Rose Blumen ~ Exogignesthai

(Rose)

We kept walking north, along the unexpected coastline. The sea is so loaded in nutrients, it’s almost edible, although very poisonous.

It’s closer to a real soup than I had expected.

Each time Nightmare samples it, she meets new microorganisms of all sorts. To the eye, the sea is just a deep green looking sea, with random oily spots. But to her taste buds, it’s an ever-changing rainbow of life.

Genuine life. Microscopic mostly. And almost entirely earthly, oddly.

Nightmare can digest small amounts of it. I sure can’t. It made me sick and gave me one of the worst diarrheas ever.

Which allowed these two demons to add insult to injury of course.

Anyway, after boiling and cool down of that soup, I was able to digest it without excessive troubles.

It’s a surprise to us no being-like-her came to claim this sea as its exclusive food supply, to grow large.

But the air and the sea are in a climatic desert of their spores.

R – Which means we could be the first intelligent beings to discover this sea since it was formed.

B – Could be yes. Probably.

This amazonian sea that is in the heart of the continent. I wonder if it reaches the Atlantic ocean?

R – Do you think it could be?

B – That sounds unlikely. But if the entire amazonian basin has turned into this, some kind of dam must hold it from flowing into the ocean. We’re quite higher than oceanic level.

R – Like the Nilus dam?

B – If the sea reaches the delta, it should be much bigger. I can’t really fathom it.

In front of us is the landscape of an inland sea that should not be. Unless the entire continent somehow sunk?

We keep walking along the coastline by the music of a heavy sea. We ponder.

R – Didn’t you mention the sea levels had risen since my time?

B – I’ve read that in a few brains yes. I don’t think that would be enough though here.

Nightmare, a few steps ahead, had a jolt. She saw a large fish in the distance. She sent her wings to investigate. The large hollow bird went there swiftly.

Blume stays with me while we exchange ideas. We wonder how long it would take to sail or fly across this sea.

While we contemplate the wonders and ideas, nature goes along its own path.

We see small things erupting from the sea and flying around the wide dark wings of Nightmare.

A colourful swarm surrounds and follows them as they return toward the shore.

The small swarm reveal themselves to be huge butterflies. Colourful insects, curious or excited about the odd bird that flew above.

We’re surrounded by the cloud of colours that seemingly came out of nowhere. If normal butterflies are pretty when they’re the size of a book and in number below the hundred, these thousands are a little spooky.

Some of them land over me. We look at each other with shared surprise. They don’t have a mouth or teeth they could bite me with. My small fear is really instinctive against them, as it would against any other kind of big bugs.

The giant bugs still crawl along my arms and everyone else, probing us with their legs and trumps. Night is a wondrous sight right now, arm raised, giant colourful bugs now holding onto her hands and limbs.

I can feel some of them crawling over my head and fighting to free themselves from my dirty hair trapping their legs.

After a few minutes of puzzling wonder, the swarm left, more or less coordinated.

The flow left us and hovered toward the spot of the sea they came from.

Nightmare’s wings flew after them, and boldly dove into the murky waters there as well.

R – What kind of new freaky butterflies were those?

B – I don’t think there was anything unusual or new about them, although we could be missing something.

Nightmare was controlling her other body so she didn’t react as well as usual to us.

After a while, her wings resurfaced in a splash, and managed to escape the sea. They flew back to us again.

We spent that evening cleaning the feathers from the dirt clinging to them.

R – What have you seen?

N – It’s a forest down there.

B – The jungle?

N – I wouldn’t go that far, but there is an underwater forest thriving. The sea isn’t as deep as it looks. it’s more like a swamp. There is a lot of life down there.

R – Including butterflies?

N – It’s a forest, more than a sea.

B – It’s a little of both I guess now.

R – How is that possible?

They shrug it. They have no idea. Especially since it doesn’t appear to be the doing of a being-like-them.

~

Over the following days, we noticed how insects and even animals learnt to live under the sea, shallow sea.

Trapping pockets of air, coating themselves with an oily substance allowing them to swim and glide without getting wet. All sorts of things, tricks and behaviour changes making the nearly impossible possible.

Plants still grow. The water is probably over-oxygenated, along with all the nutrients it carries.

Things live on, and spread. In this new environment.

Nightmare and Blume rapidly became fishing birds, learning to dive and grab one thing or another.

The surface of the sea is just another floating curtain to my eyes. A world full of life and wonders thrives behind. Regardless of me, obviously and somewhat reassuring.

They brought back spoils from the underwater forest. Fruits mostly, and some animals to eat or study.

I wish I could see for myself what they report to me noticing down there with some surprise.

Corals growing along the trees. Fishes swimming alongside flying birds and butterflies.

It can be harder to swim, but they adapted themselves wondrously and quickly.

Snakes and eels swim across the woods alike. What differentiated all these species in space, from ground, water, trees and air, has been melted in a pluripotent space. No doubt the natural selection of this domain has been fierce for many species. But within this nutritious soup of a sea, this vast and lush domain, there are enough resources for many and a wide variety.

The amazonian jungle and its variety of lush and toxicity have grown. We look at the glows from the sea at night. We still sleep by the side of that greenish sea.

I’m smiling as I contemplate a jungle I still am amazed to see.

B – Not what you expected hm?

R – Clearly not! Not that I am surprised.

N – Although we know more about what lies below, it still doesn’t explain a thing on how it came to be.

I grin. She’s right. Blume’s guess is that the answer to that sea’s existence lies more likely around the river delta, still a very good distance away from us.

There is still more than I would or could imagine, left to discover.

R – Even gods like you can’t understand or imagine everything the world has to offer, right?

N – I like it when you call me god, sis.

Another grin is drawn on her pretentious face.

I heard someone said once you can’t share most of what you discover, for it’s impossible to imagine or picture for others, until or unless they experience it for themselves.

B – It’s called qualia yes.

R – Hm... I want more now.

B – More qualias?

R – I want to see what’s down there. Before we go further north or across, I would like to see what’s right before our eyes.

Nightmare seems overjoyed. I gulp when I realise what this implies.

She’s laughing. her fingers twitch ominously. She wants to grant my wish by crafting my very flesh into something different and new.

~