Magnoliophyta

5. NERO

We walked and walked until I stopped keeping track of time altogether, and just when I knew that my feet were going to give in and I was going to stumble and embarrass myself to death . The heavens decided to have pity on me and fate decided to repay me for it's unfairness (Long story). Finally. We came to a halt in front of a well hidden curtain of withered foliage. 

On the other side was the most fascinating sight I had ever seen (Just kidding). It was horrible. dreadful. Unbearable. Stinky. The place was infested with skunks, hundreds of them scurried aimlessly, and let out there stinky byproduct more frequently than I could possibly imagine. I was Skunk-ed (get it..). I managed to tip-toe my way into the hollow entrance and breathed a sigh of relief.

I was expecting a quiet and peaceful cave but, on the contrary the cave was bustling with activity with people hurrying to and fro. Everything was so colourful and vibrant but somehow the cave just did not suit the people living there. It just felt...wrong.

"Welcome, this is where we live now. A new home for the liberated.", said Jared in a tone of forced frivolity.

"I think it's beautiful and very well kept."

"It might be, but Magnoliophyta was a thousand folds better before."

"yes, I know, I can feel it. The lost charm of a wonderful place."

"Yeah... come on I will give you a proper tour of the place."

"I will meet you guys when you are done, just come to Penny's Flottage." said Lil.

We all agreed to this and went our way.Jared and I made our way through the town. For a while things were quiet and then I decided to break the silence.

"So, what's Penny's Flottage?" "Penny is our leader and she heads the council, and a Flottage is just our name for a cottage" said Jared. "Penny, a name I would never associate with a leader, it's a little kiddish... no offence." "It isn't actually Penny , that's just what we call her fondly, peonies is the king of flowers and that's Penny's actual name." "Peonies is the 'king' of flowers and yet penny is a girl, how...ironical." "Oh well, Magnoliophyta is a unique land with endless possibilities". "How philosophical", I snorted in amusement.

"Ok, let's get on with the tour",declared Jared. "Can't wait, let's go", I replied and we made our way into town.

Everything was tiny and dainty looking. Narrow, well built and well organised roads branched out in various directions. All the Flottages were identical, the only thing that was different was the type of plant and flower the flottage was draped in. There were plenty of stores and shops all around, but the one that attracted me most was the bistro. My tummy was rumbling and grumbling with impatience. We entered the through pretty glass doors embedded with colourful designs. My nose caught each and every scent wafting around me and my mouth watered with anticipation.

"Here, I got you a 'flake', you'll love it" Jared and I grabbed a two seater and made ourselves comfortable.

"'Flake', what's that I've never heard of it. Is it like an exquisite foreign delicacy?" Jared burst out laughing. 

" 'exquisite foreign delicacy' huh? I had no idea you had a fancy for words, you don't look like the type." 

"Hey is that an insult!"

 "No no... It was more of an - observation, anyways a Flake is just a cupcake, we have just named it that way (flower + cupcake). You know, like flottage. You'll get used to it."  "Oh, well then let's have some flake".

We divided the batch of flakes into two portions. I took the Rose, Lily and Jasmine flavored ones and Jared took the others. 

"Hey, why are the people of Magnoliophyta rearing skunks. Don't you have Cows or Sheeps or anything other than skunks. They are stinky you know"

"Oh, I thought they are the most fragrant creatures in the world", Jared smirked and I told him to cut it out and that his sarcasm was not making me any happier.

" The skunks prevent the warriors of Nero from detecting our presence. Their stink, ok that was rude so let me rephrase that, their unique fragrance, keeps us off the radar. It is a sort of camouflage but using a smell.It helps obfuscate us from their sight"

"Oh, how smart and stinky but who are the warriors of Nero?"

"Many years ago, a beautiful child was born in Magnoliophyta, His eyes were the deepest shade of black with inky blue undertones. He was named Nero, after the rich colour of his eyes. He had an ideal childhood with hope and happiness. When he had just turned thirteen, his mother Freesia had gone for an inspection for the freesia flowers up, in the human world. The liberated have inspections for there essence (their flower)in the human world just to make sure there species is thriving.Those who had a systematic inspection saw their essence flourish, during the 1950's inspections were periodic and the liberated took great care and thus their essence was bountiful, the humans called this period the green revolution, if I am not wrong.

 The liberated who were not serious about inspections faced a terrible fate. They were exterminated and their essence died. In simpler words those flowers became extinct, as humans call it, which caused great ecological imbalance." Jared paused to take a breath and I immediately chimed in.

"Whoa!, I still can't believe that we are talking about evolved flowers that are like humans, so cool!"

"Yeah, whatever you say. Anyways, so Freesia had gone for an inspection for her essence but she never returned. Later it was found that she was murdered by humans. When Nero heard the news, he was devastated, his whole life crumbled before him. Legend says that he was never the same after that fateful day. He started spending more time alone and thinking of his mother's terrible fate. After spending a few years in solitude he reappeared and started poisoning the minds of the liberated and many came under his charm and influence. He had only one goal.Kill. The. Humans. While some of the liberated joined him, some still believed that peace was necessary and opposed Nero's belief. Having his mind so poisoned and corrupted with his lonely thoughts he did not listen to reason and the liberated were broken into two halves. Their was schism between our clan. Thus emerged the warriors of Nero, his supporters who would blindly follow Nero to death. The liberated opposed him, and we became his enemy" Jared ended with a sigh.

"This is just too tragic to contemplate, so that's why all of Magnoliophyta is in ruins. The warriors of Nero have been attacking your home haven't they?"

"yeah, and that's why we are hiding."

" But what has any of this got to do with me, huh?" I asked.

"That is not my place to say, Penny will explain everything to you, ok?"

"Ok"

By the time we finished our flakes and our conversation, it was already dusk and we both made are way to Penny's Flottage in silence and peace. A huge question mark in my life was just going to be answered. All I could was wait for that blank space to be filled with an answer I hoped I was going to get.