Chapter 22:
Whispers From Realmspace
When her tears finally began to slow down, Addie meekly squeezed out a question, “What now?”
“Now? I take you home,” Christena winced slightly, her chest seeming to be a bit sensitive after the beating Addie had given her with the stick— though it seemed like she was trying to hide it. It was strange though, for her to do that, Addie thought.
She finished adjusting her position and bounced Addie slightly to get a better grip under her legs, then tightened her hold on Addie’s back with her other arm. She turned around, simply walking out of the forest.
Addie didn’t know what to feel. Everything was so weird and chaotic now. Was this the same Christena that Addie had grown up with, playing with, and loving? Or was this the Christena from the basement, who wanted to hurt her?
For a while, the two of them were silent. Christena simply walked back to the village manor, and Addie watched the scenery pass by as she allowed herself to be carried. She remembered how Squishy had been confused about the way Addie was left in her room at the beginning of all this. How come she hadn’t been tied up? If Christena had been watching from out in the hall, how come she didn’t try to stop Addie from bonding with Squishy? Why did she say she’d use Addie for the ritual, back when she still didn’t even have magic?
But, her mind felt far too exhausted to worry about all of that right now. She felt sleepy, like her brain was in a fog— not to mention how drained her magic was, too. Addie had a hard time keeping her eyes open; she hadn’t slept in nearly two Binary cycles, now— two days of hardship. It was easy to fall back into this routine, the normalcy of just being carried by her maid.
It also felt disjointed, like she shouldn’t trust this woman or that she could be traumatized all over again any moment. That’s what kept her from closing her eyes completely. A slight anxiety in the back of her head that whispered, what if things went wrong.
“Where are we going now?” Addie finally broke the silence after they had been walking for around ten minutes.
“Home now, little Addie,” Christena answered simply.
“You said everyone was safe, but I saw you kill an old woman in the basement,” Addie replied in the same simple tone, as if she simply pointed out trees were green: an observation without venom.
“Do you perhaps mean this woman?” At that, a few feet in front of them, the visage of the old woman came into view. The elder waved her hand at the two of them with a bright smile, then dramatically sunk into the floor. Addie swore she read her lips which silently said, “I’m melting.”
“A fake!” Addie cried out in surprise. “But, I was hiding in the furnace! You knew I was there?”
“Oh, silly little Addie. Of course I knew you were in the basement with me. I baited you down there, after all.”
Addie just opened her mouth, not quite sure how to react and angry at how easily she had been deceived.
“You tricked me!” she accused.
“Of course, I tricked you. I am bonded to a Slyfox you know? The creatures known to be masters of deception? Even those ‘fireballs’ I was throwing around at you, don’t tell me you didn’t notice they had no actual heat? All of my magic is illusory.” Christena’s foot crunched a leaf as they kept walking. They were nearing the village outskirts now, almost out of the forest completely.
Addie had known that Christena’s magic was illusory, she often teased Addie with it! But, Addie thought Christena had gained more power, or perhaps had cascaded. Addie had been tricked from the beginning, she started to realize. But why? All of this hardship, for no reason? Somehow, that almost felt worse than Christena actually being evil. It felt like betrayal, and it made her incredibly angry, upset, and frustrated.
Addie’s boiling emotions were interrupted as Christena started chuckling.
“Why are you laughing?” Addie frowned up at Christena.
“Nothing really. Just remembering how you are still a child. Though, maybe a bit too ruthless for one. You did nearly bash my brains out with a stick, after all. That was not very childlike of you.”
Addie’s tone darkened, in direct contrast to Christena’s seemingly upbeat sarcasm, “I thought you were going to kill me.”
That sobered Christena right up, “Well, that would do it, I suppose.”
“If everything was just a big trick, how were you and Dad frozen in that big blue bubble?”
“Well, I wouldn’t want to spoil everything for you. I will tell you, though, your dad and I worked on this for months to come up with a proper bonding initialization for you.” Christena’s face hardened.
She seemingly changed the topic. “Do you remember how your dad bonded with Dorple?”
“Yeah,” Addie said, crossing her arms over her chest as she was being carried.
Her dad had mentioned that, those many days ago when she begged him for a bond. He’d only been allowed to bond with Dorple because there had been an emergency in the village, something only a bonded pair could solve.
“This is the way magic bonds work, Addie,” Christena explained gently, “Only when your soul cries out to the world for help, only when you are most desperate, do the strings of fate find a suitable bonded for you. They will be drawn to you by instinct, like moths to an open flame. Squishy found you because of your perceived danger, and for that, my dear, you now have magic.”
“So tell me, Addie, my sweet, was it worth it?”
Addie had to think about that; she did love her magic, and she loved Squishy more than anything, too. She didn’t want to be in a world without him.
Frowning, Addie reluctantly nodded her head, “Maybe it was worth it, but I still don’t forgive you by the way.” Addie pouted “I mean, I thought I was gonna die. I ran through the forest without water, and an Aurwolf almost ate me. If this was all just a big test, why did such awful things happen like that?” Addie felt a grudge forming. “And how come you set up that big fight in the basement! I already had Squishy by then.”
Christena frowned. “When you bonded with that lizard-cat creature, your father and I were not expecting it. We had a expected a lower caste bonded creature, a Krefft Mouse, perhaps. The amount of panic and turmoil your soul experiences influences the power of the bonded creature attracted to you. Squishy, as you’ve named him, has amazingly powerful, but most importantly, unique magic. We didn’t expect you to teleport away from the manor. In this case, it wasn’t intentional, but that scaly, teleporting creature came to you, and after that, your dad and I lost all track of you once you entered the forest. Then, things became dangerous.” Christena paused for a moment, considering.
“You know about cascades, right Addie?”
Of course Addie remembered. She thought maybe it’d happened to Christena, after all. “That awful bedtime story where bad bond ignitions can make monsters?”
“That’s right,” Christena took a moment to catch her breath, still wincing from the bruises on her sides, then she continued, “Because your father and I didn’t know that the scaly cat thing would find you, we didn’t make it to your room in time to help with your bond ignition. We thought we had more time. I ran through the hallway, but you vanished just before I reached the room.”
Christena paused for a moment, to catch some of her breath. She then readjusted her arms, jostling Addie just a little bit.
“Since you are so young, and because we weren’t there to help you, we worried that the unexpected bond ignition with such a powerful creature might cause you to cascade.”
“His name is Squishy,” Addie defended, “He’s not ‘that other creature’.”
“Right, Squishy,” Christena easily agreed with a nod of her head.
Christena stopped walking and gently sat down on the gravel path, placing Addie in her lap. She let out a big trembling breath. They’d just reached the outskirts of town.
“Originally, we planned to have you stay in your room overnight with whatever creature bonded with you. In secret, I would have monitored your bond ignition to make sure it went smoothly, without a cascade. Then, you would have solved a quick few puzzles to get used to your new bond. Lastly, you would have ‘defeated me’ and then your dad and I would have revealed that you had passed the test.
“Instead, you vanished from your room after the bond ignition with Squishy, and we couldn’t find you for days. We only found you again when you entered the stream, but at that point you’d already thrown away the bonding crystal.”
With one hand still cradling Addie in her lap, Christena used the other to pull the bauble of Fluffy out of her pocket again— Addie hadn’t even realized she’d picked it back up after throwing it earlier!
She put it back in her pocket before continuing, “You see, this figurine uses an enchantment to check the state of your soul, either giving or taking away magic as needed to check. So, we had to make sure it came into contact with your skin to check if you had cascaded or not.
“Addie, I don’t know if you can understand, since you are still so young. But if you had cascaded...” Christena trailed off. “When you came back to town, it was more important that I tested your new powers, and made sure you hadn’t cascaded, rather than welcome you home.”
Addie flinched, that didn’t make any sense! After all of the hardship in the forest, Christena still thought Addie needed more struggle before she could go home? Addie turned her head away from Christena sharply and hmphed.
“I want you to understand, Addie. You could have been a danger to the town. The best way to test you, to see if you had become a monster without using the figurine, was to see if you still wanted to save your dad. It was a test of your morality, and you passed splendidly. After that, I wanted to double check by using the figurine directly, but you kept teleporting all around. Only once you weren’t moving, when you were in the tree, did I have a solid chance to actually hit you with it.”
Addie stewed with all of that information for a little while, refusing to speak or look at Christena.
“Addie...” Christena started.
Addie interrupted her, “So you didn’t let me get chased by an Aurwolf for no reason?” Addie asked.
“You were chased by!” Christena started to shout, with concern on her face. Then, she shook her head, “I’m sorry you went through so much, Addie. It was my failure as your guardian... I’m sorry.” The apology didn’t really make Addie feel any better. “I never would have let you get chased by an Aurwolf, we didn’t find you until after that.”
They continued in silence for a little while; the entire time anger stirred in Addie’s chest. “Why did the test have to be so awful!? So many times, I thought I would die...” Before she knew it, she was crying again. Hot, ugly tears ran down her face.
With her uninjured hand, Addie tightly bunched up some of Christena’s maid uniform, trying to squeeze out all of her anger. That only made it worse, like all of her anger tensed up in the palm of her hand.
Christena didn’t respond for a little while, looking up at the sky. “I’m sorry,” she said again with a long sigh.
“It’s not okay.” Addie sniffled, “It’s really not okay.”
She scrunched up her face tightly as more tears fell. At some point, Christena stood back up with Addie still in her arms and continued back toward the manor. After a little while, Addie finally stopped crying, and the anger slowly started to fade as it was replaced with exhaustion. She wanted to sleep for a week. But, she hadn’t forgiven Christena, even if she was too tired to be angry.
After some time, Addie still wanted more answers. “How did you bait me?”
“I’m sorry?” Christena replied.
She turned her head a bit to look up at Christena, “You said you baited me into the basement. How did you do that?” She looked up at Christena’s face.
Christena smiled, then stopped walking for a moment. She looked down at her chest pocket, the same one she’d reached into earlier, then replied to Addie, “My hands are a bit full carrying you at the moment, could you reach your hand up into my left chest pocket?”
Without saying anything, Addie slowly used her right hand to reach up into Christena’s only pocket on her entire maid uniform.
To no one’s surprise, Addie’s hand wrapped around the smooth, polished stone that looked like Fluffy. She admired the object in her hand and rotated it around; it looked exactly like it did the first time she saw it— a pure red crystal figurine of a Slyfox. The color of the gemstone that made up the bauble the same exact color as Fluffy’s eyes.
Chuckling, Christena said, “You can have it if you want. First, we used it to check if your soul was strong enough for your first bond. After that, well, you are a curious girl who loves to snoop. I figured it would also get you curious enough to try and learn more about it. After you found it, I knew you would keep investigating.” Christena’s lips upturned into a sly smile, “From there, it was just a matter of waiting until you came back and ‘overheard’ me talking about the basement.” Christena tilted and nodded her head a bit in acknowledgment, “Though, spying on me using the crawlspace like that? You are a clever little girl, Addie.”
Addie smiled genuinely for the first time all day, “The crawlspace is my favorite.” Then a seriousness overtook her face again, “But I guess you knew I was listening from the start anyways,” she grumbled.
“That’s right.”
Addie let out a frustrated sigh.
“Don’t worry little Addie, you still have plenty of time to learn.”
“What about the witch? And that giant deer, too!” Addie would be getting all the answers she wanted.
Christena snorted, then smiled, “It sounds like you had quite the adventure! And maybe encountered one of the only documented first-caste animals,” Christena said as she referenced the ranking of various magical creatures.
“Wow.” Addie wondered aloud.
For a few minutes, Addie recounted her tale to Christena, about her rapid flight away from the manor and subsequent arrival deep in the forest. She complained about all the hardship she underwent, without sparing any of Christena’s feelings. She made sure to talk about how upset she still was, just to drive the point home.
She told Christena about the massive trees, and about exploring her powers with Squishy. She talked about Realmspace and soul damage. She talked about the horror she felt when she thought the Aurwolf would eat her. She disgustingly recounted what it is like to eat raw fish. When she got to the tale of the witch and her bonded tree, Christena’s face betrayed nothing, no hint of detail or intrigue to mystery. Christena accepted the tale and just let Addie talk as she recounted all of her fears, wonders, and more from the last few days.
“The witch really scared me, you know. I thought she would never let me leave, and if I couldn’t leave, I worried if Dad would get hurt.”
Unsaid between the two of them was the implication that at the time, Christena herself was the danger Addie was talking about. Christena seemed to deflate at that.
“Addie,” Christena stared into her eyes, “I truly am sorry. If only we had known a better way.”
Silence passed awkwardly, for a time, but eventually, Christena started talking again, easily falling back into her role as Addie’s teacher. “That ancient witch is well known to us. She’s lived in the village for nearly forty years, and she looks just as old and scraggly now as she did back then, too. I was a tiny little girl when she moved in,” Christena explained.
Confusion writ itself across Addie’s face, “You know about her and just let her stay?” she asked accusingly.
“Nothing is ever that simple. Besides, she’s mostly harmless anyway.” Christena paused for a moment, considering how to explain, “It can be dangerous bonding to something so alien as a tree. Those minds hold complexities— while not necessarily more complex than you or I, so vastly different as to be nigh unfathomable—”
Addie interrupted, “What does unfathomable mean?”
“It means hard or impossible to understand,” Christena continued her explanation as she walked, “That witch’s mind has been warped by the tree she bonded to. Her body as well. I’m sure you yourself noticed changes when you bonded with Squishy.
“When the witch bonded with her tree, she presumably slowed down her aging, mimicking the long lifespan of a tree. Her mind too, was changed. What is moral or immoral, just or unjust— such things don’t matter much to a tree. Minds? Minds can be changed and altered. What do you think does matter to a tree, Addie?” Christena questioned as she turned her lecture into a quiz.
“Uh, good sunlight or water?” Addie replied hesitatingly.
“Yes, but not exactly what I mean. Trees like hospitality. Now, the witch you met? She’ll do anything to be hospitable. Even if it means twisting her guests’ minds. Her very perception of hospitality is unquestionably alien. What is hospitable to a tree? I suspect, ‘hospitable’ might not even be the best word to use, as her view of it can trap us humans so easily. Trees share nutrients with their young, even commonly with saplings of other trees. Adult trees shade saplings from the harsh light until they mature, and the adults keep them alive with nutrients when they don’t have enough light as a result. By nature, trees nourish their young, overbearingly and without question. Trees never move about, after all. So, if a tree wanted to leave? To escape the protection of the grove? Well, such a thing is crazy to a tree. Nothing wrong with altering your mind until you accept your very own reality as madness, so long as you remain protected. This is how the witch thinks, and how she has been twisted and shaped into what she is.
“She’s dangerous for sure, but ultimately harmless. If you had gotten stuck in her trance, she probably would have let you go after a time, but only after you had been nourished to supreme health. Ultimately, leaving that old hag alone is easier than uprooting her. Names are meaningless to trees, so she never speaks of having one, but we call her Hagal, after a myth for a keeper of ancient trees.”
“Hagal,” Addie spoke the name aloud, “Huh. She really won’t tell you her real name?”
“It’s not so much that she won’t tell us her real name, more like she doesn’t even understand the concept of owning a name. Others can have names, she might even call you by yours. But the idea that she herself could have a name? That’s alien to her mind, now. Trees don’t communicate with names or sounds. Anything Hagal says to you as such should be remembered in this context: Hagal is only half human. She speaks to you in only half-remembered platitudes and as a vessel to work her magic on your mind. Trees communicate instantly, almost telepathically— through their roots. Perhaps you even felt as though she planted a root within your mind as she tried to twist your perceptions. What Hagal needs to learn is: while people love to rest under a canopy of leaves, they still ought to have the freedom to come and go.”
Addie thought about this for a while. It felt scarily accurate to the experience she’d had with Hagal the witch.
After that, Addie simply watched the trees pass by. She was content to be carried in Christena’s arms for now. Once they got home, though, Addie was going to take a long break from being around Christena.
***
Anticipation sparked in Addie when the manor came into sight. She couldn’t wait to see Squishy. Some of her energy had returned, too, so she might even be able to get up out of Christena’s arms, now.
“Hurry Christena! I want to see Squishy.” Addie started tapping Christena’s shoulder with her hand as she emphasized her excitement. “Can’t you walk any faster?” Addie groaned out as if she would die from impatience, “I can see the door!” she pointed at it.
Christena laughed, “Hold on for just a moment, we’re almost there.”
When they reached the door, Addie experienced a sudden moment of panic: what if this was just another trap? Maybe Christena’s sudden change of heart was just as suspicious as it seemed, and she did plan to do something terrible to Addie, after all. Her breath hitched in her throat as Christena walked up the front steps, still cradling Addie in her arms. Before they even reached it, the door opened.
And Squishy jumped up from the entryway nigh instantaneously, while Addie’s father held the door ajar with a big grin on his face. Squishy landed on top of Addie, adding more weight to Christena who now carried Squishy by proxy of him sitting on Addie’s chest.
In the forest, Addie had managed to convince herself she felt safe in Christena’s arms. Despite that, only now did a certain weight fall off of her. She basked in the comfort only possible from the other half of her soul-bond— her partner, her magical companion. While she might have been before, now she was truly safe, and all her doubts fell away.
The welcome home was so warm.
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