Just trying to wrap my head around that is giving me a headache. Hal tried to describe it, but he said he wasn't fully understanding it. Because I guess there are physical spaces that were split off without separating and some is over here, while some is over there. So while some things will merge, like the tree showing up in LODO. In other cases, whole spaces of land will show up in the middle of who knows what... or where. So I guess we can expect earthquakes and whole forests showing up in the middle of a building, or something. And then we'll have Giants walking around, and we'll be the ants they're stepping on.
I don't know how this is supposed to work, and Hal admitted that Tim was in a rush and wasn't explaining things. It sounds like his secret society is having a collective aneurysm as they are realizing that the Ohvao is actually coming down. And Hal is having his own little melt down 'cause he still holds himself responsible for it. He said Tim is adamant that he had nothing to do with it, but Hal can't see any other possibility. It doesn't help that Tim isn't offering any possibilities.
So yea, I'm just a little freaked out here. My hand is shaking as I'm writing this, it's too late to call Candace, and I don't have anyone else to talk to. I just don't know what to do.
Deep breaths Rawiya, deep breaths. Let's take this one step at a time, shall we?
Max joined me for lunch at work. Now that Halloween is over, it's nice for things to fall back into a familiar pattern. Though with everything happening, I have to wonder how long this'll last. We talked about revisiting the tree, and I brought up that Candace was wanting to join us. So this coming Thursday, when I'd be visiting Candace anyway, Max is going to come over after class. Hopefully the crowds won't be as busy then anyway. I'm hoping that with Candace there, I can talk to Max about what all's going on finally. I hope she won't be disappointed that I'd told Candace first.
After work, Hal was eager to pick me up. He had a lot to share with me since the last time we'd actually talked, and it showed even as he was walking me out to his car. He didn't even bother with the formalities, or the hesitation. He ordered some appetizers as we were being seated, he even remembered what I usually get to drink. It was kind of impressive compared to his usual demeanor.
And then he got right to it. He was aware of Amy Shaun, the girl that had shown up after being missing for the last five years. We are both in speculated agreement that she managed to cross the Ohvao five years ago. We're both glad she's back, but we're considering this further proof that the Ohvao is coming down.
We talked about what happened at DIA. He's pretty sure there's something extranormal going on, but Tim was adamant that they avoid the airport. Something about too many government agents. Which prompted a question from me. I was trying to remember to ask lots of questions. I asked if all this was real, wouldn't the government have some department looking into it? Or maybe have some involvement in The Illuminati?
Hal said it was possible. If there weren't any entanglement between the government and their order, then avoiding government officials would make sense. But if there were entanglement, he hadn't been told anything about it and it might not be made known to him unless necessary. Such an arrangement would mean though that the Illuminati was already there.
He did say though that he thought that was what had come up on Halloween, and why they had cancelled his training that night. Between that and the tree at least. Which was the next subject.
I didn't even have to ask, Hal flat out stated that Tim had taken him down to see the tree on Wednesday. He even mentioned wanting to take me to see it, saying it was beautiful and relaxing. He said afterward Tim had taken him back to their warehouse and pulled out some books written in languages he didn't know. As a side note, he said some of the schooling they had suggested he look into was other languages, particularly older tongues. Through Tim, the book describes what to look for in identifying true ironwoods, and he suspects that the tree in LODO fits the bill.
I had to question him about that, what it meant and what I understood ironwoods to be. My understanding was that ironwood tended to reference particularly dense hardwood trees. Cottonwood trees weren't generally considered hardwood. Hal agreed that was true, but he said that according to the book (as Tim explained it) any tree can become an ironwood. It requires a dryad choosing the tree as its home. Hal said it was similar to the way a hermit crab will take a new shell. In living in the tree, the dryads magic will infuse the tree, hardening the wood so that even iron tools wouldn't cut it. The references did date back to around the iron age, so we don't know how the tree might react to modern materials and tools.
Hal said Tim was hoping the city would try to cut it down, and when they did we'd find out if it was a true ironwood. If it was, that'd be definite proof that the Ohvao had come down, no dryads should be on this side. The other thing Tim seemed interested in though was the woman who was leading the protests, Melia Floros. Hal was under the impression that Tim felt there was something more going on than just her connection with the Botanic Gardens. I asked what, but Hal didn't know.
But since Hal had brought up the dryads, I asked what else we could expect to cross. He had only told me about the Fomori, and now he was mentioning a dryad as a magical creature. So I asked him if there were more magical creatures. Hal said there were, according to the books and artifacts held by the Illuminati. He said human mythology was a catalog of what we can expect to cross. The stories aren't all true, per say, but they held a modicum of truth. Most of the names and stories are human inventions to explain and express their experiences. So there was no way to be sure what we'd see, but it was possible we could see anything found in mythology.
That was when Hal started explaining about how the worlds will merge, which was referenced to him through yet more books Tim had on hand in their warehouse. Which was an other thing I asked him about. Hal said they still aren't trusting him with the location, so they have a tendency to black bag him and put headphones over his ears. He's pretty sure they also take different routes every time so he can't memorize the turns, not that he could to begin with. I guess he has to prove himself before they'll trust him with that knowledge.
But, on the subject of books, he did say that there was a book store here in Denver that is known for being able to procure some pretty rare items. And Hal did emphasize "items", not just books. So he was wondering if I'd like to join him on a shopping trip. I agreed, I do always like going to book stores. But our schedules are both pretty packed though, so finding time we could go together would be difficult. Friday seems to work best for the both of us, but as it's Veteran's day there's some worry as to how late we'll get off. According to the website, Hal said the store doesn't close for the holiday, and it's hours seem to run late. So we shouldn't have any problem.
We'll see how that goes. I'll have to look up Westhouse Books, I hadn't heard of it before. Hal is hoping he might find some information about the ironwood, or dryads, that isn't contained by the Illuminati's warehouse of secrets. Something that he could read himself. At the very least we might have some fun just seeing what this place has to sell.
After finishing our meal Hal brought out another news article. This time from a newspaper out of Austin, TX. It seems there was a disturbance at the University of Texas, a break in at their library. It seemed out of place to me, no one was missing, or found, or returned. This was about a break in, and nothing was reported as missing. At my question though, Hal reminded me that Nephmesu had spent some time at the University last week.
I mentioned that it could be a coincidence, and he agreed. But then he produced another article out of Phoenix, AZ from just a couple of days ago. There was another break it at the University of Arizona's College of Pharmacy. Again, nothing was reported missing. And this was about a block away from the Arizona Science Center, who are currently showing Nephmesu.
Hal admitted, two doesn't make a pattern, but it was a pretty impressive coincidence. But if there was a pattern, we should watch the news between Phoenix and Las Vegas over the next week. I asked if he'd brought this to Tim, and he said that between the tree and DIA, Tim wasn't paying him any more attention than he was required.
So I guess we've got another mystery going on. The questions start with who or what is following the Nephmesu exhibit, and why? Why are they breaking into places and not taking anything? And what's going to happen when Nephmesu comes to Denver?
By that point though, it was getting late, and I needed to get home at least. So we left off in agreement to pay attention to things, and he asked again if I'd like to visit the tree. I didn't give him an answer. I mentioned wanting to, but being concerned what'd happen if and when they try to cut the tree down. He agreed it'd probably be safe if I didn't, but he'd let me know ahead of time, if he could, the next time he was going if I wanted to join him.
Now that I'm home though, I'm wondering about that tree. If it is an ironwood, does that mean there's a dryad living in it? And what happens to the dryad if we cut the tree down?
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