CHAPTER 78: The Darkness

I jolted awake, and took three deep, calming breaths. I wasn't panicky anymore because of my nightmare, but I was still a bit jumpy. I saw around ten bees milling around my bedside.

"Hey guys . . ." I whispered.

Each bee buzzed their greeting and nudged my leaf.

'I . . . I had a nightmare, see . . . and I'm really scared . . ." I stammered.

The buzzing of the bees seemed to assure me that everything was gonna be all right.

"I sincerely hope so . . ." I mumbled as they went behind my curtain and disappeared out the window.

I thought about how the bees had actually managed to console me, and felt a rush of excitement. I jumped out of bed and down the stairs, squealing with glee.

"Well, someone's excited, hm?" Teresa laughed as she poured oatmeal into bowls.

I sat down and relayed my story to her. "Guess what? Today, I was feeling scared, but the bees calmed me down! I think that's simply phenomenal! I've never experienced that before!"

Teresa smiled and nodded.

"That's one of the first steps to becoming a full-fledged co-inhabitant of the bees."

I excitedly snarfed down my oatmeal, when a question wandered into my head.

"Teresa . . . why don't you sell the honey that the bees make?" I inquired.

"The honey is theirs. It's their food, and it's what they use to feed their young. It's not mine to sell." Teresa answered numbly.

Suddenly, the world of illusion swallowed me, and I was there, all alone, while those I loved mocked me as Zomboss whipped me and called me cruel names. Then I started screaming and crying, scaring the bees out of the room.

Incidents like this repeated themselves, and by next week, I was very closed off and depressed as a mysterious pain started to eat away at me. Every day, I'd be reminded of my mistakes, and the plants I hurt. I'd wake up with tears streaming down my face in rivers, and I'd fall asleep the exact same way. Every day was a monotonous grind ― tasteless breakfast, tasteless lunch, tasteless dinner, and tears, tears, and more tears. My nightmare had worsened. Instead of my dead loved ones pushing me into the flames of hell, but even those I cared about that were still alive were pushing me in. And as if to make things worse, the bees were stinging me. And then, Antonia came flying up. But this time, her eyes were as red as Zomboss' and she was the one who had me flying into the pit with a hearty shove.

Eventually, the breakdowns increased. My only sources of consolation were the bees, and a rope that I used to tie knots. But even then, the bees had lost their comforting aspect, and the rope broke when I kept on pulling. It was like I was in a prison, on an island in the middle of the ocean. There was no way to get out, and all I could do was envy the birds and the bees that graced the skies because of their freedom.

"Why do you have to be so damn lucky?" I grumbled as I swatted at a clump of bees that had squeezed into my room.

I didn't care that my left arm was all puffy because of the stings ― in fact, I didn't even feel them. I was in that much pain inside.

God . . .

I'm so alone . . .

So alone . . .

What should I do? Hide in the beehive from the monsters that constantly attack me from inside? Nah . . . I'm just gonna think. Think, think, think, think, and think.

I still have it rough, even after I kicked Zomboss out of the province. Will I ever get out of this damn cage?!

God . . . help me.

I'm so scared . . . so lonely . . . please light the way for me. Please. I know I'm a goner, but can you just save me from these monsters?

Save me . . . Don't let me be gone

Don't let me be too late . . .

Don't let me be gone . . .

AUGUST 9

2014

As per usual, I woke up sweaty, frightened and shaky. I didn't even bother to say "good morning" to the bees as I sat up slowly. The buzzing creatures circled my head and buzzed impatiently as if to say "Snap out of it! Get up!" Needless to say, obviously, I swatted them away, and inevitably got stung. Of course, I didn't feel the pain, but that didn't make me feel any better. I healed myself with a wave of my right leaf, before getting up for the first time in two months. Teresa just brought me my meals and took them away when I was done. I was eye-deep in a lazy daze as one day blurred into another. Nothing changed. It was just sadness and regret, day in, day out.

I opened the curtains and flopped down onto my bed. I then looked out the window. The skies were a revolting, greyish-black. I stared at them and thought about who I was. Was I really the Coponeva Insuperabilis?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

I stared harder at the skies and had a flashback to when I was around a year old.

It was a few months after I almost died. I was able to speak, walk, stand, jump and run when I was six months old. I was reading math textbooks and maps of Toronto, absorbing a lot of the information. I was drawing, writing and thinking like a highly intelligent plant. I had this strange ability over ice, wind and snow. The most amazing thing, it seemed, was that I was so keen on fighting. I would make dummies out of old pillowcases and paint them green. Then I'd shoot my peas at them and fire my icy jets at them like I was fighting actual zombies. I would pretend to be the leader of a huge army in the middle of the battlefield. I had the spirit of a warrior, and the abilities of an ice goddess. I was powerful in so many ways.
So, after around a year of proudly observing me, my mother and father both sought out the help of Madra Magia Dionne. She came to our door one sunny day. I was almost two years old at the time, and I was still playing games of warfare.

"Hello, young child," I distinctly remember the Blover whisper as she tweaked my nose.

My parents stood on either side of me and grinned. "This is our daughter Elyssia Antonia. She's been pretty . . . strange from the start." my father began.

"I ain't strange, Dad! Mom, tell Dad I'm not strange!" I screeched, which was proof that in some aspects, I still thought like a young sprout. Ignoring me, my parents launched into a lengthy explanation about my behaviour.

"She has a bright fire in her eyes. When she's angry, determined, or annoyed, that fire burns real bright." my mom sighed.

Madra took this in with great interest, before kneeling down to get a better look at me. She put both of her leaves on my head and chanted a few unintelligible words as he eyes bored into mine. Finally, the Blover stood up.

"She is our hero. Our Coponeva Insuperabilis."

Upon hearing those words, I went bonkers.

"I'm a hero! I'm a hero!" I chanted as I jumped around the room.

My father picked me up and held me as he discussed baptism matters with Madra and my mother.

That night, while my mom ticked me into bed, I told her, "Mom, I wanna be a fighter. I wanna be a soldier. I wanna kick Zomboss' butt into Mexico. I wanna be a hero!"

My mom hugged me and laughed.

"Madra said that you were going to save the country sometime in the future. But that can only take you part of the way, sweet pea. You gotta work hard. You must be strong. 'Cause then and only then will you be able to be that hero, Elyssia." she whispered.
One week later, my parents and I, accompanied by Madra, were at union Station, boarding a Via Rail train. Destination: Niagara Falls! Word had spread that I was the Coponeva Insuperabilis, and consequently, ther was a frenzy to book seats on any and every Niagara-bound train just to witness my baptism.

After an hour or so of jouncing along the train tracks, we dismounted the train. We then went and followed Madra until we were at the shore of the Niagara river. Above us, the waterfall splashed into the river, spraying a silvery, gray mist onto our faces. Out of sheer audacity, I conjured a stream of ice and sent it hurtling into the mist. I then heard the thunder of huge chunks of ice flying into the water.

'Elyssia! Don't do that!" my father scolded me.

"This is blessed water, and only a few plants ever get to be this close to it, let alone baptised in it."

I then fell silent as the ceremony began. Madra greeted the congregation looking down at us, and recited the prophecy she made around three years before my baptism. After making my parents and I swear an oath, she lathered my face and leaves with holy oil, which made me giggle. My mother and father both picked me up and raised me high in the air. I began to become a little bit dizzy, but I let the cool mist of the waterfall relax me.
It really was one of the most special moments in my life.

I flashed back into reality, only to find myself in tears again. Why was I like this? Is there any hope left for me?

Teresa opened my door and put a tray down on my bed, There was a steaming fertilizer broth and a glass of red wine beside it. As the smells wafted into my nose, my eyesight was blurred by tears as I thought about days of the past that were long gone. I screamed and threw whatever I could find at the walls in immense anger at myself and the world. When I eventually ran out of ammunition, I grabbed a half of the already-snapped silk rope and snapped it once again. Teresa gasped, and cleaned up the mess with her magic. Then, in a blur of tears, I found myself in the beehive. Teresa hugged me tightly and whispered words of consolation and encouragement as the bees buzzed and hovered around me, as if to tell me not to despair. When I was a bit calmer, Teresa sang me a lullaby.

I close my eyes,

Shut off the light,

I see the stars shine in the night

Through toil and tears,

Blood and fire,

I stand strong one more time.

Today is a new day

The past is in the past

Everything's okay

I'll try hard to make it last

Don't cry, just keep your calm

Let the light shine away

This is your kingdom come

I hope that you will stay . . .

I began to feel sleepy as the bees billowed around me. Finally, I could feel Teresa carry me into my room and tuck me into bed as I slipped slowly into the world of my dreams.