A cool breeze blew gently, disturbing the leaves in a well-maintained garden. A young bald man was busy tending to the herbs, trimming them, and disposing of the ones he had saved. He worked meticulously while humming a slow tune to keep him company. Nevertheless, this serenity was not bound to last long. Hasty footsteps, quickly replaced by a more measured one, approached the garden, but the bald man seemed not to notice. "Master..." the person called out after getting to where he worked. The person stood quietly and watched as he moved from one herb to another until he stopped in front of a dead flower plant. He watered it as he did the others but didn't move beyond it. Seeing that he had ceased working, the person continued with his report: "The ship was held at sea by pirates. Luckily, your goods caught none of their attention. It will be arriving tomorrow."
The bald man took off his work gloves and stepped back to change his outfit. The tips of his fingers were purplish-black from digging into the soil. The person immediately prepared a basin of water with which he washed his hands clean. "The new recruits?"
"It has been an hour since they entered the Misty forest," the person promptly replied. The bald man nodded and reached to stroke his beard; when he realized he had none, he busied that hand instantly without feeling awkward.
"Your junior sister?"
"She just arrived at the Tower."
The bald man nodded, and the person left as quickly as he came. He then turned a quizzical look towards the dead herb he had just watered. Once again, he reached to stroke his nonexistent beard subconsciously and quickly caught himself, but there was no one to witness his embarrassment.
"Did I do well?" someone asked in the distance. "How big is this forest?" another asked. The answer to that question was drowned in the cacophony of voices that wanted to drown Eizan. In front of him were Agnes and the twins strolling as if in a park, not that he knew what that was. It was just his misfortune to be caught in the middle of their family issues. He raised his eyes to the sky to note the position of the sun; it was setting, and soon it would get dark. His heart sped up. It was going to get dangerous at night. Eizan suddenly felt the flow of the wind change and found that the other kids had gone far ahead; he could barely see their backs. How long did he space out? He began to sprint to catch up, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reach them; the gap kept widening. He stopped running and stood in place. It was already night, but it was too quiet. Even the crickets were silent. In the depths of the forest, something stirred in its sleep and unknowingly he walked right into its lair, waking it entirely.
"Little boy..." someone blew softly on his ear. He turned around sharply; there was no one. Mist slowly crept in until the environment was obscure and he couldn't distinguish his right from his left. And there was that annoying voice—it reminded him of his mother. It was better to keep moving, he thought as he weighed his limited options. He couldn't turn back, and even if he could, he couldn't go home. As he walked, he picked up pace until he broke into a sprint, and then he heard that voice again.
"Little boy, come and play with me." Why was everyone asking him to play? Eizan cursed in his mind; at least he tried to, but he didn't stop running, and now and then he'd make a turn. Finally, he met another person, and it turned out to be Agnes.
"I have never been so happy to see another person in my life!" he said in short breaths."Tsk tsk. Who knew you'd make it this far? You're but a good-for-nothing," Agnes disdained and kept walking. He didn't mind; she had always been like this. They walked for a while but did not encounter another person.
"Don't you think we are going the wrong way? We've been walking for hours," he whined. This girl was probably walking aimlessly."Tsk tsk. Who knew you'd make it this far? You're but a good-for-nothing," Agnes disdained yet again. Eizan felt his back turn cold as he stopped in place. Goosebumps enveloped his body, which had nothing to do with the cold of the night. "You are not Agnes." Agnes halted all movements with her back to him and said, "Tsk, tsk... you noticed." She turned to him, and sure enough, it was Agnes but not her. She never repeated a swear word or insult, she was very creative. "It wasn't so easy to trap this little girl; such deliciousness! But then I smelled you." She began to creep towards him. "You smelled more delectable; how could I resist?" Without waiting for the rest of her words, Eizan took to his heels. He shouldn't have stuck with her; what bad luck! He didn't even have a good relationship with her, but she was still used as bait. Oh, what delight!" Agnes yelled behind him. "Run faster; I love a good chase." A tree root suddenly sprang up from the soil, which he tripped on, and this allowed Agnes to catch up.
"Why aren't you running? Stand up and run!" She cheered him up maniacally, saying, "Well, since you aren't running again, let me send you home. To my belly! Ha ha ha!" The temperature plunged drastically, and the ground began to freeze.
"Little boy, come and play with me," that creepy, gentle voice once again whispered in his ear. Agnes began to twitch sporadically and foamed in the mouth, saying, "Spare me!" A scratchy voice came out of her throat, and then she dropped to the ground. The thing that was possessing her turned into a small beam of light and escaped. Eizan could not relax; the playing spirit was still around. But the surroundings gradually returned to normal. He crawled toward Agnes and wiped the foam from her mouth. He felt his body go cold for a second, but he shrugged it off as a result of the dampness of the forest. As he sat there with Agnes, the sky cleared up, and he found they were already out of the forest and it was still afternoon.
The beam of light sped away with everything it had. It was just hunting for a body to possess; how could it have known another had set eyes on the boy? It could only blame its bad luck. Seeing that it was close to the boundary between the forest and the clearing, it sped up; leaving the forest entirely was the only way to ensure its survival. Suddenly the air tightened and it slammed into an actual boundary. It groaned in pain as its features twisted in anger. Did you think I would let you leave like that? The rustling of the leaves conveyed a spirit's intents and it's initial anger transformed into fear. "Spare me!" it screamed as it dashed madly back into the forest. Behind it, a strong suction force emerged and pulled at it; it struggled with all its might but could not break free, and the forest trembled with the reverberations of its last scream before it was swallowed. A loud bup was heard after, and a faint outline of a boy could now be seen. He started at the clearing outside the forest and smiled, "I've found you again, little boy..."