75 Ma (1/2)

Reed knew he wasn't hallucinating — there was something there. The question was why he couldn't detect it. Whatever it was, it was not part of the living world in the normal sense.

His hidden eye had come up short and so had his natural, physical senses.

How is this possible? What the hell is it? Why am I unable to…

”Because she's not alive. Your hidden eye detects the lifesigns of living things by means of the Anima fluctuations. You notice the shapes, patterns, and waves — the distortions that living beings have on the ambient Anima of the world to see that which might be hidden…” said Lacrima.

She? Who is she? asked Reed as he entered the room in curiosity. He looked around as he cautiously inspected Velvund's room, and muttered, ”Man, what a mess... is this place is a crypt for books, or a bedroom?”

Pillars and of books covered the room — some book pillars were so tall they reached the ceiling up above. Mountains of scrolls heaped up in piles littered the room as well, making it somewhat difficult to traverse around on foot.

It was less a bedroom and more of an archive of knowledge. Reed wondered how anyone could comfortably live in such a room. Even his old orphanage, with its rickety wooden beds and hard-as-brick pillows seemed more inviting than this place…

It was such a mess that Reed had make himself float in order to avoid steeping on something once he got deeper into the room.

”How would I know?” said Lacrima. ”All I see know is that she is right there, in that crystal over there. The one that's lodged into that thick tree root over there.”

Reed turned toward the fist-sized crystal was embedded into a particularly large tree root and said, ”That thing there over there? That's the source of the voice?”

”I'm pretty sure. Whenever she spoke, I detected very minute vibrations in the ambient Anima of the room, too small for you to detect yet with your current skill.”

It was an odd, transparent crystal that looked like it had a small, flickering flame trapped inside of it. When Reed got close enough, the tiny flame crackled in delight and grew a bit brighter as if in response to his actions.

What is it, or rather what is she? I've never seen something like this before…

Lacrima quietly replied, ”It's a soul. I'm also positive that the crystal she's stuck inside is keeping her alive because… it's connected to the tree-spire itself. I'm sure you can see that part yourself, right?”

Reed nodded. He'd noticed the powerful flow of Anima that surged from the tree root that was fused with the crystal and said, ”What does this mean, Lacrima? Why would gramps do something like this? This just seems… wrong.”

How can this be considered a life worth living?! I-It's just so…

”That's not your call to make, boy. In any case, the soul cannot exist for long without a proper vessel to contain it, but it seems that these people found a stopgap method. They're using this entire tree-spire itself as the vessel. How they managed to do that is beyond me, though.”

Reed shook his head when he heard that and said, ”Gramps… I don't even know what to say…”

”…Can you hear...me?”

When Reed heard her faint call, he replied, ”I can hear you. Can you hear me?”

The tiny flame shone brighter when Reed spoke and in response, the voice said, ”...Too…far away...connect with node...”

A long vine suddenly grew out of the large tree root and slowly hovered around Reed after he heard her response. Reed recoiled back when he saw the vine and said, ”Ummm, do you know what I'm supposed to do with this…?”

”…???...Connect…with...node...attach to your…crown…”

Uhhhh, okay...… Should I really be doing this? This seems a bit, um….

”Just do it, boy. I'm interested in what this thing is offering. If I detect something wrong with your vitals, I'll sever the connection myself. You have my word,” said Lacrima.

Reed reluctantly grabbed the wriggling vine and said, ”I'm going to hold you accountable on that…” and then moved towards his crown. As soon as it was close enough, the vine acted on its own and slipped out of Reed's grasp.

And before he could even react… the lights had gone out for him. His senses had gone off in an instant. Emptiness filled the void where he now existed… or so he had thought.

There was something out there in the distance, far away from him.

Something was calling out to him... but he couldn't make it out.

”...Are…you...”

It was started off a faint whisper…

”…Ah…listen...you....

Eventually, the messages started becoming longer…