idolpro | Flowers of Heaven 2: future is now + ☆ZRAEL

There’s a whirr and a series of quiet bleep-boops; an odd sound like stones grinding together.

Gathering around you all are strange creatures. Wheeling up to future is now are what seem to be friendly robots, almost like roombas, that have been given attachments of long, jointed arms with simple pincers at the ends, and hopping up to ☆ZRAEL are what look like a number of gargoyles, each no more than a few feet high and in the traditional gothic cathedral style—and all animate, their flesh made of living rock.
None of the creatures speak, exactly, but they chitter and nudge at you like they're greeting old friends, and usher you towards a gap that's opened in the thick curtain of kudzu vines and onto a winding path beyond.

Once you cross through, the vines grow rapidly to cover the open space behind you, and the voices of your fellow idols fade from your ears. It seems as if you’re on your own, now.

❀ ❀ ❀

Here, the vines that surround your path have thick, velvety leaves, and the stems of the vines are traced with shifting, fiber-optic lines that cycle through the rainbow.

The little creatures are carrying some things for you—the roombas carry a wreath of vervain, honeysuckle, and oak flowers and leaves, and the gargoyles a wreath of lotus, clematis, and wild rose. As they approach you, the air shifts in a strange way, and suddenly they have one wreath between them—all those flowers woven together into one, which they offer to you. They also have for you a collection of sixteen different flowers, and a small lantern of blue flame.

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[ deep breath, and release. ]

I don't know what else I expected. What should we do?

We find out which flower to shield and then strategically burn pieces of ourselves, I suppose. Nothing anyone would do given a choice, but that's the point.

Pieces of ourselves--or pieces of others, if we're willing to risk our friends.

Saying it like that was my way of volunteering, I think.

[ Hmm. ]

Are you sure that's a good idea? You share Wild Rose with one of our other members.

[ Not to mention you had a bad time with your guilt after the last game. Are you sure this isn't you punishing yourself for not being able to save everyone then? ]

[ It is absolutely that, but her guilt is way older than the zombie game ]

I couldn't protect everyone last time, so I'd like to do it this time. But if strategically wild rose is a bad one to burn, then I have another.

[ sigh. if it'll actually help aliza then she doesn't want to deny her. but she also doesn't want to see her unnecessarily hurt herself. ]

As long as you only sacrifice the one. There's no reason you need to take all of the burden on your shoulders.

Well -- the good news, if it can be called that, is that I share wild rose with someone I care about. So I wouldn't want to sacrifice that one.

All right, then. If you're dead set on it, I won't oppose your other flower.

Thank you.

-- but I am still with you and Aradia no matter what, and I still want you both as safe as we can be in this mess. He's not my only priority.

Mm. We'll just have to wait and see what the other teams do. Although... if Aradia wears the crown, that should protect both Clematis and Lotus, if I'm understanding correctly.

[ And that, in turn, would protect two of their other members. ]

-- It didn't occur to me that the other teams actions could affect us, but it makes sense. It's trying to strategize when we're mostly blind.

[ nodding and grimacing ]

Most likely this one's going to be a mess no matter what we do.

[ There's no way to guess what everyone else is choosing and so many options. ]

That said, it's still worth trying.

[ The thought of hurting Venti or Lupine or Caeli... but they have no choice. She has to protect the people in front of her for now. ]

It's worth trying.

[ Yeah it's Not Great. She's definitely pretty worried about them unintentionally getting them too. But they don't even know what the flowers mean, so it's just wasted energy to worry too much right now. ]

Is everyone okay with you burning your flower?

They have to be. I want Causality in that crown for this round.

[ LITTLE DOES SHE KNOW ]

Why Causality?

If it was going to be either me or him protected because we share Wild Rose, then I don't want it to be me.

-- Don't make me spell this out right now, okay? [ Feelings there are Complicated. ]

[ Hmmmmm that sounds a lot like her saying she has a thing for Causality. But isn't she already in a relationship with someone else? If that's the case, then this really isn't the time for something like that to come out. ]

All right. As long as he agrees to it, I don't have any objections.

[ This will be an interesting discussion later on! Her species is polyamorous but she's keenly aware that many humans are not. ]

He'd better. [ famous last words are go! ] Thanks for not pushing.

[ Probably a formative one considering up until now she has not given relationship dynamics a second thought. ]

There's still two more rounds to go. The way I see it, it's best to pick my battles.

[ Aliza's whole life, both here and before, is juggling this stuff. Badly. ]

Anyone can only wear the crown once, so I'll be easier to convince in future rounds.

I just want to protect the people important to me for at least one round, you know? If there was a flower you and Dia shared I'd be pushing for one of you to wear it.

If we shared one, I'd be okay with that. She does share one with someone else, though--so it does make sense for her to wear it eventually.

Flowers of Heaven 2: future is now + ☆ZRAEL

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