Realm of Noah

Chapter 21

26th November 2019

NOAH

"The Arbor Vitae, or Tree of Life, is the very force that ties together the entire universe. It holds together Spirits, Realms and even dimensions and is responsible for the restoration of the natural balance."

"See, there is a concept of balance!" Renee grinned like she'd won the lottery. "Noah, you know that I was right!"

"Ren, don't interrupt me," Clover glared at her, and Renee grumbled under her breath.

I suppressed a smile. It was cute to see Ren so worked up over something this simple.

"The Tree of Life is said to be one of the very few things that have existed from the beginning of time," Clover read out. "Hence, it can restore a Spirit or Realm to its previous, untouched state. It purifies and heals only the aspects that you require to restore, and conveniently ignores the rest."

"So, it can unsever Ren," I said aloud, as Clover nodded. "How do we get there? Like, where is this Tree?"

"I don't know," Clover showed me the page. "There aren't clear instructions on how one could reach the place."

"Maybe it's imaginary," Sam replied suddenly. He'd been quiet for the whole duration, typing away at his laptop. "Like everything else in the Spirit Realm."

"Johannes should know," I remembered. "He wrote this book after all, didn't he?"

We flipped to the cover page and saw his name glinting in a fancy golden font. He was the author all right.

"But, balance is a thing!" Renee started again. "And this Realm is creating an imbalance... It exists where it shouldn't-"

"Then every Spirit made Realm is an imbalance," I rolled my eyes.

"Every permanent Realm is an imbalance," Renee corrected. "That's why the ISA disapproves of them but allows temporary Realms."

I gawked at her. She was really arriving at something here.

"I know I'm right," She grinned, looking almost maddened. "It makes perfect sense! It explains why the ISA is against such stuff..."

"Even the Astrascends," I remembered. "They're a fifth-dimensional Realm based in the Before Realm."

Renee simply smiled, being the smart-ass she was.

"But, what does that mean?" I asked her. "If these Realms are imbalanced... Then how is that balance being restored?"

"That's what you're supposed to ask Johannes," Renee pointed out.

"Or Grandma Phyllis," Clover added hopefully.

For a moment, we stayed silent, letting the whole conversation sink into our heads. I repeated the points in my head, trying to make better sense of everything.

Anything that existed where it shouldn't created an imbalance.

When someone created an imbalance, it was their job to restore that imbalance.

And when they didn't, the Arbor Vitae would take over, restoring everything to the way it was.

"Um... I've hacked into Chantelle's account," Sam spoke up.

That brought us back to reality.

We scurried over to his laptop, peering into her text messages that she'd exchanged with LOLtube. It comprised of Simon, Daisy and Violet, all of whom were currently possessed by Johannes's ex-comrades.