A Crumbling Society

Part 2-27

You could hear sounds in muffled turns, they repeated up until I could understand fully recognizing my name. "Carson! Carson! Are you okay", Dusk was standing over me with a concerned look. I groggily got out an "I'm fine" and then looked at her asking about Embris only from my face. She picked up on this and told me she was okay, and that she got up quicker than I did. Getting up with assistance, I was looking around remembering what had happened. The tornado must have been affected by my thoughts, that's why it blew up on us. Connected, in some way to my reactions at least. Pulling my arm, she helped me off the ground and caught me slightly as I faltered in my stance. Embris was standing waiting for me to see her and there was something magnificent behind her. It was a tree, shining bright as ever by a golden honey like light, there were crystals hanging from each branch as well. Standing several feet higher than we were it really showed off how high up the ceiling went. "What is this?", asking Embris as she seemed happier now to some extent. "This is your emotional connection to all things around you", she answered. Taken aback just a bit I also had to ask why it was in the form of a tree. Replying she said, "it's represented by you, and as I recall from searching you, you're reliant on all things nature and the natural flow of life!?" Asking at the end to be sure, I gave a nod back to agree she was correct, "everybody has a different one depending on how they view life and other things", she added. We were both standing here admiring the tree and Dusk joined us, carefully walking by some of the crystals and barely holding them at her palms. Each of us took turns being fascinated and curious, Dusk and I more so because we had never seen this before. Embris was contrarily in heaven per se since my emotions were new to her and you could tell she really wanted to see more. There was some sort of rush of bliss running through me as my emotions were on display, it helped accept that I was exposed. Walking around the stumps that took root into the floor the three of us searched different crystals. Some were larger than others and Embris told us how this is due to some emotions being stronger than others. Dusk must have touched one of the emotions because she burst into laughter.

"Laughing is expressed in happiness and often times embarrassment depending on situations, she must've caught a good one", Embris explained cheerfully. Although she was excited about this, she still kept the same cold expression, her tone changed slightly to indicate any difference. She headed over to see what would come next from Dusk touching another one like a lab rat, I took my time moving around the tree out of view. Each of the crystals looked intriguing but I felt like none of them were worth feeling at the moment. Stepping over a fat root there was one hanging piece in particular that caught my eye, it was the largest one I saw. Something about it drew me in as if it was calling to me. After I got over to where it was hanging, I noticed a black knot in the trunk, a small trail had started moving its way up towards the top. It was quite interesting as I wasn't sure why it was here but felt I wanted to explore that reason before asking. Getting a closer look, it resembled energy in a kind of coded form or a type of grain as it moved on its own. Completely different than what energy actually looks like, grainy in texture but from what I could see it had already gotten to the top. Taking a few steps backward I trailed the top of the tree in stature to see just how high up it went but couldn't see from the light. The sickly appearance is causing me to feel uneasy, this is here because of something but it all represents me somehow. When I moved closer it gave me a sense of pain, one that I felt was familiar but didn't know I had. Backing away helped but I must've accidentally bumped the large crystal that got me here in the first place. Suddenly, the weight and pressure of everything smacked me like a semi-truck, my heart rate spiked. Everybody expects me to be a hero and save the day when the people we save have already turned against us. They hate us and throw the blame when things don't go their way. In their eyes we're the villains now even when we're trying to make things right. We are trying to solve a problem that we may never be able to fix. Liza, Josie, Mason, Andrew, they all died because I put them in one place to be nothing but targets. If I hadn't have walked away when I did, I could've stopped this, it, or whomever is behind blaming me. Maybe I shouldn't have come back, or got the Legion back together, or used magic. The thoughts started piling on and I couldn't stop myself from feeling any of it, I had no control. My mood dropped instantly, and the black knot spread, taking the roots closest to it, and thickening as it ran its way up.