Edited by: tommyjl7, and Flubbykin

Lanele could not believe her own eyes, her last few months were like a dream coming true. One, her mother agreed to let her leave the forest to have the journey of her life until she would reach the age of priesthood. Two, her friends allowed her to form a party with total strangers, with extraordinary reputation and after testing their skills, yes, but she was left “alone”! Three, she found out that one of her companion is a natural shapeshifter, and damn, they are bloody rare! Four, the same shapeshifter appeared to be a hierophant! She knew that he was a druid, but actually being one of the cult leaders?! There are only a few dozens of them in the whole world! Five – she learned that he is not just-a-hierophant, but hierophant of long-forgotten school, one which was eradicated before her mother’s birth!

And now, grande finale, during ritual the Mother herself came from her land of EverGreen to greet them… and to bestow the highest blessing upon that one man.

It was as if the world held all of its wonders for this very moment, so Lanele could witness them. It was almost yelling to her:

She wanted to cry. In these past few months, she saw, touched, learned and felt more than past hundred years of her life. Ah, Zariel was becoming an oak tree because of Mother’s kiss, achieving the enlightenment. In theory, Zariel could fail, in that case, he would not obtain the blessing, but after everything she saw up until now, she simply knew, that there is no way for him to step off the path. The ancient one was trying to achieve the same goal – for centuries he was meditating, trying to understand the true meaning of All-Life, the more he understood, the more the oak tree accepted him swallowing more of his body in the process.

Lana looked at Gisele, the girl she already loved like one of her sisters, she wanted to know if she was rejoicing just like her.

- “Gis, why did you unsheathe your sword?” priestess asked without realizing what was about to happen

- “Zari…” dragoness whimpered looking at her love growing branches and leafs “… THAT CUNT TURNED MY MATE INTO A PLANT!”

Before entering Gisele promised to honor the goddess. The same she just called a cunt.

- “WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!” redhead almost cried

- “Hm? Maybe I just wanted to keep him all for myself?” Avatar of love winked teasingly putting finger on her lips. She approached still growing tree that already lost all his human traits and hugged it tightly “… mine!”

She smiled.

Gisele knew that she was a goddess, she knew that there was no chance of harming a celestial being with a physical weapon. She also didn’t care.

- “OVER MY COLD-DEAD BODY!”

She jumped in the air and slashed vertically. Aira, which was standing next to them, was merely a visualization of the goddess, she could just stand in place, for every physical attack would simply pass through her as if she was a specter, yet she decided to jump away with nimble moves.

Slash, stab, another slash and headbutt, all missed their targets as Aira was slowly moving further into the center of the clearing. None of the druids interfered. Reason? They couldn’t even comprehend what was happening. Once again, dragoness raised her blade above her head and brought it down, and once again goddess effortlessly moved to the side. Yet this time, Gisele thinking that she finally cornered the Mother put all her strengths in this one blow, performing an advanced version of [Powerful Strike] – [Heroic Smite].

Yet, it also happened, that the place that was struck with dragon’s fury was a stone altar, the one that was used for millennia by druids to perform most sacred rites. The same stone table, that just cracked in half.

- “HYAAA!” one of the hierophants let out the most primal scream of terror, seeing the most sacred altar, on the most sacred mountain during most sacred night being smashed into pieces.

- “The-the-the-the-the-the ALTAR!” somebody cried plucking hair from his head “…. It’s defiled!”

- “DIE, YOU BITCH!” Gis shouted once again

- “GODDESS! OFFENDED!” another one whimpered

Yet all this time, Aira looked as if she was enjoying herself.

- “I don’t understand you, child…” she kept mocking “… you are acting as if it is something serious, I mean, I have merely lent him to you! He belongs to me from the day of his birth…”

- “SHUT YOUR TRAP!” the berserker’s madness completely took over her little brain.

- “You could have slept together, but look at him now, he is WITHIN me, inside of me! You will never be able to be THIS close to anyone even if…”

- “DIEEEEEEE!”

It was a miracle that no tree was harmed, especially Zariel, for – let’s say it bluntly, Gisele wasn’t very sophisticated with her slashes and collateral damages were a matter of time.

- “Hmph, looks like your brain is not ready for a logical conversation right now. Shame. Wanted to tease you a little more…” Green haired woman sighed “… Sooo… I guess I will be going, everyone, take care of her. See Ya!”

She strike an “idol pose”, by tilting her head to the side, putting “V” formed fingers near her open eye and winking with the other one, then she disappeared with a “puff” sound.

Avatar of Love. You could say “The Child” was the most unpredictable one, but you could always try to have some form of bargain with it. The Lover, on the other hand, was always doing what she wanted to, pushing people in all forms of the most awkward situations and then leaving them be. You could easily say, that she was a spoiled teen that just wanted to have fun, even if it meant pushing other people into all sorts of problems… or maybe, especially when it meant pushing people into all sorts of problems.

- “GET BACK HERE, YOU CHICKEN!” Dragon roared in the sky

And then, the awkwardness fell upon everyone gathered, only to be quickly replaced by anger.

- “I get it, the Mother in her current form can be troublesome… but to trample the herbs, break the altar and offend the Life-Giver herself?”

One of the older hierophants massaged temple of his head with both palms.

- “The usual punishment?” one asked quietly looking at the ancient one

- “I am afraid it is inevitable.” Sage responded with sad expression all over his face.

- “Usual punishment?! What is your usual punishment?!” Lane shouted. She knew that Gisele committed many sins, but she still could not feel bad about her, in the end, it looked as if Aira was doing all of this on purpose.

- “Oh, cutting stomach open, nailing it to the trunk of the tree and forcing the victim to run around it until she would run out of her intestine.”

- “SHE WILL DIE!”

- “Of course she would, it is a death-sentence.”

But dragoness didn’t seem to hear anyone else, she just crawled to the tree and put her hands on the bark.

- “Zari, hey, Zari, you hear me?” she asked poking the trunk “… if you hear me wave your branch thrice, oy, bastard, stop playing with me, I know you hear me! So stop… so stop… YOU FUCKING IDIOT! How am I supposed to bring you back to the inn!?.. wait, I can always chop you down and bring your upper part, right?”

- “DON’T!” Lanele tried to stop her friend from committing yet another grave crime

Sooo… If I am not mistaken, Aira turned me into a tree, I can’t know for sure, for I am lacking… sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste. I was left without stimulants I could interpret. BUT, before my senses grow dull I am pretty much sure I saw leafs growing from my fingers.

Damn, Gisele must be freaking out. I just hope she won’t cause any troubles to the folks out there, I have studied Celtic mythology a little and I know, that friendly druids like Panoramix didn’t really exists. The kind of druids that sacrificed humans to feed oak trees with their blood, on the other hand, were quite… numerous. I have no reason to believe that they would treat her nicely if she would pull any form of trick.

Welp, in that case, I gotta deal with my current situation as fast as possible.

Somehow, I can’t summon status screen no matter how many times I try.

Can’t use magic either. Let’s use my outstanding intelligence to gather all the facts regarding my current situation.

I am 99,725% sure I was turned into a tree. My mind is “sitting” in this numb darkness. I can’t use magic, I can’t summon status, sins and codex are silent. There is only one thing left I can do.

I can Panic.

…

….

………

……………….

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT DAMN IT! AIRA! IT’S NOT FUNNY! I AM AFRAID OF THE DARK!

AIRA! YOU INSENSITIVE SOW! WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO MEEEE!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Hmph. Panic-ing does not help either. Fine. I am officially out of ideas.

Hey! Wait! A tree is a living organism, living organisms can evolve if they would gather enough experience! You gather experience and stats points not only by “killing” but also by doing your “job” related tasks. Lumberjacks get little experience when chopping trees, as an alchemist I got itty-bitty exp each time I crafted a potion.

I am a tree. My class is most likely a tree, and thus is my job. And what is tree’s job?! THAT’S RIGHT!

HERE I COME!

Gooooo! PHOTOSYNTHESIS-OOO-VER-DRIVEEEE!

You Will see Gis! Just give two-three decades and I am sure I will rank up! I will be done in a flash!

Nope. Not happening. No matter how tempting being self-sustainable is, I would rather have more freedom in choosing place, time and way to do it.

On the other hand… It’s not that bad, food, “home”, damn, by becoming a tree I achieved more than I managed to do in my previous life.

Also, what kind of tree did I become? I hope that not some cliché oak-shit. Or some pussy-willow, that would be gay. Not that being gay is bad, it’s just… you know, my bestie would never let me live that down. Birch? Naah, to political. Some fruit tree would be cool, no apple tho, too biblical, last thing I want is some snake tempting girl to take fruit off me. A pear-tree?! I love pears!... Or cherry! I could use them for cakes! HA! That would be the next level of self-susta…

FUCK IT! Zari! You are tree for 5 damn-minutes and you are already growing mad!

HA! Jokes on you! I was never normal, thus I couldn’t become mad! At least not because of becoming a tree.

Screw this, if I am a tree, I don’t want to be anything less than Yggdrasil!

Madness part is behind me now, so I can focus on calming down and re-evaluating my situation.

Breath in, breath out, breath in…

You are lacking air passages which would allow you to perform breathing…

AHA! I was prepared for that! STOMAs! Have you heard about them!?

I did, and I know that they are either open or shut, thus allowing for permanent passive respiration which would..

OH, SUCK A C… Wait

What now, me?

Shut up, me, I am thinking.

What are you doing folks?!

Great, another me appear, just shut up! I thinking that I found something….

Cool! What is it?!

TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!

Me?

No! Him!

Me?

No, the other me! You!

Me?

Yes, you, who are you?

You

No, not me – you!

Yes, I am you.

Just answer the damn question! Who are you!?

I have told you!

Are you deaf?

No, you is blind!

.

Well, that’s point, BUT YOU ARE ALSO BLIND!

That’s what I just said.

You just said what?!

I did not say what, I said you.

That’s what I am asking you!

And you is answering!

Shut up! You!

Yes?

Not you, him! What’s your name.

Me.

Yes you!

I am me!

He is me, and I am you!

And I am about to you whoop all yo asses! CAUSE I AM SICK OF PLAYING GAMES!... Wait, I know it from somewhere…

You were just talking that you found something! – the other me said. Or maybe it was you? Oh, fuck it. Invite also Myself and I, and the party would be lit.

Yeah, if you would focus on the “roots”… or at least I hope these are my roots, otherwise I am some weird tentacle bug, and that would be nasty, so, behind these roots, there is something that I… You.. M… FUCK, EVERYONE is connected to…

And then I understood. I wanted to cry and laugh at same time. I had everything on my palm this whole time. These “hints” alter egos, connections…

I was not a tree.

I was the World.

But also a tree. And other trees. And other lives. The more I focused on connection, the more voices I started hearing. The cacophony was overwhelming, yet by concentrating and focusing I could isolate my own thoughts.

The world is one being. One creature. One body. Made of billions of existence and consciousness becoming part of it, just like cells building a body, like atoms build of molecules, the world is also building bigger universes. And each universe is also building something.

The meaning of life is…

Everything changed. The World collapsed, broke and cracked. Mountains turned into dust, sun liquidized itself and fell into the ocean which vaporized.

The ice was burning hot, air was polluted, gases froze in mid-air after being touched by flames.

The chaos. The pre-world.

Four elements were twisting. Shaking, yet not mixing.

- “Tell me Zari, do you believe.”

Aira said taking a seat in the darkness next to me.

- “Believe? The question is irrelevant. I have literally talked with gods and..”

- “That’s not the question. By instinct, do you have something questionable in which you believe. There are other worlds, some like your old world, where gods no longer interfere with people, merely watch and judge, did you believe then?”

- “No. it was pointless.”

- “Pointless? Faith in never pointless.”

- “Back then, these were nothing more than lies.”

- “Indeed, but needed one.”

- “Why should I believe in lies?”

- “Little lies…” she corrected me “… and you have to believe in little lies, like, Santa, monster under bed or gods, so you could believe into bigger lies.”

- “Bigger lies? Like what?”

- “Love. Mercy. Justice. Redemption.”

- “These are not lies… Yes, they are questionable, and relevant, but..”

- “Oh? Is that so? Look what happened with a world. This is a world with no faith. Ruled by logic that was not invented, by science that was never stabilized. Turn the world to dust, then sift through a sieve. And show me, the molecule of justice, the atom of mercy, the electron of redemption. We do believe Zari.”

Goddess said with a smile.

- “And beliefs of others give us strength to perform a miracle. I will let you see, how the world you know has come to life, and how the life has come to the world.”

And I fell, yet I was falling up high in the sky of falling stars, and I saw.

- “Who are you, little soul.”

The creature made of clouds of toxic gases asked me

- “I am life.” These were words that I had to say. It was simply stronger than my own consiouness.

- “Life? Isn’t it too early for you to exist? Ah, my manner, you told me your name, so I will tell you mine, I am Uranos, Zephyr, Caelus, Ouranos. Urobors. The Beginning. The end. First to rise, last to fall. Looks like ol’ Aira sent you to say regards. Very well, close your eyes, open your heart. And see. Here I blow the air into your soul, may it fly with my winds, down on the earth, tell my Gaia, that it’s time…”

He inhaled loudly, and blew the tempest, and I started ascending down, through the paradoxes till I hit stones that shattered into sand, and sand that was as solid as stone.

The feminine creature emerged from the dust, with long brown hair and golden eyes.

- “Uranos sends you?” she asked with curiosity

- “Indeed, I am life.”

- “Pleased to meet you!” she cheered “… name’s Gaia, Tellus, Terra, Echidna, the one that crumbles and ascends into oblivion, untouched. Life, you say? Isn’t it bit too early?”

- “Uranos said that it is the time.”

- “Pff, course he said that. Celestial spirit or not, boys will be boys. I will answer his call, but hey, you need to have something of it, soul as you are, should be clad in the body. Let the earth embrace you and form a body, a vessel for your mind, now go and call the others.”

She takes a handful of dust from the ground and blows it in my face.

And earth swallowed me, yet I ended up in the sea, and sea, like thetwo before, took a shape of humanoid.

- “Hi! Are you my new friend? Wanna play? Name’s Acqatios, Okeanos, The limitless, unbound, you?”

- “I am life, Gaia told me to…”

- “NOT THAT AGAIN! These two lovebirds are always like that, stretching their hands, yet can never embrace, this is why they use me as their bloody messenger, as if I have no better things to do… But if you are here, it looks as if I have no other options, do I? So be it, I shall evaporate from Gaia, delivering the message from her to the skies, and then I shall fall as rain with a reply… But you, so free with wind, yet bounded by this earth-ish shell, let me bring circulation in the vessel, let the life of your soul flow through your body…”

And ocean squeezed me from all sides, pouring itself into the armor of mud.

- “One left to finish the cycle” she smiled waving her hands as the ocean turn into the lakes of liquid magma.

- “WHO DARES TO ENTER MY DOMAIN” devil-like eternity formed of flames cried with a voice of thousands tormented souls.

- “Name is life…”

- “WHY SHOULD I CARE, INSECT?! YOU ARE NOTHING BEFO… life you say? I am Zulvurius, Helios, Prometheus, the Scorcher of all, last ember, igniter of souls. I am the Sun, I am the core of the World, I am a breath of life… and so shall you be bestowed with my gift, LIVE, INSECT!”

The flame scorched my vessel, arising it from numbing embrace.

And tree cracked, and spat me out. Died and reborn, reborn with knowledge, the notification returned, which I had to quickly skip, for what I saw before my eyes was quite a show.

- “UNTIE ME YOU GREEN BASTARDS!”

Gisele was being carried toward the tree bound in the vines. Someone was sharpening the ritual knife, Lanele was arguing with sage trying to, apparently, save dragoness. Altar was cracked, clearing looked as if small tornado passed through it. And all I could do was to raise my voice and ask the question.

- “Excuse me… but what the fuck?!”