Golden: The Collection

Chapter III: Analysis

"So, we're going against each other," Pea said. His voice was full of dismay.

Aureate met his gaze. "Well, hey, we could always have a secret little alliance," she said, "unless it comes down to the wire. Then we're against each other."

Pea groaned, slumping in his log seat. Aureate, in the meantime, took Colonel Kernel's advice and scoped out the competition. She spotted Harmonia heading over.

"Heya, Princess!" The acorn greeted her. "And.. you. Pea, was it?"

Pea rolled his eyes. "Yeah.. hello to you too."

"What'd you two get on those pins there?" Harmonia asked. "I got a sword. Pea got a thought bubble. What's on yours?" Aureate answered. "A leaf. Vague, I know," Harmonia said.

"A leaf. That's an interesting one," Aureate commented while her eyes danced across the other test takers. She saw a group of sprouts huddled together, one of them she had identified as Smoke, the snapdragon. The other two, a light green peashooter and a chomper, she didn't know.

Flare was keeping to herself in a corner of the clearing, but if she was trying to keep a low profile, it was not working—her bright colors made her pop out like a light in the dark.

She noticed a two roses—one her age and one younger—talking to two peashooters, one older and one younger. Both roses were equipped with wands, as most roses are. "There are roses over there," Aureate said to Pea and Harmonia, "but I thought roses weren't able to live outside of the Seashore Kingdom?"

"Well, you're.. half-right," Pea began. "As we all know, the fountain located in the middle of the Seashore Kingdom has special water that keeps roses alive. Without that water, they wilt very quickly. There's two possibilities, see? They're either carrying some fountain water, or they're hybrids of rose and some other plant, which would allow them to not be dependent on the water."

"Okay, I get it. It doesn't appear like they're carrying any water, so I'd guess they're hybrids. But most hybrids are off-colors, and they're as pure as pure can get," Aureate said.

"Nuh-uh. Take a look at their eyes!" Harmonia interjected. The older rose had bubblegum pink eyes, while the younger one had paler ones. "The average rose has amber, brownish eyes. Theirs are different."

"I wonder how big of threats they are. If they have strong Core Abilities, we have to look out for them," Pea said.

"Core Abilities?" Harmonia repeated, her expression a puzzled one.

"You know how everyone can transform their Cora, the energy inside of us, into weapons, tools, and whatnot, yes? Well, your Core Ability is how we differentiate some moves from others. For example, Pea's Core Ability is called Dimensional Storage, and it allows him to set things aside in his personal pocket dimension," Aureate elaborated. "If we didn't have Core Abilities, we'd be using Cora all over the place with no way identify moves. Does that make sense?"

"Uh..."

Wow. How did she qualify for this test without knowing what Core Abilities are?

Leave her alon—actually, I don't know, Luz..

"Alright, I'll put it simply; Core Abilities are like signature moves, but we use them all the time. And nobody has the same one. Oh, and that's because our Core Abilities are a manifestation of our spirits, and because no two souls are the same, every Core Ability is different."

"I.. think I get it." Harmonia grinned. "I don't think I've got one, though."

"Everyone has a Core Ability!" Pea exclaimed. "Mine activated upon sproutage, but that's not the case for everyone. With some Chorians, it takes a significant event in their life—li-like a near-death experience, a life-changing phenomenon, or something of the sort—for it to activate."