Chapter 22: Seeds of Titan Arum
1035 Words
The mist wafted on their front.
Sure, Tristan had just experienced the scorching heat of the sun from the forest of peculiarly-colored and sized species of plants. But when they pass through the portal-like arc of vines and flowers, the weather becomes uncanny as well. The sun cleared off its rays, and the mist played around the surrounding.
In front of them, Tristan felt as if he was inside a realm of nightmare. Or perhaps inside a movie that has an after-the-war scene.
His gut felt sick. Entering through his nose is a morbid scent that makes his stomach churn and crumple, until he realizes that he was throwing up all of the things he had eaten. There were just a few foods he ate at the cafeteria, that is why his stomach suffered in writhing pain, as he uncontrollably threw up.
He felt he could not bear to look at it once again. At the sea of dead people.
“Tristan, let’s go.”
“s**t, Rain. How can you not feel affected by that?” Tristan asked, glaring at her.
“Not affected?” She looked at him. “You think I am not affected by that?”
As Tristan saw the pearls of tears forming on Rain’s face, his glower to her had faded.
“I am terrified, Tristan. I am. I want to back out. To get out of this freak-place.” She sobbed. “But I could not. Being a coward would not solve the pile of problems ahead of us.” She brushed the tears from her cold, ashen eyes. “If you don’t want to come, then fine. I’ll do it on my own.”
“R—Rain…”
As Rain turned her back to him, she did not dare to look back at him anymore. Instead, she walk towards the center of the field. Without any hesitation, she kicked the left severed hand that was hindering her path.
“Rain, wait up!” Holder grunted as he brushed the sticky liquid that was on his mouth. Remnants of what he threw up. He grunted as he stood up.
Having no choice, he followed Rain.
“Rain, please wait!” he ran towards him as he felt afraid for her; that something might happen to her as she passed through the field of corpses.
He knew he could not stop her from her decision. That is why, he had no choice but to follow her.
“Rain, I am sorry. I’ll… I’ll try not to be a coward.”
Rain did not listen. She did not reply to his apology. Instead, with a heave of heavy breath, she started to scurry, and climbed to the mountain of corpses. There was a frothing sound erupting from the flesh which Rain had stepped at. The dire scent of the dead intensified. When his stare landed at Rain’s feet, he saw a huge worm wriggling at the shell of her shoes.
He swallowed. There was a chopped head that was looking at him from the mountain of corpses. He could not identify whether it was a man or a woman’s. It’s bluish pale cheeks were damaged. Missing. Eaten by an army of tiny worms quickly wriggling and dancing on the head’s meat, as if a flesh party.
“Bullshit.”
He placed his fear and anxiety at the back of his mind. Despite being overwhelmed by the horrifying mountain of corpses, he made his very first step. He followed Rain who had already made a far distance from him.
He could not set aside the remarkable sticky feeling which felt gluing on his feet. He closed his eyes, and then heaved a sigh.
“I am being a clown-coward here,” he said. Fully decided that he would not be bothered by the corpses under his feet, he walked.
It took him a minute of holding the strength on his knees, for he felt that it would break down any second that he would not become wary of it.
Finally, they reached the peak of the corpse mountain. On that peak, standing proudly, is the flower of the deads: the Corpse flower. Titan arum.
Its roots were proudly blooming from the rotten body of a man. There was a problem, however, that they are encountering.
“How are we going to bring this huge flower? It’s two times bigger than me.”
Rain touched the huge petals of the flowers. The color of its petal resembles dark bluish and purple; a color that symbolizes death.
Now Rain ducked and dove through the inside of the inflorescence flower.
“What are you doing, Rain?”
Minute after scanning and looking inside the titanic flower, she came out with something in her hands.
“Let’s go. We need to go back now.”
“W—Were we leaving the flower?”
“We could not bring that. It’s impossible.”
“B—But…”
“I have the seeds here.”
Rain opened her palm. Looking at her hands, Tristan saw a set of seeds laying on her hands. she ripped a portion of her long, fitted sleeves. In there, she placed the seedlings of the corpse flower.
“I can’t believe you,” Tristan said, mocking Rain. But he was smiling.
“And I can’t believe you too. What a coward.”
“I—I’m not a coward. Who says I am?”
“How long did it take you to finally step here in this mountain of deads?”
Tristan looked down. He saw another head peeking above, towards his direction, with the use of its almost vain eye socket. Its mouth opened, making the tongue dangle away from its mouth.
“L—Let’s go, Rain. I think we shouldn’t stay here longer.”
Rain smirked. “Coward.”
“Come on, Rain. I’m having the chills.”
“There’s a ghost here.” Rain coldly said, as if it was a normal thing.
“I—I am not, never, afraid of ghosts.”
But when one appeared, it was not just Tristan who felt frigid and frightened. Both Rain and Tristan screamed in fear.
- Writer
