"What can you tell me about a Heart of the Forest?" Dephna asked.
"Uh, well, it's like a crystal about so big," Charlie answered, using her hands to indicate the size she was meaning. "It's stored in the center of a unicorn's forest and needs to be put back there after it's done being used. If it is removed from the forest for long enough, the forest will disappear and anything in there at that time could be lost as well."
Dephna blinked. "I've heard of legends of a Heart of the Forest, but you sound like you've actually seen one," she said, her expression a mix of wonder and skepticism.
"I first met a unicorn when her forest was attacked and the Heart of the Forest from her forest was stolen. My friends and I worked to get it back and we had our magic unsealed at that time. I also opened all the gates when I managed to get the Heart of the Forest back," Charlie continued.
"Why would you open all of them?" Dephna asked, sounding rather confused. "Wouldn't it be better to open them as you need them?"
Charlie sighed. "Why does everyone ask me that?" Charlie asked rhetorically. "I opened all of them because the people who wanted me to open that particular gate were the ones who stole the Heart of the Forest. Therefore, I couldn't bring myself to trust them. So, I opened all of them and I'm still fine with the choice I made."
Dephna nodded. She opened her mouth to say something more when the door was opened. Charlie merely noted that it was two men. One was wearing a uniform that was the same kind as the woman who'd run from the room screaming about Charlie being a thought mage. The other was wearing robes and had a more scholarly air about him.
Aside from what they were wearing, Charlie wouldn't be surprised to learn that they were related, with how closely they looked like each other, though the one in the robe was clearly the older one. Both had dirty blond hair and light green eyes.
"Dephna, the man in the robe commented as they walked into the room. "Where did you get permission to interrogate this cut-ear?"
"First, I got word that they might not actually be cut-ears," Dephna informed him. "Which means that we might have misunderstood something."
"We haven't misunderstood anything," the man snapped. "You caught them yourself before they could do anything. Their ears are shortened and all records of them has been removed. Where else would you suggest they came from?"
"Piya took one of them to the Royal Tree," Dephna remarked.
"She what?!" the man raged. "Why didn't anyone stop her?"
Dephna shrugged. "I really have no idea about any of that. I was just recently told that the one she took there actually saved the crown prince from a cut-ear. As such, the king himself is considering that they might not be a threat," Dephna answered. "So, I thought I'd see what I could learn about them."
The man snorted. "Don't bother. The only ones that can be understood are full of lies. They talk about something called a gate that supposedly allows them to move from world to world. Yet, they claim they don't have any control over where the gates lead. It's a very good story, but I've been doing this long enough that I can see through their lies," the man answered. His eyes glancing at Charlie before moving back to Dephna. "As for the one who saved the prince? I'm sure something will come up that will show what really happened and show them for what they are."
"How do you explain the dog with four eyes then?" Dephna asked offhandedly.
"It wouldn't be hard for a skilled magician to make any dog have four eyes. If they really wanted to make it impressive, they'd make it look like a hellhound and have it try to burn something down," the man dismissed Dephna's statement like it was merely a news story that held little reliable information.
"Well, I'll let you explain that to the king," Dephna replied casually. "He said he'll be here shortly."
The man glared at Dephna. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"
Dephna chuckled as she folded her arm in front of her chest. "I thought you'd have already been told. After all, aren't you the one in charge here?"
The man didn't say anything, but rather just slammed the door behind him as he left. The other man looked like he wasn't sure what to do, so after a moment of looking back and forth between Charlie and Dephna, he quickly opened the door and closed it behind him as he left.
"What was that about?" Charlie asked.
"He just doesn't like it when he's the last to learn about something, but mostly no one really likes him so they tend to avoid telling him anything when they don't actually have to," Dephna answered, amusement clear in her voice.
"What happened with what you said to him earlier that made, uh, your king think we're not who you thought we were?" Charlie asked, not sure if she should ask this.
"I can't say. I didn't really get the details, but I was asked to check if what you said is true. So, I thought I'd come see what you might have to say."
Charlie sighed. "Why not just say that to begin with?" she asked. Suddenly she felt bored again.
She was partially wondering if now would be a good time to part with her friends and strike out on her own. Partly because she didn't feel like she had the patience for dealing with this whole situation. Maybe it was because she'd been bored for who knows how many hours, stuck in this room with nothing to do, but she was feeling restless.
Although, she wondered if maybe, like a plant, she just needed some sun and she'd be alright. Though, she was wondering if she was to get that, she might need to make herself invisible to do that. Yet at the same time, she didn't really feel like putting out that much effort at the moment.
"Because I first wanted to see what your responses would be without knowing that," Dephna answered.
"So, when do we head out to show you the gate?" Charlie asked.
Dephna hesitated, confirming Charlie's suspicion that they weren't letting her out just yet. "While I'd like to do that, I can't do that to an unknown thought mage. So, I was hoping you'd just tell me where the gate was."
Charlie sighed again. This was just getting tedious for her.
"You remember last night?" Charlie asked carefully.
Dephna nodded. "Yes. You did something that made you hand disappear."
Charlie clapped her hands. "That's where the gate is. Gold star for you."
"Hmmm. You seem a lot less friendly than you were a few minutes ago," Dephna remarked.
Charlie shrugged. "Maybe because it's so boring in here. There's nothing to do. I mean, you guys even took all of my stuff away," Charlie complained. "What am I supposed to do while I wait? I mean, I can't just even just write something or even play games of tic-tac-toe with myself."
Dephna looked like she was going to ask something, but stopped. Charlie couldn't help but be curious about what she was about to ask, but didn't say anything herself. Partly because she was more interested in trying to get back to sleep, despite the pain it caused in her back.
"What was on the other side of the gate?" Dephna asked after a couple minutes of silence between them, although Charlie had a feeling that wasn't what she'd wanted to ask her.
"A forest," Charlie replied, disinterestedly. "Though, be careful if you meet a fungaloid. You don't want to deal with their spores. It didn't turn out very well when I accidentally encountered them."
Dephna looked like she wanted to ask something else, but stopped again. Charlie merely put her head down on the table now, with her arms as pillows. If this was how the conversation was going to go, then she wasn't going to put so much effort into it herself. Her curiosity would only give her so much energy, and that was already waning, especially with the way the conversation had changed.
Though, while she still wanted to get out of this room, she had a feeling that if she didn't wait until they allowed her to leave, that she'd have to deal with worse problems than her friends not letting the issue go with when she'd been dosed by the spores of the fungaloid they'd become friends with.
"Is there any dangers in that world?" Dephna asked finally.
Charlie shook her head. "If there is, then me and my friends didn't encounter it," she said, then paused. "Uh, that is aside from the spores."
"How would I avoid the spores?"
"Avoid touching the fungaloids. I mean, a touch or two overall isn't bad in and of itself, but not constant contact."
"Got it. I'll be back shortly. We'll see what we find and how that will change things," Dephna said. Then she opened the door and left, closing the door behind her.
Charlie sighed and let herself relax while she settled her head back on her arms. While she knew that what Dephna would find wouldn't be anything that Charlie hadn't told her she'd find, Meanwhile, she was still bored and had nothing to do.
In all she didn't care what it was that they decided. She was already done with this world. She'd already found what direction the next gate should be in, but at the same time, if it turned out to not be close, she was willing to return through the previous gate and try to find another gate. Even if it took several moths and she spent half of it dealing with the spores from the fungaloids.
_
Beth knew something was wrong even before she opened her eyes. Not only was she laying on something so soft she almost thought she might have been back home, but she had a soft pillow, though it certainly wasn't filled with polyester, and she could feel that there was a blanket over her.
Maybe the blanket would have turned out to be her sleeping bag, but that would only be if she knew all her stuff had been given back to her. Yet, she could distinctly recall that all that had been returned to her was her puppy.
As she opened her eyes, she saw that she'd been put in a room that looked almost like the kind of room she'd seen in mansions in movies. She assumed it was a guest room, but what felt the strangest was her having been put in here which was a stark contrast to the way she'd been treated since she got to this world.
Of course, she wished she could remember what happened. All she could remember was reaching the gardens and looking at some flowers. After that, she couldn't say what it was about. Or even how long she'd been out. Although, her hunger hadn't gone anywhere.
Beth sighed as she carefully got out of the bed. When she first tried to stand, she almost fell down because her legs weren't being as cooperative as she'd like them to be. They were so weak it was like she'd just gone on a mile run or something and her legs just wanted to take it easy.
The only thing missing that would add to the sensation of her having gone for a run was sore muscles. Her legs, however, didn't feel sore at all. Just incredibly weak.
Beth sighed as she looked around. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but that didn't mean anything to her. After all, she still didn't know where she was, let alone where she might be able to get something to eat. As she didn't even see a fruit basket left in the room, although she would have been surprised if there had been.
After a few minutes, Beth tested her legs again, letting them take a little bit of weight at a time, rather than all at once. She was able to stand, though her legs did feel a little wobbly, but it was enough for her to walk to the door.
She was happy that the more she walked, the more strength her legs had. Which meant that whatever had happened to her legs was only temporary. By the time she reached the door, her legs felt like they were how they had been before, so she decided to not worry about them for now.
However, as she opened the door, she saw someone standing guard over the door. Beth's first instinct was to close the door and try to find another exit, but pushed that away. If they hadn't been happy with her, they certainly wouldn't have put her in such a room as this. They'd likely have thrown her back into a room like the one they'd first put her in in this world.
So, she stepped out of the room, closing the door gently behind her. She then started to walk off to her right, as if she was merely going for a walk or something.
She hadn't even gone a step when she felt the guard put a hand on her arm. Beth glanced at the guard, feeling like she was caught trying to sneak out after curfew. The guard's expression didn't seem to view Beth as doing something she wasn't supposed to, but rather motioned for her to go the other direction.
Beth shrugged ad went in the indicated direction. Then as she started to walk that way, she felt more than heard the guard following her. While she didn't think the guard was there to actually 'guard' her, she had the distinct impression that she wasn't as free to go about her business as she had hoped at first.
She looked back at the guard and noted that it was what appeared to be a young woman who looked like she might be new to her position. Yet, while Beth was sure the guard had noticed Beth looking at her, she didn't seem to react in any way, so Beth had to assume that she wasn't hostile towards her. Not like the guards the night before when they first arrived on this world. Though, if anything, she seemed more bored than anything else. As if she would rather be doing anything other than this because of how important she thought of the task as.
Beth turned her gaze back to where she was going, though she glanced at the guard when they reached a turn ahead of them and the guard indicated for Beth to turn to the left. Beth nodded, suspecting that she was being escorted somewhere. Why that was, she couldn't fathom, but wasn't going to complain. It was possible that she'd either be able to get something to eat where she was going or would encounter someone who could get her something to eat.
Eventually she was directed to head down a spiral staircase, which Beth couldn't help but giggle at. Not that she found the spiral staircase funny, but rather how it just somehow felt out of place. As well as how she could remember wanting one that led to her room when she was around six. It just tickled her childhood fantasy.
Beth descended two floors before she noticed the guard indicating for her to leave the stairs and took a turn to her right down the hallway there. While this wasn't taking as long as her search for a cafeteria or whatever they would have around here that would have food, she was starting to feel like it was. Regardless of what she knew to be true.
However, just before she was ready to just sit down and let whatever the guard was directing her towards come to her, Beth felt the guard put a hand on her shoulder again. Then as Beth looked at her, the guard motioned to the door on Beth's right.
Beth nodded and opened the door. Inside didn't have any food that she could see right away, but it did have several people in it. Beth groaned inwardly. Whatever happened earlier had to have been big, she thought to herself. Just hope it wasn't anything bad.
Though, she turned to the right when she heard some barking before a small bundle of fur came running towards her. Beth knelt down to pick up her puppy, surprised that she hadn't even thought to look for her. Beth could only imagine that whatever happened had to have taken a lot out of her.
Though, as she stood up, holding her puppy, while idly scratching her ears, Beth looked at the other people. She thought she recognized a few from the night before, when she'd first been brought to this place, although she could only assume it was the same place, though she had no idea what anyone's name was. Largely because of the language barrier. Having Charlie with her right at that moment would really have been helpful.
Especially since she doubted that she'd be able to communicate with any of them about anything. Which meant that whatever it was they were doing here, she wasn't likely going to be able to have anything communicated in general, and so she resigned herself to feeling hungry. Though, she accepted that her assumptions might not be as accurate as she would expect, but she didn't have any evidence to go off of anyway, outside of her own observations.
Beth first looked around the room, this time ignoring the people and focused on if there were any couches or something that she could sit on at the moment.
Beth didn't have to look for long before she noticed an empty sofa. The people were milling around it, but that just meant to Beth that she'd be more likely to have that couch. Assuming the crowd around here was willing to let her, that is. Part of her interest was the fact that she would be able to sit down, while another part was focusing on how she would be like to sleep at the moment. Though, none of that really mattered, since she wouldn't know what they would be saying anyway; if they actually said anything to her.