A far away place and a far away time

“What does that mean?” The Kei question caught the two adults off guard. Xiao for his part even felt shocked at the question. For all the abilities displayed by Kei in the short time they had been together, he should have been the best source of information.

However, as soon as Xiao thought more on the topic, the more he calmed down. There was a reasonable explanation in his mind - maybe Kei didn’t want to expose his knowledge in front of a foreign person. After all, just because he knew about Kie didn’t mean others needed to know too.

“You’re seriously asking this? You lived with the knowledge about this world for about 14 years and you mean to tell me that you never came across the disaster that is the world tree’s bloom?” Noah asked, his body now facing the child.

Kei for his part maintained the calm facade and Xiao was impressed by him. Noah could get scared when he was in his moods, but Kie was doing an excellent job of keeping a straight face.

“I really have no idea about it. Perhaps you can enlighten me?” Even if Kei had chatted it with a neutral face, Xiao felt that tone was a little weird. As if Kei was trying to rile Noah up without offending him. Xiao was not sure why, but he was not going to interrupt him right now.

“I don’t have time for it. Xiao makes it quick, whatever you need to do. Please, we can’t be late for this. And if you are going to take this with you, keep him in line. I’ll take care of the shop for the time being” seemed like Noah was really in a hurry to grab this opportunity. There was no real complaint from his side and Xiao had a feeling there won’t be one if all this went well.

Better for him, since it meant that he won’t need to struggle with it for some time more. Thankfully Kei had decided that the time for gloating had long since passed. There were no more complaints about any of this.

Once his cousin was out of the door, Kei turned toward him with a questioning look.

“Will you now tell me what all that was about? You looked really freaked out about that” Only after that had been asked in a no-nonsense tone did Xiao really understand that Kei’s question earlier had not been a joke.

He actually had no idea what the emergence of the world tree branch meant.

“How can you not know. Don’t you know where your black butterflies come from? Can you only use butterflies and nothing else? If I dragged you with me then you must have seen all the other animals your powers could morph into” Xiao’s voice was almost a shrill. How could one be so clueless? If nothing else, once Kei came into his power, his guardian or anyone else around him should have informed him.

“I told you before that I don’t keep up with ants. My powers have always been a part of me so I never felt the need to inspect for more. Does it happen often? With the world tree?” There was curiosity in Kei’s voice and Xiao debted on how to best answer him. He was not sure just why he couldn’t tell him the truth. But somehow he felt that the truth would only hurt him more.

After all, no one wanted to know that their power or something similar to it has caused others to pain unknowingly. He himself was not an exception.

But after much debating, he decided that truth would be better to be known early on.

“World tree, I’m sure you have heard of it before” Xiao began from the very start to gauge out the reaction of the child. Kei’s nod told him that he was not as unaware as he seemed. So he continued.

“It’s a great source of power. In many records - the only source. I have a book somewhere which details it out. You can have a read while I freshen up” Xiao muttered as he pulled himself toward his room. While all his workbooks have been kept relatively reachable, other leisure books have been locked up with his personal collection.

Finding the right book had been easy though since the books of his personal collection didn’t see disturbance very much.

“Here, have a look while I freshen up” he held out the book to the tall teen who had followed him inside his room. The teen froze for a second but quickly took the book.

Kei looked at the book in his hand, debating whether to actually have a look or not, but then decided to actually go along with it. Having the facts universally agreed by everyone would be good for his cover. Not that he cared much if Xiao didn’t have a problem.

Still, now that he had time while Xiao was freshening up, he might as well give it a look. The front page if the book was blank and devoid of any personal marks. The book looked brand new, but the dust gathered around on it spoke of neglected times.

There is a tree at the beginning of the world. The tree is huge, radiant and the only source of light in the darkness around everything.

Space contains nothing else but the radiance of its brilliant leaves which glowed in different colours.

And in the centre stood the symbol of it all - the avatar of life - the world tree. With a wave of his hands, creatures bloomed, the darkness retreated. The shadows which lived in the darkness gained a form.

The radiant leaves which the tree bestowed on these shadows gave them a corporeal form that emerged as creatures of today. The blackness melted down toward the feet - hiding from the light behind the corporal form.

For the first time, the creatures could breathe.

However, not everything was as liberating as it seems. The light of the tree was brilliant and the shadows felt the pain from it. The once vast kingdom of the shadows had been reduced to but a mere circle of new bodies of its slaves.

The shadows were in pain, but the oppressors no longer could voice their complaint. Freed from their rule, the creatures no longer listened to its pleas to come back. They no longer wanted to listen to their oppressor’s voice any longer.

However, the cries for help did not stop. They just grew louder till one day they reached the world tree’s avatar. Those cries were a source of comfort to the lonely avatar of the world tree, perhaps a friend even.

But that was not to last since they were growing smaller as time passed. The creatures across the lands rejoiced in its misery, however, Lord Ashvattha could no longer ignore the empty space.

Despite every warning from the world tree, their avatar decided to help the shadows. Lord Ashvattha was everything right and great - just like the world tree.

Despite every misgiving, he decided to help the shadows, even if he himself had to do so.

However, the shadows had lost their corporeal form and been doomed to not have them ever again. Lord Ashvattha despite all their power was an avatar of the world tree. Their capabilities allowed them to dispel darkness, not help them.

So they turned to the only thing in this world who could hear their plea and help them. They turned toward the World Tree for help.

And just like every wish is fulfilled, it decided to fulfil the wish of its host. However, the price for the wish was not to be small. And it was not only asked of the one wishing, but of everyone involved.

The world tree has a weird concept of what a wish is though, and when its host is compromised, the consequences are dramatic. Maybe Lord Ashvattha should have taken that into consideration, but the wish was already set at that point.

The world tree took in the shadow into itself, sealing it into its power. However, that turned out to be fatal. Not for it but for the creatures across the land. The shadows didn’t want to be chained. Losing all their support and will to live, all they wanted to do was to disappear.

However, that was stripped away from them forever. Against their will, they were bound for their own good.

In their resentment, their power brewed and mixed with the world tree. The once brilliant world tree but the clear beautiful colours for the first time bore a crystalline black branch. The caterpillars on the tree turned black as did the animals which are those leaves and the cycle continued.

Those creatures were docile at first, but as time passed so did the number of black branches and animals. However, that was not all. The world tree was not enough to curb the resentment of the shadows for their imprisonment.

When the news reached Lord Ashvattha’s ears, he grew worried. To rectify the situation, he decided to free the shadows from their imprisonment.

However, when they tried to do so, they found that they couldn't. Much time had passed and the two powers had merged without any end in sight. They could no longer be separated.

But the mistake had been made and the now freed shadows wreaked havoc across the sacred sanctuary. They could no longer be stopped.

This was the first Black chaos the world witnessed. The seemingly harmless creatures of black suddenly gained ferocity and began attacking. They had never been seen before and nothing worked against them.

That was a total nightmare for everyone involved. Lord Ashvattha, however, took all the burden of sealing the darkness itself. Even if it meant that there would no longer be a world tree.

Perhaps there was a wish involved, perhaps not because Lord Ashvattha had already used his own. But everything came to an end when the world tree disintegrated into a shining power of black.

All that reminded me was a clearing of ashes and a new sprout - clear and bright as the world tree before it’s contentment along with a child covered in black tattoos.

That is who grew up to become the first wish granter of this world. The first of many to follow.

As for Lord Ashvattha, they were never heard from again.

However, from time to time, the black branches of contamination emerge from the earth. No doubt the price one had to pay to keep the world tree alive. Wherever these branches emerge becomes a ground for the small black chaos to occur.

So be careful in this world because the resentment of darkness still lingers around you.

“Is it that interesting?” Although he had not been fully engrossed in reading, Xiao's voice still startles Kei. His eyes averted from the book toward the white haired man dressed in a casual full sleeve T-shirt and baggy pants. The long wet hairs soaking his shirt.

“It’s something. Is this what the world thinks happened? Isn’t it just too usual of them to see this world in purely good and purely bad situations?” Kei asked as he closed the book and left it on the table.

The elder man had taken the seat opposite to him while still working the water out of his hairs with a towel. Xiao shrugged while looking at Kei.

“That’s optimized for you. If they have a target, people will pin everything on them. I think they did a pretty good job with sticking up the facts with their limited information on this topic” Xiao commented. He genuinely felt that the situation had been no one’s fault.

Not even that fool. Even if he could not forgive him personally, the situation had turned out for the better.

“Still, to shift the entire blame toward the shadow had not been right. For all, we know Lord Ashvattha might have been the bigger factor in all this with his selfishness to save his friend and to no longer be alone” people had such thoughts, Xiao was sure of that. But no one generally voiced them out.

It was universally agreed that Lord Ashvattha had been their saviour. Had provided them with the wish granter and was still watching over them and purifying the world tree. Whatever thoughts one had, they kept to themselves.

As for the shadows, well they were fair game. There was nothing redeeming about them at all. Till now people felt that they were the one thing at fault for everything.

“It’s for the better like this. Grey areas are never a pretty spot to be in. At least this way there is peace in everyone's agreement” By Kei’s frown he knew that he did not agree and Xiao just sighted.

Kei was not emotional enough to be swayed by the story or his emotions. Perhaps there was a personal reason behind all this. After all, his powers were those that emerged from the mixing of shadows with world trees so it was possible for it to be personal.

“Well, we can continue all this or we can get our work done by meeting the siren agent today. I made a call while you were reading and she agreed to meet us at 11:00 in the agency home” This was a peace offering from Xiao’s side. Kei looked ready to argue but if they started they would likely miss the entire day.

From the look on Kei’s face, it looked like he agreed to drop the topic too. Ugly topics should be avoided till they no longer could and if this particular topic never surfaced, then all the better. Plus, there were worse things to be subjected to. Namely, the company to come.

“Fine. We’re entitled to our own opinions here anyway. An agency you say? Is the person we are about to meet a very high profile? You looked worried about this meeting before” Now that the topic had been dropped, the air between us felt much better.

There had never been any real tension, his instincts had never allowed there to be, but it had not been comfortable either. It had just been weird and unexplainable.

But despite all that Kei had picked up on his uncertainness and unease about the situation. It caused a small smile to bloom on Xiao’s face.

“It’s nothing. We’re going to meet Sara Brown, the recent rising star of the ranks. She made a wish in the past and has yet to pay her price” Xiao began, but seeing the doubt on Kei’s face he continued “It’s not her, but her manager. Every time she visits, she asks me to introduce her to more young talented people. It’s uncomfortable and overbearing. What am I, a dating service?”

The laughter that followed his exaggerated words did cheer him up though. Kei had a nice laugh.