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There really wasn't much to life as a marimo. They could only remain at a spot, unmoving with neither senses nor thought but they could— in the way most living things irregardless of sentience could—feel. They could feel the coolness of the water around them, their own kind by their side, safe in their numbers and in an instinctual nature driven way, they were happy.
And then a day came when it was all gone, the cooling freshness of the water, the feeling of being surrounded waning till it was gone entirely and there was only one left. The heat seeped in, drying out its green hue, dust turning it a dull brown. If it knew how the now lone marimo would've described what it was feeling as painful dread but it couldn't see that humans had drained the lake and in the name of development the smoke from their factories choked out the fresh air and the brutal architecture of their buildings blocked out the sun; and it was in this unknowing hell, the lone marimo suffered.
Marimo are known for their resilience but of what use is resilience if you can't leave? So it stayed, burdened with a misery it couldn't comprehend, forgotten and alone.
The marimo didn't know how long it spent like that—time being one of the concepts that escaped its understanding— but on one day, a day like all the days before but not like any that would come after, something changed. The dull dusty currents became charged with…something, something bright and divine as a purple rift rend the sky asunder and God touched the earth for the first time.
The lone marimo unable to perceive such complex information merely felt a sense of calm, a feeling that had eluded it for so long, a lifting motion that was as gentle as it was kind.
And so the Angel took the lone marimo along with him and sure enough with care it began to thrive, green hue slowly returning but one thing with change is that once it starts it becomes a wheel that cannot be stopped; snowballing into something completely unexpected yet inevitable. Maybe it was the divine aura that clung to his very being or the marimo's own unconscious wishes but it began to morph from the inside out.
Hearing came first. Warm words spoken by a smooth, soothing voice muffled by the glass of the jar the marimo resided in but still somewhat audible, words that meant nothing in the conventional sense but made positive warmth spread through it whenever he was close enough to hear.
Sight came next, a surprise to both of them. It was bright, almost blindingly so and the marimo's mossy eyelids fluttered, squinting away from how the light seemed to emanate off him and yet wanting to bask in it regardless.
"Oh." he gasped. He was all long blond hair and emerald eyes that seemed to sparkle "Hello."
The marimo simply looked up into the face of God as he raised a hand, placing a finger in front of the marimo's newly formed eyes and moving it from side to side; its eyes followed the movement intently.
"Huh." he said "Interesting."
And so life continued. He would often walk past, patting the top of the jar and leaning down to say something, the marimo's eyes following him around when he was in eyesight. The best days were when he would pour out the older water in the jar, he would put the marimo under a stream of cool water and it would close its eyes as he rolled it gently between his palms, content; and so came feeling.
Sometimes he would leave, going somewhere the marimo couldn't follow and an achy feeling would fill it, something that was uncomfortably close to how it had felt during the harsh heat, the times before him and the marimo would despair; but he would always return like the sun peeking through after a rainy day.
"I'm home." a bright smile, a pat on the top of the jar and it would immediately comfort the marimos bad feelings; so came thought. The marimo began to think that it didn't like when he left for too long and yet it was willing to wait as long as he returned, but it also thought it would be better if it could go along with him so they would never be apart.
And so came movement. Pairs of what looked like wings sprouted out of its head, useless for flight but just enough for wading through the water around the jar. Years spent in stasis meant the marimo couldn't bear to be still anymore, hops propelled by flapping wings and aided by the waters buoyancy making it float for a little bit before settling down to the bottom of the jar to do it all over again.
"I'm home." It was routine. The marimo hopped excitedly, the buoyancy flipping it upside down. Its eyes widened, disoriented and he chuckled, amused, pressing a hand to the glass.
"Cute." the marimo flapped its tiny wings to right itself, wading forward to press its soft, mossy face against his hand through the glass "I supposed you missed me. Does it get lonely?"
He lifted the jar and held it up to face level, eyes peering in curiously. The marimo merely hopped excitedly, golden lashes closing in a blissed expression that closely resembled a smile.
One day they left home together, a monumental event for the marimo who's jar was attached by a strap to his hip but on the ground, seeing the people that walked by, it couldn't help but wish it was back home.
Their destination was thankfully not as populated. He met strangers it had never seen before, but he smiled warmly at them which made the marimo feel more at ease, if he was okay then it would be okay. He raised the jar and it was soon under the scrutiny of strange eyes, he opened the lid and their voices became clearer making it instinctively shift away.
"It's okay" he said softly "These are my boys, I just wanted them to take a look at you."
His voice was always so warm and soothingly familiar and it enjoyed listening as they spoke in sentences it couldn't fully understand but in those sentences it discovered something. The strangers—the boys—seemed to be close to him, the marimo didn't have a lot of good sensations attached to the concept of warmth but basking in this sense of warm, loving familiarity felt…good. They called him something and he would respond, turning towards whoever said it.
'Ash.'
The marimo committed it to a newly formed memory and wished to speak it but couldn't, so came wants; desire for something more, to be like him and be made in a similar image. Such unspoken desires plagued it as he placed it into a bigger tub back at home.
"Eli thinks you'd do better in a bigger space—" he placed it into the bath of water gently "—just in case, he said."
The marimo didn't want to be in a tub, it wanted to be with him, by his side. It floated for a bit, looking up at him forlornly.
"Do you not like it?" And no matter how much it wished to answer, it couldn't and so it looked away as it began to sink further away.
Days pass and desires grow, wishes become more fervent, becoming prayer and when you live close to a God, prayers are always answered.
One day, he opened the door to the room where it stayed but it wasn't a marimo anymore. It was a body, stripes of moss on dark skin, arms and legs splayed, sticking out of a now awkwardly sized tub. There was water all over the floor and more of it dripped from it's dark hair onto the floor as the white wings atop its head twitched, dark eyes framed by golden lashes squinting, unfocused.
Oh." he gasped, surprised. His boots sploshed the water as he approached, leaning down "Hello angel."
It moved its head sluggishly, eyes slowly focusing on his face as its throat worked around new, unfamiliar vocal cords.
"A—" Its voice was hoarse, low and unused, lips struggling with a single word "—s…h.."
He smiled as he always did as he took off his cloak, draping it over its shoulders and wrapping its limp arms around his shoulders, ignoring the water that dampened his skin to lift it upright with an arm around the waist.
"Easy, easy." his voice was steady as always and just as gentle "I've got you."
The marimo thing's head fell onto his shoulder as he wrapped the cloak around it more securely before switching to a bridal carry with ease. He was so bright, almost painfully so and yet it couldn't look away, clumsily trying to get closer now that it could finally be by his side.
"Your new god will take good care of you."
It didn't fully understand what those words specifically meant but it had so much time to learn and find out.