dream )) the tree
There was once a tree - a very ancient and powerful tree with a trunk bigger around than most people's houses and branches that reached far up into the clouds. It was said that this tree was so enormous that if you dug more than 20 feet down anywhere on the planet you'd run into a root.
It was said that this tree was all that was holding the planet together, anymore.
A plant so great would naturally have sapped all the nutrients from the soil long ago, but since this tree was sentient it had made a pact with the people living on its planet. So long as someone came and sacrificed a pint of blood to it every half-century, the tree would not need to take nutrients from the soil and would continue to live and keep the planet intact.
However, there was a problem. The tribe that traditionally fed the tree had a strictly enforced caste system and a girl from the lowest family in the lowest caste had accidentally been allowed to make a sacrifice fifty years ago. Now no one from the tribe would perform the ritual because it had been made unclean - anyone who made the sacrifice now would be cast down to the level of that girl.
"But I heard it grants wishes!" Chibi Usa was saying. Cephiro shook his head with surprise.
"What gave you that idea?"
"That girl! She got to be with the one she loved afterwards, didn't she?"
"I- I don't know what you're talking about." He looked away. They were standing near the tree, him leaning against its trunk. "Anyway, you can't do it. There's a rule."
"Someone has to," Clow piped up. He was wearing his usual serious expression, but for some reason Cephiro got the notion that it was pointedly so - and that it was pointed at him.
"I know..." Cephiro said weakly, casting a guilty glance at Clow. They couldn't just stand here arguing and let the whole world fall to pieces. Someone had to do it, and Cephiro met all the requirements. They stood like that for a few moments, Clow glaring at Cephiro and Cephiro refusing to meet his gaze before someone broke the silence.
"I'll do it," Ben chimed in. The others stared up at him in shock - he had been silent up until now. When Cephiro didn't look up, Ben tried his warmest smile. "It's alright, Cephiro."
But it wasn't.
It was said that this tree was all that was holding the planet together, anymore.
A plant so great would naturally have sapped all the nutrients from the soil long ago, but since this tree was sentient it had made a pact with the people living on its planet. So long as someone came and sacrificed a pint of blood to it every half-century, the tree would not need to take nutrients from the soil and would continue to live and keep the planet intact.
However, there was a problem. The tribe that traditionally fed the tree had a strictly enforced caste system and a girl from the lowest family in the lowest caste had accidentally been allowed to make a sacrifice fifty years ago. Now no one from the tribe would perform the ritual because it had been made unclean - anyone who made the sacrifice now would be cast down to the level of that girl.
"But I heard it grants wishes!" Chibi Usa was saying. Cephiro shook his head with surprise.
"What gave you that idea?"
"That girl! She got to be with the one she loved afterwards, didn't she?"
"I- I don't know what you're talking about." He looked away. They were standing near the tree, him leaning against its trunk. "Anyway, you can't do it. There's a rule."
"Someone has to," Clow piped up. He was wearing his usual serious expression, but for some reason Cephiro got the notion that it was pointedly so - and that it was pointed at him.
"I know..." Cephiro said weakly, casting a guilty glance at Clow. They couldn't just stand here arguing and let the whole world fall to pieces. Someone had to do it, and Cephiro met all the requirements. They stood like that for a few moments, Clow glaring at Cephiro and Cephiro refusing to meet his gaze before someone broke the silence.
"I'll do it," Ben chimed in. The others stared up at him in shock - he had been silent up until now. When Cephiro didn't look up, Ben tried his warmest smile. "It's alright, Cephiro."
But it wasn't.