Wilted Garden

  FADABIDA

  “This isn’t fair!” I screamed at my fiancé while tugging on a gray hoodie over my lime V-neck.

  “Fairness has nothing to do with this, I’m just telling you what I saw,” Aerix replied placidly.

  “This has everything to do with fairness, I don’t want to deal with this... this burden of information. I can’t be held responsible for this shit.”

  “Who’s making you responsible?”

  I sighed in exasperation. “You just don’t understand, or maybe you do, I don’t know. If you thought to avoid telling Blu then you should understand why this puts me in a bad spot.”

  “I never intended to avoid telling him, so I don’t have a clue what you mean.”

  There was no stopping the irritation that I felt, that was clear, but I did need to figure out how to deal with this, so it didn’t blow up in my face.

  “Why are you telling me anyway if you never intended to keep it from Blu? I get that you thought Nova should be the first to know, so I’m glad you told her while she was alone, but who do you think Blu is going to ask about it first?”

  “Nova wouldn’t listen and judging from the glass I heard breaking last night, I doubt she’ll even remember what it was I was trying to tell her,” Aerix admitted in a pensive tone.

  “Okay again, I have to ask,” I started, feeling my volume rise with each word, “WHY DID YOU TELL ME, AND NOT HER HUSBAND!!!”

  Me raising my voice barely phased the Echo of Crystals, who replied bland as ever, my emotions and body language passed through a filter in their rock-solid mind, only deeming the words to be of any value, anything else would change nothing in those glassy eyes.

  “You’re the person closest to me.”

  “That’s sweet and all, but what about the person closest to her?”

  “How am I supposed to know that’s who I should tell?” Aerix blinked expectantly.

  “I can’t do this right now; if you’re incapable of comprehending the importance of marriage and knowing the people around you, then you need to seriously reevaluate what it is you want in life.”

  I stomped out of the room, leaving Aerix clutching their satchel with a confused look on their face.

  I strode into the ornately decorated hallway, where my companions were all gathered like school children waiting for their teacher to arrive, meaning there was no order whatsoever.

  Blu and Nika were chasing each other down the hallway shouting obscenities at one another. Odd how they pretended to hate each other rather than admit that they harbored any respect for each other. Their prideful manner would never allow that.

  "...Smash in your skull!" Blu shouted as he passed me by.

  "Even with brain damage I still wouldn't be as daft as you are!" She cried cheerfully before flicking a disk at Blu like a frisbee.

  "You control time and I'm still not as slow as you are, you degenerate slug." Blu dodged the disk and rounded the corner of the hall after Nika.

  "I'm not even gonna try and figure out what that's about," I muttered to myself, watching the disk veer back in the direction of Blu and Nika.

  I shifted my gaze to where Nova stood just outside the door, rubbing her temples as though she wanted to give herself brain surgery with her bare hands. Aushen stood behind her, babbling about something to do with fire and similarities to light; the rest I couldn't quite pick up on. All I could focus on was the blazing jealousy that arose in me, that I then forced down making way for guilt and shame to define the inexplicable reason for the tsunami of negative emotions that flooded my chest.

  I stepped casually to where the two echoes stood, Nova barely acknowledged me and instead, looked as though she was going to send a light beam through her skull if Aushen kept talking.

  "Dear, if you don't slow down, I'm going to send a light beam through my skull," The Echo of Hate groaned.

  "...And so, a well concentrated beam could function similarly to a laser, with the... wait what? I was just saying that..." Aushen droned on, barely hearing her.

  "Are you feeling alright?" I asked Nova.

  She closed her eyes and raised her face to the ceiling. "Hun, I've got the worst hangover I've had since my honeymoon. Clearly I misjudged how much tolerance I've built up since then."

  "Want me to find some herbs for that? It wouldn't be that great, knowing the types of plants I have available here," I offered her.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  "No Hun, I'll be okay. Give me an hour or so, and I'll be good as new. Us being the powerful beings we are has its advantages."

  "Not the term I would use to describe us. You sure you’re okay?" I double checked, just in case.

  Aushen finally quieted down when Blu appeared from one of the doors set in the hall, likely a Shadow Shift from wherever Nika chased him off to. Aushen waved to Blu, who essentially ignored the greeting, said something in his ear and started to drag him off towards the lobby.

  "Where are you taking him?" I called to the Son of Shadows.

  "There's something I need to finish; I found an AID cache a while back, and I want it gone. Especially since they have files on Echoes and our weaknesses. I couldn't erase it from there without access, so I'll remove the ability to access it from here."

  "Why do you need Aushen? Can I come help?"

  “I don’t need him; it would save me effort to bring someone to watch my back,” Blu said matter-of-factly.

  “I think you should let Aushen stay here.”

  Blu gave a sardonic laugh. “Okay, you’re coming with me, then. Besides Nika, you’re the only other person who doesn’t rely on upfront combat. Aushen isn’t a quiet enough fighter, anyway.”

  “Don’t I get a say in this?” Aushen said awkwardly.

  Blu shushed him.

  “Darling, I could go with you…” Nova said interestedly while also attempting to suppress the side effects of her hangover.

  “Nova Sweetie, your style of fighting won’t work for what I need. Also, I want you to stay put until we’re ready to leave; you are in no condition to exert yourself.”

  "Our promise, though..."

  "I didn't forget; this is just the best course of action, given the circumstances. I plan on coming right back here. Right back to you." Blu embraced his wife and consoled her with soft-spoken words.

  Why can’t I have someone that cares for me like that? Why do I have an absentminded cave dweller for a fiancé? Do they not see that I need more from them?

  I probably would have spent another ten minutes moping about my own romance if Blu hadn’t grabbed me. He led me to one of the unused rooms, all the lights were off, and the room had a ghostly chill.

  “You did that intentionally, didn’t you? Separating me from Aushen?” I accused him with no mind to cover up my humiliation.

  “So, what if I did? Someone has to keep you in check. You were on the verge of being envious of a married woman. Not married to him either, I might add. She wasn’t even paying attention to him because she was suffering from a disgusting headache.”

  “That’s not your place to intervene either way!” I shot back.

  “You’re right, it’s yours. Unfortunately, you refuse to take care of your own shit.”

  “It wouldn’t have affected Nova, anyway!”

  “She is the Echo of HATE. You don’t think she would pick up on the slightest bit of hostility?” he pointed out. “So excuse me for trying to stop your issues from flooding into my life!”

  “That’s rich coming from the dirtbag that got us here in the first place!”

  “Oh really… You know as well as I do that Aerix has an issue with getting between our business, claiming to mediate, but just taking your side in practice. If that troglodyte treasure goblin hadn’t gotten involved we wouldn’t be here.”

  I tossed my hands up in a gesture of futile resignation. “Maybe don’t start shit.”

  “You need to start up that empty-ass brain of yours.” Blu kicked me in the stomach, and I flew backward across the bare room.

  Instead of getting an awful carpet burn, I fell through the darkened floor and appeared just outside the lobby; Blu materialized next to me shortly after.

  “Bitch,” I muttered.

  Blu paid no heed to my insult. “See the door over there?”

  I followed his finger and laid my eyes on the door that he spoke of. It was on the same wall as the doorway we were crouched by and was guarded by two soldiers who carried machetes and matching grim looks. I also noticed there were guards stationed above us on the balcony like sniper nests. Vastly different from the welcome we got the first time.

  Counter measures for all of us: Floodlights for Sablune. Biodegraders for Me. Humidifiers to dampen Aushen’s flames. I saw nothing for Aerix, Nova, or Nika.

  Makes sense. How do you counter Chaos anyway? Even Nova and Sablune couldn’t both be weakened in the same environment.

  “They got their point across…” I voiced quietly.

  “That’s gotta be racist,” Blu added.

  “Ain’t no way.”

  “Unbelievable,” he agreed once more.

  “This could be fun.”

  “I’ll make sure of it.” His eyes grew dark and Black Concept Energy swirled around him, coagulating the shadows at his command.

  With a tug of his hoodie, I turn him towards me. "What's the move for getting rid of the cache?"

  "As a not-so-wise man once said: 'bomb.'"

  "Now, what about these losers?"

  "I haven't figured that out yet," admitted Blu.

  "Should we get Nika first?"

  "Nah, we'll manage on our own, I just don't know how to with all these lights. Not to mention the chlorophyll killers."

  We hear a voice, and both fall silent.

  "Listen up!" It boomed. A woman's voice. It was familiar… alarming for some reason.

  A look at Blu was all it took to confirm it; we've met this woman before, and it had gone very badly for everyone involved. And judging by the way the other soldiers snapped to attention, they were her subordinates, meaning she was the leading commander here.

  She had a forceful aura; her rust-colored hair was in a tight ponytail that glistened like the single pistol that hung from her belt. Her gear was black and gray, with a red accent, unlike the standard armor. Her silver irises, aware of every small detail in her surroundings, matched the quiet slyness of Rumeah’s eyes. She was familiar for more than one reason, and judging by the look on Blu’s face, he saw it too.

  Would you all like polls at the end of each chapter? Just as a fun little side quest?