CHAPTER 8: THE HUNT

The black mage village was finally calm again. Most of the new homes were done, and now the genomes could try the pleasure of moving into their own house. They still had to live in pairs or more, but it was not like any of them truly wanted to live alone just yet anyway. All was still too strange and foreign to them, even if they slowly got used to life in the village.

Mikoto watched two younger genomes being instructed in the life of a small Chocobo. One of them tried to grab its tail which resulted in a painful scream from the yellow bird. The genome jumped back in surprise and the black mage seemed to enjoy itself in spite of its simple expression. She turned around and watched another genome which was busy bringing nuts from the top of a tree by hanging down by its tail. She smiled, but the smile was also filled with sadness. She knew what the genomes were going through, and she felt it herself. Nothing in this world was as they were used to - and they still needed to learn a lot about being alive.

"Mikoto!"

She turned and saw two genomes run towards her. "Yes?" she asked.

"We want you to come with us," the first and oldest said. It was also a girl, and Mikoto noticed that she had tied a brown string around her yellow hair. It made her look so different from her former self. And then she noticed something in her hand.

"What is that?" she asked in surprise.

The girl looked at it with pride. "It is a bow," she answered. "I read about it in a book that the black mages had, and I made my own. It was not difficult, they have just the right trees here."

Mikoto stared at the bow. That it had been easy to make the first bow ever did not surprise her - she knew that she easily could have done it herself as a genome. But she realised how much this girl had already changed. "What will you use it for?"

"Hunting."

The second genome nodded, a younger boy. "I saw the book that Eleen had. That is how humans get food - they hunt."

The girl named Eleen showed Mikoto some arrows that she had in a primitive quiver on her back. "I am going to learn. You coming?"

Mikoto smiled. 'You coming?' wasn't anything she was used to hear among genomes - only the black mages. It almost scared her as much as Eleen had adapted. Maybe it is just me, she thought. Maybe I am just too slow and stubborn. Then she nodded. "Yes, I am coming."

The three genomes walked through the giant forest, watching everything that moved around them. Eleen had bow and arrow ready, looking for an opportunity to use them. The youngest, Janu, ran around outside the path. He soon stopped and pointed at something.

"Can you hit that, Eleen?" he asked.

Eleen looked in the direction that he was pointing and saw what he meant. It was a small beehive hanging high up on a branch. "I can try," she answered, and aimed with her bow. She fired, but the arrow fell far too low.

"Well, it does not seem very effective," Mikoto said.

Eleen collected her lost arrow and aimed once more. "I will learn!" she said as she fired once more. This one landed out of sight inside the forest, and Janu ran in after it.

"Janu!" Mikoto yelled. "It is dangerous in there!"

"I will help him." Eleen soon ran after before Mikoto could stop her. She now stood all by herself without knowing what to do. "This is..." she thought about a word that she had heard in the village before, "... stupid," she finished. Then she followed them. She found them further into the forest and discovered that troublehad also come their way. Janu was watching the arrow, sitting firmly in the trunk of a broad tree, while Eleen stood not far from him. But none of them had seen the large living flower that rose behind Janu.

"Behind you!" Mikoto shouted in surprise. Janu turned around and screamed as he saw the growling 'flower' that floated above him. It moved its leaves slowly, readying itself for the attack. But Eleen was quick, and she soon had another arrow ready.

"Eleen, no!" Mikoto said. "You cannot help him that way!"

Eleen narrowed her eyes. "I know I can."

With another unnatural growl the flower bend over Janu, closing its leaves around him. In that moment Eleen fired her arrow, hitting the flower near the middle. It was hurled backwards, and the arrow struck deep into a tree. Screaming the flower tried to get free as Janu ran to the two other genomes. Mikoto stared.

"I learned!" Eleen said proudly.

Mikoto nodded. "Yes... you did."

Janu was running around, begging Eleen to lend him the bow. In that moment when Mikoto felt like joining their happiness, something struck her. She froze, surprised about this unknown feeling. The two young genomes were forgotten as she closed her eyes, trying to find the origin of the pain - the call - deep inside her.

"Melody?" she said and opened her eyes once again. Eleen and Janu watched her with surprise and wonder. She turned towards them with fear and sorrow in her eyes.

"It is Melody," she whispered.

Darkness.

I am alone... again.

... Fearless... without pain... am I dead?

Melody opened her eyes, blinking but without seeing anything. There was nothing around her but total darkness, but still she could feel the firm ground underneath her. It was without grass, but not earth. It was something that reminded her of a plant.

A plant? Slowly she tried to move, but the pain forced her to lie still again. I feel pain. Then I cannot be dead. She sighed and closed her eyes. Unless this is my death. To lie here in the eternal dark, forever.

"Me.. lodies... k.."

Her eyes opened again and she stared out into the dark. That voice, the voice from her dreams, so near! Once again she tried to get up, fighting the pain. She finally managed to sit, making sure that nothing was broken. In some way she had survived the fall, even though she felt like a hundred hammers had beaten her. She looked up and gasped as she saw the blue sky - far up and away. Yes, she was alive. And the darkness was not endless after all.

She tried to put her hand on the ground near her, but almost fell as she realised that there was nothing but thin air. She crawled backwards, making sure that she was not walking into certain death. And then she realised what the weird ground underneath her was: a giant root, just like the ones bearing Conte Petie. As she focused her eyes, she saw that the dark was full of them. They led from the cliffs to the large tree, which meant that there still was a chance that she could get back up to the surface.

But why should I? she thought. What do I have to return to? She once again looked into the dark below, thinking of the possibility of jumping and ending the worries. How long had she been here anyway? And what... what had happened to Jack and Jaileen? She raised her hand to her shoulder, and felt the pain from the wound. The one that had pushed her down here.

"Melodies... whisper..."

She froze in surprise. The voice! She had forgotten it! But where did it come from?

"Endlessss... sss..."

"Who are you?" she asked, and found her own voice surprisingly loud. Fear grabbed her. What if it was a fiend? She realised that she still had her dagger, but was she able to fight? A strange sound made her shiver. It was like... laughter - weak though, but still a laughter. The cold and mysterious voice made her spine freeze.

"Fff... fight?" the voice whispered, as if it had read her thoughts. There was a long pause, as if the voice had to collect strength to continue. Then the next sentence came, more real and firm than ever before:

"I will... bring you back... I will give you your strength..."

Melody tried to find out if she could stand. "Who are you?" she repeated. "Why should I trust you?"

"..." Pause. "Because I... brought you here. Because... I... am you..."

Suddenly Melody could feel the voice disappear once more. It was like something unseen left her, and the darkness felt even heavier than before. Panic rose within her. "Where are you?" she called. "How can you help me?" She got on her feet and turned around. And then suddenly she saw something - a weak light. She was staring at the Iifa Tree, and the small light made the path visible. Something was in there.

Melody leaned against a large root going up through the tree, forced by the pain and loss of strength to rest. She looked upwards. She had finally reached the inside of the giant tree, and discovered that this also was a complicated net of giant roots and mysterious constructions. All the time she had to be careful that she didn't fall into the darkness, and sometimes she almost passed out. Even though she had survived, the fall had taken a lot of her vitality. Just as she felt like giving up, she felt the voice surrounding her again.

"D... dyin...g..."

"No!" she whispered. "Who is dying?"

"Iifa... the tree of life... gives life..."

She shook her head. "I do not understand. This place is dead, I know it."

"It was made... for us... Use it."

For a moment Melody waited for the voice to say more, and then she looked around her. Use it - how? She tried to put both her hands on the root that she was standing up against, and watched it. Nothing happened.

"Concentrate..." the voice whispered, and Melody closed her eyes and did what she was told. Soon she felt a small stream of energy running through her, so weak that it was almost non-existent. But it helped her regain some of her health and energy, and she thanked the voice silently. She looked around, knowing that it would be impossible to draw more power from the dead tree.

"What now?" she asked.

"Further... deep..."

Without another word she continued into the tree. The most of the aching in her body were gone thanks to the life-giving tree, but the wound in her left shoulder had not disappeared. Soon she reached something that looked like the center. The path was spiralling further into the deep here, and she decided to rest before she continued downwards. She sat on the path and closed her eyes. The outside world was almost forgotten now, and only the mission to find the place that the voice lead her towards existed in her mind. Everything else didn't matter - not even what would happen when she reached her destination.

After walking for a long time without knowing if it was night or day, Melody discovered that she was standing in front of the verycenter of the tree. A large root was blocking her way, going vertical up- and downwards as far as she could see in the dark. What now? she thought.

A sound made her spin around, surprised that anything would live down here, and her eyes searched through the dark behind her. She saw something move quickly in the dark and drew her blade. Her tail swayed from side to side as she readied herself for the attack. Another movement was enough for her to jump off the safe spot on the path, and she flew through the air before she landed on top of something. The unidentified creature shook her off and turned to face her. Melody stared at the thing - she had been right. There weren't any living things left in the tree, only undead creatures like this brownish zombie that stared back at her with its dead, white eyes. Because of the shock she forgot to take the first move. The zombie was surprisingly quick, and soon charged at her.

This was a perfect place for her to fight. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark, and roots, vines and dead vegetation hung all around them. She jumped away backwards, grabbing around a creaking branch with her tail, throwing herself higher into the air. She ended up behind the Zombie, slicing through its spine with the dagger. It widened its white eyes in shock, then it fell the the ground.

"You still surprise me, my little melody."

Melody turned around, and was soon staring into a bright yellow light. The light was coming from the middle of a bunch of tangled, strong roots. Stunned by the sight, she could only keep staring into the light and the shape inside it. A couple of eyes opened and looked back at her, smiling.

"W-who...?" Melody stammered.

"Someone who has been waiting for you... for a very long time."

END OF CHAPTER 8