The Tale of Mythia

Chapter 63: Entering the Enchanted Forest

"Hello, you all must be the guardians I hired for the festival of the blue seed!" The man speaking to them was a well dressed elephant man, which basically looked like a regular person but with rough and gray skin, a massive build, and an elephant head. "Follow me, I must show you what it is you all will be protecting."

Ned and Seabiscuit were the last ones to leave the city, and Ned hopped onto his horse's back. Out of common courtesy, Jack's squad was forced to follow the elephant man, and he began to explain information they were already aware of. They were to guard the festival and its people from waves of monsters that would attack in massive groups all at the same time, and the people have to hide in bunkers that have sealable entrances all over the city. Jack's squad was led to the entrance of a walled area, which was made of stone and reached 50 meters into the air, yet they were dwarfed in size by the massive tree that appeared to reside inside its walls. There was a massive set of wooden doors to serve as an entrance. The two doors were wide open to allow people to walk in, and Jack saw inside. Inside the walled place was a massive dip in landscape in the middle of the city, and he saw that the tree was originating at the dip. On the other side of the tree from the entrance, Jack saw a large palace-like building.

"The blue seed is inside the tree, and my guess is that the monsters are trying to obtain it." The elephant man informed Jack, and he still hasn't gotten a name from this dude. "When they arrive, an alarm will sound and all the citizens will retreat into bunkers."

"So are there any theories as to why these monsters are after this 'seed' you're talking about?" Simo asked the man because of the lack of intel provided by the man. "Any idea as to where these monsters are coming from?"

"We don't know anything about these monsters, I'm sorry." The man then realized something. "I am terribly sorry, but I haven't introduced myself. My name is Dumbo the elephant, and I'm the mayor here."

"Yikes, your parents must have hated your guts didn't they?" Molly didn't read the mood, so Mifu slapped the back of her head. "Harder mommy~"

"Why must you make everything so awkward?" Mifu sighed in defeat of Molly, who chuckled in a small victory.

"Because I can." Molly triumphantly puffed her chest.

"Alice and I need to check out this 'blue seed', you mentioned." Jack informed Dumbo, and Alice nodded. "So where's this seed?"

"The roots of the tree in the dip made a room, and inside this room is the blue seed." Dumbo informed Jack, and he began walking to the tree alongside Alice.

Both Jack and Alice walked to the dip in the ground that had the base of the tree, and Jack's boots caused rustles in the dry grass that made up the ground. Jack looked at Alice's attire. Her attire consisted of a pitch black t-shirt that had a pentagram depiction on the front, paired with ripped black jeans, black boots with spikes, and a purple ribbon that tied her hair back. She wore makeup on her pale face, and her amethyst eyes shone like, well, amethysts. Her hands had leather, fingerless gloves. Around her waist was a black leather belt with black leather pouches full of components for her spells. As for Jack, he wore his usual bomber jacket, white collared shirt, jeans, and boots along with the sheathed forms of Nursery Rhyme and Storyteller on either side of him.

"Damn, this tree is even more massive now that I look at it up close." Alice looked up at the tree, and she had to tilt her back slightly to look up at the branches. She looked back so much that she almost fell onto her back, but Jack caught her. "Thanks."

"Anytime, dumbass." Jack helped Alice regain her balance before finally reaching the edge of the dip.

The slope leading down wasn't that steep, so Jack was able to walk down the slope without much help. He and Alice saw the massive roots of the tree, and parts of these roots were above the ground, allowing them to see a tunnel in between the roots that was lit up by fireflies. Both of them walked into the tunnel, noticing how natural the tunnel looked. There were no signs of cutting or any signs of human influence on the walls, and the fireflies parted upon the entry of both the Guardians in training. The tunnel has twists and turns, so it wasn't long before the light of the outside world disappeared from view, making the only light source those yellow colored fireflies that elegantly danced in the air.