The Astralaceaes

Chapter 28: Examining the Nucleus

As Haledon walked, he felt the pressure of the tree gripping his body in a familiar sensation. It felt like he was falling through a canopy thick with leaves before his momentum shifted forward again, and he stepped into a dimly lit room.

The roots that dangled from the ceiling began to radiate the faintest glow from the thin fibrous hairs that grew from them. They hung like glistening icicles illuminating the sizeable earthen cavern. And as Haledon's eyes adjusted, he began to notice that the room was divided into sections by two crescent islands made of stone.

The central platform, encircled by the stone, was a step above the rest of the room. Filling the space where the two islands met, a tree trunk blocked the path and made it impossible to easily step to the upper layer.

Haledon glanced back to the awestruck Gazeas before walking around the lower tear-drop-shaped section of the room. Running his hands over the dense, leafy foliage that covered the bramble walls lining the space, he could feel the tight buds of new growth ready to release. Occasionally his walk would stop, and he would take a moment to inspect the various support limbs emerging from the thicket at odd angles. He followed the branches as they reached across the room and rooted into the ceiling just above the second platform's stone.

"What is this place?" Gazeas asked as she approached Haledon.

"Something new..." He muttered.

"Correct," Birchbark answered, their voice detached from a body. "This is the Nucleus."

"What is the Nucleus?" He asked in reply.

A corner of the room began to twist and tangle as the form of Birchbark appeared. They crossed the space with awkward steps, their limbs rigid to their side and bobbing slightly with each footfall. Reaching the platform's edge, they placed a hand on the tree that blocked the path.

"Observe." They said and beckoned the Druids.

Haledon looked to Gazeas before being the first to approach. Reaching his hand out, he touched the tree and felt the sensation of being pulled through. Without resisting, he followed, emerging onto the central platform.

His vision was suddenly shrouded with a dense fog. Everywhere he turned his head, the same haze would follow him, and it was only once he adjusted his eyes to look down his cheeks that he noticed that his SOIL was gone. It had been replaced with a thin vine suit that hung to his body like a second skin. Exploring the vines, he felt at his limbs and discovered they covered heel to head, aside from his face. As he raised his hands and felt at his ears and nose, he found that a half visor of translucent sap shielded his vision in dull white light.

Adjusting his head, he looked down with his eyes to inspect the platform's floor. The dark surface sparkled with bioluminescent points like a sea of stars, and Haledon immediately experienced a flush of vertigo.

"Birchbark, what is this?" He asked, reaching for something to steady himself.

"Approach the spring and place your hands into the nutrient fluid."

Carefully stepping forward, Haledon extended his hands out and reached for the stone island. His fingers gripped the cold rock as he quickly brought his feet to its edge. He looked down under his visor and examined the broad trough that contained a steady stream of viscous fluid.

Hesitantly, he dipped his fingers into it. The visor came alive, and he was hit with a rush of sights and scents and sounds. He was everywhere at once, sensing everything. Ripping his hands out of the fluid, Haledon stumbled back against Gazeas.

"Ow, hey," She yelped as she caught him and herself against the opposite stone island. "I can't see. Why is everything all white?"

"What—what was that?" Haledon panicked.