Stuck In Paradise

Pyrefly Forest Pt2 Lost Forest

Kel ran forward before Hero grabbed him from behind, “Kel! Wait!”

“But it is Basil, is it not?” Kel yelled.

“Yeah, the shadow one!” Hero argued.

“So?”

“Don’t you remember last time?” Hero asked, remembering the noose on the ceiling.

Kel paused and bit his lip, looking for the memory of what Hero was talking about. He finally caught on to what Hero was saying, “Oh yeah, last time he led us to that photo and-” Kel shivered when he remembered the shadow being chasing them.

Aubrey turned to look at them before sighing, “What if this is important though?” she asked with curiosity.

“...Fine, but the moment something feels off we are heading back immediately.” Hero reluctantly accepted.

He turned to look at Omori who seemed to be a bit shocked by something. He was looking at the others strangely with confusion before his face went back to normal. Hero wondered what that was about. Hopefully nothing-

“Ṫ̷̜̟̺͑͂̀̈̚͝ͅH̵̳̤̖̱̱̏̀̏̋̐͋̈̄͜Ȇ̸̡̖͍̪̺̪̚Y̶͍̺̰̯̯͋̀̋ ̵͈̙̣͎͍͚̗͚̤̅͜A̷̢̝̳̥͍͍̿̆̏͛͘R̵̯̭̞͇̪͔͍͇̜͎͂͆̍̕E̶̛̙͚̣̒̄̉̆̈́̃̂͝N̸͇̳̖̬̮̜̦͖̠̜͋̆͌̅́͛̋͋'̶̥͇͋̃͌̀̎̎͊̕̕Ţ̶̡̨̢̘͓̹̙̩̒͌̾̓̐͘͝ ̸̧̛̜̭͙̗̯͓̟͑̔̏̈́͝Ṁ̸̤̳̤͕̻̱̜͎̠̆̾̋̔͛̀ͅE̵̛̤̜̹̺̯͑̔̀͗̕͘͘Ą̴̉N̷̨̢̦͊̀̒͋̿̇̾͂͝ͅT̷̻̤́̌̈͑̓͘͝ͅ ̷̡̧̥͂̏͆ͅT̴̢̡̞͉̺͗̒̇̀͑̉̈̇̎Ô̶̧͚̫̺̼̲̈̈́͂̍͂͊̽͝ ̷͍̖͕̫̪̈̌̊̈R̷̡̦͍͇̦͙̞̻̞͒̓̀̓͂E̵͈̬͑͆M̵̹̾̒͑͝E̵̡͈͙͚̳̫̝͈͐̎͂͒̈́̉͝M̶͎̖͚̽̏͗B̷̢̺̰̯̻̜͚͇͊̇͌͑̋͊̒Ḙ̸̢̼̜̮̭͊̅̈̓͋̓̔͜͝R̶̡̡̝̬̊̒̈̏͜.”

Hero felt a sudden sharp pain go through his head but it left as soon as it arrived. Hero only could hope that it was because of the fog and nothing else.

Kel began first, slowly making his way through the bushes of the trees. Aubrey, Hero, and Omori were following closely behind. The area around them got darker as they walked onto another path that was hidden by the trees.

Ahead of them was the tallest man Hero had ever seen before in his life. He was holding a lantern and his head was smaller than his body. He wore a hat as well, weirdly enough though it looked like it was a part of his head.

They stepped forward and the man, despite having no eyes, looked through them as if they weren’t even here.

“W̸e̷l̷c̵o̴m̵e̷ ̷t̷o̴ ̸t̸h̸e̸ ̶L̸o̵s̸t̷ ̶F̶o̴r̸e̸s̴t̶,̴ ̸w̶h̴e̵r̷e̸ ̷y̵o̶u̷ ̵f̶i̶n̷d̸ ̴t̵h̶i̶n̷g̴s̵ ̵y̶o̸u̴ ̸n̸e̶v̵e̵r̶ ̵k̴n̵e̴w̶ ̷w̵e̵r̴e̶ ̷l̶o̸s̴t̵ ̵i̴n̸ ̸t̴h̷e̴ ̸f̵i̸r̵s̶t̷ ̶p̴l̷a̴c̸e̵.̵.̶.̸o̶r̵ ̶p̶e̸r̴h̵a̶p̸s̶ ̴t̴h̸e̵y̶ ̶w̴e̷r̴e̶ ̴f̵o̷r̵g̴o̶t̴t̷e̸n̶ ̵f̵o̸r̶ ̸a̵ ̵r̵e̴a̶s̶o̸n̴.̶”

The man’s voice felt static-like but they were able to somehow understand what he was saying. Hero felt like he wasn’t meant to understand however, he felt like he shouldn’t know what the man was saying. Judging by the way Kel and Aubrey looked, they felt the same way.

“...Do you think Basil could be here,” Kel whispered to Hero.

“It is a possibility.” He muttered back.

There were multiple paths for the group to choose from. Omori walked towards a group of trees and motioned for the others to follow him. They walked through the trees and the next thing they knew they were standing next to the man again.

They tried heading to the right but that caused them to loop once again.

“What the heck!” Kel yelled in frustration.