The next day, Scarlet wakes up hungry, at the inviting smell of something being baked in the kitchen.
The girl gets out of bed and follows the mesmerizing perfume to the kitchen. When she enters the room she's greeted by a the warmth of the steam coming from the plate on the table.
Scarlet, entraced by the smell, ignores the other person in the room and sits down at the table, in front of her plate.
But when she looks clearly at what is on the table, the trance is gone. The girl finally looks at Trystan.
"What is this?" she asks frowning
"Baked leaves~" the elf responds
"Baked leaves!?" Scarlet repeats
"Did i stutter?~"
"N-No..."
Trystan lets out a loud laugh then stops abruptly.
"Well, try it" he urges the girl
"Don't you have cereals or something better?" she asks hopefully
"No" he says bluntly
"Well...Here goes nothing" she says taking a bite from one of the baked leaves from her plate and chewing it.
Scarlet's eyes light up and she looks amazed at the elf sitting on the other end of the small table.
"What kind of leaves are these?"
"Magic leaves, they taste better when baked"
"Wooow!" the girl exclaims with her mouth full of leaves
Trystan chuckles at the image in front of him.
After finishing eating, cleaning the table and washing the dishes with water coming from air, the two of them head out.
"Where are we going?" Scarlet asks while walking next to the elf
"To your initiation, of course"
"I know, but where exactly?"
"Remember when you passed through that portal and fell from the sky?"
"Yes?"
"You entered the second level of the forest, and now, we're going to the third one"
"What do you mean, level?"
"The forest it's to big to fit in the human world, so it's separated in levels. The first level is in the human world and the rest of them are in the magic realm which has no end"
"How many levels has the forest got?"
"This is something no one knows except your dad...But a new level appears once a hundred years, in human time"
"What do you mean human time?"
"In the magic realm, time moves slower, a year here, are three years in human world"
"If you enter the human world, do you get older?"
"No, in both ways"
"Ok..."
Trystan stops in front of a lake and so does Scarlet. The girl asks confused:
"What is here?"
"The portal to the third world..."
"So, we just jump in?"
"Exactly, hold my hand if you are scared~"
Scarlet looks down to hide her blush and nods, taking Trystan's hand. The elf masks his surprise pulling the girl closer and jumping in the clear surface of the lake's water.
The girl keeps her eyes shut tightly until she lands on something soft. She opens her eyes to find herself in the middle of a big yellow flower alone.
The flower bends to the ground, putting down the girl softly.
Scarlet slips off of the flower's big petal and lands on perfectly flat wood.
"What is this? Where is the forest?" she shouts looking around for any plant aside from the gigantic flower and most important, for Trystan.
"Excuse me, Scarlet Salastor, the daughter of master Salastor?"
The girl jumps startled, looking at the little creature in front of her.
"Y-Yes?"
"Follow me please" the troll says turning arond and walking away from Scarlet
She keeps up with his tiny steps which isn't to hard but takes care to not get ahead of him, not wanting to offend him.
"I came here with an elf, where is he?" the girl asks
"The elf is just fine, he was sent back to the second level of the forest because he isn't allowed to join you in the initiation"
"Ok...But how did you know i was coming?"
"The forest told us"
"But here aren't any plants except for the the flower"
"The forest is under the tower"
"What to-"
"We're here, you can enter"
Scarlet is standing in front of a massive wooden door with golden words on it. The words seem to be in a strange language and the door looks like it's leading nowhere because there aren't any walls around.
However, the girl opens the door and goes through it...