The puppet ripped the plants from the ground, tossing them to the side, where they were finished off by a flying dagger thrown by Seth, who now stood ast a safer distance. Once the blade pierced through the centre of the flower bulb, it would let out one last puff of pink pollen before deflating and shrivelling up.
He made a show of dealing with the plants himself, not just letting Coal do all the work, because of a certain phrase that ran through his head as the puppet was doing its weed killing.
[Congratulations. You've earned a Requital.]
It was strange hearing Angel's voice again after being blasted by those hypnotic pheromones. But now, with a clear head, he was able to hear the difference between their actual voice and the one produced by the alluring flower. Mainly, the warmth in their tone.
The hypnotic voice was naturally warm, inviting and caring. Seductive with a hidden edge. Like a stranger who had approached you at the bar and was sweet talking you into coming back to their room so they could secretly steal your kidneys.
That's not to say that Angel themselves is cold. But instead they are kind and open, like a friendly waitress.
It was most likely that his mind simply gave the siren's call a familiar voice as part of the deception. A deception he very nearly met his end because of.
Once the last flower was shrivelled up like a decade old prune, Seth found Alfie as he was helping some of the group's members recover and asked the question that was on everyone's mind.
"How did you know? Why weren't you affected like the rest of us?"
The question hung in the heavy and silent atmosphere that it caused, as all eyes turned to the shaggy haired, scrawny bespectacled boy. Even their strongest fighters had fallen victim to the insidious plant, no one was safe from it. In their minds, even the invincible molten giant that was Coal had been stunned by it.
Yet, not this unassuming man. Why?
The man in question shrunk back slightly at the attention. His face turned crimson as he fixed his glasses with a trembling hand. The confidence that he had shown previously had completely vanished, overwhelmed by common social anxiety.
"Well… I uh… My abilities seem to counteract it. I can't actually smell but… but I can see the different scents like… like clouds in the air. Once I realised what was happening, I just used the strongest smell I knew and hoped it would work."
"Then we all have you to thank for saving us. If you weren't here, we would have all died without even knowing what killed us."
Seth patted his shoulder and gave Alfie a reassuring smile. Leaving him to receive the praises of the rest of the group, he turned his back to the rest of them and took a few steps away. Lifting his sleeve slightly, he looked at the new mark that had appeared on his skin. A white and green tattoo, making up those same alien symbols.
Commanding it to manifest, the tattoo melted into veridian and ivory ink which slithered down his arm, clumping together in the palm of his hand. It stretched out, forming a long line of flowing green ink before bulging outwards at the tip.
As the ink receded, it gave the Requital its true form. A long green vine bundled up with a familiar looking flower at one end. The vine itself looked to be at least 5 metres long yet when he thought about its length he noticed it could grow and shrink.
The flower on the end was made up of four equal sized petals that he could open and close with a thought. The edges of these unassuming petals glistened with hidden malice, as if they were sharpened blades.
[You have earned, The Beckoning Thorn.]
'A whip? I can already do something similar with my abilities but this could come in handy in other ways.'
His eyes drifted towards the windows of the building, thinking about the cluttered streets down below. The simple fact of the matter was, ultimately it wasn't safe here. The building was still infested with creatures, both above and below them. Even if they took the time to clear out the entire place, the large windows were especially bad with the new dinosaur sized birds and anything could walk through the doors at any time.
It was a tower of capitalism, not a defensive fortress. They had to get out of here and find somewhere better, preferably with more people. Humans have always worked best in groups, and this incident was the latest in the line which showed that they needed a wide range of abilities to counteract all sorts of new threats.
Intangible creatures couldn't be harmed by physical attackers, some hunted in groups and others simply overpowered the mind of their victim. Who knows what other things would be out there?
Trying to survive solo would be suicide. This was no time to become an edgy lone wolf.
Having made up his mind, he turned back towards the group and approached them with his new whip still dangling from his hand. Sirius was the first to notice him, narrowing his eyes at the familiar looking weapon, as he gave Seth a warm smile.
"What have you got there, friend?"
"...Our way out of here."
***
Within the bowels of the treacherous 10th floor jungle, a campfire crackled and fatty meat sizzled. The humid air, which had been filled with the mind-snaring pheromones of a siren-like flower, was drowned in the intoxicating scent of cooking meat.
Around the dancing flames sat a group of various people, some more curious looking than others, yet all were partaking in what felt like their final meal. A meal made up of meat from an assortment of slain beasts with a side dish of vegetables, specifically the greens of the plant that had tried to consume them not so long ago.
Although the building they currently resided in was not safe, the outside posed a greater threat. With open air and little cover, they'd have to be on guard at all times and ready to run. They had no idea what to expect, but knew that it would not be pleasant.
So they were biding their time until dark, hoping that it meant the dangers on the street would be lessened, but nothing was for certain.
They ate, not only trying to regain strength lost from previous battles but gain new strength in the form of status points. Even if the gains were small, it helped them have a little more confidence in the excursion to come.
When night finally fell, they snuffed the fire and approached the window they had smashed open hours before. The blade of the whip was pierced into the ground before the blades opened up to secure it.
A large, beast-like man held the end of it, as added security to make sure they didn't fall. The friendly man with golden eyes stood at the edge of the window, ready to blast any airborne threats out of the skies with blasts of concentrated solar energy.
It was time for them to clock out of work, after a dreadfully long shift.