Chapter 23 Homay's seed;
Eva and Elly reached the mountain peak, left the vehicle, and entered among the great pine trees.
Eva quickly scanned the surroundings. As if searching for something. Suddenly, she opened her palms and closed her eyes, focusing. Her silver hair whipped in the wind. Then a murmur rose from her lips like a song:
"Not my hands, but Mother Homay's hands..."
Then purple flames rose from her hands and her eyes blazed with purple halos.
Elly was frightened. Her eyes flew wide open and she muttered in amazement as she watched Eva:
"Wow, this is new! Great, my bestie is now an ancient witch!" she said and began to follow her.
Eva moved like a compass, as if following an invisible thread through the forest. Elly followed her, trudging through the deep snow.
Finally they reached a clearing at the mountain peak. In the center stood a massive tree root.
Eva now had mastery over her powers. In an instant, she extinguished the flames in her hands and the light in her eyes. She immediately bent down to the ground, began digging through the snow with her hands, as if searching for something.
Elly crouched beside her. "What exactly are we looking for? A symbol? A stone? A door?" she asked.
Eva murmured as her eyes searched the earth:
"Unfortunately, it's not something you can see, young guardian."
Elly frowned. Eva speaking as if an old woman had possessed her frightened her for a moment.
"Eva! Don't scare me!"
Eva laughed. "Okay, don't be mad. It's just that having lived in two different centuries... it's like there are two separate functions inside me," she said. Then she laughed. "In this new century, when I first met Kael, his polite old-age gentleman words seemed so strange to me. Now that I remember my old memories, I realize the abnormal one was me."
Elly asked curiously:
"What are we looking for in the past?"
Then her eyes lit up. "Will we be able to see you and Kael? Or my first guardian ancestor?" she said excitedly.
Eva smiled. "I remember most of my memories, but some are missing. I think they've been deliberately obscured. But who can control my memory, I don't know. Frankly, the light will show us what we need to learn."
Just as Elly nodded in understanding, Eva shouted:
"Ah, there you are!"
Elly looked curiously at the earth Eva had been digging. There was a cocoon-shaped root. While every tree around was old and dead, this root was bright green. Like a baby in fetal position in the midst of nature.
Eva touched it and murmured:
"From earth we came, to earth we shall return. Here we were seeded, we shall sprout again."
Elly watched and listened to her with admiration. "You look enchanting," she murmured. Now she understood why Grandmother Agnes's eyes had sparkled with respect toward Eva.
A few seconds after Eva's words, the cocoon began to glow. Eva quickly grabbed Elly's hand and pulled back.
Then suddenly the cocoon split open and transformed into a great willow tree that seemed to pierce the sky. It shattered and cast off the great root from before and established a massive root of its own. It was as if it had become a two-hundred-year-old tree.
Elly's eyes flew open in shock. She couldn't take her eyes off the tree growing with a roar before her.
"Oh my God! That was insane!" she cried out.
Eva was laughing. "Meet Homay's seed," she said.
Elly swallowed. "Are you talking about the goddess Homay?"
Eva smiled. "Yes. The owner of my seed. The power of the Rose women comes from her. But somewhere we were corrupted. Now we must learn this," she said, extending her hand.
There was both vengeful and determined look in her eyes.
And then the tree opened a large hollow in its trunk, as if welcoming them.
Eva squeezed Elly's hand. "Are you with me, my beautiful guardian?" she asked.
Elly, with the wind blowing her red hair across her face, was caught between feelings of happiness and fear. Right now she felt exactly like Alice. And this hollow was opening to wonderland...
Elly took a deep breath and gripped Eva's hand tightly.
"I'm with you," she said with determination.
Eva's purple eyes blazed. "Then let's go," she whispered.
Together they stepped into the hollow inside the tree. At the first step, the ground beneath their feet disappeared. Darkness swallowed them.
Elly wanted to scream but no sound came out. They were just falling... down... further down... as if forever.
Then... light.
A bright, golden light exploded. They had to close their eyes.
And suddenly... everything stopped.
Elly slowly opened her eyes. Her feet were touching the ground. But this place... was different.
As the darkness brightened, the scene before her eyes transformed into a brilliant, grand garden paradise.
Elly clutched her head between her hands and crouched to the ground with excitement. What she saw might be the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen in this world. Her heart was about to stop from excitement.
"No way, how can this be!" she said.
The freezing cold from outside was gone. It was a warm summer garden. Eva removed her coat, boots, pants, and thick shirt. Now she was left in just a thin tank top and shorts.
She headed straight for the massive stone in the center of the garden. It was a large circular stone covered with ancient symbols. She climbed onto it with her bare feet and sat cross-legged. Then she fixed her hands on the stone. A bright yellow light was flowing toward her.
Elly was shocked by what she was witnessing. But she was eager to taste this mystical power. She also removed her outer clothing. She was left in a tank top and underwear.
She moved forward slowly. First the grass caressed her skin. Then the coldness of the stone trembled beneath her feet.
Eva extended her hand. "Come, sit across from me."
Elly slowly sat down. The two women joined hands and closed their eyes.
At that moment, as if the plug to their minds had been pulled, suddenly the entire world shut down.
It was pitch black emptiness...
Elly now understood Eva's words about being her "anchor." How would they find their direction in this pitch-black darkness?
For a while nothing happened. Only darkness. Only silence.
Then... a sound.
Faint, coming from afar. A child's laughter.
"Hey Alayra! Ilarya! Dinner time, girls!"
Eva's heart was beating wildly.
"Grandmother??" she murmured...
Elly wanted to open her eyes but couldn't. It was as if her eyelids had turned to stone.
Eva's own voice echoed in her mind: Be calm. Don't be afraid. Just feel.
Apparently the curtains of the past had opened...