Thousand Rise

"Hey! Scabius!"

"Borage? What is it?" Scabius asked as he placed down a few vials of poison.

"How's your record of the elves after the change been going?"

"Fine, I suppose? Mostly been helping Hyacinth do medical check ups. Why, what's wrong?"

"Can I copy your homework?"

"Are you serious?"

"I've been looking but I haven't seen a whole lot. I'd ask the people but I don't really know what to ask about."

"How sad, Borage. This really isn't your kind of work is it?"

"I hit things and that's my job really."

"Alright buddy. For old times sake, I'll help you write up some notable observations. Just some stuff in the periphery that I never bothered putting down. Let's just keep this a secret from Nasturtium, okay?"

"Oh, I already asked Nasturtium for help and she said no."

"You went to Nasturtium before you went to me?!" Scabius cried, "Why?! What did you think was going to happen?"

"Nasturtium's smart though. I figured there were some things she could teach me but she refused."

"Well...at least I was second..."

"Ahem about...that..."

"What, did you go to Hyacinth too?"

"Yes but she said she told me not to worry too much and write down whatever I noticed."

"Sounds like Hyacinth all right. Well I guess that makes me th-"

"A-hem..."

"...You went to Zinnia?"

"I mean I looked for him but I couldn't find him."

"So I'm literally your last option."

"I mean, if you put it like that..."

Scabius sighed.

"Are you still going to help me?"

"I said I would so I guess so. Can't leave an old friend in the rut here."

"Hooray! Thanks Scabius! Next time, I'll come to your first!"

"Next time, try doing your own work!" Scabius snapped, "Well nevermind. I'll write some stuff down and you can copy it. Just don't copy it EXACTLY or the teach-I mean, the king will find out."

"Thanks again, Scabius!"

"I'm just glad you didn't go to Lycoris for help."

"..."

"...You didn't right?"

The sound of running drew the two guard's attention away from the conversation as they saw a bunch of elves heading towards the main square.

"What's going on?" Scabius asked.

"Not sure." Borage frowned, "We should go check. Maybe I can put this on my report!"

"I doubt that. But yeah, let me put away these poisons so I can join you."

Arriving only a tad late to the crowd, Borage and Scabius gently pushed their way to the center of the commotion to find the other royal guards standing there...along with one more familiar face.

"Laurestine?!" Scabius cried, "What are you doing here?!"

"Sir Scabius!" Laurestine scratched his head sheepishly, "And Sir Borage! Nice to see you again, sirs! Ummm...as I just got finished telling the others of the Hyssop Circle, I...I don't know why I'm here at the cradle..."

"What?" Borage frowned.

"Do you remember anything?" Hyacinth asked.

"Uhhh...I remember being at the war front...and...I think I died."

"You died?" Scabius said, "Just suddenly died?"

"Yes, I uhh...I think I was ambushed, sir. I died and...I woke up here."

"Were you teleported?" Nasturtium asked.

"No, I can't say I recall anything like that. Erm, perhaps someone could have teleported me after I died and helped me recover but I don't know who that could be."

"What's more, according to his memories, this happened only yesterday." Hyacinth added, "Laurestine himself said that there was no way he could have recovered from his injuries in just one day."

"It's not just me actually." Laurestine stated, "Actually, my whole platoon was wiped out and we discovered ourselves here."

"The whole 3rd Platoon is here?!" Scabius cried, "That's...how..."

"We're trying to get to the bottom of it."

"Laurestine, how's the war effort been?" Borage asked.

"Well...it's not been the best." Laurestine looked down, "The troops are holding line fine but the dwarves have been pushing for an attack to regain some territory. The humans have been slow to assist and the Canisapia and Felisapia are more interested in bickering with each other than actually fighting the enemies."

"So not much change then?"

"Err...yes. But we have lost a bit of ground so the dwarves have the way in support. My platoon was meant to help reinforce a siege operation but as you can see, that didn't end well."

"Well, hopefully the dwarves aren't stupid enough to attack without the proper numbers." Nasturtium sighed, "Still, it seems like you should get back to the war front as soon as possible."

"Yes, I must speak to the king about this." Laurestine nodded, "I left the cradle to look for him since it didn't seem like he was inside. Do you know where he could be?"

"Probably checking on the adjustments to the Cradle Core." Hyacinth said, "Zinnia, can you bring the king out here?"

"Much appreciated." Laurestine said as Zinnia nodded and left to open the way to the core, "I hope the king can explain what happened but I understand it's imperative to return to the war as soon as possible. Unless...one of you would like to lead instead?"

"Our job is to keep the king safe, Laurestine." Nasturtium said, "Leading the army until we get back is your job."

"Ahaha. I was just making sure..."

"The king is here." Zinnia announced as he and the elven king emerged from the cradle.

"Laurestine." The king said with a polite smile as the confused soldier rushed over to him, "I know you must be disoriented right now and I want to make sure you and your troop understands. Allow me to speak to you and your men together."

"Of course sire. Thank you for your consideration."

"Shall we join you?" Nasturtium asked.

"No, only Zinnia will suffice. The rest of you please prepare a cart to return the 3rd Platoon to the war front. I trust you've already suspected this but the war effort must not be allowed to be headless for too long."

"Yes, my lord." The guards all bowed as the king, Laurestine and Zinnia all turned to make their way back into the cradle.

Once the king's party was inside,

"I call dibs."

"What?" Nasturtium frowned as everyone turned to look at Borage.

"I call dibs on writing this into my report."

"Borage you can't be serious."

"Hey, you all already have tons of stuff to put in your reports. Let me have this."

"No, I mean the reports are meant to be for things the king has no time to observe or be aware of personally. You can't write this incident into the report when the king's already aware of it. That defeats the whole point."

"You're just jealous that you didn't call dibs."

"Oh for the love of..."

"Borage, if you prepare the cart for us, you can write it into your report." Hyacinth suggested.

"Deal!" Borage grinned and ran off.

"How that man became a member of the Hyssop Circle will be something I never understand." Nasturtium scowled.

"Aw come now, Nasturtium. Borage is a rare breed. Don't you feel like we have too many magic users?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I use magic. You use magic. Zinnia can use magic. The only ones holding the frontlines in our battles is Borage and Scabius. Don't you think they deserve some recognition for that?"

"You and Zinnia are more mixed than pure magical. You two do front line work just as much as that duo. And let's not forget the king's an experienced battler on his own as well. Besides, we elves were always a magic oriented race so it's not uncommon for even our vanguards to know magic. If anything, Borage and Scabius are the strange ones with their ineptitude with magic. No offense, Scabius."

"Offense taken."

"Cry about it."

"Alright, if you two are going to fight, I'm not even going to bother stopping you. I'll just look for Lycoris by myself then."

"Lycoris?" Nasturtium said, "Why? What's wrong?"

"She's been pretty hard to find recently." Hyacinth frowned, "She showed up to check in with the king for a bit but has been pretty much impossible to find otherwise. I'm worried about her. Maybe something happened to her?"

"What do you mean? The Tree Cradle's supposed to be the safest place for elves in the world. Possibly the safest place in the world period." Nasturtium frowned, "What could've possibly happened?"

"Hmmm...maybe she's getting bullied?"

"Who would possibly think it's a great idea to bully someone with a direct connection with the king?" Scabius scoffed.

"Hmmmmm...Maybe they're just jealous?"

"I say you've been reading too many human novels."

"Well can you blame me?! All we elves have are documents and training manuals! I'm sure you two would enjoy a good romantic comedy yourselves if you gave it a try."

"Romance?" Scabius scoffed, "Pass."

"Comedy? Pass."

"Wow Nasturtium, I knew you were a stick in the mud but I didn't think you'd be this blatant about it."

"The only thing blatant here is your receding hairline."

"Oh, low blow you witch!"

Hyacinth sighed and just began to walk off before the memory froze once again.

"Okay." Helena let out a deep breath, "So before we continue, we have a big decision ahead of us. I'm sure you're all thinking it as well."

About half of their group nodded seriously while the other half looked around confused.

"So let's just get it out of the way." Helena clapped her hands together, "...How hungry are we all feeling?"

The group let out an "Oh." followed by a brief silence. Then Momo spoke up, "I mean, I was trying not to think about it but I'm pretty tired myself. Had a pretty intense training session so I could use a bit of a bite to eat."

"Yeah, I think I'm getting a bit peckish myself." Helena nodded, "We haven't had anything since breakfast and that bit of tea doesn't really count."

"Is it really okay to just pause the memory to go have lunch?" Kaguya asked, "Enlil?"

"Eh. I guess the spirits could just get bored and leave. Then I'd have to summon them back. Though I guess I could just summon the one guard back instead."

"Aw man but we got everybody here already! What do you think Roko?"

"I mean, I'm fine."

"Don't listen to him." Corissa interjected.

"What?!" Roko cried, "I'm fine! Really!"

"Roko, you woke up from an 8 hour nap and you're trying to tell me you're not hungry?"

"I mean...I could keep going."

"Roko. Buddy." Helena smirked.

"Look, I thought this conversation was going to be about whenever we follow Hyacinth to find Lycoris or Zinnia to learn more about this reappearing business."

"I mean, that's important too but like...some of us are hungry dude."

"Well then you guys can-"

"Roko, if you think I'm going to let you stay here while everyone else gets lunch, I will kick you out of this memory and never let you back in."

"Corissa on point with the threats today." Kaguya smiled.

"I think she's finally had enough guys." Momo whispered loudly.

"I'm fine! I've done this before!"

"That doesn't make it okay, Roko." Momo said.

"I'll be fine!"

"Roko with all due respect..." Kaguya sighed, "What if we come across those eldritch monsters in this memory again and they attack us again? How are you going to fight on an empty stomach?"

"I just..." Roko held his temples, "Okay fine, what do you want to do, Corissa?"

"We've got some extra fruits in our supplies." Corissa suggested, "How about a nice fruit salad?"

"Or we could just eat the fruit." Roko muttered.

"You need to eat a good amount of different fruits to get proper nutrition."

"Sounds good to me." Helena gave a thumbs up, "Shouldn't take long to make either."

"Okay! Then I'll leave the memory real quick and come back with a refreshing fruit salad for everybody."

"Did you hear all that, Enlil?"

"Sure did. I already had a bit of a lunch break so I'm good. Feel free to use the kitchen."

"Perfect! I'll be right back everyone!"

Corissa waved as a mist of clouds appear from nowhere to cover her and when they disappeared, Corissa was gone along with them.

"Hm. So that's what that looks like on the other side." Helena remarked.

As a patient silence settled into the room, Roko spoke up,

"So do we go after Lycoris or the king?"

"Why not both?" Helena shrugged, "We got the time."

"I suppose so." Roko nodded, "But which one do we go after first?"

"Doesn't really matter does it? But I suppose we still have to make the decision anyway." Momo said.

"About that." Enlil said, "I checked with Hyacinth and she said she doesn't find Lycoris until way later so you all have time."

"So king it is." Helena grinned, "That was easy. Anything else we should probably touch on?"

"How about that giant emerald?" Momo suggested, "I'm pretty sure that's the largest magical device I've seen in my life."

"That certainly is the biggest gem I've ever seen." Helena nodded, "Though I suppose any sane seller would cut it up into smaller pieces to sell for profit."

"Any insight you can give us?" Roko turned to Brook and Reaumur.

"I've never seen or heard of anything like that." Reaumur said.

"Same here." Brook added, I've never even heard of this 'Tree Cradle'."

"I see." Roko nodded, "Any other clues then?"

"It seems like a complex system." Kaguya thought aloud, "But I think it's safe to say it's some sort of control system. And given that it's an emerald, it probably has to do with monitoring health."

"Wait, the gems affect the kind of enchantments on it?"

"Oh yeah." Helena nodded, "Some gem colors make it easier for certain spells to operate. Emeralds are usually used to control spells related to health. So they're usually used in hospitals and such."

"Wait, so what gem's the basis for my phone?" Roko frowned as he pulled out his phone.

"Diamond."

"Diamond?!"

"We figured you could use the durability." Helena shrugged.

"I also have a diamond!" Momo grinned as she pulled out her phone, "We're twinsies!"

"I feel like you should get a pink diamond at least for branding's sake."

"Oh, that's a good idea!"

"For the record, mine is ruby." Helena showed off her phone, "It's red so it's three times faster!"

"How does that work?"

"I don't know."

"Mine is a cheaper obsidian." Kaguya added, "It's a bit retro compared to modern ones but I suppose it's got great security that way."

"Mine is-"

"I don't care, Roland."

"At any rate, if it's some sort of health system then it makes sense why this place seems central to the elves, at least when it was 700,000 years ago." Kaguya added.

"Still, I'm not sure why they'd bother with such a large emerald." Helena mused, "Usually making smaller units that you can assign to individual soldiers would probably be more efficient. That's how hospitals do it anyway."

"Yeah, remote data sounds pretty useful but it can lead to some errors in data collecting."

"Hmmm..." Roko contemplated to himself for a moment, "Nasturtium did say something about magic that moderates the elven race."

"I think I remember her saying something like that." Helena nodded, "But what does that mean?"

"...If it's control magic that affects the health of the entire elven race then...it's probable to say that the giant gem controls the state of every elf that exists."

"That sounds very dangerous." Kaguya frowned, "Almost dystopian."

"But can it really control the entirety of the elven race?" Helena asked, "That's a lot of people. I'm not sure how many people can be controlled with a gem that big but it certainly can't be ALL of them."

"...From the children who populate the cradle...the training they receive to go to war...elves being the basis of the Interminable War..." Roko began piecing things together, "...The only answer that remains is that the elves are born, go to war, die and are reborn in the cradle."

"Are you sure?!" Reaumur cried, "Elves are reborn to fight again and again in a war? That's pretty outlandish, wouldn't you say?!"

"This cradle is a place to train young elves for war." Roko explained, "There is no homely comfort. No culture or history. It exists solely to raise the next generation of soldiers. It's a military base. That is how they became the basis of the war effort, by becoming an endless source of replenishing soldiers."

"This is for all of elven kind?" Brook said, not disbelieving but not quite convinced, "Are you saying all of us existed only to fight in a war?"

"Maybe. Maybe elves existed without this cycle before but the war forced this extreme system on them. I can't imagine other elves exist outside of this system. Dark elves don't exist yet and if an alternative to this system exists then no one would choose a life of war. At the very least, those who do fight in the war would be aware of an alternative. But everyone seems to be completely unaware of the concept of peace. So as far as this present is concerned, I have to conclude that this is where all of elvenkind originates from."