bookpower 862. The Departure of A Flower That Cannot Exist
862. The Departure of A Flower That Cannot Exist
862. The Departure of A Flower That Cannot Exist
Frost knew that Lethe was a victim of circumstance.
However, she also looked at it from an objective standpoint, and subjectively with how Ber was treated. Ber was barely an afterthought, then again, whose fault was it in the first place?
It was a complicated mess.
But the tears that formed in the corner of Lethe’s eyes were real. The small beads of regret were all Frost needed to see to know that what she did was not out of malice.
Slowly, her tail reached up and wrapped around Lethe’s wrist as she plucked the final petal of the dahlia.
“But you did what you could. That’s what matters now.”
“Loves me...” She melted into Frost’s touch.
“MOM!” A voice rung out from behind.
It belonged to Cer.
“Mom... Are you already... saying goodbye?”
Lethe didn’t know how to respond. Cer had changed once again before her very eyes. The soft scrunches quickened as Cer hastily reached their side. They were greeted with a Cer whose hair carried golden-orange strands similar to Frost’s. The same coloration was found on the tip of her ears, tail, and the rims of her irises.
But more than that, Cer stood eye to eye with her mother.
Lethe smiled through her tears, finally having seen her daughter grown up.
“I remember a time when Cer gave advice to a child.” Frost whispered. “She told that child to make problems. That she was allowed to. A child’s joy is their mother’s own. Do you know what she said before we left? Cherish your mother.”
“... Is Beryl... Ber... also doing ok? I imagine she’s just like Cert... Cer.”
“Ber was a surprise. I always thought she was the coldest of the bunch, but she ended up being the most self-expressive of them all. She always wanted to wear dresses. It took... a monumental amount of effort to get her to realize that she wasn’t the ugly duckling she thought she was.”
Frost reminisced. Lethe could almost envision it herself in the eyes of her daughter.
“I never knew... No, it’s nothing... So that was what Ber wanted. What about Res?”
Cer answered for Frost this time.
“She’s a lot happier and no longer relies on her CognitO Filter anymore. Can you imagine that? The Res who couldn’t leave your side or bear to look at roses became a painter. Mom, were you watching over her through it?”
“I was. The memories are vague, but I remember shielding her eyes through the CognitO Filter. My Ego fueled her Atelier Item. Eventually, my soul latched onto my Ego, which brought ‘me’ back in my entirety. My memories, my experiences, my hopes and dreams... my grief, it’s all here.”
Lethe further explained that the opening of Guf allowed her soul to return to her Ego, effectively resurrecting her. Her form was noncorporeal, but she existed. She raised the final petal towards an eye.
“Cer... are you happy right now?”
But Frost had a power of her own to hardness it and learn from her mistakes.
“... Were you aware of my Ability?” Frost asked as she took the petal.
“I had a feeling that someone who could eat through Qliphoth would also be able to harness it properly. It wasn’t until I drank it dry that I lost everything that mattered to me. It’s yours now.”
Frost couldn’t devour it until her hands could work again. She thanked Lethe for the gift as the woman returned to Cer’s side. Then, she cast her gaze into the horizon.
The moon had disappeared.
She was due to follow it.
Cer’s tail dropped when she realized what her mother’s intentions were.
“Cer. My wish was to see you again. I followed a mute child as another one that looked like the Amalgam took my hand. They led me straight to you. As you know, I’ve died a long time ago. I’m not meant to be in this world anymore... But... I want to rest for good. There are a lot of colors in this world, and blue was the one I chose because of the moon.”
The Blue Dahlia whispered as she took both of Cer’s hands into hers.
“There’s not a lot of flowers that’s blue either. So I made up a flower of my own. The blue dahlia. How silly, right? How stupid... wanting to make a flower... at the time I never knew that I’d have children. Just like the dahlias that were never meant to exist... I erased you.”
“I’m still here, right?” Cer couldn’t bring herself to smile.
“You are... and that’s why I’m happy. I wish I could have seen Ber and Res as well, but we’ve already said our goodbyes. I love them. I love you.”
Pieces of the Blue Dahlia faded into fleeting petals. The wind slowly took her legs away as she floated in place, still holding onto Cer’s hands. Her tears soon subsided as she knew that her time was up.
Frost did not realize it at first, but there was an immense amount of Nex being generated by Lethe. The color of her soul destabilized before a crack ran through it.
Her soul was on the verge of disappearing.
“It might be an imperfect wish, but it doesn’t matter to me. Cer... even now you won’t cry?”
“Wolves don’t cry.” Cer, against all odds, flashed a toothy grin at her mother. “Mom. I always had something I wanted to ask you if I ever had the chance.”
Cer grit her teeth as hard as she could, fighting her tears away as her lips quivered.
“How am I doing?”
Polaroids suddenly fell from the sky. They were caught by Lethe. Immediately, her body melted with utmost delight at the picture she was shown.
Finally, she looked back at Cer one last time and uttered:
“Better than I could have asked for. I hope one day there’ll be something for you to remember me by. If I couldn’t bring you to tears, then maybe that will~”
It was all Cer wanted to hear. The Blue Dahlia was taken by the wind. The last of her soul cracked, releasing a torrent of Nex and mana into the ambience. The blue dahlias faded with her as the world reverted to a desert.