Chapter 35: From Roots They Depart

Ananke:

“Miko, do you remember the precise wording of what you asked the tree?”

“We sort of had a conversation, and there was a little bit of back and forth, so it’s difficult to remember every word.”

“I need you to try and remember.”

Miko closed his eyelids, and beneath them, I could see his eyes searching rapidly as the memories flooded his thoughts.

After a few moments, his head shot up, and his eyes seemed to dull into a slightly duller green.

“Oh no,” he said grimly. “I—I think…I definitely messed up.”

“What did you ask of the tree, Miko?” I exclaimed.

He spoke in monotone, and as if through a delay from another moment, each word was uttered impartially. “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.”

“You said that exactly?” Khronos asked.

Miko nodded.

Maleki raised his brow. “You remembered it perfectly? I couldn’t repeat a single sentence from our conversation earlier, even if I wanted to.”

“I have a good memory, but this is something new — something different. I could see the moment perfectly, like when it happened.”

“We will discuss that later,” Khronos said, looking to me for reassurance.

“I told you the tree was difficult to interpret-” I said from a chair in the location of my new hut, sitting across from Miko, whose brother stood idly in the corner. “-and even harder to negotiate with.”

“I was explaining my reasoning to it; I didn’t think it would take that part literally.”

“Can someone help me out? I’m still a little confused. Are you trying to say there is a tree in my body?”

“Uhhh, yes,” Miko said.

“No.” I interrupted, our voices almost cancelling each other out.”

Maleki stared blankly at both of us before finding Khronos’ eyes as he hovered near me.

“You want to help me out here?”

“Well, we don’t know for certain what exactly is going on here. Again, there is no precedent for these events. They have never happened before, even in our long lives.”

Maleki rubbed the sides of his nose with his index finger and thumb.

“I messed up, Maleki. The tree must’ve thought I was offering it a new...“ Miko’s neck snapped to the side slightly in a jolt as if he were looking for something.

“Did one of you say that?” Miko muttered deliriously.

“That’s not funny, Maleki! I heard that!”

His brother stared confusedly. “I didn’t say anything. You all right?”

“What?” Miko responded in an accusatory tone. “I heard you call me an idiot.”

Khronos looked around curiously before addressing Miko slowly. “Miko, are you perhaps hearing the voice too?”

The boy spun around to find Khronos’ face. “This one doesn’t sound like the tree; it’s actually pretty rude.”

I laughed, remembering my own conversations with the tree. We didn’t always talk like Khronos or I would, but it seemed to listen to me when it mattered. Not quite like a pair of watchful eyes, though I knew it could sense me to some degree. Instead, I felt it listening to my voice, a habit I started just to remember what I sounded like, what it felt like to hear a person speak, even if the voice was my own.

“You’re hearing the voice of the tree, as well, Miko. I think I’m starting to understand what is happening, although it’s only speculation, I suppose. You see, the Leviathan tree doesn’t operate the same as you or I; it is a collection of souls, each housed in the individual fruits. They were damaged when my siblings ate them, but the withered soul remained. That part I’m sure of, I spent long enough with them that I could understand that much, it was one voice that spoke, but they all spoke in unison. I think that when you grew a new tree, the bindings on the souls were broken, and they departed, separating from their uniform consciousness. And now they reside in you, both of you.”

“Both of us?” Miko questioned. “Why did it pick both of us?”

“The same reason Arbor Majikae called you here. It believed both of you were capable of healing it. You two are the most preferable and immediate candidates for them to reside in.”

“So that’s how we have Majik?” Maleki asked.

“No, the process Miko put you through essentially recreated the process that formed the primordials. Those elemental souls are something far more — isolated power itself. The question is, what others will they choose?”

Miko glanced sideways at me before meeting his brother’s eyes. “You’re saying — there were eight fruits, so you think there will be others like us?”

“Precisely. One of each element, and we already know which two you both have.”

“How?” Miko stuttered.

Khronos’ hands were outstretched to the table; his sleeves were pulled high to his elbow now. “Because I just saw you manipulate time, Miko.”

“What are you talking about? Nothing changed for me. I didn’t feel anything, so how do you know that?”

“I know because we are the only two people on this planet who can manipulate time, and I just watched you revisit an event from the past in perfect order.”

“It just felt like my memory, I didn’t even notice…but how do you know what Maleki’s majik is?”

“Power always seeks an equilibrium, so it often manifests itself in a way that opposes its counterpart. Aqua and Agni, Aerth and Aeros, end and life. These forces tend to seek out siblings as well, though that is not the rule, more so an observation of the way people develop. Siblings are bound to be different from each other, never able to go down the same path, as each person’s footsteps are unique, even for twins. Because of this, opposing majiks will seek out people who are more likely to be opposite of each other.”

“But Maleki and I are alik-“

“-Miko, don’t think; feel. I know your senses have grown stronger in their isolation from the other; focus on your brother for a second.”

Miko closed his eyes, and Khronos continued to speak.

“Those who have tempered their senses over their entire lifetime might be able to notice, but you know him, you know the way he steps, the way he breathes, his gait, and you know his weight. When you spend enough time with someone, you can identify them with your senses even if they are in a crowd of people. What do you feel now?”

Miko’s eyes untightened. “It feels like a whirlpool. Like I’m being pulled towards him. Even though he’s a few feet away, it feels like he’s right next to me, looming over my shoulder.”

“Good, Miko. What others spend their lifetime achieving through effort, you have already acquired through pain and experience, and for that which you have yet to learn, you have a significant head start.”

“What he’s explaining, I don’t feel it, and this is my body. I should sense it, right?”

“What Miko described is called gravitas; it is a field that space interacts with, just as Agni can control heat and flames, or as aeros can control the wind and air. It takes immense focus at this stage for you to realize the field you are emitting. This is similar to how you can see your nose, but only if you are focused on its position.”

“Space and time, huh?” Miko said to himself. “So, Nomen, you can teach me how to use my majik, right?” His voice was full of excitement.

“No. Majik is like a fingerprint; it is unique to every person who wields it. Fingerprints can be similar, and to the untrained eye, they look alike, but by influencing you, I might be sending you down a path you are not as effective in, but if you develop your majik by your own skills, senses, and personality, you will have been far stronger than by me giving you the answers. Let the freedom of the unknown guide you, and I know you will learn how to wield time effectively.”

“Since I can control time now, does that mean I can go back into the past? Like how I visited that memory?”

Khronos’ face grew solemn, and his voice was uncharacteristically filled with emotion. “Absolutely not.”

“But you said our majiks are different? How can you be so sure that it isn’t possible?”

“Hear me very carefully, Miko; time is the most complex of all the elements, so I will make this statement as clear as possible. It is impossible to truly go backward into time.”

“But-

“There are certain fundamental principles of the universe. A flame cannot breathe underwater. The dead cannot be revived. And you cannot change the past.”

“Ananke said that Majik can make impossible things become possible.”

“No, Miko,” I said, intervening. “Our majik is actually very similar at the core. When I manipulate necessity, or fate as you understand it, I am making something that is possible, probable. With the tree’s assistance, I was capable of a much more incredible feat, but that was also only because the fruit derived from the tree. And again, that result was not without consequence. I think you might find that if you recall my wording precisely when I explained my own abilities, I said, ‘One can only change what is and what is not.’ The same applies here for you, no matter how you develop your powers.”

“Okay, that made more sense when you explained it, which is pretty lame considering Khronos’ majik is time.”

Khronos sighed loudly.

Maleki fidgeted in his corner of the room. He looked like he was ready to strangle his own little brother, but the embarrassment finally expired from his face in one self-soothing breath.

“Now that my brother is done making a fool of himself, do you two mind if I ask you a question about the person I met yesterday?”

“The person you met?” I asked.

“Yes.” He nodded.

Khronos’ brow furled. “You spoke to someone outside of this room?”

“Yes,” he said confusedly this time. “Why are you acting like that is odd?”

Miko’s head tilted to match his brother’s confusion. “Maleki, there is no one else in The Garden besides us four.”

I looked over at Khronos, and I saw the worry in my expression mirror itself on his own.

Miko noticed our glance and laughed awkwardly. “No, seriously, I ran all around this place for a month. There’s no one else here.” He laughed again before pausing. “….Right?”

“What aren’t you telling us?” Maleki asked demandingly. “Do you not remember him? He said his name was A-“

“Silence,” Khronos yelled uncharacteristically. “Do not utter that name.”

How long had it been since I had heard him speak like that, a thousand years? More?

Maleki spoke again with caution, “I don’t understand. What’s wrong with what I said?”

I broke the tension with a more purposefully calm tone. “There are many things you do not understand, and that is no fault of your own. Some things must be buried, and you have brought up a name we thought was far behind us by now.“

“Who is he?” Maleki asked.

“He is-“ I began to speak. “He is none of your concern. He’s a memory — one we forgot long ago. You should not be so callous with the names of those you do not know; there is power even in words. You should know that well from your journey that the tree crafted.”

“What did he do to be bound like that? Can I help him?” Maleki questioned Nomen directly. His green eyes flickered with the candle, demanding an answer.

Khronos sighed and turned his head to the side, looking past the walls of the hut as if he were a million kilometers away. “Ananke is not the first to make a deal with Arbor Majikae, but that you saw him in the first place is a testament to the truth that things are changing in ways that we did not predict. That’s all I can tell you.”

“That’s all?” Miko stammered. “I thought we were past the secrets!”

“That’s all I can tell you because that is all that we remember, boy. We have been alive for a very long time; it is wise not to unravel things that have yet to form strands. There are larger threats ahead of us, and an influential ecosystem has disappeared, upsetting the balance of more than just this island. If you dam a river for a few hundred years and then break it one night, you’ll affect more than just the forests that grew in its place.”

“It’s our fault,” Maleki said, letting the previous conversation slide away from his fidgeting hands. “What do we do now? How do we fix it?”

“Find the Ikhons. The souls must return to the tree.”

“Stop blabbering about nonsense, Nomen.” Darted Miko from the side. “What the hell are Ikhons?”

“They are the bearers of Arbor Majikae’s souls. Had you heard the song the tree sang at the beginning of time, you would understand the difference in its tune today and before death. The Leviathan tree is a divine instrument for creation itself; it hums eight primordial chords in unison, to form a perfect harmonic soul.”

“I don’t know about music, but the tree did speak as if through eight synchronized mouths with different voices, each hard to individually distinguish. So we just have to find these so-called ikhons, and then we can repair the tree?”

“It is not that easy, truly divine beings manufactured the tree, and I may be primordial, but that does not make me any more capable than you. I just simply do not age. We will have to figure out a way to contain the souls, but that is pointless until we gather them. You do not pull back the string of a bow and then knock an arrow.”

“Wouldn’t the reverse be true then?” Argued Miko, his voice was childlike but serenely calm when he argued; it reminded me of another of our siblings.

“Yes, which is why Ananke and I will be setting out shortly. You two have been through enough as it is. Enjoy the gifts you have gained.”

“We’re not just gonna sit by and let you do everything!”

“Of course you won’t. But you aren’t ready. You have no control over your majik, you have no experience with a weapon, and you haven’t the faintest clue what else is out there beyond your plot of farmland. This was not started by you; you just did what Ananke and I did not have the strength to do. You are children, go and learn about your world, find the ikhons, or let them show themselves. Ananke and I will figure out the rest.”

Miko’s eyes searched slowly as if he were dissecting the words individually to come up with some snarky retort, but instead, his next reply was directed to his brother with a voice that seemed almost considerate. “And what about you, brother? What do you want to do?”

“We’ve slept long enough.” Maleki paused, acknowledging the kalibers on his wrists. “Kallen asked me a similar question before we started this journey. I thought about it a lot throughout the journey, though I tried not to. Now I just want to find him and answer his question. I want to tell him what I should have said back then. I want to get stronger and find our parents. And I want to save more than just ourselves; if the ikhons will achieve that goal, then I‘ll find them too!”

“You’re awfully invigorated for someone who’s slept through a birthday or two.” Miko prodded slyly.

“All this time alone and you haven’t thought about it? About what you want to do next?”

“Mostly, I thought about you waking up.”

“And if I didn’t?”

“You did.”

“You’re telling me you never thought about it? About what you’d do if it was just you?” “I don’t know, Maleki. You never thought about what it was like if I stopped moving, so I didn’t either.”

“Sure, but that only works if there’s a brighter possible future.” He paused, running his fingers through his hair as if the question was difficult. “So what does my dear little brother’s bright future look like?”

Miko, somewhere between stoic and eccentric, smiled at his brother, like it was a game they were playing. “There’s so much I don’t know. But of everything I learn about, and what little Ananke has told me, there's something wrong with it all. Maybe it started here, and maybe the wind carried it across the sea, and it spun and spun itself into a vortex that’s worse than it ever was before, fueled on its war path. People like you and me, nomajs, we weren’t ever supposed to exist. We were destined for death back home, and we were destined for this journey, a death of its own. I want to ride my decision with the tree out to its end, but I’m not so sure this world needs saving, or if we’re just getting in the way of the tree actually fixing everything.”

“That doesn’t sound like you, Miko.”

“Doesn’t it? We aren’t the heroes from father’s stories, big brother. We have to save the world, but not the kingdoms. You want to know what I thought about if you didn’t wake up? I asked myself, ‘Is a world without my brother a world worth saving?’ I can’t repair something that I don’t fully understand. Grandpa’s books were the only thing I knew about the world before this, but those were just words. I need answers. I need to know how this world works before I can answer that question.”

I smiled watching them, though the reason escaped me. Perhaps it was their childlike nature, but even then, they were wiser than their years, so maybe it was something more, some innate desire I had but long forgotten. I had goals once; I had more than just this Garden.

A few hours later, we stood near the Garden’s walls with the two boys, who were packed and prepared for the journey back to their home. Luckily, Khronos’ spare clothes fit Miko well, and I was able to adjust another set to accommodate Maleki’s growth spurt with the usable remnants of their previous clothes, which admittedly was still not enough to fashion perfectly to his measurements, causing the seams and cuffs to be a little tighter than they might have been before he started the journey.

“Maleki, can I speak with you for a moment?”

“Of course.”

“Let’s walk and give your brother and Khronos a moment to speak about his majik.”

“What did you want to speak about?” He asked as his head tilted around to inspect the trees.

“Maleki,” I said in a soft tone. “Did your brother explain how my abilities work?”

“Only vaguely in his grand re-telling of the events, but I fear he might have been fibbing a little or at least stretching the truth in some places. Our grandfather had a bad habit of that. Your majik is fate, and you can change the present or see the future, something like that, right?”

“It’s not quite that simple, but you have the right idea. You see, Majik, when stripped to the lowest variable, is a control of forces. All of the elements are represented in these categories in one way or another. One can control the very forces of nature and unnature to their every whim. However, though I possess majik in my blood, I do not manipulate a force. Fate is a concept. It does not function the way majik does.”

“You might be better off explaining this to Miko. I don’t tend to grasp this stuff very well.”

“Child, you are far smarter than you let on. Don’t let your brother’s intelligence counteract your own ability to think.”

“I guess you’re right.” he said as he scratched at his head nervously. “I do tend to rely on him for that stuff.”

“And he on you for the more physical tasks, but things have changed greatly in both of your absences. It would be wise to stop relying on each other so heavily moving forward — you both have proven yourselves to be capable, more so even than some with divine blood in their veins. I believe you have learned this by now, but do not underestimate Miko-“

“-I know.” He interrupted, “ I had to learn that the hard way.”

“As did Khronos and I. That might have been the first time we have been surprised in thousands of years.” I laughed. “But, Maleki, do not let him overestimate you either; that is just as dangerous. You can let others overestimate you, but never him.”

“Why do you say all of this?”

“Maleki, I speak of my abilities over fate with both of your best interests in mind, but your brother took considerable damage in his journey to recover himself. And I have seen an event that he must not be a part of; the prophecy must find another.”

We stood together near the edge of the opening to the wall, watching Khronos and Miko as they said their goodbyes. “It has been so long since I’ve seen him smile the way he is right now. He’s changed; we both have. It’s good to see him like this after all we’ve been through. I’ll do whatever I can for him to stay happy.”

“I knew you would understand; that is your nature after all. So, I tell you this next part with great care. In nine months, if you have not heard from Khronos or me, you will need to head to a place called Glimfell. For Miko and this continent’s sake, it would be wise not to bring him to Glimfell with you.”

“I think I understand. If it keeps him safe and smiling, I’ll do what I must.”

“Good. Thank you, Maleki. I wish you luck on your journey. We all have difficult tasks ahead of us, but we will try to find you when we can.”

Maleki walked towards his brother and Khronos, who had already been walking our way. Khronos walked them to the opening in the wall and said his goodbyes to Maleki before heading back to my spot in the clearing.

After a few steps, he now loomed in front of me, finding my hands and locking his fingers with mine.

“I feel terrible,” I said.

“I’m sorry. I do not envy your position, but I would take your place if I could,” he said convincingly through a smile.

“It’s not fair; they don’t deserve the pain that comes next. Part of me hates these powers.”

“And me, my own, my dear. Did Maleki believe you? The lie you told him.”

“Yes, this is necessary,” I said in an attempt to convince myself of another lie. “He believes what he needs to. Miko’s heart must grow colder, or else we are all doomed.”