Arajen continued to guide his guests through the dead forest where there wasn't much light to help them see.
"What's this place?" asked Kent.
"It's my home, where the other side of Ageddon resides. It's dark and ugly here, right?" Araje continued to walk as he observed everyone being mesmerized by the new world they had just gone to. "We're near. And please, don't tell them about anything from the other side," pleaded the boy.
They soon came out from the dark forest where they saw light. Although it's not the same as the outside, it can still illuminate the place like it's a cloudy day.
"Ugggh, light! Finally!" they were all relieved. Arajen smiled and pointed his finger to a small village that had small huts where there seemed to be people, working in the fields. "I'll introduce you to my family," Arajen immediately ran and everyone just followed instinctively. They saw Arajen approach a muscular man with green hair who seemed to be mad and pointed his fingers at Arajen. "You child, where have you gone to?" shouted the man. Arajen smiled awkwardly as he explained or lied about everything to the man.
The man moved his gaze to the students who walked towards them. "Who are you?" asked the man. Arajen then explained that he saw them in the woods chased by the druknhar – a dark-horned beast that seemed like a pig but bigger. It also eats almost everything.
"A druknhar?!! Have you gone mad, child?! No one can defeat such a beast, even among us! And you saved them from it? who are you kidding?!" shouted the man in disbelief. "I was just lucky," I saw an amali in the forest and threw it to the druknhar." Reasoned Arajen. Arajen turned his gaze to his guests as if he was signaling them to get along with his story. The man took a sigh and noticed that the hairs of the guests of his boy were all colored black. His facial expression changed and hurried to them, grabbed them by their hands, and asked them to follow him fast. The class hurried along with the man, not knowing what was the reason for the sudden change in the man's expression.
The village people around them stopped working as they saw the students following the man along with Arajen. The man just smiled towards them and hurried along towards a small hut where he lived. Made from dried leaves, the hut was shabby and ordinary. Things inside weren't that much too for they only saw tools and equipment used for daily living; a primitive or a rural setting one could say.
"You can sit anywhere you want. This isn't much, but it's a humble home of ours," the man humbly said. Everyone sat and arched in front of the man, getting a proper view of the green-haired beauty. "I'm Yman, Arajen's father", introduced the man. "I'm sorry I startled you earlier, it's just that -," he bowed his head. The students looked at each other, confused, and couldn't understand the situation. "What?" Kent finally asked after the silence. The man looked at everyone, "Your hair… It's black…" There was silence again, until Ivan laughed hysterically, "Dude, did you just do all of those because our hair is colored black? Hahaha!" he continued to laugh. Everyone smiled and some chuckled except for Yman and Arajen who seemed to be as confused as they were. "Wait. Where are you from? How do you not know of how big of a deal your hair color is?"
Everyone stopped laughing. Kent noticed Arajen might be in danger too if they tell Yman the truth, for the child pleaded not to tell anyone about the world outside this place; a world full of life and sunshine which is the complete opposite of the one they were currently in. "We don't remember" Alex replied softly. He then turned his gaze towards his classmates and they knew what he meant. Best to get along with the story. "Did you all lose your memories?" Everyone nodded. "But how are you together?" he added. "We just happened to bump into each other," Matt reasoned. Yman asked questions but soon gave up on their story. Although he realized that all of them were surely acquaintances and were keeping a secret from him, he did not want to dig deeper into someone's past and just accepted their story as it was.
"You should rest here, for now, all of you. It's getting darker. Arajen, get the plates so we can have our supper." Arajen smiled to his guests and they smiled back and then he went happily to get the plates for he realized one thing – he just prevented himself from getting nagged.
As Arajen continued to put the plates on the small table made of fine wood. Yman brought boiled potatoes and served them to his guests. The class was starving, that's the truth. The adventure they went through wasn't easy. Therefore, putting food on the table emptied their minds, and went immediately to grab a piece. However, Yman stopped them along the way and told them to give their prayers first. Embarrassed, they all went back to their seats. "Wait. They have religion in this world?" whispered Ivan to Alex since they were closer to each other. Alex replied with a "shhh" and watched Yman and Arajen put one of their palms on their forehead and one to their chest, where the beating heart was. "Mon Mento" they both said and ate after. Uncommon to the outside world the unusual prayer gesture, everyone just looked at the two of them. "What? You can eat now." Yman snapped as he smiled.
One by one they got a piece of potato and were amazed at how it tasted. "These are so delicious," Maeje exclaimed. Yman chuckled, "You haven't eaten this before?"
"We did, but the taste is so unique, it's almost as if it's already packed with different seasonings."
"It's because it's got the blessings of the baylans. "Yman explained.
Yman continued to talk as he explained that baylans are the source of all the things in Ale.
They ate happily as they continued to taste the other-worldly taste of potato. "So, where are we? and what did you mean about our hair being black in color?" asked Alex who was as curious as everyone. Yman sighed and stopped eating, "You have the color of the lost royalty – the divine family of Adralech.
"Adra – what?" Ivan said, confused.
"Adralech, the family who governed these lands for centuries and was annihilated by the four greatest families in this land," Yman replied. "Tell us more," Kent said.
"There were six great families of Ale – the black-haired Adralechs (Divine family), Brown-haired Bel'kaz, who currently sits on the throne, " Red-haired Kosaks, White-haired Yues, Yellow-haired Le'clairs, and us, the green-haired Ravolas. The four families, Bel'kaz, Kosak, Yue, and Le'clairs conspired against the throne and performed a coup. The Adralechs were strong since they were the only ones who could do the impossible. The Ravolas were loved by baylans, but it's nothing like how baylans loved the Adralechs. It seemed like they were baylans themselves, performing acts like you had never seen before. However, as loving as they were, too kind and humane. Some fought and some felt like giving up, accepting anything like it was fate. Their family turned to ruin. One by one, their population was depleted and were soon hunted by the other families. We call it the Great War, what happened during that time. They were gone. Some said that they traveled away from the other families and hid themselves to the ends of the world, but some said that they went back to the heavens and would come back in the future, taking back the throne from the hands of the usurpers. But we don't believe any of it. They were weak and cowards, I would say." Yman said angrily. "Because of them, we suffered a lot. We're treated like beasts, slaves, garbage. Anything but being human." Yman's tears were falling from his cheeks. Arajen went to his father and hugged him. Yman hugged him back. Yman wiped his tears and faced everyone with a teary eye, "That's why when I saw the colors of your hair, I thought you were part of the lost family of Adralech." Yman said. "The Ravolas were the right hand of the Adralechs for generations, the only family who opposed the coup. Our family spent years fighting the other families, and we suffered because of it. When the four families became victorious, the Ravolas who survived were thrown into this place where we spent our lives cultivating lands for them to use. What's more heartbreaking was during those times, the Ravolas fought harder than the Adralechs themselves, as if they were not willing to protect the throne and accept the things that may come for them." He added.
"That's unacceptable! Are they crazy?!" Matt exclaimed.
"I did not know any king who lets things like that," Belle added.
Yman looked at them and smiled, "Well. That's just them. I'll prepare your place to sleep in. I hope you don't mind spending a night in this dirty place," Yman chuckled. "Are you kidding? This is perfect!" they said gladly.