28_the past

My consciousness is murky, yet it feels slightly different. It's difficult to articulate, but it's as if everything that comes to mind is leaking out like water. This has been the case ever since being absorbed by the collective. Thus, no matter what I think about, it gradually blurs. Gracia... Yuzuki, Etzio, Dr.Ban... Everything I contemplate flows away without disturbing my heart, diluting as it goes. Even my own existence feels blurred.

This state was incredibly comforting. An eternal peace. Suddenly, an image flowed into my mind. It was something I had never seen before, and I couldn't move at will. After a while, I realized it was someone else's memory. The image became clearer.

It seemed to be a city. All the buildings were made of wood, not by cutting down trees, but by growing the trees into the shapes of houses. People walking in the city were supported by plants, carried their belongings with plants, wore plants and flowers like clothes, or moved around on plants.

It appeared to be a city of the Gabeto tribe, likely the memory I was viewing belonged to a Gabeto. And then, the vegetation spreading over the city's sky. Although there were gaps, it seemed to spread like a dome covering the entire city, with light shining through the gaps. It was like a fortress.

At that moment, a dull sound resonated around, a vibration that buzzed right to the core of my stomach. Suddenly, the Gabeto around me started running towards the outside of the city. The Gabeto whose memory I was peering into also ran towards the city's edge.

And then, reaching the edge. The plants encircling the city like a dome were right before my eyes, with the outside of the city visible through gaps in the plants. The first thing I saw was a large moat just outside the city. Unlike now, being on the ground was natural back then, making me realize this is the ground.

Something was writhing at the bottom of the moat, visible plants from the glimpses of their surface. And beyond the moat, on the raised terrain like a hill at its summit, were people overflowing, each with saplings planted in their bodies.

"Kamikaze! Don't let them through!" Someone shouted.

Rumbling intensifies within the moat as the plants inside begin to thrash violently, then suddenly burst forth. It wasn't just from within; plants also erupted from beneath the ground as if tearing through it.

The plants that emerged all surged towards the hilltop in unison, serving as a signal.

"Ooooohhh!"

People atop the hill shouted, their voices echoing.

"Oooooh!"

With their battle cries, they descended the hill, charging towards us. The blend of footsteps and shouts created a tremor-like rumble and deafening noise.

"Not a single one shall pass!"

Angry shouts mingled in the air from our side as the plants raged.

It was disgustingly horrific. I had never before witnessed such a display of survival of the fittest behavior applied to humans.

People were being massacred without a chance, blown away, destroyed, and killed with shocking ease. The power was overwhelming, as simple as swatting flies.

"These mere lookalikes of lower beings!"

Such words reached my ears.

I saw a child of the Gabeto tribe, no different from Gracia, harboring eyes filled with hate and cruelty.

Already, the outskirts were littered with numerous corpses, the ground stained red with blood.

Despite not wanting to look, I couldn't turn away.

All those being slaughtered beyond the fence bore expressions of terror, screaming yet unceasingly running towards us.

The massacre seemed set to continue.

However, the tide gradually began to turn. No matter how many were killed, a second and third wave continued to assault, with more people gradually making it through to our side.

"Retreat! To the city center!"

Someone shouted, prompting the Gabeto around to flee, and the Gabeto from whose perspective I was viewing followed suit, constantly looking back as they escaped.

Escape was a constant back-and-forth, with some humans reaching the fence, where the saplings planted in them began to grow rapidly, benefiting from the energy concentrated by the gathered Gabeto.

The growth of these "Ravenous Trees" was instant. The humans with the saplings planted in them could not withstand the weight and were crushed.

I remembered hearing about humans with saplings planted in them being used for kamikaze attacks against the Gabeto.

And then, without the ability to counter, the trees that had been forming a dome over the city began to break under the growth of the "Ravenous Trees."

The "Ravenous Trees" grew diagonally, forming a bridge-like structure towards the city center, allowing humans to enter the city along it.

The Gabeto tried to kill these humans but were overwhelmed by their numbers, and battles began throughout the city as humans entered.

Humans clung to the Gabeto, and the plants growing from the humans enveloped and killed the Gabeto, or Caught up in the rapid growth of plants, they self-destruct before reaching the Gabeto.

The area quickly turned into a scene from hell, and then the memory cut off.

When I next awoke, the surroundings had transformed into something like a forest.

The growth of the trees was abnormal. Some grew diagonally, upside down, supported by other trees. Trees growing straight up towards the sky were the exception.

It was recognizable as "The Forest of the End," though remnants of the city were still visible, pulverized.

The Gabeto from whose perspective I was viewing attempted to stand but immediately fell, lacking a left leg.

They wrapped plants around where the leg should have been, forming a makeshift limb, and staggered to their feet.

Then, footsteps were heard. A human emerged from behind a tree nearby, a sapling planted in their shoulder, wearing tattered clothes, their body so thin bones protruded, and remnants of restraints visible on their wrists and ankles.

A tattoo on their forehead marked them as a slave.

I had heard of humans planted with saplings being used to attack the Gabeto, a task forced upon slaves and the impoverished.

Our eyes met, and the first expression on the human's face was fear.

Then, the ground near them bulged, and a thick trunk appeared, grabbing their right leg and slamming them against a nearby tree, crushing them.

The Gabeto's emotions flowed into me at that moment, confirming their view of humans as mere insects, devoid of any guilt, only relieved of a nuisance.

And with that, the memory faded again, leaving me outside the forest.

It was a collection of various plants, over 15 meters tall, resembling giant human and dog-like figures, all moving towards us.

Their heads sprouted vast amounts of white fibrous threads, extending towards the rearmost figure, converging into a smaller shape resembling a human, where the memory once again ended.