Galia: Tale Of The End

Chapter 13- Meeting of Survivors

Loud chatter arose from the interior of the cave as the owners of the voices sat on the ground in a circle. Lyon, Bellis and Rose sat next to the Moon at the head of the formation that wrapped around a softly burning fire. The Moon seemed used to whatever was going on, a meeting of sorts, but the humans were confused.

"What is this?" Bellis whispered in Lyon's ear.

"It looks like a meeting. That's Violet, Iris, and Jasmine. They are mayors of separate districts around Flos. There are more towns and cities, but they are far away or ruled by the Sun like Flos."

Bellis stared in awe at the mayors. Their floral features were foreign to him. He snapped out of his amazement when his presence was noticed. They gave a curt bow in his direction, but presumably for the Moon.

"Your Majesty." Jasmine started. "We have news on the stones. Shards of the creation stone were found, but we left them there as we were ordered."

"Very good. What about Tigerlili?"

"We found her body. She is no longer a threat."

"Aß itß meant to be." The Moon's red pupil trailed along each colored face. "Let me introduce the remaining humanß. Thiß iß Roße Kordeßii and thiß iß Belliß Perenniß."

Violet bows. "I am Violet Banksii." She was a short girl with dark purple hair and light lilac skin. Her piercing golden eyes were the only contrast. Her decorated jacket was a few shades darker than her hair and trimmed with fabric matching her eyes. Despite her harsh face, her voice was soft and controlled. "I am the mayor of Villam, a farming district."

"I am Iris Junonia, mayor of Opus, a labor district." Her posture was rigid and straight and her mustard colored clothing seemed binding. Her rough skin and short hair were pale, off white yellow. The only feature that was different was her solid white eyes, but they were not soulless like DD's.
"Jasmine Dichoto." She bows again. "Mayor of Radix, the capital of the Moon State of Suun." Jasmine had a different more regal air compared to the others. Her evergreen eyes hide beneath pasty white skin. Her long coat was barely mint green, but her most noticeable feature was the long stitched gash that crossed through one of her eyes rendering it useless.

All of the mayors had decorated eyes and different shades of yellow eye shadow. Their uniforms all had a yellow or white streak across the front, and the colors matched their respective district colors.

"What happened to your eye? It looks rather recent." Bellis asked receiving stern glances from Rose and Lyon. Seemingly surprised, Jasmine tilts her head to the side causing her hair to reveal the remainder of the wound.

"DD."

"My sister did this?" Bellis' face contorted. "No. I still can't believe she would do this, yet I know it's real."

"The truth is hard to look at in the face, human." Jasmine's silky voice barely escaped her lips. "That monster is not your sister. That is merely your sister's body being used like a marionette. If I was not quick enough, I would have suffered the fate of many in Radix."

"ßhe got to the capital?"

"That is why I am here, your majesty."

The Moon looked down with a pained look on her face. She held her head in her hand as she paused to think, to watch, to watch the past through a watering eye. Jasmine knew what she saw and her stare fell to the rocky floor of the cave.

Buildings with their residents still inside were ripped apart from their foundation and smashed into the ground. Many died from these attacks, but others suffered much more painful fates. Some were smashed into walls, torn apart, suffocated and the list goes on. Occasionally, DD would get experimental and try something different often resulting in dragging out the pain.

"Your Majesty. The only reason I survived is because I ran. I left the people I swore to protect." The Moon stopped watching and placed a hand on her shoulder. Jasmine lowered her head in shame. "I was only able to save two. And saving anybody in this world is pointless. All I have done is prolong their  life by a couple of weeks. They are little children. They will be scared, sad and worried about what happened to their parents, family and friends. They will wish that they died and that I had never saved them."

"You are right. They will be ßad, but aß children, they will brußh it off and forget."

"Even if I had saved everybody in the capital, they would still die. I believe that I am a strong leader, but nothing I do will ever help anybody because our fates are sealed. We are all helpless to the end." Suddenly, Jasmine's composure was lost. Her strong character was gone as quick as her beautiful city was destroyed.

"We ßhould plan out what we are going to do next. Our time iß limited." The Moon said redirecting the conversation. "Are any of your citiß ßtill ßtanding?"

"No." Jasmine replied bluntly.

"No." Iris shook her head.

"No," Violet started. "But it wasn't turned completely into dust. The remains may be a good hide out for now since DD probably won't go back."

"That'ß a thought." The Moon wrote down her suggestion. "Anything elße?"

"I might be able to find left over food in the farming district." Violet thought out loud. "I'm sure some crops survived."

"I think that we should split up." Iris said. "Some of us can find food in Villam and the others can find supplies or shelter in Opus and Radix. Your Majesty. How would you like to split us up?"

The Moon, with a half lidded eye, holds her chin in contemplation. "Violet and Iriß, you will go bring food back from Villiam." Iris' eye twitched in annoyance because she was not being sent to her own village. "Roße and I will go to Opuß and Radix to find ßuppließ and a better ßhelter if there are any buildingß ßtill ßtanding."

"Where are we going?" Jasmine asked.

"You three will go to Floß."

"What will we do there?" Jasmine pushed.

"ßpeak with Mißß ßakura. I believe that she will be able to give information on my bother'ß organization." The Moon waved her off. "The meeting iß at it'ß end. I ßuggeßt we ßplit now." The mayors bowed and took their leave minus Jasmine who stuck by Bellis and Lyon's side.

Once the strange, colorful, floral people left, Bellis noticed how tired and ragged Rose looked. Her eyes seemed to have lost their interest and passion in life, and her skin appeared to be more grey than it had ever been. Her styled her was hidden under a dirty brown cape that had seen better days. What caught Bellis' eye was the shirt that was barely visible underneath the tattered rag. It was not the shirt she came to Suun in, but normally, this would not be a surprise. Rose was a clean person and they had been in the new land for about two weeks. It was the design on the shirt that Bellis was interested in. He was almost scared of it. A green X dotted with thorns replaced the rose design. He remembered the symbol from the game they played. It was the earth symbol.

"Did you find your stone?" Bellis went up to her and asked. She almost seemed shock and surprised that he wanted to talk to her.

"I did. It was in the tree trunk just like the game said. With that in mind, your stone should be in the brushes by that stream."

"You remember where mine was?"

"I saw it in front of my character just before Daisy's character killed mine. It should be in the direction you are going. It was not far from an old, abandoned farm house. You may find it to be familiar."

"What do you mean? We just got here." Bellis asked in an outburst.

"I don't quite know myself, but the house drew me to it. It felt like I had been there a long time ago, but that should be impossible." Rose responded calmly.

"So if you have your stone," Bellis changed to subject back to the stone. "Does that mean you have powers?"

"Mißß Roße, it is time for uß to go." The Moon interjected. Rose nodded and looked at her with great admiration. Bellis pouted. He wanted to see Rose do what her character in the game did.

Rose held onto the Moon's hand as they left the last three in the cave. "Yes, let's go."  She turned to look at Bellis over her shoulder and waved yearningly as she disappeared.

Bellis turned back to Lyon and Jasmine who quietly stared at the dying fire. It's warmth was no longer wrapped around each body. "You want to find your stone, Bellis?" Jasmine broke the long silence.

He looked up at her. She was significantly taller than him, but a couple inches shorter than Lyon. "Yes. I think I could be of some use if I had my powers."

"That is true. We will have some protection against the wild of the night, but a hero doesn't need powers to be great." She said as she stomped out the remains of the fire. "Especially in this world."

"Ah, that is a sad truth." Lyon agreed. "I tried myself and failed."

Bellis looked up at Jasmine. "What do you mean? What do you mean that a hero doesn't need powers. I don't think I could be a hero."

"A hero doesn't necessarily want to become a hero. What makes a hero is not the powers, its the will to do the right thing even if you don't have power or there is no hope. A hero could never truly fail until they stop believing in what they are fighting for." Jasmine followed Rose and the Moon's path out of the cave. "What do you want to do, human?"
"I'm not sure yet." Bellis took the question to heart, but the answer was not easy to come up with. "I don't know the way of this world or what is right and wrong."

"You have already seen what Sakura was doing in Flos. How she mistreats Weeds for being so plentiful, and putting them beneath prettier Flora." Lyon gave a sharp glare at Jasmine's back. How could she know what it was like? "How does that make you feel, Bellis?"

"It makes me sad and angry. It reminds me of what happens in my world." He replied.

"Oh?"

"It didn't really happen in my neighborhood because all of us were so whitewashed, but I saw it at school, at the mall, and even on the street. It made me so angry that human beings would treat each other in such a way." Bellis spoke his emotions, something he had never done.

"And what did you do about it?"

"Nothing." He looked down. Bellis could never be a hero because he was too scared.

Jasmine stopped her seemingly endless drilling and placed a rough hand on his shoulder. "You are half way there. You know how you feel, but now is the time for you to put it in action. We are going to Flos, so what will you do?"

"I will set them free." Bellis puffed his chest out with a sudden rising of hope.

"Perhaps. They will be free, but what does it matter if the world is going to be swallowed by darkness in the near future?"

"It doesn't matter. They still deserve their freedom."

"Now that is a hero if I have ever seen one." She smiled for the first time and patted him on the back. Lyon gave Bellis a light grin as well.

"Thank you." He mouthed as he found himself unable to speak.

"You had your questions, so now its my turn to ask a question." Bellis stated as they descended down the rocky mountainside. "Which of you mayors is a girl or a guy? I think Iris is a guy, but they have a girl's name."

Lyon snorted and burst into laughter. "Flora are neither girl or boy, but both at the same time. We have both parts if want to think about it that way. Sometimes we look more like guys, and sometimes we look like girls. Most Flora look like girls and want to be titled as such. Some look like a guy and want to be titled as such. Sometimes you can't tell and they don't mind if you have to ask. Iris wants to be titled as female."

"Both parts?"

"Oh my god! We pollenate!" Lyon rolled his eyes.

The trio reached the bottom of the mountain and continued to chat. Bellis led them down the path that they had taken to get to the mountain early until he realized that the others had stopped. Jasmine pointed to another path that came off the one they were on. "Don't you want to find your stone? It would be easier to find at night because it glows in your presence." Bellis nodded excitedly and followed them down the other path and into the void of night.