Standing among the flowers on the grassland, Nicholas is gazing at the mountains. A woman lands beside him, and she says calmly. "This domain is a calming one, right?"
"Right. No one can feel uneasy in a safe place like this domain," Nicholas smiled while crossing his arms on his chest.
Beneath the group of trees, Juan is dipping his hands in the stream of the river. A sigh of relaxation comes out of his nose. "It's cold and at the same time, relaxing."
A breeze of air hits him, and he smiles. "I'll miss this by the time I return to Manila."
A growl echoes in his ear, and Juan turns around. There was no one behind him, and he returned his focus to the lake. A wooden hand hits him right on his face, striking him away until he hits the grass away from the trees.
He stands up as a tall fat man walks out of the shade between the trees. The fat tall man has a body covered in wood, the same as Acacia but his arms down to his hands are larger than his fat body.
He's bald, he has two large yellow-green eyes, and a green goatee made of leaves. The fat bald man chuckles enough to make the body of Juan shake.
"You laugh like a crow!" Juan screamed, "I'm terrified of crows!"
"Do you know a woman named Aya? Well, she teleported me to this place," The fat bald man looked around him, "I hate to lie but this place serves as a serene environment. I have to move on, so, you fucker, tell me where the exit is."
Juan shakes his head, his breathing is faster, and his hands are shaking. "I don't really know, I promise!"
"You!" A young woman yelled.
The fat bald man turns his green-yellow eyes at her, and a gust strikes him, pushing him away from Juan. The fat bald man seems to like the attack as he was laughing while drifting in mid-air. He rotates backward in the air and lands on the ground on his feet.
"For a wind attack, not bad." The fat bald man showed his teeth through his grin.
Standing beside Juan is Nicholas, a young man with dark short hair, trimmed sides, he has a pair of brown eyes, and his jawline is chiseled.
He's wearing a green coat, and inside that coat, lies his white shirt, partnered with green pants, and a pair of sneakers.
A gentle breeze of air blows over the wide land of grass and flowers, and the clouds move along with the wind as it moves in the blue skies.
"You're Radish!" Elesia yelled with a hint of anger in her voice.
"Radish? You mean the one in Sinigang?" Nicholas couldn't hold his laugh.
"Hey! STOP LAUGHING AT MY NAME!" Radish pointed his finger at him.
Elesia raises her hand in front of Nicholas, stopping his laugh. She speaks, "My sister already killed you, how are you standing here? You must be an illusion!"
Radish shakes his head and smiles slyly. "I am stuck here for I don't know how many years."
Elesia narrows her eyes. "Are you saying that my sister is a liar for not killing you?!"
A thought of killing Radish manifests in her head but Nicholas steps forward, and she looks at him.
"Are you here to fight us or are you just finding an exit?" Nicholas looked straight into Radish's eyes, waiting for an answer, "Because if you want a fight, you're lucky that we just came from training."
Radish shakes his head and raises his hands, letting out a chuckle. "Relax. I just want to go out of this place, I don't mean to fight any of you."
At his words, Nicholas opens his hands but Elesia remains cautious. She narrows her eyes and speaks with anger. "You're the reason why my sister lost her beloved!"
Her green eyes flash a green light, and in her palm, a bright green aura covering a scythe materialises. She spins the scythe and lets out two energy slashes at Radish.
"Hey!" Nicholas tried to stop her anger.
Radish jumps away from each of the slashes. He looks at the trees behind him, and they all fall in half. Elesia reaches him and swings her scythe straight at his face, and Radish calls forth a wall of vines in front of Elesia.
Her blade cuts the vines, and she doesn't see any traces of Radish. The ground behind her began to move in a wave, and Radish came out of it. He slaps his hand against Elesia, sending her flying away from him.
"I said, I didn't come here to fight!" Radish told her again, "I won't deny my crimes but will you listen to my side first?"
Elesia is standing on her feet with her scythe hanging over her shoulder. "You'd better explain the truth!"
Radish releases a deep breath, followed by speaking calmly to her. "I've killed your sister's fiancé, and I even fought your sister but she defeated me with the soul of her fiancé."
Radish continues speaking, "I may have the advantage to win against her but what made her powerful to defeat me was her duty as the protector of your people.
"She didn't rest or give up in fighting me until I didn't notice that I was the one who was getting tired. At that moment, I saw a moment that I would lose, and that came to reality.
"I pleaded with her not to kill me after I desired to live, and I think, trapping me in this place was her answer to me."
A thought to stop fighting him appears in Elesia's mind but that wasn't enough. She looks at him, still serious. "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right here."
Radish didn't flash any smile or any pride but he showed her a determined expression. "My own kind didn't search for me, and that realisation was enough for me to think deeply. If it weren't for your sister's kindness, I wouldn't have realised that not all humans are evil."
Nicholas steps into their conversation, and he asks, "If we're going to help you out of this place, will you help us in defeating your own kind?"
Elesia looks at Nicholas with wide eyes, and she narrows them before diverting her gaze to Radish. He looks down at his big wooden palms. "I would be lying to myself if I told you that I can turn my back on my own kind.
"The wooden sage who gave birth to us has manipulated our minds into thinking that your kind deserved to be enslaved but what I am seeing right now, I oppose with his beliefs."
He steps closer to Nicholas but Elesia aims her scythe at his throat. "Stop going near him or I will bury you here!"
Radish sees the anger in her eyes, making him stop from moving closer to Nicholas. Radish raises his hand towards Nicholas as if he's reaching out to him.
"If you have a bit of trust in me," Radish said calmly, "please, hold my hand."
"Why would he fricking hold your hand?!" Elesia deepened the blade against the throat of Radish.
Her bitterness didn't stop Radish from reaching out for Nicholas. He stares between Radish and his hand, and Radish tells him. "Through our contact, I will connect my roots with you, and you will be able to see the truth in my memories."
Nicholas inhales deeply, making his own decision. He shifts his eyes at Elesia, meeting his gaze, Elesia becomes calm, and she lowers her weapon as Nicholas holds Radish's hand.
A surge of energy flows through the veins of Nicholas. A green light conquers the eyes of Nicholas, and he screams. He blinks, only to find himself standing in front of a colossal tree.
"This is the tree that the maiden drew," Nicholas whispered.
"That is the tree of sage which gave birth to us," Radish spoke while standing beside Nicholas.
The colossal tree releases a giant seed from its branch, and Radish speaks, "This was the moment where I was born."
He smiles while seeing himself standing while swaying from side to side as he moves. His younger self began to run towards a tree bearing a mango fruit, grabbed it from its branch, he began eating it whole.
The colossal tree opens its large mouth. "You sure have a huge appetite... I think, I will give you the name 'Radish'. From now on, you will train yourself to become strong, and dedicate yourself to the success of our kind."
Nicholas looks at the present Radish beside him. "Hey, I think you're a high seed, right?"
Radish nods without looking at him. "I am the second-ranking high seed but I think Acacia replaced me."
"Acacia? Oh! Is he a calm dude?!" Nicholas' eyes widened at his finding.
"Yeah. You know, the sage can determine our ranking based on our mark," Radish pointed to a mark on his belly, "I got this from eating too much."
"Where is the part that I'll believe in your words that you've changed?" Nicholas brought out a question.
The plain of memories around them accelerates faster in the blink of an eye. Radish stops the memory at a point where he reached adulthood. A scene of Radish killing many humans, tearing them in half appears in front of them.
Nicholas couldn't believe his eyes at the screams of his own kind. Radish lowers his head and looks at Nicholas whose eyes are wide in terror.
"I have nothing to cover my crimes," Radish spoke, "but after I fought the older sister of the woman you're with."
The scene of memory switches to the scene where Radish is using energy beams against Aya, and Nicholas sees the clear struggle on Aya's face.
"A moment of my bad side drifting into a good one appeared in my mind," Radish told Nicholas.
Radish smiles warmly while looking at the flow of his memory. "It was a day that my beliefs were tested, and a sense of desire for a change manifested in my heart."
"I couldn't forget those eyes that tore through my defences," Radish added to his own words.
He turns his head towards Nicholas and speaks calmly. "After this connection between you and me, I want you to not stop whatever her decision will be."
Nicholas who now sees the depth of truth in Radish's words, disagrees with him. "I can't allow someone to kill a being who wants to turn towards the good path."
He shakes his head and stares into the green eyes of Radish. "I will do anything to change her mind if she lays a hand on you."
Radish smiles at the words of the young man. "It's easy for you to say that because you are not the one who's standing in her own shoes. Listen, I saw that she suffered so much, and if killing me will ease her burdens, even a little bit of that burden is enough to make me forgive myself."
Nicholas speaks more but his eyes widen as he's now standing on the same grassland. He looks up quickly, and Radish punches him right in his face. Elesia's eyes widen while seeing Nicholas being thrown away by the punch from Radish.
"No!" Nicholas stood back on his feet as he ran towards Radish.
Elesia kicks Radish, her foot landing against his chest. He gasps and hits against a tree. Radish pushes himself away from the tree while emitting green energy from the holes on his body, moulding them into a sphere.
"How can your evil kind use natural energy?!" Elesia reached him, and cut his hand with one swing of her scythe.
Radish didn't speak any words. He regenerates his hands and thrusts them towards Elesia. Nicholas lands between them, his landing releasing a wind pressure that pushes both Elesia and Radish away from one another.
Nicholas looks at Radish. "I believe in your own words! But if you want to show Elesia how much you regret what you did to her sister's boyfriend, I highly suggest that making her kill you is not a good choice!"
Radish shakes his head. "You're a fool for stopping her from having her satisfaction!"
Nicholas punches Radish, hitting his face. "By killing you? It might give her the happiness she craves but she will gain conscience!"
Nicholas spits on the ground. "Listen, Radish. If you want to redeem yourself, then, help us fight your kind or you can stay here and do nothing."