16 Chapter 16 - Sprou

With two different flames in hand, the little boy thought that since Hei Long still looked spellbound and preoccupied, why don't he merge the two objects for the meantime, and give it to him after everything's done. He was sure Hei Long would accept it without much resistance if he'd do it without him knowing. He looked, and weighted the beautiful flames, on his left hand he had the white ball of light, and in the other he had the flickering golden flame. After weighing everything, the little boy closed his eyes, and enjoyed the sunlight on his face for the last time.

"Here goes nothing," the boy said, as he began to merge the two objects, colliding the two of them and letting them devour each other, and within a few seconds the two were fused as one.

Eyeing the golden flame, he was sure it looked exactly the same as the golden flame. It looked exactly as it was before, as if it was never fed or merged. It looked nothing new, just the old golden flame flickering from time to time. However, the while ball of light was gone, no traces of it could be found on the flame on his hand.

"This is?" he said. "It's the actual thing?

It was actually the first time he did something like this and maybe it was the last, which was why he was baffled after doing the whole thing.

"Yes, boy, that's it." the ancient being said from his mind. "What did you expect?"

"N-nothing!" face red, the boy said. " I thought there would be something, like booming and whooshing, that might happen while fusing, and after fusing it.

The ancient voice said, "It's called phenomenon, boy, not booming nor whooshing, but a phenomenon. It only happens when something extraordinary occurs, so do you thing it's easy to invoke a phenomenon?"

"But didn't we invoke some?" The boy nodded as he remember that they did invoke some of it, inside of this place. "What about the energy that barged its way through to get inside here, didn't that invoke a phenomenon?"

"Yes..." the ancient being trailed off. "We did because it was supposedly hard to gather such energy much less summoning your--"

Before the ancient being finished talking, something behind them cracked. "C-c-crack-crack!

The little angel slowly turned, and saw what it was, that made such a crisp sound. Behind him, it were actually spiderweb-like-cracks caused by the small hole, a black hole with electricity coming out of it, to be precise.

"Quickly put it on his body or else the world will crumbe to pieces! And everything will be for naught!"

The little boy who was now pale as snow saw the cracks had spread its way to the sky above them, and the sea beneath them.

"Yes!" the little boy scrambled his way toward Hei Long, and placed the golden flame on Hei Long's chest. But it had some sort of resistance against Hei Long as it didn't merge as quickly as he thought it would.

It didn't want to go inside of him, merge, and move on. It was simply resisting, and it was resisting hard.

The spiderweb-like-cracks never let every moment go, as it seized the valuable time, spreading its destruction.

Seeing the cracks, the little boy pushed the flame with greater power. "Come on, you can do this. They believe in you, and don't it let go to waste!" He was scared, so he tried to bolster his courage with self-encouragement. Although he was scared, he never stopped doing what could. "Everything will pass," he said as he trembled.

Meanwhile, Hei Long, who was most likely the cause of all of this, was still standing still. He didn't seemed to notice any of it, as if everything wasn't visible to his eyes, and senses.

"Grandpa, what do we do?" the boy asked. "The flame won't accept him, and he's not reacting!"

"Boy..." the ancient voice sighed. "Just get out of this place, you will both die if you keep this on."

"But big brother will--"

"He will die if you keep that thing here, cause the cracks in the void is because of that thing on your hand. "

"W--what?" the boy asked. "Why is that?"

"It's because of the phenomenon, boy. It's just too strong for Hei Long's world to shelter and keep."

The boy shook his head, and yelled, "No, this can't be! Brother needs this!"

"I know, my boy, " the ancient being said. "But both of you will die if things go on."

"Grandpa!" the boy begged as he choked down a sob. "Please, I don't want to leave, and I won't leave. He'll eventually die without receiving this, and I can't let that happen, not now and not on my watch!"

"Boy, don't do this."

"Please, tell me what to do." he begged down on his knees. "I'll do everything, so please tell me, what to do, Grandpa."

"Boy, I also want to help him. But if this is his fate then we can't do a thing about it. I do have a way to save him, and if the gods pity him then he will be save."

Eyes shining with hope and joy, the boy asked while trembling with great joy. "W-what it is?"

"You won't like, so don't get your hopes high."

"Grandpa," the little angel said, "quickly tell me!"

"Pray," the ancient being replied, "boy, pray. If the gods, good or bad, hear your prayer, they might considered after looking at Hei Long."

"Pray?" the boy said with anger present on his face. "But the gods hate him, they brough him nothing but death and sadness. They tore him down like he was their toy, t-t-they--"

"Boy, calm your anger. Not all the gods hated and treated him like garbage, there were some who helped him.

"Help? Help him? If they did helped,everything would've been fine. But, why did they have to let him suffer and forget eveything who he was, and let the cycle go on and on. And they even planted something even they, themselves, feared in his body!"

"The gods have their own plans," the ancient voice said. "And we have to abide by the rules they've made. And in this moment... all that we can do is pray, and hope that some righteous god pass by and help him pass this test."

Although the little angel hated the gods, he didn't really hate all of them. In this world, the gods could interfere whenever and however they want. Nothing could really stop them but the gods themselves.

In the end, having no choice, the little angel swallowed his anger and pride. For his love ones, he could do almost anything. So he closed his eyes, clasped his hands over his head, and knelled down, while the whole world, this world, was undergoing destruction. Yes, Hei Long's sea of consciousness was crumbling down to pieces, the spiderweb-like-cracks were spreading all over place in an unprecedented rate. The sun, which was once hung above the sky, was slowly falling down, heading towards the ravaging sea where they stood.

"If his sea of consciousness dies, then he, as the owner, will also suffer the same fate," the ancient voice murmured. "Boy, you need to leave. This place will fall in a matter of seconds."

He heard everything, but the little angel continued to knell and pray. He just wouldn't listen. If he dies, he thought, then what's the point of coming here? The smiles, the trusts, and the hopes that I brought from our home, where will I place it?

Fleeting images of his home passed through his mind as he prayed.

"Hope, you should bring hope to da--big brother, okay?" A boy similar to his aged hugged him and whispered. "You should also take care of yourself, or we will get mad and sad."

Around the little boy called Hope, various kids who looked similar to his age said the same thing, over and over again, reminding him to take care of himself, and that he shouldn't force himself to do the impossible.

A little girl, who was much smaller than Hope, grabbed him on his sleeves. She looked at him. Her eyes were blank and white. She said, "Hope, w-w-will it take too long for you to find Dad?"

"It won't take long, Nina."

"Nina misses Dad. Did Dad leave because Nina eats too much?"

Everyone choke down a sob as they heard her. They hurriedly said, "No! How could our little Nina think of such thing. Da--big brother was just gonna get some help to heal your eyes."

A kid with a missing leg interjected, "Yes, yes. He said that he will get some cure from the great tree."

Nina nodded like a pecking chicken as her brothers and sisters comforted her. She let go of Hope's sleeve, hugged him, and whisper into his ear. "Tell daddy that Nina will eat less, and that Nina loves him very much."

"God, oh mighty one, please hear our calls." Hope strengthened his will and prayed hard. "I beg you, they still need him!"

As if some mighty being heard his calls, a tattoo, which was similar to a tree, shone behind Hei Long' back, then tree roots began sprout out of his back. Some of the roots were big and small, it had not definite size as it could simply grow as it wanted. The smaller tree roots inched its way toward the flame, and gently started enveloped the golden flame on his chest, trying to seal the flame. Covered with roots, the flame started to resist, and so it burned the roots, but all of it was futile. The roots were simply indestructible, as it devoured the flame. By sealing away the golden flame, the world's destruction had finally come to a stop, as the roots sucked the chaos inside the sea of consciousness, closing the voids and black-holes, and reparing the cracks that littered the world.

"T-t-that's t-the Tree God! How did that thing came out of his body!" the ancient voice shouted inside Hope's mind, waking Hope from his hopeless situation.

"The world is changing?" Hope asked as he looked around.

"It is being repaired by the god inside him, but everything comes with a certain price."

"But that thing is one of the gods, right?"

"Boy, you need to remember that every action comes with a certain cost, whether it's big or small, certain prices must be paid. Let me ask you, how will you feel after running for a long time?"

"Tired, of course." Hope answered it as a matter-of-factly.

"Then what do you think will that tree feel after stopping the power of destruction?"

"Tired?" Hope looked confused. "Didn't you tell that it was a Tree God? Aren't they powerful and mighty?"

"Yes, maybe some of the gods won't feel tired after doing that. But that god is just a sprout, I don't know what happened, why it became like that, and why it's inside him."

Hope was too tired to get all of that, but he still got the point.

"Sooo, Grandpa? Is he fine?"

"Fine..." the ancient being said. "He's fine for now, but I can't be sure if the Tree God will devour him in the future."

Hope shook his head, and smiled, "I think I know who gave that to him. He'll be fine."

"Who?"

"The Tree God itself, it was big brother's guardian."

"Hoho, I see. So do you think that the your prayers reached it?"

"Yes... It reached right exactly where it should." He smiled, and the world turned hazy.