Chrysalis

Chapter 757

[Hmmmmmmmmm] the big tree blinks at me slowly a few times, as if surprised that I still exist rather than focusing on the question that I asked it.

I wait patiently whilst he inspects me but my patience is quickly running by the time he finally gets around to talking again.

[You look different,] he observes.

[Obviously, I've evolved!] I explode at him. [Can you explain to me why your plant-based parent is sprouting willy-nilly and soaking up gross mana around the place?! Do I have to ask every question three times or something?!]

He blinks.

[No.] He says finally.

I take a breath.

[So why aren't you answering my question then?] I grate out.

He looks at me with an almost palpable sense of pity.

[Because mother finds it amusing and so won't let me answer.]

The leaves and flowers that sprout from every surface around us seem to wriggle with amused joy and I slump where I stand.

[This might not be diplomatic of me, Mr Grove Keeper, but your mother is a massive pain in the thorax. Is she always like this?]

The tree nods in understanding.

like this, and we know. I ask that you be patient with

rustle angrily and the Grove Keeper holds up

will say no more, but I think I might be able to

sullenly return to stillness and the giant tree dips his head

To answer your question in full, I will need to explain a little about mother, which may be why she is reluctant that I share, but I do not see the harm in a little truth. It is an extension of

I can get behind

wide, the bark on his face

roots can sniff out changes from quite a long range, and her roots

that massive thing I ran into was a tertiary? So it branched from a secondary that branched from the primary? How big is the

The Grove Keeper chuckles.

much other than to say that it is likely less than you think. Our Mother is not a normal tree, but rather a monstrous tree, thus

Grove Keeper once again holds up

olive branch,] he says to both me and

plants settle again but I can tell they aren't happy. Can a shrub

even know what kind it is, that

overmuch. Suffice to say, Mother is an expert when it comes to

branches around

delicious,]

I raise an antenna.

[Delicious?]

[Yes,] he nods.

need water to survive,

[This is true.]

a look at the Grove around us, just as lush and vibrant as what I saw near the Colony during the siege, if not more so. What I don't see is nearly as many Bruan'chii. There are a few here and there, tending to the plants, engaged in what appear to be lively conversations with each other, but I expected to see many more. [Where are all your people, Grove Keeper?

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