Bloom

40: The Hide And Seek

A distant voice echoes throughout the space. It sounds annoyed, like Mortelline, but the voice doesn't resemble hers.

"Damned thing!"

Dante motions for Tulip to hide behind him, but Tulip is still struggling to move. It's strange to them; they aren't in any pain, but it feels like something is holding them down. That's not until they look down and notice rose thorns protruding from the ground, tangling in their tunic and parts of their hair. Not a single flower is present. When did this get here?

"Hey,"

They hear Dante's voice, but keep their eyes hooked on the thorns. He leans to one side to get a good look at what Tulip's doing.

"What's wrong?" He says.

"What was that?"

Both freeze. It's the figure from afar. Except now they sound closer. Dante whispers a cuss under his breath. The figure is approaching the forest. Tulip tries to untangle themself from the barbed mess, until they feel their arm being yanked forward. Dante is tugging on them to hide. Their tunic tears more as Dante pulls on their arm and they are suddenly hidden behind two tree trunks further in the forest.

"Don't move," Dante says quietly.

They show a scowled expression at them, but then realize it's too dark for him to see. They know that their tunic is tattered; any big tear and they'll be running bare naked. Slowly they feel their cheeks flush in embarrassment, until they hear a loud tnf sound nearby. Both Tulip and Dante become still as statues.

To Tulip, the figure appears as a shadowy creature, but the outline is recognizable. It is a deity, but it's far too dark for them to see who it is. The deity paces back and forth for a short while, before angrily trotting off. Tulip can hear Dante mumbling something, but they can't make out the words. They turn to him with a 'hm?'

"It's her..." Dante says in an annoyed voice. "Stellalume. I should've known."

Tulip's eyes widen with a head tilt. "The goddess in the yellow dress?"

He pauses for a moment. As if his eyes study every crevice of the tree bark close by. He chuckles, then lets out a sigh.

"I didn't tell you the whole story of my capture."

Tulip looks around them. It looked like they would be staying there for a while. They make themself comfortable by sitting down on a patch of grass. Dante sits across them. He fiddles with a small rock in his hand while talking.

"I got captured by Torrentus, then taken to a cottage nearby. It looked like those farm towns in the human world, except during the nighttime. When he knocked on the door, a goddess answered. In a quick second her facial expression went from innocent to angry. 'I need you to keep this brat trapped away for the time being,' is what Torrentus said. Stellalume looked like she didn't want anything of it, until he told her I was an anomaly, and that the other one - you - had escaped'.

Instantly her face changed into something sinister. 'Gladly', is what she said before closing the door with me inside. So while that stupid god went out on the hunt for you, I was thrown into a dark dungeon. That day was the last time I'd see anything remotely bright for a long time. It was dark, cold, empty. Lonely. Other than Stellalume stopping by to taunt me, I was alone."

Dante pauses to sniffle. It sounds like to Tulip he's going to cry. He takes a deep breath and continues.

"Eventually after several days, she returned with a proposition. She gave me a knife and said, 'you will be under the name Dante. You will be freed from this cell, under one condition: you must act as my scout."

Tulip lifts an eyebrow. 'Scout'?

"'Your little friend probably won't go far, as Torrentus is on the prowl. But I digress, his eyesight is beginning to lack. You will serve under me as my 'son', and help me find them.' At first I declined the offer. Why bother looking for you in a huge realm? And who the hell would work for an annoying goddess? But it didn't take me long for my decision to change. That room's silence was getting louder and louder in my head. It was torture. I took the chance because I saw it as revenge."

"Essentially, she used you?" Tulip asks.

Dante scratches his arm. "My state of mind was irrational. After everything that happened, I just needed someone to blame for it. I used that as an excuse to find you, but my anger took over."

The chat goes quiet. Tulip processes all he has said. Pepper's words start to murmur in their head.

"Some things refuse to forget... so I have to be the one to turn away."

They finally nod to themself. "That's a part of the past now. Leave it there."

A silent agreement. Dante doesn't say anything, only looking away. Suddenly Tulip stands up.

"Whoa," Dante grabs a corner of their tunic. "Where are you going?"

Tulip stops. Their eyes look beyond the forest.

"The sunflowers," they beg. "I must get to them."

"What?"

Tulip removes his hand then prances from tree to tree, keeping watch for the goddess. Dante watches in wariness.

"But what if she...!"

It's too late for Dante as Tulip has already bounded their way into the sunflower field. Whisper after whisper Dante cusses, but he gives up hiding and follows after. While running after them, he notices them weaving in and out of the sunflowers.

"What are you doing?!"

Tulip doesn't respond. He almost loses track of the quiet deity in their tattered blue tunic. Eventually he catches up to them and stops.

The sunflower towering high above them has flints of orange in its golden petals.

And right below is Pepper. When they see Tulip, they perk up with a relieved smile.

"You made it."