ENDOPLANET

The academy was still buzzing with students when Jaejoong stepped out of the infirmary, Chen reluctantly trailing behind him.  There were soldiers scurrying about, too.  A number of them had guns, but all of them were armed with knives and several had old fashioned weapons like bows and arrows with them.  Chen even saw a mace and a couple of spears.

Jaejoong either didn’t notice or didn’t care about the level of attention the pair of them were drawing, but the stares and the silence that followed them as the field marshal led the way towards the main courtyard made Chen feel incredibly uneasy.  He disliked being the centre of attention at the best of times – not least because something bad always happened when he was the centre of attention.  He’d been avoiding it as much as possible since he’d blown up the tree while protecting Xiumin from bullies.

The central courtyard was more or less deserted.  Chen didn’t have much of an idea why that was, but not walking much further was a welcome prospect, since Jaejoong slowed to allow Chen to catch up with him, and then more or less came to a halt beside the lightning-struck tree.

“I take it you’re aware of the war,” the field marshal began.

Chen was unable to hold back his withering expression.  No.  No, I am not aware of the war, he felt like saying.  I’m not in the least bit aware that all my teachers have been asking me if I can figure out a way to maintain the entire electricity supply of the academy in case it all gets shut off.  No, I am in no way aware of the dead body I found, or of the fact that I just brought two spies back to the school.  Obviously there’s no war going on.

“Good,” said Jaejoong, in the kind of voice one might have expected after a reply of “yes, sir, I am.  What can I do to help?”

Chen almost groaned.

“Then I take it you’re also familiar with the Red Eye Tribe and the legends,” Jaejoong went on.

“Not personally,” Chen said drily.  “As for the legends, it depends.”

“The one involving the Tree of Life.  The Guardians.”

It was going to be tough wriggling out of this one.  Both were practically bedtime stories for youngsters.

“I’m aware.”  Chen’s tone was resigned.  Jaejoong turned away from him, reaching out a hand to place it on the tree.  Chen almost yelped and ripped the man’s hand away from the bark, wanting to say that it was his school’s tree, that nobody was allowed to touch it, that it was special, that it was... a dead, hollowed-out husk of what had once been a tree.

“You heard N,” Jaejoong went on.  “We’re entering dire straits.  The enemy is advancing, sweeping everything before them.  There are reports of an anti-magic virus, lending them superhuman strength and capabilities and characteristics only seen in animals, never in humans.  This academy is the last great bastion we have before they reach the capital.  If they do that, they’ll wipe out civilisation and humanity as we know it.”

“I thought they were after the maze.”

Jaejoong abruptly turned back and fixed him with a gimlet eye.  “They are.  Endoplanet is a buffer world, Chen.  If we don’t defeat them here, that’s it.  There’s nobody to counter them before they wipe out humanity.”

Chen just blinked at him.

“That doesn’t make sense,” he pointed out.  “For a start, they’re human, so they won’t be wiping out humanity – just placing a dictatorial, magic-hating fascist regime at the top of the food chain.  And secondly, buffer world to what?”

“I see you’ve only heard the sanitised version of the legends.”  Jaejoong’s tone was condescending.

“Yeah, and?”

Jaejoong was silent.  His gaze returned to the tree.  Chen stood there for a few moments, beginning to shiver in the cold.  He fired off tiny bits of electricity to keep himself warm.

“Forget this,” he mumbled after a few moments, tucking his hands into his armpits.  He knew that he was being rude, but he really didn’t care.  Before he could turn, however, Jaejoong gripped his shoulder.

“Long, long ago,” he began, “right back in the mists of time, there was one world.  A happy world, you might say.  And at the centre of this world, the Great Mother gave birth to a tree.  Its branches held up the heavens; its roots nourished the earth – all the animals came to it.  All the humans came to it.  The Great Mother fell asleep, leaving the Tree of Life to care for her wonderful world—”

“I know this story,” Chen said testily, trying to pry Jaejoong’s hand off his shoulder.  It was proving rather difficult.

“To begin with, all was well.”  Jaejoong’s voice became louder.  “Life flourished.  Humanity flourished.  Everybody flourished.  The Tree flourished and grew so big that its own weight became a burden to it, and cancerous illnesses and other sorts of disease consequently began to spring up, and so twelve young men were appointed as the Tree’s guardians to keep the Tree healthy and in good condition, and to ensure that illness did not overwhelm the world – and, moreover, did not return to the world.  In return, these young men were granted wonderful powers – powers