Penny's Lucky Day

Proud Radiance

Dylan stares at Lars Lion blankly as the world around him becomes replaced with light.

"Dylan. It appears that I am to test you."

Dylan feels a little intimidated as the armored, masked woman floats close to him, gazing through him. He's pretty sure there's nothing behind that mask, either. He can't see her eyes at all.

"...yeah."

"Why so glum?"

He doesn't respond, earning a somewhat amused chuckle from Lars Lion.

"I see."

All of a sudden, Dylan is standing on the outskirts of a massive forest of sorts. It looks just like the land outside of Wardington, to be honest. It's twilight, and the only illumination seems to be coming from Dylan, Serpenoid, and the celestial bodies overhead.

Serpenoid then clicks open and rests on his shoulder, silent. Dylan begins looking around the area, squinting a bit as he gets used to this odd form of night vision Lars Lion no doubt bestowed upon him.

"Hello...?"

His voice echoes into the trees, and there's nothing but silence for quite a bit. Except, Dylan then hears footsteps, as a figure steps from the foliage.

"Greetings."

An older woman, her features mostly concealed by a tattered brown cloak, approaches Dylan, standing across from him for a bit. Dylan is silent, not really knowing what to say. She then frowns, speaking up yet again.

"Welcome, child, to the enchanted forest. The one you seek lays at its center... but beware. This forest reveals all... you can hide nothing from it. It sees past every lie, every story, to the truth in your soul."

Dylan nods at her, not really liking how that sounds, but oh well.

"Lars Lion is in there?"

The cloaked woman gives a dark, amused laugh before vanishing into thin air.

Dylan frowns as he looks at where she once stood. But, oh well, time to go. He adjusts his toque and steps in, but, as soon as he does, he's suddenly standing on a forest trail, surrounded on all sides by the trees. He looks over his shoulder, seeing no way out. Great, he's trapped.

"...well, Serpenoid, no escape."

Serpenoid rests against his neck as he begins walking through the path.  After following the trail for a bit, he comes across what looks like a small fairy resting in the nook of a tree. It reaches out, its thin, needle-like fingers stretching and grasping for Dylan.

"Youuu... helloooooo..."

Dylan looks over at the fairy, raising an eyebrow. It's a lot easier to pretend this is normal after the two years playing pseudo-chess with weird aliens.

"Losssssst...?"

He doesn't quite know what to say.

"Yesss... or, noooo..."

He ignores the fairy, continuing to follow the path until he comes across a fork.

However, in the middle, he spots what looks like a larger fairy picking on a smaller one. It repeatedly pokes the runt with a stick, not really heeding Dylan's arrival. The smaller fairy looks at him with big, tear-filled, pleading eyes.

"...h-heeeelp... pleassssse...?"

Not his business. This is probably just something to slow him down. He's smarter than that. However, as he walks past, he glances over his shoulder yet again. The fairies are gone. In their place is a younger Dylan, standing with a younger Jill.