[CHQ] Unseasonal Bloom

[Alaina]

 

Lake Nymphaea. Not far from the city of Prunus there the lake resided, one that was known beyond just the locals of the area. A large body of water that reflected the sun's rays across it, giving it an almost crystalline like beauty lured many a different people to its area. Adventurers seeking out monsters native to the area to hunt, and seeking a cave rumored to exist within the lake. Scholars looking to study the strange flora that grew within the lake. And tourists who wished to see the lake in all of its majesty. While the lake was a fine sight to the eyes all year round, no time was more beautiful then the blooming of the native Blue Lotus. During the autumn season, admist all the colored leaves of the trees falling to the lake's surface, the blue water lily blooms across the lake. In addition to being a rather captivating flower in of itself, the ones native to Lake Nymphaea have a special property about them. When in bloom, they gather the surrounding prana, the flower is able to channel it in order to glow a soft blue color, giving them the nickname of the "Mana Lotus." 

 

Those from the guild of Cherry Heart, being driven to the area via horse drawn carriage, would find themselves stopping at the town bordering the lake, Caerulea. The sun hanging high in the air, the group would only be able to see an odd blue coloration to the lake from the distance they were at as they pulled into town. The people of the town seemed to be moving about their day as normal, though there was some attention drawn to the carriage as it stopped. When the group had exited the carriage they would be greeted by a fair faced man of average stature and of a more beastly descent, who seemed to be waiting for them. His face lighting up as the group came out, said a simple, "hello," only to stop as he saw the group in its entirety, saying a soft, "oh." 

 

Tapping his chin a bit, as he looked at the group hesitantly, he wasn't entirely sure that these were the people he was looking for. The group consisted of two child looking people, that he himself had a good amount of height over and singular towering rocky figure. However, thinking that appearances weren't everything he looked through a notepad he had on his person before saying, "ah, well, you must be Cherry Heart's representatives right?" Once his suspicions were affirmed, he would let out a sigh and say, "well, thank you for coming to the town of Caerulea. I wasn't entirely sure if anyone would respond to the request of an "overgrowing flower," but it's nice to see that some people in the world still care." As he seemed to be a bit happy by this fact he said, "oh, yes, where are my manners. My name is Rumian. I was the one who had decided this was a bit of an issue that needed taking care of in the first place." Seeming a bit prideful at this, Rumian then looked to the trio saying, "so, where do you wish to get started?" 

[Astolfo]

The previous night

As expected, Flo had found Ro. She approached him with a fairly stern expression on her face. He cowered slightly, his own face turning abashed. Despite her being much younger than him, her commanding presence made it hard to face her directly. Glancing at her in a slight diagonal angle, Ro coughed awkwardly.

 

”What’s up, boss?”

 

Florentia’s eyes drilled into him. "Didn't I tell you earlier not to enter that hall? Your curiosity did not seem to bear any fruit, unless your intention is solely to disobey my words." Ro’s eyes flickered downwards in shame. "Ah... sorry 'bout that. I, uh... was hoping to find something a bit cooler than that. Not tryin' to do it just to disobey you." She sighed.

 

"Your appearance really scared that lady. Sigh...Do not go there again, and do not tell anyone about what's inside." Ro paused, his eyes snapping to hers, opened in surprise. "You're letting me off that lightly- I mean, that's fine with me. I don't mind where I bunker down anyways, haven't cared in a few centuries a'least - an' it's not like I care enough to tell the others anyways either."

 

"...Centuries?" Flo's eyes became more focused on Ro as he said that. "Nevertheless, you still need to meet me and Celica once you returned from your quest."

 

Ro’s eyes darted off to the side, a few fingers flying to his mouth involuntarily. "Ah, um... ignore I said that." But Flo wasn’t about to drop what she had heard that quickly. "There is a few things I am concerned with regarding you, and thus, with Celica's consent, I will run through a quick examination on you later." He started to visibly get stressed out. "I would um... really prefer if you didn't." She tried to reassure him somewhat. "It will be quick and painless, and I will not harm you."

 

Ro’s eyes flickered side to side as he considered how much to say. "That's not the issue. Is it something you can't just ask me directly about?" She glanced at him critically. "Alright. What exactly are you? Throughout the years, I have seen a lot of people, a lot of different races, species, and creatures. Yet I haven't seen anything like you.” He tried to pass off a joking expression. "I guess saying I'm a regular ole' human wouldn't hold much ground now?" Florentia gazed at him dryly. Regular humans don't float or have horns like you."

 

His hand flew to his horns. ”Ah… whoops.” Ro shrugged, his hands turned upwards. "That part of you not being human is the obvious part." "Well, to be frank, I don't entirely remember myself. It’s been a long while." His tongue poked out in an amiable expression. ”I guess you could call it my grandpa complex, heh.”

 

"Then, let me help you remember yourself." Ro paused. "I'm not sure if I want to though, that's the matter. I remember enough about my crea- birth that it was fairly unpleasant." Flo sighed. "I see. The offer will still stand, however. And as long as you don't keep any potentially vital information about yourself to the guild, then I will let you be. However, I will still expect you to come after your quest. Even if not for the examination, you still broke the rules and caused potential issues with the guild's funding. With this said, see you later." This time, Ro sighed, but in relief instead of concedence.

 

"It shouldn't be vital... probably. None of it's recent enough to matter anyways. And sure thing boss." As Ro turned to go to his room, he waved. "If you want compensation, that's fine with me."

 

The next morning

The carriage ride was a pleasant one, with the sweet, warm, morning-noon breeze. Ro himself paid next to no attention to his two partners, his head looking out the window for the entire trip. After having read up that the quest would involve a place overflowing with blue lotus, his mouth was salivating since early morning. He had specifically prepared a large bag as well as multiple flasks for the trip. It wouldn’t be too much of a problem if he spent a little time distilling some of the overgrown flowers into a smaller and purer liquid form, right? He couldn’t help but chuckle to himself in a mildly offsetting way.

 

Soon enough, they arrived at Caerula, the town bordering the lake. He could see the surface of the lake itself from their dropoff spot, or rather, the thousands of lotus blossoms obscuring it instead. After a momentary feeling of vertigo, Ro returned his vision to normal to focus on the figure that seemed like would be their chaperone.

 

”Ah, well, you must be Cherry Heart's representatives right?” Ro waved excitedly. ”That’s us!” The man continued on. “Well, thank you for coming to the town of Caerulea. I wasn't entirely sure if anyone would respond to the request of an "overgrowing flower," but it's nice to see that some people in the world still care. oh, yes, where are my manners. My name is Rumian. I was the one who had decided this was a bit of an issue that needed taking care of in the first place. So, where do you wish to get started?" Without a split second of hesitation, Ro shot out his answer. ”I want to ea- collect as many of the flowers I can, please!”

 

Without a break in his flow, Ro leapt over to Rumian, slightly adjusting how high he was floating to match Rumian’s height. A hand snaked out to touch the branch-like horns on his head, but despite the force behind the quick movement, the fingers themselves only brushed the horns gently and with tender respect. Ro’s eyes were beaming. ”Hey, hey, Rumi! Are those real? What race are you from?”

[Yui]

---

Lake Nymphaea. Lily had heard the name in passing a few times, from old oak trees and in rumors from sunflowers. Lotus flowers spoke highly of the place, and often praised the ones that bloomed on the lake in the autumn season for special properties that caused them to glow. Lily had been curious about the blue lotuses of Lake Nymphaea in particular, but in on and off periods that had only switched back on when she read about the quest that brought her here. They were blooming out of season, and there were lots of them, so the quest had said. A quest that involved solving a mystery with some flowers seemed perfect to start with as a new guild member, plus she'd get to see the glowing flowers she'd heard about, and so she took up the quest without hesitation. And luckily, she wasn't alone for her first quest.

 

There were two others with her in the carriage now arriving at Caerulea. There was the girl, clearly human, but held herself with a dignity of someone beyond her years. And then there was the boy, with the horns. He seemed just as eager to take this quest as Lily had been, though a small part of her wondered if it was for the same purpose. After all, she'd been exploring the world for a good thirteen years and had never met someone else capable of talking to plants as directly as she did. Her suspicions were irrelevant, however; what mattered was the quest and showing Cherry Heart that she meant business. Lily briefly glanced around at her surroundings before stopping at the boy before them. He had antlers. How peculiar.

 

"Ah, well, you must be Cherry Heart's representatives right?"

 

”That’s us!”

 

"Yes."

 

"Well, thank you for coming to the town of Caerulea. I wasn't entirely sure if anyone would respond to the request of an "overgrowing flower," but it's nice to see that some people in the world still care. Oh, yes, where are my manners. My name is Rumian. I was the one who had decided this was a bit of an issue that needed taking care of in the first place. So, where do you wish to get started?"

 

”I want to ea- collect as many of the flowers I can, please!”

Blue lotuses are edible? Perhaps because she'd mostly been hanging out with plants up until now, which generally either ate sunlight or small animals like insects, but this was the first she'd heard of somebody eating that particular type of plant. She'd have to look into that later. "We should see what we can learn from them before anyone eats them," Lily calmly replied. Turning her attention to Rumian and not paying much mind to the horned boy's antics, Lily continued "On which note, please show us the lake. If you have any further information about events that may have caused this unusual blooming, that would also be appreciated."

---

[JessicaMuddy]

Serena looked back and forth, from Ro, to Lily, to the fine nature outside the window. There were these two strange creatures, both non-human and both very anti-social, based on their silence during their cart ride, and then there was Serena. This though raced through her mind, but then she countered her own observation with another one.

 

"To be fair, I'm not exactly one of the most regular people around either." She thought this while zoning out and staring at Lily, and when Serena regained her focus she noticed the golem stared right back. Serena immediately darted her eyes away, wondering how long they'd been making eye contact with each other. She avoided the grey-skinned creature for the rest of the ride, instead watching the bright green scenery roll by.

 

Eventually the cart eased to a stop, and the three in it hopped out. The other two immediately began to converse with the person waiting for them, but Serena turned to the man leading the horse-drawn carriage and raised a thumb. "Thanks mate." For a split second, the man looked confused at the words Serena selected to use, but then just smiled, nodded, and turned away.

 

When Serena regrouped with the other two, she took a look at the person who was presumably the quest giver, and "BAH!" Of course, he had antlers. The strange appearance caught Serena off-guard. How the hell did I go thirty years without meeting anyone with extra body parts, but in the span of a week, see what, three or four?!" Luckily, during this period of shock and annoyance, Ro and Lily had begun to learn the antler guy's name and what exactly his quest was.

 

Serena was so fortunate to have two other people with her who were actually passionate about the quest to do the talking, because if the antler guy had asked her why she was here, Serena was prepared to be frank with him. While Lily seemed to care for the plant and Ro was just hungry, she was helping out with this mission because to get fed and given a home, Serena had to do quests, and quests needed three people to be officially accepted. Serena originally wanted to do the one titled "Punish Steve", but no one else shared that desire, so she got lumped in with the group that didn't have enough people.

 

But hey, plants can be cut by swords, so at least Serena had that going for her, right?

[Alaina]

While Rumian still wasn't entirely sure about the guild members, the horned boy did little to ease his worries. As the boy simply wished to collect as many flowers as he could, Rumian had a slightly curious tone in his voice as he said, "I suppose when you're done you coul- AH!" He shrieked in surprise as the boy floated up to grab one of his antlers. While he only actually brushed his hand against it, it still made the man nervously shift backwards, asking with a confused and somewhat panicked voice, asking, "why wouldn't you think they are? You have them too!" The boy then seemed to wonder what race he was, which made Rumian only more concerned by saying, "what do you mean what race? Aren't you a beastkin too?" While spooked, the golem then asked her question about showing them the situation in order to get a better understanding. Clearing his throat, as if to try to reset his current mood, he said, "right, yes, right. Showing you would probably be the fastest way to explain it." As he went to start his walk, he then looked to the group, with a slight pleading expression across his face as he said, "and please don't touch my antlers." 

 

Leading the group through the town, they would attract a lot of strange looks, people stopping on the street and pointing, mostly at the stone golem, in wonder. However, the trip to the lake was without incident. Upon arriving the scene, they would be greeted with a strange sight. The usual sight of the mana lotus in bloom was one that happened in the autumn season. As such, the lake was usually filled with all manner of falling leaves, with the softly glowing lotuses scattering about the lake, filling in space where the leaves did not already occupy. As it was the spring season, these leaves were not so present. Furthermore, the lotuses seemed to be far from natural in position. Seeming to gather at the center, the lotuses were all clumped together, growing and expanding out from that direction. While the normal mana lotus would have an ever present glow to it, these seemed to rhythmically pulse with light. However, the most strange of all sights, and the one that would take anyone's attention almost immediately was what lie directly in the center. A flower not dissimilar in appearance but far far larger than any of the other lotuses that were blooming across the lake's surface. To further add to the unique appearance of this lotus, a budding lotus of similar magnitude rested atop of it. Rumian outstretched his hand towards the body of water, pointing at it saying, "this is Lake Nymphaea." 

 

Should the plant whispering golem speak with one of the smaller lotuses floating near the edge of the lake, they would hear a singular word from them, almost rhythmically chanted. "More." Were she attempt to age and wither the lotuses directly, she would find it more taxing than normal, as if the lotus was fighting her magic and would wither more slowly than a normal plant.

[Astolfo]

Ro couldn’t help but giggle as the young man in front of him turned completely bewildered. At Rumian’s question, he tilted his head curiously.

 

”I’m not a beastkin. Of course not, what kind of silly question is that?”

 

Luckily, the stone golem - Lily, or so her name was if Ro remembered correctly - brought the group back on focus, directing Rumian to take the lead once again and start walking them towards the lake. When Rumian made an aggrieved request to not touch his antlers, Ro shrugged amiably, sticking his tongue out. As they made their way through town, the seven foot golem brought a fair bit of attention, but none that Ro particularly cared for. The real prize was at the lake, or rather, the thousands of mana lotus blossoms he had seen before.

 

The pulsating waves of light from the mana lotus petals was a hypnotizing one, with the kingly giant lotus blossom crowning itself in the center over the rest, giving birth to a new bloom. Rumian’s voice tuned out into the background as Ro pulled out his bag in a semi-trance. Ignoring the beastkin man, Ro waded into the water, beginning to pluck flowers out of the water and throw them into the bag, as he half-walked, half-swum in an attempt to reach the center.

 

Somewhere through the haze, a voice cut through again. Snapping out of the fog, Ro looked around for the source of the voice. Rumian was frantically panicking, shouting at him to return to the shore. Looking at the bag, it had been long since full, with the new additions being crudely crammed inside to try and fit. As for the lake itself, Ro had moved into a depths where he couldn’t even see the bottom anymore from above the water. He began to feel an uncomfortable burning in his arms and legs, after having tread water for god-knows how long.

 

Ro drew the strings on the bag tightly as to prevent any flowers from falling out. After looking out towards the center, this time a bit more rationally, the center was far more distant than he thought it was initially in his euphoric zoned-out state. He estimated it must’ve been at least 3-4 kilometers to the center from the shore. He had made it somewhere around 1-2 kilometers out, but with his own body, it could’ve been anywhere between a few minutes to almost half an hour.

 

Ah… this sucks. Guess I’ll have to find another way.

 

He turned towards the shore and began to pedal lightly, but as he fully returned to reality, a wave of exhaustion hit him like a truck, and a painful cramp developed in his right leg. Ro sank beneath the water momentarily, before bursting out, gasping for breath, between moments of gritting his teeth to fight off the painful pangs. Even staying afloat was difficult with the cramp, and the spasms weren’t going to go away soon without some sort of massage or restoration of proper blood flow within his leg. Knowing the basic concept of buoyancy, he reached up through the water to try and prop himself on his back so he had at least some chance of floating. Once reaching some modicum of balance, he tried to wave an arm to signal for help. It wasn’t that serious of a situation, but he was braced to face backlash and reprimanding from both Rumian and most likely Flo once she heard about this. This happening shortly after his break-in to the right-side of the dormitories was definitely bound to not be good news for him.

 

”Now I’ve really gone and done it, damn it.”

 

While waiting for hopefully some help, or at least the cramps to subside, he gazed up at the bright, afternoon skies, shielding his eyes slightly from the radiant sun.

 

”If it weren’t for this cramp, this sight would’ve been a bit more enjoyable. As it is, it’s still a fair sight for sore eyes. If there’s one good thing about living this long…”

[Yui]

---

"This is Lake Nymphaea."

Lily had to admit, the sight of the lake was a nice one. She could see why tourists would come here when the blue lotuses started blooming in their proper season However, there was something distinctly off about it. "More." The blue lotuses that everyone was here to investigate were blooming all near the center of the lake, expanding from the center. And at the center of it all, a much larger lotus was blooming. Much larger, with yet another one budding atop it. "More." Clearly, this wasn't natural, especially with the pulsing lights coming from the flowers. They pulsed and chanted in rhythm. Time to investigate.

Lily spotted one of the lotuses near the edge of the lake, and made her way over to it, getting down low to speak with it more up-close. "Excuse me."

"More. More. More."

Either it cannot hear me, or it just is not listening... So much for getting answers straight from the source. Lily returned her attention to her teammates. Then at the horned boy specifically. He was in the water, rounding up plants. "Be careful with those," Lily urged. "Something is distinctly off about these flowers." Out of ideas for the moment, Lily nudged the nearby lotus with her hand, sending it drifting back along toward the center of the lake. The center. Where the big one was. Lily had a new idea. The golem turned now to Rumian, and asked "Do you have a boat we can use? I would like to investigate the big one in the middle more closely."

And then the warrior girl. "I would like you to come with me, if that is alright, in case there is something violent beneath the surface of this lake."

---

[JessicaMuddy]

After the antlered boy finished speaking, the group walked through the town until they reached their destination. The town itself was pretty regular, however the sight of a massive blue flower positioned in the middle of the body of water was not.

 

"This is Lake Nymphaea."

 

Well then. This is certainly interesting. What was even more interesting was that the boy in the group almost immediately hopped into the water, and began collecting flowers. Before Serena could jump in, however, Lily began to speak. "Do you have a boat we can use? I would like to investigate the big one in the middle more closely."

"That's a good idea. You should hurry up too, because if you two couldn't tell, that buffoon," Serena pointed into the fog over the lake "Is swimming where those violent things will be."

 

The golem then turned to Serena. "I would like you to come with me, if that is alright, in case there is something violent beneath the surface of this lake."

"Of course. My whole job here is to cut things up, in case you couldn't tell. I'm a born fighter." Serena grabbed her sword and pulled it slightly out of it's sheath, enough so Lily could see it. "Hmm... Do either of you two have any fighting experience?"

[Alaina]

As Rumian presented the lake to the rest of the group, he himself seem to be briefly taken in by the unnatural beauty of the lilies. It was truly a shame that they had to be dealt with, but nature had a cycle for a reason. And these lilies were quite dangerously impacting it. As he was lost in his thoughts, he turned to face the group again, yet as he did he heard a splash in the water behind him. That was odd. Becoming more alert, the antlered man looked at the group, seeing them minus one, and looked to the water's surface to see the horned boy swimming through it. His eyes going wide with panic, he let out an, "AAAAAHHH WHHYYYYY?!" confused at they boy's sudden action to leap into the water. Shouting out to him, "get back! It isn't safe in there!" The boy did not seem to be listening to him. 
 
Ruffling his hair with his hands, clearly stressed by this, he simply said, "oh this is ba-" stopping himself when he saw that the boy had stopped, Rumian looked at him. He was still in the water, somewhat motionless. Was he dead? That'd be bad. Both for their problem and publicity. However, he hadn't sunk yet, which meant he probably wasn't dead, just floating. Letting out a sigh of, minor, relief, Rumian looked back to the other two as they posed a question to him. 

 

"Do you have a boat we can use? I would like to investigate the big one in the middle more closely."
 
"That's a good idea. You should hurry up too, because if you two couldn't tell, that buffoon, is swimming where those violent things will be."

 

"Right right," Rumian said as he seemed to be recomposing himself once again. "Well, yes, there are boats that we can rent to get across, usually used to go explore the lake anyway. But I, um," he looked to the golem, still feeling a bit bewildered at the idea of a talking stone sculpture, but continued regardless. "I am not sure how well they would hold up all of our weight but, it should be fine. And about your friend, well, if he doesn't drown or go any farther he should be fine."

 

"Hmm... Do either of you two have any fighting experience?"

 

As the little girl had asked her question Rumian was, once again, unsure of what to make of a member of this group, as she seemed to be the "muscle" of the group. Nevertheless, he seemed to scoff at the notion saying, "please, I am a researcher not a fighter. The closest experience I have to fighting is trimming bushes." Nasty bastards they were sometimes. After saying that he refocused himself saying, "right, a boat." And with that, the group was off to get a boat. 

 

They had managed to find a station that had rented out boats, small in size but large enough for the group to fit on with some room to move around, that had two oars on either side to paddle across the lake with. The man they rented from seemed willing to let them use it for free for the time being, but after giving a look to each member seemed to stress that if they broke it they would pay for it. With that, the group would be off to travel across the lake. 

 

[spoiler=OOC]

So yes, boating fun. During this time feel free to talk to one another, ask Rumian anything you want, get Ro, etc. Things to note are that the farther you go into the lake, the more mana lotuses there are and the bigger they seem to get. 

 

 

[Yui]

---

"Hmm... Do either of you two have any fighting experience?"

 

"Please, I am a researcher not a fighter. The closest experience I have to fighting is trimming bushes. Right, a boat."

 

"I also do not have any fighting experience." Lily calmly added. And thus, the group was off to get a boat. The man renting them out seemed concerned with the group. A golem, a small girl with a sword, and a boy with antlers. Lily sort of understood the man's concerns. However, the boat was free! How nice was that? On the other hand, he gave each one a concerned look that seemed to emphasize that they'd be paying for the boat if they managed to break it. Well, in that case, it was just as simple as not breaking the boat.

 

Once the group was situated into the boat, Lily gripped the oars with her rock hands, and started rowing. As the boat started getting further into the lake, Lily noticed the flowers getting more numerous, and bigger. This was definitely not natural. "Did anything strange happen around here before these lotuses started blooming?" Lily asked. "Even if it was a minor event, anything useful may help us figure out what caused this and put a stop to it."

---

[JessicaMuddy]

Turned out Serena would be the only one doing any fighting if this big ass flower wanted to fend them off. While annoyed by this prospect, it also wasn't that bad, considering it would allow Serena to do her thing without getting interrupted. And the antler boy looked pretty damn flimsy.

 

Before long the group was at a small port where a boat hire shop sat. Rumian managed to get the party a free boat, though the owner of the shop made a big deal about not getting it damaged. "Sorry in advance, mate." The trio got onto the boat, and Serena, being the only one with muscles, jumped onto a seat with one of the sets of oars. Lily grabbed the other set,  and both immediately got to work on rowing. Though the stone figure wasn't a fighter, it only seemed natural that she'd be strong. Magical things tended to be so. Golems, cursed swords, and probably giant flowers, too. Similar to when the party arrived, Lily got to work on asking questions. Serena, however, stayed observant of the waters, looking for anything out of the ordinary, not including the mass of flowers that almost seemed like a blanket keeping the water below warm.

 

In the distance, Serena noticed an arm poking up into the air. With a sigh, she stopped paddling on one side to slightly turn the boat, and began once more in the direction of what could only be Ro's arm. When the boating trio got close, Serena motioned for Lily to stop. Leaning over the side of the boat, Serena stared expressionless into Ro's eyes. "You're an idiot, you know. Get in, there's monsters in the water."

[Astolfo]

Ro floated in the water aimlessly. The others he was with had to have noticed by now, right? Well, probably…? The cramps had mostly subsided and he debated just swimming, but then that brought up another issue of whether he should swim towards the center or back to shore since he was at the halfway mark. The weather was nice though, as was the temperature of the water. Fortunately or unfortunately, a boat eventually came paddling over, interrupting his train of thought. On board were three familiar faces. It seemed as if the human girlie was upset at him, judging by the reprimand as he climbed back on board, dripping wet. He carefully lifted his bag full of blue lotus flowers he had crammed inside and set it beside him.

 

”There’s monsters here? You should’ve said that before I got in, I wanted to see. This little boat’s gonna take us to the center? How’re you going to fight monsters that’d just stay underwater and hit the boat or break it from below?

 

That’s none of my business though, you can do all the fighting you want. Seems like a chore. The monsters might try and kill us. Don’t mind me, I’ll be busy doing something else while I wait to get to the center.”

 

As he shook his head a few times, ruffling his hair to get some of the water out, he carefully opened the bag. It was already well past full so he had to be delicate so none would fall out. With a few unintelligible muttered words, Ro’s right hand and eyes began to glow an otherworldly green. The fingers sharpened into talons, the tips of his hairs turning the same luminescent color, and beginning to float. As he slowly swiped his hand across the surface, a translucent blue-green liquid began to seep out, seemingly from the hand itself. Upon contact with the flowers, they immediately began to dissolve. The mana flowing in from the enchanted lotus blossoms turned the liquid a brilliant, pulsating blue. Continuing to slowly sweep his hand across each successive layer, it took naught but a few minutes to make short work of what was once a bulging bag. The concentrated, ultra-purified and refined mana lotus extract now filled up barely a fourth of the bag, yet leaked a dangerously intoxicating aroma. Within seconds afterwards, the glowing faded and his body returned to normal. Ro nodded to himself.

 

”Now that’s what I’m talking about. It’s been a while since I got to have some juice this clean.”

 

He took a long whiff, before bursting into giddy laughter. Rummaging through one of his coat pockets, he pulled out a contraption that seemed similar to a pipe. Dipping it into the bag to fill it with some of the extract, he inserted it into his mouth, retightening the drawstring. Taking a deep drag, Ro’s face turned slightly pink as the various drug-like effects coursed through his body.

 

”Ahaha… you want some little girlie? What about you, tree branch head? And… wait can you even breathe, Rocky?”

[Alaina]

As the group started to travel across the lake's surface, Rumian had aided the golem in rowing the boat forward while the young, short female kept watch. The water had been still, aside from the ripple caused by the boat, and overall quiet. As they continued to travel, Lily had eventually asked the antlered beast-kin about what had happened prior to the incident. Rumian attempted to recall any facts but he simply shook his head saying, "sorry, I'm not really sure what could have happened. As I said, I study plants, so I didn't really take note of this until they had already bloomed. Naturally, I had thought this was an immediate cause for concern, but of course no one else thought so. They just thought it was a fun little out of season blossoming. Well this certainly show them, hmph." He seemed to pout, though seemed to have an odd sense of pride as he did so. Shaking out of the state he then said, "but as I said, I didn't notice any change in the lake's ecosystem until the plants had already bloomed. However," he seemed to think more on it for a bit. 

 

His train of thought was briefly interrupted as the shorter girl had pulled the horned boy out of the water. As she warned him about the dangers of the water, the boy started to go on a small rant about the notion of monsters in the water. Letting out a small sigh, Rumian went to explain, "there are indeed monsters that reside in Lake Nymphaea. It is a large and magical place after all, and monsters are a valuable part of any ecosystem. That being said," he continued his lecture, "you picked a perfect time to both go for a swim and become momentarily deaf. While the monsters live here they only really feast on the wildlife within the water itself unless you approach the center of the lake, but even then, they seem to keep underwater for the time being. I have reason to believe that they are simply afraid of the giant louts in the center and thus are staying away from the surface for the time being."

 

As he was about to continue a previous train of thought, the boy then went on to do...something. Rumian couldn't quite comprehend what magic the boy had done to liquefy the contents of his bag, and then started to smoke it. The whole process was slightly disturbing to the beast-kin and when offered to take a drag, he simply put his hand up, as if to shoo the weird lotus extra away saying, "no, I would, uh, i would rather not." Keeping a wary eye out for the boy, he then looked back to the golem before saying, "a-anyway. Now that I think about it, there was someone who I suppose you could count as suspicious. He came into town roughly two weeks, I believe, before the incident occurred. I don't believe I had ever seen him before, and I am quite able at remembering faces, but he seemed to be quite curious about the inner workings of the "mana lotus."" Slightly puffing his chest out, he then said, "of course, I told him everything I could think to tell him, and he was quite an avid listener at that. Curiously, he left that day and I believe came back a week later, claiming he wanted to see the lake and prep for the blooming season. Of course, that's a few seasons away, but one can never be too prepared, or so I assumed." 

[Yui]

---

As the trio of Lily, Rumian, and the sword-wielding girl took off onto the lake, the girl spotted something it would seem. After all, the boat was changing course, and it didn't take long for Lily to spot why. Their other companion, the horned boy, was still floating around on the lake's surface. They came to a stop and picked him up.

 

"You're an idiot, you know. Get in, there's monsters in the water."

 

”There’s monsters here? You should’ve said that before I got in, I wanted to see. This little boat’s gonna take us to the center? How’re you going to fight monsters that’d just stay underwater and hit the boat or break it from below? That’s none of my business though, you can do all the fighting you want. Seems like a chore. The monsters might try and kill us. Don’t mind me, I’ll be busy doing something else while I wait to get to the center.”

 

The boy may be a troublesome teammate, Lily mentally noted. Or at the very least, he wasn't keen on physical labor. Lily would have to keep an eye on him, to make sure he could still be helpful. He needed to be good at something, right? It seemed her questions were soon answered as he pulled forth a bag of lotuses he seemed to have collected from the lake's surface, before using some sort of magic on them. Lily wasn't entirely sure what the intent was, but the end result was...mildly disturbing. The flowers created some unsettling screaming/hissing noise as they were melted down into a liquid, which the boy happily called "juice" before grabbing a pipe and..smoking it?

 

”Ahaha… you want some little girlie? What about you, tree branch head? And… wait can you even breathe, Rocky?”

 

"My name is Lily, not Rocky," Lily corrected. "I cannot breathe as you suspected, though I would like to request you wait until we've done our job before making more of that 'juice'. The sound those lotuses made in the process was...disturbing."

 

Rumian then went on to explain that not long before this lotus blooming incident, he was indeed approached by a suspicious figure. The whole thing sounded pretty fishy, and Lily could understand Rumian's eagerness to explain how the mana lotus worked. It would be like if somebody walked up to her and asked about the viewpoints of different plants, she figured. Of course, that probably wasn't all there was to it. Lily's memories didn't reach as far back as the other people on this boat by any means, but she knew well enough to know that just making some flowers crop up wasn't a plan in and of itself. There had to be some goal in mind...but what? And furthermore...

 

"This suspicious figure sounds like the culprit behind the lotus bloomings," Lily stated. "However, it may also be pure coincidence on his part. We do not have solid proof one way or the other, so jumping to conclusions may not be the best idea. What do the two of you think?" To signify who "the two of you" were, Lily nodded toward her guildmates as her stone arms went back to rowing.

---

[JessicaMuddy]

Serena watched as Ro took a bag, used some sort of magic on it, and turned the contents inside into... drugs? Serena could only assume that's what it was, as Ro began to smoke whatever was inside it. Then, the boy offered the rest of the rest of the group some.

”Ahaha… you want some little girlie? What about you, tree branch head? And… wait can you even breathe, Rocky?”

"I am NOT a little girlie. I'm a... big... girlie..." As much as Serena wanted to shout out what gender she really was, she instead resided to acting like an 8 year-old who wasn't allowed to stay up past their bedtime. Serena avoided Ro's gaze, for she suspected it would be one of smugness and/or general stupidity. At least Lily was steadfast in her response to Ro, dealing out her nonplussed point of view.

 

"Now that I think about it, there was someone who I suppose you could count as suspicious. He came into town roughly two weeks, I believe, before the incident occurred. I don't believe I had ever seen him before, and I am quite able at remembering faces, but he seemed to be quite curious about the inner workings of the 'mana lotus.' Of course, I told him everything I could think to tell him, and he was quite an avid listener at that. Curiously, he left that day and I believe came back a week later, claiming he wanted to see the lake and prep for the blooming season. Of course, that's a few seasons away, but one can never be too prepared, or so I assumed."

 

Lily then asked what both Serena and Ro thought about the guy Rumian described.

"Well, I'm no detective, but that guy has to be the reason why this is happening, right? Either that, or he knew it was coming but didn't want to tell anyone. He seems too suspicious. I know jumping to conclusions is bad, as you said, but we can't just write him off." Serena then grabbed a pair of oars, and began to row towards the center once more. "Tell me, uh..." Serena realized in that moment that she didn't even know the name of the antlered fellow. "Uh... So, what was that suspect's appearance? Was there anything different about him? If we can find more out about this lotus, then we can go to this guy and ask him about why those things happened."

[Alaina]

Rumian listened to the duo try to deliberate between what to do with the information he gave them. When asked about the stranger's appearance, the beast-man started to think for a bit. "Well, hm, let me think about it. They had shortish hair, kind of black with some blue in it, it was pretty weird.I believe they also had these bright blue eyes, were about my height and had some pretty foreign looking clothes on them. Really, when I saw him I thought he was just a curious tourist, with a thirst for knowledge of the botanical. He was polite and listened to what I told him earnestly, and seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. He is no doubt suspicious but I can't say he was at all acting suspicious at the time. I am also unsure how fruitful us searching for him will be. After all, after the second time I saw him I haven't seen him around since. Hm."

 

The antlered male started to become more pensive, as he started to voice his thoughts. "Though, I suppose if it'd help I could tell you what the general idea of what I told him." Clearing his throat he began saying, "most people aren't really aware of this but the nickname "mana lotus" doesn't come from the glow they produce, and instead how they go about getting their sustenance. Despite their extreme similarities between a regular blue lotus, they do not actually gain nutrients in any similar manner, resembling more parasites in how they go about it. Essentially, Lake Nymphaea is home to a quite a great deal of water spirits that help keep the lake naturally clean and provide a constant flow of mana throughout the water to help let other creatures thrive in here. Around the Fall season is when the mana they circulate into the lake gets quite large, and that's what causes dormant mana lotus seeds to sprout. They then feed on this excess mana the spirits produce until the seasons ends, at which point they die and the cycle begin anew. So, naturally, what's happening here shouldn't even be possible."

 

As he was lost in his thoughts, the group would eventually come close enough to the large center lotus to see it in full view. All the petals were closed, as it were still merely a bud despite its enormous size. It was surrounded by smaller, yet still large enough they could easily support a person, lotuses, that were roughly a third the size of the large center lotus. If one were to look at the water they would see what almost appeared to be blue vein like entities coming from all around the water and the lotuses themselves, no matter the size, towards the large center one. If one were to step onto one of the bigger lotuses, the flowers would be able to hold their weight, though they'd feel a slight tugging sensation. Not necessarily tugging on their foot just on them in general. If Lily attempted to communicate with the large lotus, it wouldn't actually be chanting like the others. Instead, it would sound as though it had a slow, raspy breathing, and was muttering incoherently under said breath. 

[Yui]

---

"Tell me, uh.. So, what was that suspect's appearance? Was there anything different about him? If we can find more out about this lotus, then we can go to this guy and ask him about why those things happened."

 

Rumian then went on to describe the stranger's appearance who had possibly meddled with the lake. Didn't sound like someone that would be easy to find. His appearance sounded rather distinct, sure, but not seeing him around in the time since his and Rumian's second meeting meant he had probably left town before this incident got going. Which was unfortunate. However, Rumian then proceeded to tell the group what he knew of the mana lotus. The source of its name, how it sustained itself, and why this event shouldn't have been possible in the first place. When he put it that way, Lily had an idea.

 

"This is only a theory, but I believe our suspect may have let a large quantity of mana into the lake to stimulate the growth of these lotuses. However, even if this is correct, it leaves a question of what one could accomplish by doing such a thing."

 

And then, the boat the group was on approached the large center lotus. Surrounding it were lotuses big enough to stand on, but even they were small next to the center lotus, whose petals had not yet opened up. The large lotus, more importantly, sounded different from the others. And it wasn't pleasant to listen to. "Stay on guard," Lily advised, nodding toward the girl with the sword. "Something about that center lotus is putting me off." With that, Lily got up and - slowly, to check and make sure it could support her weight - stepped onto one of the opened lotuses. It felt as if it were tugging at her. Talk about concerning. She'd have to try and talk with the big one directly.

 

"We are not here to harm you," Lily started. "Please, tell us what you know about this lotus-blooming incident." Lily took a step or two forward toward the center lotus, but wasn't willing to get much closer until it proved it wasn't hostile. If it chose to fight somehow, Lily was in a pretty bad environment for it.

---

[Astolfo]

Ah, it seemed as if the blabbering had finally ended. Although Ro wasn’t really paying attention, he picked up bits and pieces. It seemed as if Rumian had some suspicions as to who caused this overblooming incident, but Ro couldn’t care less. If anything, he felt almost grateful to the stranger. Besides, if there were any actual problems or side effects later, the four of them could handle it probably, right?

 

As the boat drew closer to the center of the lake, the gigantic lotus blossom residing there loomed over the crew. Beneath it, larger flower petals of another equally massive flower flared out. Jumping out of the boat immediately, he lightly tested the petals. They were strong enough to hold him at least, but whether that was due to his unnaturally light weight, he couldn’t tell. Ro glanced back towards the other three, motioning over.

 

”Come on, come on, no time to waste! Can’t let this delici- I mean, VALUABLE, mysterious sample go to waste, can we?”

 

He could feel the tug of a foreign magical source upon his entire body with each successive step, but paid it no heed. The object of his goals lay in front of him. As typical of a bud, the petals were still tightly enclosed, but that wasn’t about to stop him. Ro began to laugh giddily once again. The very air was filled with the intoxicating aroma of the flowers. Chanting in a strange, alien language, his hair and hands were swallowed by massive green flames that oddly emitted no heat at all. To the contrary, a chilling iciness radiated. The tongues of flame lashed about wildly, as if the surrounding ambient mana was boosting them far beyond their normal potential.

 

With a completely frenzied glint in his glowing, electric green eyes, he chanted several more words. At once, all the flames were siphoned to his right hand, turning a murky, thicker green. What had once been brilliant flames now were a bubbling, acrid slime comprised of a solvent that would liquefy plant cellulose - the material giving them structure. Ro reached out towards the petals enclosing the central bud. If something more interesting was inside, he wasn’t going to let it stop him.

 

Ro was fairly certain that it wouldn’t be as easy as this, but he wouldn’t know without trying. Bracing himself for a magical backlash or some other retaliation, his hands drifted towards the petals.

[Alaina]

Rumian nodded at the golem's theory, though was unsure himself how the person went about doing such a thing. Shrugging at the motive he said, "I can't possibly fathom one myself either." Still, even the overgrowth that the area was experiencing was quite unusual. He hadn't ever seen one of the lotuses grow to a proportion quite like this, and was curious as to what could have been going on with it. The antlered man had stayed on the boat, not quite wanting to risk the same kind of danger that his Cherry Heart companions were, and simply watched in anticipation as they went about their own activities. 

 

As the golem began to speak to the flower, it would respond at first with a low growl. However, after taking in the question it replied in a slow, somewhat gravely voice. "I slept. There was food. I ate. I kept eating. I grew. I ate. It fed. It kept feeding. Can't stop eating. Grow more. Eat more. Can't stop. More. More." As the plant seemed to be babbling, it soon felt a burning sensation across its petals. As Ro's hands came in contact with the petals, he would find that they would indeed be dissolved as one would expect, though the rate at which it was happening was slower than usual. Nevertheless as his hands had completely burned a hole into the flower, he was soon met with a large tendril made completely of blue energy, striking out straight towards him. After it had attacked, it would retract back into the bud. 

 

When this had happened Lily would hear a change in the slow tone of the voice, became a strange mixture of excitement, anger, and desperation. "New food! More! Eat! More! Can't Stop! Pain! Die! Me! Kill! Eat!" The hole seemed to start spilling a blue light from it, and the glow around the plants surrounding it grew brighter as well. Were they on the large petals, they'd feel the tugging sensation increase, though would otherwise be unaffected. The large center flower seemed to almost be squirming, as it continued to repeat what it had said. 

[JessicaMuddy]

From the details Rumian had explained, the fact that these things were like parasites and that they FED on mana was concerning. "Mana is the source of all magic, so if these things eat it then... Surely they'd be magical too." However, before Serena could voice this thought, her two companions were off.

 

Serena watched with caution as her allies boarded the plant. Lily began talking to it, but once Ro climbed onto one of the smaller lotuses surrounding the largest in the middle, diplomacy might as well have been thrown out the window. The instant flames started to emerge from within Ro, Serena climbed onto the lotus nearest to him, and instantly felt a strange force tugging at her any pulling her down, as if gravity was heavier in this space.

 

"You numbskull! What do you think burning the damn thing is going to do?" However, Serena's words seem far too slow, as Ro had already reached forward with a handful of magical energy. Serena pulled out her dark blade, and braced herself for a reaction from the massive mana lotus, and sure enough, one came in the form of a large blue tentacle, which instantly lashed out at Ro. Before it had a chance to do anything seriously damaging Serena swung her blade at it, slicing the tip of it off. "You really have no sense of danger, do you? Attacking a giant thing is NEVER a good idea buddy." The gravitational tugging pulled down on Serena once more, making her body feel heavy. Despite this, she still stood, though slightly arched over, and turned to Rumian.

 

"Antlers, you might want to get back! This thing just attacked us with a tentacle, and I doubt you wanna get hit by one!"

[Yui]

---

"I slept. There was food. I ate. I kept eating. I grew. I ate. It fed. It kept feeding. Can't stop eating. Grow more. Eat more. Can't stop. More. More."

 

It was a start. And this bigger lotus was certainly more helpful than the smaller ones had been. Everything Lily had been told - with a little freedom of interpretation - made perfect sense. Mana lotuses bloomed in response to mana, and the answers Lily had gotten confirmed to her that something had stimulated their growth. Quite possibly the mystery man Rumian had described not too long ago. "It kept feeding" was the bit that had Lily's interest more than the other. Whatever the mana source was, this was a deliberate action on its part. Lily was about to ask more about who or what had fed the thing, but before she could voice her question, the horned boy began trying to dissolve it as with the others.

 

"Wait, stop--"

 

"New food! More! Eat! More! Can't Stop! Pain! Die! Me! Kill! Eat!"

 

Too late. The plant had attacked, but it seemed the girl with the sword had stopped it. No good standing over here on her own now that the plant might become hostile to everyone, Lily figured, and as such, made her way over to her guildmates as quickly as a golem could while being cautious with her steps. Lily glanced at the horned boy specifically, and said "For the sake of our quest, we need you to think about something besides your juice. You have gotten the lotus riled up now, and I do not know if I will be able to get the identity of our culprit from it now." Being made of rock, Lily's face didn't really give an expression of disdain of any sort, but the tone was clear in her voice. Lily had to think on her toes. Turning toward the big flower once again, Lily spoke up with "We may be able to arrange more mana to feed you with, but first we need to figure out how. Who - or what - caused you to reach these proportions in the first place? If we can find them, we can learn how to best provide you with the mana ou seek."

 

"If this does not work, you may need to kill it," Lily lowly added, for the sword girl. "I do not like it, but it feels like this is going downhill too fast to salvage it diplomatically."

---

[Alaina]

While sword wielding girl had been swift in her approach, the boy that the tendril struck at had not been swift in his own response. As such, the tendril still struck him and flung him towards the water, though the damage wasn't as significant as it could've been. Merely feeling like a swift punch to the gut instead. As the plant continued to writhe about, seemingly going mad from the attack made it against it, the rambling started to slow as it was spoken directly to again once more. Her offer stunned it for a moment, only for it to suddenly go berserk at the offer. "MORE! NO! EAT! NO! MORE! KILL! FEED! CAN'T! WON'T! WILL! MUST! EAT! AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" As it let out one anguished scream, the flower's petals suddenly opened up and from within they were able to see just what lay beneath them. 

 

"Wh-wh- the hell!?"

 

Rumian seemed completely shocked at what he saw, not having expect such a site. Within the petals lied quite the large creature, blue as the flower it had been resting within. Its body was wide and had two arms, each with strange tendril like appendages, though one seemed to shorter than the rest. They glowed of a deep blue color and looked identical to the one that had struck Ro before hand. Strangely, however, underneath the creature, seemingly connecting the base of the monster and the flower together, was a massive glowing blue orb that seemed almost water-like in consistency, with roots from the base of the creature extending through it. Looking at the golem it merely screamed, "IT! FEEDS!" With that, the creature extended its tendrils towards both the girl that had attacked it earlier and the boy who had dissolved part of the petal. 

[Astolfo]

As an electric-blue tendril of what seemed to be mana lashed out at him, sending him sprawling into the water, Ro paused for a moment, before mumbling to himself in a completely deadpan tone. ”Oh, I was hit..” The sword-wielder girl had attempted to cut it down, but was a moment too slow on the draw. Oh well, no matter. The situation was definitely getting worse though, as mana spilled out from the massive lotus bud, before erupting and revealing a monstrous entity within.

 

A large, translucent, blue orb lay underneath the creature, through which the roots grew. ”Well as my trusty ole’ knowledge book of a brain I have says, that’s gotta be the weak pooOOOOIII-” As multiple tentacles identical to the one that had struck him down before flew out towards him and the swordsgirl, Ro had to leap to the side to avoid getting struck again. The strike itself was akin to a dull slap, but even so, the fact it could launch him across a fairly long distance due to his light weight was an annoyance.

 

Ducking a second and third tendril, it was obvious the being in front of them wasn’t in the mood for talking things out - as the golem seemed to be trying earlier. Continuing to observe the unusual entity in front of him, the wheels began to turn in Ro’s head. Hopping out of the water, he delicaltely landed on a nearby lotus blossom. Dusting off droplets, he began to chant loudly in an incomprehensible language that sounded almost as if the words themselves were being sung. Melodic chimes and hums blended with jarring, dissonant cacophony, dancing along to an unseen rhythm.

 

At first, there was no visible change. However, within a few seconds, a green-ish fog pulsated out from his skin in a large cloud, before being abruptly sucked back in, streaking his veins and eyes with the same neon hue. Anyone who came into contact with the cloud would’ve felt an uncomfortable, tingling sensation, almost as if their skin was on fire, minus the pain. Crouching, Ro bursted off the ground into an extraordinarily fast sprint. Predictably, the alien being swung its tentacles towards him. Throwing his body backwards until he was almost parallel to the ground, he slid across the ground, and swung himself around the incoming tendril to slingshot himself towards the aqueous orb that resided at the creature’s base.

[JessicaMuddy]

Serena watched as even after her best efforts, her ally got smacked by the tentacle. The bud then blossomed, if you could call it that, into a monstrous mana-born creature. Even the most magically inept could sense the magical energy radiating off of it, or if they somehow couldn't, would probably piss themselves just looking at it anyway. At least Ro wasn't one of those fools. He quickly leapt up out of the water below, and with some amazingly slick and stylish movements, was already at the base of the creature, where an orb lay, almost definitely its weak spot.

 

And they say they aren't fighters.

 

Nevertheless, while Ro could magic his way past the tentacles attacking him, Serena couldn't do that. Three launched at her rather quickly, so, as any warrior would do she quickly bend her abdomen to dodge the first, then swung her dark blade at the second, cutting off the tip just like the previous one. If there was one advantage about Serena's feminine form, it was that at least she was far more swift - and far thinner - than her masculine body. However, being thin doesn't exactly stop a direct attack. The third tentacle struck Serena in the solar plexus, causing her to be knocked backwards, though luckily not into the water. Lying on one of the surrounding petals, which now tugged downwards more forcefully than before, Serena shouted at Ro.

"Hurry up beast boy, these tentacles hurt to humans!" After that, she turned to Lily. "Unless you've got some hidden magic too, get off these petals!"

 

With difficulty, Serena slowly pulled herself back to her feet, then picked up Gravidin, which was at her feet. "Round two, bring it on!"

[Yui]

---

"MORE! NO! EAT! NO! MORE! KILL! FEED! CAN'T! WON'T! WILL! MUST! EAT! AAAAAAAAHHHHH! IT! FEEDS!

 

We will definitely have to kill it. Lily sighed to herself. However, Lily was no fighter. A direct confrontation between her and the...well simply put, the monster that had been within the flower, would not end well for the golem. So fighting it directly wouldn't work; Lily would just get in the way and end up injuring her teammates. Her gaze briefly shifted downward to the seed bag at her side. Lily made a note that she would want to see if she could find some seeds for these mana lotuses when it came time to leave the lake. More importantly, she'd hoped to create a plant that could fight the monster, but she'd need something more like a tree for that. Alas, Lily's seed bag was devoid of saplings. She'd have to take a different approach.

 

The horned boy already seemed to be on the offensive. The sword girl was urging Lily to leave this fight if she didn't have some hidden magic up her sleeve. She definitely had magic, but the issue was getting to a point that using it was practical. An idea was forming. Not the best one probably, but an idea. "If the two of you do not mind, try cutting some holes in the larger lotus if you find spare time," Lily called out. "If we can get it underwater, I may be able to wilt the lotus from beneath." It definitely wasn't the best plan, but it was the best one Lily had right now. In the meantime, now was as good a time as any to be made of rock. Turning her attention to the sword girl, Lily added "Do not be afraid to use me as a shield in the meantime; I am made of magically-enhanced stone, and will likely take a hit better than you or your shield." In the meantime, there was a monster to deal with.

 

Keeping herself between the beast and the sword girl, Lily approached the monster at the center of the flowers, and set a foot down on its roots. Wilt. Lily wasn't really sure if this thing was a plant or not, but if it was, she'd be able to wilt it with some time, no doubt. If not...she'd figure out a backup plan.

---