#fleuria

Fleuria, José Meeusen || 12 units, 7.50 x 7.50 (square) || Instructions

Fleuria, José Meeusen || 12 units, 7.50 x 7.50 (square) || Instructions

Oleander followed his nose, even though it hurt, trying to find where the smoke was strongest. It led him to what looked like a small shed, but when he approached the door the smell went away almost entirely. Opening the door slowly, Oleander braced himself for what he’d see. What was really there shocked him so much all he could do was stare at Smog, looking nothing like the composed, pompous prince he was used to.

Smog’s face was gaunt, his eyes bloodshot and dashing from Oleander to the door lightning fast. He was curled up on the ground, his robes were dirty and torn, and his hair was loose, surrounding the man like a sheer gray curtain. 

“Is there anyone else?” Smog’s voice was barely a croak, Oleander just shook his head in response. He closed the door behind him and walked to sit next to him. Smog usually held himself taller than Oleander, but now he was hunched over, shaking. The two just sat silently for a bit, not knowing what to say. Unable to take the tension anymore, Oleander made the first move. 

“What happened? What is this?” He was trying to be gentle with his words, but his worry caused it to be harsher than he intended. Smog just remained still. Shifting to sit in front of him, Oleander tried again. “Please,” he pleaded, grabbing Smog’s hand, “We’ve been worried about you. I’ve been worried about you. Just tell me why you left.”

 Suddenly, Smog started sobbing uncontrollably. He’d never acted like this before, never seemed to be lacking a hold over himself. Around his tears, he tried to explain. “I… I don’t know! I just… Don’t know what to do! Everything is… falling apart… and everything we’ve been working towards… was all for nothing!” At this point, he started coughing and heaving, having to lean back from exhaustion afterwards. He was still crying, but he was oddly silent while doing so. After a brief pause to catch his breath and attempt to calm himself, he continued. 

“The night that we had to leave Brun, I couldn’t sleep. The fact that the gods refused to stay together any longer, even if they would take the world with them… That was it for me. We had two weeks to convince them to reconcile or we’ll be in a full out war. My thoughts were so loud… I had to make them stop. I was freaked out, I… I couldn’t tell how much was too much…” He closed his eyes and slowed, Oleander squeezing his hand in a desperate attempt to keep him conscious. Smog jolted forward, then settled back against the wall. “From there it’s a blur… one minute I was at our camp, the next I was here. I don’t know why I returned to Emerald. I guess I just wanted to go home… have some sense of control again… I didn’t mean to take all those people. I don’t know how to fix it… I’m sorry…” 

Drifting off again, Oleander tried to stop him but all he got was a soft “sorry” before Smog went fully unresponsive. Oleander pressed his ear to Smog’s mouth in fear, but to his relief he was still breathing. He had to get him to Heidi, fast. She had to know some way to help him. If she didn’t then they’d have to find someone who could.