Feigning Weakness

Cold was abundant during the latter seasons of the year, with snow raining down on her and covering the woman in a light layer of white snow. The female glanced ahead of her, the flowers of the fuchsia trees wiggling amongst the leaves and branches, soon flying free. A single blossom landed at her feet and the woman picked it up, running her fingers over the smooth, seemingly ivory yet soft petals which shone light silver under the sunlight. Snow and petals mixed together, creating a savory, fragrant and lively smell that filled her with the strange sensation of serenity.

Serenity, she thought, that she hadn’t felt in the longest time.

Serenity that was mind-numbing and emotion-locking.

The sweetest serenity that could leave her knocked silly –

And Eri Puellaesi’s emerald eyes widened with realization, dropping the flower and crushing it under her heel. Immediately did the scenery around her shift, spiraling back into where she truly was. The damned forest was the opposite of the euphoric-induced hallucination the dogseong sigmul nearly trapped her in, and she swore quietly upon realizing what she was doing there.

She had walked out of the facilities, shortly saying that she needed to collect supplies from the forest. Briefly, Eri remembered Andi warning her about the sigmul, but she brushed off her comrade’s warnings and insisted that she would be alright before running out, sword in its place and the long, fluttery dark green robe flying past her.

“This was clearly the wrong day to go out into the forest,” she muttered, drawing her sword and scanning the area for any sign of threat. None greeted her and she cast a wry look towards the seemingly menacing trees, which contained yet-to-bloom sigmul. Another sugary whiff caught her attention and she grimaced, stumbling back and backing away from the trees.

“The sigmul are always dangerous,” Jessica instructed. “They’re poisonous and toxic, and have sent people nuts. You’d be stupid if you actually wandered into a plantation of them.”

At that, Cissa rolled her eyes. “Then how about you tell us what they look like, what smell they emit, the symptoms if you’re under their spell and what to do if ever that happens?” Jessica was about to throw a scathing remark, but Collette spoke immediately to prevent a storm from happening.

“I think the last one is obvious. Run like hell.”

Laughter ensured from all of them, breaking the tension.

“Collette’s right. Almost. Dogseong sigmul are usually fuchsia-colored, but they can range from light lavender to a soft pink. But their most prominent feature is the smell. At first sniff, you’d think you smelled the sweetest sweets there was. Sort of like liquid bubble gum.” Alpha grimaced. “But the smell is hallucination and hysteria-inducing. That’s why people have been reported to be going mad lately.”

“What about the feelings? Like, how do you feel if you smell it?”

“Well, Arturia, I’ve heard that it makes the victim awfully loopy. It’s like a sneak attack. It makes you feel all nice and comfortable, but then it starts numbing you from the head down until you can’t actually move and just fall. When you fall, you stay there, numb until you die, are saved because of your luck, or are eaten.”

“Let’s hope luck’s on our side, then.”

“Wrong.” They all looked at Amaya, who was shaking her head with a slight look of disbelief. “Be on your damn guard. That’s why you all have weapon containers.” Eri glanced shortly at the sword container by her hips, “To kill any. Single. Threat. You all understand that?”

Somber nods came from the other ladies in the room.

“Neugdae,” she muttered, hearing the growling howl from far, far away. White fur and menacing teeth. “They usually aren’t agitated unless someone agitates them-”

Sentence stopping, she ran up north.

She had memorized the path by heart, listening to the sound of the growls and the roars that grew louder and louder as she neared. The woman hid behind a tree and whistled a tune, waiting for whoever was there to whistle it back.

When none came, she was both irritated and lit with worry. Drawing her sword from its sheath, Eri counted to three silently and then charged at the animal, appearing like a blur. She hacked its neck and landed neatly on the ground, holding her sword and hearing the beast collapse from behind her. Crimson blood trickled around and it got on her boots, but Eri didn’t notice, instead looking at the person who was in front of her.

A brilliant scarlet. She rushed to him and looked for any sign of wounds, but realized that the immense red was because of his hair rather than anything else. “Are you alright?” she asked sharply, prying his hands off his ears and finding a crumpled sigmul. “Are you stupid? Do you know what these things can do to you?” she demanded next, ripping the flower off his hand and crushing it under her heel, burying it into the soil and staining the crushed petals red. “The sigmul and neudgae work together – the sigmul drugs you and the neugdae, seeing a new victim, eat whoever it is.”

And then, he looked up.

“I’m afraid the sigmul have much worse effects on me than before.”

* * * * *

The first thing she felt was an obscure familiarity. Which was ridiculous, because she had just met him on that day. So why, she wondered, am I bringing him back to my own home?

“What were you doing out in the forest?”

“Gathering supplies.”

She rolled her eyes, yet he didn’t notice. “Why didn’t you know about the sigmul?”

The man let off a small chuckle, cringing slightly at the pain in his ankle. “I thought they only bloomed in the spring and fall seasons. That’s when people usually cower and run away.”

“They bloom in every season. The strongest in winter.” An empty silence greeted them.

“I must have mistaken it for another flower, then,” she heard him muttering. Eri couldn’t help the small smile that reached her lips and opened the door, leading him inside and closing it after. She slid off the robe and hung it by the hook, revealing her to be in a black, knee-length dress.

“Eri Puellaesi, by the way. I thought saviors should introduce themselves to the saved.”

The man, who was now sitting on the wooden chair, looked at her and flashed a smile.

“Mathias Gletscher. The situation has turned, Eri. I’m going to be explaining some things to you this time.”

And the smile fell from her lips upon her lips once she realized he was completely, irrevocably different.

He had discarded his own silver robe and instead of a traditional men’s attire, was wearing a glowing black-and-blue suit that went from his neck down to his feet, possibly.

* * * * *

She understood clearly now.

There had been recent talk about extraterrestrial planets and such, but this was much, much different. Eri poured steaming tea into his own cup, Mathias taking a sip much after.

“I feigned weakness back in the forest just to catch your attention. I didn’t expect the neugdae to appear, though. I didn’t do anything.”

“They have an amazing sense of smell and can detect humans,” she suddenly stopped. Was this man even human at all?

He looked the part, she had to admit.

“So you’re immune to the sigmul?” her tone was slightly accusatory. He merely shrugged his shoulders, glancing out the window and catching sight of the falling snow.

“Unfortunately, it seems that you have things worth hallucinating over.”

“Well, I apologize if I’m losing those closest to me,” she retorted sourly.

At that, he could only smile.

“I lost a lover. But I’m not hallucinating.”

Dogseong Sigmul: Toxic Flora
Neugdae: Wolf