Dark Garden Excerpts
Sector: Dark Forest
Log Name: Woes of a Dryad
In the central sanctum of the Dark Forest…
The entire sanctum was a massive garden, filled with various forms of flowers and plants that could be located through the countless worlds of the universes, as there was a mystical aura around the entire area, that seemed to make those very plants flourish to their full potential, healthy and productive with their fruits and flowers being so enriched and plentiful. In the center was a large tree that had a crown of branches and leaves that surged through the open center of the ceiling, where it spread out majestically into the air above.
Right before the tree itself, was a young dryad boy, with white short luscious hair that had several white blooming lily flowers among the locks of hair, a pale skin, and dressed in nothing but a silky toga that stretched from his chest to his legs, with marking of green leaves around the edges. The dryad himself was meditating before the tree itself, as there were wisps of pure nature energy emitting from him, which was slowly funneling themselves into the massive trunk of the towering tree, with a wooden Staff of Asceplus on the side.
After a while, the flow of energy dissipated, as if the transfer of energy had finished, as the dryad opened his eyes, revealing that they were a light yellow color that glimmered under the fresh light, as he slowly rose up, collecting his staff in his hand.
"O Great World Tree…" The dryad spoke with a gentle soft voice that was almost melodious. "I give my blessings onto you, for you are the very tree that showers all of us with the love of nature. You are our guardian and caretaker, and we will serve as your own in return for this. I hope that this little power will suffice, for I have not become strong enough to contribute as the Grand Arbiter would have. Continue to bless us with vitality… for we are your children as you are to Mother Nature."
After a while, the dryad began to hear footsteps approaching the sanctum, as he turned around to see who was coming, as it was both Aslana and Roxy, who had finished recovering from their last mission in Onigashima.
"Aslana… Roxy. You have come here at last." The dryad stated, before a faint smile appeared on his face. "I did not think that you would have taken a lot of time coming here."
"Well, we had to process a lot of things…" Roxy remarked, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, as her ears twitched to indicate her reluctance to discuss the big reveal she and Aslana personally had seen. "But we couldn't leave you alone for two minutes more, you little shrub, you. So how's the World Tree doing?"
"Quite well, as you can see." Marek nodded, gesturing at the World Tree behind him. "Their blessings upon us have not waned the slightest, even grew stronger somehow… I wonder how that is possible."
"It is merely a reward for your devotion." Aslana suggested as an explanation. "You may not contribute as well as the currently inactive Grand Arbiter… but you are consistent, and you have never wasted a single moment to contribute whenever you can. Your devotion strengthened it, that is all I could explain with."
"Devotion… I suppose so." Marek remarked, lowering his eyes slightly, with a slight frown. "...How long will it be until the Grand Arbiter shows himself… I even worry about what could possibly have happened to have him like this… He is a man of action and words both, and yet… I haven't seen him face-to-face after so long."
"None of us has, fair Marek." Aslana explained, shaking her head. "You must not worry for him, he would be distraught if you worry excessively about him."
"Even so…" Marek muttered.
"Hey, if it'll cheer you up, I think that we're making good progress in making some friends out of the Hero Alliance. I think that there's someone among their ranks that seems to be a druid of some sorts." Roxy quickly said, before she then placed her finger on her lips. "Flora, or something…? I'm not sure about their name, since I never saw them before… but from what I heard and what I have seen, she's a part of the Unmei Force, and she's some sort of elder druid in the body of a younger woman, for reasons I don't know. She seems to be an avid believer of nature… someone who would fit well among our ranks. I think that you might want to meet her, if you want someone outside of this place to befriend."
"That would be great." Marek nodded with a gentle smile. "And it seems that the world itself has become all the quieter in a sudden moment. As if some sort of malevolent force was brought down. It's not just Kaido… whose impact could be felt even from here, but someone else who is connected to the state of the world."
"Oh, you must be talking about Ryokugyu-" Roxy was about to say, before Aslana quickly covered her mouth.
"Roxy, be silent on that matter, do you not know that very name is a sensitive subject for Marek!?" Aslana growled firmly.
However, it was too late, as Marek heard the name, as his eyes widened greatly, and the staff from his hand clattered onto the ground.
"...What?" Marek stated. "What happened to him? What did he do?"
"Marek, it's no big concern, all that happened was that he tried to invade Wano in the midst of the aftermath. He was beaten back by a member of the Hero Alliance, in fact, one of the leaders." Aslana stated.
Marek fell silent, as he bent over to pick up his staff, before waiting for either Roxy or Aslana to continue.
"Yeah, that disgrace tried to ambush the heroes while their guards were down." Roxy explained further. "Fortunately, that very leader realized something was amiss. He left a clone for bantering to ensure that no-one followed. Well, no-one but his goddess, who came with for some reason I don't know. The two met, Ryogyoku tried to taunt him, only to get roasted quite hard back. And the fighting was in favor of the leader. Say, what you will, but that look in his eyes? It was the look of an unforgiving predator, like both of us when we're on the kill. That reckless Admiral was going to be coming back in a pot if the fight continued, since that leader literally vaporized his entire body with one move, forcing Ryogoku to regenerate from scratch, which is a hard enough endeavor. The only reason the fight didn't continue was because Red-Hair Shanks interrupted it to tell the Admiral to slink away with tail between his legs, figuratively I mean. The leader, he just simply had that look that was like the fight was nothing serious. Like that scuffle didn't even amount to anything against him."
Marek was deathly silent for the entire exchange, before he then took a deep breath, and turned around.
"I… see…" Marek stated, as his voice had a tone of tiredness under it.
"Marek, isn't this a good thing?" Aslana asked. "This means that he won't have the right to run rampant as he wishes, and that would be less of a disgrace on your own role as-"
"...Aslana, Roxy…" Marek interrupted, as they could see that the grip he had on his staff was tight enough to show the red blush on his knuckles, as his hand was tightening hard around the entire pole of it. "...Do you remember why I detest him so?"
"Because he's a literal insult to everything we do, right? He's literally a lapdog wielding the power of nature, which is something that should never be deserved by him." Roxy stated, before she then scowled. "Taking lives with the roots of life… creating destruction with nature itself. He really is a piece of work, that's all I can say."
"...I wish I could hate him. After all, I have all the reasons to do so, being the one closest to nature among all of us sub-leaders, second to only the Grand Arbiter." Marek stated, his voice low, clipped to restrain any hint of anger within it, even though it does not seem to be on his own volition. "He is the antithesis of my very existence, the dark side to my own light… and yet… to hate him… would be to shed everything that I have strived to become."
"Marek…" Aslana stated. "You don't need to harbor such hatred. We are the ones who are willing to do what is necessary to purge such hatred and malice from our organization. If you feel that he needs to be eradicated… then we will find a way to do so."
"...No, even harboring such intent to kill would stain myself." Marek stated, as his expression turned into a pained grimace. "...I can't have that. Not at all… Even with what I can do… going further will render me impure as a prophet to the World Tree…"
"Marek, you don't have to force yourself to do this. Just admit your feelings…" Roxy stated, with great concern in her voice. "Bottling them up like this… and repressing them as hard as you can, just so that you can fulfill your role… it's not worth it. Take it from us, who have been through a lot, both for ourselves and for you."
"Roxy, Aslana… My role is the only thing I have. If I cannot keep my mind right… then I do not deserve to be of use to any of you." Marek argued firmly, as his voice was even. "I envy it… I envy the fact that all of you can be capable of processing such negative emotion so well… but when I'm the one to deal with it, I have to either purge it out by all means necessary, or repress it to keep myself pure. I want to be able to defend people… but I have no killing intent, nor any conflict drive… I am a pure innocent, because all I can do is defend and heal others."
"And that is all you have to do!" Aslana shouted. "We don't need any more from you! Everything you have done, it is the greatest honor to everyone here. You have saved countless lives from undeserved fates!"
"...But time and nature will take them all away." Marek sadly stated, shaking his head. "...What good is my protection and my purity… when there is nothing left for me to treat, nothing left for me to protect? Then even that will lose its worth… and I will be nothing but a mere tree, doomed to watch everything pass by, with nothing of my own. And what's more…"
"Don't… Don't go there. You don't need more of that emotional baggage than you already have." Roxy begged. "All those deaths… It's not your fault. Even if your creatures are tasked to defend you and those you seek to protect, their actions are not your responsibility. Those were all accidental deaths, and even those deaths were justifiable. Their lives deserved to be forfeit."
"...And who are we to judge the worth of a life?" Marek refuted with a stern look in his eyes. "...All life is to be cherished, from the terrible to the great. That is the maxim of using healing magic. 'Do no harm, treat all harm'. The extended Hippocratic Vow. By my own creations… I have betrayed the former statement, and that is something that eats away on the edges of my own wooden heart."
"You betrayed nothing." Aslana stated, walking over to embrace Marek from behind, as the warm gesture startled him. "Sometimes, oaths can be twisted, but never broken. Your creations fight so that you won't have to ever stain your hands to harm others. Their kills are not your own, so you yourself have no reason to be called a sinner or a murderer. Your creations… they act in self-defense, do they not? It is not as if their first instinct is to kill those who attack them. They merely return with such lethal force if other lives are in inevitable danger. I know this, because I have seen it in action before. So please, let that sin of yours be forgiven by yourself… it is not a sin that others would judge you by. It is something that we all are guilty of."
"...I'll try." Marek stated, as he did his best to alleviate the numb feeling of his guilt on his heart.
"That's all we ask of you." Aslana nodded back, pleased that she succeeded in helping to comfort the dryad, even only slightly.
"...I miss him, Aslana and Roxy." Marek said, as there was a hint of pained longing in his voice. "...I miss the days when the Grand Arbiter would smile at the work that I have done. I miss the days when Es-"
Marek then bit his tongue, as his own expression twisted even more, as if recalling the person caused his heart to wrench further.
"It's okay, Marek." Roxy assured Marek. "We know how much you miss her too. You of all people seemed to be most affected by her departure."
Marek then lowered his head. "...I wish I could do more. Every day, there is always a voice in my head..." He stated. "It screams at me, it growls at me. It wants me to forsake everything that I stand for, in order to become an avatar of wrath. Every moment without the Grand Arbiter, it's been getting louder and louder, and closer and closer towards my own voice. I'm scared... I'm scared that one day, I will lose myself, and never be able to return to how I was. The Grand Arbiter was the only one who could help me from whatever inner demons torment my own mind and soul."
"Marek..." Asland stated, with concern on her face. "If you ever fall, we promise that we'll make sure that you won't hurt anyone. That's the extent of our friendship with you. And don't forget, you still have friends out there. Especially that kid."
"Bolt Junior..." Marek remarked, before his mood lightened slightly. "...That's right, even despite everything... I still have him. Thank you, both of you. I feel a bit better already."
"That's the spirit!" Aslana laughed heartily. "I prefer you as vibrant and great as always. Set aside this nonsense about that disgrace of nature. He's not you, and he'll never be you. You're a blessing to Dark Forest, and I mean every word of that."
Marek chuckled slightly, as Roxy smiled widely, seeing how the acting leader and the sub-leader of Dark Forest were getting along well.
'One day, we'll find you, Grand Arbiter. That's the promise we made between us.' Roxy thought to herself with conviction.