. The tears dropped to the floor. Mortelline's anger faded to sympathy, along with her eye colour. She sighed, then walked to them.

"Peppermint, darling," she bent down and pulled them into a hug. "You always make me proud. Always."

Mortelline rubbed their head as they continued to sob. They raised their limp arms to return the hug.

"When you are more experienced," she said, stroking their hair. "I will teach you that spell. But please, do not ever try that again. You are my only child. I don't want Death to take you."

----------

A loud, agonized scream rattles the room. Everyone but Torrentus is dead quiet. He bends over while burying his face into his hands, rubbing his eyes vigorously. Steam rises from his face like smouldering lava. Acacia runs to comfort him. Her eyebrows are weighted down with worry.

"What happened?!" She cries out.

Nobody seems to know. Glances and hushed whispers are exchanged with one another, but not a single answer arises. Tulip's eyes look around in search of where Pepper is. It doesn't take them long to locate them standing several feet away from the pained god. In their grasp is a cup. The lightbulb goes off.

Scalding lemon tea was poured onto him by Pepper.

"Pepper!" Mortelline says, grabbing their arm. "What did you do?"

They frown, their free hand lifting to their mouth. "I'm so sorry! I tripped over a carpet!"

Despite Torrentus's screams going mute, the thunderous noises don't stop. The cage that was floating above his hand crashes to the ground. Everyone scrambles to avoid the fall. The water disappears, releasing Dante.

"Move away!" A god shouts.

Though Dante appeared a lot smaller in the cage, he returned back to his normal size. His hands plant onto the ground to not fall over. Then he slowly lifts his head. His infuriated glare goes straight to Tulip. Tulip feels their heart pound louder and louder in their chest.

Now. Now. Now!

"I'll go get a towel for him!" Tulip hears Pepper's voice over the other concerned voices.

That's enough of a signal for them to run. Sprint. Dash out of there. Dante bolts after them as they maneuver between moving bodies. He just barely grabs onto their tunic before they slide out of his grip and lose them between the tall deities blocking his way.

Tulip doesn't look back. They continue to run. They find the nearest door and race outside. The garden is to their right, the entrance to the mansion to their left. Right out front is a large wheat field. Pink surrounds the entire mansion as an unfriendly reminder that this isn't the escape route. They remind themself they have to focus.

Gorge. Where is the gorge again?

Finally it comes to them: the garden. So they sprint towards it. Unluckily their back is beginning to throb from the adrenaline. Any second Dante will emerge from the door. As they get to the garden they try their hardest to recall the rest of the details. Gorge. Forest. Sunflowers. Over and over those words play in their head.

Under the wisterias. Over the bridge. Through the pathway.

Closer, the sound of rushing water hits their eardrums. There's one problem, though.

The barrier is still in the way.