Lina Opalitte arrived at the highest platform atop the Sacred Tree in a flash of warm light and immediately became the center of attention.
The representatives of the aristocratic families from all over Opaliteia began to murmur amongst each other, their ears - much shorter and less pointy than Lina's - twitching in excitement.
After all, she was the daughter of the rumored whitewood-skinned royal who ran off with human filth, of all creatures, only the short thirty-odd years ago.
Some of the representatives had to be filled in or reminded of such a juicy rumor, though.
After all, only thirteen years after the whitewood-skinned prince's affair, half of Opaliteia was razed to the ground by the Goldivia cutthroats sent by their gold-haired fake goddess, turning the prior order of the elvenkin kingdom on its head.
Still, now, in the times of peace, it was once again time for gossip and rumors.
Some of the representatives were looking down on the holly-skinned woman. Some ignored her completely, trying to act all high and mighty, while by far, the smallest group seemed eager to strike up a conversation with her.
Honestly, it was the last group that Lina wanted the least to do at the moment.
She wasn't anywhere near done processing the horrid event she was forced to witness and wanted some peace without the monarch's Bloodkin Control forcefully restricting and correcting her behavior for her…
Although it was called a festival, there were no festivities at all.
The representatives were just gathered on the platform, either conversing with each other or admiring the Sacred Tree itself or the view of all the land down beneath.
The sheer size of the Sacred Tree was mind-boggling.
How could a living organism achieve such growth?
Even from the highest platform, which wasn't even at the top of the Sacred Tree, the cities and towns below looked like pebbles, while the forests surrounding them appeared as smooth, fluffy blankets.
The air up high like that tasted different, and the atmosphere of the place alone was overwhelming and breathtaking, even without considering the view.
"Look! Look!"
"It's already happening!"
Suddenly, without giving Lina nearly enough time to calm down, all conversations stopped, and all elven kin dropped their prideful act and began calling over each other like a bunch of boisterous kids.
What they were pointing to each other was a single branch of the Sacred Tree moving down on its own with clear consciousness.
With its appearance, the atmosphere immediately changed into one festive joy, giving the reason for the name of the event.
As the branch slithered through the air with the creaking of the living wood, it moved over the heads of the excited elves, filled with adoration for their guardian and deity, going straight toward the holly-skinned woman.
There was no place for doubt, no room for hesitation. The branch simply lowered and stopped an inch above Lina's head.
"...th-this one greets the Sacred Tree…"
The inexplicable joy filled Lina's heart as her adoration of the Sacred Tree pushed out all the other thoughts out of her head, and she curtsied before the branch.
As she straightened her back and gazed upon the branch, she witnessed a new bud sprouting out of it, extending towards her.
The sprout grew, gently wrapping itself around Lina's head, waving itself into a green crown-like garland.
As the fresh leaves began to sprout out of the garland, the branch moved and broke itself off of it but didn't retract immediately as if admiring the sight of its Chosen One.
"This one offers her deepest gratitude towards the Sacred Tree."
"Blessings of the Sacred Tree upon the land! Blessing upon the Sacred Tree's Chosen One! Blessing upon all of elvenkin lands!"
Lina, experiencing the bliss of the spiritual connection to the Sacred Tree, curtsied once more before the branch and the surrounding representatives cheered out in unison.
As if satisfied, the branch began to retract back towards the endless blue sky high abo…
*&^%$&^#$^%$#&^#%*^#&^$#^%#$&^$*
"!!!"
The sky turned crimson with a gargantuan target mark burning above the Sacred Tree, crushing down everyone near it with its oppressive might.
While merely difficult before, breathing became simply impossible, and the representatives would start losing consciousness, dropping like flies one by one.
"N-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! H-HELP! HELP! IT WILL DIE! IT WILL DIE!"
Lina, whose mind was tapped into the consciousness of the Sacred Tree, experienced something far worse than all the others - she was able to share the Sacred Tree's feelings, and was drowned by its pure terror.
The elvenkin guardian and deity, the Sacred Tree, was completely taken over by the sheer horror of the inevitable end. It began to tremble from its roots to the tips of its branches, releasing a desperate screeching of wood as it attempted to run away.
As in, ACTUALLY run away!
The Opaliteia experienced an earthquake as some of the roots of the Sacred Tree began to rip themselves out of the ground.
"IT WILL DIE! IT DOESN'T WANT TO DIE! IT WILL DIE! RUN AWAY! RUN! RUN AWAY!"
Lina clenched her head, almost ripping off the crown-like garland, and howled in horror, completely overtaken by the Sacred Tree's feelings.
"RUUUUUUUUN!"
Sharing its consciousness, the holly-skinned elvenkin woman screeched and…
"GH-GHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…!"
…ran to and threw herself off the edge of the platform, plummeting down, howling like a wounded animal…
****
"HIIIYAAAAA!"
With the screech of terror, the cedar-red-skinned monarch, who barely pulled up his pants, stumbled backward off the body of a cherry-wood-skinned elvenkin woman frothing from the mouth while her eyes were flashing whites.
"HIYYYAAAAAA!"
As the ground ripped apart because the roots of the Sacred Tree moved, the elvenkin monarch screamed, holding his head while the glow of the crimson light from high above passed through the trembling branches, dying the world in red.
"GHAAAAAAA…!"
"HIIIIYAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
And then… the monarch split in two…!
The cedar-skinned monarch slouched down and howled while an apparition of a woman leaned back out of his back, screeching to the high heavens.
But then, all of a sudden, the red light disappeared, along with the oppressive feeling, and soon after, the Sacred Tree ceased its rampage.