Soul Spark

5 - The Flower Monster

The cold autumn wind blew in a careless tone. It latched onto the brown and orange leaves and spread them apart, detaching them from their dreams of staying close to their home tree. Snow was expected in the next few weeks, and the village was busy gathering wood and stocking up on cattle.

“I can’t believe you.” The old lady said, wiping a plate by the kitchen sink. Their household was old, but was one of the more recognizable ones in the village. “You’re lying when you tell me she shares your blood.”

“She is a waste of a beautiful name.” The younger woman replied, neatly sorting the wiped dishes. The furnace in their house had its firewood crackle, the weather was quite cold. The old windows were only slightly open.

“I truly do pity you...” The lady sighed. She left the kitchen, her sister seemed annoyed by the comment and looked at her with disapproval and silent jealousy. Outside, the kids were playing around with a ball, running in between the houses and disturbing the men that were hard at work. She walked over to a more distant area. There she was, a ten-year-old girl. Instead of dollies, she was playing around with a bow and arrow that she found in her grandfather’s home. Instead of arrows, she used makeshift sharpened sticks.

There were small straw figures in the distance, and the girl would aim and shoot at them. She’d shoot, hit, shoot, miss, and run after the sticks to pick them back up. Sometimes she’d need to sharpen them, and once every week she needed to change the string on the bow. Her only way of doing so was to steal.

She was cold. Not because of the weather that kept bothering her, though. A gaze into her eyes would reveal that she was simply a husk. Her eyes were beautiful, but that beauty could only be seen by someone who could see her beyond her shell, by someone who could deduct the truth that seemed so obvious yet was understood so rarely.

“Have you been here all day?” The woman asked, approaching the child, almost disgusted. She was left with no response, only a small nod. The child drew her bow again, aiming at a small straw figure she placed a few dozen meters away.

“Good. You should practice as much as you can.” The woman continued. “Show me how much you’ve improved.”

The girl took aim. As she was about to release the arrow, she heard a sharp creaking sound behind her which almost sounded intentional. The distraction was apparent enough to force her to miss. She looked disappointed, prepared for what would soon go down. But there was still fear.

“So you’ve been lazing around all day.” The woman said, slapping the child. “Your mother was right. You’re a waste of a beautiful name. Don’t you dare fail again.”

The woman, who was Jian’s elder aunt, left. And Jian was left standing. She slowly walked to pick her arrow up. In the distance, she could hear the noises of the other kids. They were really loud. And Jian’s ears were sensitive to those sounds as she didn’t really understand them.

Later, at the dinner table, she wasn’t allowed in. Looks like her aunt told everyone that Jian was failing again, and the second largest family in the village had no business sharing food with a failure. They needed to keep their name as majestically clean as possible, there were rumors that the more well-known they were, the more merchants and traders from the cities would prefer to negotiate with them.

She stared at the bowl of dark red soup outside. It smelled average, it tasted a little too meaty. Her hair was short back then. It looked beautiful, but it needed more care to achieve its fullest potential. Her frozen face reflected on the surface of her meal. This day, she failed, so she wouldn’t be treated well. It just made sense.

“There’s a lot more you can do with that good-for-nothing daughter of yours, dearie.” Aunt told her mother at the dinner table. Contrary to the soup made of waste that Jian had every day, they were enjoying roasted meat placed nicely on bowls of white rice. “Considering how awful she is at using the bow and arrow, she likely won’t make it into competitions and get you good money. I say that we pick a different path for her.”

“What do you suggest?” The mother asked.

“There’s some men that my brother-in-law knows, and they know some other men. Those are rich men, pleasing them is not easy but once they are satisfied they will pay great. They scout around villages and look for pretty girls, and they have those girls accompany and satisfy them.” Aunt said. “She looks good enough to make us a great sum.”

“I have other plans.” Mother sighed. “I’ll hold onto that beauty of hers...that I don’t even know the source of. I’ll wait until she’s a bit older and have her marry a businessman from the city.”

“You’re so right, sister!” Aunt said, taking a mouthful of the food. “City men enjoy village wives. They’re simple and beautiful.”

“I hate that pretty face of hers.” Mother said.

“It was supposed to be mine. If it was, her father wouldn’t have left me for the city.”

Jian heard all of it. While she’d often pretend she didn’t hear anything, she felt specifically endangered by that idea. She put the soup aside, and went back to her lonely little patch of land. She picked up her bow and aimed at the same straw figure she previously couldn’t hit. The sharpened wood went right through its head.

As she went to retrieve the stick. Once she saw the destroyed figure, she felt an ounce of hatred slowly invade her body. She punched it. Her fists hurt, but she punched it again. The moon shone its silver light at the scenery. The slowly decaying flower fields in the distance were singing their last song of beauty and fragility.

She kept on punching it. Every time she’d shoot the bow, she did so out of fear of failure. And yet, every time the arrow pierced the figure, she’d imagine it was her mother instead.

And so she punched it, until her fists started bleeding...

“Hey, do you hear that?” She heard the voice of a boy in the distance.

“Must be some type of animal. Maybe it’s the monster itself?” Another boy replied to him.

Jian noticed that further away from her territory there was a fire. A small group of children were enjoying themselves, they even sneakily took some pieces of beef to roast on the fire. It smelled delicious, even from far away. She approached the place a little, just far enough to not be heard, just far enough to hear them, and just concealed enough to remain undetected.

“You said you were going to tell us the stories, right?” One of the girls in the group said. “What do you have this time?”

“My mom used to tell me this story. It’s about the flower monster.” The boy said.

“Ooh, what is it about?” The other kids gathered a little closer to him. Jian also started to carefully listen. She’s never been involved in these types of activities.

“They say that a bit further away from the village there’s a patch of flowers that is cursed.” The boy began to tell. “A thousand years ago, a beautiful maiden died there and the curse turned her into the flower monster.”

“They say that the monster looks beautiful, but is actually really evil and wants to take revenge on the people that placed the curse. And that if children go there late at night, they will be eaten!”

“Huh? Really?!” The girl was shocked. “W-why hasn’t anyone killed it yet?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because it’s strong?” The boy questioned.

“Let’s go to it then. Let’s get rid of the flower monster!” Another boy bravely exclaimed.

“Don’t be silly. Mom always tells the truth.” The boy said. “We’re already doing something wrong by being here... does anyone else have any stories?”

Jian was lost in her thoughts. She moved a little, the grass and bushes trembled with her slow motions. She left her spot and decided to head to the flower patch directly. She knew where it was, she overheard some conversations about its location. She armed herself with a stick she found on the ground.

And after a brief walk, there it was - a beautiful area covered in vibrant and fragrant flowers. It wasn’t large, it felt like a small isolated paradise instead of a part of something larger. It was alone in an otherwise green meadow. She felt so charmed by its appearance that she forgot a monster was even supposed to be there.

Gently, she took a few steps forward. There weren’t many flowers in the village since most of them were used to trade with the city folk. Here, she saw a pool of them, an ocean of color and beauty, and she felt at ease. The drops of blood from her scarred knuckles carefully painted them with their dark red hue.

“Woah! Jian, you’re so strong!” The little boy said. The two little girls next to her were also impressed, but a little shy to admit it.

“Hah, thank you.” Jian said with a faint smile, patting him on his head.

“Jian, can you play ball with us?” The girl asked.

“But mom will get mad at us if we play with her...” her little sister said.

“In that case, go back to your houses.” Jian said, sounding a bit upset. She had just finished carrying the wagons with trade goods around, and was about to go handle the stock. However, she heard an unusually high amount of celebrations from the village.

“Right...I forgot that I turned 18 today...”

“Those three are the only children in the village right now. The village is slowly dying out, and everyone wants to make it to the city.”

“Give it some time, and even those children will get married off like this.”

“It’s time.” The aunt said, staring at her from across the village roads. Jian sighed and slowly approached her.

“Do you remember what I instructed you? You have been training for this for the past six years.” Aunt said.

“Yes.” Jian replied, regaining the cold expression she used to wield for essentially her entire life. Her aunt slapped her.

“That is not how a woman must look. You have to smile for your husband.” Aunt said, her voice proud and disgusted. “Go on, smile.”

Jian’s face remained motionless. The thought of this day was haunting her all this time, she was particularly hateful on that instant. She stared at her aunt, her lips remaining idle, and her glare feeling almost scary.

“You wretched bitch.” Her aunt muttered. “Don’t you dare fail.”

Inside their home, a quite eventful celebration was taking place. It wasn’t Jian’s birthday, heavens forbid a positive thing was even uttered about her. More so, a moderately successful middle-aged businessman had arrived. Through his friends, who were friends with mother’s friends, he found out that there’s a girl that ‘desperately’ wants him. He was hesitant, but visited to show a good gesture - and potentially some good deals on the village’s goods

“Oh, Mr. Wei! It is such a great honor to see you!” mother told the balding man in a suit. He felt a little uncomfortable in the overwhelmingly hospitable environment.

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“Ah, it is good to see you too.” Wei said, taking off his small rectangular glasses.

“I presume you have been rather busy. The entire world has gone crazy over the last three months!” mother continued. “Let me prepare some tea. Are you hungry?”

“No, thank you...” Wei said. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel•fire.net

“I am so sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Wei.” aunt said, entering the living room. “Here is the girl that has fallen in love with you.”

Jian entered the room. The man gave an awkward smile to her, and Jian herself...didn’t respond. She stared him dead cold in the eyes, without even twitching her mouth.

“Even if she’s gonna hate me...I can’t get myself to submit to this man. Or even them. Or anyone.”

“Mother already hates me. I don’t care about being hated more.”

“Uhm, what is your name-”

“It’s Jian.” Jian replied, interrupting him.

“It’s...nice to meet you, Jian. I think we should get to know each other better before trying to, you know...” Mr. Wei himself started to recognize the situation. Despite Jian’s stunning beauty, he really was being dragged into a strange house for even stranger reasons.

“Jian insists that you two marry, but it cannot happen yet.” mother said. “If you would live together and then marry once she’s old enough, it’d be best for everyone.”

“I don’t want to marry.” Jian said. The businessman sighed in relief. Mother and aunt were shocked.

“I always thought about my life. The more I grew up, the more my thoughts developed, and the more I saw this place for what it really was. I didn’t want to be here anymore.”

“Ah, she’s simply joking! She should know better than to joke around during such occasions!” Aunt said.

“I believe that was not a joke.” Wei said, standing up. “How old is she?”

“She’s just turned 20! Young and ri-”

“I’m barely 18.” Jian interrupted her mother.

“That story about the flower monster... it was just a fairy tale used to warn children not to run out of the village at night. It was a cautionary measure.”

“But sometimes I wonder if such a thing really exists.”

“I wonder what happened to that maiden a thousand years ago? Why would she die there?”

“Ah, I understand.” Wei said. Jian’s face didn’t tell him all of the truth, but it told him enough to realize that he should probably leave. “Excuse me, but I have important business affairs to attend to. I will visit at a later time for dinner.”

“Yes, Mr Wei...” mother said, holding in her anger. Wei left the house.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” aunt exclaimed, walking towards her. “You damn mutt, what the hell is actually wrong with you?”

Jian didn’t respond.

“I’ll brush them off and run away from here.”

“My archery has improved tenfold. I’ll get out of here and make a name for myself competing. It’s the one thing that can give me a chance at a proper life. It’s the only trajectory I see for my future.”

“She’s doing that thing again, where she refuses to talk...” mother started to say while sobbing. “God damn you, you took everything from me! I should’ve just listened to your aunt and sold you off to be a sex worker.” She said, charging at Jian.

She pushed her against the wall, but Jian retained her calm attitude. She slapped her multiple times and kept pushing her into the wall more and more, as if it was going to do something. Jian just took the slaps one after another.

“You damn...dirty...pig!” Mother yelled, slapping her with all her might. Jian didn’t react, her cheek was reddened and there were tears in her eyes, but she didn’t fight back or even defend herself. It made mother even more upset. “First my husband, now him...you...”

“I should’ve killed you the moment you came out of me!”

Mother grabbed her by the throat. All this time, aside from mastering her accuracy, Jian was practicing martial arts. There was a sports complex further away, behind the hills, and sometimes she’d sneak nearby and observe how the martial arts competitors train. Nobody really cared if she was gone for long periods of time.

At that moment, her survival instincts kicked in, and efficiently communicated with her limited martial arts knowledge. Jian struck her mother in the stomach with her knee. The woman growled in pain, stepping back and falling on the ground.

“You...maniac! You’re raising your hand at your own mother?!” Aunt yelled. “Help! Someone! She’s going to kill her mother!”

“What?! No, I wasn’t-”

“Why did this have to happen? I was going to...get out of here...”

“It’s just this one last interaction left...”

Almost immediately, some men rushed into the house. They tackled Jian on the floor and held her down, while some of them started helping mother out. Jian tried to break free, but she couldn’t do anything despite her strength.

Aunt approached her. She had a knife in her hand.

“You ruin your mother’s life and you dare try and murder her too?” she said in a sinister tone. “You stupid...mutt...”

“She attacked me first, that’s not what-”

Her voice was shut as aunt forced a piece of cloth into her mouth. As soon as Jian saw the knife, her heart was consumed by fear.

“You...and your ugly face...I’ll teach you a lesson.” she said. She approached the knife to her right eye. Even from outside, the muffled screams of the gruesome punishment could be heard clearly...

Jian woke up a few hours later. She was in the middle of a withering flower field. The sky was slightly clouded. The pain kicked in as soon as she raised her head, but for some reason, it didn’t feel as bad as she’d expect it to. She was no longer herself, but a mutilated creature that was abandoned by what was considered her family on paper.

She felt the hatred that flared from that realization. Her eye was gone, with no way to bring it back. She retained that emotionless appearance, but her fists were enraged. She spit the wet cloth out of her mouth and used it to bandage her wound. It’d take her some time to get used to having just one eye. But it took her only a moment to allow her hatred to overtake her body.

As she approached the village, the group of three children saw her and rushed to her.

“Jian? What happened? Are you okay?” The little boy asked.

Jian had almost forgotten about them. But it wasn’t an issue, she was good at making up lies regardless.

“You three, listen to me.” Jian said. “Do not, under any circumstance, tell others about me or what I’m about to tell you, okay? Or bad things will happen to you.”

“Mhm...”

“There is a scary flower monster in the fields. I was resting there, but it attacked me and wounded me.” Jian said, crouching down.

“What? That’s scary!” The little girl said. Her sister almost began crying.

“The flower monster hates humans, and especially this village. As soon as the sun sets and night falls, once everyone is asleep, the flower monster will attack the village.” Jian said. “So please, leave the village. I don’t want to hurt you when me and the other adults fight it.”

“You’re gonna fight it?” The girl asked.

“Yes. Don’t worry, I’ll try my hardest. I’m strong, right?” Jian said.

“Everyone either locks themselves at home or falls asleep once night sets, especially if the next day is packed with work.”

The kids rushed to embrace her. Jian didn’t embrace them, she even felt confused on what to do. She just wanted them to get the hell out of that village.

The day was followed by a pitch black night. Not a star or a moon in the night sky. It was hard to see anything at all, quite frankly - maybe the stars were there, but the thick smoke prevented them from being seen.

The kids waited outside, watching the disaster from afar. Had their hero lost?

No, quite the opposite. The hero walked towards the kids, wielding a small wooden torch. And behind her, the entire village was engulfed in flames. She still bore a cold face, even the beautiful flames of the torch couldn’t warm her up. But in her heart, she felt joy and relief. With every breath she took, she felt more and more content.

“What...is this?”

“I can see with my right eye again. And everything looks a little different.”

“Jian, what happened?!” The boy rushed to her, crying.

“I’m sorry, kids.” Jian replied, hugging the boy. “The flower monster won.”

“I’ll take them to the city, and leave from there.”

“I’ll leave this place.”

“But now, I just want to watch.”

She turned around and gazed at the fire.

“It looks so...”

“Profoundly beautiful.”

“Accused of mass murder and arson...”

“And she was also the source of a powerful soul presence.”

Kaito rested in his seat. The room had a slightly different appearance back then. A few moments later Zervos entered the room, with Jian by her side. Kaito glanced into her empty eye, the missing eye was covered with an eyepatch..

“I see...”

“Her potential is incredible. And she looks like she’s been through a lot...”

“Are you Jian Fang?” Kaito asked.

“Yes, that is my name.” Jian replied.

“Do you know what soulfuls are?”

“I have a general idea.”

“Then I would like to congratulate you on being one.” Kaito said. “You are a complete soul with a powerful ability.”

“Hm?” Jian was taken aback. Her plain face transformed into one that, for the first time in a while, expressed even the slightest of emotion.

“But before we get into the details, I’d like to ask you one question.” Kaito said. Before he could even finish, a pair of officers barged into the room, pointing their handguns at Jian.

“Freeze! You are under arrest!” They exclaimed.

“I apologize.” Jian sighed, slowly turning to face the officers. But to her surprise, as soon as she was about to go towards them, Kaito held her in place. He walked towards the officers.

“I believe you should leave my property.” Kaito said.

“We have orders to detain her. Step aside or you will be framed as an accomplice.” One of the officers said, pointing the handgun at him. “Freeze! On your knees, now!” He yelled at Kaito.

“An accomplice?”

It only took a few moments. The officers were decapitated, turned into a dismantled pile of body pieces after suffering through an excruciatingly painful and almost torturous death. Zervos felt a little ashamed, and Jian felt strangely warm. Once Kaito turned to face her, she spoke.

“Yes, I burned the village down. And I do not regret it.”

“I see...” Kaito said. He heard Jian’s story and continued. “I’ll make some calls. Your warrants will be dropped, and you’ll have full permission to kill anyone that threatens to arrest you. Furthermore, you’ll be assigned to a new special division I’m working on.”

“She’d be a perfect sniper and ranged assassin.”

“And there’s no way I’d let a soul like hers go to waste.”

“Jian Fang, I would like to welcome you to the Heisei.”

“Hey, Jiaaan! I got some better veggies for you!” Yuuka said, rushing to her with a plate in her hands. It was only a few weeks since they’ve known each other, but they got along really well. That is, Yuuka had a certain “liking” for her.

“Ah, thanks...I guess...” Jian said, picking at the food. Their hotel room had limited appliances, they were on a mission in faraway territories. “Are you sure that you’re supposed to cut them this way?”

“Aww, did I overdo it?” Yuuka said.

“No, quite the opposite.” Jian said. “Don’t worry, it’s not an issue.”

“Hey, I’ll fix it!” Yuuka approached her. She started to cut the cucumbers and tomatoes even thinner, but it triggered something in Jian. After a few moments of silence, she quickly kicked the plate away and recoiled back - knocking the vegetables on the floor.

“Jian?” Yuuka asked, concerned.

“I apologize.” Jian replied, coming back to her senses. “My body sometimes loses control of itself-”

Yuuka put the knife far away on the table. She approached Jian and simply hugged her.

“Yuuka?” Jian was confused. But Yuuka didn’t say anything for a while.

“Those people aren’t here anymore.” Yuuka whispered, embracing her comrade a little tighter. This type of feeling was alien to Jian. She didn’t know what to do with her arms, what to say, or even what to feel. She still felt scared. Her cold gaze finally shifted to an emotional one, as a lonesome tear escaped her eye.