Ch 5
The trip back to the Yggdrasill Tree wasn't any less urgent than the trip to Sybak. Caleb knew he'd been lucky. The crest didn't have to wind up exchanging hands within the city. He muttered a thanks to Martel for influencing its path even in her deep slumber during her time in the Great Seed. The farmers yelled again when Caleb cut through their fields once more, but he was already on his way into Gaoracchia Forest by the time they decided to do anything about it.
"Shouldn't be more than a couple of days now. If I push it a little more..." Caleb murmured and yelled as something within the engine of the Elemental Carriage suddenly exploded, sending the vehicle careening into a tree. "Yow! The crystal!" he exclaimed once everything had settled and he could see he wasn't damaged. He squirmed free of the crushed metal and crawled out of the carriage with the crest tucked into his pack. He stood there for a minute, eyeing the damage the carriage had taken, then sighing in despair.
"That's not fair! How am I going to get to the Mana Tree now?" he asked aloud and looked around himself, "So much for magitechnology being infallible. I'm just glad it wasn't my mana crystal that broke this time!" Caleb scratched his head and sighed again. "Martel, can you hear me?" he whispered softly, concentrating on his sister's image, "Tabatha!"
"I'm here, Caleb. What's wrong? Did you find the crest?" the goddess' voice answered.
"Yes, but I'm stuck in the forest. I crashed the Elemental Carriage. Is it possible to teleport me to you?" the doll asked.
"I'll do one better. I'll send for help." Martel replied, "Look above you." Caleb did as he was told and blinked as a mint-green mana beast descended from on high, shredding away a hole in the forest canopy with Wind Blade spells. It landed and squawked at him. "Ride on his back. He'll bring you here."
"Ride! On a flying mana beast!" Caleb cried in a shrill voice, imagining himself falling off to his doom once he got airborne.
"Hurry!" Martel urged and the doll sighed again, climbing on and praying for a quick end if he met it. The mana beast waited until he had a good grip on the fur, then leaped upwards, pushing off as the wind swept under its wings for lift off.
"Aahhhh! Now I know I wouldn't have made a good angel!" Caleb wailed as the GaleForce mana beast sped towards the Yggdrasill Tree.
Pepper bounded about, clacking eagerly as the mana beast carrying Caleb touched down. Martel hurried towards the doll as Pepper cheered his return, having grown larger over the past few days he'd been gone. Caleb squeaked and slid off the mana beast's back, wobbling on the ground as he tried to get his sense of balance back.
"It's good to see you're all right!" Martel exclaimed, forgetting herself as she threw her arms around him in a hug, "I thought you might have gotten hurt when you told me about that crash!"
"I'm okay! I got the crest!" Caleb assured her, unsure whether to hug her back or not. Martel pulled away and clasped her hands together, eyes shining.
"Orator! I'll have you back soon, old friend!" she breathed in joy and held out her hands, "Please, let me have the crest." The doll reached into his pack and pulled it free, placing it in Martel's grasp. "Now, to call Origin and Maxwell. They'll recreate his body, I'll place the crest around his neck and then call his soul from the Yggdrasill Tree. Orator will be reborn!"
She walked away to summon the two Spirits, leaving Caleb to catch up on what Pepper was learning about. She had grown to the size of an average horse and could stand eye to eye with him now. He smiled and stroked her snout, happy to be reunited with his friend.
"Did you learn to fly?" Caleb asked and smiled wider when the young mana beast nodded eagerly, "That's great! Can you show me? I have a friend in Sybak who would love to meet you!" Pepper clacked, then turned and leaped into the air, wings pumping as she climbed up to circle the giant tree. Caleb looked up at her, happy to see her flying freely, but also feeling saddened at the thought that such freedom would one day lead her to leaving him. She landed neatly and clacked, wings still flapping open in display. "That was great. Thank you." he told her and meant it.
A pair of brilliant white flashes of light caught his attention and Caleb looked over to see the Summon Spirits Origin and Maxwell suddenly appear before Martel and the Mana Tree. Martel motioned to Caleb to join her and he nodded, walking up with Pepper following behind, whistling to herself. Origin had two of his arms folded over his broad chest as always, the other pair at his sides and ready to grab for his spears at any time. Maxwell sat on his half-globe, bent over his large book in study. Of the two most powerful Spirits, only Origin gave Caleb a nod of acknowledgment.
"Ah, hello, Origin." Caleb murmured hesitantly, "Um, hello, Maxwell." The King of Summon Spirits remained silent, studying him; Maxwell glanced at him with a nod, then returned to his book. Martel smiled as Caleb gave her a helpless look.
"Oh, don't worry. They're just confused about why I called them here and they didn't want to show it." she explained gently, "Go ahead and talk to them; I'm not quite ready to put things together."
"Okay." Caleb stammered and looked up at Origin, "Um, so... how have you been?"
"I've been worse. I'm alive and free to live my life while bound in service to Sheena and Lloyd. It could have been worse." the Spirit replied dryly. Caleb laughed nervously.
"That's true. Ah, speaking of Lloyd and Sheena, how are they? I've run into Genis and he's been doing well. What about the others?" he asked. Origin looked slightly chagrined.
"The Heroes of Union are well, but Lloyd... He, Kratos and Zelos are all currently in Iselia, recovering from a recent... misunderstanding... on Derris-Kharlan." he answered vaguely. Caleb blinked in confusion and shook his head.
"What? What happened? I thought they were just going to be up there for a few weeks, scattering the Exspheres to the stars as dust. What could possibly have happened up there?" he pressed as Pepper walked up and took a sniff at him, curious. Origin absent-mindedly pet her head.
"I'd rather not say. It was... disturbing..." he trailed and Caleb chose to drop the subject, despite the worry and curiosity that gnawed away at them. "They're recovering and doing well at it. That's all I can say about it. However, Lloyd is fairly eager to continue his journey to collect Exspheres. There are still many left in this world." Origin assured him and finally smiled as Pepper nuzzled into his hand with a cheerful clack. "This youngster is rather affectionate."
"This is Peppermint, Pepper for short. I raised her from a hatchling when I rescued her as an egg from some raiders in NeOzette." Caleb jumped at the opportunity for a new subject. "She's really sweet, especially if she knows you have fruit on hand."
"So, the mana beasts are returning to the world." Maxwell finally remarked, floating over to examine Pepper. He stroked his beard and eyed the creature carefully. "This one's a half-breed. Nice one, too. Most Ascension clan mana beasts have a hard time with refining their attack abilities. A little FireBlossom in her won't be so bad."
"Half-breeds are common among mana beasts?" Caleb asked. Maxwell shook his head.
"No, not really, not in the old days at least. Nowadays, half-breeds are popping up more and more often. Mana beasts have no sense of discrimination, so it doesn't matter to them whether she's pure-bred or not." he pointed out, "Don't worry about it."
"All right. I'm ready." Martel announced and stepped before the two Summon Spirits. Caleb moved back and whistled, calling Pepper to him. He had practiced whistling for Pepper when she was young, but it wasn't until he brought her to Martel that she learned the whistle was meant to get her to come over to him. "Origin, Maxwell, you now know that the mana beasts have returned to Symphonia." Martel began to say to the two Spirits, "Recently, however, raiders have begun to steal the eggs from the nests. This cannot go on much longer. It was a miracle, not of my making I assure you, that Caleb received one and allowed it to live, with Peppermint standing here as proof."
"I think I know where this is going. Orator no longer stands beside you, and he would have been able to handle this incident had he survived the Kharlan War." Maxwell remarked with an elderly chuckle and stroked his beard again. Martel nodded.
"Correct. I want to revive Orator, but I need you both to make his body. Without a replica of his old body, Orator's soul will become blank when it enters the body. Just like the soul that I gave to my brother, Caleb." she affirmed, "I've made contact with Orator within the tree. Caleb has retrieved the crest that he wore. All that's left is the body."
"I see. To preserve the remaining mana beasts, we will recreate Orator and see him walk with you once more." Origin agreed and turned to face the other Summon Spirit. "Maxwell, let us begin."
"You have to be so formal about it?" the old man muttered and concentrated. Caleb watched in fascination as mana seemed to collect from every source around them, from earth, wind, water, fire; from the tree, the other mana beasts, Martel and even himself. Sunlight, shadows, time and space, mana pooled together in the very air before them. A shape formed, a mana beast far larger than the adults Caleb had seen so far. The shape solidified, with all features and markings in place.
It was big, Caleb could imagine two people comfortably riding on its back. Large brown wings with black feathertips folded along its back, its body also brown with a series of black stripes running horizontally down from its head to its tail, fading as it reached its belly, which was devoid of fur and had cream-colored scales from just below its snout to the base of its tail. Similar stripes decorated its legs and it had massive paws. It had a stern-looking face and black-tipped brown ears on its head. Caleb swallowed. If this was Orator, then those raiders would definitely think twice about coming back for more eggs after meeting him once!
Origin began focusing on the finished body and Caleb wondered what he would contribute to the mana beast form. The stern face began to soften, taking on a noble expression, one usually found on the faces of wizened men. Both Summon Spirits then turned to Martel.
"It's finished. His body is complete, exactly as it had been before his death." Maxwell remarked. Origin nodded sagely.
"His mind is primed to receive his knowledge, wisdom, and his memories. He will be able to retain everything he knew during the age when war tore through the world." the King of Summon Spirits added.
"Caleb, please place this crest around his neck." Martel suddenly said, handing the shield and thick cord to the doll. Caleb looked surprised.
"Me? Why me?" he asked in confusion.
"You were the one who went out in search of it. It is through your efforts that we will have Orator as he was long ago. I'd like for you to have the honor of placing my crest on him." Martel told him with a gentle smile. Caleb swallowed and nodded, accepting the crest and walking up to the still form that now lay between Origin Maxwell. He slipped the cord over the beast's head and settled the shield between its paws. "Now, for the final piece." Martel whispered with barely contained joy. She lifted her staff and closed her eyes. "Orator, come forth and reclaim your form! Walk with me once again!"
Caleb watched as a shining light emerged from the tree and began to float down towards them. He remembered when he received his own soul, and how much different the world seemed to be once he could truly think on his own. Everything before that moment seemed almost like a dream, as if his old self was someone totally separate from who he was now.
The light drifted down and vanished into the body. Everyone waited anxiously as time passed. Eventually, the form began to shift and the eyes opened slowly, the dark brown looking a little lost and groggy. He lifted the front half of his body as if he hadn't moved in ages, which was technically true, and gazed up at Martel.
"Is the war... over?" he asked her in clear human language, his voice a soft rumble, like pebbles running through someone's hands. Caleb cried in surprise, stepping back.
"It can talk!" he exclaimed. The mana beast looked at him in confusion, then returned to Martel. She knelt before him with tears in her eyes and a gentle smile.
"Orator, dear friend... the war has been over for more than four thousand years." she answered. Orator reared back in shock, nearly stumbling as he tried to regain use of his legs too quickly.
"Wh-what! Why had I not been made aware of this?" he cried and looked around, "The Kharlan Tree still stands, but what is all this rubble? Had the war breached even this sacred meadow, Spirit of Mana? And what's become of my brethren?"
"Much has changed, Orator. Rest, now, and I will explain it all to you." Martel told him and hugged him, placing her cheek against his snout gently. "It is so good to have you back."
"Our work is done. We will return to Sheena's service." Origin murmured, "But it truly is good to have you alive again, Orator."
"Don't get too noble! Have fun now and then!" Maxwell laughed in his elderly booming voice and both Summon Spirits vanished. Caleb shook his head, still baffled. He looked at Pepper, who only clacked softly at having his attention return to her.
"You heard him talk in human language, right?" he asked her. She smiled and nibbled at his ear, her way of telling him that he hadn't been hearing things.