Gardenia’s Heart

The Valley of Dawn was a place where all kinds of tragedies could occur.

Far from any form of civilization and covered in claustrophobic, unwelcoming vegetation—home to countless monsters dangerous enough to drive even powerful mages away—it was common knowledge that anyone who entered could not afford to waste time on trivial matters or take the situation lightly.

(Hey!)

But common sense did not apply to that family.

(Hey, don’t ignore me!) Puffing out her cheeks, Sylvan rolled through the air while flailing her arms. Even with her exaggerated movements, the wide-brimmed hat never slipped from her head.

The target of her protest could not have been clearer. Walking beside the floating woman while carrying a girl in a honey-colored dress on her back, the small silver-haired girl furrowed her brows.

“You’re the one who’s always telling me not to talk to you when there are other people around, Grandma Sylvan. Mama Lily and Mama Nia always get worried when they see me talking ‘by myself.’” Whispering as quietly as possible, Rose shot an irritated glance at the floating woman.

Even though she had been told time and again that they shouldn’t converse when others were nearby, her grandmother would always insist on commenting or teaching something whenever she grew bored with the silence. Rose was already used to this contradiction, and even with Sylvan muttering random things in her ear, she could still stay aware of her surroundings.

“Rose… where are we going?” Still flushed, Cherry whispered as she buried her face deeper into the girl’s silver hair.

“For now, I think we should move away from the monsters and head toward where the fog is thinner. I don’t want you getting hurt, and it would be risky to fight if they find us right now.” Tilting her head gently as she noticed Cherry’s emerald eyes hiding again in her hair, Rose brought a finger to her lips before continuing. “What do you think we should do?”

Trying to steady her breathing as she realized Rose was thinking entirely about her safety, the elf took several deep breaths to calm her racing heart. Twirling a strand of her golden hair between her fingers in an attempt to compose herself, Cherry timidly peeked at the girl, clearing her throat as she tried to project her voice.

“W-Well… the Valley of Dawn is enormous, and we were thrown very far by the floating rivers before we fell. The dense treetops are a problem, but I think our mothers might be able to find us if we stay as visible as possible.”

Although she wanted to raise her barrier to perfectly conceal their mana, sounds, and scent—just as she had done to hide them among the luggage—Cherry knew she couldn’t. Completely hiding from the surrounding monsters would also mean hiding from any search spells their mothers might use to look for them.

In this situation, remaining exposed carried the risk of confrontation, but it was also their best chance of being rescued.

Stopping in place, Rose used her bluish tentacle to gently bring the elf around to face her. Startled by the sudden movement, Cherry couldn’t react before her right hand was taken.

“Cherry, can’t you at least put up a barrier to push the fog away from you?” The dark look that formed on Rose’s face was justified. From the tips of her nails to halfway up her fingers, purple veins and markings began to spread across her skin.

Even as the metamorph carefully felt along her hand and a tentacle held her securely by the waist, Cherry’s expression didn’t brighten.

“A barrier strong enough to repel the Demon King’s fog is something only my mother and yours can do…” Shaking her head several times and struggling not to look away, the elf spoke coldly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Even though breathing the fog was not as dangerous for mages as it was for ordinary people, not even they were truly safe when it came to purple miasma.

Forming in areas where the fog was especially dense, the thick, purplish miasma could slowly poison anyone who inhaled it over time.

“I’m sorry too… If I could already use precognition like my mother, I might be able to find a way for us to get out of here.”

Whispering timidly once again, Cherry tried to apologize for her inability to do anything in the situation. But before she could sink back into self-blame, a firm voice interrupted her thoughts.

“We’re here because of me. You don’t need to blame yourself for anything, Cherry!”

As the one who had suggested this journey in the first place, Rose would never accept Cherry carrying the burden of guilt for what had happened. No matter what came next, it was her responsibility to take the risks and ensure the girl’s safety.

“I found a cave where the fog doesn’t reach. If things get complicated, we can hide there. I’m sure our mothers will find us eventually!”

Gently stroking the golden hair, Rose softly pressed her lips to the girl’s face, making Cherry’s entire body tremble at once.

Although she wouldn’t have minded doing it again to cheer her up, Rose noticed that the effect seemed strangely powerful for some reason. After a bit of trial and error, she realized that a light touch of her lips against the elf’s cheek was more than enough.

“I-I can find fruits for us! You must be hungry, Rose!” Pointing discreetly toward the top of her head, Cherry lightly shook her antennas, her voice filled with nervous energy.

Even though she wanted to say that she had just eaten one of the local monsters, Rose didn’t want to dampen the girl’s enthusiasm, so the two of them began searching for fruit.

While Rose could use mana-location to search for herbs, it only worked on things whose shape and structure she already knew.

Even if two fruits were similar, she could tell an apple from a pear with her magic—but if she didn’t know whether what she was sensing was a fruit at all, only a question mark would form in her mind.

On top of that, even though plants were technically living beings, Rose couldn’t perceive the glow of their souls to distinguish them.

As expected, after several minutes of searching in such a dense, low-light forest, they found no fruits like the ones Rose was familiar with from the elven forest.

But that didn’t mean there was no way to find any.

“Over there… it’ll be on a high branch…”

Like olfactory receptors, Cherry could use her antennas to pick up the unique scent of nearby fruits and flowers, even through the thick fog.

Leaping onto a branch and grabbing a small, greenish, fairly round fruit, Rose tried to relate it to something she had eaten before, but nothing came to mind.

“It’s not dangerous for you to eat it, right?” Because of her metamorphic nature, Rose doubted that poison would affect her—but the same couldn’t be said for the elf.

“Well… there are several ways to tell if a fruit is poisonous. Look…”

Whether by checking its color, the presence of insects nearby, or whether it caused a reaction after touching the skin for a certain amount of time, Cherry knew many methods for separating edible fruits from dangerous ones.

Born in the royal palace and taught about the forest from a very young age, she took pride in her wide range of technical knowledge about flora and fauna.

It was a subject that, unsurprisingly, held little interest for children her age and was often treated as boring or annoying. Still, no matter how many times the little elf talked about it, the girl in front of her always listened attentively.

Even when she spoke in an extremely soft, hesitant voice, pausing often or getting tangled in her words and having to start over, Rose never rushed her. She listened from beginning to end with a gentle smile on her face.

“Cherry really knows so many things. That’s amazing,” Rose said cheerfully, using the Moon Fangs to carefully cut the fruit.

“I-It’s just something I read in a few encyclopedias… It’s nothing special.”

Hiding her flushed face once more in the silver hair that still carried a pleasant scent despite everything that had happened, Cherry—far too happy to even notice the daggers she had never seen before slicing the fruit—subtly cleared her throat before continuing.

“I-I studied that fruits found in the forest usually aren’t as good as the ones we select and cultivate for consumption, since they have more seeds and tend to be more sour, so the taste might be a bit unpleasant.”

Placing one of the pieces into her mouth and extending another toward the elf’s lips, Rose paused to think.

“It’s not that bad. It’s actually kind of sweet.”

Whether a monster was cooked or not, as long as its material was preserved to a certain degree, Rose could still absorb the innate abilities of what she consumed. Because of that, even the grotesque creatures her mothers hunted had become delicious dishes at her table since she was little.

With such an unconventional diet, Rose didn’t consider a wild fruit to be anything unpleasant.

As she watched Cherry’s cute face twist while tasting the fruit—far too sour for her palate—Rose felt the chill of the night grow denser.

Her breath became visible, and the fine hairs on her body stood on end.

The mist, which until then had been nothing more than a background detail she ignored, began to weigh heavily on her thoughts.

[Kill]

She heard a voice inside her mind.

“I told you I can’t talk right now,” Rose whispered, turning her head toward the floating woman who was staring up at the sky through the trees.

Hearing her granddaughter’s words, Sylvan tilted her head, genuine confusion appearing on her face.

(But I didn’t say anything.)

Watching her grandmother shake her head as if she truly didn’t understand what Rose meant, Rose raised her eyebrows, then assumed she must have imagined it.

It was just something random surfacing in her mind.

A clear, cold impulse she didn’t need to follow.

Her fingers slid gently down to the hem of her dress, her hands closing softly around her two daggers.

The strange, almost mechanical smoothness of the motion showed that it was something she could do with ease.

It was natural.

She was in the forest, and her role was to protect Cherry.

Yes.

[Kill]

She just needed to kill that girl.

Pulling the elf closer with the use of her tentacle, she felt her thoughts realign.

Like gears turning to bring order to what had been confused, she simply knew what needed to be done.

Not out of fear. Not out of logic.

But because the command was absolute.

She had to obey it.

There was no need to resist.

She only needed to get rid of the elf.

She just needed to listen to the command, and everything would be fine.

“Rose…?”

Like a spectator inside her own body, all she had to do was raise her dagger.

Just one strike.

She would fulfill the will of the command, and everything would be fine.

Her hands were shaking violently, but if she carried out the order she had been given, the pressure crushing her body would finally end.

And then, just as the dagger was rising toward her target’s neck, a thunderous snap shook her entire mind.

(Focus on my voice, Rose!)

Literally jumping in place and shaking her head in disorientation, Rose stared at the red-haired woman. Clapping her hands once more to draw all of the girl’s attention, Sylvan fixed her amber eyes directly on pupils that resembled a clear sky.

(If you lose focus, your will will be overridden. Ignore any other voice. Stay in control, or you may end up hurting Cherry.)

The words, spoken in the most serious tone Rose had ever heard from the mage, finally made her realize what she was doing. Held so tightly by a bluish tentacle, Cherry could barely breathe, her arms struggling to create space so her neck wouldn’t be crushed.

“Ugh… Ah… Aah…”

Quickly releasing the girl from the tentacle as she immediately began coughing, Rose pulled her into a tight embrace to keep her from collapsing to the ground.

“C-Cherry, I’m sorry… I… I didn’t mean to…”

Rose couldn’t understand what that sensation had been. In a single instant, her will had been overridden so naturally that it hadn’t even felt strange. It was absolute clarity, as if every ethic and desire she had before had been replaced by something else, compelling her to act without question.

If Sylvan hadn’t forced her out of that trance, she would have undoubtedly killed Cherry while obeying that command.

It was disgusting.

It was repulsive.

(You spent too much time in the purple miasma, Rose. Ideally, we should get you out of this fog as soon as possible, but unfortunately, that’s the least of our problems right now.)

Watching Rose collapsed on the ground, holding the recovering elf tightly, Sylvan turned her gaze back toward the mist-filled sky.

(Prepare yourself. He’s coming.)

“…He—!?” Rose whispered, barely having time to react before her entire body began to tremble.

Like an earthquake descending from the heavens, branches and leaves shook violently. It was as if the very atmosphere warped under the pressure of something immense.

Her eyes darted around in panic as Rose saw the souls of every monster in the forest fleeing all at once.

Then, a massive shadow loomed overhead, forcing her to look up.

A tremendous impact struck the forest floor.

In an instant, an enormous wave of dust and stone exploded in every direction, even engulfing the fog in a vast curtain of debris and shards.

Wrapping Cherry and herself in a tentacle, Rose felt her body hurled like a rag doll in a typhoon, smashing through countless trees before finally slamming into the side of a hill.

Vertigo mixed with bile rising into her throat as her dazed blue eyes struggled to understand what was happening.

And then, she saw it.

Indigo scales that once covered its reptilian body like armor were now bloodstained and dull. Its immense tail—so large that its beginning and end couldn’t be seen at the same time—swung slowly, reducing every tree in its path to splinters.

Of its four platinum wings, one hung limp and completely shredded, and several of its claws—once capable of carving valleys into mountains—were now broken.

Yet even grievously wounded and on the brink of collapse, the grace it carried was enough to make anyone kneel before it, its ferocity utterly undiminished by the injuries.

A deafening roar burst from its throat, merging with the collapse of the ravines around them. The air vibrated so violently it felt as though the world itself were collapsing in a single, overwhelming chorus—so loud and grand it threatened to shatter the little girls’ eardrums.

(Dragons are known for being stubborn, but this one really doesn’t want to give up.)

With Cherry semi-unconscious behind her, Rose faced the enormous dragon while gripping both daggers, the red-haired woman floating at her side.

“You said that if I knew where to strike, I would never lose a battle, didn’t you?”

Her hands trembled violently, and Rose didn’t even bother hiding it. She stared straight into the reptilian eyes now locked onto her, struggling not to collapse under the crushing weight of her own fear.

The situation had shifted so abruptly, so many times, that her mind faltered.

This was the same dragon that had attacked her and her mothers before.

Why was that dragon here?

She was so overwhelmed by fear that she couldn’t even begin to speculate an answer.

She needed to cling to something—any shred of hope of surviving this—or her mind would be swallowed whole by terror.

However, the words that came from one of the people she trusted most only made the fear swell even further.

(We’re not dealing with just any dragon. This is one of the leaders of the three clans. Even with the Moon Fang, the current you wouldn’t have the power or endurance to so much as scratch that big one, even if you struck its weak point over and over.)

The mere presence of the creature made every breath painful, as if her lungs refused to expand beneath its pressure.

Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground, her entire body spasming uncontrollably as every muscle screamed at her to run.

And yet, her eyes couldn’t pull away from the beast—not because of its overwhelming presence, but because of something she had never seen before.

“The dragon’s glow… it’s distorted. Unstable.”

Kneeling on the cold ground, Rose murmured in confusion. Her hands released their weapons and dug into the earth as if she were trying to anchor herself to anything at all.

As someone who perceived the world in ways others could not, she couldn’t understand what she was seeing.

(So that’s why it came specifically here…) Sylvan murmured, watching as Rose turned toward her, eyes brimming with tears. (It’ll be all right now, Rose. After all—)

The dragon lunged.

Like a force of nature tearing through everything in its path, its jaws opened toward the girls.

(She’s here too.)

The entire world turned gray.

Black wings crackling like a thunderstorm descended from the heavens, striking the earth at a speed that shattered the sound barrier.

Two black blades flashed. A surge of bluish light and crimson-violet spread through the forest as a sonic boom pushed the fog away.

Vertically, a single, deep slash formed from the center of the dragon’s head, sliding down its neck, chest, stomach, and finally its waist—perfectly splitting its body in two.

Rose couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

Like a mountain that stood whole without realizing it had been cleaved, each half of the dragon fell in opposite directions. Carmine blood spilled across the forest as its insides poured out like a ruptured dam.

“Good thing we followed him when he suddenly stopped attacking.” A voice she could never mistake echoed right beside her.

Silver hair gleamed even through the mist, contrasting sharply with a black dress and cloak that fluttered in the wind.

Thump.

“The floating rivers have more layers of randomness than I could calculate based on their weight and altitude. I checked the entire forest perimeter, but it still would’ve taken hours to get here. Lily really is clever.”

Emerging from a portal that resembled a star-filled sky, a girl in a black dress and high heels walked slowly to the other woman’s side, her short purple hair reflecting the faint moonlight.

Thump.

“Stay behind us, Rose.”

The two women stepped in front of her.

Thump—thump.

A deep sound echoed, growing stronger with each beat.

That thing should have been undeniably dead.

But Rose knew.

The glow hadn’t vanished.

It happened faster than a blink.

Carmine blood, radiating a powerful bluish light, trembled until it reached a boiling point. Defying gravity itself, it was drawn up from the ground, spiraling upward.

Like a vortex forming in a sink drain, all the bluish-red liquid returned to the dragon’s body, converging at the massive gash that split it in two.

Like a divine stitch, glowing threads of blood began to bind the two halves of exposed flesh together, reconstructing veins, muscles, tendons, and organs.

In mere seconds, when the bluish glow finally faded, the enormous dragon rose once more. Its scales, once torn apart, bore not a single mark of injury. Not even the faintest scar marred its immaculate body.

Even so, the two women simply took another step forward.

“Lily, I’m angry.” Staring at the dragon with cold eyes, the purple-haired girl whispered, her voice more frigid than the mist surrounding them.

“I know, Nia…” With a flick of her wrists, Lily wiped the blood from both blades, gritting her teeth as she faced their opponent. “Because I am too.”