Chapter 45:
The Caltea theory
Daniel:
“Are there any legends about the Caltea that you can remember, off the top of your heads?” I ask. I can see that they are all confused by my question, so I am quick to clarify. “It is just that; legends have a kernel of truth in them. There are certain things that the people of yesterday knew for a fact, that the people of today think of as fairy tales.”
“Daniel, no offense, but fairy tales won’t help us,” Frederik says. Ray, who is sitting practically on Frederik’s lap, takes a hold of his hand.
“It won’t hurt to try and piece something together, right? I mean, if we are dealing with dead people, then we are already in a fairy tale,” Ray says. I smile in gratitude at him, and urge him with my eyes to continue. “Now, the Ursula Solar System is not my home Solar System, but I know a thing or two about the Caltea.”
“Go on,” Constantine is practically sitting at the edge of his seat. I can see that he is as excited about this as I am. We are in a crime show, and it gives me goosebumps.
“Well, there is this one Caltea tree, in Ursula 590, that is supposedly 2,600 years old. No matter how many times it was nearly burned down, cut down, or infected with parasites, it has always bounced back,” Ray says. I have the faint recollections about such a tree, but can’t place my finger from where.
“A woman showed you a picture of it, remember?” Constantine says. “Back on the rocket.”
That is enough to kick-start my memory, and I nod.
“So, what is so special about this particular Caltea?” I ask Ray.
“Constantine, correct me if I am wrong, but weren’t there rumors that that tree would whisper at night?” Ray asks. Constantine pulls out his phone, and begins to type in it.
“I heard something similar, but let me check,” I can see that he doesn’t go to Ursula Web, but to the Tor browser.
We wait for him to browse, and finally, he pulls out an article, printing it with his phone. He hands it to Ray, who scans it briefly.
“Yes, other people have heard the whispers too. But they are just gibberish, or so people say,” Ray hands the paper to Frederik, who begins to read it.
“Which is odd. The translation spell should have translated the language to Ursulian,” Frederik says, after he too has read the whole thing.
“What if it is not speaking in a strange language, but backwards? Or, in pig Latin?” I suggest.
“That would have been translated by the spell as well,” Frederik tells me. Huh, that is one hell of a useful spell.
“It has to be some sort of code,” Ray says, as he speaks the little outtakes of the gibberish out loud. The lights begin to flicker, and he stops. “What?”
He looks at the light above us. As soon as he stopped reading the Caltea script, it went back to normal.
“When was the first record of the whispering?” Frederik asks.
“Are you saying that this is a haunting?” Constantine asks him. I turn to him. Huh, is he saying that there are spirits in the Caltea trees? Like the Dryads of Middle Earth?
I think back on everything I thought of as mere fantasy, just a couple of months ago. Elves are real, and there are two whole varieties of them. Dark and Light. Naga are real. There are three whole water giant planets with mermaids. Not to mention that planet with the onion houses, that screams of Shrek influence.
Is, what passes for fantasy on Earth, just unearth memories of our expansion in the Cosmos?
That thought, once in my brain, doesn’t leave me any rest. I take Constantine’s phone, and begin to search about haunting on Earth. The ghosts are transparent, not shadows in dust, but there are a couple of similarities.
For one, the ghosts don’t normally hurt anyone. There are exceptions, but normally, the most the ghosts do, is to give you a scare. There is a talk of ghosts inhabiting trees. Then, I begin to search for the first reports of the oldest Caltea tree whispering. They are not from before 2,000 or even 2,300 years ago. No, the first whispers were heard just 10 years ago!
“Since when have your potions been stolen?” I ask Constantine, since he should know best.
“It all started 10 years ago,” he says. I show him the reports I found, saying that the whispering started ten years ago.
“The ghost is in the Caltea,” Constantine exclaims. I nod. This must be the most probable conclusion. “How are we going to get rid of it? This tree is a national treasure, and protected.”
“The way haunting is done on Earth, as far as I know from movies,” I begin. I can see that I have their full attention, even if my source of information is not exactly trustworthy. “Is that the ghosts either haunts an object or a building. I think that, when we consider how big this tree is, we can consider it a building.”
“So, what do you suggest?” Ray asks. I can see that he finds this hard to believe. Yet, he was the one who suggested the Caltea tree as the oddest thing on Ursula 590.
“We get a leaf from that Caltea tree. One that has already fallen down on the ground, so we won’t anger the thief, and we test it for outside influence,” I tell him. “That is, if that is allowed?”
“The leaves are not protected. People drain them of mana, and use them as souvenirs,” Frederik says. Then, realization hits me.
“The Caltea was nearly fallen many times. What if, the ghost is the only thing that keeps it up? If it were me, with such a tree, and people drained my mana out of the leaves, just so the leaves could be used as decoration...” I let my words trail off, as everyone in the room gets this aha moment that we have been working towards.
Chapter 45:
The Caltea theory
Daniel:
“Are there any legends about the Caltea that you can remember, off the top of your heads?” I ask. I can see that they are all confused by my question, so I am quick to clarify. “It is just that; legends have a kernel of truth in them. There are certain things that the people of yesterday knew for a fact, that the people of today think of as fairy tales.”
“Daniel, no offense, but fairy tales won’t help us,” Frederik says. Ray, who is sitting practically on Frederik’s lap, takes a hold of his hand.
“It won’t hurt to try and piece something together, right? I mean, if we are dealing with dead people, then we are already in a fairy tale,” Ray says. I smile in gratitude at him, and urge him with my eyes to continue. “Now, the Ursula Solar System is not my home Solar System, but I know a thing or two about the Caltea.”
“Go on,” Constantine is practically sitting at the edge of his seat. I can see that he is as excited about this as I am. We are in a crime show, and it gives me goosebumps.
“Well, there is this one Caltea tree, in Ursula 590, that is supposedly 2,600 years old. No matter how many times it was nearly burned down, cut down, or infected with parasites, it has always bounced back,” Ray says. I have the faint recollections about such a tree, but can’t place my finger from where.
“A woman showed you a picture of it, remember?” Constantine says. “Back on the rocket.”
That is enough to kick-start my memory, and I nod.
“So, what is so special about this particular Caltea?” I ask Ray.
“Constantine, correct me if I am wrong, but weren’t there rumors that that tree would whisper at night?” Ray asks. Constantine pulls out his phone, and begins to type in it.
“I heard something similar, but let me check,” I can see that he doesn’t go to Ursula Web, but to the Tor browser.
We wait for him to browse, and finally, he pulls out an article, printing it with his phone. He hands it to Ray, who scans it briefly.
“Yes, other people have heard the whispers too. But they are just gibberish, or so people say,” Ray hands the paper to Frederik, who begins to read it.
“Which is odd. The translation spell should have translated the language to Ursulian,” Frederik says, after he too has read the whole thing.
“What if it is not speaking in a strange language, but backwards? Or, in pig Latin?” I suggest.
“That would have been translated by the spell as well,” Frederik tells me. Huh, that is one hell of a useful spell.
“It has to be some sort of code,” Ray says, as he speaks the little outtakes of the gibberish out loud. The lights begin to flicker, and he stops. “What?”
He looks at the light above us. As soon as he stopped reading the Caltea script, it went back to normal.
“When was the first record of the whispering?” Frederik asks.
“Are you saying that this is a haunting?” Constantine asks him. I turn to him. Huh, is he saying that there are spirits in the Caltea trees? Like the Dryads of Middle Earth?
I think back on everything I thought of as mere fantasy, just a couple of months ago. Elves are real, and there are two whole varieties of them. Dark and Light. Naga are real. There are three whole water giant planets with mermaids. Not to mention that planet with the onion houses, that screams of Shrek influence.
Is, what passes for fantasy on Earth, just unearth memories of our expansion in the Cosmos?
That thought, once in my brain, doesn’t leave me any rest. I take Constantine’s phone, and begin to search about haunting on Earth. The ghosts are transparent, not shadows in dust, but there are a couple of similarities.
For one, the ghosts don’t normally hurt anyone. There are exceptions, but normally, the most the ghosts do, is to give you a scare. There is a talk of ghosts inhabiting trees. Then, I begin to search for the first reports of the oldest Caltea tree whispering. They are not from before 2,000 or even 2,300 years ago. No, the first whispers were heard just 10 years ago!
“Since when have your potions been stolen?” I ask Constantine, since he should know best.
“It all started 10 years ago,” he says. I show him the reports I found, saying that the whispering started ten years ago.
“The ghost is in the Caltea,” Constantine exclaims. I nod. This must be the most probable conclusion. “How are we going to get rid of it? This tree is a national treasure, and protected.”
“The way haunting is done on Earth, as far as I know from movies,” I begin. I can see that I have their full attention, even if my source of information is not exactly trustworthy. “Is that the ghosts either haunts an object or a building. I think that, when we consider how big this tree is, we can consider it a building.”
“So, what do you suggest?” Ray asks. I can see that he finds this hard to believe. Yet, he was the one who suggested the Caltea tree as the oddest thing on Ursula 590.
“We get a leaf from that Caltea tree. One that has already fallen down on the ground, so we won’t anger the thief, and we test it for outside influence,” I tell him. “That is, if that is allowed?”
“The leaves are not protected. People drain them of mana, and use them as souvenirs,” Frederik says. Then, realization hits me.
“The Caltea was nearly fallen many times. What if, the ghost is the only thing that keeps it up? If it were me, with such a tree, and people drained my mana out of the leaves, just so the leaves could be used as decoration...” I let my words trail off, as everyone in the room gets this aha moment that we have been working towards.
