Page 103 of Gift from the Tree

“Why have none of you told me this?”

“Fear. I let the fear of my past and the unknown that surrounds you and your Memoria stone keep you at arm’s length. I was convinced you were sent here to destroy us, destroy my family, and I refused to acknowledge you were truly our Primary because I didn’t want that. I kept pushing and pushing them to listen. We all agreed that we’d keep this from you until we found out more. Well, Corentin, me, and Tillman agreed, at first. Draken and Gaster fought us about it, about everything the whole time, but they wouldn’t betray our trust, and the majority ruled the decision. When what happened on your first day of school happened, they agreed they’d give you a month to get situated, learn what you could, figure out how to protect you, and let you get to know them, then they’d tell you. All but me. I still wasn’t ready.”

“Gaster knew too? But this happened as well with Gaster and he isn’t in your Nexus, nor do I feel like this about him.” Her tears are causing me more pain than my injuries. I’d tell her anything about this secret we’ve kept to get her to stop, but Gaster’s truth isn’t mine to tell.

“Gaster will have to explain to you what that meant.”

“So this whole time, you’ve all known. This whole time I’ve felt like a burden to everyone around me, walking around ignorant, not knowing where I fit in or what to do about anything, wanting each of you in a different way and feeling dirty, guilty over it, and you all knew and could’ve guided me better. Every time my emotions went haywire, one of them were the only ones to calm me down, it was because of this, and instead of explaining it, I was left feeling pathetic and needy and crazy. You all knew. They knew.” Her eyes break into thousands of pieces, replaying every moment she’s experienced something that didn’t make sense to her since arriving here, where this information would’ve helped her. Instead, we just muddied the truth, kept her in the dark about what was happening.

A sob wrecks her chest, so powerful, I can feel it rip through my own, and she falls to her knees. In a frantic moment, she begins ripping her E.F. uniform off and pulls out her Memoria stone from where she keeps it tucked in her shirt, holding it while rocking back and forth. Her movements stop suddenly, even though her tears continue to fall, and I can tell it’s showing her something.

A scream tears from her throat as she falls on all fours. Her whole body shakes violently, and her tears are a constant drip off her face to the stone floor. She’s gasping, struggling to breathe, like it’s hard for her to get air in her lungs.

“Willow,” I yell as loud as I can, trying to get her to look at me, but all she does is shake her head.

Abruptly, the ground beneath me begins to shake and my legs are released from the floor that had me trapped and the stone blocks around my hands shatter to pieces. Her bloodshot eyes meet mine as she points her wobbly palm out toward me.

Powerful tremors shake the entire foundation until a crack opens in the middle of the room, and a tree begins to sprout out. Growing and growing until the entire space is filled with a fully grown willow tree.

I end up seated right at its trunk, covered in shadows. My gift floods my body, wrapping around the injuries inside of me, kneading them back enough that I’d be okay till I got to a healer. Then it bursts free from my chest, clouds and tendrils of shadows wrapping around me and Willow. The Star gems are still bright in the room, but they’re blocked off plenty, more than enough to get me and her out of the door.

Looking up at Willow, she’s already staring at me, tear streaks coating her beautiful, pissed off face. She uncaps two healing vials and pours them both into her mouth at the same time. Her eyes close for a moment as the vials take effect, then her empty gaze meets mine and she nods slightly.

“Are you okay?” I ask her.

“I have an earth element as well as air,” she says emotionlessly. Either from the shock of what she just did or what she just found out, or both. It’s unheard of for someone to have more than one element, but she just proved that to be wrong.

“I know. You just saved my life,” I whisper as I kneel in front of her, tilting her blank canvas up to look at me. She doesn’t react whatsoever, so I stand and hold my hand out for her to take.

“Let’s go find the others and get out of here.” Hesitantly, she lifts hers and places it into mine, and I pull her up.

Opening the door slowly to make sure no one’s out here, I race up the stairs, dragging her with me. As we approach the last step, I can see Corentin shooting light in every direction. The room is a fucking war.

“Stay here for just a minute so we can clear the room. Don’t leave this spot.”

She doesn’t speak but nods. That’s all the agreement she’s going to give me, so I have to accept it.

I hurry through the doorway and wrap my shadows around one of the men attempting to approach Corentin from behind and sling him across the room, hearing a satisfying crack as his back hits the wall. Turning my attention to the next man, I realize it was one of those fuckers who just spent an hour attempting to tear information about my family from me. I call on my element and begin shooting water down his throat as my shadows wrap around his limbs and pull his body into the shape of an X. One command from me to my shadows and he’s ripped to pieces.

Noticing the gruesome explosion of body parts flying around the room, Corentin frantically looks around until his eyes meet mine. For a moment, he’s shocked, then a small smile crosses his face before the seriousness returns. “We can’t find Willow. She isn’t in this room.”

“She’s in the stairwell, brother. She was a little busy saving my life,” I tell him seriously.

His face morphs into relief that sends a pang through my heart. Telling her the truth was the right thing to do, but I know Corentin would’ve done it so much more eloquently. One way or another, she would’ve been pissed and hurt, but at least he would’ve done it right.

As we end the last few of the men off, I inspect the number of bodies covering the floor. At least thirty rebel fighters are laid out, some dead and some unconscious. Those who survived will be returning with us.

Draken sprints across the room to where Willow steps out of the shadow-covered stairwell and wraps her in a hug. She doesn’t lift her arms to return the hug, just lays her head on his chest. The resignation in her eyes is clear from here. She’s shutting down, preparing to block us all out.

Fuck, he’s going to be crushed.

Footsteps sound at the other end of the room that leads out of here and in burst Tillman with Ry, his Nexus, and Oakly in tow. All looking like they fought their asses off. Tillman searches the room before his eyes fall on Willow and his shoulders relax slightly. Followed by examining me and giving me a relieved nod. He looks like shit. I’m sure I look just as bad, but we’ll worry about that later.

“We need to go before any more come. I’ve already sent palace team one and two back with the hostages and guards. Palace team three and four, grab any who are alive in here and take them to the holding cells, then meet back at the academy training fields. Let’s move,” Tillman orders, jumping right back into Leader mode.

Ten are still alive, which is a significant number compared to the number of prisoners we usually bring back, plus those that the other teams already moved. Tillman will send up more teams here to clean up and investigate when we get back and have time to organize. This will be the least of his worries soon, though. I already know the ball is about to drop, and I caused it.

We all file out of the structure and gather around, preparing to transport back to the academy. Willow’s still tucked under Draken’s arm, standing there limply, with a faraway look in her eyes. She’s here, but she’s deep inside her mind. Draken searches my eyes for answers to his questions and concerns, but I can’t give him any right now.

---