The Flower Brides of the Cruel Emperor Tzon-Chon

 The Flower-Brides of the Cruel Emperor Tzon-Chon

-an Orange Sun/Far-Tomorrows fiction by

Maxx Feral

"Oooh...!" the soft voice gasped....

"You... are an unannounced visitor?"

The woman was standing with her musical instrument in the Forbidden Gardens of one of the many Forbidden Palaces where the Cruel Emperor kept court.  He was rumored to be staying in the palace at this time.

"I am here to see the Emperor..." the man said, standing with his curved Asian sword and wearing a jet black skin tight uniform that shimmered as it created a bubble of counter information.  He should be invisible to any human or mechanical eye.

"Ooohhh...." the beautiful woman said again...  "I was reading from an ancient text while playing an ancient tune.  We are privileged here for the Emperor Tzon Chon has forbidden these works to the rest of his kingdom lest they distract from simple labor or confuse the mind with unnecessary thoughts."

She started playing again and singing...

"Please, woman, I must be on my way..."

"I fear our Emperor might find me to have been rude to a guest for he must have given you permission to enter this garden.  Only a few save he is allowed to even be in our presence?"

"Sisters?  Let us dance and sing for this man!"

She started playing and as if from the many exotic and unique plants in this vast garden a dozen or more women of incredible beauty emerged and danced and sang all around the visitor.  The first woman gave her musical instrument to another who pulled its two strings expertly as she embraced the visitor not caring his sword was still drawn.

"You wouldn't hurt us? Have we displeased you?  Would you hurt innocent women whom the Emperor honored to spend their flowering years pleasing him?  Would you have their families shamed with dishonor and slowly cut apart in front of their village to shame them?  You would not want us used like disposable girls to have many embryos put into our wombs then be cut open so dozens of several week spawn spill out for his soup of immortality?"

"Please...  I have urgent business and must see your Emperor..." he said but she held with great strength as he tried to push past.

"You wouldn't want this innocent but beautiful woman to have been found not pleasing to any guest of great honor in Tzon-Chon's garden?  To see us put to agonies or have our families killed in front of us?  He rarely sends men such as yourself to us but has assured us to tell them they are not a threat to him or his ego no matter their manhood...?

They started to try to undo his outfit, ignoring some sparks as the connections in the meta-material that resembled a silk Ninjustu outfit of ages past were disrupted.  Several women were now holding him and caressing him, pulling off his clothing to reveal a not unattractive man of Greater Kathay.  He noticed his sword had been removed from his hand and now a woman was caressing and sucking on his fingers.

"I must see the Emperor.  I shall speak no ill of you.  The Emperor's wrath will not be an issue after I ..."

"Assassinate him?" the first woman said with a smile and still an expression of love to his face.  "All who are in this garden without permission are considered Assassins and so we are ordered to assume as such..."

She split open as did her sisters or fellow pleasure women.  

From almost invisible creases on their bodies the Emperor's Flower Women expanded into their true selves; Monstrous plant/animal hybrids!  Their beautiful exteriors burst to reveal razor sharp leaves and thick tendrils full of fangs that were hollow to drain blood.

The Assassin had but half a scream before he was enveloped by them...

-----

Later the Emperor was holding a torn bit of the Assassin's metatmaterial stealth clothing and his sword.  The Minister of War was prostrating himself trembling and begging for mercy.

"Calm yourself and be a Man.  I shall not slay you on this day despite your loss of composure for a brief second.  I know full well how many you slay almost daily before they even reach inside the wall of my palaces.  My concubines hold a special place in my heart but I do understand your frustration."

The concubines were all lined up in front of him, fanning themselves, swaying, giving looks of innocent seduction.  They had wrapped themselves back into their feminine, pleasing appearance and even their robes were petals that they had grown.  Save bangles and other jewelry they were entirely camouflaged plant/animal hybrids created to serve and protect the Emperor.

"The Minister of War was frustrated you left so little evidence.  I will not find fault in you either but if or rather when the next Assassin ventures into your reach please do your best to leave some evidence.  A hand or better yet a head...  It will make his job easier for these Assassins rarely act alone.  There is usually a dozen or more Traitors who do not Praise the Mandate of Heaven and my Glorious Empire of pure order and justice involved behind a single Assassin who will recruit more or in desperation try to sabotage some part of my Red Dragon Kingdom before killing themselves to escape justice.  Even if an Assassin acts alone surely there is someone needing punishment for not being alert and ready to report suspicious behavior.  This material and the sword alone I shall put someone to justice for if I can find who gave or made this for them...

"Rise, Minister of War - do your best to find this Assassin, there are bits of him you can trace on the ground for hopefully his DNA is on the public registry at least.  Look for the real ones, no more confessions encouraged by discomfort or threat of it... I want those that did this or I want to know we did not.  I know you do your best for me.  What I seek is knowledge or the lack of it on this day from you.

And I am sure my concubines forgive the 'stupid flowers' remark?"

They bowed and one came over and kissed him.

"Minister of Propaganda - let the News channels say an intruder was executed by my Minister of war before he reached my inner garden.  No news about my private world is to be leaked.  Offer a reward and forgiveness if someone gives us information that leads to the capture of these Assassins but perhaps simply forgot to mention it?

The minister of Propaganda bowed but the Emperor noted he paused but a moment...

"I mean forgiveness for I am generous on this day.  If an Assassin turns in the others I shall make him a Prefect...of the edge of the burning deserts or the Antarctic re-education colonies...station, reward, Honor...and far away and watched to not be a problem.   If some citizen merely did not notice but remembers sale or possession of illegal materials or a sword and remembers later indeed reward them, I fear some might worry that reporting makes one a suspect...?"

The Minister of Propaganda bowed again and left in haste.

"Good.  All is in order again." said the Cruel Emperor Tzon-Chon and he mounted a golden throne in his Forbidden Garden.  "I shall take some relaxation and celebrate another day where an Assassin was at least thwarted before he got within a hundred paces of my Divine self.  You be about your Duties, Minister of War but if you catch the other Traitors sooner than today just leave note with my Secretaries for I shall not want to be disturbed until tomorrow save the direst of reasons..."

The Flower-Women surrounded the Emperor and danced, played, sang and caressed him.  His Other Ministers and guards grabbed the evidence from the scant remains of the Assassin and respectfully bowed and backed out to seal the door behind thick walls of dark Jade like mortar...

-----

In the "Orange Sun" or "Far-Tomorrows" TTRPG setting there are plenty of monsters and by far most were created by the "Wizard Lords" for petty whims.  Especially the mostly female monsters or "Monster-UUU" in an ancient dialect.

The Cruel Emperor Tzon Chon however is credited with creating the first human-plant hybrid, at least the first one functional outside blobs of tissue in a laboratory.  He did this because while making himself biologically immortal with the technology of the time he allowed no other access to it and grew tired of his concubines and how they'd usually try to kill him or run after decades even before age might have faded their beauty.  Only a few lasted long enough to be retired from his service honorably which he would have rewarded with wealth and status.

Thus he turned to technology to create "Maidens of Flowers" where plant tissue was somehow manipulated into a creature that could mimic an idealized human female.  These beings were alien and their behaviors merely survival for at heart they were plants still.  All they really needed was to roam about his private gardens and would pleasure him or keep him company, reading the ancient poetry and literature that was mostly banned to all but he and his inner circle. 

They also aided in his defense for there were many Assassins sneaking in to try to kill the Emperor they acted as unexpected guards for the sun on their skins was far too little energy and they relied on flesh to keep active as an animal...  Those who were not him nor a few of his trusted inner circle were legitimate prey.  Their delicate feminine appearance quickly folded away into their inner bodies of fast moving leaves and piercing spines that resembled teeth but would drain blood from prey.

Long after his passing they remained for they were plants and designed to regenerate from near total destruction.  There were natural limits on their total numbers to prevent them over-running the world but they did multiply and spread through the world including into the west.  These inspired the "Wizard-Lords" to make their own plant based monsters of mostly female appearance for aesthetics beyond acting as guards to their castles.  Still some of the more ancient and powerful monsters are the "Flower-Women" and the dreaded "True Alarune"...  There are many other plant based "Monster-Uuu" including confusingly "Rose Girls" certainly created by the Wizard-Lords that came long after the Cruel Emperor of course.

Most of these have a "Backup" where there is a seed somewhere about the size of a loaf of bread and it uses the "Root Network" where plants and mushrooms all link and communicate.  If a Plant based monster is destroyed it usually regenerates on the spot within a few months or years.  If there  is exceptional call to kill it - such as 20+ cubic meters of earth dug up and sterilized or a Dragon's fire on the ground the seed waits a decade or longer and sprouts another one.  Over a long interval of centuries they might produce another naturally but this is done to keep them rare by the Genetic Engineers who designed them.  They can also reproduce on command but those commands are long lost.  Biologically immortal these creatures live to live like any plant.  

They will use their skills from seduction to predation to continue their existence.  While most of the Wizard Lord's plant-women are immobile or limited to a set space the Flower-Women are free to move and do so.  They will sometimes be a mistress or seductress and other times appear as a mostly dead tree resembling a woman but with some leaves growing out and stay still for decades.  They rarely attack without good reason for even though they are near impossible to destroy and will grow back if chopped to bits they do not like to do so.  However they can and will split into a terrible plant monster and kill an opponent by ripping flesh and draining fluid.  This they usually do if no one else sees it fearing being seen as a "Monster" and so will often use their slightly better than average strength to fight off an attacker if witnessed.

These beings are greatly feared in the East for even many, MANY thousands of years after the Cruel Emperor's reign they are a dark memory.  In the West they can be prized concubines of Nobility and Rich merchants;  Perfect beautiful women who mostly stand around and be beautiful at day but can play and entertain and then become passionate at night or in private.  They will not fade in beauty and will usually come back if killed.  They do have their own minds and can and do choose to be a mistress or a wanderer or a near inert plant based on their moods and desires.

Note they are intelligent but in a different way.  They can speak and act but must commit to it so they can rarely act suddenly.  When they do speak or converse for too long their tissues heat up and usually they sweat or their eyes water with streaming tears.  This creates an exotic and sympathetic effect but it is merely to protect the special tissues the  plant uses for its brain usually somewhere in the mid-section.  If this is disrupted by stabbing through the plant is usually immobile for a day but returns to look like a beautiful woman in a statuesque pose.

Note also their hair color, clothing and skin are all changeable.  These are modified "Petals" in effect as hair and fingernails are chitin to animals.  They started out appearing as perfectly beautiful eastern women but they have all learned and shared how to appear as such but by Western Standards.  For Western ones they usually embrace the 'flower' aspect allowing recognizable petals to grow from their heads and their dresses leaves and petals as often as appearing as silk and velveteen.  For easier appearance due to the Negative association they are more formal growing silk like cloth petals and strict long black hair though on close inspection the hair is thin long petals but would be flat and wide compared to a human hair.