464. Blooming flowers, 5

(Rose)

I’m racing against Blume in a marathon.

We saw an odd structure in the distance.

Surprisingly, it was my idea to race. She agreed to carry the heavier bag. She loved the idea also.

And so we began trotting side-by-side, still chatting with each other. Slowly we increased our jogging speed. The river a little further is wide as a lake, almost a channel. We ran along an old road, in this still mostly achromatic land.

Grey, dirty, muddy. But the evening sky is on fire, with colours and light warm enough to make anyone happy.

Blume quickly got used to breathe slowly while her heartbeat rose. I’m feeling alright. And as we ran, kilometre after kilometre, we ran faster and faster.

Blume began giggling when she finally reached a decisive advantage and length ahead of me. I’m still not giving up but it’s unlikely that I’ll win.

I don’t mind. It’s actually quite soothing to be running after her; rather than because something ominous is after me.

We pass by a few ruins of vehicles lost to the ages now. I catch a glimpse of giant mushrooms inside some of the cars. Blume’s body is a cheerful painting. She’s putting more distance between us.

Far ahead, the strange structure we saw was an old city somehow built around the sharpest and highest mountain ever, like a needle in the landscape.

Though the closer we get, the more I wonder whether the city came over the needle of rock or the other way around. In the lands on either sides of the road, as night is falling, I can see other odd needles of rocks, like giant megaliths.

So it’s looking more like that mountain suddenly grew under the city, probably on the white day.

I’ve lost sight of Blume ahead of me. I can imagine how happy she will be, and I like it as well. My left arm still itches as I sweat, but I’m used to these feelings.

After a while I just run much slower. I’m exhausted. Night caught me also so I can’t see where I run that well anymore. Well, I know a friendly face is waiting for me ahead so it’s alright. I realise that I feel as if I was on my way home, a long time ago.

I feel something similar now. It’s quite a blissful breakthrough.

I’ve definitely moved on. You would be proud, Bleue...

Father as well I guess.

I am.

~

At the edge of the ruined city, just at the start of the abrupt slope of the peak towering above the land, I found her. She had found already a hotel for us. It was leaning on one side by at least 5°, for the not collapsed part that is. But it was perfect and even luxurious.

There were still some linen not turned to sludge, in some furniture. And a pond with circulating water inside a pool.

Blume had left a fire visible for me to find her; while she took a bath.

I heard her humming a song while she washed her skin when I arrived. Her face broke into an even bigger smile as she looked at me.

How proud and happy she was, my pflanzenteufel. A devilish happiness echoing in the place dimly lit.

~

While I washed myself, she was drying herself by the fire and playing with something.

She came back to the water, lightly dressed so I didn’t expect her to swim again.

She grabbed large plants floating at the surface of the water and pulled them out like a net that was there.

B - These water lilies look edible.

R - Erh. Okay. I’ll leave them to your care.

She only smirked, dragging the vegetal carpet behind her.

I swear I saw parts of it twitch and move like the arms of an octopus.

~

Later that night, I was eating with her skewers of that thing. Its main body tasted like potato. Blume kept the leaves for something else, and the flowers aside as well.

R - What are you planning? You look so used to this.

B - It’s a new kind of water lily. Their roots were not in the soil. I will extract a few things from it.

R - What?

B - To make food supplements, and medicines, for you, and even me.

R - Oh. I’m impressed.

B - It’s fun to me to do this kind of things.

R - I see that.

She bites a big root, chews it, and smiles with candour back at me.

B - There’s so much to do and learn.

R - Have I told you about the apricot vampires?

~

The next morning, we eat a little more of the Nymphaeaceae for breakfast.

Blume gathers the leaves in a cloth that she folds and put into her bag.

We’re going to visit what we can of this city. Though the view from the summit could be nice, we probably won’t try to climb it.

We discuss Taxonomy of new species as we walk.

Because through everything we’ve learnt, we’ve reached a level of complexity where some names have unclear meaning.

The first one is daiûa.

R - To me, and my family, it’s beings-like-you. But to Priest and some like you, it means beings like me, humans with a good root inside T.I.

B - I’m more surprised by their knowledge of that name than the meaning it has to then.

R - Good point... But I think I’ve already deduced where and why that happened.

B - Your book I guess? The one you were bringing back home.

R - Yes. We both learnt of the others through the events that led to it, or the book itself. Anyway. My powder now is what to call a daiûa, what to call a Dünyanın çiçekleri, and so on. Also because saying I’m human today would be a little wrong.

B - The big gap in taxonomy we have is now whether the species evolved through time, or were created by spores of beings-like-me.

R - Exactly. Because we may look alike today, but... We’re clearly different species. I, more or less, evolved from a human being, and my life is conditioned by my body. Beings-like-you could lose the body and still be alive. Because you’re from the T.I. spore super-kingdom.

B - It’s complex.

R - My old trinity of human, monster and flower is too obsolete I fear.

She laughs.

B - It was already confusing as we moved between categories. And I can move between kinds of existence also. It’s harder for you but not impossible, you’ve experienced it more than once.

R - That species are not set is probably one of the biggest differences between the old and new world.

B - They never were.

R - True. But you know what I mean. What took a billion years and a million generations before can now be done with a finger snaps.

Blume tries to snap her fingers. She can’t do it properly. I can. She makes a face for a second. Good to see there are things she can’t do! No matter how futile it may be.

B - If... Hm... Which daiûa definition is right?

R - Probably theirs. But dünyanın çiçekleri would better reflect the new species that don’t come from you, rather than you.

B - Well, I think it’s better to keep daiûa for what they’ve always been to you. That would be daiûas, demon-kind. And you would be new humanity, witch, or daiûa, humankind. That way you can keep the dünyanın çiçekleri where they are also.

R - Okay. I’ll keep using beings-like-her or being-like-you as a synonym for daiûas, demon-kind also.

B - And I’m sure they’ll keep referring to you as daiûa, or meat also.

R - That was a poor joke. What about you? How would you call things like me?

She takes a kind hold of my hand.

B - You’re only my Rose.

~