Arcane

"You.. Are. The gr..eat.. King.. Of Astagha… Fores..rest."

I did not know how to react. So I did not react. How could I be the King of this forest, while I just woke up then? I know, and there is no doubt that I had been alive for a long long time. But I had been sleeping. I only gained my consciousness few years ago. And it took more years for me to gain my senses.

Then, my origin is my mother tree. How can I be the King? I asked again, explicitly curious, "Why? How do you know?"

The skeleton did not move from its place. With one of his hands tightly held against the soil, it uttered again,

"Y..ou.. Are the.. Ar..Cane... Of.. Holy..App..Apple. Holy... Holy App..Apples... Are.. The Rulers.. Of.. Astagha..."

I am the Arcane of Holy Apple, it said. But neither had I any idea as to what an Arcane might be nor do I know what a Holy Apple was. Thankfully, the skeleton seemed to know things.

"What is an Arcane?" I did not hesitate to ask again.

"It..Its.. The.. Embo..diment.. Of.. Monster... Souls.. It may... Grant.. It's.. Ow.. Owner.. With. Su..perna..tural.. Powers..."

The last sentence got me interested. "I have supernatural powers?"

"No... Your.. Maje..Majesty.. Your.. Owner.. Will. But.. You have.. No.. Owner..."

This answer ruined my expectations quite awkwardly. He almost gave me the answer but then complicated everything. How can I be the King when I am not the one with my powers but my owner?

"Why don't you serve my owner instead? I mean, why don't you find me an owner? Wouldn't it be more efficient with a powerful King?"

"Your.. Majesty... On..only.. Only Arca..nes.. Them..selves.. Or.. Humans.. can.. consume... Arc..anes.. We... In.. Eternity.. Must not... Trust.. Humanity..'s.. Gre..greed."

Humans are greedy. That was the reason these spirits did not bother to find me an owner. So I was good the way I was in. But I had more questions. Why did they not let other powerful Arcanes consume me? Oh... It was all about trust issues.

Why do you all even need a King? Do they even need me? Or is the skeleton here simply being over sentimental?

I believed I would be able to get my answers later. So I tried to be a little casual that time.

"Alright. What's your name?"

"Ha..Hu..Inu..Ha..Ihu..Ja..Hauua..Huu..In..Hau..Ha."

"Do you have a shorter name, perhaps?"

"Hahu."

Hahu. Small and easily callable. I liked that name.

"Do you know my name?"

"Your.. Maje..Majesty... Your.. Name.. Is.. A secret.. To.. Eve..ry..one.."

I see. I don't have a name. I don't think I needed one as well. What is the point of names... That skeleton called me the King of Astagha. That sounded much better than what I know names are. I think that was a title. I see, I understand the difference now.

"Are you alone? Are there other spirits waiting for me?"

"My... King.. Every.. Soul... In.. Astagha.. Is.. Awa..iting.. You."

That was not a bad way I was being treated for getting my senses of sight back. Much contrary to my expectations, actually.

Also by then, I reached a conclusion.

I am an important apple.

"I see. What do you suggest me to do now, Huhu?"

"Your.. Maj.. esty.. It's... Hahu.. You.. May... Go back.. To.. Your.. Palace... I.. Will.. Inform.. The who..le.. Astagha.. Abo..ut.. Your... Awa..kening."

Palace? I shouted in my head.

"Where's my palace!?"

"Yo..ur.. Mother... Tree.. My.. Maje..sty.."

"Oh..."

I learnt two new feelings at once. Excitement and disappointment.

"Fine. But could you come back fast, or send someone? As you might have seen, I still have a lot of questions."

"Tha..ts's.. No mat..ter... I.. Will.. Obey.. You..."

With a little break, it said again, "I.. Shall.. Then... Take.. My.. Leave..."

The skeleton body rose up from the ground and bowed me one last time before turning its back to me and quite frantically started running to a particular direction, making much noise in the midst of this quiet forest..

I was supposed to go back then, to my mother tree's lair. Hahu would bring back more spirits with him. And I would be able to get a clearer understanding of the situation I was in.

As it appeared, I was somebody really important to them. From the hints old man gave me, and this event, I could conclude that the spirits have been waiting for me for a long time. As I began to get my consciousness back, the spirits were stirred by this, and started to flock over this forest knows as Astagha.

The reasoning behind that is not comfortable though. Why would they flock for me? Am I going to benifit them in some way?

I turned my little body and started taking slow steps to my new and old destination as I kept pondering over these things.

That said, I am an Arcane. That is a monster soul. Does that mean I am a monster? No... I am a monster's soul! But old man told me monsters are bad...

Strange.

This is very strange.

The owner of an Arcane receives supernatural powers. And Arcane is a monster's soul. Don't creatures quite obviously own their souls? Hmm...

Old man once told me a story.

It was about a little girl who lost his brother. In a bid to get him back to life, she crossed seven seas and saw many things. The moral of the saga was that the dead can never come back. It was said in the saga that our consciousness comes from the soul, not our body.

I think... Monsters are the real owners of their Arcanes... The Arcane is their soul afterall.

Now... So was I once a monster? That would be quite plausible. Or might it be that the monsters have seperate consciousness compared to their Arcanes?

'My head is hurting now... It's all just some silly assumptions... I need to ask a knowledgable spirit or something.' I thought.

I hoped all the spirits would be as obedient as the skeleton, Hahu.

As I was walking, just then an unfamiliar voice struck me. It seemed like a human voice. Clean and fluent, but extremely loud, as though the voice came from far away but the sound could be heard from the other end of the forest. It screamed,

"O Children of Astagha! Our King is Reborn today! Gather near the corpse of Holy Tree, to welcome our Lord, Our King, Our Guardian."