Chapter 209: 209

When morning prayer ended, Celios made his way to his office. In the hallway he encountered Hemon, a professor who had become a disciple and was put in charge of caring for the World Tree, speaking with another priest. Celios continued past, when something in their conversation caught his attention. Hemon mentioned about being concerned for the World Tree.

The World Tree was the most important feature of the temple. It was said that the Goddess slept in the World Tree and so it was considered extremely sacred. Most of the visitors were drawn here so that they could observe and pray beneath its branches. If there was something wrong with it, it could have far-reaching implications. Celios had no choice but to stop and find out what was going on.

“Is there something wrong?” Celios asked the men.

“Ah, Celios,” the priest greeted him,

“Greetings, Celios, the Guardian of the Goddess,” Hemon announced, bowing.

“That’s fine.” He shook his hand, indicating that Hemon didn’t need to be so formal.

The deputy priest, Hermon, spoke like he was exhausted but was adamant in keeping Celios in a conversation he deems important.

“It means nothing at all.” Celios dismissed him.

“What do you mean it’s nothing!” Hemon was clearly agitated. “This is an incredible discovery!”

“You need to stop with this gibberish,” the priest was having none of it. “It’s just a coincidence.”

“What’s a coincidence?” Celios asked.

The priest gave up and indicated for Hemon to go ahead.

“The number of leaves falling from the World Tree and the amount of the dead being brought to the temple are the same every day!”

Celios frowned. He regretted having asked his question. Hemon seemed to be spouting utter nonsense.

“It’s the same every day?” Celios asked, unenthusiastically. “And when did you discover this?”

“Four days ago,” Hemon answered

“It’s only been four days?” It would seem that the priest was correct in being annoyed from this conversation. “Weren’t you the one who dug up all the ground around the World Tree, in attempts to research something absurd before!”

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“That’s…” Hemon began, before Celios put up a hand.

“Never mind. Stop.” Celios’ head still hurt from whatever occurred to him the previous night, and he had no more patience. “I’m going to my chamber to rest.” Without saying another word, he turned and left the two men to continue their ridiculous conversation. He needed to sleep if he was going to be able to attend the afternoon prayers.

***

Hemon had always been different than other people, even when he was a child. When he became obsessed with something, he would tenaciously dig in. His thirst for knowledge paved the way for him to become a professor of the sciences. His strange teaching style was popular with his students, and he became quite renowned. Then, unexpectedly to all of the staff and students of the university, he suddenly retired from teaching and became a disciple at the Grand Temple.

No one had understood his decision, but when they discovered that his duty was to maintain the World Tree, they understood his reasoning and knew they would not be able to hold him back. They were right. All of his study and research were now concentrated on the World Tree.

He had so many theories that he needed to examine, but he knew that he would not have been allowed anywhere near the World Tree, unless he became a disciple at the Grand Temple. Now that he was an initiate, he was clear to do all the research needed. The first mystery he began to explore was why the leaves on the World Tree turned golden after receiving sunlight.

He had been studying the phenomenon for almost six months and he was no closer to an answer. For once in his life, Hemon was at the point of giving up, until he spotted the red leaf. He didn’t know why he had never seen it before. The leaf was a vibrant green one second then, in a heartbeat, it turned red and fell to the ground.

Hemon, at first, thought that the World Tree may have been struck by some form of illness. The main sign for plant illness was to look at the roots, so Hemon began digging the ground away from the base of the tree. He dug over thirty holes, being careful not to touch the roots themselves, and numbered the soil samples for further research. It was as far as he had been able to proceed before a priest named Cameron discovered his actions.

“Disciple Hemon!” The anger was apparent in the priest’s voice. “What are you doing?!”

Hemon stood in shocked silence among the holes he had dug. He did not know how to respond to this clear violation of the World Tree.

“You have nothing to say?” Cameron asked, his arms crossed in frustration.

“I’m sorry. It’s for research.” It was all Hemon could think of.

“Didn’t you come to the Grand Temple to become a priest? What do you mean by research? You still haven’t let go of the outside world? If you want to be a scientist, then you have no place in this order.”

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” Hemon didn’t know how to explain the importance of what he was doing.

“Of course, it won’t! If something like this were to happen again then we would be forced to send you to away from the temple!” Cameron’s faced expressed how serious he was.

“You can’t!”

“Then stick to your duties. And fill up these holes before anyone else sees them.” Cameron stood glaring at Hemon, making sure the job of refilling the holes was completed to his satisfaction.

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