"I don't believe I've ever heard of a Gift of Blooming, but if the effects are the ones the Elder has talked to us about, then I guess we won't really be able to wait longer then after they release my boy," said Fred's father at the Yamamoto's table.

Greta shot up, "What are you implying!? That we act before Prisha is released?" She asked vehemently.

"What I'm trying to say is that it's already enough waiting for a week, and that is a courtesy that is being given to us only because Sato has to teach about Life magic specialists how to reach the Boss. It's a long process, and Sato will make sure it's teaching will be even longer, but getting them busy for two weeks? That's just impossible," he replied.

"As it pains me to say it, I think Sem is right. And we'll most probably have a better chance at taking them back alive with a surprise attack then giving the Bastards even more time to prepare."

Greta was trembling, "I can't accept it… if you want to go ahead, you'll do so without me."

"Greta, you cannot leave!" Said her mother.

She turned around slowly, "Do you think I don't know why it's so easy for you to take that decision? It might not be so for you, but Prisha is family for me. I won't take part in something that will end up killing her. And believe me when I say it. If she dies, you will lose me as well," saying so, Greta left.

Gabriel was left alone. He felt rather uncomfortable after the exchange. But there wasn't much he could do about it. Whether he wanted it or not, he was and, more importantly, felt involved.

Although he had got to know Greta, he barely knew the others. But that didn't take away the fact that they had been apprehended because of him. He was the reason they had been stuck in there for two weeks, and really, he did not want them on his consciousness. He had never killed a person, nor did he intend to be the reason they died. Already too many deaths for one reason or another weighed like a boulder on his conscience.

After that, the council ended with the initial decision, they would attack as soon as Fred was released; of course, they would have the Reevers' full backing if nothing else happened first.

Gabriel asked for the proper way to reach the Crown; of course, it was from another elevator, but the elevator's road heading was already packed with people, and even up on the always empty Outpost, the wooden streets bustled with people and stalls. It almost seemed like Yggdrasils' population had tripled. But Gabriel was thinking about something else.

I hope I'm not reading too much into this whole situation. If worse comes to happen, and it is indeed what Olivia was hinting about, then we can just run away. But… Lizzy, if we have to flee, I believe we shouldn't do so alone. There are too many things we still don't know about this world; we need as many people close to us as possible.

Realizing that and after leaving a note for Greta on her Gemini paper. Gabriel reached for another piece of Gemini paper he had never used, the one given to him by Marcus, the police officer.

' Hello Marcus, I need to talk to you about something important. Gabriel Walker.' After writing that, he deposited the piece of Gemini paper back in his now trusted Dimensional Bag and left for the branches pathway for the Crown.

Looking at his Anchor Page while jumping through the branches and leaves. Gabriel didn't notice any difference. However, he started feeling what Long-Dozen had talked about.

Indeed, when using Meridians, part of the wasted Energy, because he was nowhere precise enough to have perfect control over Meridians, seemed to be retained. He thought about it as if he was using a finer colander; the same amount of water came through, but the loss of it was lessened, and in this case, drawn back inside of his Meridians.

At the same time, as he jumped, he could feel his control over his Power output to be considerably more refined. As if there was a hand guiding him into not wasting too many movements.

Gauging his new armor abilities, Gabriel delved through the tree branches; by the time he reached the Ygg-dogs garrison of defense all around the Crown, Gabriel came to a halt.

He had never been so high-up on Yggdrasil, neither had he ever been so high-up.

Not even Turtle Dungeon stood so high in the sky.

The walls of massive armored dogs did not as much as move a muscle, as he sat in front of them, well, quite far in the distance, just to be sure.

It took half an hour for a voice to reach him.

"Gabriel! You're early," she said, appearing in front of him.

The dark cloud of dread slowly unraveled when Gabriel focused on her. It was indeed, Avrelyssyandra.

"And there I thought I was late," Gabriel chuckled.

"Not at all, but come in, come in! I can't wait to show you around!"

"Syandra…" he called. His eyes were trying to dig inside her own, but she seemed to not want to engage in eye contact, "I suppose I need to thank you for saving my life."

"I… I'm sorry for not having come sooner, Gabe. I should have left more than just a Ygg-hawk to guard you," she answered dejected.

"I should not have you worry about me; I'm ashamed, really," he admitted.

"What are you talking about? I would keep watch over you, all the same, you are the very first person I manage to… really talk with, in almost four hundred years. You are too important to me. So, I need to know you are fine, whether you like it or not," she gave him the tongue.

Gabriel exchanged a look with Liz, "I guess we made a splash," he said to a grinning lizard.

"Yup, you did. Come now, let me show you around."

The Crown was, by far, the most grandiose of Yggdrasil's' cities. It reminded him of a modern new york. Tall buildings shining in bright gold, and green, and auburn were extended tall into the sky. They were built directly from the branches, so their shapes were so varied that it might give a careful observer a headache, just to try and take in the variety. And yet, the constructions were built with space in mind. There was breathing air, a lot of it amid each branch.

On top of the gargantuan tree-city, a canopy of leaves was the last line of defense against the bright sun; they were barely taller than the highest branch-palaces, but not only did they add to the scenery but did their job of shielding from sun rays well enough.

In the middle of the city, seemingly observable from every angle stood a marvelously complex palace. It was not made out of branches but out of what Gabriel believed to be Mythril.

The descending arc of the sun made the palace shine in deep blue and silver. Its ethereal look, even from so far away, was a taken in entirely from Gabriel's Enhanced Senses. Something else pulled his other visions to his attention. Although Mana Sight was choke-full with signals coming from every palaces’ branches, what stole his attention more, was Spirit Sight. He could see a massive concentrated amount of Spiritual energy coming from the Mythril palace.

"That place," Gabe asked, "What is it?"

"I think you already know that it is my father's palace. We're going there, but first, let me show you around," Syandra answered.

"Alright but, what is there, at its center? I see a massive amount of Spiritual energy. It's almost blinding," he replied.

"Oh, that's just the Autumn Leaf. The leaf that'll shed. It contains all the spilled Spirit energy of Yggdrasil. When it leaves, it'll open the leyline for Yggdrasil. I believe I told you that already."

"Yes, you did; I just didn't think it would be that… powerful. It's actually hard to look at," Gabe said, turning his head the other way.

"Yeah, if you have Spirit Sight, it is, although we are not gifted with Spirit Perks, so we don't really have any problems with it. You, humans, are the only ones capable of that, that I know. You and the original inhabitants of --------," she said.

"I still need to read that book," Gabe chuckled. "Anyway, let's go, there's a lot to see and so little time. Damn you, why didn't you show up sooner!" Gabriel said jokingly.

She giggled, "I wanted to make you wait; it is required for a Princess to make people wait, is it not?"

"Royal highness! That's shameful of you! In these dark times and days, you make a man that's waiting for nothing more than seeing you, wait as an abandoned dog…" Gabriel said, shaking his head.

"What's a dog?"

The tour of the city had Gabriel marvel at its beauty, but even more for its people.

Each Yggdrasilian was more beautiful than the other; it was like walking among a city populated by gods, where the ugliest of them all put top models to utter shame.

And what more, Gabriel started feeling something while surrounded by these people, and it wasn't only physical inadequacy. It was the fact that their inherent strength was pressing down on him, almost choking his willpower.

I guess being surrounded by all these powerful entities, I'm starting to feel their presence, he realized.

When training with Arya, the girl explained that he was still missing two significant things. The battle sense, and the ability to feel battle presence. He had developed the first in part; what he had not even remotely felt yet, was the other, battle presence.

If battle sense allowed him to understand his immediate surrounding better, mostly to guess where and when an attack had penetrated his sphere of senses, the feeling of another being presence would allow him to gauge another's power and by significantly developing battle presence, the true presence of someone, even if in hiding. If he had that, he would be able to feel Harper standing by his side.

Now, he was feeling just the pressure of such powerful beings' presence, but he shut down his sense not to be overwhelmed by it; it was definitely too much.

"I can't believe there are no dogs in Alter, really," he said, once again turning back to the topic.

"From the way you described them, the closest things we have here are wolves; there are enough of those; besides, I believe it's not that uncommon of a Bond Spirit even among your people," Syandra added.

What he noticed walking with her was how people couldn't help but not look at her. They saluted her, but their eyes were elsewhere; they just couldn't turn their faces to her. She looked crestfallen at first, probably because now there was Gabriel by her side, witnessing that kind of act. Although she seemed to be used to it, it did not take away from it being a drastic behavior on their part.

She must have been really hurt growing up like this , he realized.

The greenery was, of course, the most abundant thing he had ever seen in his life. The Crown looked like an incredibly complex city enveloped in a dome of verdant beauty.

Gabriel was at peace when walking with Syandra; it was just a little uncomfortable because of the other Yggdrasilians' battle presence, but more than that, by their behavior. Not only did they clearly despise her, they entirely ignored him.

The only zone preparing for a party seemed to be the royal castle; everything else looked… empty. Dead was the word that came to Gabriel.

Were all these people so old that they had forgotten entirely how life was meant to be lived? The mood was apathetic at best. They were even making the always lively Liz annoyed. She stuck to Gabriel instead of poking her tongue anywhere.

"Is it always so lively here?"

Syandra giggled, "You have no idea. I'm one of the youngest of the last three generations; you'll find life only by our Dungeon, where the youngest delve day and night."

"There is a Dungeon then? What level is it?"

"Level 115, Crown Desire Dungeon," she said.

"Great Wakan Tanka…" No wonder they are so strong.

"Gabriel, I thought you were a Druid; where did you even hear those words?"

"Oh, not you too, please," Gabe said, chuckling. "It's just something my Grandparents taught me. It was their belief, I don't know if they were Shamans or not, but I don't really mean anything with that."

"I understand. It surprised me," she said, clearly falling in thought.

Syandra recovered almost immediately, though, "Come on, I'll show you the palace's gardens."

The palace was exactly like he had seen from the edges of The Crown, although the garden was not visible from there. Gabriel was immediately taken aback by the overabundance of flowers and plants growing in shapes he couldn't even imagine.

"This is… incredible. But it can't all grow from Yggdrasil, can it? I mean, I have not seen it bloom, but it can't have this variety."

"In fact, these are proper plants, all the possible specimen from The Den. My mother sends our Shadows in search of all the possible species, and every year she finds something she doesn't have in her collection. It's quite impressive, I have to admit," Avrelyssyandra took a flower and savored its smell with the most peaceful expression he had seen her make. She truly was an angel. Gabriel thought. She might be my personal guardian angel.

The curse had no effect on nonsentients, nor did it affect such weak life forms. It simply existed to not let her lead a normal life. It was really a nasty gift.

Around the house, especially in the gardens, Gabriel could already see some people gathering. Yggdrasilians and not, the sun had no vanished although the Mythrill palace shone of its own light, turning what would be an otherwise dark party into one almost illuminated like a day.

"Let's go inside; when there are all these people gathered, the effect of the curse grows in intensity," she said. "I was even attacked once, not that it threatened me. However, my father had to endure a lot of excuses from the poor man that tried. He doesn't really like people to apologize."

"He doesn't? Mmh never heard of something like that," Gabe said.

"You clearly never met my father. Eight thousand years make you change your perspective on many things."

"Yeah, really, I didn't know if I'd be able to stand people if I ever reached that age. I mean, I would want to die much younger. I think two hundred years might suffice."

Syandra stopped in her tracks, "You can't be serious."

"Why? Of course, I am. Maybe your life is different, but mine's been… I wouldn't say tragic, but I guess harsher than usual. I wouldn't want to extend it much further than necessary. I would love to have kids and see them grow. But that's it. Then I would want to unplug sooner rather than later," he confided.

"For N'arr's goodwill. Is that how humans from Earth think about life?"

"Oh, I'm sure that most don't see it my way. But for me? I think life's meant to be short and intense. Of course, if I had to be happier forever, maybe with someone I would not ever tire of, I might change my view…"

Syandra chuckled, "You'd have to find yourself someone with a really long life span, someone free, interested in you. But again, you'd have to actually reach transcendency to gain such a Perk. There really aren't many that can among the fast bloomer."

"The fast bloomer?"

"That's how my father likes to call the inhabitants of Yggdrasil; he likes it especially when referencing humans," she clarified.

"Your father must be quite the figure. But, changing the topic back to the previous one, where do you think I could find such a person?" He asked.

"That's gonna be difficult… you'd have to search wide and far, high and low. You might even have to search down mountain streams or up the crows of the tallest trees…" she said, launching him a mischievous smile, "Alas, you might never find someone like that."

"Ouch… my heart. It breaks at the thought of never crowning my dream of love."

Flirting, Gabriel and Syandra headed for the palace. Gabriel kept keeping her occupied and away from noticing the people shying away from her, or at least he hoped he was doing a good job of it. While at the same time, he knew that Syandra was having the fun and the attention she had missed for hundreds of years.