TBN

4

"... My favorite. Some people don't like their thorns, but I think I've mastered using those very thorns to make the perfect flower crowns; kinda holds the ensemble together. I'd ask about your favorite, but you're kinda, you know..."

Ed recognized the voice right away; Taylor. His mind was still a bit fuzzy, and he wasn't sure if he heard them right; were they talking about flowers?

"My only memory of my life outside of this world is my mother's garden. I don't know how I know it's my mother's, but I somehow just do. There were a lot of beautiful flowers in there; a whole rainbow. My mother was some sort of miracle worker in the garden"

Ed's eyes fluttered open, but it was just as dark whether they were open or closed. He dare not yet try to move. Any attempt at standing would be rewarded by an immediate fall.

"One day, I was playing outside on my own. I always had wanted to go into mother's garden, yet she always told me not to. On that day, I decided I didn't need to follow the rules, so I built myself a flower crown out of my mother's prized roses"

He was aware of an intense cold surrounding him. He put a hand on his bare arm, concluding that his jacket had been confiscated for whatever reason.

"My mother came outside right as I finished the crown. I remember feeling so afraid when she saw me; hell, I honestly thought she was going to kill me. Instead, she sat herself down next to me, and made her own crown. We called ourselves 'Mother Nature and her Blessed Child'. It sounded fancy to me, but I loved it. That's where my memory ends"

He extended his arm, finding nothing but darkness before him. He put his hand on the ground and lightly pushed; solid... something. Finally, his hand moved behind him; aha! Ed had discovered a wall.

"Sometimes, if I really focus, I'm able to find stray emotions from my life, sometimes linked to blurry images or concepts. Anything I've found about the concept of mother in my waking life is always fear, or anger, and I have to wonder: what did Mother Nature do to her Blessed Child to make me fear her so much?"

Slowly, Ed began to sit himself up. He eventually succeeded, his back leaning on the wall. He took a quick moment to survey his physical health. As far as pain went, he only had a bit of a headache; otherwise, he seemed to be fine.

"Heh, look at that. I was talking to you about flowers to calm myself down, and here I go darkening the mood. Anyway, would you say it's weird to talk to corpses?"

"As long as it doesn't talk back" Ed spoke softly. He found his voice to be quite weak, and although it didn't particularly hurt yet to speak, he feared that too much speaking could eventually cause pain.

"Oh" Taylor's voice seemed to be directly to his left, as if they were leaning on the same wall, "Good morning, sleeping beauty. Ath thought it would be a good idea to knock everybody out and bring us to wherever we are, adds to the atmosphere or something"

"Great" Ed huffed, "Where's everyone else?"

"Amazing question" Shuffling could be heard close to where Taylor's voice seemed to be. A light appeared, and there was Taylor, holding a flashlight. They held out a hand to Ed, who took the offer of help graciously.

"They decided to split us up" Taylor continued. They led Ed down the hallway at a slow yet progressive pace, "I found you still knocked out not too long ago"

"Anything else?"

Taylor cleared their throat quite loudly, taking a lengthy period to do so, "Okay. Do you want the comforting answer, or the honest one?"

Ed considered this, "Honest"

Their pace began to slow a bit, eventually reaching a full stop. Taylor's voice was shaky as they spoke, "You remember one of our first hunts after we left the military, the one with the giant snake?"