Seventh Ocean Media

The Beginning

In his youth, Laddiebug had migrated from Earth Prime and wound up in what is now known as the Petaliaverse, a Neverzone where a great majority of Combinoft rituals are performed. His true past was unknown to him, other than he was a survivor. One of the individuals he first befriended was a grasshopper named Edmund Gilbert Hopper, an explorer. Through him, he would come to know his next friend — Edmund’s son Stratocaster, who instead found his niche as an artist and enamel craftsman. After Edmund died, Laddie felt the same kind of inferiority of self as Strat did, and spent their nights at sarsataverns, contemplating their place in the Great Myriad.

Cello was the second-born child of Edmund and Churro Hopper, showing extreme prowess at music when she was no more than an infant.

Loss and Redemption

Cello’s progress with both her music and her demeanor had become a steady climb, but in an instant, when both FoxFyre and her combinoft (this Neverzone’s version of Tiger Lily), died inexplicably, so, too, did a piece of Cello’s heart. Devastated by the loss of two of her greatest friends, the once-bubbly schoolgirl Cello had been was replaced with a sardonic, quiet, and gothic teenager whose music became dark and grungy. This transformation scared their infant brother Arthur, thinking that a demon had stolen his sister from him. For a long time, Cello was trapped in this bitter cycle of rebellion and indifference, and it nearly cost her her life on a dark and freezing night. Cello had been staying out late near an area outside of the Neverwoods when a rare blizzard made landfall. It was too cold for Cello to make the journey back, and then a small seed rolled down from the hill above. it was then that the rustling of Laddie’s wings was heard. The flier that Cello had been snarky and mean to, was the same worried man who risked his life to find her. Cello pleaded with Laddie to help protect the seed she had found; she knew right away that this was Fyrefox’s offspring just from the tic marks and pink eyelids on the little seed, the name Petalia sprang into both their minds from tactile contact.

Laddie gave Cello some mittens that Celia sent Laddie to give her and they feverishly began to dig. With the help of a colony of ants, they were able to insulate the hole so that baby Petalia would be warm enough. They planted her, marked the spot, and then Laddie wanted to leave to give poor Cello a hot bath. Cello did not want to leave, fearing that what they did for the little seedling was not enough, but Sixlette, the Ant Princess, assured Cello that her mother’s army of drones would keep watch and tend to Petalia’s needs. Nevertheless, the promise of a a hot, scented bath was not alluring enough to get her to budge. Knowing that she was right, Laddie curled up with Cello near an enclosed flame, and stood watch over both girls. By the end of that first night, Cello and Laddie had fallen in love.

Motherhood from afar

After the ice thawed, Cello realized that Petalia’s seed was not in an ideal place. The soil was arid and mal-nutritious, and the plants that emerged from the Neverwoods were rough and crude. The minute Petalia’s seed came out of the ground, Cello was in constant fear that something would happen to Fyrefox’s child. For the first few weeks of her Combinoft courtship with Laddie, she relocated from her house in the Neverwoods to the treetops at the edge of the woods so that Petalia would always be nearby. Little by little, Petalia continued to blossom and grow, and Cello and Laddie continued to watch over the tiny sproutling. Petalia’s growth was positively affected by the music that Cello wrote and played for her, lulling her to sleep at night and waking her up in the morning. Cello was a lifeline for Petalia, and the other animals of the Neverzone became just as attached to the kind-hearted little blossom.

Nurturing Petalia’s Dreams:

From the spot she was planted, Petalia had the most spectacular view of the rock temple from the hilltop. When Petalia was a year old, Cello was officiating one of the Rituals of Combination for a couple of mertribians as the musician. Petalia would not remember the couple that got combined, but it made an everlasting impact on her. As she grew older, Petalia was better able to see the rituals as they happened, and she learned the aspects and intricacies of the ritual itself. The part of the ritual that resonated with her the most was the Magtis flower in the combinoft bouquet. Laddie explained to her that the Magtis channels the living energy of the two lovers, and reflects the intensity of their passion and purity of intentions as a sort of glow or aurora. From that point on, it became Petalia’s desire to be a magtis, to be able to contribute to the love of a couple and be part of something wonderful.