Roots and Oxygen

Chapter 24 - Verdurous Pothos Legends

The soil soaked up litres of water. Sage wondered about all the times he had thought the plant was too weird for his liking. He knew Mrs Beecham was keeping secrets, he knew the plant wasn't ordinary. Sage had thought it was some sort of illegal plant used for illegal things. He would never have thought it was actually a plant-human thing.

Sage swallowed thickly and opened his bedroom window. The bitter country air helped to keep his shaking hands at ease.

As he stuck his head from the window and focused on a tree in the distance, swaying back and forth in the wind, something moved behind him. Sage turned fast enough to see Taro's eyes and veins glowing bright green.

He gasped, and Taro held hands up. "Don't you dare fall out of that window."

Sage sat on the couch below the windowsill when his hairs stood on end. Taro was wearing his purple jumper. It matched the same colour as the pot, and it suddenly made sense as to why Sage had only seen Taro in that jumper when he wasn't in his uniform. "That's why you keep your uniform in my room," he whispered, wondering why Taro still wore his work trousers. Maybe they didn't matter. Why wouldn't it matter?

Taro looked down at his jumper. "Yeah." He smoothed back blond hair and strode through the room to change his clothes. "Thanks for giving me water. I didn't dare change in the night in case I woke you up."

Sage hadn't slept a lot, though he was surprised he managed to sleep at all. "Have you always been..."

"Able to change into a plant?" Taro finished. "Yes. I've never just been a human."

"Is there anyone else like you in the, um, the Palace?"

"Of course. You live in Pothos Palace. Your house symbol is Devil's Ivy. Where the Royals go, we go."

Sage frowned, settling into the couch cushion. "Why?"

"Because that's the way it has been for centuries. We made an agreement with the wealthy, and you provide us with stability. Well, that's how it used to be. Now our lives are an old myth. People think its romantic that there is a tale about plant protectors watching over the Greenthenors."

"Wait, plant protectors?" Sage repeated.

"Yeah, but we're not really your protectors anymore. How could we be if you don't know we exist? If you don't know we exist, then you don't know about the deal we made centuries ago. If you don't keep up your end of the bargain, then we don't keep up ours... or so I'm told."

"You- your kind made an agreement with the Royals?"

"I'm told it was a dark time for Ireland when the Vikings arrived, those in power were desperate for a bit of extra protection." Taro smiled. "We are very skilled fighters, and have ways of hiding in obvious places, like the outer walls of your grand Palace."

"That was like... a lot of years ago."

"Yeah, an agreement that old must have meant a great deal to still be thought about today."

Even Sage could admit that he had been told tales of protectors, though he had not been told a fairy-tale for years. They were tales for children, and not just Royal children. "You're my protector?"

Taro's eyes smiled to match his mouth. They flicked Sage up and down with a growing shine. "Let me remind you of how I punched that guy in the face."

"Anyone would have done that to an intruder." Sage frowned. "I hope."

"Maybe, but there is also a tale among our kind that magic was involved. We always end up close to the Royals in some way or another. Some call it a coincidence, most of us call it something more." Taro crossed his arms. "So, I'm not saying that you can't fire me, I'm just saying it's not in your best interests, no matter how annoying I am."

"It's not that you're annoying, it's that you're a plant."

"I'm not right now."

"No, but you can turn into one."

"And that's a problem how, exactly?"

Sage opened his mouth, yet had nothing to say. The only problem was that his transformation was bizarre, weird, even freaky. But Sage was yet to find a problem with Taro being that way. "It's just not normal," he said without an ounce of thought.

"And what is normal, exactly?" Taro raised a brow. The growing shine to his bright green eyes started to dim.

"In my world, this isn't my normal. But-" Sage shook his head. "Obviously my world is very small. If what you've said is true, which wouldn't be a lie. Why would it? I've seen you transform with my own eyes. You must be our protectors because of a strange ancient and magical agreement. Why wouldn't you be? You're a plant. Nothing is now impossible." Sage had grabbed the edge of the couch cushion and squeezed it hard. "Are trees people? What about flowers? Blades of grass? Moss? Anything green? What about spinach?" Sage suddenly looked horrified. "I've eaten lots of spinach. Have I been eating plant people this whole time?"

"No Sage, Spinach is not a plant person, but Lettuce on the other hand..." Sage's eyes bulged, and Taro snorted. "I'm joking. Trust me, if we were plants you ate, we would have died out long ago."

Sage stopped gripping the couch. "Is there only Devil's Ivy plants who can, uh, change?"

"My species can, yeah. But there are others all around this world. Not every plant you see can change. Long ago, there are stories of thousands of different species, but the planet has changed, some have died out and some have adapted and merged. There are tales of trees once transforming. They are your tales of giants."

Sage was slowly relaxing. Taro's soft storytelling voice was soothing him back to a calm state. Sage wanted to hear more, despite his head screaming at him to run and deny everything Taro was telling him. Sage knew he needed time to process the rooted secret he had dug up. But the roots were deep, strong, and tightly tangled.