Steel Flowers

Another story that never really got off the ground, repurposed for your enjoyment!

"Lily, wake up. It's time for your medicine."

I hate it. I hate it when it's time for my medicine. I know I have to take it, but I hate it all the same.

I get up from my bed and stretch. I gag a little getting it down. It's bitter...not very bitter, but enough to make the back of my throat sting. I drink it down – or try to - and make a face.

Madame is giving me the look she always gives me when I don't take it. It's stern, disapproving and angry all in one. I wilt a bit under it, as I always do. Then I take the bottle and swallow its contents. It doesn't pay to make Madame angry, especially not in the morning. I gag a little but I manage to get it all down.

"There's a job for you."

I try to look disinterested, but I think my eyes give it away. Anything is better than just sitting here day by day, smelling the flowers...as nice as they are and as beautiful as they, it does get old. I want to go outside, to do things, and the only time I get to do any of that is when there's a job. Madame won't let me outside otherwise.

"What do I do?"

She fishes out a photo from that old dress of hers and hands it to me, moving with her usual stilted grace. I’ve thought more than once that Madame looks like she doesn’t belong here…with her slightly tattered dress and shawl and old-fashioned mannerisms, she looks like she should be the matriarch of a tea party, presiding over the proceedings with an even smile and gentle eye.

Not here, in the middle of God-knows-where, giving me missions and growing flowers. But then again, I don’t know much about Madame. Or myself, for that matter.

It's a man. He's in a...suit? I think that's what they call it. I don't get to go out much, so the only time I've seen anything that looks like that is when I read the books and magazines that Madame leaves lying around somewhere. He's doesn't have a beard, and his hair is a little thin on top.

He looks just like the last ten she showed me. Or twelve...or twenty. They all look the same to me.

"So what I am supposed to do to him?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

"Kill him, of course." Madame replies. She's watering the flowers, and I know that when she does that it means that the conversation is more or less over.

I sigh and I bounce out of bed, the lingering aftertaste of medicine still in my mouth. There's no talking to her when she's like this. I may as well get started.

I walk over to the table in the living room and look over the clothes that are laid out there. I put on the top, running my arms through the cotton sleeves and relish the feel of them on my bare skin. Next up are the leather straps and boots. These are my work clothes, comfortable, light and easy to move around in. I like them a whole lot more than the nightdresses that Madame says I’m to always wear. I pull them on, lace them up and do a little practice stretch.

The last thing I need to get is my sword. Kikuichimongiri. It's lying right next to my clothes, and I pick it up to test it out, give it a few practice swings. It sings as it cuts through the air, silent and deadly. It doesn't need sharpening today. Not sure if it'll need it tomorrow, but I'll check that when tomorrow comes. I'm good to go for now, and it's time to leave.

I walk towards the door of the apartment, not for the first time noticing the inlay of flowers on the iron grilles that shutter them. They are beautiful - not as beautiful as real flowers, but nice looking all the same. The doors slide open, revealing the elevator that leads down below. I step in and they slide shut around me.

I close my eyes. I both love and dread this part.

The world explodes into a riot of color, and I see flowers…only flowers. Roses, tulips, lilies in all imaginable hues. I can barely see anything – and then I don’t, as I feel myself transported and transformed, losing track of who I am as any sense of time and place becomes torn and shredded.

It feels like being born again, and the heady scent of the blossoms merges with the sharp pulse of fear I always feel. It’s like I will lose myself…and then I do, and I am myself once more.

I don’t understand it, and when I ask Madame about it, she just tells me not to worry my pretty little head about it – like so many other things.

When I come to, breathing heavily, I find that I have been transported to another place entirely. The lift does that. It’s the only way I can leave the gardens where I live to come to the city. And then when my work is done, Madame will know and summon me back in much the same way.

This is the way it’s always been for as long as I can remember.

The city spreads out before me, panoramic. There's usually time to take in the sights a little before each job - gaze at the sea of glimmering lights, stare a little at the black and blue of the sky. I like how everything seems so much more alive at night. It’s like the night air itself is calling to me, and I wish I could wave back.

I shake my head and put away the fancies that my mind goes through. Not tonight. Tonight is time for me to get to work.

My schedule is tight and I have to be at the designated area before my target gets there. I break into a run, getting up enough speed that I can vault onto the rooftops with ease. That is my preferred way to travel – away from the traffic and streetlights, a path that only I can take.

Also, that way no one will spot me. I don’t know why that’s bad, but Madame tells me it is, and so I do my best to obey.

So I head past the streets and continue onwards. Straight, then make a turn at the second street, then a right at the fifth...I don't ask how I go which way to go. I just do. Buildings turn to trees which turn to fences which turn back into buildings - they're all one blur to me. I just have to keep on going.

My target is just getting out his car when I round the corner into the industrial area. He looked surprised to see me - they always are. But to his credit he doesn't waste any time in shock, beckoning to his guards to protect him. They're not going to be successful, but only I know that.

Two armors step out of the shadows where I almost couldn't see them. That's unusual...most times they can only afford one. But it's not going to be a big deal. I can handle two as easily as I can one.

The huge, hulking steel giants amble towards me, hands outstretched, but I'm too fast for them. The one on the left tries a punch, but I slide under its fist and send Kiku into its chest before it can react. Wires come spilling out and it topples backwards.

That took all of ten seconds, but it's enough time for the man to turn to flee. I'm faced with a decision - take out the armor first, or go for the guy before he runs away?

I see a way to do both at once, and I take it. I time my leap just as the second armor swings, and I'm able to vault easily over its arm, sending Kiku in a blazing arc to behead it even before I land. My feet have barely touched the ground before I'm off again, sprinting as fast towards my target as his face freezes in horror.

He turns to run, but I'm faster - much, much faster. The distance between us closes rapidly, my blade pierces the man's back and he slumps to the ground.

Five seconds, more or less. That's must be a new record or something. I didn't even need to use any of the perfumes had Madame prepared this time.

I spend a moment looking at the results of my handiwork. Two armors, one with its chest ripped out, the other one without a head. And as for my target, blood is spilling out of the hole in his chest to pour out onto the road. It seems like such a waste, all that red liquid...I wonder if Madame can use it for something? She’s always telling me about how her roses need more nourishment.

But blood won’t do…only water. I wonder how I know that.

I stare at it for a few more seconds, then shake my head. No use thinking about it. I give Kiku a few quick swings - to clean off all the blood - and then sheathe it. A glint of moonlight reflects of the surface of the blade, and for a moment I am transfixed by how the red of blood, the silver of steel and the white of the moon all set off each other.

A job well done. Time to go home.

There are no more jobs to perform for a while, so I just laze about at home, trying to avoid Madame as she putters about. I read the odd picture book or two and roll around in my bed. It's boring as always, and for lack for anything better to do, I start looking at the perfumes that Madame makes.

I can't quite decide if I like them or not. On one hand, they smell good, and they do help me get the job done. On the other hand, they have all these nasty, yucky, icky side effects. Sometimes when I take on I feel like vomiting, or the world starts spinning, or I get a fever. It's like taking my medicine all over again, but worse.

I walk around the benches and shelves, looking at each small bottle and squinting at the labels written in Madame's spidery scrawl. Lapidastrae, irisdaesmun...and I can't quite make out the third one. They come in all colors, too, from bright green to light brown.

I like the red one the best. I have no idea what it's called, but it makes me feel all powerful and strong, and it doesn't make me feel that ill. There's a lilac one which I like too, but not as much as the red one.

I spend some time staring at the bottles, trying and failing to screw up the courage to take one. I don't know what each does and I'm afraid to try. Madame usually tells me which to take before each job. I have to inhale each deeply, rub some on my temples and then wait five minutes and then when the effect kicks in, my work starts. And if I really have to, I take another bottle with me to use when the situation demands it...but that's never happened yet. Madame says to bring it just in case, and it never makes sense to argue with her, so I do.

Speaking of her, she should be back any time soon. She went out somewhere - she never tells me where - about half an hour ago. I'm just debating whether it would be worth risking her wrath to uncork a bottle and take a little sniff - just a little! - because I'm so bored when the door clicks open. In a flash I'm back in the bed, pretending to be asleep.

She doesn't notice. Or she notices and decides not to say anything - you can never tell with Madame. She pauses to water the flowers for a bit and then turns to me, calling out my name.

"Lily." she says. "Lily!" I start a bit in bed, even though I've heard her say my name a hundred times before. Her voice is harsh and rasping, like a file on metal. If my medicine could have a sound, that’s what it would sound like, I think. And when she calls me like that, it can only mean one thing.

"Another job?" I ask, once again knowing the answer.

She nods and hands me the photo. I take a look, fix the image in my memory, and hand it back.

It's a woman this time. Doesn't really matter to me. Male or female, they all bleed the same when I cut them in half. It's the armors that are the trouble, but even those go down easily enough. And if by any chance that something unexpected happens...there's always the perfumes to help me out.

I get dressed again, and give everything a once-over before I step out the doors. Kikuichimonji-giri does need sharpening this time, and spend a few minutes running with its keen edge down a whetstone. I'm not sure where Madame even gets the stones. They seem to magically appear when I need them, and disappear soon after...but I know better than to ask.

The lift comes and the doors swing open. It's time to go to work once again.

Another beautiful moonlit night, and no time to enjoy it. I race down the streets of the city, jumping from building to building. It's a new route this time, one that takes me high above the concrete jungle below and the gardens which I went past the last time. Before long my destination rises up in front of me. A temple near the waterfront, surrounded by a copse of maple trees. I spy an especially tall one, take a deep breath, and leap up onto it. It always makes sense to take the higher ground.

The nice thing about arriving early before the target is then you get time to take in the sights. The moon is especially round and full tonight, and the shimmer of its light on the water makes me stop and take a breath. A sudden wind throws up a storm of leaves that cascade around me, and I close my eyes so I can better hear its soft hiss. Everything is silent, and it’s like the world itself has stopped moving for a time. In moments like these, I can almost forget myself and what I have to do.

A motion below me gets my attention. From my vantage point on top of the trees, I can see my target moving into the building. My daydreaming has caused me overlook the obvious, and I curse my inattention as I drop down from my perch onto the temple grounds proper.

I've still got a chance. As I fall through the air I hope against hope that I won't need to fight any armors...but the alarms go off the minute my feet touch the ground. I sigh and draw Kikuichimonji-giri. I'm going to have to fight my way through.

The ground is strewn with pebbles, and some crunch beneath my feet as I take a fighting stance. Doors in the walls open and armors appear - four this time. Two of them are the same type as before - huge ugly red brutes - but one is purple and leaner than the others, and the last one - a dull green - is one that I've never even seen before. I'll need to take them out quickly, before they can surround me. Good thing that the courtyard that I find myself in is wide enough so that I can use my speed and agility to my advantage.

I know that I'm fast, but this time I move like lightning. I charge forwards, blade held at the ready, and strike. One red armor is down before the rest can even start moving towards me. But my burst of speed has cost me - while I'm pausing to caught my breath, the green armor stretches its hands out, a nimbus of azure energy beginning to crackle around its metal gauntlets.

My eyes narrow. Electricity is bad news if it manages to hit. Fortunately for me, even winded I'm too fast for it - I throw myself into a roll as the armor releases a blast of lightning. My motion carries me into the path of one of the red armors, and I bring up my sword to deflect its blow just in time. The angle is off though, and I'm thrown off balance for a second - enough time for it to attack again and push me back into the corner...not where I want to be.

This is not going to be as easy as I thought. But I still have things under control. I just need to get one of them out of the way...I fence with the red one for a while, dodging left and right while trading blows. A single clean hit is all I need, but the purple one comes in from the side and joins the fray, making it difficult for me. All the while I am mindful of the fact that my target is going to get away if I waste any more time with her guards.

A sudden flash of inspiration strikes me. If I can just get the green one to do what I want to do...Armors are not known for their intelligence, and it just might be possible. I slow my movements down, focusing on my defense and biding my time. Sure enough, out of the corner of my eye I see the green one raise its hands to level another blast at me. I block a stray strike from the purple one and roll to the left so that I'm right between the red and green.

It works. The lightning blast hits the red armor full on. It stops in its tracks, electricity coursing through its body and more - than enough time for me to send Kiku through its chest. With the red one gone the purple is easy around to dispatch - I feint right, and then when it brings its fists down, I spin to my left and slice right through its stomach. Two down, two to go.

The other red one has been lumbering around while I was busy with its companions. I'm lucky that the armors are so stupid that it didn't even think to circle around from my blind side. Before it can get the notion, I rush towards it. It brings up its arms in an effort to block my blows, but Kiku is too sharp for that, splitting steel and wire alike with a single downwards slash.

With the other three taken care of, the green one isn't a threat - I don't even need to fear its lightning. I jump over the first blast, duck under the second, and slice it in half before it can throw the third. With the armors taken care of, I scan the area for signs of my prey...but I don't see anything.

All that took longer than I expected. My target has made it into the temple by now. I run past the courtyard and into the building proper. It's filled with rows and rows of wooden pillars...something I would find ominous if I wasn't in such a hurry. I speed through the wooden floors as fast as I can, the only sound my footsteps echoing through the empty corridor.

She's getting away. She's getting away! Fear spurs my movements to greater heights, and I close on her. She turns around in fright - why do they always do that? - but keeps running. At the end of the seemingly endless hallway are two thick steel doors. If she gets through them, and they slam shut, I'm not sure even a freshly sharpened Kiku could cut through.

It looks like she might just get away. It's going to take me too long to close the gap between us...wait. In a flash of inspiration I throw my sword at her instead. I see it twist and turn in mid-air as it hurtles forwards. It's not exactly the right shape for throwing, but it's the best I can do right now.

It catches the woman clean between the shoulder blades and she goes down in a splatter of blood. What do you know. It worked out after all.

I slow from a run to a walk, breathing heavily. It's been a harder job that I anticipated...four armors to deal with, and then the target almost got away. Maybe there is some sense to Madame insisting I bring along the perfumes after all. I pick up Kiku, clean it on her dress (which is amazingly enough still clean) and then close my eyes as the flowers bloom around me.

Time passes. I go on some more missions, but they are all the same to me. Just a procession of faces that I cut down, and armors that try to get in the way but fail to do so. Why do they even try?

But one day I wake up and things are a little different. Madame is standing by my bed like she always does, but her normally harsh expression isn’t there. Instead she seems serene…pleased.

I don’t quite know what to make of it, but she orders me out and into the living room before I can think about it too much. Someone I’ve never seen before is waiting for me – a short old gentleman, with a shock of pure white hair and a dirty cap placed haphazardly over it. He's dressed in a fashion that I can't ever remember seeing anywhere before, in a patchwork coat of bright orange and stained yellow.

“Lily! It’s good to meet you.” He says in a wheezing tone.

I blink. Who's that? How does he know my name? Only Madame knows my name. I'm filled with curiosity and walk over to him as Madame watches us both like a hawk.

He squints at me slightly as I come over and smiles, revealing a mouthful of stained and broken yellow teeth. I find myself smiling back. He seems friendly and almost...familiar, though I've never met him.

He points to Kiku. “Do you like your sword?”

I blink again. "I don't know." I tell him. Which is true. I don't. Madame gave it to me, like she gave me the bed and the perfumes and everything else. I wonder why I've never stopped to think about that before.

He reaches out a gnarled hand to take the blade from my grasp and much to my surprise, I don't find myself resisting. He looks over it with a practiced eye, balancing it on one hand and then the other. He runs a finger across its edge and then flicks a grimy finger at it. The metallic clang of nail on metal rings out as I stare at him. Finally finishing his inspection, he peers up at me and asks me a question.

"It's a nice sword. But if you want, I can make you a better one."

Who is this old guy anyway? And how dare he tell me that Kiku is short of being perfect? I'm too surprised at his comment to be angry. And if I was being completely honest...I would like a better sword. I love Kiku but she gets a little tight around the edges sometimes. Something with a little more heft would be good. More weight and a cutting edge.

“He’s here to help us.” Rasps Madame from behind. “He makes swords…very good ones.”

“Ah, Madame, you flatterer!” says the old man with another toothy grin. “I just do the best I can. So, what will it be, lass?”

“Well…” I stammer. “I guess I could use one…”

“Manners, girl!” says Madame, walking up towards us. “Have you learnt nothing? Here is someone willing to help us, and…” The old man waves away the beginnings of a tirade with a wrinkled hand.

“She’s honest, that’s all. When you can spare her, let her come and visit me. I’ll see what I can do.” And with that, he turns on his heel and walks away into the lift.

I stare at his retreating back, wondered just what happened. All this time we’ve lived alone in the gardens, Madame and I – and then suddenly today she invites someone to see us? I realize that I don’t even know his name.

“You’re to continue your practicing and duties as normal, Lily.” Madame says to me. But there is a new note in her voice that I haven’t heard before. It sounds almost like…approval?

“You may see him tonight, when you’re done.”

I nod mutely and continue about my day as usual. But my concentration isn’t as sharp as it normally is, and I almost fumble two moves during my training, which I haven’t done since forever. Thankfully Madame doesn’t notice – she has a new perfume blend she’s working on that is taking up all her time.

I try not to think about the mysterious old man too much, especially since the evening isn’t that far away. Madame is as good as her word and keys the lift to a different location, motioning for me to enter it. I didn’t know how she could do that.

I emerge from it into somewhere I’ve never been to before. It’s a laboratory of some kind, and I can see beakers bubbling and suspensions of strange colored liquids in beakers everywhere. There are also books – books everywhere, filling large wooden bookcases and strewn on the floor and on the large mahogany desk that takes up the center of the room.

The old man is waiting for me, and he smiles as I walk towards him. “Good evening, Lily. I knew you would be here. Madame keeps you on a short leash, doesn’t she?” Before I can answer, his hand snakes out and takes Kiku away from me before I can react. I stare at him, surprised - he moves fast for someone who looks so old.

“This is a good blade, but I can do better…so much better.” He says, half to himself. Then he gives me back the sword and sketches a small bow. “But where are my own manners? We haven’t even been properly introduced. I am Graves, and it is indeed a pleasure to make your acquaintance, little lady.”

I don’t really know what to do, so I just stare at him while he begins to potter about the room, apparently making preparations for something. There is a sigil of some sort in the middle of the place that I hadn’t noticed before, and he directs me to stand inside it while he measures me with all sorts of instruments.

After a few minutes, he dusts his hands off with a satisfied smile. “That is all I will need from you, lass. Hurry along home now.” I turn to leave, but Graves’s voice drops suddenly, and I strain to catch his next words.

“And remember…follow the red umbrella.”

What was that? A red…? But the lift door slides shut behind him, the flowers bloom, and his last words are lost of the rain of blossoms.