Darkness. Darkness without end. I was drifting through space with no purpose.
"Where am I?"
I spoke, but my voice didn't come out — as if I had been born without a voice from the beginning.
Suddenly the space around me trembled; dozens of lights and shards of glass floated in the air.
I instinctively knew what they were: the lights were my feelings and the glass displayed my memories.
Then, from afar, lights and many more glass shards approached — more than I had lived in my whole life.
"They're the memories of that tree. What should I do? My mind can't handle all of this at once."
Fear overwhelmed me as I watched the tree's memories and feelings slowly come nearer.
But before they reached me, a shard of Darkness appeared before me.
"The dark shard…"
The shard shook, releasing black mist, then an infinite darkness poured out, surrounding the invading memories and feelings and swallowing them.
"Wait — there are useful memories in there."
I called to the Darkness shard to keep the useful memories.
As if responding, it trembled gently and sorted out a few memories — the tree's meeting with Adam and key moments of the struggle with the White Rose.
"Thank you."
I thanked the shard for saving me and honoring my wish to preserve those memories.
Then I felt a strong pulling force trying to take me out of that place.
"It seems it's time to wake up."
I said, waving goodbye to the shard.
.....
I opened my eyes slowly to find myself lying on the tree trunk — Elianor — and before I processed where I was, I saw Elina rushing toward me.
"Hello, E-"
Before I could finish, she leapt at me, threw herself into my arms and hugged me tightly, rubbing her head hard against my body while her voice trembled with fear.
"Nox, thank God you're okay."
The situation surprised me — why is Elina here? Isn't she supposed to know the tree is peaceful unless Riana wakes up?
"I'm fine, Elina. You can let me go."
I tried to push her away but she held on, hugging me tightly.
Ronan and Riana — who seemed awake as I expected — appeared, but embarrassed by the situation they turned toward the clearing's entrance.
Gasp, gasp.
I heard sobbing, looked down and found Elina crying on my chest.
"Elina, why are you crying?! Calm down, I'm fine."
I tried to soothe her, but it got worse; I gave in to the moment, hugged her gently and stroked her back until she calmed.
"Hic I was so scared. I thought the tree would kill you, and when I found out it was peaceful I thought you were safe, but the tree said you would inherit its memories. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to handle it."
'So that's why she was crying. Who would have expected this girl to cry so hard?' I thought as I felt her small body shaking and hugged her tightly to my chest.
"I'm fine. The Darkness consumed all useless things, so please stop crying."
I calmed her gently, patting her hair.
After a moment Elina finally lifted her head and looked at me; her eyes were red from so much crying. I raised my hand and wiped her tears with my fingertips, then chuckled quietly.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Well, I find it funny that the princess of WhiteHaven cries like a girl who lost her parents."
I said, smiling at her mockingly.
Elina puffed her cheeks annoyed at my words, then looked down murmuring in irritation.
"You can't blame me — I thought I'd become a widow."
Her words made my jaw drop in shock.
"A widow, for God's sake — we're not even dating."
I stammered quickly.
"I don't care if you die. I'll stay single my whole life."
She blushed deeply and buried her face in my chest, trying to hide her embarrassment.
'I thought she was affected by those feelings, but it turned out she's clumsy by nature. Good that no one else was there or it would have been a scandal.' I covered my own face, which had grown hot from embarrassment.
After we freed ourselves from the awkwardness we went to the others.
"Good that you're alright, Nox."
Ronan greeted me with a smile. True, he's afraid of me for some reason, but that doesn't mean he hates me.
Riana nodded from the side, smiling gently.
"Thanks for trying to save me even though it was a misunderstanding."
She said, laughing nervously at the situation.
"No need to fuss. Let's get to work."
I stopped talking and turned toward the tree, calling to it.
"Elianor, can we talk?"
The group was surprised by my action — none of them knew that name.
Several roots approached us, each gently taking hold of one of us.
[No one has called me by my name except Adam. It's been a long time since then.]
The tree said tenderly as it retrieved memories of the past.
The three others were puzzled, especially Riana who didn't know who Adam was, so I briefly explained everything so they would understand. Once they nodded in understanding I refocused on Elianor.
"I'll be clear. You will die — we all know that — and because I want to thank you for not killing me or harming my friends, and to apologize for attacking you, I'll grant your last wish. So please tell me: do you want anything?"
My words stunned the others; only Elina remained unaffected because she seemed cold and unbothered.
[A last wish, huh? Then can you promise to kill that cursed flower?]
Her voice was weak with a touch of hatred and anger at the mention of the White Rose.
"I'm planning to do that anyway, with or without being told. After all, I need to survive in this world. Do you want anything else?"
I nodded at her request and waited for her last words.
[Hmmm, dying from the curse is very painful. So can I ask you to kill me with your own hand?]
The others froze at her strange request, especially Riana who loved the tree more than the rest.
I stared at Elianor calmly and asked in a neutral voice,
"Why do you want me to kill you specifically?"
I was curious why she chose me.
[It's simple. On one hand, you're someone who saw my life and felt what I feel; on the other hand, you're the only one who will kill me without hesitation or guilt. Am I wrong?]
She smiled at her words and I replied,
"No, you're completely right. It's true I've seen your memories, but that doesn't mean I'll hesitate to kill you."
I summoned my sword and approached Elianor.
The three stared at me in silence; none dared speak.
As I neared, her trunk opened, revealing a wooden heart she had gained thanks to Adam. The curse covered the heart and was consuming it slowly.
Without further delay I raised my sword and cut it quickly.
Slash!
The heart split in two and then shattered into pieces.
[Thank you.]
Elianor said with overwhelming joy; she had found salvation after all these years.
I heard the status message for the first time in a long while.
[You have slain the blessed tree: Elianor.
Level. 7]
'Finally I heard it. I thought I would only kill the Monsters controlled by the cursed flower !! Hmm, what's this?'
I looked in surprise at Elianor's broken heart. There was a green shard gently pulsing in the ground.
'This is strange. I don't remember anything about shards in Adam's era or after — the Abyss only invaded this world recently, and there are no memories of Elianor obtaining one. Where did this shard come from then?'
My mind filled with thoughts as I bent to pick up the green shard from the ground.
[A plant-type shard found.]
'If I tried to fuse with it I'd go crazy. I could sell it to the Alliance or to the families and get a lot of money, or craft an item from it. But let's think about that when we leave this world.'
The others were far from me so none of them could see the shard, so I hid it in my armor. The last thing I wanted was betrayal driven by someone's greed.
I looked up at the sky; the darkness was intensifying. True, I could still see, but the others couldn't and they needed rest.
Then I turned my gaze towards the trees of the forest. They had stopped moving and were all dead. After all, the only reason they were alive was because of Eleanor, who had protected them all this time
"Let's rest here today and continue tomorrow."
I told the group to prepare to camp.
Ronan moved already intending to light a fire. Riana stood sadly for a moment but soon regained herself and began helping.
Elina approached me, smiling gently.
"Are you okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Nox, I know very well that you're not this cold-hearted."
"...."
'I would be lying if I said Elianor's story didn't affect you. After all, you lived her whole life, but I'm someone who wanted to end his own life — killing others won't hurt me.'
"I'm fine. No need to worry."
I answered calmly.
Elina smiled and stepped onto her tiptoes, leaning on my chest. Before I could understand what she wanted to do, I felt warmth on my right cheek.
Elina kissed my cheek gently. I stood frozen, not knowing what to do. After a moment Elina end the kiss and stepped back, smiling shyly.
"How did it feel to be kissed by a beautiful girl like me?"
She bared her teeth playfully trying to embarrass me, but her flushed face made her look funny.
'Is she mocking me? Then what about this.'
"I would have been happier if you kissed me on the lips, but this is fine for a child like you."
I said quietly without revealing my reaction. Elina froze at my words; her face turned so red I could imagine steam rising from her head.
"A — a kiss on the lips?!! That's a bit much, but if you want—"
She said very bashfully, but I didn't allow her to continue because I knew she would do it.
"I'm joking. You need to control yourself or the others will notice."
I said, pointing to Ronan and Riana who were busy and hadn't noticed us.
"Uh, you're right."
Elina said, trying to regain her composure.
'Cute girl. Maybe if we were alone I wouldn't mind kissing her, but we have to wait until we leave here.'
I thought as I turned my gaze away and considered our journey to the temple.