"Phew!" Fria stretched her arms back lazily, her face beaming from satisfaction and joy. "Finally, some real air!"
Enix smiled along her little chuckle, and gazed back at the bright lights enriching the mansion's entry.
"You don't like such gatherings either, right Enix?" Enix's heart skipped a beat hearing the question. His eyes closed, and his trembling hands once more haunted his eyes wide, and as he gazed at the trees and greenary aligning the sides of the walk, the cheap smiles and nasty eyes of the crowd punched the air out of his lungs.
"Enix!" Fria's hand, pressing down at his shoulder, collected his scattered thoughts on her.
"Hahaha!" She laughed dryly, and muttered in an audible voice while shaking her head, "I was right it seems."
After a moment, Fria cried into his ear again, "Look!'
Enix's head turned back and his sight pulled toward the small and large silhouettes walking out of the entry.
"Who's that?" Fria's eyes squinted, but the light behind the two refused to part with the secret.
Enix's eyes squeezed slightly, 'That's... the princess!'
His heart fluttered, and he quickly gripped Fria's hand, "Let's move somewhere else."
"Hmm, where?" Fria gazed around.
Duke Ululus's mansion was located on a large hill in the center of the city.
But his mansion's barricade covered as small as about 1/10th of the front of it–the flatter area. The rest outside was a copse with trees sprouting up to 10 feet.
As Enix tracked her gaze to the trees climbing up from the back of the mansion and splaying away on the hill, his thoughts linked with her's.
And the two quickly passed away from the Princess's sights, "Where did they run off too?" Her lips puckered out, and her finger begrudgingly pressed onto them.
Her butler quietly stood beside her, his gaze affixed on the gate the two took to the outside.
Soon, as the Princess began to stroll on the walk, a man suited and booted as a head butler firmly walked passed the gates and paced toward the mansion.
As he neared the door, his eyes fell upon the Princess, and he detoured to offer his greetings.
"Sir Gruis!" The Princess smiled, "What have you in such a hurry?"
"My, the honor of my name on your tongue, Princess Ya." Gruis smiled, his eyes stealing to the lights, and his teeth grinding, "We seemed to be delayed in the invitation to this party is all." He chuckled and shook off his thoughts.
"Hmm? But I just met young master Fria inside." The Princess's head tilted.
"You did? Great!" Gruis's heart leaped, and he neared a step closer, "Where is he now?"
"Uh?" Ya scratched her cheek awkwardly, making Gruis cough and retreat back, "I believe I saw him leaving with his... sister?"
"Leave? Leave where?" His heart jumped to his throat, and his eyes swallowed the whole terrain into his eyes at once.
"Leave through the gate."
Gruis paused, and slowly looked in the direction of her finger, "Leave through the... gate?"
Ya swallowed, finding the matter odd as the color paled from his face.
***
"Take a deep breath, Enix!" Fria enacted her own words while spreading her arms wide, "Take some of this real air while you can."
Enix giggled and took a whiff, "Quiet fresh."
"Hey, mushroom!" Fria jumped and leaped toward her prey.
"That's a moldy fungus... better leave it alone." Fria's hand froze an inch away from the object, and her head spun toward Enix.
"Haha! Come here, I will show you something." As Fria crawled back to him, musing, Enix squatted and brushed his hands on the littered ground, "You saw those green pores on its head right?" Enix waited for her confirmation before continuing, "They release a fuzzy, whitish web of— uh, found it," Enix grinned and jumped to his feet.
Fria peeked at the stone he had found before waiting for him to continue, "Ah, where was I? Yes, they release a web of mold when disturbed. Watch this, and make sure to not inhale any."
Taking aim, Enix swung the rock hard which struck finely into the tree beside it.
The air served to choke as Enix's cheeks turned florid. "Hahaha!" Fria picked up a rock of her own and, marking targets, muttered, "Leave it to me."
The stone whooshed forward and struck the bump of the mushroom. Both Enix and Fria instinctively went for a high-five and held their breaths.
As the seconds ticked away in shame, Fria turned a little abashed, "Did I hit the wrong spot?"
Enix forced a cough and carefully trudged over. Squatting down, and examining the object, his cheeks turned a fresh red. Some creaking words sounded to only his ear's despair.
"What was that?" Fria frowned.
Enix coughed before shouting aloud, "It's not a moldy fungus!"
Fria paused before giggling and throwing herself on the ground.
Enix scratched his cheek, his cold fingers prickling his seething face, and rubbed the mushroom, "I only read that book once... it's not like I am going to remember all its information." He made a little humph and flicked the fungus.
As he stared at it rigidly tilt back before returning to its position, his eyes flapped in intrigue, "This might be..." His lips froze, and his twisted expression compelled him to shrug off his thoughts, "No, I am not opening my mouth."
"Well," Fria jumped to her feet and swaggered over, "Since its not a... fungus! I can take it right? As a trophy, uh, don't worry, I won't eat it or anything." Fria squatted beside him, and taking the bulge in her hand, smiled, "Just a souvenir."
"Uh, I-I still thi–" Enix's lips zapped a stop, his popping eyes staring at the mushroom, which, upon being pulled, slipped from her grasp and flipped flat on the ground.
"Oh... shit!" Enix's eyes slowly climbed the tree and froze on its lush leaves.
"That's so cool!" Fria exclaimed, "Do you know what this thingy is?"
"Yes!" Enix nodded, his heart palpitating as he saw one of the leaf abruptly eject out into the air, "And its anything but cool."
"What do you–" A successive popping sound, soft like the one from a bubble sheet, caused Fria's words to lose somewhere in their soothing melody and fished her eyes from the mushroom to a rain of leaves slowly tumbling down.
"RUNN!!" Enix's palm snapped shut on her hand, his legs kicked into the ground and he blasted off like a bull with its tail caught on fire.
Fria stared back at the shrill splintering wood noise, her heart thrashed against her rib-cage and her eyes pulled with every inch the tree slouched in their direction.
"AHHH!" Her instincts jolted awake and took steering of her feet, and interlocking fingers with Enix, she blasted off, dragging Enix along.
The tree's shadow slammed onto them as the tree, like a grenade, slammed into the ground, hurling a mess of dust into the air.
"Goddddd!" Fria shambled back, her legs quacking as she stared at the thick and bare pointy branches that barely missed her.
"Wow!" A silly grin stretched on Enix's face, he wiped the thick layer of sweat off his forehead with his trembling hand, "Reading the Trip Tree and... experiencing it is totally different."
Fria stared at him as if he had gone mad, "You ar– Enix!" Her voice turned hoarse as Enix turned back to stare, "Your back!" Her voice warbled.
"Now plays the," Enix grinned and turned his face toward her, Fria too abruptly paused as a haunting popping sound boiled up in the air, "Domino effect."
Fria's brain jolted, her expression squirmed as her head slanted to the left, "Domi—" Her tongue froze, in her view of Enix, a single leaf leisurely swayed about.
"RUNNN!!!"