“We plants are happy plants,” says a sunflower, sitting in a field of a thousand of its kin to me, as I walk through floor sixty. A giant sunflower field that is usually filled with horrible, creepy monsters. But they’re all dead now. Anyways, floor sixty, neat. I’m almost halfway there. Something bubbles inside of me. Sorry. We’re almost halfway there.

 

I tilt my head, looking at the strange flower that spoke to me. It doesn't have a mouth or eyes or anything weird like that. It’s just a sunflower and it’s talking to me, us. Not for any particular reason, it’s just small-talk is all.

 

  “How come?” I ask the sunflower curiously as it turns away again, looking up towards the light shining above, down from the ceiling of the dungeon. Sunflowers always turn to face the sun, you know? When there’s no sun, they turn to face each other. Is that cute? Sure. Is it a metaphor? Only if you want it to be.

 

The sunflower lifts its head up higher, absorbing the ‘sunlight’ coming down from above into itself. It doesn’t answer. Rude.

 

  Shrugging to myself, I keep walking through the field of sunflowers. Some of them stretch a little higher past my head, others seem to sit just a little lower, reaching to my chest. The taller ones seem to sway and move just a little, always letting the light through to reach their smaller companions.

 

One of the sunflowers looks up to me as I walk past.

 

“We plants are happy plants,” it says, turning back a moment later to face the sunlight up above.

 

I rub my head, thinking. The slime-girl pops out of my armor and looks at the flower curiously and then back to me. We shrug at the same time and she pulls herself back inside. I can’t help but notice that her aquamarine slime is uh… well, it’s not so aquamarine anymore.

 

  It’s kind of… mm… brackish. I suppose that’s just what happens. She’s been absorbing a lot of strange liquids lately. She drank from the oasis, she ate the honey, she soaked up the red-water. All of that is coming together. All of it a different consistency and composition, all of it tainting and staining her crystal clear body, tingeing it. Green, blue, red, yellow are all beautiful colors on their own. But if you mix enough of them together all at once, they become… muddy.

 

A finger slips out of my gloves, stroking the petals of a sunflower as we walk past it.

 

“We plants are happy plants,” says the sunflower.

 

  “Yeah, yeah,” I wave it off, not even wanting to ask about it anymore. Sometimes the dungeon is just weird for the sake of it. Dang creepy sunflowers. Apart from that though, it’s rather tranquil and quiet here. I wonder where the hero-party is? They just kind of… I dunno. Stopped chasing me? It’s not like them at all. Not that I mind, but…

 

“It’s weird!”

 

I nod, it is weird.

 

  I wonder what the dungeon-master is doing? I hope they’re getting along with the others. I suppose Nichodemus and the fairy-mother don’t make good drinking partners, being undead and all. But maybe the rat-queen. Though, honestly, it’s probably better if the dungeon-master drinks less. I wonder if having people around them will get them to tighten their act up a little.

 

I hope so.

 

I wonder if the fairy of the fountain even bothered to make an effort to go down to the dungeon-master’s table. Do I care? I’m not sure honestly. Is that a callous thing to say? Maybe. But she just makes me so angry.

 

I look at a sunflower, narrowing my gaze as I glare at it. The flower turns lazily towards me, its leaves spread out wide to the sides.

 

“Aren’t you bored?” I ask it. The sunflower tilts its blossom, as if trying to understand my question, but it simply shrugs with its petals and looks back up to the sky.

 

“We plants are happy plants.”

 

“Ugh,” I get up, waving it off and keep walking. This floor is making me twitchy. Damn sunflowers. Why are you all just staring up at the sun? Why aren’t you doing anything? Why aren’t any of you howling and tearing the world apart?

 

“We plants are happy plants,” quivers the slime in her underwater voice, squishing herself out through my teeth.

 

“Don’t you start too,” I scold her. “Damn sunflowers. Not an ounce of conviction between the field of em.” Her body squishes out, sloshing down to the ground as she leaves my form entirely again. Looking over to a sunflower, she places a gooey hand onto it.

 

“We plants are happy plants.”

 

I roll my eyes and keep walking. A dribble of the slime is still connected to me, like a tether as she watches me keep on walking. “Don’t you see?” she asks.

 

I shake my head. “None of them can see. They don’t have eyes. They don’t even have souls.”

 

“Hmm?” she bubbles curiously, looking at the flowers and then back to me.

 

“We plants are happy pla-“

 

CRUNCH.

 

The petals of the speaking sunflower tumble and fall out of my palm, the crushed head of the flower spitting out seeds as its body flops lifelessly down to the dirt.

 

The slime-girl squeals. “Bad friend!”

 

I wave her off and keep walking. Damn flowers. I narrow my eyes, looking at their glistening yellow petals, swaying in the gentle winds. Like tresses of golden hair, floating beneath the water. Suspended in a gentle current. I hate them.

 

The rest of the flowers don’t even care about their compatriot, they simply keep swaying in the light and the breeze. Indifferent to the death around them. Not even asleep, they’re just not even there to begin with. Disgusting. I hate them. I hate them.

 

  I stop, looking back at the slime who is still standing by the dead flower. Turning my gaze back forward, I keep walking without her. I only care about one thing. I only want one thing. I’m only going to push forward for one thing and I don’t care about the rest. Those who can be saved. They might not understand, they might be sad about it. But I’m going to save them all, if they like it or not.

 

I won’t give them a choice.

 

Something wet sloshes behind me, as the slime-girl runs after me. Scared of being left behind.

 

 

---