(Wednesday, 8th of Dream King Moon, 2021)
The shuttle soared over the Enchanted Forest, making its way towards the current mission. In the shuttle with Jack was Mifu, Robin, Molly, Ned, Alice, Saorise, Gaia, and Caroline. Of course, Simo was with them on this mission, and he was reading Jack the information on the mission they were tasked with. In Jack's hand was Nursery Rhyme, and he was trying to understand what kind of magic this particular artifact would allow him to use.
"We're going to a festival, and it's our job to protect everyone at said festival from a possible attack." Simo simplified the file. "We'll start off by meeting up with the festival supervisor, and then I'll help Robin set up a strategy for the festival."
"According to my mom's journal, this is where we'll find some kind of power core, so Alice, Mifu, and I will look for it." Jack informed the sniper. "What about the rest of you guys?"
"I'll work on my inventions so they'll be suited for defense and shit like that." Molly pulled a wrench out of her hair. "Plus I'd like to do a double check on them so they won't explode around people."
"I'll go with Molly, to make sure she doesn't explode herself." Saorise pointed her thumb at the blonde, and Jack noticed a turtle shell shield on her back along with an anchor.
"I think the rest of us will look around for places that we can defend." Ned was adjusting the saddle of a pure gray horse that had lime colored irises. "Actually, Simo, you think it'll be okay for me to ride Seabiscuit here to scout around to look for a possible cause for these waves of...what was it again?"
"Monsters." Simo answered swiftly. "As for you and Seabiscuit, just be careful and try to not get lost. Gaia and Caroline could hypothetically handle anything the monsters throw at them, but I'd rather not use our aces unless absolutely necessary."
"Alright, Molly, tracker." Ned held his hand up for the girl to throw a small device into his hand. "Thanks."
"Robin, how is your planning coming along?" Mifu asked the tactician, who was sitting on his phone.
"Until I actually see the place we're protecting, I can't say anything for certain." Robin sighed as you looked out the window.
Outside the window Jack saw numerous trees of all varieties. He saw evergreens, oaks, birches, and even some jungle trees. All of the trees looked as though they were caked in a layer of glittering dust that was a variety of colors that differed from treetop to treetop. The shuttle finally stopped in the air upon approaching some kind of town and began to lower itself towards the center of the town. From the window Jack could see a lot of old-fashioned houses, and in the distance, he saw a tree that towered over the others and its canopy almost covered the town too. As Jack looked at it, he noticed how some of its branches bloomed flowers with rainbow colored petals. He wondered if it was the same species of plant that the one guy from Hinode who kidnapped the princess grew. The shuttle hovered over the ground and the back hatch opened, and Jack's squad got out and landed on the yellow brick road that made up the streets.
"Wow, I've never seen so many non-humans gathered in one place before." Molly looked around her, and she was right, there were many people here, yet not a single human.
Scattered around the town were numerous stalls for a variety of things. Food, weapons, armor, potions, and more were all available at these stalls run not by humans, but a variety of non-humans. There was a couple of satyrs buying apples from a food vendor minotaur, a bug person selling a goliath a massive greatest, an orc going on a date with an elf, and there was a dwarf talking to his dryad friend in front of the armorsmith who was a fae. Jack was in awe of the amount of different species there were all around him.
"Hello, you all must be the guardians I hired for the festival of the blue seed!" The man speaking to them was a well dressed elephant man, which basically looked like a regular person but with rough and gray skin, a massive build, and an elephant head. "Follow me, I must show you what it is you all will be protecting."
Ned and Seabiscuit were the last ones to leave the city, and Ned hopped onto his horse's back. Out of common courtesy, Jack's squad was forced to follow the elephant man, and he began to explain information they were already aware of. They were to guard the festival and its people from waves of monsters that would attack in massive groups all at the same time, and the people have to hide in bunkers that have sealable entrances all over the city. Jack's squad was led to the entrance of a walled area, which was made of stone and reached 50 meters into the air, yet they were dwarfed in size by the massive tree that appeared to reside inside its walls. There was a massive set of wooden doors to serve as an entrance. The two doors were wide open to allow people to walk in, and Jack saw inside. Inside the walled place was a massive dip in landscape in the middle of the city, and he saw that the tree was originating at the dip. On the other side of the tree from the entrance, Jack saw a large palace-like building.
"The blue seed is inside the tree, and my guess is that the monsters are trying to obtain it." The elephant man informed Jack, and he still hasn't gotten a name from this dude. "When they arrive, an alarm will sound and all the citizens will retreat into bunkers."
"So are there any theories as to why these monsters are after this 'seed' you're talking about?" Simo asked the man because of the lack of intel provided by the man. "Any idea as to where these monsters are coming from?"
"We don't know anything about these monsters, I'm sorry." The man then realized something. "I am terribly sorry, but I haven't introduced myself. My name is Dumbo the elephant, and I'm the mayor here."
"Yikes, your parents must have hated your guts didn't they?" Molly didn't read the mood, so Mifu slapped the back of her head. "Harder mommy~"
"Why must you make everything so awkward?" Mifu sighed in defeat of Molly, who chuckled in a small victory.
"Because I can." Molly triumphantly puffed her chest.
"Alice and I need to check out this 'blue seed', you mentioned." Jack informed Dumbo, and Alice nodded. "So where's this seed?"
"The roots of the tree in the dip made a room, and inside this room is the blue seed." Dumbo informed Jack, and he began walking to the tree alongside Alice.
Both Jack and Alice walked to the dip in the ground that had the base of the tree, and Jack's boots caused rustles in the dry grass that made up the ground. Jack looked at Alice's attire. Her attire consisted of a pitch black t-shirt that had a pentagram depiction on the front, paired with ripped black jeans, black boots with spikes, and a purple ribbon that tied her hair back. She wore makeup on her pale face, and her amethyst eyes shone like, well, amethysts. Her hands had leather, fingerless gloves. Around her waist was a black leather belt with black leather pouches full of components for her spells. As for Jack, he wore his usual bomber jacket, white collared shirt, jeans, and boots along with the sheathed forms of Nursery Rhyme and Storyteller on either side of him.
"Damn, this tree is even more massive now that I look at it up close." Alice looked up at the tree, and she had to tilt her back slightly to look up at the branches. She looked back so much that she almost fell onto her back, but Jack caught her. "Thanks."
"Anytime, dumbass." Jack helped Alice regain her balance before finally reaching the edge of the dip.
The slope leading down wasn't that steep, so Jack was able to walk down the slope without much help. He and Alice saw the massive roots of the tree, and parts of these roots were above the ground, allowing them to see a tunnel in between the roots that was lit up by fireflies. Both of them walked into the tunnel, noticing how natural the tunnel looked. There were no signs of cutting or any signs of human influence on the walls, and the fireflies parted upon the entry of both the Guardians in training. The tunnel has twists and turns, so it wasn't long before the light of the outside world disappeared from view, making the only light source those yellow colored fireflies that elegantly danced in the air.
"You know, if we weren't on a mission right now, this would be nice." Alice commented while gently waving her hand to the side, and the fireflies parted from her hand. "It's pretty romantic if you ask me."
"Yeah, it's that pretty balance between dark and light that makes things romantic." Jack pointed out as he continued to walk down the tunnel. "Let's hope this isn't one of those trick trees which work to trap people inside itself and then eat them."
"Well given its size, I wouldn't be surprised if it was a carnivorous tree." Alice examined the massive tree from inside. "Maybe we already fell for its trap and will now be digested."
"You say that now, after we enter the tree?" Jack looked at his long haired companion.
"If we both turn into plant poop, I hope we end up being dumped out together." Alice tried to make the situation better with that sentence.
"I also hope for that if we end up being digested." Jack knew his best friend was doing her best, but he still smiled at her habit of being a weirdo.
Suddenly, there was a blue, ight at the end of the tunnel. Being the cautious people they were, Jack looked at Alice, and the two of them nodded to one another. Alice summoned a ball of black flames, while Jack unsheathed Nursery Rhyme and turned its pages. Thanks to Nursery Rhyme, he could use some powerful forms of time magic. One problem though, he just needs to be on the exact page of whatever specific spell he needs to use. Jack flipped the page to a spell that could freeze people in place as he walked towards the room in particular.
"The hell?"
The room Jack and Alice found yourselves in had wooden walls, ceiling, and flooring. It was an empty room with but a single pillar extending halfway to the ceiling before stopping entirely. Resting on the pillar was a glowing blue orb that illuminated the room. Jack looked up at the orb in curiosity, and Alice wondered how they were going to get it down since it was quite high up.
"I'll get it." Alice cut a single strand of her hair, and demonic wings emerged from her back. "Check it, devil wings."
"Dang, I wish I had wings." Jack was clearly envious of his friend's wings.
"But you do, you know, when you go harpy mode?" Alice clapped her arms to mimic the wings of a harpy.
"Yeah but that's different, I can use my hands." Jack gave Alice jazz hands, and Alice decided now would be a good time to fly upwards to the blue core.
Alice's wings flapped into the air, and Jack looked up at his goth friend as she retrieved the glowing blue orb. For the briefest of moments, Jack thought Alice looked more like an angel than a normal person. Alice grabbed the orb and slowly floated back down to the ground. Alice handed Jack the orb casually, and when Jack caught the ball, Alice disappeared and the room was empty.
"Alice?" Jack called out, and he believed this to be a joke. "Haha, very funny Alice, you weirdo. You can come out now."
There was no response, and Jack clearly began to panic. He didn't know what to do, and he began turning around desperately.
"Alice?! Alice!" Jack yelled and would have continued his frenzy, but he heard voices coming from the tunnel he just came from. Jack unsheathed the Storyteller sword and prepared it for a fight. Then he heard two voices.
"Duanna, darling, are you sure setting the power core here is a good idea?" A male's voice could be heard. "I mean, we're already in deep since you lied to those people about this being a 'blue seed.'"
"Of course it is, Kiviuq, now come on." A woman's voice spoke, possibly Duanna. "I'll tell Dumbo that some day a champion will come get this seed thing and boom, it's no longer our problem."
"You sure do claim to know these people well, but you've never left Achisi Algi have you?"
"Quiet."
Then two figures emerged from the tunnel, and the first of which was Duanna the woman. Duanna was a tall Achisian woman with dark brown hair and hazel colored eyes. Her attire was fairly simple, consisting of camouflage military pants, black boots, a tank top, and a galaxy-like-design bandana that was wrapped around her forehead. As for the man, Kiviuq, he wore a light brown parka that had black fur, paired with a gray-shirt, dirty jeans, and boots. Jack noticed how Duanna was holding Nursery Rhyme along with the blue seed, and Kiviuq was holding Storyteller. Seeing them with both his main artifacts solidified one simple fact.
These two were Jack's parents.
"Weird, there's already a pillar here for the power core to rest on." Kiviuq pointed out whilst looking at the pillar. "So how are we gonna get it up there?"
"Simple." Duanna opened Nursery Rhyme, and she began to slowly float to the top, and she placed the power core on the pillar top. "There, not so hard now is it?"
"So how do you know our son will find it?" Kiviuq asked his wife as she hovered back down onto the ground.
"Don't underestimate my abilities, you know." Duanna huffed whilst crossing her arms. "Besides, he's your son too, so he'll naturally attract problems, and this happens to be part of the biggest problem in the world."
"Oh yeah, he's also your son!" Kiviuq pointed at the woman. "Knowing him, he'd probably try to kill a salamander by riding a motorcycle and using his momentum to pierce a pole into its chest!"
After Kiviuq said that, Jack felt himself being shaken and someone calling out to him. The vision of his parents slowly faded, and was replaced with a mess of black hair and black eyeliner looking up at him, visibly shaken about something. It was Alice, she was yelling Jack's name, and stopped when the archeologist's vision fully cleared.
"Jack, are you okay?" Alice asked her companion, but she didn't let go of her best friend's arms just yet. "Can you hear me?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Jack responded, and Alice breathed a huge sigh of relief as she let go of Jack's arms. "What happened?"
"I don't know, you grabbed the blue seed and began panicking." Alice answered Jack's question and pointed to the blue seed, which was now on the ground. "You called my name a bunch of times, but then you went silent. Are you alright? Should we head back to Sanctuary?"
"I'm fine." Jack crouched down to pick up the blue seed again. "My parents probably cast a spell on this thing so I'd see illusions when I picked it up."
"That's dumb." Alice put her hands on her hips angrily. "You seriously had me worried, I was terrified that I lost you."
"Thanks…for looking out for me." Jack's face turned a slightly pink hue whilst he avoided eye contact with his best friend. "You're acting weird."
"I'm being nice you dick." Alice playfully punched Jack's arm. "So, about the blue seed. How are we going to smuggle it out of here?"
"Well on the bright side, I think we just need to tell Dumbo." Jack informed Alice. "My parents apparently have it covered."
Meanwhile, outside of the city, Ned continued to ride Seabiscuit deeper into the enchanted forest, checking behind him to see that the city was still within a couple of kilometers of his position. Ned continued to struggle to find where the monsters were coming from, but he did find a set of tracks leading from somewhere to the city, so he was following those tracks. Ned continued to ride Seabiscuit towards the source of the tracks, and as he rode on, he began to notice how more and more of the tracks began to condense. He followed the tracks until he found himself at the entrance of a cave. At this cave entrance, Ned saw a single crow fly inside.
"Well hello here, young man." Ned felt an overwhelming feeling of fear after hearing a voice emerge from the darkness of the cave. Ned saw a scientist walk out of the darkness of the cave and into a well lit part, allowing Ned to see that the mysterious person was a scientist, one with mismatched body parts stitched together into a rough amalgamation of a human. "My name Nihilism, well, I'm just a mere reflection of Nihilism, but my power is the same as his."
"W-Why the hell are you out here, man?" Ned asked the scientist, his voice stammering because of the overwhelming sense of fear he was feeling from this man.
"Simple, I'm creating monsters." Nihilism smiled wickedly, and glowing red eyes appeared behind him. "I'll give you a ten second head start."
"OH FUCK!" Ned then took off on Seabiscuit, not fully aware of who he had just encountered.