Life returned to the forest. A cozy blue mist drifted through the air. The muse had never stuck around after beating a dangerous idea. There was a big shiny yellow thing in the middle of the bones. It was as large as a grapefruit and sinking into the goo. The muse hurried over to pull it back up.
“Elder muse, what is this?” The muse examined the shining golden seed.
For a moment, there were only the sounds of the forest flickering back to life. Soon, the elder muse’s voice rang in its ears.
“That is the lesson the human learned by conquering this idea. It is at the core of every dangerous idea. Let it sink into the muck. The forest will be healthier for it.”
So, the muse put the seed back and watched it sink into the dark goo. There was still so much for the muse to learn. It had always taken conquering dangerous ideas for granted. The muse did not realize the process at play. It did not know there was anything humans could gain from the ideas being conquered.
The last time the muse visited this human, it was but an infant. At that moment, it recognized both how much it had left to grow and how much it had grown. It had learned that if a muse drank from the waters of a human, it could leave and find its way back. As long as the muse visited and drank from the waters each time, it could always find this human.
In pursuit of that goal, the muse flew back to the tree at the center of the forest. It found a waterfall pouring from its bark like a mountainside. Behind the waterfall, the muse molded a space to stash its weapons and armor in the rocks. Then, it flew to the pool at its base of the tree. The muse said a prayer, then cupped its hands to drink from the spring. It thanked the human before it left.
The muse traveled to other humans to hunt dangerous ideas. Now, it was on the hunt. In terms of size, it worked its way up. It fought larger and larger beasts as its confidence grew. Before fighting the beasts, the muse got to know its environment. To fight them, it crafted weapons and armor from the forest of the human mind. After the battle, it liked floating in a lake to stare at the clouds. Sometimes, giant ideas would fly through the sky, even higher than the clouds.
When other muses called into the aether for help, the muse came to the rescue. This is how it met other muses who had settled down and made a home for themselves. It could have met others before but had never asked. It simply assumed every muse was a wanderer. Some muses had settled down somewhere peaceful early in life. Many did not know how to handle dangerous ideas. Because of this, they allowed them to get out of control. Even those who could fight were no match for the dangerous idea that had arrived on their doorstep.
From these kind souls, the muse learned how to help a human and their forest reach their greatest potential. Soon, the muse could mix flowers with water to create potions. It could spot helpful plants and animals at a distance. The Muse could better track down dangerous ideas. Soon, it could help to heal a human’s damaged forest.
The Muse wanted to communicate with the forests themselves. It was introduced to a renowned hermit muse. The hermit had come to know its human so well that it would not bother to fight the most dangerous ideas. The forests themselves ate them alive. The hermit muse was excited to show off the larger ideas it had worked to trap. Wild vines and flowers with rows of teeth swirled around beasts in pits. The beasts howled in starvation.
Swoosh!
A strong wind blew through the trees, knocking the muse off its feet. The muse went to ask the hermit about the wind. The unfazed hermit took a knee and stared up at the sky. The muse followed its example. Just above them was one of the giant ideas from high in the sky. It was flying closer than the muse had ever seen.