Chapter 2

Shizuku (narrating):
There’s a saying in the Floral Kingdom: “Beauty is a shield, and thorns are the sword.”
If that’s true, then Azalea Flores built his empire with a damn arsenal.

You’d think the realm of flowers would smell like petals and romance. Instead, it smells like stress, pollen, and a very specific brand of judgmental rose perfume that’s strong enough to make your sins confess themselves.

Shizuku:
(to no one in particular)
...I swear if he makes another flower pun, I’m destroying his throne room.

Alto:
(sipping tea, boots propped up on the edge of the console)
He will. You know he will.
And you’ll smile through it like the benevolent tyrant you are.

Lily:
(adjusting her glasses, staring out the window)
...This place looks like someone force-fed a rainforest fifty tons of glitter.

Berwick:
(dryly, flipping a book titled Floral Politics: How to Ruin Lives with Roses)
Azalea's territory runs on photosynthesis and passive-aggressive diplomacy. You’ll get used to it.

Astera:
(flat tone)
No one gets used to it. You just learn how to mentally disassociate when he starts speaking in haikus.

Asche:
(grinning)
Last time he greeted me with a bouquet that had knives in it. Said it was “symbolic.”

Eris:
(arms crossed, amused)
To be fair, that sounds like an upgrade from the time he gave me a cactus and told me it reminded him of my energy.

Shizuku:
(sighs)
And this is why I drink mana directly from the source now.

—

Royal Guard:
Universal Emperor. Captains. Prince Astera. Lady Lily. Welcome back to Bloomfall.

Shizuku:
(chin raised)
Take us to the emperor. I have a gift for him. It’s sarcasm and impatience.

Astera:
(grumbling)
I hope he forgets I exist today.

—

Azalea (he/him):
(standing, arms open)
Shizuku! My dearest thorn in the side of cosmic balance.

You’ve finally come to pollinate my court with chaos again!

Shizuku:
(straight-faced)
You have exactly three minutes before I teleport your entire palace into the Void District.

Azalea:
(sighs dramatically)
Still allergic to metaphor, I see.

Lily:
(curtly)
We’re here for the sigil fragment.

Azalea:
(nods, smiling wider at Lily)
Ah, the daughter of storms and stars. How polite. Unlike your father, who once used my favorite camellia bush as target practice.

Shizuku:
It had it coming.

Astera:
(quietly to Alto)
He named that bush. He gave it a backstory.

Alto:
(laughs under his breath)
Of course he did.

Azalea:
(clapping once, and the hall blooms with color)
Very well! I’ve prepared rooms for all of you—each tailored to your essence. The Sigil fragment is secured in the Verdant Archive. You’ll get it after dinner.

Asche:
(straining)
Please tell me the rooms aren’t alive.

Azalea:
Of course not.
(pause)
They’re semi-sentient.

Berwick:
(muttering)
I am not sleeping in a bed that breathes again.

Later that night, in the guest wing—each captain walks into an overly personalized room.

Berwick's room: a gothic greenhouse with blood-red orchids that quote ancient philosophy.

Eris': minimalist elegance with vines braided like battle patterns.

Asche's room: A library filled with flowers of all colors and with all elemental sigils.

Alto and Shizuku’s: one shared room bathed in celestial light and intense lightning.

Lily’s: sleek, obsidian decor with floating sigils of balance.

Astera’s: a teen’s nightmare. Floral wallpaper. Pink vines. “Just to remind you of home,” Azalea had said.

—
Lily (walking in):
You miss Emrys?

Shizuku:
...Every day. But I also know he’d say something stupid like “don't pout, you’ll wrinkle the space-time fabric.”

Lily:
(Laughs)
Sounds about right.

Shizuku:
Tomorrow, we get the fragment. And then?

Lily:
Then we find out if the universe still wants to keep itself together.

Shizuku (narrating): And there it is again: that silence before the story shifts.A fragment of power. A floral god in disguise. And the gentle hum of change beneath our feet.No turning back.Not that we ever could.