"Orchid-" Sprout stuttered. He stepped closer to his sister.
"Sprout." She glared back at him. "What are you doing here?" she snapped.
"I'm here to stop you. You don't have to do this, Orchid. You can make the choice," he said, tears welling in his eyes.
"Really? I'm a royal, you're a royal, and yet EVEN AFTER Mom's death, we still have no power?? In fact, we have less than before??" she spat, turning to glare into Sprout's eyes. He felt even more guilt for what he was about to do to her.
"Please Orchid. If you just let it happen- the people want power. We want to give them that. Why must you fight it?" he pleaded. Orchid only glared right back at him.
"You're just as blind as the rest of them! They get power, then this whole country falls apart. All of it, from the top to the bottom. I'm trying to save us!" she yelled. Sprout winced.
"Orchid- You're destroying us with this revolution. If you don't end this now, there won't even be a people to rule, whether you win or not!" he said, losing patience. Orchid grunted. Sprout stepped closer, grabbing her hand. "Please." Orchid tore herself away. "Oh Orchid. It.. It doesn't have to end like this. Please.. I don't want to do this-" Sprout choked on his words.
"Maybe you think I'm dumb, or maybe it's some other reason, but whatever the matter, I'm not backing down." Sprout looked down.
"Then I'm sorry." Sprout grew a small vine around her ankle, starting the toxins up in her body. She screamed. He winced.
"YOU LITTLE-" she shrieked, grabbing his arm. He twisted away. She shoved him to the ground, pinning him with a foot to his neck. He felt himself slipping. Orchid shook herself, then burst into hysterical laughter.
"You really are stupid. Remember how I don't have Gardener powers?" she laughed. Sprout swallowed hard. "That means this little toxin of yours is useless."
Sprout writhed under her foot. Orchid only pushed down harder. Sprout watched as she tossed a flower to the ground, watching as its roots writhed and made their way into the ground quickly. Orchid looked down at him.
"A Falatour. Worse than a Falation, almost. This one starts with the toxins, pulsing through your body. They stimulate your brain, fogging it. Then it stimulates the amygdala. Your darkest fears and your lighter fears mix, creating fears you've never even imagined. Then, it sends a spark through the toxin, finishing you off. Right then, right there." she laughed again. Sprout writhed to get out of her grip, pulling himself up. But the fumes had already reached him.
"You always got the attention, the love. Ever since your powers became 'oh so gorgeous' and you were supposedly the most powerful Gardener of all time. I've hated you since then. I guess it ends today. And who will come save you now? No one, that's right. Have fun dying. And yes, it did have to end like this. Just not how you originally thought."
Sprout felt the fears aching across his body. A piercing scream came from his body as he convulsed. Flowers felt like they grew from every place. Darkness was everywhere, and things were hiding in the dark, taking pieces of him. He couldn't move. He couldn't even scream anymore. Pain shot through his body from what seemed to be every nerve in his body. He sobbed and sobbed as everything he'd ever done, his whole life, passed through his vision.
"I'm sorry, Orchid.
I really am."
And suddenly, he was falling
d
o
w
n
And then there was nothing.
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