The Fourteenth Chapter | The Enchanted Woods (III)
Doechi pulled Alvera through the forest and over to her very nice castle. It wasn't as big as Alvera's in Waylon, but it was still fairly large. The walls were comprised of bricks coated in cream-colored paint. Towers with pointy roofs stood tall and a metal gate surrounded the entire property. A flag with a weird symbol was attached to a stand at the highest point of the longest tower, flying proudly. The building fit in seamlessly with the fairy tale aesthetic of the whole Realm.
As Alvera was dragged into the castle, she was met with a whole slew of guards standing by and around the door. The interior was just as clean as the exterior. The walls were covered in wallpaper lined with a weird symbol, and the floor was made of white, almost transparent, tiles, their shoes making clacking noises with each step. Although it was a big castle, the subtle attention to detail and the mostly dim lighting gave it a sort of homey feel.
It had taken almost a full hour to show Alvera around the whole castle, Doechi insisted. For some reason, Cedrick hadn't even tried to oppose. He had somewhat rushed her through the other Realms, so she was a bit surprised that he was letting Doechi use so much time. However, she couldn't say she minded.
After she had taken Alvera and Cedrick around her castle, she offered to take them to the city, and with Cedrick's refusal to offer up a reply, Alvera hastily agreed.
A bit further into the forest, they reached another clearing, a very large one. It was filled to the brim with houses. Rather normal-looking houses. Mostly cottages, ranging in size, with pale-colored walls and brick red roof tiles. Some reached three floors of uneven shapes, while others were on the level of bungalows. Small windowsills lined equally as small windows and the wooden doors could be seen from a mile away.
The houses were all connected by a series of red brick roads. Some were lined with fences to mark their property, and others were clearly worn by age. However, they were all equally adorable to Alvera. The town stretched out a lot farther than she could even see. She didn't know exactly what she had expected it to look like but it was pretty all the same.
People, or rather, wingless fairies, of all skin tones were navigating the streets and giving Alvera strange looks every now and again. She, however, barely even noticed. She was too captivated by her surroundings. It was like the entire Realm was ripped straight out of the numerous fantasy novels she had stowed away in her bookshelves.
"You know, The Enchanted Woods is actually the biggest of The Seven Realms," Doechi said.
"Really? I thought it would be the Terrain of Giants."
"Nope, my Realm's been the biggest for the past ten years. One year there was a huge surge in the population, and even though we're still not too sure why it happened, it doesn't hurt anybody so." She shrugged.
"Does everyone here speak English?"
"No, I'm pretty much the only one. The native language here is Cezian. It also has a reputation for being the hardest to learn or translate. So essentially, if you're not from this Realm, or a translator, the chances of you being able to decipher it are slim to none. I only learned English because I got tired of not being able to communicate with basically anybody else."
There was a short pause before Alvera asked another question.
"So, what kind of totems do you have here?" Alvera asked.
Doechi smirked before calling out for, what Alvera assumed was, her totem.
"Reuben!"
Within a fraction of a second, a fox with dark orange fur materialized itself out of thin air and startled Alvera. It didn't speak like Lady Parisa's will o' wisp did, but it could clearly understand English. It nuzzled itself against Doechi's covered leg and let out something between a purr and a growl. It then sauntered over to Alvera's side and did the same, then proceeded to completely ignore Cedrick, before taking a seat right next to Doechi.
"He seems to like you. Can't say the same for Cedrick. I don't know what it is about him, but Reuben's never liked him."
Cedrick glared at the fox while it growled back. Jeez.
"So, have you gotten your totem yet?"
"Not yet. There's still so much I don't know yet, so I'm not too sure when that's going to happen. I assume there are more important things to worry about, though."
"Well, you're not exactly wrong. You would probably need to be able to use magic before you can summon one of these," she said, pointing at Reuben, who stood at attention and glared at a nearby tree. "Don't worry too much about it. Magic is basically built into your DNA. It'll seep through so naturally, I bet you won't even notice."
Alvera smiled at her as they made their way back to the gateline. Cedrick had finally made the executive decision for them to leave, and Alvera, having thoroughly toured the Realm was satisfied, so she offered no resistance. Reuben also obediently followed. Doechi offered them one last farewell as they crossed over once again.
Interesting.
Once Alvera stepped through again, she subconsciously felt that initial pressure dissipate into thin air. It was weird, certainly, but Alvera disregarded it thinking it was just... normal there. She turned back and just as expected, the fairy tale forest they were in seconds before was once again hidden behind the veil of the gateline. The wind whistled, breaking the silence that encapsulated the hayfield.
"That's six, right?"
"Huh?" Cedrick asked.
"That's six Realms. We skipped one. Again. So much for going in order."
"That's... right. Which one was it...? Oh, The Hollow Ravens." He paused for a second as if thinking about something, his eyes darting around. "Alright, let's go."
Alvera eyed him skeptically, to which he took no notice. He had barely uttered a word the entire time they were in The Enchanted Woods. What was his problem? Did he have issues with Doechi too? Didn't seem like it when they were in The Terrain of Giants. But it did seem like it when they were actually with Doechi.
Strange.
"Don't zone out on me now, Alvera. Come on, let's go."