(This tale can be read without having read Part 1)
==Little Flowers I=
The Empire of Mysteria. A once fully democratic fog planet that served the Federation, now the final existing communist world in the known universe. Revolution had shrouded the impoverished planet, and as a result, replaced the left-wing democracy with a fully militarized proletarian dictatorship. On this planet, women were expected to enlist at the age of 18 in a required draft. The Mysterian crown claimed that Mysterian women were superior soldiers, but the actuality of it was that the government felt that an enemy would be less likely to shoot a pretty soldier. Thus, Mysteria hosted one of the universe's greatest militaries; only slightly short of the Galactic Space Federation's manpower.
While the planet was widely regarded as a proletarian dictatorship, it was technically a proletarian elective monarchy. There was one queen, whom had fought alongside the revolt to overthrow the democratic government. This queen was a left-wing radical, but technically neutral. While she would always be the ruler, the political party chosen for her to control was decided by the people. In this case, a right-wing party was far out of the question. The queen's cabinet could be communist, socialist, or liberal. However, the ruling communist party used voter harassment to practically black out the liberal party, while merely fighting the socialist party through debate.
The Mysterian Workers Social Party was the primary combatant of the communist party. In contrast to the currently elected Mysterian People's Party, this was a regular socialist party that called for demilitarization and an expansion on economic growth. The current party, was pro-military, and thus the leading role in manufacturing went towards tanks, guns, starfighters, and a strong galactic navy. Food, clothing, appliances, and the many other civilian purpose goods were put aside so that Mysteria could one day rise up and become the universe's greatest military power.
Unfortunately for the ruling communists, Mysteria had fallen in defeat to Magica and the Federation in what was known by the Mysterians as the 'Patriotic War of Glory.' Magica had been nearly defeated, but alas, the Federation had intervened at the last moment and defeated the Mysterian navy. Without a navy, Mysteria was forced to give in to the Federation's demands and fully disarm their navy. Years later, Mysteria violated the treaty and resumed construction of a navy.
With the communists spending wildly on the military in such a massive deficit, they now find themselves at risk of losing power. In 3 years, the next election would be called. With the current party dragging the population down financially, it was almost inevitable that Mysteria would soften up into a planet of regular socialism.
Fortunately for the Mysterian Workers Social Party, they had Robert Flower—a man of immense skill when it came to the spread of socialist ideology. To him, there was an upside to Mysteria losing the war. The defeat brought dissent to the communists, giving him an opportune moment to tickle the people's ears with his political ideas. Many had already cast their vote that he should become the president of the party—which would also make him the regent of the government, in the event that the queen died with an incapable heir.
It was a gloomy time for Mysteria. For centuries, people would go on to call this Mysterian time period as the 'Marxist Struggle.' But even with such a divided planet and a universe of hatred for the empire, there was light surrounding two girls.
A young 5 year old Abigail was running around the hallways of the Flower household. She ran barefoot and had fairly short blonde hair. The young girl had just exited the room of Fiona and Robert Flower—her parents. She did so with a magazine tucked into her arms.
A frantic look was on the girl's face, she was running straight for her bedroom, but first stopped to scan the area. She looked left and right constantly with the contents of the magazine hidden under her small arms. Rather than running to the bedroom, she snuck her way into the kitchen and peered over the counter. Due to her shortness, she had to raised herself up at the tip of her toes. She blinked and looked forward almost nervously.
The 28 year old Fiona Flower was sitting at the dining table with a glass of tea ringed two fingers. In the other hand was a mobile device. At this point in time, Fiona had already fallen out of love with her husband—as it was a sex life that had once sealed the two into marriage. She was fitted in sweatpants and a red shirt, with hair that looked almost perfectly alike to how Chiya's would one day look.
Very carefully, Abigail backed away from the kitchen and back into the hallway. It was her intention not to get spotted, whatever the cost. After realizing that her mother was distracted, the 5 year old made a run for the bedroom.
Meanwhile, a fairly obese 10 year old Chiya was lying in bed with a dreamy smile. With a set of markers, she had begun to draw what she believed to be an accurate portrayal of how she would look in the future. Appearance-wise, she was correct in only a single field. She had drawn two very large breasts—which would apparently be destiny for her. Surrounding the adult Chiya was several small smiling cats.
Chiya stuck her thumb into her mouth and nodded proudly at the drawing. She loved cats, but knew that she could never own one. In an impoverished planet, Robert carefully stressed that pets were too expensive, considering they couldn't work.
All of a sudden, Abigail had come running into the room with two very wide eyes. She immediately dived down onto the floor.
"Chiya!"
The older sister turned her head, "What is it, Abby-Gale?" Chiya's eyes scrolled down to the magazine, then widened, "What's that?"
Abigail dropped down onto her knees and puckered her lips, "Look what I found in Mom's drawer."
A loud grunt had come out of Chiya, then an even louder gasp, "Abby! You aren't supposed to be in Mom and Dad's room!"
Abigail nodded, "Yeah, but look what I found!"
Chiya lowered her eyebrows nervously, then after looking up at the door cautiously, moved down onto the floor with her sister. The two soon found themselves staring at the magazine cover. Abigail's attention was very enlisted, but Chiya was missing the picture. Abigail turned her head.
"What does it say?"
Chiya squinted at the title and placed her finger down, "Big C- C-" she squinted even more, "I think it's supposed to say 'clock.'" She nodded at her theory, "Big Clock Magazine?"
"Oh, I see."
"Okay, so why did you-"
With a very focused look, Abigail tapped her finger against a single word—the one word any 5 year old would recognize.
"Look, see, see? Toys!"
Chiya grunted and widened her eyes, "Toys?"
Underneath the single word was instructions on which page they had to turn to for the toys. Abigail clapped her hands together excitedly, "It's a toy book!"
"It's called a magazine, Abby..."
"Toys, Chiya!"
Chiya smiled excitedly and turned her attention back onto the magazine, "Toys on page 13!" she read excitedly.
Without hesitation, Chiya flipped the corner of a few pages, then opened it up on page 13. The excitement of both girls raised upon seeing the many toys, though, naturally, not all of them made much sense to them.
"Who-oa..." Chiya gasped.
Abigail's eyes went back and forth between pictures excitedly, she was especially interested with the many bright colors of the cheap toys. Both young girls looked around for something of interest, but only one thing came to sight that they both mutually gasped at. Of course, they were misinterpreting how the item was supposed to be used.
"A swing!" Chiya shouted very loudly.
"A swing for inside a house?"
Chiya's eyes glimmered excitedly. She didn't understand why the adult in the picture was lying on the swing with their stomach, but what she did understand was that it was an indoor swing.
"That would be so cool! We could swing in our bedroom all night and, and, it'd be so cool!"
Chiya's shouting hadn't enlisted Fiona's ear, but it did grab the father's ear. Robert, with both hands in his pockets, turned around the corner and raised an eyebrow. As Chiya and Abigail continued to converse excitedly about the swing, Robert had peeked his head through the door curiously. He spotted both girls on their knees looking at a magazine, and within an instant, declared this as suspicious activity.
Putting on his fatherly look, he lectured, "Chiya, Abigail!"
Both girls gasped and got onto their rears, Chiya had immediately closed the magazine, which dug her an even deeper hole. The title of the magazine had caught Robert's eyes, and thus, he grunted with wide eyes.
"Chiya!"
Abigail jumped up onto her feet and rushed to the door, "I- I'm gonna help Mom with kitchen stuff!"
To Chiya's great surprise, Robert allowed Abigail to run off. The greatly tempered look was completely put onto Chiya. The little Mysterian grunted and shook negatively.
"I didn't do it!"
"Hand me that damn magazine, before I spank you with it."
Chiya's eyes widened, she immediately presented him the magazine out of fear. Physical punishment was something Chiya rarely got and didn't intend to receive. Robert slammed his eyes shut and lowered his eyebrows upon taking a closer look at the magazine. He was hoping that his eyes had deceived him, but he was indeed staring at a sexually themed magazine that Fiona was subscribed to.
"I swear! I didn't go in your room!"
The tall man squeezed his temple and let out a very displeased exhale, "What did you see, in the magazine, Chiya?"
"Page 13! That's it! We were just looking at 13 and 14!"
"Why 13 and-" his eyes caught sight of the 'Toys!' section of the cover, which was followed by the page location. He let out a relieved whistle and nodded, "Okay, you were looking at toys."
"Trust me! Me and Abby don't want anything to do with Big Clocks! We already have a big clock!"
Robert's eyes turned solid for a moment, but his facial expression remained firm and strict. Soon, with the threat of the two girls having been exposed to pornography gone, he gave Chiya a very intimidating glare.
"You're not supposed to be in our room, only we should be in our room. And when you turn 18, we are not to be in your room."
"I wasn't in your room!" Chiya shouted. Her face had become both desperate and well tempered, "Abby's a little stinker! I had no idea she was in your room!"
"Don't lie, Chiya. Abigail is 5 years old..."
"It's true! I haven't tried to go in your room since I was a little kid!"
"Chiya, one day you'll be an employed woman, and you'll have a boss. You do not simply go into the office of your boss without permission, it's rude..."
"I would never do that!"
"Even if Abigail did do it, she's still your responsibility."
"Why!? I was drawing fluffy kitties!"
Robert knelt down before Chiya and placed his hand on her small shoulder, "Chiya, you're 10. You're practically a woman."
"If I'm a woman, why don't I have a big chest?"
"In due time. But bodily changes isn't what makes you a woman, you're expected to be a role model to others. People will always respect a role model—it's the only way to succeed."
"Role model?"
"As Abigail's big sister, you must control her and craft her into a woman. Teach her what it means to be a woman."
"Can't Mom do that?"
Robert blinked at her once, then narrowed his eyes, "Grounded, two days."
"Wh- what!?"
Robert stood up and grabbed her sketchbook and television remote, "No TV or drawing for two days."
"That's not fair!" Chiya complained.
The man walked back to the door and brought the magazine up to his chest, "Go to bed. There's a military march tomorrow."
"I don't wanna watch that!"
"Sounds like you want a third night of-"
"No! I've been working on a drawing I really like!"
"Then go to sleep." Before exiting the room, he looked at the page of toys and raised his eyebrows. "Whoa, it's a flashlight, but also a-" he chuckled softly and shook negatively. "I might have to do some early Christmas shopping for Mom..."
Robert closed the door behind him, leaving Chiya frowning on her knees. But instead of crying, Chiya proceeded on with a mini tantrum. She grabbed her shoe off the ground and chucked it at the wall before bashing her fists down on the floor angrily.
Boots marched, tanks rolled, and starfighters flew. Citizens of New Edinburgh had gathered around the streets for the weekly military parade. At this point in time, the uniform design for Mysterian soldiers were still very similar to that of the Federation's. The Federation flag patch had been removed from each uniform and replaced with a hammer and sickle. The Mysterian tanks and starfighters beared emblems of the national flags with yellow stars.
The point of doing this on a weekly basis was to help hone the marching skills of soldiers. This was also a good time to evaluate the condition of tanks and starfighters. Above all, this was a morale raiser. Soldiers practiced marching while raising morale on a weekly basis. In 8 years, under communism, Chiya would be required to join these soldiers.
The Flower family was present to show their support, but in reality, this was merely to boost the public opinion of Robert Flower. One who respected the military, in turn, was a respectable person on this planet.
Robert, though, was taking advantage of the parade as usual. Standing tall, he preached before many of the citizens of New Edinburgh.
"We don't need an offensive military, we need a defensive one! Under current leadership, we are doomed to fall in a future war! The common proletariat is a hard working person! Such a person should be working to better society, not deliver bullets into the bodies of our foes!"
Fiona was standing alongside her two daughters, though her attention was clearly drawn onto her own fingers. She rubbed her nails without a care in the world. Meanwhile, Chiya and Abigail stood behind her. Abigail appeared saddened, her big sister was constantly giving her the stink eye.
"Chiya, don't be mad at me..." she pleaded.
"You got me grounded for two days, Abby. I was working on a beautiful drawing, it had cats in it!"
"Can't you just finish it after-"
"But I want to finish it now!"
Abigail rubbed her small feet around in circles while licking her lips, "Why don't you do some stuff for Dad and maybe he will let you off the hook."
Chiya turned her head with a glare, "Off the hook!? You were the one who went in their room!" Her face had become distressed, "What were you even doing in there?"
"Adventure!"
"No! All you did was get me in trouble!" Chiya grit her teeth, "You should be grounded too!"
"Why?"
"Whaddya mean 'why'!?"
Fiona pinched the ears of both girls and hushed them, "Girls, stop fighting."
"But, Abby-"
"She's 5, dear. Be nice to your little sister..."
"Oh my gosh!" Chiya complained.
The next thing Chiya knew, her father had grabbed her by the hand. The little Mysterian puckered her lips as she found herself under the arms of her father. She had been dragged into his circle of listeners.
"Take my little daughter, for example. She should be tailoring clothes or inventing perfumes, not evading artillery in a trench!"
Chiya's eyes went back and forth constantly, her cute face was irresistible, thus she well supported Robert's point. Of course, Chiya found herself blushing shyly at the many tall strangers and grabbed her father's leg for comfort. This caused much awing.
"At the very least, we as a planet should roll back into a volunteer system. A young girl shouldn't have to fret about the military at such a young age."
Many looks of intrigue were made from his points. Chiya's presence made his words seem much more effective; likely since none of the listeners could imagine such a beautiful young girl getting blown to pieces on the front line.
Chiya blinked a few times while looking up at her father, then at the marching female soldiers. Her curiosity was for once very centered on the marching rows of soldiers. But those women are so beautiful, like me...
A great coincidence had occurred, as one of the brown haired soldiers had turned her head and smiled at the young Chiya. This smile caused Chiya to become even more confused. She sure looked happy...
Abigail stared at the approaching flag of Mysteria, then tugged on her mother's leg. Fiona looked down at the small child.
"Mom, how do I make Chiya like me again?"
Fiona shrugged, "Apologize."
"I did! She's still ma-ad!"
"Oh, Abigail. You'll work things out with her, I'm sure."
The littlest Flower blinked cluelessly at her mother, finding absolutely no help from her. The child wrapped her arms around the leg of her mother, then planted her cheek against it as well.
Robert and Fiona sat together at the kitchen table. Fiona was treating herself to a glass of wine, but Robert was still stressing himself over work. He was staring down at several Mysterian city districts, specifically at the population count of each district and where they stood politically.
"You see, honey. I'm thinking that I should try and start a rally in a nearby village. If I do that, with any luck, they'll spread the good word into the bigger cities. Alternatively, I could go straight for the big cities—but I generally fear that rallying citizens might be more difficult there than in a village."
"Mhm, sounds good, dear."
"Dammit, woman. Would you just lend me your for once?"
Fiona rolled her eyes and looked up, "I support your cause, just don't speak out of line. Chiya and Abigail would be heartbroken if you were to suddenly disappear."
"And that's why the communists need to go. They're a bunch of corrupt fools who only care about climbing the imperialist ladder."
"It's like my mother always told me..." she took a sip from her glass, then looked at Robert with two dull eyes, "Make love, not war."
The man tapped his fingers down frantically and growled, "Please. If we have one more child we'll go bankrupt."
Chiya was sitting on the edge of her bed, keeping her arms folded defiantly. Abigail continued to stare at her older sister sadly. Chiya's eyes constantly scrolled over toward her sister, it was very evident to her that Abigail felt bad for getting her only sister grounded.
"Chiya-"
"I was going to draw smiles on the cats, Abby."
"Let's just ask if you can draw. You already can't watch TV-"
"Actually, both of us can't watch TV."
This was true. Since the two girls shared the same bedroom, Abigail could only watch television in the living room. Though doing this would likely get her kicked out, since the living room television was for family as a whole.
"You can still draw the smiles later..."
Chiya crossed her arms and swished her head back, "Nope, the mojo's gone. I'll never be able to finish that drawing now."
Abigail sucked on her thumb before looking at the door, she then narrowed her eyes in contemplation. Chiya fell back onto the bed and groaned very loudly while looking at her markers. Chiya currently had no dreams of becoming an F-Zero racer, as F-Zero had yet to become very popular. And due to her young age and body size, Chiya had yet to enlist an interest in soccer. Henceforth, drawing was all the little girl wanted to do.
The even smaller sister finally looked up and poked her fingers, "Gee, I'm sorry. I just wanted you to help me find the toys..."
The future racer continued to hold her arms up angrily, but immediately, she lost the will to hold a lasting grudge. Chiya dropped her arms down and sighed.
"I guess it's not your fault that you can't read..."
"Well, I do have an idea..." Chiya raised an eyebrow, "I could go get your drawing book back so you can finish the picture. Then when you're done, we sneak it back."
Chiya lowered her eyebrows, "I dunno, I'd be in a lot of trouble if Dad caught us..."
"That's why I'll go and do it."
"I'm not sure I want to trust you right now."
"I'll take the blame if I'm caught." Chiya breathed in with widened eyes, pondering on Abigail's loyalty very carefully. "I don't even know where your book is."
At that moment, Chiya scooted over to the edge of her bed and nodded, "Okay, look. Dad usually keeps my stuff above the fridge when I'm bad. If you can get up on the counter, you might be able to reach it."
"Okay! I'll go get it!"
Abigail pranced over to the door, but was stopped by a frantic Chiya, "W- wait!" The sister turned and puckered her lips, Chiya dipped her head down and grit her teeth, "Don't do anything stupid. Just get the book and come right back."
With a nod, the young girl left the bedroom, now on her way to the kitchen.
Robert leaned over the table and firmly placed his finger down, "This isn't even a matter of economic policy, it's a matter of morals."
"I'm in full support of this, but I think you need to calm down, dear. It's just politics..."
"Just politics!? Fiona! The communists executed your parents for expressing liberal ideals!"
"Ss-sh..." Fiona leaned forward with two lowered brows, "I don't want the girls hearing about that..."
"Of course, there's no need to give them nightmares."
Abigail, very slowly, peered around the corner. She stood in the living room with her eyes centered on the two adults. Robert was turned away from her, but Fiona had a good position to spot the young girl. Fortunately for Abigail, her mother was distracted on a magazine.
The girl's eyes rolled up toward the refrigerator, but she was unable to see any objects above it. And so she took her first careful steps into the kitchen. Her head bobbed up in surprise upon hearing her father cough.
"The Federation may be a bunch of evil capitalist vultures, but we certainly shouldn't be toying with them as the communists like to do."
"War is bad."
Abigail ducked her head down, then got onto her knees. Rather than walking through the kitchen, she crawled. She moved very slowly, trying with all her skill to refrain from making sound. Her planned route brought her just slightly behind Fiona, but still out of Robert's sight. After crawling up to the counter, she stood back up and quickly turned to her parents. Both were still completely preoccupied. The little girl's eyes narrowed, then she grabbed onto the counter and carefully climbed. Her small knees touched the top of the counter, and yet again, she turned her head cautiously.
Fiona looked up at Robert, "Come on, dear. Let's stop with the politics and go try and snuggle by the fireplace."
"No can do, every minute counts. And besides, we can't have that turn into something more than snuggling. Little Abigail was the child cap."
Abigail stood high above the counter and stuck her tongue out while patting her hand above the refrigerator. She still couldn't see, but she was able to feel the buttons of their television remote. She seemingly searched every part of the refrigerator for Chiya's sketchbook, but her small hand was touching everything but the book. Out of desperation for another inch of sight, she got onto the tip of her toes and put her chin over the top. Her eye rolled down, then spotted the flat book.
All five of her fingertips pressed down against the book, very slowly, she retracted it. Though just as the book came over the edge, Abigail felt a cramp in her left toes and widened her eyes. As she fell, she dragged the book with her.
Both Robert and Fiona widened their eyes upon hearing the crashing of the young girl. But just in time, she had hidden the book under her back. Fiona covered a gasp and stood up.
"Oh my goodness, Abigail! Are you okay?"
The girl stood up with the book behind her back, then immediately proceeded over to the living room. "Yes, I'm okay."
Robert lowered his eyebrows, "What in blazes were you doing?"
But Abigail had no answer for this. She simply continued to walk backwards with a surprised expression. The girl hadn't prepared for such a situation, and she was not one to usually lie. Henceforth, she could only retreat. Of course, this caused Robert to throw on a suspicious look.
Abigail ran straight into the room with the book, handed it to her big sister, then got onto her knees, "I got it!"
Chiya beamed and rubbed the top of her head, "Way to go, Abby!"
The marker drawing of the adult Chiya surrounded by cats had quickly been opened up to, and with much pride, Chiya popped open a marker and resumed drawing. Abigail crawled over to her bed and looked down upon the drawing, then smiled.
"Those are some cool kitties!"
"They are going to be my future cats."
"When you get married?"
Chiya stuck her tongue out, "Ew, I'm never getting married."
And so Chiya finished the simple facial features of the cats. All cats surrounding her now had happy smiles, and the stock hat had ripples. Chiya did possess her green stock hat, but she rarely wore it due to the size of it in contrast to her head.
"I like how the cats are smiling."
Chiya nodded with a proud grin, "I thought people would admire that!"
Then, from behind the two girls, came a sound. "Ahem."
Both girls gasped and turned their bodies, Chiya was the one to grunt and widen her eyes, "H- how did you know!?"
Robert snapped his fingers, "I thought I was quite clear on your punishment..."
"Bu- but-"
"What 'buts' could you possibly make out of this?"
Chiya's eyes quivered immensely, "But I just wanted to finish the drawing..!"
Robert cracked his knuckles, "Having your sister steal the book from me-"
Abigail stood up straight, "It was my idea! I wanted to steal it back for her!"
"Abigail..." he lectured.
"It's not her fault! She shouldn't be grounded for something I did wrong. I knew not to go in your room, but I still did."
Robert turned a cold eye onto Chiya, "Why do I get the feeling, that your little sister is merely taking the blame for you?"
Abigail raised her hand and argued, "Daddy, Chiya's been a good girl all day. She would never steal from you."
"But she supported this?"
Abigail blinked a few times, then turned to her sister for vocabulary help, "S- s- su- what?"
"Okay, yes, I supported her. But I was going to give it back after I finished the drawing. And it's done now! Take it back!"
Robert looked down at the drawing, then briefly widened his eyes at the depiction of Chiya's future breasts. He looked away and scratched the back of his head. "Why would you risk getting in trouble, Abigail?"
She frowned, "Cause I wanted Chiya to not be mad at me..."
"I see..." he closed his eyes and quirked his mouth around a few times. Then smirked and shrugged, "Okay, I'll lift the grounding."
"What?"
"Well, you get a negative for stealing, but a plus for offering the book back to me, and another plus for using teamwork to accomplish a goal. Overall, I'll let you off the hook with a single plus."
With an immense smile, Chiya got onto her knees and tore the drawing out, "Time for a sequel!"
Robert chuckled and rolled his fingers around behind his back while approaching the door, "However..." Chiya and Abigail both looked up at him nervously. "...you still need to go to bed early for school..."
Chiya gasped, then groaned loudly, "Bloody heck..."
