National Hero Memorial, Back garden.
'This place is really quite unpopulated… well, very few people come to the memorial in the first place anyway…'
Even though many statues are placed here in remembrance of past heroes, few people come here to visit the place.
Only those who were saved by those heroes come on a regular basis.
Most of the visitors are just some tourists who come to see the statues and they usually leave the place without fully exploring it.
'Well, can't blame them either…. The place is boring; moreover, it's hot during daytime in this garden…'
Jareth was wearing a magically modified robe; thus, he didn't feel the heat but the temperature in this garden was really quite high.
(That robe is standard clothing provided by the university to all professors… it's equipped with temperature-regulating capabilities and some basic defensive features…)
After walking for a while, Jareth arrived near the giant tree located in the center of the garden. (This place is called a garden, but it's quite vast…)
White flowers hung on the giant tree and its leaves fluttered with the wind breeze.
The Shadow of the tree provided a cool place to rest for any tired visitor.
'Yep, this is the place…' (Jareth)
Jareth walked over and sat down in the shadow of the tree. He rested his back against the tree and put his hands on his stomach.
Then Jareth closed his eyes, and the calm wind breeze made him sleepy in an instant.
He felt like he was being wrapped in a warm embrace, and his whole body relaxed. He immediately fell asleep.
…
A Dreamland, A Night witch's paradise.
Jareth opened his eyes and found himself standing in front of a giant tree. All the leaves of the tree were silver-colored, and they were shining brightly.
He raised his head and saw that the moon and the stars were shining brightly in the dark sky.
The place that Jareth stood on was the giant root of the tree, and everywhere he looked, the ground was covered in shallow waters.
Thousands of bright white flowers were floating on the water's surface, everything felt calm and peaceful.
The scenery of this place was so picturesque that it felt unreal.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
The soft whispers of a woman entered Jareth's ears all of a sudden.
He tilted his head and glanced at a nearby root of the tree.
A woman in silver clothes was sitting on the root. She was also staring at the huge flower field.
From this angle, Jareth couldn't see her face as it was obstructed by her long silver hair.
"May you find peace in this beauty…visitor."
After saying that, the woman's body turned into particles of light and disappeared into the night sky.
'So that was the remnant will of the 'night-witch Rose'… well this place is indeed quite beautiful…'
Shaking his head in agreement, Jareth got down from the root and entered the shallow waters.
He slowly walked towards a nearby 'Night-witch Flower' and took the floating flower in his hand.
Then he said in a calm tone.
"Let me bring this flower as a memory of this world…"
As if hearing Jareth's request, the same voice entered his ears again.
"Do as you wish, visitor…"
After getting the approval, Jareth nodded his head, took the flower, and went back to the place where he woke up.
He sat down and said in a calm tone.
"This place is beautiful, you must have had a beautiful heart…"
Hearing Jareth's praise, Rose's remnant giggled and her soft voice resounded throughout the area.
"Thanks, visitor…"
"Your Welcome…"
Jareth felt someone patting his head and immediately he was sent back to reality from that dreamland.
…
Jareth opened his eyes and found himself sitting near the same tree where he had slept earlier.
'It's evening already, I slept for nearly two hours it seems…'
Jareth got up from the ground slowly. He glanced nearby and found the same 'Night-witch Flower' resting on the ground. It seems to have appeared out of nowhere.
Jareth took the flower and put it in his space ring.
'Good… time to go back now…'
…
(Explaining the lore)
In the game, you had to complete a quest named 'Remembrance of the Night-witch'. It was an extremely long and daunting quest, and at the end of that quest, you get to find the final resting place of the Night-witch Rose.
Indeed, the final resting place of Rose was this giant tree. Rose's grave was located in this place and this tree grew directly above her grave.
In the game, we find that, if the player puts his character to sleep in this place, they can enter a hidden location, called the 'Dreamland of the Night-witch'.
This place is just an illusionary space created by the remnant will of Rose and it only appears in the dreams of the visitor once. (You can only access this world just once…)
If the player chooses to bring back a flower from that dream world, the remnant will make the flower materialize in the real world using the giant tree's white flowers as a medium and the surrounding mana in the atmosphere.
Rose was a grade-1 Mage in her life and died like a hero while defending the people and thus her body was buried in this place as a form of honor. (This place is the national hero memorial after all…)
Jareth already knew about all this from the game, thus he didn't hesitate at all. Even if other people slept here and entered the 'Dreamland' they would still not be able to understand its true purpose anyway.
And somehow even if they brought the flower out, the sealed grimoire was already in his hand, and thus that flower would just be a mere decoration with no proper use to it.
…
(Back to present…)
Jareth slowly walked back to his car as he rubbed his blurry eyes.
'It was a good sleep actually… ever since I came to this world I have been stressed a lot… sleeping here made my fatigue disappear into thin air…' (Jareth)
Jareth shook his head in satisfaction and entered his car. Although his facial expressions remained cold and arrogant, he was feeling quite happy in his mind.
He glanced at the driver and ordered:
"Let's go back to the university now…"
"Understood!"
"By the way, take this… they handed it to me when I was leaving, I don't like this drink so you can keep it…"
When Jareth was leaving through the hallways earlier, some staff member of this place handed him a refreshment drink and it was actually not a flavor he liked, so he just decided to give it to the driver.
'It's not a good thing to waste food after all…'
Although the Driver was bewildered by this sudden generosity, he didn't dare refuse Jareth's offer.
(Later that day, the driver went home and bragged to his children that he received a gift from a grade-2 mage…)
…
University, Jareth's dorm room, Bedroom.
Without wasting time, Jareth brought out a mana potion from his space ring and placed the 'Night-with flower' inside the flask that contained that potion.
The flower started to slowly dissolve into liquid and started to mix with that mana potion.
Jareth stared at this whole process with satisfaction.
He nodded his head and went back to his bed to sleep.
'It's a long process, it will take the whole night with the current rate, I should rest for now and let it do its work…'
'Today was quite a long day…'
…
…
Author's Notes.
Yo! It's your beloved author here! It seems Jareth's evil plans of stealing the chances of the protagonist have succeeded with great results… let's see where this leads…
Question of the day.
Would you sleep under that tree after knowing that a grave was buried directly below you?
1. No
2. Yes (Seek professional help and therapy please…)
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.