The Florist: This Tree Requires Scary Offerings!

Chapter 7: Lucifer

The next morning, Yuma sat in the geography class with Ludovic. He looked around. “The... The fifth-year students won’t join us in this class?” 

“They do. The amphitheatre will blow up. So overcrowded.” Ludovic complained with an irritated sigh. “Anyway. If you’re looking for Ivy, I saw him go in. I don’t know where he sat down though. He seemed tired. Go find him if you want. Lecture starts in ten minutes anyway.” 

Yuma ran to the upper seats and found Ivy sleeping on the desk. Yuma sat beside him and poked his head curiously.  

“I won’t eat you. No need to be so cautious.” Yuma panicked as Ivy flexed before sitting up, his hair messy. “What do you want?” 

“Um... I’m checking on you.” Yuma touched his chest. “Here... You were stabbed here... So...” 

Ivy took Yuma’s hand to remove it. “You shouldn’t talk to a weakling like me. Just ignore me like everyone else.” 

“That won’t do!” Yuma slapped the desk. “You saved my life.” 

“Forget about that.” Ivy looked away, annoyed. “Don’t talk to me.” 

He took his notebooks and was about to leave, but Yuma grabbed his arm and pulled him down angrily. “I made a promise, and so did you, that we will always be there for one another. I will serve you for the rest of my life.” 

The other students stopped chattering and focused on them. Ivy raised his eyebrows. “Just forget about it. It was a joke.” 

“No! A promise is a promise!” Yuma stood up. “I’m under your command, so use me as you please!” 

Ivy sighed, tilting his head back. “I’ve had enough.” 

He left the hall. Yuma returned to his seat. “Whatever! I don’t care about him anymore. He’s so cold to me.” 

“All right, class. Let’s start.” The teacher folded her arms. “I will be your geography teacher for this year. We will be exploring the different underground and above-ground pathways along with the geography of the eight other planets and comparing them to the old world. Any questions so far? No? Good.” 

She clapped. “Let’s start then...”

She slapped the board and turned it horizontally. Then, a hologram of ten floating spheres floated mid-air. 

The teacher pointed at the bigger sphere in the centre of the remaining nine spheres. “This big planet at the centre is called Kadema. It’s the old world, or whatever is left of it. Nobody lives there, yet for some reason, all new nine planets orbit around it.”  

She moved her pointer around the smaller nine planets. “Those are the nine nations governed by the nine kings. Among these nine planets, only ours is visible in space. While the reason for that is unknown, it is most likely because our king is dead. We’re no longer protected by him. That’s also the very reason we’re constantly under attack. Fortunately, another king was willing to take us under his wing.” 

Yuma glared at Hyacinth’s picture as it appeared in the hall. Ludovic folded his arms. “Propaganda everywhere.” 

“Check the handouts I distributed.” The teacher took a paper. “This paper contains the underground routes along with other references you can find in the library. I expect you to memorize the map by next week.” 

The students sighed in exasperation. She smiled, amused. “You will need that to save your lives. I’m helping you out, here.” 

He poked the paper. “The Eastern campus is us. We’re relatively far from downtown for several reasons. To move in-campus, use the bus. Private transportation means can only be used after signing several documents. If you wish to go downtown, you can use the train. This is also a boarding university, so the dorms are built-in. You don’t need to go downtown, really, unless you’re looking for a dating spot.” 

“Teacher, I'm looking for a dating spot!”

"You need to find a partner first."

"Teacher!"

Ivy walked along the circular hallways surrounding the main yard of the university. He stopped, facing the man with white eyes. The man smiled, watching him. “I see you recovered overnight. That’s a relief.” He poked his lips. “I made sure to heal every single bit of you. Are you still feeling pain somewhere? I will be sure to heal it as I should.” 

Ivy stared at him in silence. Hyacinth approached him. “Interesting. It seems as if you know what you’re doing. Your eyes, they're just like his.” 

He grinned. “Anyway, if you try to run away now, I will just crush you again like I did last time. At least you’re smart enough to realize that, weakest student in the world.” 

Ivy nodded. “I see the news reached you already. I’m very weak, so what business do you have with good-for-nothing trash such as myself?” 

“By any chance...” Hyacinth took his chin. “Would you be... Ivy? The Ivy?” 

“My name is Ivy Bluequeen. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Bluequeen?” Hyacinth raised his eyebrows. “Is that so?” 

He let Ivy go. “Right. The dead can’t come back to life, even if they’re immortal.”

Ivy gazed at him coldly. “If you finished molesting me, can I go?” 

“Don’t you have class at this hour?” 

“I do.” 

“Why are you outside?” 

“Because I wish to be outside.” 

“IVY BLUEQUEEN! YOU’RE UNDER ARREST!” A group of five students ran towards him with weapons in their hands. “YOU ARE TO BE SEIZED RIGHT THIS INSTANT! Do not resist or face the wrath of Lady Marissa!” 

Ivy snorted. “Well, bye then.” He dashed past Hyacinth and used a regular blade to block a knife flying his way. “Did she say to catch me alive at least, Garden?” 

“MY NAME IS JORDAN!” a man with brown hair and grey eyes screamed as he threw a second knife at Ivy. “STOP RIGHT THIS INSTANT!” 

Ivy jumped on the roof of the hallway and folded his legs. “Sure. I stopped.” He smiled. “Come get me, Garden.” 

“You’re too carefree. You must be thoroughly disciplined.” 

Ivy stood up, hearing a female speaking. “I didn’t know they sent you with him too, Elena.” Glancing behind, he saw a golden-haired woman cracking her fingers. “So? What will it be? A broken bone or permanent mental damage? Will you please choose?” 

Ivy sighed, his shoulders sinking. “Fine.” He rested his wrists in front of her. “Seize me all you want. I don’t care anymore.” 

“A wise decision.” 

Their eyes widened as an earthquake started. The alarms beeped. 

This is not a simulation. This is not a simulation. We are being attacked by the Roosters. Please, seek shelter immediately. 

Ivy narrowed his eyes. “The what now?” 

“The roosters.” A second girl beside him adjusted her glasses. “They are a strange species. They appeared only once in the past ten years, so we don’t have a lot of data about them. We only know that their meat is delicious. I don't know why they were given that name though.” 

“Hah?” Ivy raised his eyebrows. “You cooked them?” 

“Of course not. My mother did that. She ate them raw.”  

Ivy looked away, “Makes sense.” 

“It doesn’t!” Jordan jumped beside them. “We really don’t know anything?” 

“I know something!” A shorter female with pink hair spoke. “They kidnap humans! Ten years ago, I heard that a thousand people went missing over the course of ten hours. The attack lasted for ten hours, so that’s all they could get. We never heard from the kidnapped people again.” 

“We also call them roosters, but they don’t look much like roosters,” Elena added. “If anything, they look like... dragons, or maybe fish, perhaps? There’s only one photograph of these abominations. It’s like they’re a mixture of different animals.” 

Ivy gazed at the sky and saw a giant hole opening up. He turned him back to the others. “I’ll go to the shelter now, so good luck, fellow fifth-year students.” 

“No! You’re also a fifth-year student, and you will also fight!” Elena grabbed him by the cheek and pushed him forward. “You disgusting coward! I will whip you back in shape as soon as this is over!” 

He sighed, rubbing his cheek. “Fine, but I’ll fight alone.” 

“What are you trying to say?! You can’t! You have no chance on your own!” Jordan jumped beside him. “I will go with you.” 

Ivy glanced at him from over his shoulder. “Sure. If you can keep up,” with that, he disappeared into thin air. 

“As expected...” Elena gritted her teeth, her fists crackling with lightning. “THAT b***h RAN AWAY! I WILL RIP HIM TO SHREDS NEXT TIME I SEE HIM! I can't believe he's a time user! Such a precious element had to be attributed to a loser like him!”

“Calm down, Elena!”

“My child...!”  

Yuma heard a woman crying. He glanced at Ludovic. “This... voice... Is it a civilian?”

“Most likely.” Ludovic nodded. “This is the way to the shelter. Should we go rescue her? We’re students too. We are expected to do this much.” 

They ran towards the sound and found a woman with enormous horns and a mask over her face looking around frantically. “Where is it...? Where is my baby?” 

She looked up, noticing Yuma and Ludovic. “Have you seen him? Please! He’s... He’s about this big!”

She lowered her hand to her knee. “He’s too small! Please! Help me!” 

Yuma pointed at her head. “A-Are you... human–?” 

“PLEASE HELP ME! PLEASE! I MUST PROTECT THIS CHILD!” 

She fell to her knees, begging. “PLEASE! I WILL DO ANYTHING!” 

Ludovic frowned, confused. “Wh-What should we do? I’ll leave the judgement to you.” 

Yuma gazed at the woman’s golden hair and winced, holding his head in his hands. He fell backwards with a gasp. Ludovic caught him. “Woah! Are you okay?”

Yuma was crying as he nodded. “I... I’m all right... I want to help that woman. I... don’t care about her identity," he whispered with a sniffle, wiping away the tears he couldn't control.

Ludovic nodded. “I agree. Losing a child can’t be good.” 

He sat in front of the woman. “Tell me. Where did you lose your child?” 

She looked at him, sobbing. “W-Will you really... help me? You won’t... kill me?” 

“No. Tell me. Where should we look?” 

“I... I don’t know!” 

Ludovic helped her stand. “Okay. Let’s look around here first.” 

They ran around the streets looking for the child. Their eyes widened as a building suddenly collapsed in front of them, causing a cloud of smoke. 

“What are you doing?” A cold voice rang in their ears as a green circle surrounded all three of them.

“Why are you with a rooster? Depending on your answer, I will slay you two together with her.” 

A man with short white hair and green eyes was standing on top of the building, gazing down upon them with a frigid gaze. The setting sun reflected on his tanned skin, making it glow. “You have five seconds to think of an answer that won’t cost you more than a broken bone.”

Yuma opened his mouth to speak but gasped as a blue light burst into his visual field. “Siding with the roosters in any way, shape or form is strictly forbidden on humans. They are considered our natural enemies.” Ivy appeared from the light. “Tell me, why did you make this decision?” 

“W-We didn’t know!” Yuma protested. “This is all... so new to me!” 

Ivy turned to him and slashed the air between them, making the red-haired gasp and fall to the ground in fear. He blinked, seeing that the green rope restraining them was severed. “Ah... Th-Thank you.” 

“Now that you know, what will you do?” Ivy tilted his head to the side. “Will you kill that... creature?” 

The female was trembling and crying as she looked around. She smiled happily, seeing a small child running from behind the building. “MAMA! WHERE ARE YOU? MAMA!” 

The woman stood up. “My baby! C-Come here!” 

She gasped, as the white-haired appeared behind the child to stab him. “NO! PLEASE, STOP! PLEASE!” 

Yuma’s eyes watered. “Please... Help... them...”

The white-haired stabbed the child and frowned, seeing Ivy standing an inch away from him, holding his sword with his bare hand. Ivy gazed into his eyes. “I will take responsibility for what they are about to do.” 

The white-haired glared daggers at him. “What will you do, you self-centred piece of garbage?”

Ivy closed his eyes and rested a hand against his chest. He whispered an incantation, and ten blue fiery wings appeared from his back. 

The wings then separated from Ivy and condensed into a tiny blue sphere before a male jumped from it. “Again?!” The man sighed and pushed his dark blue hair back. “What are my orders?” 

“Take them away.” 

“Away?” The blue-haired glanced at Ivy. “You have to be a little more specific. Help me out a little.” 

Ivy clenched his jaw. “Really?” 

“Uhm... Okay.”  

The blue-haired smiled at the group of four. “Touch me, all of you.” 

They grabbed onto his clothes and disappeared from sight immediately. 

Yuma looked around and frowned, seeing himself in a garden. The man grinned. “What do you think of my mansion? Not bad, right?” 

“Wh-Where is... Where is Ivy?! Why isn’t he here?” 

“You’re not asking the right questions.” The blue-haired shook his head and sat on a nearby bench, folding his legs. “Ivy can’t come. He has to take responsibility. If he doesn’t do that, you two will get killed.” 

Their eyes widened. “K-Killed.” 

“Because you sided with the enemy.” The blue-haired pointed at the woman and her child, “He will take the punishment for you.” 

“HE WILL GET KILLED? No! Let me go back! I should be the one to die!” 

“He won’t get killed.” The blue-haired shook his head. “He might suffer a little, but he won’t die.”

“Suffer... but... He’s so strong!”

“Not really. He’s fairly weak.”

“Who are you anyway?”

The blue-haired shrugged. “You can call me Lucifer. For some reason, Ivy said that I mustn’t tell people my real name.” 

He stood up. “Sit tight and wait for him to get you and your friend.”

He moved his gaze to the woman. “And who are you exactly?”

He narrowed his eyes, bending down against her petite figure. “Remove your mask.”

She hesitated then nodded several times. She removed her mask to reveal crystal clear green eyes and reddish lips. She looked at them fearfully, hugging the child. “W-Will you kill us now?” 

“My master is being tortured as we speak just so you could escape,” Lucifer started, “If anything, I must make sure that you’re safe and sound until he gets here.” 

“We... We’re no longer on Chaos, right?” 

“No, we are. This is a different Chaos, if you like,” Lucifer explained, “A parallel world, maybe.” 

“And... What’s this world? It looks so different...” 

“The world of jinns, but there are many races mixed here. It's not just jinns. I’m part of the evil fraction. There are good fractions out there. You can take a look around if you dare.” 

“Then... Why do you call Ivy Master? Is he... your master?” 

“Well, that’s complicated.” Lucifer took the dark blue sphere in his hand. “Are you familiar with what this is?” 

Yuma shook his head. “What is that?”

“Nevermind.” Lucifer placed the ball in his jacket. “Anyway, I sense Ivy coming this way. Now we can decide about what to do with this woman.” 

“S-So quickly?” 

“Yeah. I assume he did a trick or two.” Lucifer smiled as Ivy slapped the back of his head. “Don’t say too much. Know your place, slave.” 

“Yes, yes.” Lucifer pointed at the woman. “What should we do with her?” 

Ivy knelt in front of her and gazed into her green eyes. He frowned slightly. “Have we...?” 

“Please! Save us!” 

His eyes widened slightly as his blue irises shined. He stood up, wincing. “Shut up. Don’t talk. I don’t want to hear your voice.” 

Her gaze saddened. “I’m... so sorry...” 

Ivy stood beside Lucifer. “Why didn’t you attack us? We’re humans. Roosters and humans are natural enemies.” 

“That’s not true!” she protested, “We’re just... looking for our children! There are... many of us who come to kill and wreak havoc, but even we’re at war with them! Please, believe me!” 

“Can you take me there? To your world?” Ivy asked, “I can’t believe you unless I see it all with my own eyes.” 

“Why are you asking her?” Lucifer smiled widely. “I can take you there, probably.” 

“Shut up.” Ivy glanced at the woman’s child, who was sleeping in her arms. She hugged him protectively, crying. “Please... I-If you must kill, at least let him live!” 

“Did you listen to my question?” Ivy cracked his fingers. “Can you take me there?” 

“I-I ran away from home.” She sniffed. “If I go back now, I will be killed, or worse, my baby will be taken away from me! I can’t bear that!” 

Ivy glanced at Yuma and Ludovic. “What do you suggest we do?” 

“We must help her!” they exclaimed. 

“What if she’s a spy, and this is all a setup?” Ivy asked. 

“I... I swear that I’m not lying! Please, believe me!” she cried. 

“Shut up.” Ivy eyed her. “I didn’t ask you to speak.” 

Yuma clenched his fists. “Why are you treating her so badly just because she has horns instead of ears? Are you that shallow?” 

“Yeah.” Ivy stood an inch away from Yuma. “What will you do about it? Can you stop me?” 

Yuma gritted his teeth. “You’re a monster!” 

He slapped Ivy and pushed him back. “Go away! I don’t want to–” 

His eyes widened, seeing Ivy collapse on the grass, unconscious. “Huh?” He sat beside him. “I-Ivy?!” 

“He’s just sleeping.” Lucifer shrugged. “Don’t worry about him.” 

“But...!” 

“He doesn’t have any external injuries.” Lucifer caressed Ivy’s cheek with the back of his hand. “But his energy is almost entirely drained.” 

He carried him in his arms. “It’s understandable.” 

“I don’t understand!” Yuma protested. 

“Walk with me. You too. What’s your name?” Lucifer glanced at the woman. She stood up, carrying her child and wearing her mask again. “M-My name is Esler.” 

“Yeah.” Lucifer walked ahead. “Something happened over twenty thousand years ago. After this event happened, only nine male humans made it out alive, out of billions and billions of the species. These individuals awakened some forms of affinities towards random things in the universe. The level of this affinity differs from one person to another, and it decides the degree of compatibility between this individual and whatever matter they are linked to. You can easily call this magic and it’s not wrong to do so. However, no magic formulas can help you master something new as your mastery of this element or matter that you are linked to is decided from birth. Training hard may get you far ahead, but you will reach a stalemate eventually.” 

Lucifer entered the castle to be greeted by servants that lined up in front of him. “In order to establish a link between a person and the matter they relate to, energy is required in exchange. You can call it mana for example. However, it’s would be more appropriate to call it spiritual energy of sorts. To put it more simply, you need energy points to perform elemental attacks. These points can’t be replenished with potions or food. That won't work for everyone at least. In fact, each individual has his own means of refilling this gauge.” Lucifer entered his personal bedroom. “Once this energy runs too low, the person will face something worse than death.” 

“W-Worse than death?” Ludovic shuddered. “What’s that?” 

“Hm...” Lucifer laid Ivy on his bed and loosened his collar and belt. “I don’t know the details myself, but if I was to take a wild guess...” He moved his gaze to the window. “They are taken to the old world...” 

The others gasped in shock. “Th-That’s terrible!” 

“I’m not sure.” Lucifer sat on the king-sized bed, folding his legs. “I’m just guessing. I never used up my energy, so I don’t know what happens.” 

“This... applies to jinns too?” 

“Yes. All creatures are bound by this rule. The only difference is how much energy each race has. Jinns have tremendous amounts of energy compared to humans. Angels have even more energy reserves. As for...” He narrowed his eyes as he gazed at Esler. “Roosters... if I may, I don't have any information in this regard.” 

He folded his arms. “The issue with humans is that they were not created to use any form of magic or interact in any way with anything. The mutation from twenty thousand years ago changed that, but the price humans must pay in exchange for this power is directly deducted from the soul. The soul is the only supernatural element out there, and it’s the only link humans have with the other side.” 

“The... other side.” Yuma gazed down at himself. “So... I... I can use magic?” 

“Yeah, to a certain extent.” Lucifer smiled. “Why don’t we test that while Ivy recovers?” 

“Wait! You said each human needs a certain way to replenish energy. Doesn’t Ivy need help now?” 

“I don’t know what Ivy needs. I tried to ask him, but he never told me. Apparently, he never replenished his energy either. That’s why, each time he uses a considerable amount of magic, he either collapses from exhaustion or becomes very sick.” Lucifer stood up. “I did say we all need ways to refill our energy levels, but they recover on their own even without doing anything. Think of it as an MP Regen system. If, hypothetically, I have two thousand points of energy, if I don’t do anything, I can regenerate around one point an hour.” 

“That’s too low! That’s twelve weeks to replenish your full energy!” Yuma sighed. “This is so unfair!” 

“If you follow the method that’s compatible with you, you can regain all the points instantly at times. I don’t see this as unfair at all.” Lucifer shook his head. “However, for some reason, Ivy refuses to tell me what he needs to do and refuses to do it himself. I don’t know how many energy points he has either.” 

“Oh... Can you tell how many we have? Is it countable?” 

“Yes, for practicality’s sake, yes. The concept of energy is much more complicated, so I tried to simplify it for you. Learning the complicated stuff won’t serve you for anything anyway, as a human.” 

Lucifer rested his hand on Ivy’s exposed chest. “This is a basic primary utility magic skill. If I touch someone’s chest, I can normally extract information about them. However...” 

He backed away as a blue fire started burning his hand. “It seems like I can’t get through to Ivy. I don’t know anything.” 

He sighed, blowing on his burning hand. “It hurts...” 

Ludovic frowned. “That’s a strange fire. The consistency is weird.” 

“These are Jahannam's flames. Blue is only the first degree, but it still hurts.” Lucifer turned to them, extending his hand. 

“Want to try?” 

“N-No, thank you.” 

Lucifer waited until the fire disappeared. “Normally, hellfire never stops, but its fuel is sinning and sinners. Eh... Anyway.” He turned to Yuma. “You want me to check how much energy you have?” 

Yuma nodded. “Please!”

“Don’t beg. It’s creepy.”

“A-Ah, sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, geez.” Lucifer unbuttoned Yuma’s shirt and rested his hand over his heart. Yuma blinked, feeling his body grow hotter as his heart beat faster. Lucifer shut his eyelids as blue screens appeared around them, floating mid-air. Yuma glanced around, surprised. Most of the screens were glitching except for one. A number was showing on it. Lucifer frowned, opening his eyes. “You... How old are you?” 

“I’m... I’m twenty-two... I think?” Yuma titled his head. “Why do you ask?” 

“Your energy reserves are...” Lucifer poked the screen as it grew in size. “This number.” 

Ludovic’s eyes widened slowly. “How... do we even read that?” 

"The human aggregate is around a thousand. The jinn aggregate is around a billion. The angel aggregate is about one decillion, but this...” Lucifer narrowed his eyes. “This is... Your energy is..."

Yuma gazed at the dozen nines stacked beside one another in silence. “This... can’t be... mine. There must be a mistake!” 

Lucifer shook his head. “It’s impossible. This is the correct number. He scratched his head. “You have almost a trillion points. It lacks a single point.”

He folded his arms as all the screens disappeared. “Well, at least your question is answered. Your turn.” He moved to Ludovic. “Your energy is two thousand points. That’s not bad. You can do a lot of stuff with two thousand points.” 

“I will put it all in my cooking!” Ludovic laughed. 

Lucifer moved his gaze Esler, who was already asleep. He sat down again. “Want me to go check if the flames died down in your world? Then, you two can go back.” 

“No... I... I must wait for Ivy.” Yuma’s gaze saddened. “I want to apologize.”

“Ah, it seems like they have already decided about Ivy’s punishment."