[Galatea appears to be embroiled in a fight with a...massive pink rose. The thing is vicious, shrieking and swinging wildly at her with its vines, but Galatea is exceptionally fast. Inhumanely so.

Her Claymore whistles through the air, and in several swings, she's hacked the thing to pieces. She turns slightly to face the mirror, and her eyes are strange. The pupils are slitted, like a cat's, and bright, glowing gold.

She blinks, and they're back to silver again.] I assumed it had a catch. [She isn't even out of breath.] Good. This is ludicrous, but I was beginning to get bored.

[There's a rustle near her, and her eyes widen a fraction.] Your singing plants appear to be hostile. I suggest anyone without the capability to defend themselves find somewhere safe. Those of you that can, a word of warning--they appear to respawn.

[There's another shriek, and the video cuts.]

[ooc: Galatea will be responding sporadically, and the video and voice will cut in and out. She's working, ohoho.]

So this, then, is the true form of the flowers?

How magnificent. Truly a blossoming without peer.

And beyond that, a fine lesson for those who neglected their obligation...

[Near her treehouse in the Gardens, there is Sora. But something's wrong. She collapses on the step, coughing and bleeding. She's injured, and the wounds look like deep scratches. Carefully, weakly, she reaches out to activate a video feed.]

There... There are... Some of the roses. They're not safe. Watch out for yourselves. Okay?

[And then, the feed ends as Sora tries to drag herself up the steps. She's badly injured--she's still not very good with her Keyblade, and the flowers are much faster than the only other big thing she's fought.]

[Signum had been having a good day. A very good day. Her flower had blossomed into a shade at least slightly darker than her hair, she'd felt wonderful, the presence of her friends was far more uplifting even then normal...]

[And then she felt the urge to sing again.]



I refuse, Gardens. Make Testarossa or Nanoha do it.

[ALL OF HER WILLPOWER.]

[Melia is gyrating around in an enthusiastic dance that ruffles the colorful flowing dress she's found, while singing with gusto. Every word she belts out in a husky yet cheerful tone.]

( A suggestive love song )

[She pauses momentarily.]

I don't know this song, but it seems worthy of a ceremony of Zephyr!

[Then the singing starts up again from the beginning.]

[Sol appears on the Vine, looking somewhat mussed but otherwise in good enough condition. Without preamble, she states:]

They don't like fire.

[The flowers, she means, of course. How does she know? Well, she just had a run in with one. Despite her general monster-killing experience, the rose managed to get away from her, it retreating the moment her fire abilities came into play. So, that seemed like the logical assumption to make.]

---

[Later, after she's sent out that message, Sol can be found prowling the Gardens, looking for roaming flowers.]

I think we can all agree that there was NO WAY we could have known that not pampering the flowers would lead to the release of horrible plant monsters. The important thing is to focus on fighting them off rather than on who may have not properly cared for their plant, and to accept that they probably feel terrible about it already.

[Ven is out exploring again, but this time she's on the hunt for a good spot to stargaze. She checks the vine every now and then, not entirely happy about the recent rose attacks. At first she thought they were a new type of Unversed, but she hasn't sensed Vanitas around, so it might not be the case. Regardless, her guard is up, which is the only thing that saves her from the thorns, blocking them with her Keyblade. It pushes her back a fair distance, and she almost loses her balance. Her vine goes to voice mode without her noticing.]

Wh-whoa! These guys aren't messing around!

[The blonde jumps out of the way of another assault, trying to keep her distance. She can't get a clear shot of the plant to even use a Fire Raid on it.]

Will you just hold still?!

[So, we've got:

-trees
-scrounged paper and rags
-a pair of specs
-sunlight

[All together, this makes a decent- if not totally ideal- setup for some jury-rigged torches. Jessica is currently working on setting up a nice circle of them in a clear spot; far enough between for anyone fleeing horrible murder roses to run through without major risk of burnination. A few are already smoldering, some a bit half-heartedly. But some form of shield is better than none, right? Right.]

Look, up in the sky!

It's a bird!

It's a plane!

It's... wait, it is a plane. A sleek fighter jet, in red with gold trim, skimming the treetops at the gardens. Those of you with astral or magical sight can see a thin silver cord unspooling from the back, connecting back to Creche Alpha.

On the nose of the thing, is what appears to be a small camera on a turret. It swivels towards one of the roses and -

The plane morphs, into a chicken-legged form, hovering above one of the vampire roses, trying to melt it with the backwash of it's engines. When that doesn't work, she draws what appeared to be an underslung cannon but is, in fact, a katana with an elaborate manji hiltguard, and slashes it in half.

Then the lens on the 'camera' glows, and the wounded, screeching monster catches on fire.

[this woman's voice sounds different today--there's no hint of dry humor or warmth in it. It's hard and serious.]

For those of you who've gotten injured--I'm a healer. I'll take care of you, no questions asked. My house by the lake: it's unique. You can't miss it.

Or contact me here, and I'll come find you.


Please, none of you do anything stupid.

I had to say it, at least.

[ Belle has been following the Vine for several hours at this point, because, well... there's nothing for her to do. She isn't capable of defending herself from something like this. Maybe once she clarifies a few things, she'll be able to work out something to do. ]

I've heard that the roses attacking everyone might be the ones that were not taken care of. Do we know for sure? I didn't have the chance to check on mine before I was attacked. I'm in the library now, and I don't have a weapon. I guess what I want to know is... how dangerous are they? Will they kill?

[As an afterthought, she activates the Vine again quickly.]

I've also heard that they don't like fire?

[Utena's breathing is labored, pained, and she appears to be perched very high up in a tree somewhere in the Gardens. Her jacket is torn in places, and there are deep, red gashes on one side. She's pale and shaky, but she focuses on the mirror, her mouth set in a thin line.]

I need a sword. People are hurt and scared--[She takes a deep breath.] I want to help.