The Forest of Temptations was located in Scotland. Flying around on Cherry Breeze Butterflies through the populated regions of Earth wasn't preferable; so it had to be mankind's way of travelling once again. Lord Veer asked Tifa to use a spell that would change his and Red Wings’ appearance to better blend with the crowd since Ethiel said it was going to be a lengthy travel and drawing unnecessary attention was better avoided. They travelled out of the citywide and to the nearest forest area. From there, they got distant from the roads and when they were far enough, away from humans, they took out the Cherry Breeze Butterflies and headed for Scotland.
That was the first time Ethiel saw Britain from the skies, sailing across the fluffy clouds. It wasn't Anigma, but it was beautiful too. The cities, towns, villages, farms, and everything had a different feel from above. Even Lord Veer, Red Wings, and Maya seemed to be appreciating the view, but the unpleasant air continued to disgust them.
In two hours, they were past the border of Scotland. In its entirety, the country was shining jolly. Sadly, despite the occasional awe, Ethiel was only getting worried nearing the destination. He found the same expression that he imagined was fixed on his face on the faces of everyone else but Lord Veer.
A long way from their destination, they had to come to the ground; the weather had become wildly rainy, lightning and thunder everywhere in every few seconds. Luckily enough, on a nearby highway, they were able to get on a moderately populated bus that was headed the same route.
The slow bus took an hour — but it was at least faster than travelling on foot — and dropped them on the outskirts of the forest. Peculiarly, the bus driver was quite hesitant in dropping them there. A striking hint of fear pierced through the glare of his deep, black eyes. His mouth parted to say something, some information or perhaps some warning, but he chose to remain silent.
From there, they had to travel on foot again, using Tifa’s magic to not get soaked in the heavy rain. It took a while before they actually reached the forest; it was quite far from where they had been dropped.
To walk amongst the forest full of flourishing flora, an invisible magic overhead shielding against the water drops, the scent of wet mud and greenery stirred well in the air, the sound of leaves and branches rustling and crackling all around with each hit of the rain drops along with the endless whistling wind and the occasional bursts of thunder, the whole experience got embedded as a rather beautiful and thrilling moment even though the pressure didn't get any less.
The map showed that they were still away from their destination.
Trees of the forest seemed so fresh and different. They reminded Ethiel of the trees he had seen in the illustrations of Celtic fairytales, all lush-green, enchanting and mystical.
After a certain point, the aura of the forest had started to change. Out of nowhere, chilling whispers echoed and vanished as abruptly. At times, there was a feeling of some company, but even that faded in a few seconds. The atmosphere was getting eerie and strange. The presence of insects, animals, and birds became lesser and lesser. That was maybe a sign they were near.
At last, they had reached the destination in the map.
It was a wide clearing, a circular patch of wild grass at the centre of which was a circular stone platform, evenly leveled and carved with weird symbols and patterns. Four, dried and thin trees were at the four corners of it. In the middle of this platform, there was a big stone pot filled with dark, humus mud up to the brim.
"Yep," Tifa her gently waved her head towards the platform, "That's the platform mentioned in mother’s notes. Huge circular patch, big stone pot, four withered trees — matches the description."
"Time for the key items," Ethiel took out a tiny wooden box from his jacket pocket and opened it, walking to the big pot.
The tiny box had a strange thick, stone-like seed and a vial of green liquid.
"In goes the seed," he buried it into the mud and opened the vial cap, "and here comes the water."
A few drops trickled and the vial went empty.
"And so begins the wait." Tifa made a tired face.
Twenty seconds and the pot shuddered. A sprout popped out of the mud and grew in all directions wildly and spontaneously; it became a big thorny plant spread beyond the the brim. The entangled branches of thorns were shielding and caging the flower at the core. The flower blossomed, revealing a green glowing corolla, a mystically misty orb.
The mist seeped out of the Web of branches, growing thicker, and exploded into the whole surrounding, engulfing everything.
Ethiel coughed — even others did — and closed his eyes. He heard everyone cough. Suddenly, even when his eyes were squeezed close, he felt like everything went black and the coughing sounds stopped. In that moment, he lost sense of his body briefly.
But instantly, the bodily sensations returned and he opened his eyes. The thick mist was starting to thin slowly.
"I didn't expect that." Tifa coughed, fanning away the mist with her hands.
"What a start!" Red Wings had begun his moaning session.
The thorny, cage of branches contained a bulky of swirling mist through which the green corolla shone. Out of this cage, thick mist crept out, flowing down onto the ground like a cascade of condensed smoke.
Ethiel realised everyone were ankle deep in the mist, and strangely, upon looking closely he spotted the climbers and creepers running down all over the stone platform. It was then that the darkness of the atmosphere came to his notice as well; before, everything seemed comparatively brighter. They were under a shadow.
Above them, branches, thin and thick, had twisted and rolled together into an assortment. These green, mossy branches had emerged out of the four withered trees that weren't withered anymore; they were thick and green, blooming with life.
Ethiel stepped out of the dark shadow cast over them and looked up at the skies. Everything had changed.
Surprisingly, it wasn't afternoon or evening. Night had fallen. The rain had stopped, but the grim clouds were afloat, lighting up every now and then with green, cracked streaks of lightning that roared within them.
Everywhere, there was the mist, mildly tainted with green luminescence.
He looked back to see the assortment formed by the entangled growth of the four trees that hung over the plant.
Over the stone platform, a leafy hand hovered, softly reflecting the ghostly light of the green skies. It was pointing at a certain direction with its index finger, into the the misty forest packed with trees that were no longer celtic but rather overly horrifying, in their shape, size, texture, colours feel, and what not.
"This is it then," Tifa looked at the necklace Alice gave them; the pendant had started to glow yellow.
Ethiel’s own pendant had started to glow, the light of it radiating a sphere of divine protection around him.
"We have not even started, the place is giving me horrible feelings already!" Red Wings muttered.
"Everyone," Lord Veer came closer to Ethiel, "as advised by Alice, let us stay close to the pendant's power."
"O divine, please protect us and bless us." Ethiel whispered, feeling the perilous and maleficient essence adrift about the whole forest.