Alma 75 Ma

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."

"Don't make any rash conclusions yet, boy," said Lacrima. "Neither of us know enough context behind her current situation to make a proper judgment. But what I do know is that she probably isn't in any danger… given that she's being kept alive."

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…

"Can….you...my...voice?"

And after a while longer, they started becoming clearer and clear…

"You can...open your eyes now, dear."

And then...

Reed opened his eyes and violently gasped for air like a madman. Delirious, he roughly coughed and wheezed as he observed his surroundings in a state of heightened anxiety.

"Easy there… Breathe… Let's take it nice and slow. I forgot that this would be your first time connecting to the Nexus. Sorry about that."

There she was, the source of the voice. It was different now, though.

She calmly patted Reed's back and said, "It's natural for people like us, who aren't connected with nature, to experience a feeling of unease when we first connect to the Nexus. Don't worry though, that feeling will fade away over time…"

Reed coughed and said, "Like us? W-What do you mean? Where I am?"

The woman gestured towards the forest in front of her and said, "The Nexus, of course. And as for your other question, a single glance at me should answer that for you, I'm sure."

He turned and saw a beautiful, older lady reassuringly smile back at him. She looked like she was in her early thirties, but could easily pass off as someone in her late twenties. A mature beauty with deep, emerald eyes that gleamed like twinkling gems.

But upon closer inspection, Reed saw something was off about her.

She did not have Avunian ears at all — She was a human.

"You're a... human? But I thought that you were…"

"What, an Avunian? No, I'm quite human as you can see," she said and pulled back her long, brown hair to reveal a set of normal, human ears.

She knowingly smiled and said, "Didn't expect a human, did you?"

"No, ma'am…"

"Ah, no, no. Don't call me that; I hate it when people call me that. That, and 'Your Highness.' We're supposed to be a family. Just call me, Ma," said the woman.

Ma? Really? That's so....

She lifted Reed off of the ground and said, "I've been wanting to meet since Vel' told me all about you, but you never connected once since you've arrived. Luckily, you stumbled into my room, haha…"

"Vel'? As in gramps? How are you related to gramps... if you don't mind me asking, um, Ma…" said Reed as he brushed himself clean.

"He's my husband, silly, and that makes me your new grandma by proxy," said Ma in cheery tone. She pulled out a small pouch and said, "Want a cookie? They're made with all the sweetness this side of the universe."

She handed Reed a large, chocolate chip cookie and said, "Made them with a modified recipe of the one that my Ma taught me when I was little girl."

Reed stared at the cookie and then bit into it after he noticed Ma's expectant gaze. It was delicious and perfect as could be… well, for a cookie. Maybe not as sweet as she had described but that was a given…

"It's delicious, Ma. You've got yourself a award-winning cookie if I ever tasted one…"

"Of course it is," said Ma. "It's light-years better than the my Ma's original recipe! After all, I've been perfecting the recipe for the last four and a half thousand years."

Um, what? Did I hear that correctly? God, can you replay that message again for me?

Has she been in that crystal for the last four and a half millenniums?!

Reed awkwardly scratched his head and said, "Um... Ma? I know it's rude for a man to ask a lady her age, but can you tell me… Well, I have a lot questions now."

Ma laughed and said, "We have all the time in the world, dear. Time in the Nexus is slower by a factor of ten in here compared to the outside world. And as for my age, well... you can say that I'm old enough to have lived before the Unification Era had begun."

Reed's eyes bulged out when he heard that. Old enough to have lived before the Unification Era?!

If she's that old, then how old is fucking gramps?!

Chapter end