@elastigem
So fragile...the inhabitants of Earth. And yet so persistent. Between her fingers rolled a single flower, petals flushed and rosy. Hundreds of them bloomed where she docked her ship, all but dominating the remnants of the palanquin. One more victory of a planet that succeeded in taking everything from her. And Pink would have loved them. So the matriarch found herself leaving with a bouquet gathered at the foot of a broken throne, bubbled and floating lazily above an open palm.
Earth’s days were numbered, she knew. In time there would be nothing left of the sparkling, cerulean sphere growing smaller behind them. The pieces she managed to steal away on her visits were a comfort, however small; though it begged the question where to keep them. Homeworld had long since lost the ability to support life in such a way, and there was no telling which of her own colonies was most viable. In the end, there was only one place she could recall dedicated to the preservation of such organics. Dedicated to Pink.
Years had gone by since she last thought of the garden ( more still since she visited ). Her vessel cast the asteroid in shadow, descending until the palm of the handship aligned with the apex of the dome. From there her own palanquin delivered her nimbly to the ground, curtains parting to reveal a sadder state than she expected.
A sea of withered plants awaited her, their colors faded. Each step brought with it the crunch of dead leaves and vines, overgrown across the once pristine paths. Blue followed what remained of the largest deeper into the complex, toward a statue that stood at the foot of the warp pad. A statue that...blinked at her? Like the crack of glass, her bubble popped, the sound of it reverberating through the empty garden. Its contents spilled to the ground, mingling among the foliage when she finally managed to step forward again, pressing through a cold tide of shock.
“It can’t be...” A whisper, more to herself than the tiny gem gazing incredulously up at her.
“What are you doing here?”