Shattered Skies: The Morning Lights

CHAPTER 21: Recovery and Recuperation, Part I

Chapter 21: Recovery and Recuperation, Part I

The Lighthouse, Vertex Point Three

"Oi, Tsubomi!"

Tsubomi Hanasaki didn't look up. In fact, she leaned further into the privet bush, guiding a stray twig between the blades of her pruning shears.

"Tsubomi?" In the doorway, Erika Kurumi's nose wrinkled. "What are you doing?"

"Gardening." Her reply was listless. The shears snipped together, and the twig dropped into the soil, severed neatly from the branch.

"Um. Well." Erika folded her arms and leaned against the door frame. "That's... nice, I guess." Gardening was Tsubomi's thing, after all. In normal circumstances, Erika wouldn't bat an eye at her spending time buried in a bush. Now, however... "You do know those plants aren't real, right?"

Tsubomi cringed, and her concentration wavered. The Immaterial privet bush shuddered, taking on a prismatic sheen and wobbling out of shape. "Yes," said Tsubomi, as patiently as she could. She screwed her eyes shut, trying to focus... Within a few seconds, the bush solidified again. "It's helping me to relax."

The Immaterial in her room was currently simulating Tsubomi's favorite place in the world: her grandmother Kaoruko's greenhouse. True to form, every plant in the place was a near-flawless replica of the real thing: the neatly sculpted hedges, the rows of flower beds, the abundance of lavender. All the plants looked and smelled so much like the real things... but that was only because Tsubomi desired it. Life was the one thing beyond the Immaterial's ability to create... so all the plants were fake, and there was no Kaoruko there to greet her with a smile when she came in, no Coupe standing eternally calm and silent under the shade of the willow in the corner.

"Yeah, but what's the point?" said Erika. "They don't need trimming, or watering, or sunlight... What difference does it make if you do it or not? They'll stay the same as long as you want them to."

"Erika, please." Snip, went the shears again.

"C'mon, you should come see this. Me and Chypre and Coffret went looking around, and you're not gonna believe what we saw. A spaceship! There's a real spaceship here, Tsubomi, like something out of Star Wars! It's parked..." Erika stopped, tilting her head to one side. "Hmm. Do you say 'parked' or 'docked' for a spaceship? You're the space girl. You'd know, right?"

"'Docked,'" said Tsubomi.

"Right, docked. It's docked above Vertex Four, you gotta see it!"

"Not right now."

"What, you think those things will wilt if you're not here? You can take five minutes."

"Later."

That did it. Fuming, Erika stomped over to the privet bush and grasped Tsubomi's shoulder. "Tsubomi, what's the matter with you? All you've done since we got here is sit in here moping."

Tsubomi wrenched herself away and dove further into the privet bush. "I'm not moping, I'm gardening."

"Coulda fooled me, it sure looks like moping."

The bush shuddered as Tsubomi selected another twig for pruning. "I'd rather stay here, thank you."

"Tsubomiiiiiiiiii!" Her name came out as a shrill, prolonged screech. "Come on, we're in space! Just like you've wanted ever since back then! And this place is fantastic! You can make anything you want, you don't have to sleep or shower or go to the bathroom if you don't want to... I mean, we've been here like four weeks by my count, and I haven't had one cramp in my lady parts-"