(Rose)
R - I really missed you Blu.
B - I know... And I truly missed you too.
She’s talking with a similar kind of sad shyness as myself. We’re being reunited truly at long last. I think we both cried over our hard separation.
R - How was it for you... Being dead?
B - It was similar to the ti before I first t you...
R - You keep referring to as her, but I’m not the original myself anymore. I’m just the copy you made...
B - Oh please don’t feel bad about it. To , you are you. You are the sa. What I did, I did because it was the only chance for to be one day able to truly et you. You are yourself fully, no matter what. See, you were able to live despite being gone. Please don’t see as your creator. That would be wrong.
R - I know, but sotis those feelings do co back a little... I’ve doubted a lot without you...
B - I did too... Being back to nothing was, well, nothing truly at first, but as I regrew over my own pieces and mories, it beca really painful. Rebuilding my persona, my mories, my feelings, my emotions, it was terribly painful... And I feared every instant that you wouldn’t be there anymore when I would resurface to the world. Either dead, or gone, I feared I would reappear sowhere else, much later, without you... And I couldn’t truly tell how much ti was gone anwhile. How sad would I have beco had I regrown on your long dry bones... What would have I beco had I taken too long to heal and return... And missing the chance of returning to you...
R - ... I’m glad it didn’t take that long.
B - You helped a lit. With that water you found surely, but also wishing for , wanting to return. You helped what was left of in your body survive and regrow. Had you wish for my death instead, your organism would have cleansed itself rapidly from the remaining dusts of . But you wanted to bloom again... I love you so much.
R - I love you too... Little flower on my chest.
She laughs, ringing invisible bells. I sit on the bed now free to move more normally. The rosebushes growing everywhere are withering, disconnected from her and now. Only the lively bush growing onto my thorax remains attached to . Its colours are a little different from before though.
I dress, buttoning my shirt where I can. I exit the room, looking for my friends, and water. I’m still thirsty.
I find out I’m not in the house they inhabit but another one. Maybe I’ve slept for a long ti, or rather they didn’t want to see plants grow everywhere in their house because of .
It’s been an odd week or so, even for .
I find Zeslinry outside, doing so chanic work on an engine. I have no clue of what she’s doing. She’s working with a shirt that has no sleeves, and her rather strong arms are covered with dirt.
I go bow to her to express my gratitude. She brushes it off with a smile. Blu thanks her too. She’s amused to hear it.
Once she’s done with her work, on which I could barely help, she pushes the engine back into the monster of steel. I help her push. She fixes a few more wires and plugs. She then hops into the cabin and starts the engine. It makes a great ruckus and sends vibrations everywhere. She’s glad and proud.
We then go toward the house to speak a little with the book again.
~
They did go on an expedition to retrieve chanical equipnt, but not where I looked for. Her daughter helped her a little in caring for while I was ill, and then went back alone to the garage they found.
I’m a little surprised. The girl (whose na I have trouble rembering) is young, and she went back into a second expedition to scavenge equipnt alone.
Zeslinry tells this was her own choice. She needs to grow self-dependant fast I understand.
Zeslinry is as worried as I am of course, and surely more.
B - Would you like to go after her?
R - I guess. I wonder how they travel and I’d like to say hi too.
We discuss over a soup and maps. I point to her the woods where I found the rejuvenating source. Blu tells her that used with caution, in little amounts, this water can help grow almost anything. Using it too much would however attract diseases, microscopic lifeforms, and perhaps monsters too.
It's a power to use carefully so.
Though Blu and I also have our plans, Zeslinry could use that thing once in a while. She’s still not sure to understand right of course.
I show her with the water left in my flask. I make a thin cut on my left arm, with a sharp razor blade.
Applying a wet cloth on the wound for a minute is enough to heal it entirely. She tries too, unfazed, and it works for her as well.
She takes a closer look at the fingers from my left hand now that she understands where they co from.
We split the remaining water, and we’ll each go on our way. I’ll go toward her daughter while she’ll go take a look at the source.
On the next morning, we share a breakfast and separate after a hug.
~
I’m looking at myself in a broken piece of mirror lying by the road side, next to a crashed bus.
R - Is my hair regrowing normally?
B - Ah yes, I took the liberty of fixing that too. Having bones broken and skull fractured changed your marrow a little, and your skin too... Well, the important thing is that a few enzys your body had lost the ability to produce are now back to normal.
R - Thanks... But why did it turn white and not just grew white then?
B - I think it was your doing when you last attacked the Ogre. You probably oxidised everything you could, and burnt most of your hair and skin in the process.
R - How could I do that?
B - With what was left of and the wishing stone, I guess you had your first go with manipulating the energy I use to exist. And you bleached your hair to white in the process, silly woman.
R - Ey! Well... I’m glad it’s all over now. And thanks for my hair and my ribs.
B - Your missing ribs aren’t fully set anew yet, don’t go try jumping above a broken bridge for a few days.
R - Well, I can’t promise that I won’t, but I’ll try not to then. And I kept that piece as a nto.
I show her a piece of bone I had picked up and kept. A fragnt of one of my own ribs, I think. It’s like keeping a fallen tooth, only far more grim.
R - Maybe I can make a necklace out of it? It is a good bone.
B - You have surprisingly bad tastes.
R - I was joking! I keep it as a reminder you could say. It’s my warning sign for the future.
B - But, I’m there. Rember? I’m the reasonable one of us two.
R - I guess that’s true. Hopefully there aren’t many beings-like-you that turned into such monsters.
B - Probably not indeed. But we’re just like you. We’re only trying to find our rightful place on this new world.
I didn’t know what to say to that.
I helped.
I was right... Right?
~
The road is so heavily damaged that it turned into a set of walls and holes for miles. I’m walking on a path a little aside. I follow so flying yellow lizard things, translucent and epheral as usual.
Blu said it’s a new organ I grew that allows to see those. And that my brain turns the information into those colourful ghosts everywhere.
They’re not what I see, but depiction of what I can perceive she says. I don’t get it.
Another city is in sight ahead, surrounded by quite tall trees. And a little further on the road, I find traces of soone camping.
She was already on her way back. The ashes of a small fire are still warm, but there’s no one around.
R - Did we miss each other?
B - I don’t sense anything unusual. She might still be around.
I call for her loudly. I wait and call again. I repeat it for a minute.
The scenery is calm, quiet, as quiet as ever. And finally, I hear a reply.
In the distance, she reappears. She was further down the road actually.
We walk to each other. The black skinned teenager seems as happy as always to see . We hug like old friends, almost laughing.
She invites to co with her a little further. I follow her gladly.
She carries like it’s nothing pistols on her hips and a rifle that looks dreadful on her back.
I thought she had no luggage beside that but she only dropped it when coming to et , so we recover it. A backpack as tall and large as she is. It stretches to the ground where it has small wheels to roll behind her as she pulls it forward while walking. I never saw such a strange backpack. Almost a carriage.
She says a few words. Happy, mostly. And our nas. We only repeat a few words mindlessly until we burst out in laughter at how ridiculous we sound. We really are.
I walk her back and we switch for the luggage from ti to ti along the way.
When camping for the night, she unfolds a tent that fits into a re pocket. Once set, the tent colours change to mimic the surroundings. It almost couldn’t be told apart if you’re not close enough.
While I set a fire, she presents to her loot. She’s like a proud cat right now.
Mostly tools, batteries and electrical apparatus still in good shape. A kind of rifle with so ammo too. So cans of food also. A few clothes. So books. A drum of sothing called phenol. It’s not a drink apparently. I have no clue what it’s used for but it looks more precious than gold to her. She didn’t gather any jewel or money I notice. We’ve returned to a very different ti in a way...
She plays with Blu a little while the night slowly settles over.
The tent is for one but she insisted for to sleep inside too. I’m used to sleeping outside more than anything currently, and not used to sleep with soone else’s arms around .
She could be my daughter given her age, and this thought weirded out.
Sohow a little like , everyone else alive these days must have lost everyone else and everything. It’s tough growing back from scratch. And she does.
She’s brave.
She doesn’t want to go away while she’s asleep.
The next morning we pack up and proceed to return ho. Her mission was a success and Zeslinry praises her clearly.
This place sure is peaceful. I’m relieved it can stay that way for a longer while, now that the Ogre is gone.
~
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