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Inside the tree again, he took his time. It wasn’t making him feel any different compared to outside, and now that he’d refreshed his armor to get rid of the goo, it was much easier to move around in here, too.

The overgrown branches were still a problem, though--even moreso now, because he was reluctant to cut a swath through them, in case they were in some way important to the Candle itself. Which reminded him.

“Uh. Hey there, Candle, um... sorry about before. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was just trying to reach Abbas quickly.”

As ever, the Candle remained silent.

He hadn’t actually expected it to respond with noise, but some wiggling vines or branches wouldn’t have been out of the question. No such answer arrived, however.

Hmm. Was that a good or bad thing, he wondered? Because it seemed kind of bad.

Having spent so long inside that strange space with it, learning from it and about it, he felt a certain connection to it now. Granted, he hadn’t actually communicated with it since returning to the real world.

In fact, now that he was thinking about it, that moment when it settled down had been the first time. He’d been talking to it like crazy during that so-called “soul coma,” but ever since waking up, he hadn’t talked to it at all. He hadn’t even really tried, either. He’d just taught Abbas everything he’d learned about its operation.

Maybe that was a problem.

“Candle,” Hector tried again as he pushed through the opening in the branches toward where Abbas had been, “I’m also sorry that I haven’t been talking to you more during my visits. I hope you haven’t been unhappy here.”

Did Fusions Forges actually feel happiness or lack thereof? He had no fucking clue. It didn’t seem outside the realm of possibility, though.

There was still no response.

He neared the big glass globe at the center of the room. Vines were draped all over it, almost like curtains, to the point where he couldn’t quite see inside. He thought he spotted something, though, in between the gaps, but he had to get even closer first, which was difficult with the gnarled branches everywhere.

“...Did you and Abbas make something new?” asked Hector.

And at that, a shiver ran down the vines along the globe, as if a slight breeze had arrived from nowhere.

Huh. “...Can you show me?”