Ball of Nothing 306 Professional Gardeners

"We need to host that meeting with the Demon Lords and Archangels as soon as possible. Just four Demon Lords and three Archangels to give consent and sign an agreement would suffice. Freya will be drafting the agreement. Let's arrange this meeting at the Cathedral," Gaia suggested and Zero agreed.

Mother Nature was severely distraught from her ignorance about Garden Eden's condition. Ouroboros didn't blame her. Gaia tried to activate her power over nature to bring the plants in Eden back to life but nothing worked.

"Don't bother," the serpent told Gaia. "Unless this plane is fixed, the garden will never come back to life. Even so, it would require a few thousand years for Eden to return to what it was."

Hearing that, there wasn't much Gaia could do except for assist Zero to expedite the arrangements for the meeting. With the invitation letters sent, it shouldn't be long before they heard any news about the meeting.

Merlin took Zero back that day to discuss how they will transport the water from the Spring of Vitality to fill that pond. He had taken some time to analyse the ancient array in Garden Eden while Gaia visited it and talked to Ouroboros. Zero thanked his teacher and started to brainstorm ideas to modify the seed for the Tree of Life before they planted it. The discussion took up an entire afternoon and both mages missed lunch. Bib wasn't pleased.

The next day, Zero received replies from the invited parties of Heaven and Hell. Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel will attend from Heaven's side. Lucifer, Mammon, Lilith and Beelzebub will attend from Hell. Gaia and Freya were working on the contract and informed Zero that preparations will be ready in two days. Zero hastened to check on the preparations in the cathedral. Merlin accompanied him, afraid that the boy might be bullied by the seraphs and cherubs like what happened on the teen's first visit to Heaven with Hua Tuo.

When the cherubs saw Merlin behind Zero, they immediately formed a line and bowed respectfully. Zero wasn't sure what brought on the change in attitude but he was thankful for that. It was going to be a very important meeting and he couldn't afford to have any slip-ups. The Tree of Life's seed had already been modified and Merlin was working on a way to break Lovina's curse with it at the same time. With so many preparations completed, all Zero required was official approval to proceed. Any further delay in restoring Heaven's plane would only increase the risk of it falling apart.

On the day of the meeting, Zero wore an air of confidence that took everyone by surprise. As he chaired the meeting, his assertiveness impressed everyone in the room. It didn't matter if he was facing Demon Lords, Gods or Archangels, the young doctor spoke like a true ruler with a desire to lead his country to victory at all costs.

For some reason, Merlin saw Hua Tuo's shadow in Zero. Even if he was up against something that wasn't in his favour, the physician wouldn't back down from the challenge and give it his best even if it might end up in failure. Zero's confidence was blown out of proportion during his presentation. Merlin knew the truth. The chance of succeeding was very small if not non-existent. After all, nobody has ever attempted anything like this. Repairing the plane was something unheard of and deemed impossible for even the most powerful wizard in existence.

Thankfully, Zero's conviction managed to get both parties to sign the treaty that Freya and Gaia prepared. Once the agreement was signed, the Demon Lords were told to enjoy the feast prepared. The archangels chose to act as amicable hosts that afternoon while Zero excused himself and informed Zoe through the party call to proceed as planned. He left the feast early after exchanging some words with the Demon Lords who looked at the overworked teen with worry.

"Merlin," Lucifer called out and the wizard nearly froze on the spot in fear. He dared not meet the Demon Lord's eyes because he knew its abilities, not that he had any intention of lying to the ex-archangel.

"Yes, Lord Lucifer?"

The academy dean frowned. Neither Merlin nor Zero looked healthy. Both of them had pale complexions, sunken eyes and dark circles. It was a terrible sign of overworking that he often saw in Mammon and Hades.

Instead of reprimanding the wizard for allowing Zero to fall to such a state, the Demon Lord simply told him to write a letter to him if things were getting too much to handle. "The abyss is an ally of Zero. If he requires any help and is too stubborn to ask for it, as his teacher you should write to us on his behalf. I trust that you will make the correct judgement."

Merlin trembled and agreed. He didn't think that the feared ex-archangel would have such a possessive streak when it concerned his student. From the bits and pieces of small talk that he had with Zero, he only knew that Zero healed Lucifer's blindness. Was it really something that could buy the cold Demon Lord over so completely?

Lunch was a very stressful affair and the wizard found himself craving Bib's homemade meals at that very moment. Zero has been increasing Bib's recipe repertoire so they had days when they stopped eating La Boutique's take-outs and ate humbly. The farm was growing well in Arabesque and the ingredients were very fresh. Merlin had a little more money in his bank thanks to Zero's idea. Once both trees were planted and revived, Merlin decided to splurge a little for his student. From talking with the Demon Lords, Merlin learnt that Hua Tuo gave Zero a graduation gift to acknowledge Zero as a full-fledged doctor. The wizard knew that Zero's completed grimoire would be able to guard against chaos energy but to be safe, the magician wanted to give Zero a lucky charm that will save him if everything else failed. There was an artefact that he had been holding onto for a long while now, sealed away under many divine tiered spells because of how terrifying it would be in the wrong hands. However, if it was given to Zero, Merlin didn't think he had much to worry about.

Back in Garden Eden, Zero welcomed Cleo and Latitia. The dryad immediately gasped when she saw the dead landscape. Latitia cried at the sight of withered vegetation and cracked soil. The young doctor grimaced. He should have told Zoe to let them know just how terrible the condition was beforehand. Their reactions made him feel bad and he had to wait for them to calm down before he could introduce them to Ouroboros and the Tree of Knowledge.

"Welcome to Heaven, you're both registered as visitors under Gaia's name at the moment. I need both your help, you're the people with the greenest fingers I've ever seen. We need to revive Garden Eden," Zero told them.

Cleo and Latitia didn't hesitate to agree but there were too many problems and they didn't know where to start.

"Zero, I don't think we can start working on the plants at once. Everything here is dead from the soil to the water. In order to bring the plants back to life, we need water," Latitia told the young doctor who agreed.

"I will be borrowing the spare water pump from Raj tomorrow to divert some water from the Spring of Vitality. The lab members will be helping me out to build a system using this portal. It's going to be something like that small pond at the back of the mountain in Half Moon Village. The Spring of Vitality can help to restore some of the life that this garden has lost but it isn't enough. I need to run some errands to ensure that the mana leakage stops so that you can get to work in the garden. For now, once the Spring of Vitality has been diverted to the pond, please keep an eye on the Tree of Knowledge. I want both of you to take turns monitoring that tree and inform me at once if it takes a turn for the worse."

Cleo touched the Tree of Knowledge and tried to read the dying tree's memories. Latitia watched the dryad work her magic and waited with Zero patiently.

Once Cleo finished syncronising her memory with the tree and its spirit, she gave Zero a strange look.

"There's a parasite in this tree..."

Ouroboros took offence and decided to make himself known to the ladies. "How rude! I'll have you know that I'm actually a deity that represents immortality of the enviable kind!"

Zero allowed them to be acquainted and stealthily checked the rock formation that Merlin talked about two nights ago. That was where the ancient array was hidden and Zero wanted to verify for himself what Solo created. Perhaps seeing it could jolt some old memories buried somewhere.

The pile of rocks looked ordinary and natural enough to be overlooked but Zero was searching them carefully. Unlike Ouroboros' illusion, the array manipulated with feelings instead of the five senses. Zero felt a pulling tugging at his mind and found his legs walking towards it automatically. The young doctor gasped in alarm and stopped himself just in time before his vessel decided to give in to the compulsion of impaling itself against the sharpest rock.

"Zero?" Cleo called out when she heard the gasp.

Latitia also noticed that Zero looked rather pale and unlike his usual self. Flying over, she checked the teen who assured them he was alright. The flower fairy and dryad who came over didn't seem to be affected by the ancient array hidden beneath the rock formation. Zero frowned. The pulling feeling at his mind eased away with the two ladies present. Was this array something different from what Merlin told him about? Or did this trap only activate because of him? Solo must have thought ahead if that was the case.

Not wanting to risk it any further, Zero told Ouroboros about his plan to split the planes. The serpent didn't comment about it at first but after Cleo and Latitia left, he called out to Zero.

"Are you sure you want to risk it?"

Zero nodded. "There isn't any other way to save both planes. If the Tree of Life grows, it will help to stabilise the abyss and reduce the burden on the Tree of Knowledge. I don't know how both pieces of the plane will react if I cut the connection completely and forge a new one so that the abyss branches off from Heaven's main plane."

Ouroboros made a face. "That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the roots that you're going to cut. What if the Tree of Knowledge dies because of that? How sure are you that the dryad and flower fairy can bring the tree back to its former glory? They're just ordinary mortals!"

Zero deadpanned. "Who else would you suggest then? As far as I am concerned, Latitia and Cleo are the best gardeners I know. I'm not a gardening expert and you're stuck to this tree. Unless you have a better suggestion, I won't be changing the plans."

The serpent couldn't refute that logic and hissed in discontent. Zero thought that inviting over a few professional gardeners would make Garden Eden regain its former glory and Ouroboros rolled his eyes at that naivety. If a few professional gardeners could do the job, why would Gaia struggle so much trying earlier? This didn't make sense!

Zero could understand the serpent's unspoken frustration. However, he didn't feel the need to explain to the sly snake his reasoning for inviting Cleo and Latitia for the job. While it was true that nobody could grow a garden better than Gaia, the Great Goddess had been banned from interfering with this garden in Heaven. Merlin found out that the ancient array had a warding function. There were many complicated layers and magic circles layered on top of each other that Merlin wasn't able to fully understand everything. However, Solo had thought a lot of things out when he created Garden Eden as the soul of Heaven's plane.

This was one place that no Gods were allowed to interfere with. It would explain why Merlin and Gaia were unable to do anything to it but Ouroboros was. Ouroboros was a deity who didn't abide by the rules of Heaven's plane. His existence was created from a lower plane so the rule did not apply to him. The same goes for Latitia and Cleo. Zero was a unique existence and Solo made special considerations for him. While Zero was able to alter Garden Eden and bring it back to life, he shouldn't be the one to do it.

Solo targeted Heaven's plane to be destroyed first and had expected that his future self would arrive and try to prevent that from happening. As such, Solo's trap was in Garden Eden. If Zero fell here and was tossed into the void from the destruction of the plane, he would succeed. That pulling feeling and strong hypnotism to make him severely injure himself earlier after trying to study the array was enough evidence for Zero to confirm his past self's intentions.

Garden Eden was a trap to seal Zero away in the void.

Zero bade Ouroboros goodbye for the day and returned to the cathedral after finishing what he set out to do. Confirming Solo's intentions made things a little easier on him. Solo might want to seal him away but Zero wouldn't allow that to happen. The more Solo tried to hurt him, the more Zero was determined to not allow it to happen. He was a doctor and until he saved Solo from himself, he wasn't going to be defeated.

Chapter end