[Sunset]
Dong. A bell tolled as people scurried across the village of Flos. Birds cawed and flapped their wings away from the noise. Dong. Young children held their parents hands and pointed at flock of birds. Dong. Suddenly the amazement of the world faded away and reality set back in. The children are pulled by their arms and continued in their first direction.
In the center of town, near the clock tower, the shadow of a cross was cast across the parallel building. It's dirty windows were lined in rows that stacked on top of other panes of glass. The building loomed over passerbyers who looked at it unnervingly.
Inside, the odd boy walked up to the reception desk. The women glared up at him over her magazine. She folded the page and set it down. "For the last time Lyon, your friend has not woken up." The lady informed him in annoyance. For the past two weeks Dandy Lyon had been going to the hospital to check up on Bellis.
He moved his eyes down in disappointment. "Oh. Okay. If he wakes up, tell him I was asking about him." Dandy slunk out of the hospital as the receptionist huffed in relief. She brought the magazine back up to her face and lost herself in the words.
Her name was Martha. Martha Pierre. As a magnolia she had bleached blonde hair with a yellow patch on top. The petal like strands just reached her neck. She worked as the mayor of Flos's secretary. Whatever job she was given, she did it. Mediocrely. Martha was the only flower that was "brave" enough to accept the mayor's request. The mayor was truly a force to be weary of.
While Martha was distracted, Lyon snuck past the desk and found himself in a long grey hallway. He turned and read the numbers on the door. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven." He stopped when he realized that the hallway was much longer and had many more numbers than he wanted to count. "Three hundred." He told himself. Dandy walked to the end of the hall where a metal staircase led up to the next floor. The numbers stopped at one hundred.
He looked at the crude plaque. "Oui. I have to go up two flights." As he ran up the stairs, flakes of rust fell from the railing. The rickety stairs shook and groaned at his weight. After he reached the third floor he scanned the labels on the door. This floor was considerably nicer than the previous floors. The ground was clean and made of white marble that was speckled with black and brown dots. It reflected the ornate lights and matched with the swirls and designs on the wall. This was the floor for the richer patients, which was slightly amusing considering Bellis was a foreigner.
The door marked 300 was plain white with a shiny golden knob. Not a speck of dirt or grime could be found on its surface. Dandy reached out and turned the knob. He pushed the door in and found a figure staring out the window. The thick black curtains were pulled back with their hands as they leaned on the sill. He turned. His now messy blue hair shone in the afternoon light and the odd curl bounced to the side.
"Bronze sword guy?" Bellis asked, slightly confused. Dandy smiled gleefully, seeming to ignore the fact that he was unknown. "You're awake! I'm glad that you're okay!"
"Who are you. The last time I saw you, you kidnapped my sister." He glared and clutched something in his hands.
"She was the key! It was her power and I wanted her to unlock it." He smiled.
"She went with you and came back crazy." He moved back against the window.
"Yea. I wasn't expecting that to happen at all. I'm slightly glad I wasn't the key if that's what it does." He started rambling on before Bellis stopped him.
"Can you please stay away from me?" Bellis hissed. Dandy pulled his arms back to clutch his chest. "I'm sorry." He crept back into the doorway. Bellis sighed and rubbed his temple and looked up at Dandy's glistening eyes. In a gesture of friendliness he put out his hand. "My name is Bellis. I guessing you already knew that."
Dandy took his hand. "I'm Dandy Lyon." And as their hands shook, the most beautiful friendship in Suun bloomed. Lyon grabbed the other's hand and pulled him out of the room. They followed the white hallway to the staircase. Once they reached the beginning of the hallway on the first floor, Dandy peaked his head through the entrance into the reception room.
He turned to Bellis. "Alright, I'm going to distract her and you sneak outside!"
"What?! Why are we sneaking out!?" Bellis exclaimed almost inaudibly. Lyon ignored him and popped up in from of the reception desk. Before he did so, he took off his Robin Hood hat and place it on the floor. "Hey, Martha! I'm back." Lyon smiled insincerely. For the first time he had been there, he called her by her name. Seeming flattered, she raised an eyebrow and placed her magazine down in front of her.
"What do you want Lyon? You were just here ten minutes ago!"
"Yes, but I think I misplaced my hat!" He pointed to his bare head and scrutinized the room.
"Well, I haven't seen your hat." She picked up the magazine and hid her face. Lyon looked around and made a surprised face as he bent over. "I found it! Thank you for your help, Martha!" He said sarcastically as he grinned. Dandy tipped his hat and sauntered out the circular door. "Wow! That was very easy! For the money people pay to be treated, they don't have very good service."
"Is that why we had to sneak out?" Bellis said as he moved from his spot behind a pole. "Because it's was expensive?"
"No. The room seemed nice, but it was really a prison. You are the key to the water stone and an important player in the loop." Lyon started. "Each of you humans play a role. Daisy, the vessel. Lily, the flame. Rose, the scribe. Helian, the martyr. And then there's you."
"Wait. I control a stone too?" Bellis panicked. "So I might end up like Daisy!?"
"No. That won't happen to you, because there is only one Galia." Lyon started walking down the sidewalk. He turned back to make sure Bellis was following him. Bellis hesitantly stayed by his side.
"What is Galia?" Bellis questioned. "What does she have to do with air. How do you know?"
"Have you ever read Power in the Elements?" Lyon asked before the other shook his head. "The Sun wrote it. He and his followers plan to destroy the world to advance fate. With the Eyes of Time he can see the future, and the Moon can see the past. That is why he stole her eye and gave it to Lily. So that he could see all time, even in other loops. The Moon and I are trying to stop them, but as it was meant to be that your sister is killing everything in her path. Galia is the darkness, the puppeteer that posses air because it is the strongest element.
The book explains how air can control everything. Air is the movement of particles. If she can learn to move more than air, she can do anything."
They reached the end of the block and turned around the corner. At the end of the next block they found themselves at the center of the town. It was an oval of crudely cut blocks of stone that were surrounded by beautifully structured buildings. The hospital was on one side of the circle and parallel to it was the government building. Adjacent to the town hall was a police station. But the most prominent building was at the end of the oval. It was the clock tower. It clicked as the gears moved the gold hands to display the time. The numbers which were also gilded, stood out in front of the dark face of the clock. The minute hand pointed up and the hour hand moved down. The bells chimed and played a beautiful rhythm. After the song ended, the strong metal arm behind the clock hit the large shining bell.
"Four o'clock!" Dandy said once the clock stopped making noise. He pulled out his pocket watch and adjusted it to the correct time, glancing back and forth between the two as he did so. "Nice watch, Dandy." Bellis complemented.
Seemingly flattered Lyon smiles and holds it in his hands proudly. "It's bronze." He said and placed it back in his pocket. "Just like my sword." He continued to walk down the path. Bellis snickered to himself as he could see that the sword was obviously wood.
At the center of the oval was a garden. The flowers were grown in such a way that they swirled and curled to make shapes. The wind lightly pushed them back and forth in a never ending dance. Bellis sat down next to Lyon on one side of the garden. Dandy had been admiring a yellow weed as the other peered over his shoulder. "What are you looking at?" He asked.
"It's a Dandelion. My kind evolved from them. In fact, my family is well known and prestigious." As he went on the brag, a gardener reached up and pulled the weed from the dirt. They placed it in a garbage bag that was already full of other dead weeds. Lyon stopped in mid-sentence with his jaw a jar. His head followed the sack as the gardener continued to pluck other unsightly yellow weeds. Bellis turned to Dandy with an eyebrow slightly raised.
"Alright, I'll be honest. My family is basically at the bottom of the barrel. The dirty peasants that nobody really cares for. Other plants weed us out from society and make us live in the crowded slums of the towns. Standing in the town oval here, one would never guess that the lesser people are treated so differently. Sure you may see the occasional weed walking around here, but they aren't welcomed well by other plants." Lyon told Bellis sadly.
"That's horrible!" Bellis commented.
Dandy nodded. "That's why I left home. I haven't been back in a while. My family made fun of me for go after a stupid legend. But look at me now! I proved the legend is true and had my dreams shattered in front of my face!"
Dandy placed his head in his hands. "I created the monster that is going to destroy my world. That monster stole my bumblion friends and killed Lion." Tears dripped from his face and splattered on the cobblestone.
Bellis placed his hand on Dandy's shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't care what you are. I forgive you for what happened to my sister. You couldn't know."Dandy moved his trembling hands away to look up at him. His porcelain yellow face was red and stained with tears. Suddenly he attached himself to Bellis in a tight hug. Lyon cried harder, his tears saturated the other's white shirt, but he felt comfortable. Bellis wrapped his arms without any hesitation around the other boy and calmed him down.
"Bellis, I'm so lonely." Dandy choked out when he finally had the strength to speak. Bellis's response was barely audible.
"Until I die, I will never abandon you." The crying boy cringed and sobbed harder. When he had calmed down his nose was running and his face burned from the unremitting stream of salty water. He took his hat off and blew his nose into it.
"You just blew your nose into your hat." Bellis stated somewhat disgusted.
"Why do you think it's green?" Lyon joked with a sincere smile.
"Ew!"
"I'm joking."
Bellis realized their position when passerbyers stuck their nose up in the opposite direction. Some held their hands up to their mouths as they whispered and gossiped. Bellis gave them a dirty looked as he protected his friend. Dandy's glassy eyes stared solemnly at the ground.
"Don't worry about them." Bellis encouraged and pat the other's back. He was like one who tended to a train. As Lyon's ego began to go out, Bellis stoked the fire.
Dandy nodded, his lips turned into a thin line. He remembered something important and turned to face the other. "Your friend, Rose, has disappeared for the past two weeks. The Moon is looking around for her. She sent a note telling us to go to back to the cave. I'm assuming she found Rose."
"Is Rose okay!? Did DD get to her?" Bellis jumped up in worry.
"No. I'm sure she is alive. If DD had killed her, we would have found her body sooner." Dandy informed him grimly. "I think the Moon found her. She wouldn't have summoned us for anything else."
More passerbyers were staring at Bellis. They whispered and gave him quizzical looks. "I think we should go now, Bellis. I wasn't supposed to take you out of the hospital. In fact, when you woke up, they were planning on locking you away."
A loud piercing squeal came from behind them. They turned suddenly to find a police officer. "Where do you think you are taking him, Weed?" The officer shouted as he stomped towards them. Dandy grabbed Bellis' hand and hauled him off of the ledge. "We have to go now, officer!" He tipped his hat and ran down the street. Far behind them shouts and whistles tried to catch up, but the two were more agile. They maneuvered through the crowds and jumped into the brush that surrounded the border of the town. Once they were safe, Dandy helped Bellis up.
"That wasn't close at all." Bellis huffed as he caught his breath.
"Sorry about that. The path is up ahead. We should reach the cave by night fall." They followed an invisible path that brought them back to the towering mountains. "And now we climb!" Lyon started up the steep slope.
"I have a question." Bellis said.
"Hmm?"
"Why are weeds treated differently? How did that start?"
Dandy did not turn to reply. He could not let him see his pained face. "Sakura. Sakura Prunus, the mayor of Flos. The Sun put her there about ten years ago. At the time Flos was the great slum of Suun. She told us that she was going to provide more jobs and fix homes for all Flosites. That did not happen. Instead she forced weeds into something close to slave labor."
"That's awful."
"We got it better than the grass. They're stepped on and basically aren't conscious anymore."
"How can a being stop being conscious?"
"When something is dehumanized as much as they were, how can anything be alive?" Bellis and Dandy reached the half way point of the path. The slope eased into a flat outcropping in front of the cave entrance that over looked the valley. The halcyon orb of the sun barely peered over the horizon as the lights of Flors was becoming visible.
"Wow." Bellis was awestruck. "What a view." A light gust of wind pushed their hair out of their face and rumbled their clothing. In the distance two bodies flew closer and closer. Bellis could just make out the Moon's silver wings and Rose's red hair.
"It almost makes you forget that the world is going to end."
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