chapter 1

Within a forest, on a small island surrounded by water, a young man sat, his eyes staring of into the distance. his clothing torn, brushing against his skin with the wind.

this was William's favorite spot, one of the mans best friends, though he had passed away not too long ago.

"hey, Luke!" a voice yelled from the distance, one sounding like it came from another his age, screaming for Luke.

Luke sat, not paying attention as he calmly breathed. questions swirled his mind as he his thoughts went back to the day when he lost a friend.

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Luke went down the pathway in his village, folks using powers and showcasing on what they can do, and doing what they do best. fabric condensed into string, a purple glow surrounding them as they intertwined into different fabrics of clothing.

Luke smiled, watching as many others contended with the different tasks, making items, food, and repairing damages that have been done overtime. wood and mud floated, fixating themselves onto the cracks, as if it were brand new again.

As he walked down the dirt path, another youth caught up to him. "hey man, what do you want to do today?" the boy asked Luke, snickering as if he knew what the answer would be, though asked anyways.

"I'm just taking a stroll, no need to get all worked up." Luke responded. he couldn't understand what he meant by it, though he didn't bother it anymore as he continued on his path.

The youth was dazed for a bit, looking down at his hands. "it.... isnt this too soon?" he mumbled to himself, just audible for Luke to hear.

Luke turned around, taking a glance as a question got stuck in his throat. He watched as someone he considered a friend glow in a bright white light, outlined with a shade of yellow, vanishing as if he didnt exist in the first place.

Luke stood there, dazed. he didnt know what just happened, and by the looks of it, he was the only one that noticed.

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Ever since then, Luke had been coming to this place. Everyone else didnt believe him when he talked about William, making him look like someone deficient in energy.

Luke sighed, knowing who is coming. She is another of Luke's friends, though only one of the three he had, including William. She was the spoiled one in their group, while William was the more mature, seemingly knowing more than the others by a long shot, but they were friends till the end.

After William seemingly vanished from everyone's mind, she took up the mantle of most mature, as if she was that way the whole time. Memories of years without William implanted themselves into Luke's mind, though seemingly rejected the next second, keeping his old memories, he still kept them, somewhat vaguely.

"Yeah, Yeah Maria, I know im not 'supposed' to be here, but who cares what that old tree says?" Luke yelled, knowing he was going to be found inevitably.

"Oh? Talking back to the tree of life, are we?" Maria asked, her steps approaching Luke from behind. "if I didn't know any better, I would think you were being rebellious saying that."

Luke stayed silent after hearing that." You dont know anything, Maria. He was my friend, our friend, yet why am I the only one who remembers?" He looked back, seeing a girl with a hourglass body, and a red velvet dress hanging onto her body, flowing to the ground, the bottom of it fluttering as if she had no feet, though everyone knew she was flying, her legs hidden beneath.

Maria's face turned solemn, turning to look into a certain direction. Luke followed her gaze, seeing a black dot in the otherwise blue sky." It's time for you to go, luke. That 'old tree' you talked about is calling for you specifically. You better not make it mad."

Luke was pissed, he didn't get a response from Maria, yet now he had to leave to meet with the wise tree of their village. He took a deep breath, standing up as he looked towards the horizon. "Ugh, better see what it wants."

Getting up from his spot, Luke darted off into the distance. He ran as fast as he could, knowing it wasnt a far distance away from him, since the tree was nearby, rather a tree connected to the tree of life.

Multiple trees passed by him, not like a blur, but indicating the speed he was going, though it was above average at best for someone without any powers to speak of.

the leaves on the trees gradually changed from green. to blue, while the bark on each tree started getting more darker until it reached a shade of black. this indicated he was close, as the energy was more concentrated here due to the life tree having a branched off version of itself here, releasing the energy into the atmosphere, thus changing the life nearby as it consumed the energy.

Luke slowly came to a stop, a huge tree being seen in front of him. it was darker than the rest, yet each leaf carried its own blue flame, though emitting no heat. each leaf produced and released the energy in this way, and was thus responsible for the reason the other plant life was a more shade of blue than green.

Within the base of the tree, a archway could be seen, and through it a white light. Looking at it, Luke didn't find it blinding, it was more soothing than anything. He remembered walking here with William, having his old friend walk through it in his stead, and coming out with a mysterious power, yet he didn't describe it to anyone, including himself.

Luke took a deep breath, and walked straight in. his body came into contact withe the white light, walking through it as if it was a curtain with the only purpose is to block anyone from peeking inside.