Completed A Rose is a Rose, Most of the Time...

[Kuvarakh]

14th of Summer, 512

"No," Kuvarakh told himself, "it is NOT slippery. It is NOT snow." Illusion or not, it felt as though his foot slid beneath him; it felt as though his butt hit the cold sidewalk; it felt like snow that his hands impacted with as he tried to cushion his fall.

Anger and embarrassment gave way to amusement. He was hardly alone in being caught unprepared for a foot of snow on the 14th day of Summer in Alvadas. All around him, people were hurrying home in their summer shorts to change into woolen leggings and fur cloaks, arms windmilling as they sought to avoid pitching headlong into drifts of wintry fluff.

He laughed outright as he lay back and swung his arms and legs, forming an angel in the side of the snowbank by the walkway. Almost, he stuck his tongue out to catch falling flakes, but decided against it. His black Nuit tongue would be a bit grim on this bright white day.

His eyes lifted in the classic assumption that the domain of gods was always heavenward, "You enjoy your pranks, don't you, My Lord. The sled vendor must have delivered you a very pious prayer last weekend, eh? Well, so be it, and thank you for allowing the scents and sounds of summer to still prevail." He could still smell flowers, there was still the chirping of birds, the buzzing of bees.

He watched one now, making its slow, steady way around ice-covered foliage. He was no expert on flowering plants, but he knew a rose when he saw one, draped with snow or not. It, more than anything, was the giveaway that this was all illusion. There would be no buds this time of year, let alone fully opened blossoms. He watched the bee land, disappearing into the clump of snow, bobbing slightly from its added weight.

Kuvarakh turned to resume his walk home. "Brrrr!" cried a tiny voice behind him. He turned back to see...no one. The bee lifted off from the rose and continued on its duty. Kuvarakh shook his head, chuckling. 'Was it the rose or the bee, I wonder?' He thought to himself, half-seriously. He turned back around to see one of his new acquaintances approaching. "Good day, Nira'lia. Lovely weather we're having, don't you think?"

[Nira'lia]

14th Summer 512 AV Nira'lia had been lost in her own little world. She had her eyes on an open book that she held in her hands. The Konti continued to read the pages as she walked though the streets of Alvadas. The book was a collection of medicinal and herbalism notes, all scribbled down by hand. Before she had left Zeltiva, her sister had filled some of the pages with notes that she thought Nira'lia could use for studying. At the moment, she was reading about a plant called 'yarrow'. 'An excellent wound treatment with many healing properties...' she read, her eyes trailing through the page. There was a messy sketch of the plant on the middle of the page. Nira'lia smiled to herself, appreciative of the work that her sister put into the notes. It continued to list down how to make use of the plant. It described how the flowers could be made into compounds that fought against allergies. Steam distillation of the flowers could extract a dark blue oil that was used as an anti-inflammatory and chest rubs for colds and influenza. Nira'lia tilted her head. 'How do you do steam distillation?' she hoped that her sister had written down the instructions somewhere in the book. She was so engrossed in what she was doing that she failed to realize that up ahead was a man she had met days before. As soon as her name was called, the Konti looked up, blinking. Her eyes met a skinny, middle-aged man. "Kuvarakh?" she asked. She remembered him as one of the people she had met back at the Festival of Illusions. "Oh, yes, lovely weather... snow in the middle of summer is certainly fascinating." Nira'lia blinked at him. "What are you up to?" inquired the girl as she closed the book with a thump and held it to her side. "Brrr, so cold!" That wasn't Kuvarakh's voice. It had been a tiny, shrill voice that Nira'lia barely even heard. Confused, she looked around, searching for the source.

[Kuvarakh]

He watched her, brow furrowed, glances darting here and there. Clearly, she had heard it too.

"It wasn't me, and, judging by your reaction, I am guessing it was not you either. Besides, I do NOT happen to think it is cold. I'm unsure of whether I am supposed to, however. I see people scurrying about, holding tight their cloaks and shivering, but once I got over the...novelty, shall we say...I realized I was not cold. Here, let me demonstrate."

He grabbed a handful of snow and lifted it up, holding it towards the Konti as though it should be sufficient. "Patience..." he said. After a minute, he stood up straighter, a slightly triumphant grin on his face, "There. You see? It doesn't melt." He cupped his chin in playful seriousness, "But then again, we Nuit are not the warmest of races." He grabbed another handful and began pressing them together, forming a ball as he cast a mischievous look at her.

"But, perhaps, if you..." he smiled wickedly as he bounced the snowball in his hand. His playful intent was interrupted, and he turned back to look at the snow-covered landscaping behind him as the tiny voice spoke up again.

"Well, I think it's cold!" A single rosebud, opened fully and coated lightly in sparkling ice, shook briefly, as though shivering. The snowball dropped from Kuvarakh's hand, completely forgotten.

[Nira'lia]

Nira'lia stared at the man. A slight look of surprise met her face, but she forced it away as soon as she could. 'He's a Nuit...' she said in her mind. This was the first time she had seen a Nuit just say he was a Nuit. The race had always frightened Nira'lia. She didn't have much experience with them, and maybe it was ignorance, but she was left uneasy at the fact that they inhabited the dead. Now, why did this man just directly tell her about his true nature? Perhaps he trusted her because they had a recently formed camaraderie? Or perhaps he was just unpredictable that way -- Nira'lia had met many unpredictable people before. Besides, he was friendly, talkative and enjoyable. That made her feel more at ease. Nira'lia feigned a defensive position when he gestured to throw a handful of ice at her. However, as soon as the strange voice spoke again, everything was forgotten. The Konti turned her head and saw the rose. It was humming some strange words in a high-pitched but childish voice, its petals shaking as it spoke. The rose shivered as it continued to complain about the weather. "A-ah...!" exclaimed Nira'lia in surprise as she leaned down before the rose. It looked like any other rose, and it was beautiful... but it was speaking. "I-is... Mister, you can speak?" "I am no Mister, you silly Konti!" replied the rose. "My name is Natalie... Natalie the Rose, and yes, of course I can speak... what would you expect, silly girl? Brrr!" Mouth agape, Nira'lia turned to Kuvarakh. Her expression was one of full puzzlement. And then, a wide smile spread on her lips as she burst out chuckling. Alvadas was such a strange place! The Konti gently looked back at the rose, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Hello, Natalie the Rose! My name is Nira'lia, and this here is Kuvarakh. How are you doing today?"

[Kuvarakh]

"I'll TELL you how I am doing today. Coldly!...I am doing today Coldly! I would much rather do today warmly, I can tell you. Have either of you got a blanket? Or a cup of tea? Or could you at least clear this dreadful cold...stuff...away from me?" Natalie-the-Rose squeaked. "It's cold right down to my roots! How long is this going to last anyway?"

Kuvarakh shook his head and slapped the side of his head half-heartedly, as if to knock whatever was affecting his hearing loose. "I'm terribly sorry to hear of your discomfort, Miss Natalie. I'm not sure exactly what to do for you. This is the beginning of Summer and I expect this...uhh....snow?...to last...all Summer?" He looked with a grimace at Nira'lia as if to ask if he truly sounded crazy saying that last sentence.

"Oh no you don't. you can't fool me! I know that snow only happens in Winter. We don't grow in Winter, so this can't be snow. That would be silly!" The rose said, very sure of herself.

A thought came to him just then. "Where are you from, Natalie?" he asked.

Natalie-the-Rose tilted her blossom slightly as she considered the question. "Well, the man who planted me here said I was from 'hybrid aisle, Nursery', where ever THAT is."

Kuvarakh tossed a wink at Nira'lia, "Well that explains it, Natalie, Hybrid Island is off the coast of the far-off land of 'Nursery', where it's sunny in the Summer. Here, in Alvadas, I'm afraid it snows in the Summer."

"Oh dear me," she said, drooping slightly, "Whatever am I to do?"

Kuvarakh leaned close to Nira'lia and whispered, "I guess since she is PART of the illusion, it makes sense that she would feel it. I, for one, still feel the summer heat."

"What are you whispering about?" Natalie chirped plaintively, "Isn't there something you can do?"

"That's what we're discussing," Kuvarakh called back, over his shoulder, "Give us a minute to think please, Natalie." turning back to Nira'lia, he shrugged, "I don't know. What do you think?"

[Nira'lia]

Nira'lia couldn't help but giggle as she listened to the exchange of words between Kuvarakh and Natalie. It was such a playful exchange, and Nira'lia had never met such a good-humoured Nuit before. Nuits reminded her of death and decay, but Kuvarakh was giving her a different impression. For some reason, she felt like a huge burden was being taken off her shoulder, and she somehow felt more at ease now. "Yes, excuse us for a while, Natalie," said the Konti with a huge grin. Her eyes were twinkling as she turned to the man. She kept her voice in a whisper that Natalie wouldn't hear. "I don't know, Kuvarakh. I'm afraid I don't have any experience when it comes to helping talking roses cope with the weather." She gave another soft laugh as she looked back at the rose. It continued to shiver, and she felt bad for it. The thought was silly for her—she felt bad for a rose. The Konti looked back at Kuvarakh. "Maybe we can make it a tiny blanket," she joked. In the end, Nira'lia didn't know what they could do for the rose. She really didn't have much experience when it came to dealing with what seemed to be magic—she thought of it as magic, since she had no idea where the illusions of the city came from. Smiling, she remembered that he was also a mage, something which had slipped her mind. "What kind of magic do you do?" she asked curiously. Nira'lia knew that mages were secretive about their fields, so she quickly followed it up. "I mean, if it's... if you can practice fire reimancy, maybe you can build her a little fire. Or... I don't know..."

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh's brow furrowed in genuine puzzlement. "Primarily, I am an alchemist. It would certainly be easy enough to charge a portion of soil with some glowing embers for heat, but it would probably take several efforts to get it just right, and not TOO hot." He gripped his chin in between his thumb and forefinger and stared off into the distance. "Besides, I would have to go back to either my workplace or the guild HQ to do it and I think Eridanus would not care to see the facilities used so frivolously."

"What's so frivolous about saving me from this wretched cold. I think it's quite important, thank you very much!" Natalie-the-rose whined.

"Oh! Yes, of course. I'm terribly sorry, Natalie. I'm simply taken off-guard. I...uh...simply fear that...my...boss would find it...hard to believe...um....that...uh..." he suddenly brightened, hitting on an excuse that would not belittle her, "that a professional gardener would be so stupid as to fail to prepare the grounds properly for such a delightful warm-weather...person...as yourself! And likewise I am perplexed as to how I can help in some other way. The only other skill I possess of such a nature is hypnosis."

[Nira'lia]

"Frivolously?" she repeated in an inquiry. She kept her voice in a whisper, hiding her opinion from the rose. "Natalie's right... there's nothing frivolous about this!" Nira'lia wasn't making fun of the rose, nor was she being sarcastic. She truly believed that helping anybody in need, even if it was in a case this lame and unnecessary, was not trivial. However, she listened to Kuvarakh make further explanations to the rose. Again, his attitude towards the rose made Nira'lia giggle. "Can you hypnotize a rose, Kuvarakh?" giggled Nira'lia. She also wondered, 'Is it possible to hypnotize someone... or something, that knows what you're doing?' The Konti was not knowledgeable in either alchemy or hypnosis, and if she voiced her thoughts, the Nuit would find out just how evident her ignorance was. Hypnosis was a scary thought as well, but she let it go, just like she let go that he was in someone else's dead body. Nira'lia was often simple-minded and she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Nira'lia turned to Natalie. "You're such a beautiful rose, Natalie... what will happen if I take you home with me? Will it hurt for you? If we can't find a way to make your warm now, maybe I can place you somewhere warm, indoors... what do you think?"

[Kuvarakh]

"Hmmm....I don't think it's so much whether she is a rose or not,as it is that she is...part...of the illusion. Maybe that makes a difference, maybe not, maybe it even helps. My main problem is that I need to look the...recipient...in the eyes." He began to explain how the transference of djed-consciousness occurs for him by seeing his own image in the eyes of the person and letting this image switch from being a reflection he is seeing to an actual image of him seen from the other person's perspective. How at that point he will have already linked his thought's to them and how they will have taken on the impression of being their thoughts...

He saw that she was not really listening and was instead apparently asking Natalie if she would like to be transplanted. She didn't use that word, but Natalie seemed to view it with trepidation nonetheless.

"I...don't know. I would like to be warm, but I need to be in the sun too! I'm afraid it would hurt, my roots are deep. I like to talk to the bees also. Do you keep bees indoors? In your house? No one does. I don't know why not. They get around to ALL the other plants. They bring me news and stories from the others. I like hearing stories. No, I would really like to stay here."

Kuvarakh leaned in to Nira'lia again, "I think she would disappear if you moved her. I think she has an innate desire to stay within the bounds of the illusion, and they don't extend indoors, as a rule. If I could figure out exactly where her eyes are, I could try a planting a suggestion of warmth in her mind."

"My eyes?! They're right here! What do you think I'm looking at you with? Silly man!" Natalie-the-rose scolded with a 'tsk,tsk'.

[Nira'lia]

The Konti blinked. "Bees talk?" she asked, dumbfounded. Well, it didn't seem too farfetched... after all, there was talking rose in front of her. Nira'lia didn't want Natalie to disappear, so she quickly dropped the topic of changing her location. As soon as the rose said it had eyes, the Konti looked at it more closely. There were no visible eyes... and Nira'lia was thankful for that. The thought of having pupils and irises on a rose was very odd to Nira'lia. Perhaps she had something which resembled eyes, like patches of white on her petal, but Nira'lia didn't think to search for that. "...I can't see her eyes!" the Konti whispered to Kuvarakh. Nira'lia's own eyes were a mixture of astonishment and puzzlement. "Can you?" The Konti looked back at Natalie. She was, indeed, a very beautiful creature... Nira'lia wondered if roses had any medicinal properties. As soon as Natalie was more at ease with the weather, the Konti was going to ask her about it.