Chapter 30: Awaken, My Brother

Miko:

Visiting every branch, I explored the tree with a limp for several days. I sat with Ananke’s words, her wisdom. She was a great source of knowledge, but my mind was made on those many months of weary, lonely days and nights where Maleki and I lay comatose until I started to regain motor functions. Why did I have to be the one to wake? To have been the one to make this arduous journey. What was left of me after all this? Who will I become if I make the wrong decision or if it doesn’t work? There was worry in my heart, but I wasn’t dissuading myself, just predicting as my brother does. His mind would often race like this as I would watch him. Usually, it would happen in the middle of a conversation, and I would keep talking, pretending I didn’t know he was far away in another plane of existence. When I asked him about it, he would apologize and ask me to continue whatever I said. After a while, I would stop asking and continue to talk or tell my story. Maleki would walk or stand there in his own little world. Eventually, when I got older, on one occasion, I took offense to his distractive nature and demanded he tell me what was so important that he couldn’t listen while I spoke. He dodged the question, trying to ‘sorry’ his way out of the conversation, but I pushed the subject further. He told me he was thinking — that he was preparing himself. I began to understand after that. We had normal conversations, but for every ten we had, there was one where something was said that triggered his brain to react defensively and start predicting every possible scenario. That is his nature; he is a planner. I guess I’m more like our father, reactive and emotionally unintelligent. Perhaps that’s a fair trade to be better at understanding complex concepts. That is Maleki’s crux. When things become too difficult, he shuts down and keeps moving, unwilling to change his surroundings and ask for help. Well, I’ll help him. He won’t have to ask. Today, I will fix my brother.

After my journey amongst the tree’s domain, I found myself at the bottom-most branch. The colossal limb I had drug myself across a week ago. To bargain with a tree, I would only need to call upon it. She said I could speak to it as I did to anyone else. That’s a silly thing. Trees cannot speak, for they have no mouths to do so. Perhaps she was saying that in jest or tricking me for a laugh. She will get her pitiful laugh because I’m willing to try, at least. It’s still better than climbing down this tree.

Talking aloud, I felt embarrassed. “Arbor Majikae — great Leviathan Tree — I call upon you.”

Nothing shifted or moved. There was no voice responding to me. She had been playing me for a good laugh. I bet she was up at the top of the tree, flopping around in a laughing fit. The gentle wind caressed my shoulders, sliding off my bag as the bark vibrated softly around me, much like the apples when they hummed. The tree’s presence entered my mind. Was that a voice? No, to call it a voice or to call them words is too archaic. This was something much different. My head pounded as the language it spoke translated into my head. The process made human language and communication seem inefficient and straightforward. The words changed from symbols into a voice and words all at once, “Flesh beckons, and bark speaks.”

She hadn’t lied. The Leviathan Tree has a mind and will of its own. If she isn’t lying about anything else, I should be wary not to mince words with this tree. “I require your assistance.”

The voice filled my mind again. It was neither masculine nor feminine. The words and sounds sat behind my eyes and in between my ears. This was like the riddle at the doctor’s house. The tree had responded to me, speaking more sophisticated than Ananke and Khronos combined. “Beware a bargain with a tree; the price is more than just a fee.”

That’s foreboding…Ananke had warned me that making deals with this Leviathan Tree was not worth the profit. “Can you send me to the ground?” I asked.

There was a slight delay before a jolt of pressure was heavy behind my eyes, and the voice started to formulate again. “Our branches reach far, and roots run deep. Why should this be a request that we complete?”

“I want to go there and heal my brother,” I said, resting my fist on the ground as I leaned over and prepared for the headache behind my eyes to return.

“A purpose we do not reflect, a proper exchange you must state for us to accept.” The tree hummed. As it spoke, my fist could feel the vibrations in the tree from whatever power flowed through it.

“Your pain will end, and I want my brother and me to live. Is that not a fair trade?” I said in an argumentative tone.

With every passing wave of the feeling, I was growing more used to the side effects. “To die, this is not our wish; we desire our original bliss. The past repeats, sending us further into the abyss.”

“There is no pain or unhappiness after death. Does that not meet the definition of death?” I asked without reply. “Is there a way to heal my brother without stealing your fruit?” I pleaded. Killing this tree was not what I wanted, but if I were forced to trade it for Maleki, I would.

“Without life’s soul, we are not made whole.”

Was that a response to both questions? This is more difficult than I had prepared for. I asked, determined, “Can you be healed? I can feel it even through my bag. These fruits are alive, whose hearts beat with majik.” I paused, then asked a question I wasn’t sure about. “Are these fruits disconnected parts of your soul?”

The vibrations in the tree were almost somber, low-pitched in their hum, reflecting what I interpreted as sadness. “Each fruit, an aspect of divine registry, forever separated, confined to abject misery.”

This tree speaks in riddles, but there is truth in words. This is all starting to make more sense. The parchment we read in that old doctor’s hut must have been made from the wood of this tree. This explains why we could hear the Leviathan tree’s voice and why the words were muddled into riddles. Kallen called it a prophecy, and it never left my mind. I recalled it from my memory; — ‘Often I am found, in the town between the kings and sound. Listen for the hum and carry with a krown. Judgment of earthen mound, and fiery crust around. To the garden, we are bound, with fruit of cursed ground. Cure the pain abound, a cost worse than death profound.’

The contents of the last line stuck in my mind. Ananke spoke of cost and what it meant for her family and herself. The tree called for people to come here and help it. Initially, I thought the cure was for my pain, but there never really was a prophecy. The “riddle” was just Arbor Majkae pleading for help. Learning that there was no cure for me here was why I had started to hate the tree. We traveled all this way, injuring ourselves and making ourselves worse off than we were before we set off on this journey. “What’s the cost of curing you? You didn’t stop me from taking the fruits, so send me to the ground so I can get this over with.” I spoke loudly in frustration.

The tree resonated around me, thinking of a reply. “True, we do not halt nor assist. Souls intertwine and we exist. We enlist those with heart and determination for us to persist.”

Exploring this tree, I saw the damage done to it by the theft of the majikal fruits. Parts of the limb were charred, infected, and covered in mold. This place was beautiful, and I bet it was even more so in its prime. Now, these branches and limbs were devoid of their souls. I know how to help this tree, but I must convince it to help me first. I can’t risk these fruits regrowing and becoming useless. “Arbor Majikae, I can help you. You called for someone determined, with heart. My brother, Maleki, possesses a strong heart, and I’m determined to fix him, and I will fix you as well. Help me, and trust that I will help you.”

“We have had faith in humans before. Let them explore, and the only rule they ignore. Now you request from us to implore?”

I responded quickly, “Primordials failed you — humans did not. I’m not asking for faith; I will trade you my trust. If I lie, your death will free you from your bonds to this place and the pain it brings you, but if I’m telling the truth, you will be better off for it.”

Again, the tree paused. Even the vibrations in this tree seemed to quell as it sat with my words, dissecting them. Suddenly, a few feet from me, the trunk opened like a doorway with no door. The tree spoke confidently, like when our grandparents let us leave the house to start this journey.

“Very well, we accept your promise, hoping you will lift the curse upon us, and grant a form of solace.”

There was no acknowledgment of the hole that opened in the trunk in their speech. I just have to trust them that this won’t kill me. A fair trade, I guess, we will each have to trust that we don’t bring the other’s demise. Taking several steps, my hand found the edge of the bark doorway and held myself back with a tight grip as I inspected the area. The hole led to a dark chamber in the middle of the tree. Before I could react, the tree pulled me in, ripping me from my grip on the bark. The doorway closed up, confining me into the darkness of the tree. There was no light to even see in front of me. The floor beneath my feet shifted as I tumbled from the Leviathan tree’s pull, unable to find sound footing and balance myself. “You said you would take me to the bottom, not imprison me here!” The floor adjusted, and the vibrations returned in the bark, filling my ears with one last hum.

“We shall, little farmer. This gift is for reading to us about arms and armour.”

Falling onto my rear, the ground pulled at my feet as the trunk warped around me. The ground was sloping downward, and I was descending. No, I was sliding. This was like being carried down a riverbed by the crashing waters that flowed. Arbor Majikae had given me a slide. When I was climbing, I had not realized the tree was conscious, and it was listening while I read. The mention of the book allowed the words to ring in my mind again; “…to not be consumed by his forge’s flames, he must decide the kind of blacksmith he will be. An Armer, or an Amourer.”

I resisted at first, attempting to grab onto the sides of the tree with one of my hands. The floor was slick, and I was moving too fast to grasp anything. I flipped my bag around to the front, using my working arm to protect the apples. I wasn’t falling, I was sliding, and it was fun? Trapped in the tree’s dark depths, there was no view of the ground, and that feeling that churns in your gut while you look down wasn’t there. This was actually enjoyable. I lay flat and let the tree carry me to the bottom. The process was quick, and I could feel myself dropping down the length of the tree at incredible speed. Every minute, my ears would pop as the pressure changed in the atmosphere. The air changed around me as I neared the bottom. Familiar smells filled my nose, those of the grass fields and colorful plants The Garden possessed.

A new doorway appeared down the slope twenty feet ahead, but my speed stayed the same. “Alright…” I laughed nervously aloud. “We can slow down!” I pleaded with a louder laugh as the mixture of fun and fear combined. Shooting out the doorway, the entirety of The Garden of Need bellowed out in front of me, the light blinding at first. A root carried me out further to the ground, slowing my speed. “Tha–“The tree cut me off as the root curled at my feet, sending me into a forced backflip, landing me hard on my buttocks in the soft, lush grass. “Thanks…” I said, blinking my eyes in annoyance. The tree had just pulled what is effectively a prank. Vibrations in the tree’s bark shot back up the tree, leaving me alone on the floor of The Garden. Well, it technically did fulfill my request, I thought while scratching my head.

Standing on both feet, I dusted myself off and checked for splinters. “No one makes a slide out of wood, ya know!” I spoke, knowing my words were likely falling on deaf ears. Trees don’t have ears, so how does this one hear?

Walking for two hours, the amount of time it took to get to Maleki’s body, I prepared myself for what would come next. These last moments in The Garden, I wanted to enjoy them. Gliding my hands across the soft grass, I felt and smelled every flower that passed. All of this time in this place, and I never spent the time to enjoy it. Taking in every sight, touch, and smell, I let my senses be overwhelmed by this place with joy. This would likely be the last time I ever got to.

My old spot on the ground near Maleki could be seen through the trees. The grass had grown and stood taller to make up for the cushion I had made in it. A figure stood near him, and my eye caught him immediately. Khronos sat, his hands rested on his knees, with his chest and back sharply flat and tall, in a more proper take on what grandmother called “criss-cross apple sauce.” I was about to make the most delicate applesauce ever made,

Walking to my brother’s body, I asked aloud, “Did you come to stop me, Khronos?“

“Your decision may be your own. I will not interfere, though I must impose that I oppose it indiscriminately. However, let me tell you another story.”

“There’s no need Khronos. You know what the issue is?”

“Do tell.” He said, intrigued.

“You’re trapped in your wallowing. At some point, you stopped trying to fix what was wrong with you or this place.” I demanded. “You gave up, simple as that.” I walked past him to my brother’s essentially lifeless body. “Don’t trap me in your misery. I’ll fix this on my own.”

“You think you have me all figured out?” He asked with an offended tone. “Your life thus far is but a droplet in a rainstorm compared to what I have seen.”

“Yeah, you’ve lived all this time. A waste if you ask me. Eventually, you found comfort in your failed desperation, and then you returned to habit, making your punishment too hard to escape. At least Ananke was physically trapped here, but you could go anywhere you wanted in this whole wide world.” I set my bag on the ground in between us.

“You believe I did not attempt? My footsteps exist in far-off places on this planet that none might ever see with their own eyes. Languages changed, kingdoms rose and fell, and a thousand useless wars were waged. If there was an idea or plan that could fix this, I uttered or plotted it first.”

“Ha. Haha. Bahaha!” I laughed maniacally. “You have some humour in you, after all! For the first time this journey, you look more pitiful than both of us here. Born at the beginning of time before last names were even needed, yet you claim to know and have tried everything.” He tried to interrupt, a quality unsuitable for him, but I stopped him, continuing, “You and your siblings were trapped here with imaginary rules and ideas. Screw ’em!”

Reaching into my bag, I clutched an apple in my hand and then took a bite.

“You have sealed your fate, then.” He scolded me with his eyes as his top lip raised.

I chewed like the pig he probably saw me as, talking aloud as the beginning of every word slurred, “No such thing, Khronos; you should know that. There’s just what is and what isn’t. My brother is getting better — actually, me too while I’m at it.”

I took a bite of the second apple as he watched in disgust, or maybe it was curiosity.

“Why? Why have you eaten both apples?” He begged in mental anguish.

My mouth was entirely full at this point, yet I still spoke. “Schut up, Krumnus.” I crushed the apple into tiny bits in my mouth, being careful not to swallow any of the bits. Then I did something gross, trapping one side in my cheek; I spat out bits of the apple onto the ground. The remaining cheek puffed up like a squirrel, and I dug into my bag for one of my discs.

“What have you done? Are you going to feed your brother like a baby bird?” Khronos questioned me like he was indulging in a child’s plan.

“Didn’t I tell you to shut it? Either stop me or stand there and watch.” I said, eyeing him.

“Proceed your foolish escapade.” He said with hands raised, which he then crossed under his chest.

I began digging, first with my hands and then next with my disc, as it got deeper. Using the disc to scoop the dirt out of the hole, a minute passed until I had a decent-sized hole about two feet deep next to Maleki’s body.

Khronos spoke facetiously, “Forgive me, but that hole might be too small for your brother. Quite the preemptive burial.”

“I’m not burying him, you idiot.”

“So then, what are you doing?” He asked in what looked like genuine confusion.

I turned my head out of frustration. “Did your listening and watching skills suddenly worsen? You managed to get by the whole journey just fine.”

He signaled for me to continue with one of his hands, but I decided my rudeness earlier was undeserved for how much we had gone through together, so I explained further with an annoyed exhale. “You ever looked at the apples your siblings ate?”

“Numerous times.” He blinked assuredly.

“The apples are withered. The majikal power sucked dry from them when they were eaten. The tree regrows them out of habit, but the seeds still sit within the core. Did you ever try planting the seeds of the corrupted apples?” I said with a questioning pause, then continued. “Wouldn’t have mattered even if you did because you never tried plucking all the apples. You and Ananke feared plucking the good ones, just out of caution from what your brothers and sisters did, but also because you were scared to break whatever contract you made with this place.” I opened my bag and found the pouch designated for the apples. There lay six seeds from the corrupted apples I had gathered on my way down from plucking the still-good ones. Carefully, I slid them into my hand out of their slot. With my hands together, side to side, with my palms facing up, the seeds clumped in the center.

“The idea came into my head when I remembered my grandmother and her obsidian roses. A whole rose bush can be regrown from the seeds of the previous one. Her garden was real, smaller, but the scale of it allowed it to be truly pruned and managed so that every leaf was important. This colossal tree obfuscates your ability to pay attention to the tiny details. Important ones. All those months, I lay there, and I hadn’t given it much thought. Maleki was hurt, and I would fix him no matter the cost, and we would bear the curse together by eating the fruit. Then your much nicer wife completed the idea with just a simple sentence.” I mimicked her phrasing and tone, “Our eyelids unfolded and saw only darkness, the belly of the tree — surrounded by a cocoon of bark, but then it opened, exposing us to this paradise.’” I placed my hands in front of my face and then spat the rest of what was in my cheek onto my palm. Two seeds deposited themselves at the top of the pile, eight in total. Placing the bottom of my hands over the hole, I released the seeds, letting them fall into place.

Maleki was close, so I pulled at his armpits, dragging him over the hole I had made. Nomen stood silently, and then a semblance of a smile peered through. Dirt clumped around the hole, so I pushed and packed it in as my grandmother taught. With a deep breath and wide smile, I looked up at Khronos. “See you soon.” A rumble formed in the ground around us, quaking the dirt beneath my feet. Tendrils of roots shot above me, all different colors, creating a shape like a bird cage. Air passed between the roots enough that I could still see between them.

There was dear old Nomen, and if my eyes did not betray me, I believe there was a single tear forming at the crest of his cheek. “Seems I was the fool all along, Miko.”

I placed one hand on Maleki’s chest, feeling his heartbeat, and the other on his shoulder as I bent forward over him — just in case I was terribly wrong about all this. Then the roots thickened, contorting and twisting around us so that we were now inside a bark shell egg. Darkness filled my opened eyes, and then my vision began to fade as a watery substance filled the chamber from underneath. My neck fell back into the liquid, and I began to dream of a place near where this all started and what seemed like so long ago. A lake, a day into the journey where Maleki and I talked like brothers. I had missed that for so long.

Something pierced through the dream — a thumping sound that reverberated in my ears. Maleki’s heart began to beat faster.