It was dark. The darkness was bleeding into me, but I was reaching. I did not know how I was reaching. I just was. I was pulling up. I could not see the time, so I continued pulling. That was the only thing I could do.

I knew a lot of time had passed when I breached the surface. There were blobs of color everywhere. It seemed I was in a forest. I… did not remember sleeping in a forest.

I shifted my view to my body. I was a small crystal, but I was… cracking? Something was reaching out of me. It took me a moment to realize that… I was a seed? Now that the blobs were becoming sharper, I realized that the forest around me was full of trees with leaves of crystal.

As a seed, it was highly likely that I was a flower that fell from one of the trees, and that flower happened to hold a seed. The more I looked around, the more my sight was refined.

Delicate flowers were drifting in the wind above me, pink petals drifting like feathers to the ground. Pastel birds were fluttering above, singing a song, and a small fox trotted through the undergrowth to catch some prey. Many more sprouts were popping up around me. Very few looked as healthy as me.

I turned my focus back to my insides. I noticed a process happening in my body, very much alike breathing, but not quite. It seemed to be automatic, and was going incredibly slowly. I wondered if I could speed it up. I set my questions aside for later.

Going by what I knew thus far, I would be forced to wait until I was not a small bud to try out any ideas. If I tried anything now, there was a chance I would end up crippled for life, as I did not know my new body much.

For the next few days, I simply relaxed, and watched my body slowly grow. I was gathering my thoughts, and attempting to regain access to Mana once more. All was well, and I could see my False-Breathing, as I called it, barely move faster. It seemed to be equal to the size of my body. All was well, until one day…

[ Hatchling Crystal Seed has lived the required number of days for Simple Growth. Would you like to evolve? ]

Menu was here. I suppose I should begin calling them System, now. Why had I not seen this before?

[ During your beginning growth, you did not have the Intelligence for thought beyond normal, barely-there thought processes. After you ‘Hatched’, you did not gain or change in a noteworthy way. Would you like to evolve? ]

I see. I suppose I should evolve. Yes, evolve.

[ Evolution options are:

Crystal Tree Sapling

Healing Crystal Sapling

Evercolor Crystal Sapling ]

Hm. If I wanted to be incredibly unique, I could choose the Evercolor Sapling. The Healing Sapling would be a nice choice… The normal tree would likely take far too long… Although, seeing as I need some amount of power, maybe I should choose Evercolor. Hm… choices, choices. I suppose I have my answer, then.

I would like to be a Healing Crystal Sapling. I want to have fast power growth, but not terribly fast. I wonder how long it would take to grow as a Healing Sapling.

[ Commencing Evolution. Tree Age: 56 Days. Natural Growth Confirmed. ]

I’ve been alive for 56 days? What does Natural-

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[ Evolution Complete. Time Required: 14 Days. Awakening Tree’s Conscious ]

I feel like someone just bashed my brains out in the most painful way that could keep me alive. But I also feel far stronger, and different. I suppose I should inspect my body, now. I turn my gaze inward.

Delicate golden crystals are my leaves, and my bark looks as if someone pulled a thin trunk of gold out of the earth. Small patterns are flowing across my bark, and a golden substance is pulsing beneath my ‘Skin’. I quite like my new look, although it is a bit out of place. Still, it is rather beautiful.

My False-Breathings rate has leveled up. Now that I can think a bit better, I realize that I should have assumed Menu was there. It would only make sense. Other creatures have Menu, why can’t plants?

On this note, I decide to call for Status.

[ Name: Unknown

Race: Crystal Healing Sapling

Level: 1/10 (73/100 Exp)

Age: 71 Days

Size: 16 Centimeters

Titles: Enlightened, Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder

Skills: Photosynthesis Lvl 3 ]

How big was I before Evolution?

[ 4 Centimeters ]

I was… very small. Also, it seems that my perception of time has been skewed. One day went by while I was processing information.

I began to work on slowing down my perception. My tactic was focusing on a small fly, and focusing on it moving. I had Menu remind me of each day that passed they were getting noticeably longer. I had also grown a centimeter after the 7 days I practiced. Did I not mention that? It took 7 days.

I could now focus pretty well, and I would have gone on longer if it wasn’t so mind-numbingly boring. After the seventh day, I gave up. I could now see foxes moving without needing to mentally take a picture of the outside world.

Hey, Menu, can I go into a dormant state?

[ Yes. Would you like to enter a Dormant State? ]

Yes please.

[ Entering dormant state… ]

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Rosé was not having a nice day. Her scouts had still not found a source of outside contact, and she was going to have them pull back and regroup at the Queendom. At least none of them had died.

“My queen,” one of her advisors said, “You must attend a funeral. Your right-hand man’s mother has been assassinated.”

“Very well,” she sighed. Although Rosé quite liked funerals, she wasn’t sure if other sentient life would understand their way of keeping a piece of their loved ones with them, always.

She donned her long blue fur coat. The guards had already called the Guardian. They always did. Luckily, her hair was already in a sophisticated Romantic Tuck. The coat would fit her other form, and her Tuck would stay up.

Rosé glided out into the courtyard, where they hosted funerals. The rituals had already begun, and the food was being prepared. She moved to stand up on the pedestal.

“My people,” she began, “Today we celebrate the death of one of our own. We will all change, and then keep a piece of Grandmother Skye with us, forever. When I tell you, we shall change. Change, now.”

Immediately, all the elves in the courtyard began changing. Their limbs elongated, claws growing, and teeth sharpening. Their pupils bled into solid colored eyes, and their clothes barely hung on. This was their true state, the one they changed for easier domestic abilities.

“Now,” she said, her own form more beautiful than others, even in this barbaric version of herself, “We eat.”

The other elves began tearing into Grandmother Skyes old flesh. This was a tradition as old as the elves themselves. They would forever have a piece of her with them.

Rosé grabbed her piece and ate.