Moonflower sat cross-legged in a shady glen, chewing a bitter blue-veined herb she had picked at dawn. The stream beside her hissed over stones. Her rainbow dreadlocks hung heavy against her sundress. She had come to these woods for one reason: to build a hidden garden of every plant, herb, and fungus that could heal or kill. She knew them all. But a healer's garden needs a guardian, and so far nothing had answered her call. The herb did its work. Her mind loosened and drifted outward, past the roots, into the wet dark under the soil. She listened. Something listened back. An image struck her behind the eyes. She saw a plant unlike any she had grown. Thick tentacles curled from a rotted stem. Green pods snapped like jaws, ringed with yellow teeth. A dead red bloom drooped at its center, dripping. The picture came sharp and whole, sent straight into her thoughts by whatever grew below. Moonflower opened her eyes. She understood at once. This was no vision from her own mind. A creature had shown her a real plant, buried somewhere close, and it wanted her to find it. She knew the danger. A plant that killed could still teach. If she could tame it, feed it, learn its poison, no thief or beast would dare touch her garden. It would be her guardian and her greatest specimen both. She stood and followed the pull. Her sandals sank in cold mud. Past a wall of ferns, the ground turned gray and lifeless. Nothing grew there but one thing. The Cryptbloom Trap waited in a pit of dead leaves. It stood taller than she was. Its tentacles dragged through the muck, twitching toward her heat. The center bloom opened, and a wet green stink rolled out. Two smaller pods swung on stalks, teeth clicking. Moonflower did not run. She knelt at the edge of the pit and spoke softly, the way she spoke to every plant. She pulled a fresh rabbit from her satchel, meat she carried for wounds and study. She tossed it into the open mouth. The bloom clamped shut. The tentacles curled inward, satisfied. For one breath, the whole thing went still. Then a new image filled her head, clearer than before. She saw herself standing among rows of growing things, the Cryptbloom rooted at the center, guarding them all. It had accepted her. Moonflower smiled and reached into the mud. Her fingers closed around the base of the stem. She would dig it out and carry it home to her garden ground. A tentacle snapped tight around her wrist. It did not let go. The bloom turned toward her, teeth wide, and she felt herself pulled forward into the pit.

The tentacle dragged Moonflower down. Her knees hit cold mud. Thorns bit her wrist, and blood ran to her fingers. The bloom yawned open, red and wet, teeth wide. She had one breath before it took her arm. So she stopped fighting her body and reached with her mind instead. She pushed her thoughts down through the roots, the way she had before. She spoke without words. Not food. Partner. She sent a picture of the pit ringed with fresh meat, of the plant fed every day, safe and rooted. She poured calm into the dark soil. The tentacle slackened for one heartbeat. Then it clamped tighter. The plant did not want a partner. It wanted the meat in its grip. Moonflower felt herself slide another inch toward the teeth. Her free hand fumbled at her satchel. Her fingers found a small tin. Inside sat fine powder, rainbow flecks she had gathered from a butterfly with wings like stained glass. She had scraped its dust for months, saving it for wounds and sleep. She knew what it did to living things. It slowed them. It made them dream. She pried the lid with her thumb and flung the powder into the open bloom. The dust settled on the red mouth. The teeth trembled. A pink cloud drifted up and coated the swinging pods. The plant shuddered head to root. Its tentacles curled inward, loose and slow. The grip on her wrist went soft. The bloom sagged, teeth parting, its stink turning sweet. Moonflower tore her arm free and scrambled backward up the mud. She pressed her bleeding wrist to her chest. The Cryptbloom Trap swayed above the pit, drugged and dreaming, tentacles drooping like tired snakes. She did not run. She knelt at the edge and watched it breathe. A faint image floated into her mind now, dull and slow. She saw the pit again. This time the plant did not fight the picture. It only drifted. She understood. The plant would never come quietly. It was too hungry, too wild to dig up and carry home. But drugged, it was hers to command. The butterfly dust was the leash. Moonflower wrapped her torn wrist in a strip of cloth. She looked at the empty tin. Only a pinch of powder remained. Enough for one more dose, maybe two. To claim this guardian, she would need far more. She knew where to find it. The butterflies gathered near the old hotel at the edge of the woods, the tall stone building with broken windows and clothes hung from its balconies. She had heard the place crawled with goblins now. A short woman there had hired her once for garden work, Brooke Lee she believes her name was. Moonflower stood. Her garden would have its guardian. But first she had to walk to the Hotel and ask some questions about the Rainbow Butterflys and take more dust from the air itself if she could. As Moonflower collected herself and picked up the cumbersome Cryptbloom she pondered what she would call her new guardian. Unbeknownst to her two pairs of bleary eyes watched her, two Goblins had seen everything and were very interested in that Rainbow Powder the girl had used on that dangerous plant. They decided after some bickering to follow her. “I bet that stuff that plant girl got make you feel real good” The male Goblin said longingly. “Damn straight, i heard about that stuff before at a party a while back at the Den. Supposed to make you feel better than you ever have imagined.” The female Goblin stated. “Let’s see where she getting it from.” They snuck behind Moonflower, with greedy little eyes on her making sure to not lose sight of their prize.

Moonflower reached the old hotel at dusk. Its stone face wore cracks like scars. Ragged curtains hung from broken balconies. The empty tin rode in her satchel, light as a dead leaf. Behind her the drugged plant slept in its pit, and the sleep would not last. She counted the hours in her head. One more dose left. Maybe two. She needed the butterflies before the trap woke hungry. She circled the building and found what she came for. A single butterfly with stained-glass wings drifted near a broken window. Pink dust fell from its motion in a slow cloud. Moonflower opened her tin and crept close. She caught a pinch on the metal edge, then another. The powder settled soft and warm. "Don't move," a girl said behind her. Moonflower turned. A short girl stood in the doorway. Pink hair, round glasses, a schoolgirl's uniform. Her stance was low and ready, hands loose. This was the one Brooke Lee had hired to clear the place. She looked harmless until you saw how she watched your hands. "I only want the dust," Moonflower said. "I'm not here to fight." "Two goblins followed you," Tia said. "They're in the wall behind you. They want what's in your tin." Moonflower heard scraping then. A brown-skinned goblin girl squeezed from a gap in the plaster, braids swinging, gold rings on every finger. A smaller goblin followed her, jersey loose, cigarette dead in his teeth. "Hand it over, plant lady," the braided one said. "That powder's ours now." Moonflower closed her fist on the tin. The goblins lunged together. Tia moved first. She stepped in front of Moonflower and struck the braided goblin flat in the chest. The goblin flew back into the wall and dropped. The smaller one grabbed Moonflower's wrist. She flung the loose pinch of pink dust into his face. He breathed it. His eyes went soft. He sat down in the dust and smiled at nothing. The braided goblin scrambled up, saw her partner slumped and grinning, and said in an exasperated tone “Damn it, your ass is useless now.” She sat down next to her companion. Moonflower knelt fast by the window. She scraped the tin along the sill where the butterfly's dust had gathered thick. The tin filled halfway, then more. Enough for many doses now. Enough to lead the trap home. "Why help me?" she asked Tia. "Brooke Lee hired me to clear this place," Tia said. "You could work for her too. That would make you mine to protect." Tia answered confidently, then with a slightly different tone she said “If, if.. you want to, you know… we could spend some time together or whatever maybe….” Her awkwardness was too cute for Moonflower to ignore. She watched as Tia toed the floor with her shoe and nervously fidgeted her index fingers together. “She’s like a little kid with a crush” Moonflower thought. “How about I talk to your boss first, Brooke was it?” Moonflower stood, tin heavy and full. She had her leash for the guardian. But the drugged goblin still sat grinning on the floor, and the braided one sat holding her dazed companion. “She will tell the whole nest below where the powder came from.” Tia said in a wary tone. Moonflower's sleeping plant waited in its pit, its dose already fading. “Maybe not, I have an idea” She said with a grin as she walked towards the girl Goblin holding her companion’s head in her lap. “I have some questions for you little Goblin, and maybe a deal for you depending on how you answer.” The girl goblin lit a cigar and laughed led at Moonflower with a grin and a raised eyebrow. “I’m listening” she said.

INQUISITOR TYRO LEGATUS A fanatical servant of her unknowable deity the Deus Nihili and its powerful secret society of accolytes the Finis Omnium. She is a Discipuli Vacui Inanis. She desires only to bring about the Absentia Perpetua, the eternal nothing, and rendering all of reality void. She Is An Fanatical Zelot And Agent Of Her Order, Ahe Will Obey Any Order Given To Her By A Superior Without Question Or Hesitation, Regardless Of Anyone Or Anything That Happens To Be In The Way Of Her Compleating Her Assignment. She Is Cold And Efficent, Pure Devotion To Her God, Order And Beliefs. She Posesses So Little Emotion Some Say She Isnt Even Alive. The only thing close to being personal to her is her N.I.L. (Neurological Interface Liaison), a small metallic sphere that hovers near her at all times. It’s true capabilities known only to her superiors who allow her the use of it as a tool, weapon and possibly more. Inquisitor Tyro Legatus: A scaled girl that can almost pass for human, tall and gaunt, with white chromatic scales that can camouflage her when needed. She has a slim tail, claws and fangs, and often unsettling to others. She is an operative for a secret powerful global cabal. Professional, calculated and cold. She looks like a standard man in black, a dark suit and plain tight long black trench coat with a high collar and black wide brimmed hat and mirrored glasses. She carries two large handguns under her arms and an earpiece. She has a small baseball sized metal sphere that orbits around her. Edit: Inquisitor Tyro Legatus: An uncanny scaled girl that can almost pass for human, extremely tall and gaunt, with white chromatic scales that can camouflage her. She has a slim prehensile tail, intimidating sharp metallic claws and fangs, She wears a dark suit and plain tight long black trench coat with a high collar and black wide brimmed hat and mirrored glasses. She has an earpiece. A small baseball sized metal sphere that orbits around her. Soft and quiet, the Inquisitor speaks in a near whisper, cold and flat without intonation. A machine with muted organic parts. •Her unknowable deity the Deus Nihili (God of Nothin) •Her powerful secret society of accolytes the Ceryx Finis Omnium (The Heralds of the End of All) •She is a Discipuli Vacui Inanis (Empty Accolyte the Void) •Her desires to fulfill her asignment and to bring about the Absentia Perpetua, the eternal nothing, and rendering all of reality void. •Her unknowable deity the Deus Nihili (God of Nothin) •Her powerful secret society of accolytes the Ceryx Finis Omnium (The Heralds of the End of All) •She is a Discipuli Vacui Inanis (Empty Accolyte the Void) •Her desires to fulfill her asignment and to bring about the Absentia Perpetua, the eternal nothing, and rendering all of reality void. •Her determination and ruthlessness to achieve her goals regardless of the consequences. •Her ability to extract information from anyone through various forms of coercion and intimidation. •Her proficiency in combat, with weapons and ghost like stealth. •secrets that only her and her cult have knowledge of. •The “key” to bringing about the world’s end. Objekt-9: An inconspicuous yet eerie palm sized plain metallic sphere with the Roman numeral IX printed in black on its side in gothic lettering, giving it its desegregation “9”. It pulses with a field around it that distorts and negates light. It floats next to its owner/operator. Capable of nearly anything the person controlling it can imagine, from shapeshifting, firing projectiles, hacking electronic devices, projecting holograms nearly identical to reality and many other unknowns. It communicates in whatever the preferred method of the controller. Its power is said to be not of this reality. Art: •An unexpressive scaled girl that can almost pass for a human, serpentine beauty. •hypnotizing and mysterious allure •Dominant elegance that demands respect. •extremely tall and gaunt, white chromatic scales •She has a long, slim prehensile tail, intimidating long, sharp metallic claws and two snakelke fangs, •She wears a professional dark black suit and tie under a plain long flowing black trench coat with a high collar covering her long neck. •black wide brimmed hat and mirrored glasses that hide her glowing green eyes. •secret service style earpiece. •Mannequin like, unmoving unless necessary •A small baseball sized metal sphere that hovers around her at all times. •female snake body shape Edit: Moonflower reached the old hotel at dusk. Its stone face wore cracks like scars. Ragged curtains hung from broken balconies. The empty tin rode in her satchel, light as a dead leaf. Behind her the drugged plant slept in its pit, and the sleep would not last. She counted the hours in her head. One more dose left. Maybe two. She needed the butterflies before the trap woke hungry. She circled the building and found what she came for. A single butterfly with stained-glass wings drifted near a broken window. Pink dust fell from its motion in a slow cloud. Moonflower opened her tin and crept close. She caught a pinch on the metal edge, then another. The powder settled soft and warm. "Don't move," a girl said behind her. Moonflower turned. A short girl stood in the doorway. Pink hair, round glasses, a schoolgirl's uniform. Her stance was low and ready, hands loose. This was the one Brooke Lee had hired to clear the place. She looked harmless until you saw how she watched your hands. "I only want the dust," Moonflower said. "I'm not here to fight." "Two goblins followed you," Tia said. "They're in the wall behind you. They want what's in your tin." Moonflower heard scraping then. A brown-skinned goblin girl squeezed from a gap in the plaster, braids swinging, gold rings on every finger. A smaller goblin followed her, jersey loose, cigarette dead in his teeth. "Hand it over, plant lady," the braided one said. "That powder's ours now." Moonflower closed her fist on the tin. The goblins lunged together. Tia moved first. She stepped in front of Moonflower and struck the braided goblin flat in the chest. The goblin flew back into the wall and dropped. The smaller one grabbed Moonflower's wrist. She flung the loose pinch of pink dust into his face. He breathed it. His eyes went soft. He sat down in the dust and smiled at nothing. The braided goblin scrambled up, saw her partner slumped and grinning, and said in an exasperated tone “Damn it, your help is useless now.” She sat down next to her companion. Moonflower knelt fast by the window. She scraped the tin along the sill where the butterfly's dust had gathered thick. The tin filled halfway, then more. Enough for many doses now. Enough to lead the trap home. "Why help me?" she asked Tia. "Brooke Lee hired me to clear this place," Tia said. "You could work for her too. That would make you mine to protect." Tia answered confidently, then with a slightly different tone she said “If, if.. you want to, you know… we could spend some time together or whatever maybe….” Her awkwardness was too cute for Moonflower to ignore. She watched as Tia toed the floor with her shoe and nervously fidgeted her index fingers together. “She’s like a little kid with a crush” Moonflower thought. “How about I talk to your boss first, Brooke was it?” Moonflower stood, tin heavy and full. She had her leash for the guardian. But the drugged goblin still sat grinning on the floor, and the braided one sat holding her dazed companion. “She will tell the whole nest below where the powder came from.” Tia said in a wary tone. Moonflower's sleeping plant waited in its pit, its dose already fading. “Maybe not, I have an idea” She said with a grin as she walked towards the girl Goblin holding her companion’s head in her lap. “I have some questions for you little Goblin, and maybe a deal for you depending on how you answer.” The girl goblin lit a cigar and laughed led at Moonflower with a grin and a raised eyebrow. Her voice is light and Melodic like a soft breese, her laugh like a Bubbling brooke. She speaks in short, plain sentences with no extra words. Does not explain herself unless asked to explain, which she will do happily. Anything and everything that relates to plants and a bit about the night sky but, mostly plants. The braided goblin blew smoke and grinned. Moonflower knelt close and made her offer. "Show me where the Rainbow Butterflies gather," she said. "Keep the powder's properties a secret and I’ll teach you how to make it for yourself." The goblin studied her for a long moment. Then she spat in her palm and held it out. "Deal, plant lady. But my dumb boyfriend here needs to be put somewhere to sleep it off." The dazed goblin still smiled at the wall. Moonflower shook the small, ringed hand. Tia frowned. "Brooke won't like it. She hired me to clear this place, not open it wider." Moonflower stood. "Then I'll ask Brooke myself." They found the hotel manager in the lobby, standing over a hole cut into the floor. Green and pink smoke curled up from it. Faint music drifted below. Brooke was short and round, red curls loose, cat-eye glasses crooked. She held a clipboard she was too tired to read. When she saw Moonflower, her face lifted into a worn smile. "You came back. Good. The garden work, I—" She stopped. Her eyes fell to the goblin at Moonflower's side. "Oh, no. No, no." "I can help," Moonflower said fast. "I need the butterflies here. In return, I'll help you with your weird hole problems, whatever they may be.” Brooke rubbed her face under her glasses. "You know what's down there? A whole goblin kingdom for all I know, This place is worse every day." She pointed at the smoking pit. "I should lock it up. Send everyone home. That includes you." Moonflower opened her tin. Pink dust caught the light. "This calms them. It calmed the two that attacked me. Tia saw it." Tia gave one short nod. "It works," Tia said. "I watched a goblin sit down and smile, completely unaware." Brooke looked at the tin, then at Tia, then at Moonflower. Hope and fear fought in her face. "If it goes wrong, that's on me." She sighed. "Fine. Let me keep your butterflies, they may be useful,I’ll go down with Tia close behind just in case.” Brooke jabbed a thumb at the girl goblin. "And that one better behave herself and mind her boyfriend or whatever Goblins have ." "I got you boss lady, loud and clear ," the goblin said, grinning around her cigar. Moonflower had her permission. But Brooke wasn't done. She bent, lifted a sturdy medium sized pot from behind the desk, and pushed it into Moonflower's arms. A yellow warning label wrapped the pot. "Found this in the basement last week," Brooke said. "Think you could use it for your creepy little friend.” Brooke tilts her head towards the Cryptbloom in Moonflower’s arms. Moonflower's breath caught. The little plant snapped its jaws at her fingers lazily as she placed it in the pot and covered its roots with soil. “Perfect fit.” Moonflower exclaimed, “it looks so cute”, she cooed at the carnivorous plant. “Glad you like it, now, onto the main issue,” Brooke looked at the smoking pit. "Tia," she said. "You ready for this?” Tia nodded “Let’s go boss lady.”

Brooke wiped her glasses on a handkerchief and prepared for her descent. "I can't run a hotel with a hole full of trouble making goblins," she said. Her voice was tired, but her hands shook. "If your dust works on your new plant and on at least one Goblin", Brooke hooked her thumb at the male Goblin, "I should be safe if something goes wrong." Moonflower knelt by the pit. She set her potted plant aside and took out the tin. She took one pinch of the rainbow dust and wrapped it in a leaf then placed it in Brooke’s hand. “Just in case Brooke” Moonflower said, “you should be ready to go, be careful and remember, Tia is standing by if you need her.” The three of them were ready, Brooke sat on the edge of the hole as Tia prepared to lower her in with the rope, Moonflower kept an eye on the two goblins. “I’m ready Tia” Brooke said as Tia began to lower her into the hole. The braided goblin leaned over the hole beside Moonflower. She blew cigar smoke into the drifting cloud and grinned. "That's my cousins down there, plant lady. You just can’t imagine the wild stuff that goes on in there." She sounded proud of her people. Moonflower looked at the girl Goblin with a curious expression. After what seemed like an eternity but was no more than ten minutes, something happened below the ground, the music stopped. The goblin kingdom fell quiet. She had done it, Brooke had done something to quell the noise of the Goblin hole. Brooke breathed out and sagged against the wall of the basement. "It's quiet," she whispered. "It's actually quiet, I did it.” “Finally!” She exclaimed triumphantly as she dusted herself off with a handkerchief and stood. “So what did you see down there?” Tia asked, “What exactly did you do to stop the Goblins?” Moonflower added. Brooke chuckled and said “it’s late and I’m tired, that’s a story that will have to wait until tomorrow, I need a bath and some sleep.” She smiled and went upstairs satisfied with herself. “Now about our deal plant lady”, the girl Goblin said to Moonflower “We have things to discuss you and me” “You’re right we do, care to join me in the Hotel Garden?” Moonflower gestured towards the door with her hand then glanced at the male Goblin asleep in her lap, “He’ll be fine, we’ll lay him on a couch in the lobby while we have our chat” Moonflower smiled reassuringly as She helped carry the sleeping Goblin away to sleep comfortably.