Cultivating Plants

The couple of druids reached Asina in a matter of minutes, and whilst Xochipilli was trying to hide it, he was suffering from their mad dash. Whilst it was completely possible to run faster than sound as a cultivator, that didn't mean it was easy for the body, especially during long distances and sustained sprints. But Mother Nature's rhythm was so elevated that her body didn't consider the movement a sprint.

As soon as the capital of Ydaz became visible, the druid-cultivators switched to a jog – though it was still way faster than normal people running – to not wreak any havoc.

"I want to tell you a handful of things, Aloe. Or I guess I should say petition instead," Xochipilli said as his gaze lingered on the impossibly tall buildings of Asina. As time went on, they became taller and taller, and now more than a handful caressed the clouds.

"Ask away," the elder druid said softly.

"I have investigated a bit of Ydazi history and vital arts, and I must ask you a question… the external infusion you gave me when we met is the same one as the Calipha has, is it not?"

The question confused Mother Nature. Whilst she hadn't explained the full ramifications of Perennial Longevity to protect him, the question came too suddenly for her.

"Why do you ask?" Her speed ground to a near halt as she softly spoke.

"An answer for an answer," he countered.

The vegetable woman let out a half-groan half-sigh and looked at her disciple. "Yes, you both have the same external infusion."

"Did you give it to her?" The boy hastily continued.

"An answer for an answer," she softly smiled.

"Ah, I guess I got too ahead of myself," the Prince of Flowers nervously chuckled with a blush drawn on his visage. "If I had to answer… it's because I got curious. It took me a bit to notice, but it's clear that I age slower than others."

"You are still a child," Mother Nature stated as a matter of fact.

Xochipilli childishly growled. "Your biased gaze of reality notwithstanding, I don't age as slowly as the external infusion should make me, I feel it in my vitality. I'm twenty-two, but I look around eighteen, and if the infusion worked correctly I should be looking like a fifteen-year-old or even way younger if my calculations are right."

"You look like that," she smiled softly, her mind choosing to selectively ignore the 'twenty-two' fact.

"I don't!" The boy threw a tantrum as he stomped on the ground. As his master failed to react, he took a deep breath and recomposed. "No, I'm not here for that today. Aloe, what I want to know is if you could teach me that external infusion?"

"Why?" She softly asked with her eyes closed and a smiling face.

"Does it matter?"

"Yes," the vegetable woman instantaneously albeit softly responded.

"I… why should an infusion of this magnitude be kept away from the world? Maybe we can't kill death, but we can make people live for way longer. So why?"

"You are still a child," the elder druid stated before walking again toward Asina.

"Stop that!" The young druid rushed in front of her with his arms extended. "You are avoiding the question! I won't move until you give me an answer!"

"And then you ask why I say you are a child," she sighed and switched her tone to a softer note. "Xochipilli, the world is not ready to live longer."

She could see it, all that backlogged power unable to escape, gathering without an end. From a desert to life. Aggressive life that predated each other out of vice rather than necessity. An innate instinct twisted beyond recognition. Like the blade of grass carving its way through the cobblestone to see the light of the day.

Inexorable life.

"And who are you to decide?" He shouted.

For the briefest of instants, her eyes shone emerald with a power that eclipsed the sun. The young druid took a step backward as a reaction.

"I am not deciding anything," she stated plainly, coldly. "The fact that you are not seeing it means that you are not ready either."

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"Then why am I infused, huh?" Xochipilli disobediently protested. Mother Nature couldn't help but think about how her daughters would never do that.

"You have always had the opportunity to turn it off, and you know it. Do not act as if it is not the case, Prince of Flowers."

Xochipilli took another step backward upon hearing out his title. Mother Nature barely called him in that manner, and when she did, it was in a playful manner. But the way she did it now was anything but that.

"I hate how you always leave me in the dark," the young druid protested before walking forward. "Follow me," he added coarsely.

It filled Mother Nature with pride knowing that some sense had finally rooted in her disciple's mind.

She hid things from him, but so did he. Secrets were the foundation of individuality, and the fact that he failed to recognize that was one of the many reasons why the vegetable woman only saw a child prancing before her. Some questions of the vital arts didn't need to be tested to obtain answers, and with some intrinsic knowledge of the subject, it was easy to come to conclusions. She had heard from Naila that the external infusions could be molded into second stances, but she could tell Xochipilli had found that by himself and refused to tell her out of individuality. Truth be told, Mother Nature should have found that by herself too, but she had been blinded by other issues to see such obvious concepts.

One thing age had taught her was that it was easy to be blinded. Another that being this longevous was against the natural order. Wounds were never meant to fester for this long.

When they entered the capital, they both switched their internal infusions for subterfuge. Whilst it wouldn't make them invisible, their attires were too eye-catching to walk around. Xochipilli was nearly naked and barefoot, and she was completely au naturelle. Beyond the fact that her body was covered in a vegetable film that covered anything important, things like shame fled from her, more evasive than ever. It was hard to conceive that she had ever felt such emotions.

"There is way more that you want to tell me," Mother Nature said softly once they had been walking in silence for a quarter of an hour.

"You are not ready to hear me yet," her disciple responded sternly.

She let the matter rest aside. Children can get quite stubborn with their tantrums, she thought to herself.

But it didn't take long before their silence was broken again. A carriage crossed the streets at high speeds, which gathered her attention. These were relative to the passersby, of course, for it moved at a snail's pace for the elder dryad. But that wasn't what was highlightable about the vehicle. No, it wasn't the speed, but the fact that it wasn't drawn by any camel, dromedary, horse, or beast of burden.

"Huh?" She softly expressed her confusion.

Mother Nature expanded her senses and noticed that this wasn't a one-off event and that there were hundreds of these animal-less carriages all around the city.

"Awestruck, are you?" Xochipilli said with a smile, his anger mostly forgotten after seeing her expression.

"I would not use such a powerful word," the elder druid started, "but I must say this carriage not drawn by animals has piqued my interest."

"I knew it would," his smile intensified, which touched her.

Al-Mother Nature had the feeling that was the reason why her disciple had brought them here.

"What are they?" She asked softly.

"They are called 'automobiles'," Xochipilli explained. "As you have said, they are carriages that move without the need of animals."

"How?" That seemed to be the question he had been waiting for as his smile reached its zenith.

"Thanks to you, Aloe."

"Thanks to… me?" The vegetable woman professed her confusion.

"Quite." There was no word other than captivating to describe the Tecolatan's pearly and toothy smile. "It all started with the evolutions you shared with the world, Aloe. This is the act of the Radiating Undergrowth. A fungus that produces limitless amounts of heat and light at no price whatsoever and can even be used as emergency rations. The engineers were captivated by your evolutions, so they created very small motors that fit into carriages and with the added help of Cottonpull lining, they have been able to create a vehicle that can move for hundreds of kilometers before stopping to change its water."

The ingenuity of modern humans had always left Mother Nature speechless, but this was new. Even the flying airships needed a lot of logistics, fuel, and personnel to operate, but these automobiles… the ones driving them weren't professionals, but civilians from what she could peer with her enhanced senses.

"Ah, but the applications of the Radiating Undergrowth don't end there, Aloe," Xochipilli raised his finger in an all-knowing manner, a finger that lazily pointed at a lamppost. "The lighting systems of the cities required fires that burned all night, and several of them as there were some losses, but now with a single Radiating Undergrowth a city can be provided with light everywhere. You had mentioned how people had killed the night, but now it has been completely erased."

Those words try to root on her fertile flesh, but they found themselves unable to germinate. The elder druid responded with a weak "I see."

Xochipilli frowned at that display, instantly understanding that she did, in fact, not see it.

"But you are wrong to think if those are the only applications found," he added as he strolled. "For there are more evolutions you offered."

She almost felt her heart beat. Almost. It was so painfully close. And it was more hurtful that it affected her to that extent. She couldn't afford to be affected; she needed to remain stalwart. Nothing good from action could come. Inaction was the only way possible.

Her heart sank the moment Xochipilli stopped before a hospital. She already knew what he was about to say. She was not ready to hear it.

"The Blossomflames have saved many lives," he started. "The Lifefire Flower may not be able to cure illnesses, but many wounds can get lethal fast, and you helped prevent that."

The more he spoke, the harder she ached.

"How many people have… died from it?" She asked soft… no, frailly.

Weakly.

Xochipilli smiled at him. "None, Aloe. None at all." Please, stop it… she wanted to beg him, but the words were unable to leave her lips. "The Calipha kept her promise and the Blossomflames are kept under strict governmental supervision. They have been kept at hospitals, unable to hurt anyone. They have only saved lives. Many, at that. So why don't you…"

She was not ready to hear whatever the man was going to say.

Aloe ran away.