Chapter Text
Ever since the night within the Arctic Circle and the day Pulvia befriended the silver mouse, Pulvia viewed life and the world quite differently after that. Nowadays, Pulvia didn't greet the Aster and its gold watering can every morning, and Pulvia was frowning more frequently, seeming to be quite melancholy at every second of every day. Every morning was replaced with touching its own body, severely wishing that it had grown if Pulvia has lived four hundred years already. And when the reality sets in that it was never going to happen, Pulvia silently lets a tear or two fall and clean more dust from Pulvia's figure.
Pulvia has become smaller than ever, and it was starting to worry the silver mouse vastly.
In the past, Pulvia would have worried and put an effort to focus on themselves, but somehow, right now, Pulvia did not care that their body was starting to dissipate greatly. Is this how other species die? Pulvia couldn't care less.
Maybe Pulvia wanted it to happen.
If Pulvia didn't dissipate naturally, Pulvia would have done it themselves.
If Pulvia was known for having one of the smallest and unbloomed figures among every species, then nobody would have cared less if it blew away from existence. All this seemed logical enough to Pulvia, and one day, they roamed around somewhere without a goal in life. But not merrily this time.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" a raggedy voice belted at the top of their lungs.
"???????" Pulvia jumped from shock. "What the hell?"
"TO THE BEGINNING THE ENDING IS NEAR!!! ON MY MY WAY- oh why hello there lil' pixy! Wanna listen to this new thingymajig I've been workin' on?"
"Sir...you're voice is booming...it's quite unpleasant."
"WELL THAT'S THE BEAUTY OF SINGGIIINGGGGGGG!!!" The pirate-y parrot spread its wings and continued belting. Pulvia covered their ears and squinted their eyes from the blaring voice of that pirate parrot.
"SQUACK!!! WHY ARE YOU MISSING A FEW FINGERTIPS????? YOU DON'T HAVE A FEET???? WHY DO YOU LOOK INCOMPLETE."
"Sir, I can answer your question if you stop screeching at me."
"I AM NOT SCREECHING AT YOU!!! THIS IS MY NORMAL VOICE-SQUACK!!"
"Urgh...I have no destination, I'm just roaming around."
"WHY!!!!! I AM TOO!! SOMETIMES I DO WHAT I WANT ALL THE TIME THAT I FORGET THAT WE'RE GOING TO DIE SOMEDAY!!!"
"???"
"AND THAT IS WHY I DO WHAT I WANT."
"Well, that's swell for you. Goodbye now."
"RAAAAHHHH!!"
Pulvia found themselves screaming at the pirate parrot. "WHAT DO YOU WANT, MY GOODNESS!!!"
"YOU DIDN'T LISTEN TO WHAT I MADE YET???!!! THE SONG!! THE SONG!! THE SONG!! YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO IT!!"
"I DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO IT, DID YOU NOT GUESS FROM MY FACE!!"
"YOU HAVE NO CHOICE!!"
The pirate parrot squacked once more on Pulvia's ear and fished out a cassette tape and player, pressed play and sat comfortably on top of Pulvia's head, looking down and staring at Pulvia's eyes like a hawk.
At this point, Pulvia couldn't escape the wrath of this crazy pirate parrot. They figured, after listening to his song, Pulvia was able to leave and never come back to the land of the birds. This was a mistake, meeting crazy species unprovoked.
But after a while, Pulvia's shoulders started to relax. Even having dancing a little bit to the beat that came out of the cassette player. Pulvia admitted that even this crazy little bird can make music quite well, and after silence played from the speaker, Pulvia applauded the pirate parrot and commended his great effort.
"I did not expect to enjoy that. I really like it, are you an artist?"
"SQUACK! ABOUT TO BE, I JUST STARTED PUTTING OUT MY MUSIC RECENTLY!!"
"Well then you may have a new fan on board."
The pirate parrot jumped off from Pulvia's head and pecked at its wings. "SOMEDAY!! WAHHHH SOMEDAY, I WILL BE BIG!!"
"Aren't you scared your efforts won't pay off?"
The pirate parrot squacked. "OF COURSE I'M SCARED!! RAHHHH!! THAT IS WHY OTHER SPECIES CALL ME "CRAZY JONES"!!"
"You certainly seem crazy, but why so?"
"BECAUSE APPARENTLY I DREAM AS BIG AS THE SILVER MOUSE!!!"
"..."
Crazy Jones danced. "DUNNO WHY OTHER BIRDS CALL ME CRAZY FOR HAVING A DREAM!! I'M JUST GRATEFUL I EVEN GOT ONE TO BEGIN WITH!! SOMEDAY....SOMEDAY...I WILL MAKE IT."
Pulvia chuckled. "It must be nice having one."
"WHYYYYYYY, ARE YOU SCARED FOR NOT HAVING ONE TO CLAIM FOR YOURSELF???"
"Probably. I've lived four hundred lives-"
"BUT NOT TRULY LIIIVVVED."
Pulvia stopped speaking. Crazy Jones was probably right.
"LISTEN, SQUACK, I AM INCREDIBLY AFRAID THAT ONE DAY, MY EFFORTS WON'T PAY OFF. MY MUSIC WILL BE FORGOTTEN, I WILL BE FORGOTTEN, MY LEGACY WOULD BE BURIED UNDER THE PILE OF MANY ARTISTS WHO WOULD DIE FOR THE SAME THING AS I WANT....OTHER BIRDS FIND ME STUPID AND CRAZY FOR PRIORITIZING MY ART OVER THE TRADITION OF MODIFYING...THAT IS WHY SOME BIRDS DESPISE ME."
"...I know that well."
"WELL I SAY TO THEM, HOWEVER, THAT NO MATTER WHAT PATH I AM BOUND UPON, AT LEAST I DID NOT HAVE REGRETS!!!!!!! SOMETIMES MUSIC FEELS LIKE A JOB, SOMETIMES IT FEELS LIKE IT'S THE SOLE REASON FOR MY EXISTENCE, AND WHEN OTHER BIRDS SEE MY RELATIONSHIP WITH MUSIC, THEY CRINGE FROM EMBARRASSMENT!! BECAUSE I DO NOT WANT TO MODIFY, EVEN IF I HAVE THE ABILITY TO?? YOU ARE ONLY CRAZY IF YOU THINK THAT WAY! THINK THAT WAY! YOU ARE CRAZY FOR BREAKING THE CYCLE AND MAKING YOUR OWN TRADITIONS!! SQUACK!!"
Pulvia listened to Crazy Jones.
"BUTTTTTT, I SAY TO MYSELF, I DID NOT DREAM SMALL. DREAMS ARE EVERYWHERE!! SO I AM NOT A FAILURE AT ALL!! AM NOT ONE FOR BREAKING A TRADITION. FOR I AM STILL WORTHY!!!!"
"..."
"RAHHHH!!! I AM STRUCK WITH INSPIRATION...I MUST WRITE IT DOWN BEFORE I FORGET. THANK YOU FOR BEING MY FIRST FAN...I WILL NEVER FORGET YOUR FACE!!"
Crazy Jones picked up his cassette tape and flew away abruptly.
After that exchange, Pulvia's body continued to fall, leaving only their torso and head. Pulvia was starting to let it happen all the way to the face, but in the middle of walking, Pulvia halted and stared at the ground.
The silver mouse, the purple whale, and that crazy pirate were all victims of the life that Pulvia has lived in.
And they were the biggest sizes anyone has ever seen, with or without a Modifier, with a choice to follow tradition, and a choice not to. Pulvia has had a lens that convinced the little speck of dust that everything was alright. Alright, just because Pulvia has experienced living alright, but blind to the fact that others may not have that type of luxury.
And when Pulvia started to be aware of their condescending comments and glances, Pulvia couldn't believe that it was proven wrong for the first four hundred years of lifetime. Pulvia was starting to question its own existence, and after that, life became quite harder to live in. How can someone live that long and not grow up?
Pulvia's body was falling from existence, but before its head was starting to blow away, Pulvia touched itself.
And sparks flew.
This was the day where a little speck of dust Modified itself into something for the first time.
Was it a flower? Was it a star? Who knew, but everyone knew that it was an effort made by Pulvia solely. And from that day on, Pulvia became the most beautiful species everyone laid their eyes upon.