the garden within the wasteland

𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝓌ℯ 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃𝓉ℯ𝒹 𝒶 𝓉𝓇ℯℯ

The sun was blinding at its peak. over at the top of its throne, punishing any and all who dared enter its gaze. Yet even the sun's threats of burnt skin did nothing to deter the two children from playing and laughing the day away there in the garden. Both of them were born of the same blood and day, only delayed by a few hours. Their game was a simple one: they split the garden of the palace in half, one of the evil lords and the other of the true hero, and they would fight for dominance. All while in the distance, the young knight watched over them. the knight who hid every last inch of his skin in metal. The young boy, his golden hair acting as unkempt roots reaching and curling in all directions to no avail of reaching soil, was dressed in fine silk, a similar pair to his sister's, but his was a lot less well-kept. He commanded his presence be felt as his hand moved like the snap of an animal's tail. as he roared with as much power as his underdeveloped lungs could muster

"HEAR YE! HEAR YE! BEFORE YOU STAND THE UNSUNG HERO! THE UNCROWNED KING! HE WHO WILL SLAY ALL EVIL AND BECOME HERO OF THE GARDEN. SAINT GABRIEL! KING OF ALL!"

Gabriel began to gasp for breath, his voice showing strain after a few words.

"Very well. Then I stand before you. Saint Candace of the garden, you shall not see the sun's shine tomorrow."

She brandished a stick of her own as they better entered into a mockery of the stances they saw their elders use.

Both of them had forgotten who had been the villain and hero of this game. It didn't matter to them anymore.

Their game was quickly interrupted by the sounds, or more so the lack of sounds, of the falling seeds. It was Candace's eyes that caught them first as she halted to divert her attention from them. The seeds that fell from it gracefully fell downwards in a one-sided dance with gravity.

"Candace?" Gabriel questioned as he began to lay down his stick. He appeared a bit irritated. Yet Candace's gaze was focused on the fallen seed, her steps slowly inching towards it as the stick left her hand. And in sync with the sound of the thud, Gabriel asked once more, "We have not even started the fight! What are you doing?"

"look!" Candace proclaimed as she grabbed a hold of one of the many seeds lying restless on the floor. swaying left and right with the wind, each gust of wind an attempt for the seed to escape Candace's hands

"Trust me, sis. Those don't taste as good as they look." Gabriel sighed as he stood next to Candace, observing the seed within her hand.

"Taste? is..." Candace's expressions halted her face, carved like a statue with bewilderment before crumbling with laughter.

Gabriel, before gaining the opportunity to defend his weird habit, decided to just hold his tongue as the sound of metallic clicking filled the floor.

"Doesn't matter, Gabe—for now we have to plant it! We can't let it just die out here."

"What are you doing?" the knight questioned as he dove down to meet their eyes, even if his eyes were tucked away under more metal plating

"We're going to save this seed!" exclaimed Candace with great excitement as she presented the seed to the knight.

"Only that one? What about the rest?" questioned the knight. His tone indicated a simple question. yet it stung itself into Candace. She looked back towards all the seeds left on the floor as the wind halted; a small whirlpool of guilt began to build up within her and infuse it with her bones and veins. She was leaving so many to die.

"Yes." Her voice came out empty before returning with a renewed fire.

"YES! I'll save all of them." That childish joy is now gone, erased from her being, and replaced with a pure determination. one that could not be burnt or impaled away as she began to gather all the seeds.

It was a toiling task, no longer a game but a duty, Candace finding her way into the indoor garden with Gabriel by her back. It was a grand area filled with emptiness that circled and worshipped a single tree in the middle. The roof is not one of wood and stone like the rest of the castle but a window letting all the sun's glorious rays fall down like a spotlight on the lonely tree. No animal or plant can match the energy and feeling that tree breathed out instead of oxygen. A sort of emptiness began to grow inside of the twins. both of their chests and souls starting to feel empty. inadequate, insufficient. not impressive when faced with the tree; what it lacked in eyes was made up by the shadow of judgment and dis-statification it loomed over them with. a tree with endless branches on both sides, each branch holding an ever-changing number of leaves; most of them faded, except for one branch with two leaves glowing with a green so vibrant it was tantalizing to stare at. For a moment, Gabriel had long forgotten about his handful of seeds as he approached the tree, attempting to fill that recently unearthed emptiness before Candace spoke out.

"Stop messing around, Gabe! You know we weren't meant to be here from the start. Plant them, then leave before Dad comes searching for us!"

"We could've just planted this outside and avoided the trouble." Gabriel groaned.

"Can't you count? There isn't enough room." Candance was already planted on the floor, digging into the earth with a simple tool as she gently placed the seeds in her hands. Gabriel took no time before falling down and following in her lead, as he has done since their birth; they were long gone before their father's visit, now confined in their room pretending to be fast asleep and conversing only by whispers as they attempted to not be heard by their father and the knight, whom they were only separated from by a wall, both of them shushing each other as the conversation got louder.

"Any news about the third born?" their father as he grunted, sitting down on something

"The third born? Just say your son, my liege!" The knight chuckled before answering his question.

"He has only been recently brought, but the doctors assure he is as healthy as a human child can be."

"To be expected from my genetics. And thank you for keeping Gabriel and Candace away during all this trouble. My gratitude knows no bounds, Sir Baldwin." Their father spoke heartfeltly before taking a loud sip from a glass bottle, one of his special drinks; they knew them.

"You're most welcome, my liege. It is the least I can do for you; have you considered a name for the third born?"

"Hmmm... I'm debating between Anti or Michael; I feel Michael carries much more strength as a name, doesn't it?"

"With all due respect, King Omega. Anti is a hideous name."

"Yeah, yeah, no, you're correct."

Both of them chuckled, followed by a similar laugh from Gabriel and Candace.

The moonlight was so calming, and the owls filled the ambiance. It wasn't long before sleep overtook all of them.