Yamagen slowly sat up, holding his head. Looking around, he found he was in a field of flowers. The flowers themsevels were odd, a pale purple with a deep magenta as the stem and leaves. A small golden plug stuck out each one.
Walking through the flowers made them ring like bells. He brushed them with his hand, listening to the delicate chime of the flowers. This place...he was alone, and it was peaceful. The flowers seemed to call to him, their gentle ringing echoing a name through the silent grove.
"...Reclusa..."
"Reclusa."
"RECLUSA."
The name wasn't of any he knew, but it still felt so familiar. The flowers shifted, seemingly pointing him to a certain way. If he tried to walk elsewhere, the flowers would grow larger to block him. The larger flowers bore smiling eyes, and the plug within was much larger. The stems were armored in thorns, and the leaves became jagged and sharp.
"Reclusa, Reclusa, Reclusa..."
"Who's Reclusa?" He finally asked.
"Reclusa..."
They continued to lead him without uttering more than their repetetive cries for Reclusa. The flowers titled and turned until he came to a thick, towering tree. The leaves were odd colors, a light and pale blue at the base, with a gradiant to yellow towards the ends. It looked similar to the Darkwood, but twisted. Vile.
Yamagen knelt to the tree. "Darkwood? Is that you?"
Long, low-hanging branches twitched, then reached for him. Cords made up the fingers, with long red claws coming from each one.
"GlOhM..." The voice was highly distorted, and echoed forwards and backwards over itself. The voice was groggy, but sounded familiar; not like the Darkwood, but like someone else. "GlOhM...I nEeD gLoHm..."
"Glohm?" Yamagen repeated. He gasped gently. "You must be Reclusa!"
"I nEeD gLoHm...GlOhM...gLoHm...!"
"What's Glohm? I've never heard of it before."
It reached its branches towards Yamagen's face. It touched a single claw to his forehead. Yamagen saw what the tree did. Its eyes entered a store, looking for a book.
"GlOhM...tHe SuFfErInG oF oThErS...iT tHrIvEs InSiDe AlL oF uS...yOu...YoU aRe ThE oNlY oNe ThAt CaN sUrViVe ItS pOwEr...!"
"What are you talking about?"
"GlOhm..."
Yamagen got back to his feet. "I get it. Glohm. Whatever it is, I'll find it for you."
"No...YoU'lL fInD iT fOr Us..."
The ground shook, and the flowers sprouted like weeds. They surrounded him, quickly blocking him on all sides. A quick glance to the tree revealed something new. It had eyes and a mouth, and the eyes' colors matched his.
A large bulb attached itself to Yamagen's head. He heard his own heartbeat, and could feel the tug of it connecting to his mind. He fell limp, unable to fight the strange plant. An echoing laughed mocked him as everything slowly faded to black...
"Fwahahahaha!"
He slowly came to, the sun glimmering down on him through the Uni-Tree's leaves. He covered the light with his hand, small rays still snuck between his fingers. He sat up, tucking one of his legs closer to him. At his feet, and growing between the fingers of his other hand, were the same flowers from his dream. He flinched away from the sprout.
"Hello...Are you okay?" It was a soft voice, which brought comfort despite the fact all others were unwelcome. "You've been laying there quite a while, and I was beggining to worry for you. Those flowers seem to like you. I wanted to water them, but they would always whither away when I'd try. They would come back, nearer to you than before. And...they only grew near you."
Yamagen uprooted one of the flowers. He stood. "Leave me alone."
She was tall, lanky, and a fair green. She wore robes similar to his, and a Wattanist's hat. "I'm so glad you're okay!" Her gradient sleeves were too long for her arms, covering her hands entirely. "My name is Alicia. Who are you?"
"Wh-what are you wearing?! That's the clothes of a Wattanist!"
"Oh, yeah...The Uni-Tree said it needed someone to care for it. And it said that since I could hear it, I was going to be its Wattanist."
"But that...that's my tree! It can't just-just do what it wants!"
"You're Yamagen, right?"
"Yes?"
"The Uni-Tree said you neglected it. You were hurting it because of your own greed. It said you're not allowed to be a Wattanist anymore. You need to retire that hat, it said." She motioned to his plum cap. "It already took away your permission. The symbol on it isn't glowing anymore."
Yamagen's lip quivered, tears streaming down his face. "F-fine! I don't need that dumb tree anyway! I don't need anything!" He tore his hat off his head and tossed it to the ground. "I tried so hard to care for it, and this is how it repays me?! Then I-I don't need it anymore! I'll tear it apart, root by root! I'll make it, and everybody, regret ever choosing to ignore my words! And that tree is nothing more than scrap wood! Make sure your 'Unity' tree hears that, huh?!" He rushed off, wiping tears from his eyes. "I wanted to give it one more chance, but it's too stubborn! It hates me, so now I hate it. I know I've said it before, but I mean it now. That tree...has to go."