Starting Point

"What the?" When I heard my own voice, I relaxed.

Only moments ago I was on fire, speeding towards the earth. Then I saw these visions, which appeared to be the viewpoint of other people. It was as if I had switched bodies for a moment. Most of them were looking at this orange comet in the sky. Was that me? Why did I see those visions? And didn't my clothes burn away? How come they were perfectly fine?

I shook my head. I could figure that out in the future. But where was I right now?

I inspected my surroundings. It was time to exercise my newfound freedom, and explore this world. It would have to start with this place.

"Overgrown weeds and vines. Four stone walls. No ceiling."

It was an abandoned courtyard.

One of sides was connected to a door, while the other had a staircase leading to the top of the wall. I went over and carefully climbed the stairs step by step. Once I had reached the top of the wall, I peered over.

It was maybe a 10, 12 meter drop down? I took note. Although I could end up breaking my legs, this could be an emergency escape if something were to happen here.

The ground right outside the wall was similar to what I had in the courtyard. Plenty of dirt and too much vegetation, with grass and small bushes lining the wall. But I was more interested in what laid beyond.

Trees. I saw trees. Lots of trees. So I was in a forest. But if I wanted a better view of this world, I would need a higher vantage point. I turned around.

"Perfect." The side of the wall that had the door was connected to this stone structure, a tower of sorts. It reminded me of the rook piece in chess. It stood only a bit taller than the trees, which meant it would hopefully give me a better view.

I tread down the stairs and across the cracked stone tiles of the ground. I reached the door. It was made out of rotting wood, and was slightly ajar. I pushed it open, only to receive a small pile of dust in my face. Coughing, I lifted up my shirt over my nose, then entered.

I was in a small room. The ceiling on my left was broken in, leaving stone bricks in a small pile below. The sunlight shined through, exposing two more doors, one on my right, and the other a few meters in front of me. Both doors were rotting away like the first, and the one in front was half open as well. I stepped through the door in front of me, careful not to stir up too much dust this time.

It was a tight, circular room, with nothing but a long staircase spiraling upwards.

"Here we go."

~~~

A moment later, I was at the top of the tower, at a height above most of the trees.

"Woah." I strolled along the edges of the tower, taking in the sight. I didn't know where North or South was, but I decided to start with a mental map.

I stood still. Disregarding the courtyard I had came out of, which was to my left, everything to my front, left, and right expanded in an endless forest, where I could only see the green canopy of trees.

But behind me was a grassy forest clearing, featuring an unobstructed view of two different structures. One had a large pyramidal roof that reached my current height on the tower, and the other looked like a rectangular box, both similar in size and appeared to be made of stone. Looking further, trees were still prevalent, but I could see an end. A possible way out of the forest.

But that didn't matter. My priority was to study my current location and figure out what I was supposed to do. The Anisei, or whatever they called themselves, had sent me here for a reason.

I took one last glance, then started on my way back down. I exited through the door I passed by earlier. The building featured a courtyard and a tower connected by a small room. There was nothing else to see there.

I walked through the field, the grass reaching my knees. I stopped in between the two structures and contemplated which one to check out first. I decided to go with the box shaped building first.

Walking around it, I searched for an entrance.

'It's all made of stone bricks. Reminds me of those medieval castles you see in the movies.'

I found a door. It was made of rotting wood and was connected to a doorway with rusting metal hinges. There was no handle. And it didn't budge when I pushed against it. It didn't seem like it was locked, but as if it was stuck on it's frame.

I took a few steps back.

"1, 2, 3!" I stepped forward and drove the heel of my foot into the side of the door opposite the hinges. It burst open, exposing a dark corridor. I cautiously went inside.

"The fuck!?"

I jumped as flames sprung into existence, lighting up a string of torches that carried on to the end of the passageway.

"No way."

I stared at the flames for a few seconds. Was this magic?

I walked back outside then turned around. The flames had went out.

I walked back inside. The tip of the torches burst into flames.

I slowly walked outside again, backwards. The flames quickly died out.

I walked back inside. The torches went aflame.

"Holy shit!" I wasn't imagining things.

I repeated my actions around ten more times until I was satisfied.

"So it's like a motion sensor. I go inside, and lights go on."

Magic!

'Should I take a torch down from the wall?'

I could experiment with it, maybe figure out the conditions that it followed.

I shook my head at the thought. I knew nothing about the forces I was dealing with. Best to leave it alone for now.

I ventured down the corridor. I passed by six archways, three on each side of me. They led into completely empty rooms, all featuring nothing but a lit torch.

The end of the hallway had a small staircase leading upstairs. The second floor was relatively the same with six empty rooms. However, there was an open chest by one of the archways. It was empty.

I spent another hour looking through the place, making sure I had checked everything out.

Reassured that I hadn't missed anything, I left for the final building.

~~~

"That's odd." The double doors that towered over me were perfect. By perfect, I meant that unlike everywhere else, the wood wasn't rotten, and was even clean, without dust nor rust on the metal hinges.

"Here goes." I pressed my palms against the entrance.

Without sound, the doors swung open, revealing the interior.

It was one chamber. There were no windows, no flooring, no openings for sunlight. Torches hung on the walls, but they remained unlit. The only light was the blue glow of something I had never seen before. It illuminated the entire area with it's presence.

It exposed itself as a symbol, etched on a colossal tree that extended to the roof, it's branches stretching across the ceiling and roots weaving through the exposed earth. The room was empty otherwise.

'Is this the Archive?'

Something washed over me, and I started walking towards the symbol. Everything became clearer the closer I came.

The symbol was a strange mix of lines and circles inside a rectangle, embedded into the trunk of the tree, which was at least a few meters wide. The eerie blue glow appeared only on the symbol, but I could see more carvings on the bark of the tree that had similar but smaller, distinct designs.

The mystifying light drew me in, compelling me to reach out and touch the symbol. When my finger made contact, a force threw me on my back, and shadows erupted from the symbol, completely immersing me.

When I rose up, a bright white light glared down, revealing a wooden table planted in front of me. Everything outside of the light had disappeared from my view,

"A perfect spotlight, don't you think?"

Oh boy. I could recognize that jolly, childish demeanor anywhere.

"What do you want, Arkot?" I expected him to pop out at me, but only his voice materialized.

"I'm here to help!"

"And how are you going to do that?"

"I'll be your guide! I'll describe what you need to do, and answer some of your questions. How does that sound? Great, right?"

"Yeah."

Well, as long as he doesn't rip off my limbs this time, I could use the help.

"Well, are you really here with me, or am I just hearing your voice inside my head?"

"I'm just in your head! Although, I'm guess I'm always in your head, since I'm sure you're thinking of me all the time!"

This guy.

"And what is this place? I was somewhere else only a moment ago."

"This is what you would call a subspace! There's one inside the tree, but there's another inside you!"

"Inside me? What are you talking about?"

Wait. That marble the Queen gave me. The 'gift.' Could it be?

"That's right! The gift the Queen gave you allowed you to create this subspace inside of you. Here you can store everything you get from the Archive!"

I forgot he could read my thoughts.

"Store everything?"

Don't tell me this was like a pocket dimension or something. That would be useful.

"Of course not! Nothing physical. Just information! Think of it like a mental library that you can access. And occasionally, I'll be available here for you!"

I nodded. I understood the idea. But an archive?

"Ah yes! The most important thing, the Archives! That's what you're here for! Let me explain!"

"Please do."

Was this 'Archive' what the Queen wanted me to 'watch over' and 'keep an eye on?'

"Mhm! Alrighty." There was a short pause.

"We have Archives all around the world. They're made of the Queen's magic, and hold information about ancient civilizations, beings, and magic."

His voice had switched to a serious tone.

"As obvious as it is, these records should never fall into the wrong hands."

"And what's my role in all of this? I doubt I can just go around the world defending these Archives." It seemed like an impossible task for someone who hadn't even been in this world for more than a day.

"Don't worry about that. You just need to listen and do what I say."

"And what is that, exactly?"

"The Archives each have their own form of protection, alongside self sustaining processes for the energy to power these defenses. But an unfortunate event, Cerberus, occurred."

Cerberus. The 'demon' that chased me.

"When he broke loose, he disrupted these processes. Let's just say the Archives are currently running on 'low battery mode,' because their 'chargers' were broken. The weakest ones are the ones in imminent danger."

"And what can I do? Am I supposed to be a replacement battery or something?" The thought was entertaining.

"Sometimes. You are the repairman. You jumpstart the thing, and follow my directions. Thanks to your gift, it's very simple."

Nothing was simple about this. But it was time to ask the most important question.

"What's in it for me? I assume there are going to be risks. What's preventing me from just running away and living a new life?" I figured there was a good answer for this, but I needed to hear it for myself.

"You need each other. The Archives need your gift for repairs. But you need the Archives to live."

"Explain."

"If you think we fixed your body, you're wrong. We just gave you a new one."

Huh? My body?

When he mentioned it, I realized I did feel different. Not stronger or faster, but healthier? I felt vitalized.

"It hasn't finished adjusting yet. And it runs on the same energy that the Archives creates. So as long as you help it, it helps you, by preventing you from dissolving like before. Either way, the process has started already. You're connected."

"What do you mean? When did it start?" Then it hit me.

"Was it the symbol?"

"The symbol is just part of it. The tree is the Archive."

The tree. So my life depended on a tree.

"Okay, I get it. What should I do now?"

"You jumpstarted the Archive when you touched it and entered here. I'm sure you've noticed the inscriptions on the tree, correct?"

"The glowing blue ones?"

"Stay close to it, and over time, it'll spread. Once the blue light covers the entire tree, that's the signal that the Archive has been repaired. And as a bonus, the more you've fixed, the more access you get to the Archive. While you won't understand or be able to use more of the information, I'm sure you'll learn plenty of helpful things."

This was a lot to take in.

"It'll be fine. You help the tree, the tree will help you."

"I guess. It's just spending time here, right? I can do that."

Of course, I would need to find food and the essentials.

"No."

"No?"

"No!"

"..."

"You need to keep the area clear of certain impurities. In other words, keep monsters and people a certain distance away from this place."

Impurities? Monsters? Oh god.

"Don't worry too much about monsters. I'd be more worried about people."

"It's in the middle of the forest. Why would people be a problem?"

"When you touched the Archive earlier, you released a bit of energy. Not much, but I wouldn't be surprised if a bored adventurer or two wanted to investigate sometime in the future. Without the normal security, they would be free to find this place and enter. Too many or too long, and it won't be good for you."

"And how am I supposed to stop them?"

I didn't recall having any magical powers. Unless? Maybe I could-

"Don't bother. You don't. You can't."

Great. Half my childhood dreams just went up in ashes.

"Anyways!" His usual jolly voice came back. "It's time for you to go back. There's a little problem you need to take care of on your side. Seems like someone's a bit curious."

"A problem? Is it a monster?"

"Just take care of the little guy, keep it away from the clearing and it'll be splendid! Good luck!"

"Wait!" I called out desperately. "How do I get out of this place? Or get back?"

"Just focus! I'm leaving a present for you here when you come back. Farewell!" Arkot's voice echoed through the empty space, and silence took over.

'I should've asked about the visions earlier, but I doubt he would've given me straight answers.'

I sighed inwardly. It didn't matter. Now, he said to focus?

I closed my eyes and concentrated. I felt a tug in my chest, and my eyes flit open.

I was back in the stone building, standing in front of the tree. The blue glow had spread, covering bits of other symbols, now roughly twice the previous size. However, it was still miniscule compared to the entire tree.

I reached forward and traced a finger against the blue lines.

"Interesting."

I turned to the exit and walked out. I was stuck in this crappy situation. Might as well make the best of it.