Golden: The Collection

Chapter V: Revealed

Aureate's head was ringing. Badly.

The last thing she remembered was being thrown into the air before all of the life was sucked out of her very essence.

Peeling her eyes open, she was greeted by a familiar face.

"Pea?" she spoke, not entirely lucid. At the sound of his name, Pea's eyes met hers. "Why are you carrying me?"

"Oh! Uh! You were unconscious," Pea said quickly. The princess tore herself from his grasp, but she barely had enough energy to stand. Harmonia was nearby, and she could've sworn Nicholas was next to Buckwheat.

"How long was I out..?" Aureate inquired. Her head was still spinning. "Harmonia," Pea gathered the acorn's attention before answering her question. "About thirty minutes."

"Princess! How're ya feelin'?" Harmonia asked. "Your life points took quite a beatin.'" She was at Aureate's side in a flash.

"Dizzy," Aureate blinked slowly, "Did you say 'life points?'" Slightly, she tilted her head.

Harmonia looked at Pea before casting her an odd look. "With all them books you've read, I'm surprised you don't know what life points are," the acorn commented.

Aureate raised a brow at her shorter friend. "The last time I checked, you were the one who lacked knowledge about Core Abilities," she shot back. "Now, do the pleasure of enlightening me; what are life points?"

The ringing in her head had calmed at this point.

"Simply put, life points are how we keep track of our health." Harmonia started. "They go down when we get hurt, whether it be sickness or physical damage, and they go up when we're healed by a sunflower or whatnot."

"Most pure plant types have above 100 life points, but hybrids are more inconsistent," Pea chimed in, leaning forward.

"How do you know how many life points you have?" Aureate queried.

"You can feel it, just like you can feel your Cora," Harmonia responded, her tone laid-back and uninterested. Aureate decided not to take it personally.

Pausing for a moment, Aureate searched for her life points. It didn't take much. She sensed their presence after a short while.

"I have.. 17," she said. "Out of what?" Pea asked.

"Hmm," Aureate hummed. "115–" She furrowed her brows as she detected another presence of life points. And another. And another.

"I'm not just feeling mine anymore. Is that supposed to happen?"

"It's because you're a sunflower, a natural healer. You can view the life points of others instead of yours exclusively," Pea said. "No other plants can, though. Sunflowers can because they need to be able to keep track of their patient's health."

That made Aureate feel a bit special. "Okay," she said, a small smile finding its way on her face.

"Slowly, life points regenerate over time," Harmonia casually joined back in. "And there are side effects with the lower your life points get."

"At the maximum amount, you're at your peak, totally healthy an' all. At about a quarter gone, you'll feel weaker, less capable. With half gone, your head'll hurt, you might feel, uh, sharp pains in your sides, things like that, y'know? With about a quarter left, on top of the previous effects, your vision could randomly blacken, along with dizziness, lack of energy—"

"And when you're on your last limbs, just a mere tap away from no life points, the pain is so severe, most think it's better to just be put out of your misery," Pea cut Harmonia off, making wide, erratic gestures to emphasize his points.