493. Exotic matter, 4

(Myls)

I found the very human corpse of one of the calamities, still stuck onto Snake’s back.

I carried her to Blume, to feed...

Snake had bled a pond and fallen into a coma.

Blume, and probably the little nightmare too, were trying to heal that huge beast now covering this flat lands like a new monumental landmark.

M - What can I do to help?

B - ...

Blume’s in a fool mood. She’s even more angry than before, at herself mostly.

I sighed at the absence of reply and turned around to get down from there.

B - Wait, Myls... There’s something you could do for us.

M - Yes?

B - Over there... I can kind of sense the presence of something. Either one of us, or an artefact.

Her voice was really coarse for some reason.

A daiûa or an artefact...

M - Ok. I’ll go. You’d better save her.

I brushed a growing tear. I think Blume felt the same about this big beast.

I pressed my hands onto Snake’s drying tongue, slightly protruding from its slightly opened mouth. The tongue was beginning to dry and losing its bounce.

I won’t let you die doing nothing big bird.

I gave only a rudimentary cleaning to myself, and a correct one to my weapons.

Then I headed for the direction that Blume gave me. A part of the dead city nearby.

~

That’s what I know best how to do. Scout and scavenge in an urban area. I breathe slowly the air. I breathe everything slowly, not closing my eyes but not focusing on my sight for a moment.

I got a general idea of where the wind goes and what’s around.

The toxic cloud over that city is a steady one. It won’t move and there won’t be any wind inside almost.

I don’t expect to see many things alive in there either, aside moulds and mushrooms. Beasts in these environments are very rare.

I can’t see nor smell an artefact, but with some luck, it will have affected its environment in a way easy to notice for me.

I keep my handgun close to my hand. I wear a wet cloth over my face, one of the long scarves I found before in the undercity of sun. I step inside the dead zone.

~

Inside, the light is filtered in a yellow to green spectrum.

Mushrooms the size of trees grow over the kerbs here and there. They replace the sidewalk trees. Moss grows on top of the mushrooms as dust gathers and humidity remains high.

I breathe very slowly. Though this fog doesn’t sting my eyes, so it’s probably a low level of toxicity to me.

I walk swiftly, looking around for anything unusual. Unusual for my standards is hard to define.

The buildings are old and crumbling badly all over and everywhere around. Mushrooms are growing inside the buildings, helping them to collapse probably.

I find a collapsed sector, a city block sunk. An entire neighbourhood fell down by maybe ten metres inside a swampy area.

In the middle of it, I see concrete riverbanks and even bridges still standing. The walls held, but the river escaped.

In the middle of this swamp of ruins, there’s a small island with trees. The only real trees around. That’s odd.

What I’m looking for might be there.

~

I find my way down and across safely.

I climb stairs to that small park on top of a hill, surrounded by toxicity.

The trees I had seen are looking oddly good given the mist and the area. I think they’re artificial now that I’m closer.

There’s a temple in ruins there. Not much remains. What I’m looking for isn’t there.

On the other side of that hill, behind the ruins, there’s a small garden. Orchids bloom. They all look dark under this yellow light. They smell like vanilla, even through the fog and my mask. I’m curious about it so I pluck one.

I notice this garden is real. The plants and flowers are in real bloom, despite the fog. No mushroom grew around.

I look closer. Maybe I was too hasty. If an artefact does this, and taking it out makes everything whither...

Rose wouldn’t take it? My anger says I should. But a part of me isn’t sure. The one trying to be mature...

I don’t know what I’ll do if that’s the case. That imbecile of Rose made me unable to figure out anymore what’s right or wrong...

I find a weird stone, isolated in a flowerbed. I tug it out. It turns out to be a polished skull. I don’t know what mammal that was, but it wasn’t human.

I dig with a tile from the fallen roof. I dig up more bones. A feline maybe? A big one.

Along the spine, there’s a collection of weird growths. Like amethyst crystals, growing out of the vertebras.

The last of them, the biggest, is fractal in aspect and much bigger. It grew needles that spread like roots around;

It’s like a pale mineral tree stump. I can’t get that one out easily. And it’s probably the surviving root of this place.

I don’t need to take all of them, so I’ll leave that big one.

I break the spinal cord buried there and pack the main part with its many growths inside my bag.

I stay there for a short while, changing the area of my scarf I’m breathing through, and checking that everything remains alright around me.

All is still and at peace. I can go and I leave.

~

I return to the collapsed long snake by nightfall. Its mouth has shut. It’s probably a good sign.

I climb the nearest wing and reach the large wound were Blume lies like a plug.

She has no shape, but we acknowledge each other’s presence.

On her side, I see the broken handle of the sword of light. She didn’t let go of it.

Next to it is the unusual white sword that Calamity held.

I pick them up, curious. I quickly drop the broken sword. It’s not interesting to me.

The white sword is nacreous like a pearl all along the blade. The hilt and handle feel like a bone. A femur, down to the globe.

M - Is it a bone?

B - More like... a tooth. Dentine. Enamel.

I swing it. It’s very light, far lighter than a sword made of metals. It feels reasonably sharp as well, although I can see the sharp dent where it broke the sword of light.

M - It’s impressive manufacture...

B - I think it was created for the sole purpose of breaking my sword...

M - Use that one then.

B - It’s not metal, it would be harder to repair and maintain. After a few hits on something hard, it will chip and break like glass, not absorbing any stress.

M - Well, if you’re fussy I’ll use it then. When it’ll break I’ll just throw it away. It’s just a sword.

B - ...

I can feel she’s still in a very foul mood. Were I not her friend, she might have attacked me to shut me up.

B - What’s in your backpack?

M - Oh yes. I found something for you.

I give her the spine with crystals.

M - Useful?

B - Better than nothing. Not a lot, but still will help.

M - You still have some of these orange fruits over you... Didn’t they hold the power to regenerate limbs or something? Lots of power?

B - They do.

M - Then why aren’t you using them to heal Snake faster?

B - I’m saving as much as I can, in order to face Magenta when I reach it.

It really gets me angry to hear that. She’s such an asshole!

M - Are you kidding me? What the fuck!

B - We have both our plans underway.

M - You stupid bitch! You can help Snake and you don’t? You said the nukes were enough to destroy Magenta! We already have a weapon!

B - I can’t control the bombs explosions as much as I can control my own power...

M - Shut up! Just shut up! That’s not the point! You will use the bombs! We already have that ultimate weapon with us, so stop worrying about gathering power like a stupid kid! Now use that power to heal yourself and our friend you fucking imbecile!

B - You...

M - Shut up Blume! You know I’m right so just fucking do it!

I kick her precious broken sword of light to a fall in the dark lands around.

She told me about the mental inertia of shits like her before. Well now was the time for Blume to be smarter. What

I breathe. I vented the anger she got me into...

Blume didn’t say anything after all that.

But I think she ended up grinning.

~