Dahlia and the Garden of Light - Chapter 87: Chapter 87

Anderson Estate
The sunlight spilled through the high glass of the bloom room forest's control room, casting dappled shadows across the wide map stretched on the table. Dahlia’s vines gently curled around the corners, pinning the parchment open, petals blinking like fireflies over the continents.
Leo sat crouched on the edge of the bench—not quite sitting, not quite standing—his fingers twitching as he studied the red pins and drawn paths across Africa, Asia, and South America.
“This one,” he said, tapping the Serengeti. “Start where we met.”
Derek grinned beside him. “I knew you’d say that. Eliot?”
Eliot looked up from his tablet, dark brows furrowed in concentration. “Serengeti makes sense. Strong Echelon activity around poaching routes. But you’ll want a network on the ground. I’ll ping Louis. He still owes us a favor after what you and Dahlia did in Mali.”
He flicked a message off the screen with two fingers. Leo blinked. “I still don’t get how your glowing rectangles work.”
“It’s a tablet,” Eliot deadpanned. “Not a teleporting rabbit.”
Leo leaned closer. “That sounds more fun.”
Dahlia stifled a laugh from across the room. “If he ever meets Orchid, she’ll build him one.”
Christian leaned against the wall, arms crossed, having taken his lunch break from the clinic just to watch this unfold. “So. Lion boy and whisper boy are off to save the world, huh?”
Leo blinked. “Whisper?”
“Animal whisperer,” Christian clarified, smirking.
“Oh. I like that.” Leo purred the word slowly. “Whis-per-er.”
Derek rolled his eyes. “You say it any more dramatically, and they’ll think it’s a new species.”
“You are a new species,” Markus muttered dryly from behind a vine-covered pillar, arms full of seed packets. “Just… wear a shirt when you meet tribal elders. Please.”
Leo sniffed his shoulder. “This is a shirt.”
“It’s a blanket with holes,” Eliot muttered. “We’ll work on clothing later.”
They all laughed.
Then the air grew still as the reality of the journey set in.
Dahlia stood and crossed to them, placing a soft petal satchel in Leo’s hands. “I reinforced it,” she said quietly. “Same petal mix that helped you shift without strain. There’s enough to last two months—unless you keep chasing rhinos.”
Leo looked down, uncharacteristically quiet. “Thank you.”
“You’re family now,” she said. “Take care of him,” she added to Derek, her gaze firm.
“I will.” Derek’s voice was resolute, eyes meeting hers. “We’ll keep each other safe.”
“Any known hostile regions on the route?” Markus asked, unfolding a second map. “South Sudan’s border has unrest again. And Echelon’s been sniffing around in Laos.”
Eliot nodded. “I’ll set up satellite tags on your location every week, encrypted. Stick to the ground routes when you can. Avoid ports.”
“And jungles with parasites,” Christian added. “Seriously. Wear boots.”
Leo grinned. “I like climbing trees barefoot.”
“And I like not treating infected feet,” Christian shot back.
Derek leaned over the map. “After Serengeti, we head to Borneo. Sun bears are in danger. Leo’s already fast enough to run with them.”
“You make it sound like I’m a Jeep,” Leo muttered.
“You’re faster than a Jeep.”
“Facts,” Dahlia smiled.
Eliot tapped his screen again. “I’ll loop you into our supply caches—Thailand, Guatemala, Namibia. You’ll need rest spots, safehouses, medical drops. And maybe a way to connect to Orchid. She’s building a drone net with Camila.”
“Wait—Orchid’s eight,” Leo said.
“And smarter than all of us,” Eliot replied without hesitation.
A breeze stirred the petals along the edge of the map.
Dahlia stepped back, her eyes distant. “Wherever you go… the bloom will follow. If you carry love with you, it’ll always find a way to root.”
Leo turned his head slightly, golden eyes gleaming. “Then I’ll make sure the world remembers it.”