“What’s this… A new nub grew on you?” An old yet gracefully aged woman said as she stared at the little nub that had appeared without her approval despite her careful attention to growing the tree in the best possible place, with the most nourishing soil within Creation on top of being watered with the greatest of waters in Creation.
Counting on top of that the deepest Horticulture Skills and this old lady became the unquestionable expert with all things fated to grow up, to such degrees that ordinary experts would sign any contracts on their Souls just to exhibit a fraction of the profound Skill of this old yet gracefully aged women.
Without even displaying her ire, the old lady raised her wrinkled right fingers to touch the new nub growing from the tree before her, only for the tree to bend slightly away from the touch.
Narrowing her silver eyes, the old female stared at the tree. “Ohh… Protective, are we? Now why would that be?” The old woman asked herself when suddenly her right forefinger appeared right on the tinny nub growing from the tree and touched it, precisely where five big branches grew with their own smaller branches growing in return.
Sensing the touch, the tree in question gave up as if something unavoidable had occurred, but then, at the same time, it seemed as if the touch also energized the little nub inducing a tiny little branch to grow from it.
It paled in comparison to all the others on the tree, but it was new and teeming with potential.
“Ugh… Another one?” The old lady murmured with annoyance before staring at her prized tree. “You just can't help yourself?”
As if caught doing something extremely naughty, the tree began swaying his trunk, branches, and leaves before releasing scents of embarrassment for doing it once again. But then, as quickly as the embarrassment manifested on the tree, it was gone as shivers substituted their place.
The shivers came because a special kind of scissors appeared in the old lady's right hand.
When they did, the old lady moved her right hand, holding the special scissors, near the small and newly grown branch. But just as the old lady was about to snip the branch and prune it out of existence, the tree reacted quite strongly and swayed its trunk, branches, leaves, and released scents, all in an attempt to plead with the old lady not to do it.
“Don't give me that look. This is for your own good.” The old lady replied.
Not one to give up, the tree began relaying his own stance of why he had done what he had done and what he expected from the newly grown brunch. Moreover, the tree deftly pointed out one aspect of the just-grown branch, causing the old lady to take a closer peek.
“It doesn't matter if there is Hope and Goodness within it.” The old lady replied once again and remained steadfast in her opinion. “You said a similar thing about the Cultivators, and look where that brought you, my little garden.”
Struck stunned by the old lady's rebuttal, the tree once again shrunk back in embarrassment at the memory.
Though, it seemed as if the old lady was not done reprimanding her tree. “Remember all that Chaos? Remember how they abused your Potential until but a shadow of you remained? Remember how I had to intervene and prune out all those branches just to retrieve said Potential to fix you?”
Instantly, ceasing all the swaying, the tree shook as if remembering that terrible moment.
Yet, despite having known and experienced just that, it seemed very reluctant to just simply allow this one to be smothered out just like that. So once more, it began swaying its main trunk, its branches, its leaves, and releasing its scents, all in an attempt to convince the old lady otherwise.
Witnessing the pleading attempt, the old lady felt her right finger itch, causing the scissors to snap once, and when they did it, it was not just the big tree before her that flinched but every single plant in her garden.
In the end, seeing the old lady sighed with reluctance.
“Fine.” The old lady said. “How about I give it a separate pot?”
Hearing the proposal and considering it, the tree ultimately agreed, so the old lady brought her special scissors and snipped the tiny branch, causing the tree to shiver once again.
Holding the tiny branch between her left thumb and forefinger, she examined it even further.
“Quite the dark one? Filled with horror and tragedy… And yet… There is Hope and Goodness in there, somewhere.” Done examining it, the old lady absently asked the tree a question. “You have a name in question for it?”
Attending to the inquiry, the tree recovered its bearings and began conveying a name that spoke of form, function, and purpose centered around one central idea.
“Aurora?” The old lady repeated and scoffed at the tree. “Hmph… I guess it is a slight improvement when compared to what you named the others.”
That said, she entertained the tree no longer and carried the newly grown branch with her to a side room inside her garden.
Witnessing the old lady depart, a thick tree branch swayed, waving the old lady goodbye, even if it knew she would return soon enough. Still, after her visage was gone, the same branch seemed to move closer to the main trunk as if trying its best to wipe away the invisible sweat that had gathered there.
Of course, there was no sweat there, but the tree in question sure felt like there was.
Damn that old witch and her sensitivity.
Barely managed to get it done in time, though I had to cut some corners. The tree in question thought before sighing in its mind. Was not the best-case scenario, but it should be fine.
Yea… Everything will be alright.
Leaving her prized tree in question, the old lady moved to the side room to finish the preparations for the grafting she’d do.
However, her face did not betray one whit of her thoughts.
Stupid brat. Thinks he can outsmart me! The old lady refuted in her mind. You're at least Seven Cycles too young to even try and outwit Me.
Still, he wasn't wrong about the Potential of this one.
Back in the garden workroom with all her tools, she laid the branch on a table before switching her gaze over the pots that would carry the newly grown Branch of Fate.
Sorting through them, she found the right one, a mate black pot of who knew what material.
Placing the pot near the newly grown branch, the old lady began picking out the materials that would make the soil and mixed them into one. However, where any lesser beings beside her, they would have fainted, if not outright killed, by the dark presence of the minerals and fertilizer used for the soil.
Once the mixture was right, she poured it into the small pot and picked up the newly grown branch before planting it right into the middle of the pot. A moment later her right forefinger touched the newly grown branch, and roots emerged from where it had been cut earlier. Once the roots settled into the soil, the old laid sought out a small and clear bottle with a spraying function and sprayed the small branch and the soil. Almost instantly, the tiny branch grew further into the air while its roots absorbed the extra dark mixture of minerals and fertilizer before its roots grew deeper into the soil and pot.
Seeing the grafting executed successfully, the old lady grunted in satisfaction.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Still, her thoughts, on the other hand, were more centered.
Hmph…
Will have to keep more attention on this one so it does not go bad like the others.
Moments passed, and the tree saw the old lady again carrying a small black pot with an off-shot of his, rooted and growing inside it.
Swaying its tree trunk, its branches, its leaves, it emitted the scents of joy and glee. However, that was all it did before the old lady placed the pot nearby and left it alone.
On the other hand, the moment she was gone, the tree no longer displayed any non-tree-like behavior, and from its tree body, a shine ensued that formed into a transparent humanoid form with magnificent golden hair locks, golden eyes, and a facial structure that would beguile many ladies in an instant.
The moment it was done forming, it stepped near the youngest of its progeny and rubbed the still rapidly growing trunk, like how new parents could not stop themselves from touching a newborn baby.
“You will be a beauty, little Aurora.” The phantom of a man he once used to be declared. “QiQi, ChiChi, Prana, Psyana, and the rest of you, come and greet your newest sibling.”
In response to the invitation, the other small trees and plants placed around the old lady’s garden glowed from their plant-like forms and condensed into new forms. If one knew what to look for, one would easily recognize that all of them possessed physical similarities, especially the first four that appeared.
The biggest of the lot was Prana, whose tree was only half the size of the golden-haired and golden-eyed man.
As the oldest of Man’s Fates, he stepped forward in his monk-like outfit decorated with big brown beads around his neck and clasped his hands together in a prayer pose before nodding his head before the newest member of their family.
“Welcome, little one, I will Pray for your Health.” Prana said and stepped back, only for the second oldest of the lot, QiQi, to come forward.
QiQi wore white robes tied with remarkable designs behind them, plus super wide sleeves around her arms.
Though, unlike Prana, she was a bit reluctant.
“Hello, little sister. I will wish for your Health as well.” With that said, she quickly stepped back as if afraid that she would contaminate her little sister or something.
Seeing his second oldest like that, a wry smile appeared on the golden-haired man's face. Quickly, his left hand went around for her head, causing QiQi to flinch before allowing the hand to pat her on the head.
“Look. There is no need to feel like that. Everybody has a rebellious phase, even Fate’s.”
Quickly nodding, QiQi retreated, only for her younger brother ChiChi to come forward. “Yes, Sis. What is done is done. We both have made mistakes. Admit it, and stop being so meek. It ruins both our prestige as the oldest when you do.” Unlike his barely older sister, ChiChi had a steel-like face, and his clothes, while in the same style as QiQi’s, were shorter and less fancy looking, almost like they were made for rugged individuals who paid no attention to all the small things.
“Welcome, youngest. Hope you turn out better than some of those present here.” His words caused a tiny ruckus from those not belonging to the big four.
Though ChiChi's words were very forward, they were at least not dishonest. The golden-haired man simply sighed inwardly and pointed for his third to retreat and allow the fourth to come forth.
Psyana was the youngest of the big four. Her attitude, though, displayed not one emotion that said ranking bothered her, only condescension because none of her elder siblings showed her smarts, not even her Progenitor.
The same could be witnessed in her countenance, her posture, and her outfit.
Ceasing his thoughts, the golden-haired man took a better look at her outfit because it was not one he had seen before. It was all skin tight, made out of some material he had not seen before, which had not happened in a long while, cloaking her teenage form with lots of purple colors to embellish its designs.
Ignoring them all, Psyiana stepped forward and stared hard at the newest member of the family and simply nodded as if she found something interesting but did not want to share it with the others.
After she stepped back, the rest of the Fate family stepped forth with curiosity while greeting the little one with their various forms. Mostly because they had not witnessed one of them be born ever since the old lady who took care of them cut them away from the Main Tree of Human Fate.
Then, just as a few more were left to bid the new one a greeting, a loud voice reached them, causing all of them to flinch in fright, even the golden hard man.
“GAIA… YOU LITTLE BITCH!!!” The yelling portrayed every word it echoed. “WHAT DID YOU DO?”
An instant after her voice broke the peace, a younger female voice replied, only equally loud. “LEAVE ME ALONE, HAG.”
“HUH… YOU DARED CALL ME A HAG?” The old lady's voice echoed even deeper than before. “GET OVER HERE.”
SMACK
The Fate’s flinched.
“WHAT DID YOU DO?” The old lady asked.
“NOTHING!” The younger voice replied, still firm in her rebellious attitude, though it was apparent that her tone held a tinge of pain.
SMACK
The Fate’s flinched again.
“WHAT DID YOU DO?” The old lady demanded.
“AUCH… THEY DESERVED IT FOR WHAT THEY DID TO ME!!!”
SMACK
They just could not help themselves to flinch as if the very sound of the smacking brought forth memories of when they were snipped away.
“I'll BE THE JUDGE OF THAT. NOW SPEAK. NOW SAY IT!” The old lady's tone demanded.
“Sniff… Sniff… I… I… I DON'T KNOW!!!”
One moment of silence ensued, and the Fates awaited something to happen.
“YOU DON'T KNOW? HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW? THEN HOW DO YOU KNOW THEY DESERVE IT?” The old lady grew even more ferocious with her tone.
“Sniff… Sniff… I… DON'T KNOW.” The young female responded, only her voice contained a bit of confusion as well, at least if you ignored the constant sniffing echoing into the Garden of Myriad Fates., and probably the whole of the Old Lady Palace of Creation’s Fate.
“HOW?… RESTORE THE VIEW OF THE PRIME MORTAL PLANE… NOW!!!” The old lady furiously demanded.
“Sniff… I CANT… I DON'T KNOW WHY… BUT I CAN'T.”
Hearing all of that, on a hunch, the golden-haired man turned his golden eyes on the youngest of the Four, Psyana.
Within her purple eyes, he recognized a haughty look as if daring him to ask her about it.
Then his eyes settled on her newest outfit before his thoughts urgently settled on gathering his family's attention while silently pointing at them to slowly inch their way back to the physical representative of their Aspects inside the old lady's garden.
As if recognizing something, the old lady's voice rang out again.
“THIS CAN'T BE A COINCIDENCE… MEN!”
“Eeeh…”
“Not good.”
“RUN, MY FAMILY.” The golden-haired and golden-eyed man ordered, and his Family of Fate’s rushed back to their trees before he too, heeded his own advice and vanished inside his own big tree.
Right as every one of them vanished, the old lady returned to her garden to witness nothing untoward occurring. She glanced at every single one of them, causing them to tremble, before setting her gaze on the big one, causing him to shiver the hardest even though he had no idea what had and could have blinded the old lady’s sight of the Prime Mortal Plane.
Not exactly recognizing the problem before her, the old lady scoffed and grunted her displeasure before leaving, though not without picking up Aurora, the newest member of the Family of Fate’s.
Back within a distinct hall-like room with countless hovering spheres floating and rotating around a big central one, the old lady ignored the sniveling child massaging her behind just below the central sphere and took another glance at the black surface of the primary sphere inside the hall-like room representing the Countless Realms of Creation.
Grunting once again with displeasure, the old lady ignored the sniff that reached her ears.
“Causality!” The old lady spoke, and almost instantly, a woman in her twenties appeared behind the old lady.
She possessed silver eyes and silver hair, just like the old lady, and there was even a facial resemblance between them.
“I've sensed your touch on this one.” The old lady turned around and said before displaying the newly grown tree sapling. “So I know you're somehow involved.”
Not displaying any abnormalities, the young silver-haired and silver-eyed woman neither denied nor affirmed the accusation because to her, it could be true now, but not in the future, just like how it could be true in the past, yet not in the future, or the other way around.
“Take the sapling and find its First User.” The old lady commanded. “When he's ready, smuggle him into the Prime Mortal Plane. I don't care if it gets messy. Just do it. I need a powerful Mortal down there relaying me the situation directly.”
“Yes.” The young woman with silver hair replied and took the tiny sapling.
“Cause…” This time, the old lady's tone was somewhat milder. “Gaia may be young, but an Aspect is an Aspect. Whatever was able to get rid of her memories likely can do the same to you. So be cautious, my Daughter.”
“I will… Mother!” That said, Causality vanished from the old lady's awareness by masking both her Time and her Fate, a deadly combination to possess.
Seeing her gone, the old lady murmured. “Sigh… Hope it's not what I assume it is.”