Quote:
Flower Power (15) : Destiny City has erupted with colorful wildflowers, both beautiful to look at and surprisingly fragrant. The aroma is incredibly alluring, and it's difficult not to be tempted to get a closer whiff. As expected, it smells even more amazing up close, and immediately after inhaling the aroma, colors seem brighter. Lights appear softer. The world takes on a warm, dreamlike quality where everything feels just a little more magical. Some describe glowing trails of light, shifting colors, or patterns that seem to move when they aren't looking directly at them. Others find themselves unusually cheerful, creative, or sociable. Unfortunately, not every experience is pleasant. What begins as a pleasant daydream can quickly become overwhelming, and the same flowers that inspire wonder in one person may leave another feeling confused, anxious, or trapped in an unpleasant hallucination. The effects always fade with time, maybe a few minutes, maybe a few hours, but no one seems quite sure why these flowers have such unusual properties. If you're the type to stop and smell the roses--be careful.
Jörmungandr was aware that it was sometimes not safe to approach mysterious plants. There were plenty of risks involved, and many of them were dangerous or deceitful. Plenty of magical plants actually wanted to make you a magical snack, and lots of them used vibrant colors and enticing scents to lure in prey. He had run into them time and time again on his travels across the universe, on his own world and on others, and every time, he had to pull someone out of the jaws of whatever entrancing thing they promised, and every time, it felt just a little embarrassing.
Jörmungandr even knew that such dangers might lurk on Earth. The strange oversize frog-monsters had used lilypads as camouflage to hide in ponds and appear innocuous until they struck. The violent sulfurous bird apparently resembled a fairly ordinary Earth creature. Many of the youma he'd seen had looked like animals, though most were strange and twisted enough to broadcast that they were dangerous. Camouflaged threats existed everywhere, and it was foolish to simply follow a pleasant aroma and let himself be drawn to a surprisingly vibrant field of flowers.
And yet, he found himself doing exactly that.
The flowers were truly lovely and vibrant, and perhaps that was the curse of it all. He had gone so long in the dark that so much life and color could not help but draw his attention. And the warm, soft fragrance smelled of life and vitality and also of comfort, and when Jörmungandr breathed in the flowers, he found himself floating.
Ah, yes. He knew this feeling, certainly. It was a blissful little high, perhaps the best kind. He would have to be careful not to linger too long, of course, because the dose made medicine or poison, and staying and inhaling too much might leave him with something worse, or leave him vulnerable or distracted should a foe come along--but that was another matter entirely to getting to enjoy what he had found.
He sank down to sit among the flowers, and as he did, his fingers curled around a lovely little amber star charm--perhaps someone had dropped it while distracted by the blissful scent. He could stay here a while, and drift, he supposed--enjoy how everything felt softer and kinder and easier, enjoy the dreamlike edges the world had taken on.
His eyes unfocused, and he let them follow strange, shifting patterns of light among the colors of the flowers. For a moment, he swore he could see the aroma floating in the air, trails like incense smoke that curled up into the sky.
Ah, at least he was familiar with this sort of thing. Someone unprepared, he supposed, might find it far more unpleasant.
Slowly, he lowered himself down to lay among the blossoms.
It would not last forever, he knew; nothing did. But at least this was easy and pleasant for him to seek out, and he could enjoy it for as long as it lasted. Or until he decided he ought to move on.
[wc: 509 words]
