Driad III: Down a New Road
Its nearly impossible to describe just how agape Driad's mouth is at the moment as he looks towards Geno and wonders if the star herald is real. After all, considering how suicidal he was feeling at the moment, perhaps his subconscious chose to manifest a familiar being as an illusionary tactic to try and dissuade him from going through with his plan. But there was the fact that the wooden doll came forth from a beam of starry light, which was something that the real Geno was able to do. To his best of knowledge, a subconscious manifestation wouldn't be able to do that. With a nervous trembling of his right vine, Driad moved it forward across the air like a cautious serpent, and once the fibers touched those of Geno's skin the Crayzee Dayzee pulled back on his limb as his heart skipped a beat.
"Y-You are real…" Driad says, his mind taken aback as his suicidal thoughts are swept away momentarily to be replaced with abundant joy. With a smile cracked across his face, the Crayzee Dayzee dashes forth and presses the side of his head against Geno's chest while wrapping his arms as tightly around him as physically possible without getting his thorns into the wood itself. "I really missed seeing you around Geno…I'm glad one person showed up before I died…" With his conversation slipping towards the subject of what appears to him to be an inevitable suicide, Driad keeps his hug going as Geno's eyelids fold down in disappointment. "Driad…I'm glad to see you again too…And I'd really like to keep these meetings up as I had planned to before the higher-ups did what they did…But that's not going to happen if you commit suicide, so please reconsider what you are thinking of doing."
As Geno makes his intentions clear with that not so subtle sentence, Driad's eyelids creak open and his vines loosen around the wooden doll's body, and after a sharp raise of his head and an angered glare the Crayzee Dayzee pushes himself away from the star herald gently. With a turn of his body so neither of his eyes can even hope of glancing at Geno, Driad folds his arms in front of his chest and says in a melancholy, quiet tone "If you are trying to stop me from committing suicide, then leave now Geno…I'm my own person, and you can't force me to change my mind." The star herald finds Driad's words to be rather arrogant and not very thought out, especially considering how well he knows the personality of his friend. With a raise of his right hand and a calm gesture, Geno points out to the living flower "That's ludicrous Driad, I would never try and force you to change your mind against your will…"
Folding his arms back behind the cloth of his cloak, the star herald says with the utmost confidence in his words "However, I do believe that it isn't against my rights as a friend to try and hold a rational conversation with you in order to help solve your emotional distress so you don't end up going through with your suicide…Is it?" As Geno pops the grand question, Driad tilts his head to the right to glance over his shoulder and look at the star herald. After a few moments of hesitation, one of them spent glancing back at the ravine with his mind considering just jumping off only for his heart to grow heavy with guilt over the fact that he couldn't bear himself to do it while Geno was watching, the Crayzee Dayzee let out a reluctant sigh and said to his friend "Very well…But first, I have a question to ask…"
Turning to face his friend out of respect between the two of them, Driad slants his eyelids in suspicion and says "Just what are you doing here? I thought the higher-ups stopped you from coming down to the planet until the Star Spirit's suspension was done…" "Well that's rather easy to answer…" Geno says while drawing his right out with a swing of his arm to prevent that side of his cloak from getting in the way as he gestured. "The time limit has passed…It was actually a bit surprising when I heard the news, but since had been rather obedient about the whole matter the higher-ups decided to undo our suspension early…" "And then you decided to come to me…Why?" Driad interrupts with his right eyebrow raised. Geno chuckles and says to his friend "That's also rather easy to explain…"
"Driad, despite what you may believe, people besides me still care about you. Mario, Luigi and E. Gadd, just to name a few, wished that someone or something would help you with your depression since they didn't know just what to do themselves…I heard these wishes from the center of Star Haven, and ever since I heard them all I knew it would be up to me to help my old friend out…I kept observing you from above as much as I could, but saw that you were not budging from the side of Mario's house until just recently…Believe me when I say this, I didn't waste even a single second after the suspension was lifted to come down here, though I was quite surprised to find you standing above this ravine…"
"…So they do still care about me." Driad says in the form of a slow whisper once Geno had stopped talking, and with his body swiftly turned around to face the edge of the ravine once more he begins to walk towards it and says to his friend "Thank you for letting me know that Geno…When I'm dead, can you tell them all that I had my reasons for committing suicide?" "…Driad, stop trying to fool both me and yourself. You don't actually have any reasons to go this far." Geno, having quickly come to determine that Driad wasn't going to stop what he was doing, chose to drop the friendly act and be blunt in hopes of breaking through the Crayzee Dayzee's rough exterior and reach the rational person he once knew.
"And who are you to say th-" "Just because Alex is gone and Mew vanished doesn't mean that you should kill yourself over it…" Geno strikes Driad right through the heart and mind simultaneously with those piercing words, and the Crayzee Dayzee swiftly turns his body around without a single thought coursing through his head as he exclaims in subtle anger "That is NOT my reason for wanting to commit suicide…" "Do you take me for a fool Driad?" Geno replies with genuine disbelief in his voice towards the living flower's vapid attempt to trick one as wise as him. Against his better judgment, especially considering how not too long ago it has been since he was freed from his suspension, the star herald decided to reveal something important to his friend in order to turn his insistence against him.
"But let me go along with your comment just for the sake of my argument…You see, Mew isn't dead." As Geno creaks his eyelids open, he finds himself rushed at by Driad, who lashes his right vine around the doll's wooden form and suspends him in place above him with his other arm frantically turning into its blade form. Similar to earlier today, the Crayzee Dayzee's eyes are wide with madness, though this time he looks on the verge of tears as his sword arm trembles and he exclaims towards Geno in utter fury "I don't have the patience for this shit Geno…If you are messing with me, then I will cut your head right off! Now explain yourself!" The star herald stays calm, taking the brunt of his friend's anger with his eyelids slowly creaking shut as he remembers when he was put into this very same position by Driad before.
But now the mood between the two was different, which Geno points out as he opens his mouth and says "Again you suspend me in mid-air with blade at the ready…Only this time you threaten me like a child instead of a warrior seeking righteous justice for misdeeds done against him…But all the same, I will tell you most of what I know…" Geno opens his eyelids at the end of his sentence, his expression remaining stiff as he stares at Driad and notices the blade sinking down slightly before the living flower glances towards it and back with his lips curling into a serious scowl and he states "I'm listening…" His aggression has dropped slightly, but he is still keeping Geno suspended until he hears his friend out.
With a sigh acting as the prologue of his explanation, Geno looks Driad straight in the eyes with blank emotion coming from his pupils and says "Believe me when I say this…Mew had no plans to leave Plit anytime soon after defeating the reality bender…But, unknown circumstances led to him being sent back to Earth…Amnesiac, much like what happened to you when you lost your outer guardian rank. We don't know the exact details behind how it went down because of a temporal freezing zone, but we know who is responsible for this…" Geno hesitated for a moment to speak the name of the perpetrator, especially because he already knew just how little Driad liked said person. But if he kept his mouth shut, then he would never succeed in getting through to his friend…Once again, Geno would have the bear the pressure of his friend's rage.
"It was Alex…Alex gave Mew amnesia and sent him back to Earth." This name came at quite a shock to Driad for a variety of reasons, the first and foremost being the fact that he along with many, many other people had every right to believe that Alex Whiter was dead, so hearing that he was alive shook the Crayzee Dayzee right out of his anger. With his eyes widened momentarily, Driad found himself asking more questions than answering them in his mind, especially in regards to just why Alex never came back to them if he survived the fight with his evil duplicate. Diverting his anger away from Geno for a moment, the living flower politely asked the star herald after relaxing his expression along with his hold on his friend's wooden body "Geno…Where is Alex now?"
"…" Looking straight into Driad's curiosity filled, glimmering eyes, Geno could easily infer his friend's motivations in regards to asking that question, but knew that even if he was allowed to do so that revealing said information would be a really bad idea in the long run. With a heavy sigh that doesn't alert his flowery friend to the conflict in his mind, Geno replies "I'm sorry Driad…But I don't know where he is…And I wouldn't be allowed to tell you even if I did…I will say though that while I am both angry and disappointed in Alex for doing what he did to Mew, even if my expression doesn't exactly match my thoughts on the matter, there's just nothing either of us can do to punish him for his actions…Either the higher-ups will deal with him, or someone else will…" After finishing his sentiments towards Driad's anger in regards to Alex, the two stayed silent for a few long moments.
When Driad has had enough with standing around like an embittered fool, he looks up at Geno with a guilty arching of his eyebrows and says to him "…I'm sorry for doing this to you Geno…" As he releases his grip around his body and turns his leaf blade back into his normal arm. With his head then hung low, Driad asks Geno as the wooden doll floats back onto the ground with his cape flowing out beside him "…Why would Alex do this?" "I wish I could tell you Driad, but not even I know why…" Having been given a rather expected answer, Driad lets out a melancholy sigh and quickly drops into a sitting position where he lets his arms rests on top of his legs. He looks out past the side of the cliff and says to his friend in a tone of exhaustion "Well Geno, you should be happy to know that I don't really want to bother committing suicide anymore…"
Though Geno was happy to hear that, Driad aversive stare along with his melancholy demeanor suggested that there was still something on his mind that was bothering him, and with a polite tone of voice the star herald inquired "What's got you down now?" Turning his head slightly to look at the wooden doll, Driad says after another sigh and a closing of his eyelids "What am I supposed to do with my life now? …I mean yeah, I want to stay alive now just so I can perhaps find Alex and ask him just why he wiped Mew's memories and sent him back to Earth, or even better hope that Mew comes back here and remembers us…But what am I supposed to do besides that?"
"What do you mean by that?" Geno asks with a puzzled look in his eyes. "…" Turning his head towards Geno for a brief second, the Crayzee Dayzee then leans his body back and plants his vines against the ground so he has a proper support as he stares into the sky. "…I really don't want to be a fighter anymore." "…Go on." Geno, failing to understand just why his friend would say such a thing, decides not to wrack his mind to solve the problem on his own, but rather he chooses to politely ask Driad to give a more detailed explanation of his motives. "Geno, there's something I've caught notice of over the last year or so…Guys like Alex, Mew and Joe Dark…They don't appear to have an upper limit to their powers. They always have the potential within them to grow stronger and stronger…But guys like you and me, we don't have such a luxury…"
Driad raises his right vine into the air in front of his face, curling it up into a fist to curse his powerlessness as he turns towards Geno and lets out a light sigh. "I'm as strong as I'm going to get, and considering the type of threats we've seen from Tabuu to that reality bender…I just can't ever hope to contribute anything to any future fights…And personally, after being wiped from existence for even a few seconds, I'm a little shaken up and find myself afraid of death in any form…" Geno folds his arms in front of his chest and listens deeply to Driad's thought out explanation, his head taking the occasional nod to signify that he understands up until the end, at which point he creaks open his eyelids and says "And yet you wanted to commit suicide…"
The Crayzee Dayzee closes his eyelids and lets out a guilty sounding sigh before he picks himself up and nervously rubs the back of his head. "I don't know what I was thinking at the time now that I look back on it…I was just so stressed out, I felt so depressed about everything that I looked for an immediate solution to my problems and saw the dangerous ravine as a way to provide solace I needed in my life…How wrong I was, eh? Whatever, the point is that without my fighting capabilities, I'm pretty much useless in this world…" With yet another sigh marking the end of his sentence, Driad turns away from Geno and folds his arms in front of his chest, at which point the star herald is allowed a moment to think and try to empathize with his friend's plight.
"Driad, I want you to turn and look at me…" The star herald asks, an effort that proves rewarding as the Crayzee Dayzee turns himself around after a sigh of reluctance. "Now, reach out and touch me to confirm that I am real again…" Though Driad's face scrunched up in confusion, he nonetheless felt compelled to listen to Geno's strange idea and moved his right arm out to gently touch Geno's chest, his vine withdrawing as soon as he felt the rough hardness of the star herald's wooden body. "Yeah…You are real. So?" Driad states to better express his lack of understanding. Geno smiles as well as he can in this body, and says to his friend with a gesture of his right hand following his words "If I'm here, then you aren't worthless. You have friends Driad, bonds that will never die out no matter what happens…"
"…I think you are forgetting something there Geno." It doesn't take much for even the usually simple-minded Driad to find a flaw in Geno's sentiment. "I'm immortal, and so are you…I agree that OUR bond will never die out…But Mario, Luigi, everyone else…They will all die out from old age…Sure, I'll remember them for years to come after their deaths, but it just won't be the same…" "Well…Ummm, I actually didn't take that into consideration…" Geno admits with a hint of embarrassment in his tone of voice as he rubs his coarse right hand against the back of his head and looks away in shame. As he nervously chuckles, Geno is suddenly struck with a spark of inspiration that gives him the idea necessary to help his friend out of his current predicament.
"You know Driad, you don't have to be a great fighter to have a place in the world. You are the former outer guardian of the Nature Castle, instilled with the knowledge of all things plant related in the world by the Elemental Overlord…You are also worried about outliving your friends, and you want to avoid dying in battle." Geno sums up most of what has been mentioned thus far while also bringing up a trait that the Crayzee Dayzee himself had almost long forgotten, his knowledge. With an anticipating raise of his eyebrows, Driad turns towards the wooden doll and asks him "Go on…" In a way that mirrored how Geno spoke those words to him earlier. "Alright then, hear me out on this one, I think you'll like my idea…"
An hour or two later, when the sun has begun to set on the Mushroom Kingdom side of the planet, we find Mario, Driad and Geno standing around outside of the Mario Bros. house. Geno is looking towards the sky, enjoying the sunset for the first time in a long while as Driad finished talking to Mario. The red garbed plumber's arms fold in front of his chest as he finds himself both perplexed yet intrigued by what the Crayzee Dayzee was saying to him. When all was said and done, and Driad repeated the idea that Geno had suggested for him, Mario asks out of curiosity "Botany Teacher? You really want to be a Botany Teacher?" To which Driad ends up nodding his head enthusiastically. His depression had completely subsided, and he was back to his cheery self much to Mario and Geno's joy. The plumber, knowing that the star herald was responsible for this matter, tilted his head and looks at the back of his friend's head for a moment as Driad says to him "Yeah, I feel as though I can really feel satisfied with myself if I help people in a field that I'm proficient in."
"So where are you going to go exactly to teach?" Mario finds himself asking with a slight smile on his face. "Umm…Well, I was thinking about traveling to the Beanbean Kingdom, since I heard their University could use a few new teachers." Driad replies after taking a moment to think about what he was going to say. Mario unfurls his arms from his body and with a gesture of his right hand he asks his flowery friend with a bit of sadness in his voice "So that means you are moving out, huh?" "Unfortunately, yeah…" Driad's smile fades away a bit as he waves his right hand out in front of him. But his expression quickly lights back up as he looks at Mario and says to him "But hey, I won't be gone forever. I'll come back on the weekends and my days off to visit you and Luigi…Speaking of which, I'm sorry that he wasn't here to hear me out, I'm sure he'd be happy to know that I'm feeling better since he was the one who talked to me and convinced me to go out in the first place…"
"Don't worry about it Driad. Luigi will hear all about it when you get back. But hey, above all else…" Mario takes a steps forward and rests his right hand on Driad's shoulder, patting it down twice before saying with a tender smile on his face "I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors…" Driad's face becomes warm with happiness as he keeps his mouth slightly agape, and with an innocent smile and a tilt of his head as Mario withdraws his head he says to the red garbed plumber "Yeah, I will definitely try my best out there. I-I'm a little nervous, admittedly, but I know that I will be fine…" With a turn of his head to look at Geno, the Crayzee Dayzee finishes his sentence off by saying "Especially since I have people like you out there who believe in me…"
After giving a fond farewell to Mario, Driad turns around and runs past Geno, pausing in place for a moment as the wind from his movements rustles the star herald's cape. Having paid most of his attention towards the sky for the last few moments, the Crayzee Dayzee's abrupt movements startle Geno and cause him to slowly lower his head to look at his friend from the backside. "…Thanks again, Geno…If it wasn't for you, then I might really have-" "Driad, you didn't need to thank me for anything." Geno interrupts, which causes his flowery friend to turn his head to the right and glance at the wooden doll as he walks forward and says with his arms held behind both sides of his cape
"It was just like I said before…In the end, everything you did was of your own free will…Though I spoke to you, it was up to you and you alone to listen to me…" Driad's eyes widen out of surprised towards Geno's words, and as the star herald passed the Crayzee Dayzee by he holds his right hand out and creates a pillar of starry light that acts as a passageway back to Star Haven. He enters it and as he begins to levitate away from the planet's surface he turns back to Mario and Driad and tells the plumber "Sorry I have to cut this visit short Mario, but there are a couple things that I have to take care of…I'll be back down here later though."
Mario nods his head to show that he understands what Geno is saying, and with one last smile towards Driad Geno rises up towards the sky with his body fading out of view nice and slowly. He fails to notice the Crayzee Dayzee's final wave of his right vine, but Driad doesn't feel too bad about that. With his friend having left the Mushroom Kingdom for the time being, Driad lowers his head and looks on ahead, his mind focused on the single goal of becoming a Botany Teacher as he runs on ahead through the forest past the Mario Bros.' house and never once looks back. But even as he left the sight of the famous Mario, Driad remembers his second goal, to someday find Alex Whiter and get some answers about what happened to the man he wanted to call his brother, the second Elemental Overlord Mewmaster…For now though, he was glad to once again experience happiness…
Next Story: Luigi's Trip to Sarassaland! (To be posted after the next story of Part 4...)