Emery made his way through the forest, escorted by Chief Brennus and Morgana, toward the shrine to see the Lady of the Lake. As he walked with the two, he couldn't help but be curious as to what account they had seen him do.
"Almost all of it," Chief Brennus answered.
Morgana quickly added, "The High Priestess had asked us to watch and follow you."
Emery's brows furrowed wondering if he had made a mistake or had done something grave that possibly affected the whole village. If it was, he swore he'd get back at Killgragah because these people were the closest thing he had for a family.
The three walked in silence after that inquiry for the whole trip.
When they reached the guards at the entrance of the cave, Emery noticed the guards were eyeing him, making him feel a bit more uneasy. Still, the guards only bowed and they entered the tunnel without issues before finally arriving at the foot of the tree where the Lady of the Lake, dressed in leaves, was waiting.
Morgana and Chief Brennus knelt, and so did he.
The reason why Emery kneeled this time wasn't because of fear, rather, due to respect for what the High Priestess had done for him, as well as reverence for she was his great aunt from his mother's side.
Nimue walked closer to them and said in a gentle manner, "Thank you for bringing Emery here, Chief Brennus; Morgana. You may leave."
Morgana and Chief Brennus bowed once more and left in silence.
Emery got on his feet, glanced at the woman before him and at the giant bear with greenish spikes and roots on its back sitting in peace beside the tree called Gaia. He waited for her to speak, but she didn't do anything aftward and kept her eyes closed, which further made his beating heart race faster. He started fidgeting, and so, to break the uneasy silence, Emery spoke.
"May I know why I have been summoned, High Priestess?" he asked.
Only then did she open her eyes. She casted the green light spell that hovered around him and said, "My apologies. I was talking to Gaia and had to confirm that the thing inside of you has indeed disappeared. Finally, we can talk more."
Emery tried to inquire how he had been found out when Artio, the Guardian of Gaia, suddenly rustled from its position and started making its way with its four paws toward him. He took a step back but Nimue asked him to be at ease by saying, "You're safe here, don't worry. We won't hurt you."
He took another step back when Nimue said, "Please, stay still. Gaia has something to show you through Her guardian, Artio."
The bear stopped an inch away from Emery's face and he felt its hot and damp breath. The bear opened its jaws and blew at Emery, prompting him to close his eyes. When he opened it, however, he found that he was in an entirely different place.
Emery looked to his left and right; it felt like he was in a similar space, like the illusion room Killgragah had been transporting him to whenever the black dragon had something to show. However, this room differed in the sense that he was floating and his surroundings had nine differently colored lights, which were red, purple, blue, yellow, indigo, cyan, green, and black. They were similar to the colors he had witnessed the magic ball had shown that determined what elements a person had from the Ten Elements back in the Magus Academy. Each light brimmed with powerful energy and when he looked below his feet, there was another white light that appeared much more powerful than the rest.
The white light then thumped and the nine lights slowly made their way toward it as if they were being pulled. The red light was the first merge with the white light below, making it bigger. Then the blue, the yellow, the green… It grew bigger and bigger and when the ninth light, the black light, merged with the white light, a shiver ran up his spine and his heart began to race as he watched the enormous ten different colored lights mixed together become smaller and disappear.
The void became Emery's companion when a sudden explosion roared with such force that made him think his whole existence had just been erased!
He crossed his arms, hoping to block it. He thought he had just been wiped out, but that wasn't the case. Emery could still feel his arms, his body, his feet and moving according to his will. Carefully, he opened his eyes and saw thousands of smaller lights floating aimlessly in a black canvass of emptiness, scattered all everywhere.
He watched as some of them entered various types of planets, but there was one in particular, a green light that flew right through him, which caught his attention. Emery felt a vague connection to this light and followed it until it stopped.
Emery's full attention became stuck to it as he observed the green wisp enter a blue planet with green patches. As soon as it entered the planet, Emery's vision zoomed in to a small fledgling of a plant, until it grew and grew, becoming a large tree that looked just like the one in the cave.
After that, the illusion ended. He stared blankly at the towering tree in front of him, feeling like he had witnessed a birth of something. Emery tried to speak but no words came out his throat. He tried again but it was only after the humongous bear, Artio, Guardian of Gaia, returned to its spot beside the tree, his voice found its way out his throat.
He asked the first thing that came to his mind on what he had just seen with a shaking voice. "I-I-Is this the story of Gaia?"
Nimue nodded.
"The green wisp, was that Gaia? Was the thing, the black wisp, inside of me also the same? Did it also have the power to affect a planet?" asked Emery.
"I don't have the answer to that, I'm afraid," said Nimue, she turned to the tree behind her and added, "only Gaia has the answer to that."
Emery fell into silence.
"Gaia asked me to show you this, but what it entails is something that even I do not have the answer for. What is clear, however, is that Gaia has allowed whatever was inside—the black wisp to stay there. As for the rest of what has been shown to you, it's something that you'll have to figure out on your own," the High Priestess said all of a sudden.
"I see…" These were the only words Emery could say at the moment as his mind wandered into deep thought again.
"There is one more thing that I need to talk to you about. I understand that your mind is preoccupied with the vision but please place it in the back of your mind at the moment for the thing I'm about to discuss is a personal between us," said Nimue. She beckoned the confused Emery to follow her closer to the tree and showed him a familiar item lying on the stone table in front of them. It was the jet-black knife. The one that he had surrendered to the guards for safety reasons last night before he entered this cave.
"I think we both know the owner of this dagger," she said. The High Priestess handed over the black knife and added, "She is my sister, her name is Maeve."
Then Priestess Nimue recounted an incident that happened more than a hundred years ago when she was chosen to be the high priestess. An argument sparked between her and her sister Maeve which caused the forest barrier door to open so that this forest became one with the outside world.
"You see Emery, my sister and I have our differences, but ever since I received the blessing from Gaia she never dared to harm the forest, but now it appears that my sister has gained strange power from the thing inside of you. And this made me worried," said Nimue.
Emery suddenly realized that he was the cause of the problem. When Granny took some of the Khaos power she turned young and it appeared that was what troubled the priestess.
"I am sorry High Priestess, I'll see to it and I'll be responsible for the mistake I made," said Emery.
The high priestess shook her head and said, "I'm sorry I had to ask you this since it's my responsibility to take care of my sister, but you see, I'm unable to leave the shrine of Gaia. I am just hoping that you will be careful when you next see her"
"I understand, High Priestess," said Emery.
This was one more reason to find and solve this problem as soon as he could. His list of things to do just keep on getting longer and longer. And finding Granny just bumped into the top things he needed to take care of.
"Emery, come visit me every night, I hope to teach you more about Gaia, I am sure it will help you to understand more about the spirit energy and increase your cultivation in the element," said Nimue.
"I am very much grateful for any advice you can give," Emery said with a bow. This was the only thing he could respond to right now. He then left the cave with a mind full of thoughts. From the things Killgragah had asked, the vision Gaia had shown him to the newly acquired knowledge that Granny—Maeve being his relative. As he laid down on his wooden bed, staring at the ceiling made out of hide above him, he couldn't get his mind off these thoughts. There was, however, one thing that he knew for sure. And that was to get stronger as fast as he could and use his time wisely before he gets recalled to the Magus Academy in three weeks.