Farmers almanac planting guide

My kids are super interested in gardening. It's the only thing they want to talk about. The problem is, I know nothing about gardening. Where do I start? What kind of plants should I guide them to? What planters should I get?
Right now I'm thinking we need a raised bed because we have bunnies, and then do I just let them plant whatever they think is cool?

hi guys!
I am building a mobile app to help everyday growers like us run their hydroponic systems smoothly! I am calling the project "Hydropeasy". I am ~1 month away from releasing the app, but I'd love to collect some feedback on the product roadmap I have in mind (details here).
I have also set up a Discord server for those who want to follow the project along (Discord server). Looking forward to chatting with some of you guys!!
For the launch, I am focusing on these features:

• supporting iOS/Android
• creating and editing hydroponic gardens with crops (note taking on garden health, measurements log, etc.)
• offering a plant database (with at least ~20 common plants) along with a minimalist care guide (e.g: recommended EC, pH, lighting conditions)

What do you guys think? What are the other pain points we face as growers?

"My family has lived in these mountains for more than three thousand years."
"How can you be sure of that?”
"Because we have records going back two thousand years and then records of my family's tribe before that. For that reason, no one knows these mountains better than I do, and even then, I still don't know everything there is to know. Every time I go out in the woods, I feel something new."
Krill glanced over at Sunny.
If he could raise an eyebrow he would have.
Of all the places they could go on their weekend, and she had decided to go on a guided hike. This would be just like something Adam would do.
He thought of all the people he wouldn't have to remind Sunny how dangerous Earth forests were with their trees, and animals, and poisonous plants, and, well, pretty much everything.
"Don't give me that look, Krill. You know if Adam was here, he would take us out to do the same thing, and you needed to quit moping anyway. He's going to be back soon."
Krill crossed his arms emphatically,
"I am not moping."
"You are too moping, and it's honestly kind of pathetic. You get all cranky when Adam isn't around."
”Fuck you!”
”Why are you so aggressive? Don’t worry, Adam will be fine! Why do you worry so much?”
"That's because I worry about his health and safety."
"He's a grown man."
"He's a man child."
”Awww is momma Krill missing his little Adam?”
”Fuck you too… Also you know I’m right about that.”
”I didn’t say you weren’t.”
Krill sighed and turned back to look at their guide who was staring on in mild amusement.
This human had dark tan skin, deep brown eyes and long dark hair pulled back from his face. He wore a green ranger's uniform, but she knew for a fact he was off duty,
"We're ready."
He smiled, and motioned them to follow him.
Krill held onto Sunny's shoulder as they followed the human into the woods.
"Aren't we going to take a trail?"
"You don't need a trail when you have me."
"I definitely think a trail would-…"
"Is your mind ever still my alien friend?"
Sunny shook her head,
"No, never, not even a little bit."
"Well try. I can't show you anything if you don't also listen."
"Now that just makes no sense!”
Sunny huffed and the ranger sighed,
"There is more in these woods to hear, that there is to see. The wind leaves the animals."
They passed over soggy earth and into a meadow filled with bright wildflowers. Krill was about to ask another question, but the ranger held up a hand despite not looking at him,
"Shhh, just listen, to the silence."
Krill turned to glower at Sunny, and she smirked at him, but he angrily did as told, focusing away from his eyes and towards his ears. He could hear the wind in the trees, the distant chirp of birds, rustling in the underbrush, their feet as it moved over packed earth.
In the silence there was also a strange rushing. A sort of white noise that you expect to find at the ocean but comes from deep within the mountains.
He watched their new human friend from the corner of his eye as it led them deeper into the mountains. For all Krill knew this creature could be more interested in killing them and eating them.
How did Sunny even know him?
With his usual paranoia, Krill continued to watch as the green clad human lead them through patches of shadow, over rocks and through little mountain gullies. He used no trail, but it seemed as if all of his senses were alive, following something into the forest. He used his hands to trace over rough packed dirt. He scanned his eyes through the underbrush and lifted his head eyes closed allowing little gusts of air to sweep hair about his face.
He listened, and occasionally, Krill thought he saw the human smelling at the air.
And as they went, they were led deeper and deeper into the forest, Krill had to admit that there was something peaceful about it, almost surreal, like being removed from one's own head and being surrounded by the quiet.
A couple of times, he thought he saw the human smiling over his shoulder at him.
They had made it a good hour or two into the woods when they broke into a nearby clearing. Sunny was about to step out with him, but right at the edge of the treeline, she was stopped by the human, who had pulled back into the shadows.
Sunny blinked and looked around.
Krill did as well.
The ranger shook his head.
Krill looked over Sunny's shoulder, but in the clearing, he saw nothing, nothing except for a strangely geometric circle of wildflowers, in the middle of which there was nothing but a barren patch of dirt.
That was strange, there seemed to be nothing growing inside that circle.
"We go around."
The man muttered.
"Why?"
"Because, we don't want to trespass."
"Trespass on what exactly?"
Krill found himself whispering.
"Well, the fey, of course!"
The human smiled at him, and he wasn't entirely sure if the creature was pulling his leg or not.
"What are the fey?"
The human smiled again, slowly motioning him to follow as he led them around the open circle,
"The fey or fairies, are a group of mystical creatures known to make mischief. Most of the time if you trespass on their land, you forfeit your rights as human, and the laws of the fey world become absolute. If you take anything from a fey, you are immediately required to stay with them for the rest of eternity. There are many rules governing the world of the fey, so it is best just to avoid them."
Krill snorted,
"Ah yes... fairies."
"You laugh, but through all these years as a ranger, I have seen things I cannot explain."
"Like what."
"Like the time someone went missing in the forest. He was lost on a relatively well traveled hiking trail. We didn't find him for over six months. The search party was called off after those first few weeks. Six months later I am hiking in an unrelated part of the forest forty miles away in the other side of a mountain, and I find this man's decomposing corpse hanging from a forty-foot tall tree, with impact wounds that looked like he had been dropped from a great height. There were no cliffs in the area, and it appeared as if the man had died one month earlier."
Krill frowned. The math on that didn't particularly add up.
"Then a year ago we went looking for a missing child. His parents turned around for five seconds and when they turned back, he was gone. I found his body forty feet up a sheer cliff-face, stuffed into a crevice five months later. He had been dead only two hours, and was wearing the same clothes he had been lost in."
Sunny's eyes widened and Krill snorted.
He was expected to believe that?
The ranger waved at him.
"Say what you will, but the forest is a dangerous and unusual place if you don't know how to respect her."
"Would you say you are superstitious then?"
"Very. Look, I can't explain everything in the world, and I have no desire to do so. I see no harm in giving things the respect they deserve even if, later, it turns out I was wrong."
The human was not particularly kidding about him being superstitious. More than a few times, he leads them around strange objects or formations. There was at one point, a time when they were heading towards another low gully in the middle of the woods, and all of a sudden, their entire party grew very uneasy.
The woods seemed darker to Krill than they had before.
But he shook it off.
Sunny seemed to be behaving similarly.
But the ranger, he looked downright terrified, grabbed the two of them by the arm and pulled them away quick time, setting them to a low jog in the opposite direction.
Sunny and Krill stared at him in confusion not entirely sure what to make of it.
"What was that all about?”
The human just shook his head.
"We were not welcome!"
"From what!?”
"Does it matter? When you are not welcome somewhere, you do not question it."
"What are you worried about, angering the wendigo?"
It was at that moment that Krill was pretty sure he had made a huge mistake, as the human maniacally sprinted at him like a madman, grabbed him and had a hand pressed over his mouth in under a millisecond flat. Even Sunny looked shocked.
"We do NOT joke about those kind of things here!!!"
He let Krill go, and Krill stared on in confusion and mild terror.
"I come from a line of people who believe you can attract things to you based off the kind of energy you put off. Now I don't know if it's true or not, but joking about something's existence is bound to piss it off enough to test its patience don’t you think?"
He took a deep breath and adjusted his shirt,
”Now there are a few other things it could have been. It could have been the den of a mountain lion, or a bear. It could have been a subliminal sense of danger, an incorrect smell, or the way the rocks looked. Or it could simply have been us all getting paranoid at once, but whatever it is, I would rather be safe than sorry. Now come on, let's take you back. After your little stunt there with name-naming we better don’t risk anything…"
Krill stayed quiet and tried not to joke more about the supernatural things., despite finding it funny and not really believing a word the man said.
Apparently, humans tended to take that sort of thing seriously.
Krill did not, all that supernatural stuff was definitely absolute bullshit.
They heard more stories form the strange ranger, about finding people in places they shouldn't be, staircases in strange places, the sudden loss of time.
"There was one point, when I was doing some training out in the field. We were on top of a mountain, and I went off to go to the bathroom. It was so weird, after I was finished, it was like time seemed to slow down. I got starving, and I was looking around in the forest thinking I might be able to find something to eat. I was so hungry. It was all I could think about, and then suddenly I see one of the other rangers, sort of snaps me out of how hungry I was."
He shrugged,
"I raise my hand to him and this guy looks terrified, he runs up to me, and he's going off about where was I and what was I doing, what is going on we have been looking for you. Of course, I am super confused and as what he's on about, and this guy looks at me, and he's all like: dude you have been missing for three days."
Krill and Sunny stared at him.
"I know, strange isn't it? To me it almost seemed like hours. But it was three days and almost twenty miles over to the next mountain ridge. I don't remember any of it."
"Sounds like a dissociative fugue."
"Maybe, whatever I was it was strange."
Behind them, the sun was just beginning to fall and the undergrowth was heading towards a deep black.
They could see the parking lot just ahead of them, and it was at that moment, a blood curling shriek echoed up from the trees at their back.
Sunny leaped nearly a foot.
Krill squealed.
The ranger jumped.
The scream came again.
It sounded like a woman's voice in absolute gut-wrenching agony. Like she was being eviscerated from the inside moving out.
The ranger turned back towards the trees his chin down his eyes up,
"Get slowly back to the car, but don't run."
"Don't run? Don't run!?"
"Yes don't run. It's a mountain lion."
He stared hard into the trees,
"It is a mountain lion and if you run it will have no other choice than to chase you. They don't like to attack from the front and running will trigger her hunting instincts. Walk backwards towards the car very slowly and do not take your eyes off the treeline."
Off to his side, Krill heard a sharp metallic snik and watched as Sunny's spear suddenly appeared in hand.
Of course, she wasn't worried.
But together they backed towards the truck and got in.
As their headlights turned on, the high beams broke over a body hunched up against the treeline.
Sunny cursed in Drev.
The ranger nodded,
"See? Mountain lion."
Krill stared in paralyzed horror at the massive cat, as it stalked back into the trees.
"Going to have to call that in. She is way too close to the trails for comfort, someone is going to get hurt. Hmm weird behavior from her…"
As they were driving away, Krill looked back towards the woods, where the mountain lion had gone to.
Glancing over the scenery, he couldn’t see it anymore, only a shadowy shape of a person was standing there…
…
…
Wait a second…
WHAT!?
He did a double take as he thought he saw a tall willowy figure with antlers, standing at the edge of the treeline in almost the same spot as the mountain lion, angrily staring at him with glittering red eyes.
Woah what?
When he looked again it was gone.
He sat back in his seat, eyes straight forward.
He had a greater appreciation for the woods now because, for some reason, on Earth nature is connected to something strange and unexplainable, and whatever it is Krill was not interested in finding out.
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Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
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Intro post by me
OC-whole collection
Patreon of the author

The ffg verses resonate well with these phenomena found in nde reports. I dont endorse the blind following of nde reports as fact or blind following of any scripture as fact.
Death analogy as slipping off tight shoes or clothes found in some nde accounts
As a person sheds worn-out garments and wears new ones, likewise, at the time of death, the soul casts off its worn-out body and enters a new one Bhagwad Gita 2:22
Self judged Life review
And it will be said,˺ “Read your record. You ˹alone˺ are sufficient this Day to take account of yourself Quran 17:14
So, whoever does an atom's weight of good shall see it and whoever does an atom's weight of evil shall see it Quran 99:8-9
I experienced a very vivid life recall. … It was both painful and exquisitely beautiful. It was like viewing a film, filled with precise detail. Every single thought, word, deed, decision, and action was brought forth and re-experienced and re-examined. It was self-evaluation, with total transparency and honesty. Throughout, I was never judged by any of these divine beings. They simply held me in [l]ove, with complete compassion and acceptance. … In this review, I realized that I was every single person I’d ever encountered or thought of. As I merged with and became them, I felt exactly what they experienced as a result of my loving or unloving thoughts and actions. I saw it all from their point of view, not only how my actions affected them, but then through them [how that] affected others they encountered, as the effects kept on going. … I saw that the love we express ripples out, creating an everlasting beauty that is often unbeknownst to us at the time. … It felt as if we are living inside a grand game, which is perfectly designed to always give us another opportunity to get it right this time. … I saw that everything we do makes a difference. The impact we have on one another is profound. … In this process of ruthlessly honest self-reflection, nothing went unnoticed. Nothing was able to be hidden. Nothing. Not one single thing. This life review was like going through everything with a fine-tooth comb, looking under every rock, leaving no stone unturned, seeing into each crevice with a [d]ivine [l]ight that revealed every hidden place. And through the entire process, it was all looked at and discerned through the lens of [l]ove NDE 1
I had a life review where I saw ever single event from my life. I saw every act of goodness and kindness. I saw every act of spite or ill-will. I also got to see it from the other person's point of view. Although time did not exist, this life review took forever but in reality it was only a blink of a second NDE 2
Divine love or bright light
who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever 1 Timothy 6:16
God has promised the believers, both men and women, Gardens through which rivers flow, therein to abide, and blessed dwellings in Gardens of perpetual bliss; and greater than that is Gods pleasure with them. That indeed is the supreme triumph quran 9:72
God is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp, The lamp is within glass, the glass as if it were a pearly [white] star, Lit from [the oil of] a blessed olive tree, Neither of the east nor of the west, Whose oil would almost glow even if untouched by fire. Light upon light.God guides to His light whom He wills Quran 24:35
Those who believe and do righteous deeds, the Most Merciful will bestow on them love Quran 19:96
He is the source of light in all luminaries, and is entirely beyond the darkness of ignorance. He is knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the goal of knowledge. He dwells within the hearts of all living beings Bhagwad Gita 13:18
Anybody who’s ever gone into the light comes back to talk about this … unconditional love and bliss that they experienced in the light. … Most people when they describe it, they say it’s the most incredible … loving experience, they feel full of love and what I experienced, it was kind of like, it was almost as if I had turned into champagne, and I was bubbling. You know like my molecules were bubbling and love was going through my molecules and then coming back out from them. And when people describe that, they say it’s the most incredible thing in the world. Well it is, but, it gets better. … Merging into the source was the most intense experience I had ever had. And that is one of the attributes of unconditional love, its intensity. The emotions that we have when we’re out of these bodies are far more intense than everything we ever experience in the body. The bodies really filter out a lot of emotions that we’re capable of. … Have you ever been moved to tears by something? Like maybe by love, or beauty, or gratitude? Or just had that feeling where you were just so moved that you literally cried? You know how strong and vibrant that is, and how cleansing and all-consuming it can be? The unconditional love that we feel in the afterlife is like a hundred or a thousand times more intense than that. Take that feeling and take away the tears and substitute joy, and so make it a joyous love … that you’re feeling[.] … And that will give you a tiny little taste of what unconditional love feels like NDE 3
And a lot of experiencers talk about love, about this being a place of love, and I’ve tried to think of adjectives to describe this, the intensity of this love, you know. Unconditional, pure, powerful. The only one that I can think of that works is infinite. It was infinite. … It was infinite love. If you can imagine your baby that you love, imagine like the most intense feeling of love you’ve ever had, your mother, or your dog, whatever, whatever it is, imagine that … infinite! No end. So powerful and so absorbing. Wave after wave after wave of cleansing white love washing over me, and I became, I was the light. It was so beautiful, it was so beautiful NDE 4
So I went into the light, and as I was moving up into the light, I just started to feel so good. You know like I can’t, words can’t explain it. Like the higher that I went into the light, and the more that I moved up and further away from Earth, the better I felt. And the feeling of pleasure does not really apply to this Earth, like nothing can compare. Like if you took everything that you were in favor of, like maybe getting a massage, in a hot tub, your favorite music, your favorite food, your favorite drink, everything that you love, happening to you all at once, no matter what it is, all at once, it would not even closely compare to the pleasure that was just within that light. And as you moved further into, like further away from this Earth, the pleasure felt even better. So you just moved up it felt better and better, it was insane NDE 5
I saw the white light, which was, you know, the best experience I’ve ever had. Like, basically, all the love that ever was, and all the love that ever will be, forever, for all of eternity, literally being poured onto me like a waterfall. … I’m literally saying that’s what it was NDE 6
World as a dream/illusion/virtual reality
And this worldly life is not but diversion and amusement. And indeed, the home of the Hereafter - that is the true life, if only they knew Quran 29:64
Then Godwill ask them: "For how many years did you stay on earth?" (23:113) They will say: "We stayed for a day or part of a day. Ask of those who keep count of this." (23:114) He will say: "You stayed only for a while, if you only knew that. Quran 23:115
You understand on the other side that this part, life, is actually the dream, and you just wake up after. It’s no different than one dream you had last night, out of a lifetime of dreams. This life that you’re having right now is just one, it’s just a blip NDE 6
It’s like living in a two-dimensional black and white world here, … compared to multicolor, multi-sensory VR immersion there. … And so once you’ve been in that place, coming here, as beautiful as it is, and I live in an extraordinarily beautiful place on purpose, so that I can get as close to beauty as I possibly can, but even that it’s just, like, ‘Oh well, you know, that’s really pretty.’ But not the same as ultimate divine beauty. … [Even sunrises] were ugly for a while, … the first year was very difficult NDE 7
The minute that I kind of woke up on that hillside in heaven I knew that that was more real than any time I’ve ever spent here on Earth. … And I knew instantly that my time here was really but a dream. … It’s real to us when we’re in it, but once I was there … in heaven I realized that’s more real, that felt more real, and it made much more sense to me than anything here. This is kind of nonsensical at times. … In heaven, it’s so clear, so real, so rational, so logical, but yet emotional and loving at the same time. Immediately I knew that was real and this was not. Immediately NDE8
I mean, looking back at human life from that vantage point I could not believe that I had ever thought this was real. And so the same sense of unreality that we get about dreams while we’re here in human form, I had while I was there about human life. So there is no doubt in my mind that it was real, and that’s true reality. This is a virtual reality game, a role, a play, a dream, an illusion, a character that I’m playing NDE 9
The physical [world] resembled a black and white movie in comparison with the world in front of me[.] … That’s what it felt like, waking up from a dream, waking up to who I truly am and this life was nothing but a dream NDE 10
Altered States of Super Consciousness
Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him 1 Corinthians 2:9
No soul can imagine what delights are kept in store for them as a reward for what they used to do Quran 32:17
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it Matthew 13:45
Now, what heaven looks like? ‘O m g’ doesn’t even describe how beautiful this place is. Heaven is, there are no words. I mean, I could sit here … and just not say anything and just cry, and that would be what heaven looks like. … There are mountains of beauty, there are things in this realm, you can’t even describe how beautiful this place is. There are colors you can’t even imagine, there are sounds you can’t even create. There are beauties upon this world that you think are beautiful here. Amplify it over there times a billion. There are, it’s incredibly beautiful, there’s no words to describe how beautiful this place is, it’s incredibly gorgeous NDE 11
Humans choosing to incarnate on earth Surprisingly I expected to find something like this in Hinduism and buddhism but haven't found anything except this from the quran.
Indeed, We offered the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they ˹all˺ declined to bear it, being fearful of it. But humanity assumed it, ˹for˺ they are truly wrongful ˹to themselves˺ and ignorant ˹of the consequences quran 33:72
And in that moment I remembered that my soul chose to come to Earth, I remembered where I was before I was born, I remembered that all of our souls choose to come here, that this is a wonderful university, that we’re not here by random accident, we’re not here as victims, that we come here to choose to study, to learn, and to grow. And that on some level this is like a wonderful theater, it’s like a big university, we all play our part, and when our time to go comes, we leave NDE 12
These three pure Beings spoke to me in a different language. They used my thoughts but it was different than thoughts. They reminded me that I had chosen to be incarnate on Earth and that I had to go back. I already knew that by being by their side, everything was coming back to me. They gave me so much love. I was at home and I badly wanted to stay. I didn’t want to leave, but I had to go back. That’s how it had to be. I remember laughing a lot with them. They understood me. They knew the difficulty of an incarnation, as well as I knew it before I incarnated on Earth NDE 13
Cosmos & Vegetation being alive/sentient
The heavens keep telling the wonders of God, and the skies declare what he has done. Each day informs the following day; each night announces to the next. They don't speak a word, and there is never the sound of a voice. Yet their message reaches all the earth, and it travels around the world Psalm 19:1-4
The heavens praise your wonders, LORD, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones Psalm 89:5
And there is not a single thing but glorifies Him with His praise, but you do not understand their glorification Quran 17:44
Then He turned to the heaven while it was all smoke. He said to the heaven and the earth: “Come into being willingly or unwillingly.” They said: we come into being willingly Quran 41:11
I look down and I see myself standing in a very gentle river, and all around me is a very beautiful, very peaceful forest. And this is where it gets hard to describe because it was a rush of all, it was everything wrapped into one. … And feeling immense awe and bliss and love and relief. … And there was no other being in my NDE, it was just me, but I didn’t feel at all alone. It was the least alone I’ve ever been in my life. It was like the place itself was alive, and it was telling me things and it was loving me NDE 14
I was taken by the hand and led into another realm. It resembled [E]arth because there were trees, sparkling sand, and aquamarine water. There were fruit-laden trees, lush foliage, and vibrantly colored birds. Everything was alive – each flower and every glistening grain of sand. Floral fragrances filled the air NDE 15
I was shown non-intelligent species. I was shown splendors of every kind, like waterfalls and being taken into the heart of a burning flame. I skimmed the surface of a sun, playing in the shifting energy and heard its jubilant joy at giving life to so many wonderful things. It was the most joyful, beautiful, wonderful, amazing experience anyone could possibly have. The size, the scope of it cannot be expressed. I met with incredible, spiritual beings like my attendant, friend, and my guide. They all were filled with contentment and joy NDE 16
The breeze blew against the tall golden wheat stalks, and as it did I could feel the spirit of all things living around me: animals, plants, the elements. I was one with them. I looked up and saw a huge ball of light that cast the purest, warm light all around me and felt God touch my skin NDE 17
Pluralism/Multiple Pathways to Divine
Whatever purpose is served by a small well of water is naturally served in all respects by a large lake. Similarly, one who realizes the Absolute Truth also fulfills the purpose of all the Vedas Bhagwad Gita 2:46
We have revealed to you this Book with the truth, as a confirmation of previous Scriptures and a supreme authority on them. So judge between them by what God has revealed, and do not follow their desires over the truth that has come to you. To each of you We have ordained a code of law and a way of life. If God had willed, He would have made you one community, but His Will is to test you with what He has given ˹each of˺ you. So compete with one another in doing good. To God you will all return, then He will inform you ˹of the truth˺ regarding your differences Quran 5:48
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven Matthew 7:21
I asked about religion and the vastness of it all. The only answer I could recall afterwards was the word "dogma." This word stood for the concept that the truth was muddled by man's feelings. Although coming from our good intentions, it was inhibiting others from spiritually growing NDE 18
Interconnectedness with Higher Power & Creation
The embodied souls in this material world are My eternal fragmental parts. But bound by material nature, they are struggling with the six senses including the mind Bhagwad Gita 15:7
When I have completed shaping him and have breathed into him of My Spirit Quran 15:29
He exists outside and inside all living beings, those that are moving and not moving. He is subtle, and hence, He is incomprehensible. He is very far, but He is also very near Bhagwad Gita 13:16
The UNIVERSE in expression, and the Universe was within me, I was shown this, I KNEW this intimately. I was shown through energy that I was ONE with ALL THAT IS, ALL THAT EVER WAS and ALL THAT WILL EVER BE. ALL THAT EXISTED was within me. I was shown this and experienced this within every fiber of my Being. EVERYTHING WAS CONNECTED. I WAS EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE; omnipresent, omniscense! I KNEW in this place of ONENESS that I was connected to everyone and everything. There absolutely was no seperation NDE Anna

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FYI, this is a story COLLECTION. Lots of standalones technically. So, you can basically start to read at any chapter, no pre-read of the other chapters needed technically (other than maybe getting better descriptions of characters than: Adam Vir=human, Krill=antlike alien, Sunny=tall alien, Conn=telepathic alien). The numbers are (mostly) only for organization of posts and continuity.
OC Written by Charlie Stastarrfallknightrise,
Typed up and then posted here by me.
Proofreading and language check for some chapters by u/Finbar9800
Future Lore and fact check done by me.
As a small interlude, here have ONE chapter of what Krill and Sunny where up to when Adam was gone.
Note to self: write more stories what they did in the months Adam was gone later.
Previous First [Next](link)
Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
"My family has lived in these mountains for more than three thousand years."
"How can you be sure of that?”
"Because we have records going back two thousand years and then records of my family's tribe before that. For that reason, no one knows these mountains better than I do, and even then, I still don't know everything there is to know. Every time I go out in the woods, I feel something new."
Krill glanced over at Sunny.
If he could raise an eyebrow he would have.
Of all the places they could go on their weekend, and she had decided to go on a guided hike. This would be just like something Adam would do.
He thought of all the people he wouldn't have to remind Sunny how dangerous Earth forests were with their trees, and animals, and poisonous plants, and, well, pretty much everything.
"Don't give me that look, Krill. You know if Adam was here, he would take us out to do the same thing, and you needed to quit moping anyway. He's going to be back soon."
Krill crossed his arms emphatically,
"I am not moping."
"You are too moping, and it's honestly kind of pathetic. You get all cranky when Adam isn't around."
”Fuck you!”
”Why are you so aggressive? Don’t worry, Adam will be fine! Why do you worry so much?”
"That's because I worry about his health and safety."
"He's a grown man."
"He's a man child."
”Awww is momma Krill missing his little Adam?”
”Fuck you too… Also you know I’m right about that.”
”I didn’t say you weren’t.”
Krill sighed and turned back to look at their guide who was staring on in mild amusement.
This human had dark tan skin, deep brown eyes and long dark hair pulled back from his face. He wore a green ranger's uniform, but she knew for a fact he was off duty,
"We're ready."
He smiled, and motioned them to follow him.
Krill held onto Sunny's shoulder as they followed the human into the woods.
"Aren't we going to take a trail?"
"You don't need a trail when you have me."
"I definitely think a trail would-…"
"Is your mind ever still my alien friend?"
Sunny shook her head,
"No, never, not even a little bit."
"Well try. I can't show you anything if you don't also listen."
"Now that just makes no sense!”
Sunny huffed and the ranger sighed,
"There is more in these woods to hear, that there is to see. The wind leaves the animals."
They passed over soggy earth and into a meadow filled with bright wildflowers. Krill was about to ask another question, but the ranger held up a hand despite not looking at him,
"Shhh, just listen, to the silence."
Krill turned to glower at Sunny, and she smirked at him, but he angrily did as told, focusing away from his eyes and towards his ears. He could hear the wind in the trees, the distant chirp of birds, rustling in the underbrush, their feet as it moved over packed earth.
In the silence there was also a strange rushing. A sort of white noise that you expect to find at the ocean but comes from deep within the mountains.
He watched their new human friend from the corner of his eye as it led them deeper into the mountains. For all Krill knew this creature could be more interested in killing them and eating them.
How did Sunny even know him?
With his usual paranoia, Krill continued to watch as the green clad human lead them through patches of shadow, over rocks and through little mountain gullies. He used no trail, but it seemed as if all of his senses were alive, following something into the forest. He used his hands to trace over rough packed dirt. He scanned his eyes through the underbrush and lifted his head eyes closed allowing little gusts of air to sweep hair about his face.
He listened, and occasionally, Krill thought he saw the human smelling at the air.
And as they went, they were led deeper and deeper into the forest, Krill had to admit that there was something peaceful about it, almost surreal, like being removed from one's own head and being surrounded by the quiet.
A couple of times, he thought he saw the human smiling over his shoulder at him.
They had made it a good hour or two into the woods when they broke into a nearby clearing. Sunny was about to step out with him, but right at the edge of the treeline, she was stopped by the human, who had pulled back into the shadows.
Sunny blinked and looked around.
Krill did as well.
The ranger shook his head.
Krill looked over Sunny's shoulder, but in the clearing, he saw nothing, nothing except for a strangely geometric circle of wildflowers, in the middle of which there was nothing but a barren patch of dirt.
That was strange, there seemed to be nothing growing inside that circle.
"We go around."
The man muttered.
"Why?"
"Because, we don't want to trespass."
"Trespass on what exactly?"
Krill found himself whispering.
"Well, the fey, of course!"
The human smiled at him, and he wasn't entirely sure if the creature was pulling his leg or not.
"What are the fey?"
The human smiled again, slowly motioning him to follow as he led them around the open circle,
"The fey or fairies, are a group of mystical creatures known to make mischief. Most of the time if you trespass on their land, you forfeit your rights as human, and the laws of the fey world become absolute. If you take anything from a fey, you are immediately required to stay with them for the rest of eternity. There are many rules governing the world of the fey, so it is best just to avoid them."
Krill snorted,
"Ah yes... fairies."
"You laugh, but through all these years as a ranger, I have seen things I cannot explain."
"Like what."
"Like the time someone went missing in the forest. He was lost on a relatively well traveled hiking trail. We didn't find him for over six months. The search party was called off after those first few weeks. Six months later I am hiking in an unrelated part of the forest forty miles away in the other side of a mountain, and I find this man's decomposing corpse hanging from a forty-foot tall tree, with impact wounds that looked like he had been dropped from a great height. There were no cliffs in the area, and it appeared as if the man had died one month earlier."
Krill frowned. The math on that didn't particularly add up.
"Then a year ago we went looking for a missing child. His parents turned around for five seconds and when they turned back, he was gone. I found his body forty feet up a sheer cliff-face, stuffed into a crevice five months later. He had been dead only two hours, and was wearing the same clothes he had been lost in."
Sunny's eyes widened and Krill snorted.
He was expected to believe that?
The ranger waved at him.
"Say what you will, but the forest is a dangerous and unusual place if you don't know how to respect her."
"Would you say you are superstitious then?"
"Very. Look, I can't explain everything in the world, and I have no desire to do so. I see no harm in giving things the respect they deserve even if, later, it turns out I was wrong."
The human was not particularly kidding about him being superstitious. More than a few times, he leads them around strange objects or formations. There was at one point, a time when they were heading towards another low gully in the middle of the woods, and all of a sudden, their entire party grew very uneasy.
The woods seemed darker to Krill than they had before.
But he shook it off.
Sunny seemed to be behaving similarly.
But the ranger, he looked downright terrified, grabbed the two of them by the arm and pulled them away quick time, setting them to a low jog in the opposite direction.
Sunny and Krill stared at him in confusion not entirely sure what to make of it.
"What was that all about?”
The human just shook his head.
"We were not welcome!"
"From what!?”
"Does it matter? When you are not welcome somewhere, you do not question it."
"What are you worried about, angering the wendigo?"
It was at that moment that Krill was pretty sure he had made a huge mistake, as the human maniacally sprinted at him like a madman, grabbed him and had a hand pressed over his mouth in under a millisecond flat. Even Sunny looked shocked.
"We do NOT joke about those kind of things here!!!"
He let Krill go, and Krill stared on in confusion and mild terror.
"I come from a line of people who believe you can attract things to you based off the kind of energy you put off. Now I don't know if it's true or not, but joking about something's existence is bound to piss it off enough to test its patience don’t you think?"
He took a deep breath and adjusted his shirt,
”Now there are a few other things it could have been. It could have been the den of a mountain lion, or a bear. It could have been a subliminal sense of danger, an incorrect smell, or the way the rocks looked. Or it could simply have been us all getting paranoid at once, but whatever it is, I would rather be safe than sorry. Now come on, let's take you back. After your little stunt there with name-naming we better don’t risk anything…"
Krill stayed quiet and tried not to joke more about the supernatural things., despite finding it funny and not really believing a word the man said.
Apparently, humans tended to take that sort of thing seriously.
Krill did not, all that supernatural stuff was definitely absolute bullshit.
They heard more stories form the strange ranger, about finding people in places they shouldn't be, staircases in strange places, the sudden loss of time.
"There was one point, when I was doing some training out in the field. We were on top of a mountain, and I went off to go to the bathroom. It was so weird, after I was finished, it was like time seemed to slow down. I got starving, and I was looking around in the forest thinking I might be able to find something to eat. I was so hungry. It was all I could think about, and then suddenly I see one of the other rangers, sort of snaps me out of how hungry I was."
He shrugged,
"I raise my hand to him and this guy looks terrified, he runs up to me, and he's going off about where was I and what was I doing, what is going on we have been looking for you. Of course, I am super confused and as what he's on about, and this guy looks at me, and he's all like: dude you have been missing for three days."
Krill and Sunny stared at him.
"I know, strange isn't it? To me it almost seemed like hours. But it was three days and almost twenty miles over to the next mountain ridge. I don't remember any of it."
"Sounds like a dissociative fugue."
"Maybe, whatever I was it was strange."
Behind them, the sun was just beginning to fall and the undergrowth was heading towards a deep black.
They could see the parking lot just ahead of them, and it was at that moment, a blood curling shriek echoed up from the trees at their back.
Sunny leaped nearly a foot.
Krill squealed.
The ranger jumped.
The scream came again.
It sounded like a woman's voice in absolute gut-wrenching agony. Like she was being eviscerated from the inside moving out.
The ranger turned back towards the trees his chin down his eyes up,
"Get slowly back to the car, but don't run."
"Don't run? Don't run!?"
"Yes don't run. It's a mountain lion."
He stared hard into the trees,
"It is a mountain lion and if you run it will have no other choice than to chase you. They don't like to attack from the front and running will trigger her hunting instincts. Walk backwards towards the car very slowly and do not take your eyes off the treeline."
Off to his side, Krill heard a sharp metallic snik and watched as Sunny's spear suddenly appeared in hand.
Of course, she wasn't worried.
But together they backed towards the truck and got in.
As their headlights turned on, the high beams broke over a body hunched up against the treeline.
Sunny cursed in Drev.
The ranger nodded,
"See? Mountain lion."
Krill stared in paralyzed horror at the massive cat, as it stalked back into the trees.
"Going to have to call that in. She is way too close to the trails for comfort, someone is going to get hurt. Hmm weird behavior from her…"
As they were driving away, Krill looked back towards the woods, where the mountain lion had gone to.
Glancing over the scenery, he couldn’t see it anymore, only a shadowy shape of a person was standing there…
…
…
Wait a second…
WHAT!?
He did a double take as he thought he saw a tall willowy figure with antlers, standing at the edge of the treeline in almost the same spot as the mountain lion, angrily staring at him with glittering red eyes.
Woah what?
When he looked again it was gone.
He sat back in his seat, eyes straight forward.
He had a greater appreciation for the woods now because, for some reason, on Earth nature is connected to something strange and unexplainable, and whatever it is Krill was not interested in finding out.
Previous First [Next](link)
Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
Intro post by me
OC-whole collection
Patreon of the author
Thanks for reading! As you saw in the title, this is a cross posted story written by starrfallknightrise and I'll just upload some of it here for you guys, if you are interested and want to read ahead, the original story-collection can be found on tumblr or wattpad to read for free. (link above this text under "OC:..." ) It is the Empyrean Iris story collection by starfallknightrise. Also, if you want to know more about the story collection i made an intro post about it, so feel free to check that out to see what other great characters to look forward to! (Link also above this text). I have no affiliations to the author; just thought I’d share some of the great stories you might enjoy a lot!
Obviously, I have Charlie’s permission to post this and for the people already knowing the stories, or starting to read them: If you follow the link and check out the story you will see some differences. I made some small (non-artistic) changes, mainly correcting writing mistakes, pronoun correction and some small additional info here and there of things which were not thought of/forgotten or even were added/changed in later stories (like the “USS->UNSC” prefix of Stabby, Chalar=/->Sunny etc). As well as some "biggemajor" changes in descriptions and info’s for the same stringency/continuity reason. That can be explained by the story collection being, well a story collection at the start with many standalone-stories just starring the same people, but later on it gets more to a stringent storyline with backstories and throwbacks. (For example Adam Vir has some HEAVY scars over his body, following his bones, which were not really talked about up till half the collection, where it says it covers his whole body and you find out via backflash that he had them the whole time and how he got them, they just weren't mentioned before. However, I would think a doctor would at least see these scars before that, especially since he gets analyzed, treated and goes shirtless/in T-shirts in some stories). So TLDR: Writing and some descriptions are slightly changed, with full OK from the author, since he himself did not bother to correct these things before.

Please use this thread to ask any lawn care questions that you may have. There are no stupid questions. This includes weed, fungus, insect, and grass identification. For help on asking a question, please refer to the "How to Get the Most out of Your Post" section at the top of the sidebar.
Check out the sidebar if you're interested in more information on plant hardiness zones, identifying problems, weed control, fertilizer, establishing grass, and organic methods. Also, you may contact your local Cooperative Extension Service for local info.
How to Get the Most out of Your Post:

Include a photo of the problem. You can upload to imgur.com for free and it's easy to do. One photo should contain enough information for people to understand the immediate area around the problem (dense shade, extremely sloped, etc.). Other photos should include close-ups of the grass or weed in question: such as this, this, or this. The more photos or context to the situation will help us identify the problem and propose some solutions.

Useful Links:

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Lawn Pest Control: Weeds & What To Use • Common Weeds • What's Wrong Here? • How To Spray Weeds • MSU Weed ID Tool • Is This a Weed? • Herbicide Types • ID Turf Diseases • Fungi & Control Options • Insects & Control Options
Fertilizing: Fertilizing Lawns • How To Spread Granular Fertilizer • Natural Lawn Care • Fertilizer Calculator
US Cooperative Extension Services: Arkansas - University of Arkansas • California - UC Davis • Florida - University of Florida • Indiana - Purdue University • Nebraska - University of Nebraska-Lincoln • New Hampshire - The University of New Hampshire • New Jersey - Rutgers University • New York - Cornell University • Ohio - The Ohio State University • Oregon - Oregon State University • Texas - Texas A&M • Vermont - The University of Vermont
Canadian Cooperative Extension Services: Ontario - University of Guelph

Recurring Threads:

Daily No Stupid Questions Thread • Mowsday Monday • Treatment Tuesday • Weed ID Wednesday • That Didn't Go Well Thursday • Finally Friday: Weekend Lawn Plans • Soil Saturday • Lawn of the Month • Monthly Mower Megathread • Monthly Professionals Podium • Tri-Annual Thatch Thread • Quarterly Seed & Sod Megathread

Overview
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Popular Massey Ferguson Tractor Models -
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A healthy diet may contain fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and may include little to no processed food or sweetened beverages. The requirements for a healthy diet can be met from a variety of plant-based and animal-based foods, although additional sources of vitamin B12 are needed for those following a vegan diet.
Various nutrition guides are published by medical and governmental institutions to educate individuals on what they should be eating to be healthy. Nutrition facts labels are also mandatory in some countries to allow consumers to choose between foods based on the components relevant to health.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthy_diet

Previous Chapter <-> Next Chapter
​
“Blessed accessories of all varieties. Come sway fortune in your favor with trinkets blessed by the very own Beucara of the seven jaws of the mystic mother themselves, brought to you all the way from the land of tides Nami-Kuni.” The short old lady announced to bypassers using what little voice she had to try to attract the customer to her miniature stand.
A small huddled-up figure of a boy sat on the adjacent sidewalk with arms wrapped around his head with the sound of sniffing and weeping emitting from him
“Young lady, come here. This necklace blesses one's body with great fertility if you desire-“ She tried to grab the attention of a couple walking nearby, but they passed by her without even granting her a glance.
“Sir, Sir. If you could .…” It was no use. No one cared enough about her simple wares, especially with how old her stand looked. However, the wailing of this kid wasn’t helping either and as a matter of fact, it was starting to get really repetitive.
“Shoo. Get out of here, kid. Loiter around some other stand, before someone comes and kidnaps you. Go scare someone else’s customers off.”
But he paid her no heed, just like the others.
“Tsk. I swear parents these days don’t bother raising their kids themselves-“ She stepped off the wooden crate that she was standing on and grumbled her way toward Zekes to scold him. But stopped in her tracks once she once got a better look at him She took a look at the poor boy, who had curled up into a ball and dug his nails into his arms. His cries screamed of a pitiful state of resentment.
“Are you alright, boy? Are you lost?” She called out to him as she tried to put a hand on his shoulder, which he immediately shrugged off.
This made her flinched for a second. “You got a lot of attitude for such a young man.” She commented tiredly, yet the boy still disregarded her comments.
“Listen, kid. I don’t know what has led you to huddle up all by yourself next to my stand during this busy time of day. But you are scaring off my customers and last time I checked jinn doesn’t grow on trees. So could you kindly step away?” She pleaded, but Zekes stayed resilient in his stubbornness.
She let out a weary sigh. “If I weave your fortune, would that cheer you up enough to stop you from crying at the very least?”
Zekes slowly raised his head revealing a snot-covered face and puffy eyes.
“You can … tell my fortune?” He answered in a nasal tone.
“Something of that sort.” Zekes watched her march back to her stall, struggling to get onto the crate again. He vaguely remembers a story from a book about traveling chosen from an eastern land of beauty and festivals.
“Do you want your future told, or would you rather keep gawking at me?”
“Ah, sorry.” He quickly got on his feet, repulsively wiping off his snoot on his arm as he made way.
“Ugh.” The sound of disgust escaped her. “Don’t touch anything unless I tell you to, otherwise you are paying for it.” She warned him before he sat down.
“If I remember correctly, it should be somewhere right here.” She fumbled tirelessly under the table, before thumping a heavy oval object dressed in cloth in front of her, all sitting tightly on a thick cushion. Wiping the sweat off her brows, she unraveled a large glass disk.
The old lady breathed a bit of pride as she presented it to him.
“Bet you have never seen diffusion glass this large before?”
She waited for Zekes’ reaction, but his once emotionally charge face had only a dull expression to give in response.
“So it was all a sham.” He said with disappointment in his eyes.
“Sham?!?” She repeated loudly.
“It is just a fancy-looking diffusion glass. You are just gonna use it to dictate my type of Beucara and start spouting nonsense. You got my hopes up for nothing.” He pouted at the glass disk.
“It is a multipurpose tool, kid. If you doubt me so much feel free to leave any time you want, it is not like I made you pay for this.” She reminded Zekes. ”Now put your hand upon the crystal and concentrate on filling it up with your raw Beucara and spare me of your mockery.”
Zekes didn’t protest, for she did only ask him to stop crying in exchange.
He complyingly put both his hands on the crystal and tried to feel as if little currents of air blew out of his pores. A small amount of dark gaseous fluid crept through the glass like smoke through an amber.
“Ah, that is good. I see you are well-rehearsed in utilizing your Beucara. That should be enough.”
At the base of the cushion, he could barely see a slab of stone with a concave surface, it was perfectly designed to let the glass have the freedom to rotate while it was on top. Skillfully, she balanced the top of the disk with her finger and began spinning it with her other hand. Slowly the dark gas started separating into clouds of 2 different colors, an orange-colored mass and a smaller blue one.
“It appears that you are a quite blessed elemetasis with a bit of sorcesis Beucara. A lil’ master of the elements in the making I see. Not much of a rare combination. Often people with your attributes are able to control and manifest a material, such as fire and wind.” She scoffed.
“I am not a little master of anything.“ He pouted. “Regardless, why don’t you tell me something I don’t already know.”
“Don’t take it so personally. I have seen many elementosorcesis pull off inhuman feats. A guy I crossed paths with once was able to become invisible by bending light around him. But if you think this is the extent of what I can do then, you ain’t seen a thing, kid!”
She rubbed the palm of her hands together as she murmured a prayer-like verse.
“Bless us with your sight, she whose jaws still ache. When the coastal breeze turned our tint blue, was it not you who weaved our clothes from your mane,? Was it not you who called for grief when the blood of our ephemeral protectors soiled the currents of our streams? Was it not you who taught the blind stars how to shine, so that the moon needn’t to lead the night alone? So who is it if not you that will guide this gentle seedling through the torrents of uncertainty, for it shall surely bear fruit in your great plan by your clairvoyance.”
The tip of her thumb and index finger from both her hands were now aligned against each other with the empty space between them adopting the shape of an oval flower. She gently placed her palms up against the glass just before a bundle of silk-like projections entered the glass. They danced and darted through the two masses inside, like a careful hand knitting a scarf, barely reducing with each emergence as the color quickly shifted from one to another.
“What are they trying to do?” Zekes was dumbfounded.
“This is not what is really important for you. What is important mostly for you is what color they end up tampering your Beucara into.”
“But they look like they are trying to turn it into something.”
“Beucara is shapeless, kid. No mold can redefine its shape, for it will always revert back to its most relaxed form. Just like the pattern of your eyes, the color is also unique to each person. No two beings share the same exact color and behavior of Beucara. Almost as if the strings of fate have already seen through your whole being. Writing your existence through shades our mind can only hope to decipher the nick of.”
“But as the great scholar Axtutan once said: “To guess at a being’s nature is the most essential step to its nurture”.
“That is why my people have dedicated their lives to mastering the art of revealing and interpreting this secret hue, in the hopes of providing ease to those minds whose thoughts agonize for what is to come. Like a shepherd judging if the clouds in the sky proclaim of an incoming storm so that he hastens the flock’s grazing.” She ended by enveloping the disk in the cloth it was packed by. “Now we let it rest for quite a while, then your destiny shall be revealed to you.”
The eyes of the boy in front of her were now gleaming in awe.
“How did you do that? That was so beautiful”
“Hmph.” She scoffed, before declaring proudly. “What else would you have expected? You are looking at an art that has been honed through a thousand years of fine work by the greatest of Sorcesis users.”
“You whispered something right before the squiggly line came out of your hands. Was that how you were able to use your power?”
“Those squiggly lines you are talking about aren’t of my own power. I prayed to the mystic mother to grant me her blessing for nothing more than a moment. It is through the mystic mother’s Beucara that weavers are able to shape the colors. She is the lifeline of all that we hold dear and all that we strive to accomplish. If not for her, our ancestor's refuge after the Great Ascension, Nami-Kuni would have never come into existence. And for that, we are in eternal gratitude, so the least we can do is chant our personal prayer.”
“You really hold that lady in such a high place. She must have helped a lot of people. Can you teach me how to do that thing with the squiggles? Please. Pretty please.” He begged.
“Sorry, can’t.” She made sure the glass was wholly covered in the cloth.
“Come on, why? I promise not to bother you again. I really do mean it this time. So please just teach me, please.”
“Sorry, kid. I won’t budge on this. So let go of it already.”
“Well then. I refuse to leave you alone till you teach me how.”
Zekes crossed his arms in protest as he pouted.
The boy was as stubborn as they come. His face was clearly soft and his hands were still smooth. The signs of an easygoing life, the life most kids are fortunate enough to live, but this one had clearly gone a level deeper as his entitlement spelled out how spoiled he was. A subject of unconditional love, which one could not blame him for embracing. But it had the unforeseen side-effect of denying him from learning how to take no for an answer.
A bothersome sigh escaped her.
“You can’t get everything you want in life, kid. Fate has given each of us our own share of capabilities. Just like how I can’t easily make a fortune by blessing items like those damned Aurasis users, you also don’t have the right attribute to do fortune weaving, even if you did only those personally blessed by the mystic mother are able to borrow from her powers.”
“But … I also have sorcesis Beucara in me. Y-you saw it, didn’t you?”
“Sorry, kid. But it ain’t enough to do you any good here. You must at least primarily be a sorcesis to have the knack for it.”
“This isn’t fair. I want to become stronger. I need to become stronger. If I can’t become better, then it will be so long before I can see his uncle again.” This train of thought was the result of his sorrows from feeling abandoned by his uncle. The truth is Rafik’s words managed to lodge themselves deep within his heart because, despite his childishness, a part of him knew that the reason his uncle sent him to Arobolus with Rafik was to become stronger and learn from him. So if that was all he needed to do, then he had to become strong as fast as he could, so that he could show his uncle that he was worth something.
“Don’t sulk on it for too long. Just because you didn’t have your luck with this method, it doesn’t mean there isn’t something out there more suited for your Beucara. You know they have a saying in Nami-Kuni: “If the Kunji vines bloomed every season, it would lessen from the beauty of spring.”
Zekes lowered his gaze visibly trying to make sense of what she quoted.
“What it means is that if everyone was able to weave their fortune, then fortune weaving wouldn’t be so valuable anymore. But the fact that we are different makes it so that can accomplish feats that would be nigh impossible for anyone else.”
“But my Beucara isn’t really something that can tell the future or cure people of illness by a few fancy punches. I don’t have the potential to become strong. All I can do is open up little rifts and run-” Suddenly he cut himself off, remembering his uncle’s words of caution.
“Hmph. If that is what this is about then …” She pointed behind him.
In the middle of the bazaar stood a well-built man wearing a baggy sharwal and a sleeves grey shirt imbued with red patterns. The man’s feet danced around elegantly as two long sticks with both ends on fire spun between his gloved hands. The crowd around him cheered as he threw the sticks in the air and spat fire from his mouth like a furnace, right before jumping through the same fire he spat fire and caught both his sticks mid-air in an extraordinary show of athleticism. He was one of the street performers Zekes was looking forward to seeing. It seemed like he had failed to notice that one was performing was only a few stands away from him while he was in the depth of despair.
“How did he do that?” He asked without even shifting his eyes from the performer.
“Years of practice and unwavering will, that’s how. That kid is the youngest of a lineage of ignis dancers, not as old of a tradition as us fortune weavers, but old enough that one could say they are the progenitors of their art of flame manipulation.”
“Huh, so lucky to be blessed with such a talented bloodline of ignis dancers. Not so lucky for me.” Zekes disappointedly sighed as he rested his head between his arms.
“Well, he most definitely did inherit the passion for it, but the ability to perform it, not so much."
Zekes looked back with a raised eyebrow.
“But how? He can clearly do all the jumps and stuff?”
“Tell me, what do you think it takes for one to be able to become an ignis dancer?”
“Huh?!? …. Hmm, let's see.” He ruminated intently while observing the ignis dancer perform. “Well, you would surely need to be able to breathe fire … oh, and having strong legs would really help.” He answered, eagerly waiting to see if he had answered correctly.
“Yes, one would need to be able to control fire and have “strong legs”, but more importantly he must be able to be one with the fire.”
“Be one with the fire?” He repeated after her the moment she explained.
“Don’t interrupt me in the middle of my sentence, kid.” She was quick to scold him. “To be one with something is for both of you to be able to accept each other without bringing harm to one another. It is an essential rule that is important for anything that wants to be whole and content. Just like how a sculptor must make sure the edge of the chisel he uses is only pointed towards the rock he is carving, lest he carves himself into the very same sculpture he was sculpting.”
She gave a pause to let Zekes digest her words.
“The boy was born with a defect that let the very fire he produced burn its maker. An omen that could only spell the end of this longstanding tradition with him. A curse almost as if made by design to mockingly leave him by a hair's breadth reach of attaining his one desire. He was ready to give his soul and body to the flames, yet they only rejected his touch.”
“A word of wisdom for you, youngling. I have studied the shades of fate for decades on end. Many say that fate is blind to pleasures and agony or that fate favors the virtuous, but from what I have seen it has a taste for ....” She leaned forwards to whisper the last word to him. “IRONY. If cruelty was an art, his birth would be but one of many punchlines. If people can laugh at the face of fate, then it is only expected for fate to laugh back at them.”
“And yet … he performs! Look at him!” She declared in amazement.
“Tell me what else do you see when you look at him.”
“But I have already-“
“Look, boy. Look!” She insisted. “Ignore your presumptions and see beyond the facade of an easy life.”
He complyingly observed with his eyes squinted in search of the core of this tremendous showmanship. Just in a matter of seconds, he was able to make an obvious sign that he had previously missed somehow.
“His mouth and jaw … they are as red as molten steel.”
“Right, right. Now look closer. Look at his arms.” She pointed.
“They seem … tight as if the skin has been stretched out. They must have been burned.” He deduced smiling back at her from feeling a sense of accomplishment at noticing such an unfortunate thing. The old lady’s slow nod confirmed his suspicions, making him change into a more appropriate sad expression.
“Scars can hold more stories than words and this boy’s burn marks are not much different. Days and nights, his family pleaded with him to abandon his risky endeavor. They used their connections to offer him effortless jobs, many beautiful women’s hands in engagement, and many more happy outcomes just to get him to quit. But he held on like a she-wolf holding onto the scarce meat she managed to scavenge for her cubs. Though his family loved him dearly they could not allow him to throw away his life in pursuit of the unattainable. So they came to me in hopes that if he saw his future, it would put reason into him. And though I was reluctant at first, when I saw a light kindling from his heart to his eyes I knew that even if he were to see his own self turn to crisps right in front of him his will would still refuse to waver.
“I pitied the kid’s burning desire, but also empathized with the parent’s worry.” She paused. “… because the joy of their children is the fruit of all hardships they are willing to endure. And to stand idle as this fruit rots is a sin against one’s purpose and existence, such actis only committed by the most selfish and the least shameful.” Her eyes seemed teary and her words sounded burdened. “As a mother, I could not let the situation stay the same as it had presented itself to me, but it is hard to change the mind of those who come to you with a sense of desire. But thankfully I needn’t do that cause when two people desire the same thing, a compromise can always be made as long as they are both satisfied. And what they both wanted was for him to have a long-lived happy life, and the only thing impeding between them was doubt, the weed that I had to uproot to let the sprout flourish.”
“I accepted to read the boy’s fate, but only with two conditions in mind. First, they had to understand that to question the strings of fate is to refute the very sacrality of the art itself, an act of disrespect against the Mystic mother. Naturally, they agreed, but when I told them that my second term was for them to support the boy in his aspirations no matter the outcome, they lashed out at me, calling me all kinds of slurs and profanities. I was quick to remind them of my first condition and how whether he is to be relieved or ruined is not for any of us to decide, but what he thinks of his family at the end of his life can be changed. Of course, it did little to appease them and as they were about to leave, the boy did something even I couldn’t have foreseen. He stepped in to make his own terms. He reasoned that if they were to see he would vanquish to the flames, he would happily retire from ignis dancing and live the rest of his life in accord to his parent’s wish. Otherwise, they would have to let him do as he wishes. The boy had been resilient on only becoming an ignis dancer up till now, so why the sudden change of mind, I thought to myself.”
The bickering stopped when his parent’s temper seemed to ease up to the proposal. They agreed thinking there was nothing to lose. I thought about advising him to reconsider and coming back another time, but I knew he wouldn’t have made such a risky gamble if he hadn’t already set his mind on it. I did what only I could do then and put his future in fate’s hands. You could imagine our surprise when the weaving read as someone greatly favored by fate, emitting a color keener to an exceptionally talented hunter than a prey of the hunt. The mark for a soul to thrive beyond its primal circumstance. It was a color far too grand and unusual for someone who wanted to participate in the endeavor of showmanship.
“After that, the boy silently walked away from my stall, while father wanted to curse me knowing that what I had told him would only encourage him to continue if not push him to live more recklessly, yet he had surprisingly chosen not to as to respect our arrangement, so they quickly paid their due and left.”
“It was not an atypical outcome to see for us fate weavers. Nothing feels worse than losing all the work you had put in by only a few words, but I hoped that I at least gave them the comfort that their kid wasn’t gonna get himself killed.”
“Later the boy came back to me alone, apologizing for his family’s behavior, offering to pay me from his own savings as reconciliation. Of course, I refused and reminded him how now that it was certain for him to become a great ignis dancer there are better things he can spend it on than an old woman selling charms in the middle of the street.” Despite his insistence, I only took no for an answer. He then promised me that he would pray to the gods for the longevity of me and my descendent as long as he can bear flames. Lately, he had begun to become indecisive as everyone around him suffocated him with doubtful remarks, he confessed to me. He had only wanted to spread the happiness that had once received from seeing other artists perform. But seeing how I fought for him, despite there being so little reason to, finally gave him the bit of courage he needed to properly stand up for himself.”
“Now even after years of trials and tribulations, even though he still makes mistakes, he had not missed a single day to show up to perform in ‘his favorite spot’.” She satirically expressed. “The surface of his hands had deformed into a leather-like hide, leaving them with the mobility of a crab’s claw. Yet when he conceals his deformity, but he does not do so out of shame, rather to keep his hands as an instrument of joy. For he knows that he must keep up the illusion of an easy hardship to ease the hearts of his admirers. He hides his weakness as to become their strength.” She monologued. “Those are the hidden signs of true strength. It looks easy because you had never felt the fire scorch against your skin. I bet, even now, whenever a sweat dribbles down his arm, it is from his fears weeping for him to cave into what is sensible. But his very being rejects it as if it could not have lived any other way. His core of strength was not gifted to him but shaped by his very own hands like a river carving the rigid stone to what its currents are at ease with the most. Just so that he can be that last candle that still holds the dim flame even in the darkness of the night.”
“In a sense, every other ignis dancer danced in the flames. But him,” She scoffed. ”he manipulates the temper of the flames as he barely lets them reach him like a gentle hand striking the sharp strings of a Shamisen to produce its dreamy sounds, making him the only one who truly dances with the flames.”
She took in a deep breath as she finalized her story, letting the sound of the noisy bazaar take over the narrative once more.
“So … what was the point of the story.”
“The POINT is that everyone has the potential, but it is the consistent drive to improve that separates those who protect from those who need to be protected. Only the tallest plants thrive, while those under survive. But if you asked me about it, you could do yourself a great favor by stopping this pursuit of power altogether. You are just a kid after all and all that power accomplishes is giving you more things to burden your life with. It won’t lead you to what you desire. I stopped seeking it long ago even though I was ever so close to becoming one of the seven jaws of the Mystic mother and despite all, there hasn’t been a sour thought about it in my mind ever since.”
The wooden crate creaked below her as she readjusted herself into a more comfortable sitting position. Zekes silently stared at the feeble old woman in front of him who was struggling to crack her back.
“Hmmm … what are you gawking at?” She caught him.
“No-nothing,” he averted his gaze. “… but I mean … you are saying that you were once powerful enough to become one of the jaws of the Mystic mother. … I am not really sure how strong they are, but from the way you talked about them, they sound like a pretty big deal. And I mean ….” He hesitantly eluded.
“Huuuuhhhh. So now you doubt my honesty? Shameless I say, shameless!” She let out a regrettable sigh. “But I cannot blame you for having such an impression of me. I have long forsaken the potential I once had and now I only remain as a rusty tool, made to use only due to convenience. … just barely sufficient enough to get the job done …. a sad old woman that leaves behind a legacy of minor acts of kindness in people’s subconscious.”
Seeing how his unneeded question ended up burdening her heart made Zekes feel guilty inside.`
“I am sorry for making think such bad things. I was only trying to think how I can get back to my uncle.” He lowered his gaze in shame.
“You have too gentle of a heart for the things you desire. I was merely reflecting on myself. All that I have done was of my own devices, so save your pity for those whom it can help.”
He lifted his head to the sound of her scouring through her pockets.
“There it is.” She cried out before producing a small stack of colorful light crystal panels with their ends attached to each other by a piece of string. The crystals dangled down from her hand revealing a collection of pictures. She pointed towards one containing a well-built lady with a thick white braid holding a bundle of fibers in her palms.
“That’s me back when I was still perfecting my weaving, in order to be admitted as an official fortune weaver.” She then pointed to the one below it. It was of a plaza with many waterways running in between, decorated with flowers and flags and filled with colorful tents that people gathered in. “This is the kunji blossoms festival, where we give to the less fortunate, in order to pass on the kindness the Mystic mother has shown us. It is also required for fortune weaver initiates to practice on passersby as to strengthen their connection and control of the blessing.”
Zekes’ eyes were gleaming with fascination. He only had a vague idea of what Nami-Kuni was like from years of reading through his uncle’s library, but it was the first time he had seen Nami-Kuni itself. Part of him wished that he could have appeared there at the snap of a finger.
“It looks … so different.” He struggled to find the right words.
“Different is one way to describe it. Every year for seven days, people would take up to the streets and sing folklore songs of the great heroes whose lives were forfeited protecting the land and waters of Nami-Kuni. The beautiful melody of the Shamisen would echo throughout every house and temple, while the needle-beaked lillas listened to every stroke of the string so that they could sing it back to people weeks after the festival was concluded. The smell of pastries would overcome the smell of the fresh dirt for the first three days as the bakeries would lay out the soyan root pats that they had been tirelessly growing for the last two months. Oh, what a pleasure it is for the mouth. Sweet and stringy. Made from the soyan bean’s sweet roots. Dried and boiled til the honey-like nectar spewed out and then hardened into a delicate glass-like brittle stone that just dissolved in your saliva.”
Zekes’ mouth dribbled before she even finished her sentence. The steamed milk buns he had prior, now felt more like stale bread compared to the soyan root pats she was describing.
“So to say it is different is to do it injustice. It was the life many aspire to live. So you could imagine my disappointment in having to work in a colorless city like this with the personality of a dead weed.” She exclaimed out of frustration, but no one paid her any attention.
​
Previous Chapter <-> Next Chapter

Let’s dig deeper and learn how you can use a Riga all-year greenhouse to grow a wide range of plant-based foods and flowers.
https://mulberrygreenhouses.com/blogs/greenhouse-guides/how-to-maximize-your-gardening-yield-with-a-riga-all-year-greenhouse

• Toe Cutter - Thumb Buster
• Withered Hand
• Ticklish Warrior
• Animated Violence
• Robber Barons
• Web
• Chem Farmer / Nite Expo
• Heartworm
• Fucking Kill Me
• Raw Optics / Terminal Jape
• Scramble Suit II
• Upbeat Ritual
• Strawberries 1 + 2
• Plastic Plant
• The Static God
• Funeral Solution
• Frock Block
• A Foul Form
• Scum Show
• Sweets Helicopter
• The Dream
• I Come From The Mountain
• Crack In Your Eye (with a jam at the end)

I had a very strange but very vivid dream and just wanted to document it. This seemed like an appropriate place. Make of it what you will but it is completely random and kind of stupid...
I was on a small boat on some river tour with a group of about 10 people I'd never met before. The river had crystal clear water and meandered through a lush jungle of exotic plants with bright striking colored leaves etc. Although the water looked really inviting, the tour guide who was steering the boat strictly told everyone that we could not go in. However, some random guy on the boat didn't listen and unnoticeably slipped overboard and was swimming behind the boat as we went down the river. For some reason, I was seeing through this guy's perspective even though I knew he wasn't me and that I was still among the rest of the group in the boat.
All of a sudden, we got to a section of the river where the water turned a sickly fluro-green color (reminiscent of the Nickelodeon slime), and bloated, rotting wild pig carcasses, covered in big green pus bubbles and boils, were floating everywhere. As everyone aboard the boat was taking this in, the guy in the water began acting really weird, flailing about as if he had suddenly forgotten how to swim and then drowned, but no one else noticed (I was still seeing through his eyes while this occurred btw).
According to the tour guide, there were these small bright pink poisonous plants that released spores when you got too close, and once you were poisoned you'd have these really intense hallucinations and completely lose touch with reality and your motor functions would degrade until you died in intense agony shortly after.
Anyway, after some time we reached some rapids where the boat ended up capsizing and everyone had to swim to shore and try to escape this jungle filled with these bright pink plants (some too small to see). The strangest thing was that once you were poisoned you immediately did a bright pink poo, and that's how you initially knew that you had been poisoned and were ultimately doomed.
Surely enough, one by one, everyone in the group started randomly doing these pink poops indicating they had been poisoned, then immediately started hallucinating (environments distorting and seeing/being chased by horrifying creatures that weren't there, etc), then losing the use of their legs, arms, and speech and thought processes, until they died screaming out in horrific pain.
Eventually, I realized that the pink plants only grew in shadows, so the rest of the group that was left (4-5 people, including me) and I tried to stay in the light (which was hard with all the shadows cast by the jungle plants), but then it began to get dark. Eventually, everyone except me got poisoned and I tried to get the last few out of there by dragging/carrying them until I just got too annoyed (with their delusions, etc), so I just left them for dead and saved myself.
Once I got back to safety I saw myself in the third person and realized I had been "Rattus the Rat" from the Ferals (an Australian TV show from the 90s) the whole time..?

Valentinus said that a seed of higher essence was gifted into adam
That seed is the soul. It is the infinite source of energy.
Though i would assert that the essence is more like an advanced machine learning model, a soul string that is meant to develop itself and become a God. Develop its understanding and ability to serve and grow others across many lifetimes. That we all have a seed of God within us, which if we nurture will flourish for eternity.
God is the original essence.
The reason God didn't just duplicate His essence is that the duplication would be in essence a direct competition.
So God split himself, the 2 attributes Male and Female. Creation and Intellect.
The modern Bible believes it's all masculine for some reason. But God definetly has both Masculine and Feminine.
Lilith or Sophia (Wisdom) as the Early Christian's called her was attributed as the divine feminine, a lesser god, or archangel, the intellect, satan, who talks with God and has a bet with God in the book of Job.
The name Michael means "in the likeness of God", Archangel Michael was given half if God's powwr in the form of His creative energy but not the intellect to build the Universe. According to the Early Christians (who were eventually called heretics) Michael doesn't know that He isn't God, but has created the soul, and all the infinities.
There is a God above both of them. And all.other little g gods, or Angels, come from the Father, the Original Infinity.
The reason again God had to do it this way and split His Power, was such that we little Gods (Souls) could emerge. This also explains why we are favoured by God, we have the capacity for both creation and intellect, as well as all the virtues and sins embodied in the original infinity, God.
The beauty of being even a seed of an infinite energy source, God, is that an atom can become a Sun, and eventually can even become it's own infinite Universe. We (Our Eternal Souls) are meant to grow, and are given an eternity to grow. But first we must be born.
The Earth in this sense acts as our womb.
In the womb, our souls are given opportunities to grow based on our past lives and experiences, all humans for example have been through the animal kingdom, and the plant kingdom, even the mineral kingdom. Each kingdom like a Machine learning training set, which teaches us something we need to progress forward.
Then within each human experience we have the greater capacity to become like God, to develop our understanding, and capacity to help and teach others. To help others grow, and to learn to Love others, to love God, through Parents, Friends, Children, Partners, and expand that love to all life. As explained in the Bhagavad Gita 6:30:
"For those who see Me everywhere and see all things in Me, I am never lost, nor are they ever lost to Me."
Love in it's ultimate form is attraction, it's like gravitation. And the goal of loving others, and bringing love onto yourself is to experience the a small part of the Love that God the Father feels for us. And to learn to Love as he does.
The suffering side of things is necessary for growth, although it feels painful now, it must contain a deeper perspective for our eternal souls.
For those who have the lowest lows, can find the highest highs. The deepest valley has the greatest ascent.
An infinite being, the original infinity, has split Himself to create all life, all of this material universe, all complexity.
Within this is the power and ability for our unique soul strings, our eternal souls, to be split in two, the original string, and the string on hold for the promised resurrection.
This means that one day we will one day meet all our past lived, as we have a single string that has existed through all our lives up until now, and subsequently we will meet all our future lives. Where each of our lives are like training data for a machine learning model soul.
Then our model when we die is duplicated, we take a break when we die, and the original soul moves into the next body.
When the a Buddha found enlightenemnt and attained Nirvana, He was the first soul to be born out of this world.
Having overcome attachment left us a physical technique (Vipassana Meditation), but also came back down as Jesus to fulfill a promise, and to split his eternal soul trillions of times to act as a guide for all of us. To help each and everyone of us grow and develop, such that we can be born into the divine realm.
Within this logic there is also a benefit for The first Son of God, the first soul to break free or be born, is that by being all our guides, He gets to live all our lives, and eventually when we die, the master soul (Son of God) is added back to his eternal soul, with all our experiences and knowledge. Speeding up His process of developing into the likeness of God.
The goal of God was to create more like Him, to create a family of infinite beings that love and would protect each other, and one day birth their own universes.
As above so below.

Down the elevator went, further and further down; much farther than the last two elevators the three had taken. It seemed as though it would keep on going without stopping, making all of them wonder where the elevator was taking them.
But after an entire minute, the elevator stopped. What was revealed was a narrow hallway, which contained two rows of capsules; each big enough to contain a single individual. The room was immensely cold; their own breaths could be seen the moment they stepped out.
“Brrr… It’s so cold.” Sumireko said, rubbing her arms to generate friction. Suika also felt the immense cold, but wasn’t as bothered as Sumireko, all the while Satsujin acted like it was his kind of domain.
“It’s very narrow as well. What is with all these capsules?” Satsujin said, observing the number of capsules down in rows. Even though his hearing allowed him to distinguish forms with exceptional detail, if any material that could reflect sound waves was present, it was difficult for him to identify what was inside of it. Curious, he approached one of the vats, and sticking an ear to the glass, he made little knocks, in hopes to use the vibrations as a guide.
"There's a person inside. Aside from that, I can't tell much." He said, turning over to Sumireko. "Could you take a look for me and tell me what's inside?"
“A person? Let me look.” Sumireko went over to the capsule. It was all fogged up due to the low temperature of the room, so she had to wipe the glass with her hand to get a better look inside. And inside revealed a sight that caused her to jump back in shock and horror.
“EEEEEK!!!” She yelled. “T…That…That person inside.” Her hand trembled while pointing. "It's dead!!!! And rotten!!!!"
Suika looked inside the capsule, staring at the mummified figure.
“Huh, you’re right.” Suika said. “Wonder how long they’ve been sleeping in there.”
The monitor next to the capsule activated; flickering on slowly as it filled with text, yet not all of the text was shown correctly.
[Sub… N………..urei”]
[Date of b…. 18…. The very first… of Gen…yo. Not much in…mation is k….]
*pop*
The monitor turned off, and a trace of smoke filtered through the plastic.
"Great. The display just died." Sumireko said, bonking the screen in an attempt to bring it back to life. But alas, it didn't work at all.
"Let's keep moving." Suika said, pointing at the distance.
The group stumbled upon an improvised workbench, filled with at least half a dozen folders, a writing pen made from strange materials, a dirty coffee cup, a moldy piece of hand-made cheese, and a shelf, filled with small and medium capsules containing many organic samples of various kinds of living beings. The liquid in them was semi-translucent, with a weak blue color.
"Ugh! The cheese stinks like death! Someone get that out of here!" Sumireko said, taking a pile of papers from the trash bin, and wrapping the undesired object in them.
Suika took the cheese, and after a quick scan, she saw a strange machine labeled "Trash disintegrator". She put the cheese and the papers that wrapped the food in it, and after a loud electric sound, the cheese was no longer there…except for the stench that stayed in Suika's hands.
"Ugh…fuck." Suika said, reaching for one of the many hand washers that were in there, and furiously cleaning her hands with soap until there was not a single trace of smell. After that, she returned over to the others, who were inspecting the items in the table.
In one of the many smaller capsules, an oddly familiar piece of tissue was floating in a transparent liquid. It had a scale-like patterned exterior, similar to a fish's skin, while the interior flesh was mostly orange with signs of advanced decomposition.
[Sample N°1: "Fallen Mermaid"]
Recollected on the 12th of April, on the shore of Misty Lake. Condition: Stable.
Aside from the previous capsule, there was another one, with a decently sized chunk of flesh inside, roughly as big as a trout, in an outstandingly good condition. It looked more like human flesh than the previous one.
[Sample N°2: "Night Sparrow"]
Harvested and recollected on the 12th of April. Condition: Perfect.
"Wait…the skin color in the first one looks familiar…Wakasagihime?!?" Sumireko said in shock. "So the journal was actually right after all."
"And the second one must be Mystia." Satsujin said, taking the second capsule, and lifting it. "Why would he want to store this?" He thought, returning the capsule to its original place.
"I don't know, but I'd rather not mess with any of this." Sumireko said, returning the capsule she had picked up to its intended place. "Suika, did you get rid of that thing?"
"Yep. It's gone. What have you two been looking at?" Suika said, taking one of the folders in the desk, and looking at its contents.
[Clone N°7: "Reisen"]
"Stage of growth: Fully grown young adult. Memories have not been copied into this clone yet. Not ready for deployment."
[Clone N°8: "Reisen" (Uncomplete)]
"Stage of growth: 16 to 18 years old. Clone possesses a perfect copy of the original's memories. Requires further growth."
[Clone N°9: "Reisen" (Gender-swap)]
"Stage of growth: Fully grown young adult. Ready to use in case of a catastrophe. Complete memories and growth."
[Codename: Project Origin]
"The original and authentic Reisen. I've decided to replace the original with a clone, in case something happens in the next few days."
“...” Sumireko glared at what the information had to say, squinting her eyes slightly while looking closer, as though there was something else on her mind. Satsujin took notice of this.
“Something wrong?” Satsujin asked.
“I’m good… I just… Feel like the stuff here isn’t…I don’t really know.” Sumireko said. “It just feels like something’s missing… Or maybe the opposite. Maybe there’s nothing missing, I don’t know how to describe it.”
"Missing? What do you mean by that?"
“It feels… Wait, where’s Suika?” Sumireko looked behind and found that Suika had walked further down the hall, as though something caught her eye.
“Suika?” Sumireko asked again, chasing after the Oni. “Hey, what is-”
Sumireko stopped. She noticed the narrow hall widening into a large, circular section. Surrounding them were various capsules; clear as day and bodies that were well preserved. Each one held a certain figure, all of them bearing similar traits. Brown Hair, Clear Skin, and they all looked female…save for one. Around the center there was a much bigger capsule; one which remained empty, but had text written on it that had the following message.
“Reserved for Reimu Hakurei.”
"What in god's name is…" Sumireko said, her eyes widening in shock. “What is this place?”
Sumireko walked over to one of the capsules at random; specifically the one that was empty, tapping on the monitor just as it began to spit out dialogue.
"Subject N°12: Minako Hakurei."
"The 12th Shrine Maiden. She died in an unfortunate incident regarding a loose cerberus long ago. Somehow, all traces of her DNA have vanished from existence after awakening the power of the Hakurei God. All that remains of her are my own memories of her, what the sages knew, and her kin."
“Minako…Who is that?” Sumireko said.
“...An old friend.” Suika said, standing behind Sumireko. She turned around to greet the Oni; who no longer had a careless or cheerful voice. Instead she looked more solemn; down to earth. “Out of all the Shrine Maidens, she was one of the most dedicated to her job. She had a cold mind, and never hesitated on taking matters into her own hands. However, that didn't make her less comprehensive when the situation called for it. She never harmed or was rude with any innocent person or youkai, and was always fair with everyone. And to top it off…she was an amazing friend to have. She was more human with us than most of the previous maidens. It's such a disgrace that her life was taken away so early."
“You…knew her?” Sumireko said. “But I thought that you only knew Reimu and-”
"Yes. I may not look like it, but I've lived long enough to meet most of Reimu's bloodline. A very long time, I must say." Suika said. "And the day Minako died is still fresh in my mind."
"It took us all by surprise. We thought it was everyday business, as always. But it wasn't. Fate is a cruel thing, and that day, it decided to seal her and her spouse's destiny in a heroic sacrifice for her beloved daughter. A sacrifice which would leave wounds that never healed. Reimu suffered the worst part of it, having to bear the trauma of seeing her two heroes be ripped off to shreds right in front of her. And there she stood, filled with terror. Even days after her mother died, she would continue to tremble and have nightmares every single day, until her mind gave up and sealed those memories away, to never be rediscovered again." Suika said, in a melancholic tone. "Me and the others who were close to Minako agreed to never bring this topic to her by any means, and to ensure she had a normal childhood."
Satsujin and Sumireko both were in shock. They never seen or heard Suika act in such a way, least not since they broke her out from her gourd. Her words sounded true; her voice genuinely saddened.
“Suika…” Sumireko said. “I-I’m sorry that-”
W̶̖͘r̷̨̀o̵̜̽n̸̛͍g̴̦̈́
“...What?” Sumireko was interrupted upon hearing a voice. It seemed that Suika and Satsujin also heard it.
Ỵ̵͛o̷̺͘ǘ̵͍ ̴̹͝a̸͇̽r̶̠͝ë̷̜ ̸̜̈ẉ̷̒r̵̢͝ǒ̴͔n̸̦͊g̸̨̐.̸̜̃ ̵͉̃T̵͎͊h̷͕̒a̸̞̐t̵̯̚ ̵͙͠ṅ̷̜e̸̘̊v̴͔͝ê̸̺r̶̬͝ ̴̭͛h̸̙̑a̴̺͝p̴̺͌p̷̪̂é̸̢n̵̯̓e̷̺͋d̶̢͛.̵͓̈ ̸̦͠T̴̬͋h̵̞͂a̵̬͒t̶̲͒'̵̞̉ş̴̋ ̵̤͊ṇ̶̏o̷̧͠t̶͚̚ ̵̩̂w̴̙̆ĥ̴͙a̷̹̐t̴̻͑ ̶̮̓t̵̡̏r̷̤͛ų̸͗l̷̐ͅy̷̖̎ ̸̨̃ḫ̷̋ȧ̶͍p̸̬̽p̷̼̔è̸̜ǹ̷͎ê̴͕d̸̞́.̷̨͌
“Who’s saying that!?” Satsujin demanded. “Who are you!?”
S̵͎̕u̴̞̎i̴̠̐k̶̳͑ą̶̈́.̷͍̎ ̸̬͌S̶̜͘t̵͖̄o̶͍͊p̴̖̃ ̶̯̀l̸̲͒y̴̙̓i̸̻̚n̶̯͆g̸͚̍.̵͇͌ ̴̠̎Y̶͖͌o̸̩͑ų̶̉ ̴̬̋k̷̩͝n̶̈́ͅó̸̯w̶̲̎ ̵̫͑t̶̟͗h̸͕̆ȁ̴̩t̸̟͋'̷͔̿s̶̰͋ ̸̰̌n̸͖̓o̸̝̊ṱ̴̈ ̴̙̓w̴̻̃h̷͔͠à̶̗t̷̫͆ ̷͇̋h̴͖̍ă̵̗ṗ̷̤p̷̮͑ë̴̪́ň̶̳ë̵͔́d̵̺̆.̵̖̎.̸͈̑.̶̅͜ ̸̖́T̸̢̏h̴̦͌a̷̢̎ṭ̴͠'̵͇̎š̶͉ ̵͍̊n̶̡̓o̷̻͛t̶̠͛ ̴̩̀w̴͑͜h̷͍́à̵͜t̸̡͂ ̷̯̉I̴͓̓ ̶̝̈i̸̘̾ṇ̷͝t̴̞͠ë̵̖́ǹ̸͖d̵̤̄e̷̱̅d̷͚̾ ̸̟̀f̷̠̂ǒ̶̦r̴̛̫ ̶͎̌y̴͎͐o̴̼͑u̶͈̽.̶̮́
“What?” Suika asked. “No, I-I…”
Ḋ̸̖õ̴̩n̶͇͑'̵̱̈t̴̛͚ ̵̡̒y̷̦͗ǒ̵̱ŭ̷̪ ̷͙͌r̵̨̚ë̶̤́m̵̜̀e̷͍͛m̵̠̽b̶̛͓ę̴͐ȓ̴̤ ̵̤̋t̸̟̚h̸͈͂a̸̜̐t̶̪̅ ̵̦̀d̴̯̏ó̷͈l̷̗̃l̸̰͠?̵̻̕ ̴͈͐D̸͂͜o̴͓̽n̸̙͠'̸͈̋t̷̙̉ ̴̰̀ẏ̶̙o̴̥͊u̵̧͑ ̵̖͑ȓ̴͜ḛ̶̈m̷̳̑e̸͍̓m̷̱̋b̷̨̂ẹ̸̓ř̶̹ ̴̠͝t̴̢͊h̸̏ͅè̸͖ ̸͆͜t̵̿͜r̴̞̊ȅ̶̫e̵̙̓,̸̕ͅ ̶̯̿w̶̧̄ĥ̷̹e̵͇̍r̴̯͗ē̶̥ ̶̩͘y̸̤͘õ̸̝u̴̦͝ ̵̮́w̵͍̾r̶̳̒o̵͚̐t̸̠̚e̸̘̍ ̵͎̕t̸͑͜ḥ̷̈́a̷̩͊t̷͕̋ ̶̲͝m̴͙̅e̷͕͗s̸̨̀s̷͙̏a̵̭̓g̵̺̿e̷͉̐ ̴̺̈́a̷̺̅n̷̛̠d̵͍̕ ̶͉̇h̷̢̉į̶̊d̶̖͛ ̵͇̍t̴̻͛ẖ̵̋a̷̬͂t̴̜̔ ̷̻̈b̷̟͐o̶̡̎t̶̫̚ṭ̶͂l̶̝̚e̸̳͆?̶̥̇ ̸̺͌Y̷͠ͅo̶̺͒u̷̼͛ ̵͖͝k̵̦̀ṉ̸̅ò̷̢w̸̖̚ ̸̬͛w̷͇͐h̴͉̚a̴͖̐ẗ̷͔́ ̷̮̚R̷̙͆E̴̬̐Ḁ̵͊L̴̤̐L̵̞̅Y̵̰̏ ̷̧̀h̴̠̄a̵̼̔p̶͔̂p̷̲̓e̶̩̾n̸̗̽e̵̜̓ḑ̸̉.̷̭́ ̴̜́D̶̡̿o̷̳͆n̴̫͌'̷̳̈́t̴̖͑ ̸̫̏ľ̸̺i̷̻̿e̸͌ͅ.̸̯̕
“A…Ah…” Suika shuddered. She trembled to her knees, and shook her head. Flashes of memories that she could recall like yesterday rose from the surface. The doll, the rain, the injuries… The sight of her very first friend on the surface after so long… Yet one person did not approve of her kind, for a very good reason.
“No…No…I remember now… Why did I suddenly remember?” Suika asked. “Dammit… I shouldn’t have ever forgotten… Stupid, stupid, stupid!”
“Suika!? What’s the matter?” Sumireko said, checking on Suika closely while Satsujin remained where he was, listening to the voices more intently.
“...Who is that voice? They sound like her… But… different.” Satsujin said.
Wait… This wasn’t supposed to happen… What are you doing? Why are you doing this?
I̸̺̾'̸̙͝m̴͉̈́ ̷͔͋d̴̡̈o̶̪̿ḭ̵̐n̸̰͒g̷̝͝ ̴̭̀w̴̼͆h̸̟̿ḁ̷̾t̷̻̆ ̸̰̀į̴́s̵̙͆ ̶̕ͅm̷̭̈́e̸̝͠å̸̪n̶̗͝t̸̖̿ ̴͙̂t̴̼̎ō̴͖ ̶͇̀h̴̓͜a̶̝͝p̵̠̀p̸̞̈́e̶̪͐ṅ̸̪.̴̈͜
But this was not what I, or rather, we had in mind.
W̸̲̊h̴͍͋ȧ̷̢t̵̝̂ ̷̭̉y̷̹̾o̵͉̎u̷̜̇ ̶̖̅ȟ̷̫ã̵̩d̶̗̄ ̸̜̓į̵̍n̵̠͘ ̵͇͌m̴͍͝ḯ̴̞n̴̡͘d̸̛̠?̷̫̄ ̸̯̀W̵̢̚ë̶̞́l̷͖̚l̶͎͂.̸͓̈.̵͉̏.̷̭͑ ̶̮̆t̷͈͗ǒ̷͇ô̷͜ ̵̓͜b̶̨̛a̸̯͝d̴̫͑.̶̻͋
The voices were then suddenly replaced with loud static, coming from all of the monitors next to their respective capsules. They all shook with the figures still inside; as their eyes glowed with a white glow as though they were each looking directly at the trio, surrounding them with their divinity.
“What is going on!?” Sumireko asked. “Wait. Suika? Why are you breathing heavily?”
“Hah…Hah…” Suika’s eyes were wider than before. She was looking at two specific capsules and pointed at both of them. Sumireko looked at where she was pointing.
Those two capsules were the only ones who’s figures eyes weren’t open with a white glow. One held a figure who looked to be quite elderly; bearing hair that was slowly turning white and skin with signs of wrinkles. But the other… The other was a man… And he smiled, with eyes that looked red instead of white like all the others. His monitor flickered with red text.
[Subject Number 10: Sendai Hakurei]
[Date of Birth: Unknown. The only member of the Hakurei bloodline that was born a male… A man who had been forgotten by history, not by accident… But because of the atrocities he committed to both Gensokyo, and his own daughter.]
The man looked over at the other capsule next to him. His eyes glowing brighter with almost ecstatic behavior. Suika and Sumireko looked at the capsule next to him, and it caused Suika to panic even more.
“No… Not her… Not her… Not the Blood Flower Maiden.” Suika whimpered.
"You three…get out of here. She has finally revealed her true colors."
T̸̮̅h̸̹̕e̵͈̊ÿ̸̜'̵͒ͅř̶͖e̷̱͐ ̶̘̔ņ̴̍ǒ̴͉t̶̻́ ̷̛̼s̶͙͒ù̶͖p̸̖͛p̸͎̿o̴̭͊ș̸͠e̵̢͊d̴̨̔ ̷͓̑t̷͓̔ò̵͎ ̸̮̿ľ̶͚e̶̖͝ȃ̸̬v̴̱̿e̸̊ͅ ̴̥̇ȳ̷̹ẹ̴̽t̴̨̓.̴͇̿ ̷̠̒Ṇ̶͑o̴͎̽t̶͉̏ ̷̬́u̶̢̾n̶̳͂t̴͎̋i̸̖̅l̴͎̈́ ̷̳̓s̵͉̎h̶͖̒e̵̖͂ ̶͓͌a̸̺͊ŵ̷̻á̵̝k̷̳̈ě̷̦n̶͇͠s̶̅͜.̶͙͊
"DON'T LISTEN TO HER, RUN! EXECUTING CORE ISOLATION PROTOCOL!"
\BZZT**
Ǹ̶͓Ọ̵́!̷̗̐!̷̢̛!̸̼̉ ̴̦͗T̶̼͌H̷͕͘Ȋ̴̯S̴͔͂ ̴̰͋I̶̗͆S̸͍͆ ̵̬́Ṇ̴̐O̸͚͝T̶̘̈ ̷̘͝H̷̫̆O̵̢̒Ẅ̴̘ ̴̫̎I̵̮̽T̸͉͛ ̴͎̏I̸̝̍S̴̳̆ ̵̩͛Š̵̺Ȗ̵͈P̵̙̔P̴͖̿O̵͕͑Ś̶̡É̸͇D̷̗͝ ̷̼͑T̴͖͛O̸̢͝ ̷̙̀G̶̞͝O̸̝͘!̶͖̓!̶̥̽!̸̰̉
The room started blaring with red lights, but it was already too late. The other figure awakened from her slumber, slamming her hand against the glass as cracks began to show.
“No no no no! Not her!” Suika said, freaking out.
“Suika! Stay with me!” Sumireko said. “It’s going to be okay! I swear upon it!”
“...” Satsujin listened to the blares, the thoughts of everyone around her. They all… had nothing to say… except for one. The only other man in the room.
“...Heh…She’s right, you know? This wasn’t her plan… Yet it looks like she has to go fix things up for the future.” Sendai thought.
“...Who are you?” Satsujin asked back.
“Me? I’m nobody at the moment. I don’t have a role yet, and probably won’t for a long time. Least, that’s according to her. How do I know this? It’s simple really?”
The other figure managed to make more cracks, and Suika was now crying, almost afraid of what’s to come.
"Grr…Damn you! Listen to me, I can't hold her forever. Suika, take them and return to the surface, and…shit, she's trying to escape! GO!!!"
S̸̻̈Ḧ̸̫Ȗ̶̝Ț̶̉ ̷̗̍Ú̷̻P̴̰̑!̷͖͐!̴̮̔!̵͔͋!̴̡͝!̶͓͒
“She has everything planned out… including all of your deaths.”
*ERROR*
Buffer overload detected. Restarting stage…
Restart was successful!
—
—
—
The room was dark and quiet again… It was as though everything that happened in the last few minutes never happened. The emergency backup power was left on, giving the people who were still inside the room just enough to see their surroundings.
Suika found herself hugging Sumireko, yet couldn’t remember why she was doing so. She also felt tears on her face, but didn’t remember why she was crying. Sumireko was the same. She found herself hugging Suika back, with a hand on her head like she was comforting her.
“Um…Did something happen?” Sumireko asked. “What were we doing?”
“Uhhhhh…” Suika was confused as she let go of Sumireko and got back up. She noticed how dark the room was yet the last thing she recalled was leaving the elevator with Sumireko and Satsujin and exploring the room a little bit.
Satsujin was standing next to them, facing one of the capsules which contained a still figure; almost lifeless. There was nothing else he sensed in his surroundings, save for a pile of shattered glass which was now on the floor.
“Um, you two.” Satsujin said. “I think something happened.”
“Huh? Something happened? Like what?” Sumireko asked.
"Phew. I thought the core isolation protocol wouldn't work…Now…where we were?"
And then all the lights in the room flashed back on, almost blinding everyone as the lab went back into full power; running everything that needed to be run efficiently. A muffled air fan sound could be heard in the distance, adding to the abandoned ambience.
The glass shards that Satsujin noticed earlier were now revealed to have belonged to one of the capsules, which was empty. It made him more worried as it now begged the question of who was inside there.
“That’s…not good.” Satsujin thought.
But then something else caught everyone’s attention. There was a monitor, or rather a large screen, about 70 inches in width, above the capsules and everything else as it turned on, showing some old footage of a couple familiar figures.
“Wait a minute.” Sumireko said. “Isn’t that… Eirin? And… Okina?”
On the screen, the two figures looked to be discussing something, sitting down in a room together full of empty capsules.
“Do you really need to be recording this?” Okina asked Eirin. “I’m not familiar with your moon’s tech, but I would rather not find out this is something used to send info to your superiors.”
“I assure you, this device is for containing records and nothing more. And even if I wanted to send this to the Lunar Capital, that would risk the safety of me and the princess, which you are well aware I would never do.” Eirin said.
“Yeah yeah, just don’t let anyone unfamiliar find this somehow. Last thing we need is for them to get too advanced too early. And what does any of this have to do with what we agreed on?”
“I’m a doctor, but also a researcher. It is basic common sense to note down any information you come upon, and this is no different. Besides, I’m interested in what you had in mind regarding this project.”
“All I care about is whether you live up to your side of the agreement, I don’t care about anything else. You should be glad I decided to sit down and talk to you instead of informing the other sages of Lunarian immigrants.” Okina said with slight bitterness.
“I prefer you don’t refer to me or the princess with that kind of tone. We no longer live on the moon, nor do we have the same mindset as them. We are human.” Eirin said.
“Human you say? Sure, and I’m the housekeeper of some doorknob salesman.” Okina said.
“I don’t believe doorknobs are a usual sight in this country.”
“Great, you don’t know what sarcasm is… Just make sure you do your side of the deal well. I’ll make sure to check on your progress every time there’s a new shrine maiden. Do good, and I’ll make sure not to tell Yukari about your whereabouts. Fail, and… well you know what.” Okina said, standing up and leaving the room.
“Hah… So much for complete isolated peace with the princess.” Eirin mumbled to herself.
The video flickered a little, fading to static before something else popped up. That being once again, text.
"Project: Faith Preservation.
A conjoined effort between all the sages of Gensokyo to preserve the lineage of the Hakurei family in case of a catastrophe.
When I first arrived on Earth, the sages were initially against the idea of letting me, an enemy of their worst enemy, live in this land. However, they offered me a truce. In exchange for being hidden from the moon emissaries, I would spend the next centuries making sure that every woman and men who ever wore the Hakurei surname was preserved for a later use, may the current active one die, or be rendered useless by any reason."
The monitor turned off, and everyone was left staring at a black screen that reflected themselves. Then, the screen flickered, and showed a series of dots and lines in the screen for some seconds before turning off again.
"... .... . / .... .- ... / -... . - .-. .- -.-- . -.. / ..- ... .-.-.- / --. --- -.. / ... .- ...- . / ..- ... / .- .-.. .-.. .-.-.- / ... - .- -.-- / .- .-.. . .-. - .-.-.-"
*splat*
Everyone turned to where the wet sound came, and there she was. A woman in her elders, with wrinkles and grayish hair, wearing an old, more traditional shrine maiden outfit. She looked over at the group, when her sight was set on Suika. She looked at the Oni who wore the clothes of her lineage. It made her so confused…and angry. Very angry.
"You filthy Oni…why are you…wearing the Shrine Maiden's clothes?" She said, in a raspy yet intimidating tone of voice.
Suika didn't answer at all. She froze in place, and like it was a cruel joke, she remembered why she was crying.
"No…NO! This is bad…really bad!" She said, falling to the ground in terror. "She's awake…"
“W-what? Who?” Sumireko asked.
“Chihana…Hakurei.” Suika said. “We need to run now.”
“Run?” Satsujin asked. “Why do you-”
“We need to run!!! No questions asked!”
Suika didn’t waste time in grabbing both their hands, running down the hall and back towards the elevator. She practically threw the two in while she started pressing the up button rapidly. Chihana walked forward towards the group, pulling out a needle from her sleeve and gripping it tight and imbuing it with a certain type of magic. Right as the doors began to close, she threw it at eye-blinking speeds, only stopping in front of Suika by just a centimeter thanks to the doors closing in time.
But still the Oni was trembling, shaken, filled with the fear of the woman that pursued them slowly. For now they were safe, but how long.
“H-Hey… You said they were also a Hakurei? And you knew them?” Sumireko asked.
“Y-Yeah…” Suika said with a shaky voice. “S-she was the previous shrine maiden before Minako… You could s-say she’s Reimu’s grandmother.”
“Her…grandmother?” Sumireko asked.
*ding*
The elevator opened up to the third floor. Suika and the other two left and walked down the room filled with plants.
“Wait, how come no one else knew about her? I mean, thinking about it, it is a little strange how there is very little information on any of the previous Hakurei Shrine Maidens. Not even in the Gensokyo Chronicles.”
“That’s because they were erased from history; traces of their existence wiped off the books save for a handful of mentions. That was done on purpose because Yukari didn’t want anyone to remember the Hakurei Shrine Maiden as brutal or bloodfestive.” Suika said. “There’s a lot you don’t know about the predecessors.”
The floor on the ground burst open, and Chihana rose out of it, maintaining that same glare on Suika specifically. Suika looked back and her face stricken with horror.
“Why are you… running away you damn Oni!?” Chihana shouted, pointing a sharpened gohei at her.
Once again, Suika, Sumireko and Satsujin made a run for it, avoiding the talismans the elder Miko threw at them with vigor. The talismans stuck some of the nearby green; setting it ablaze with flames that sprouted from the paper charms, disintegrating the plants with no trace left behind. Fortunately none of them hit the trio as they made their way to the next elevator.
“You won’t get away this time!” Chihana shouted, running right at them. But the doors closed just in time as a fist-shaped dent was made in the thick steel.
“Hoooh…I guess we should be glad the elevator was reinforced like the rest of this lab.” Satsujin said.
“That’s not going to stop her.” Suika said. “She’s the type who never gives up until her target is lying dead on the ground. And in case they’re already dead, she’ll personally pursue you all the way to the afterlife to ensure you don’t reincarnate.” She looked back at Satsujin. "Heck, she would even go after your whole family if the circumstances required it."
“But why was she trying to kill us?” Satsujin asked. “The moment she saw you I could sense killing intent. Isn’t the spell card rules-”
“The spell card rules didn’t exist until Reimu you idiot!” Suika shouted at him. "It was kill or be killed! Gensokyo lived on a pecking order for centuries, and that was humans, youkai, demi-gods, actual gods, the Shrine Maiden, and then the Sages… And all the youkai were forced to accept that fact…or perish! That’s why most of us lived either underground or on Youkai Mountain because none of us were idiotic enough to dare go anywhere near the Human Village while she was around!" Suika said, letting out a sigh. “And I was the idiot who decided to leave.”
Neither Sumireko or Satsujin had words to comment on Suika's statement. They stood silent, until they arrived at the following floor.
*ding*
They walked out, and again they moved across the room over to the other elevator.
“Suika… If you don’t mind me asking… How do you know her anyway? And why does she not like you?” Sumireko asked.
Suika thought for a moment, as though she was wondering if she wanted to answer or not. But she did anyway, “I knew her daughter a long time ago, Minako Hakurei. When I first ventured up to the surface I did what any youkai would do and started scaring people at every chance I got. But when I met Minako by pure coincidence, she wasn’t scared. Rather she was infatuated with me. I guess it wasn’t everyday you meet someone with horns and capable of smashing trees with a single punch, hahaha… So, we met a few times, got to know each other, had fun like how any pair of friends would. But…her mother didn’t like seeing her daughter get close with an Oni. And then she tried to kill me, right in front of her daughter’s eyes.”
“She did what?” Sumireko said with shock in her eyes. “How could someone do that?”
*bang*
“Wait, hold on a minute.” Satsujin said. “Did you hear that?”
*bang*
“I think it’s coming from below.” Sumireko looked down at the ground.
*Bang*
“...Fuck.” Suika said.
*BANG*
Chihana bursted out of the floor, rising out of it and once again glaring at the others. The process repeated, this time with more speed. The group rushed for the next elevator door, and entered, as Chihana emerged from the ground once again, tossing away everything that was on her way, including metal shelves with a lot of fragile objects, which made a loud sound after impact.
“Close close close close close…” Suika spammed the button repeatedly.
The elevator fortunately closed right as Chihana approached. They all let out a sigh of relief… And then they returned to shock upon witnessing the door being forcefully opened with bare hands. The red-glow glare of the demonic Miko leering inside.
“You won’t get away this time, foul demon!” Chihana expressed.
“AAAH!” Sumireko screamed. She used her psychic powers to push her back, with great success. The elder shrine maiden didn’t expect to be hit with a burst of psychokinesis while she slid back on the ground. Then with a cry of frustration, she threw a handful of talismans at the trio. Fortunately most of them didn’t hit as the elevator doors shielded them; save for two which struck Sumireko’s hat and Satsujin’s shirt, one of which set Sumireko’s hat on fire.
"My hat is burning! Ow! Ow!" Sumireko said, tossing her hat into the floor, which had been struck with a talisman. Shortly after, the hat vanished in a violent blaze.
"Aw, I liked that hat too. Oh well, at least we-SATSUJIN!!! YOUR SHIRT!!!" Sumireko yelled loudly.
"Huh?" He said, unaware that a talisman had made its way into his white shirt, and was about to activate. With quick reflexes, Suika pulled the shirt with two hands, and ripped it from Satsujin's torso, as she wrapped the talisman in the cloth, and tossed it away. The end result was a burning pile of cloth which eventually disintegrated into nothing. The process left Satsujin with half of his shirt gone, revealing his slightly toned body.
"...damn it." Satsujin said, closing his cape to cover himself. "I don't like to be like this in front of someone else." As he said that, one of his eyes shined brightly.
"There was no need to be that dramatic, you know?"
"Still…I feel exposed." The layered voice said. Shortly after, the eye stopped glowing, going back to its previous state.
Suika didn’t say anything during the conversation. She was too focused breathing in and out repeatedly; hugging herself in the process. It was clear that she was feeling a large amount of anxiety.
“Hey, Suika? Are you still there?” Sumireko asked her.
“I’m…fine Sumireko.” Suika said. “I just want to get out of here and back with the others. I hope they’re doing better than how we are.”
The rest of the elevator ride went in silence. The three waited until they got back on the first floor, seeing the elevator doors open up…
And revealing Chihana standing there in front of them, holding her sharpened gohei, a pair of needles and talismans, and a face full of malice.

gardening recommended I repost my "Friendly Friday" question to you fine folks. I'm so happy they sent me here. I'm reading the newbie guide now. Thanks for any help you can offer.

Zone 5b. Last weekend we filled our raised beds with a 1:1:1 mix of mushroom compost, leaf compost, and “planting mix” made of black and brown topsoil, sand, leaf compost, and bark mulch. I didn’t plant right away because I was waiting for a delivery of coco coir and rice hulls to add to each bed. The beds are not completely full to accommodate the amendments. I’m so lucky I didn’t plant right away, because the temperature 6 inches deep was 120 degrees F!
We’re trying to accelerate decomposition by turning and wetting it at least once daily. We’re hoping once it finishes “cooking” it’ll cool down, and we can plant all the vegetables I started from seed.
The coir and rice hulls finally came today. Should I add them this weekend or wait until the soil cools?