Chapter Five
After eating all the fish, the sun had long set. Nasrin got up and stretched as she looked around. She kicked sand onto the fire and tossed the green sticks to the side. "I wonder where the original lived?" As she opened the book, Nasrin picked up the bag and slung it over her shoulders.
"Let's see," She muttered as she flipped through the book. "Ah huh!" Nasrin exclaimed in excitement. Her emerald-colored eyes glowed brightly in the dark forest. "So, she lives alone in the forest, good for me." A slight smile appeared on her face but quickly vanished. "But how will I find the house?"
Suddenly, the dark forest was illuminated by a mirage of colors. Nasrin slowly turned her gaze and saw a light path leading deeper into the woods.
She stared at the dancing lights with an expressionless face before looking down at the book. Beneath an illustration of a house, the words read: "If ever lost, follow the dancing lights that appear at night." Nasrin placed her mask on her face and started following the trail. "I'll live."
***
"Ugh! Damn that hurts!"
A young boy with sandy blonde slowly sat up as he rubbed his forehead. Three more people were on the ground. They too woke; rubbing their forehead. They were covered in blood and the blue uniform they wore had bite marks.
A young boy with blue hair glanced at the three other people in matching uniforms. He narrowed his eyes, preparing to ask a question, but a girl with fiery auburn hair spoke up first, "What happened huh? Did we get attacked?" the three boys looked at the girl and called out, "Faythe?!"
Faythe flinched in shock, her blue eyes widening. The other three exchanged glances and the blue-haired boy called out, "Yorick." a boy with forest green-colored hair held his arm to his chest in response. The sandy blonde-haired boy laughed as he looked at Yorick. "Still being fu**ing stiff I see," He held his waist as he grimaced in pain after his laugh.
"Better than… being… stupid," Yorick slowly quipped back. Weslynn's face flushed red as he refuted, "I am the fu**ing the smartest in our unit!"
"Says… who?" Yorick expressionlessly asked. Ethel and Faythe wordless watched them quarrel.
After both had finished bickering, Ethel asked, "Any memories of who we've become?"
All: "Negative."
"This will be difficult—" Suddenly, Ethel felt a sharp pain in his head, causing him to stagger. The others moved towards him but were also struck by a sharp pain that prevented them from reaching him.
After 30 minutes of convulsing from pain, the group of four looked at each other with defeated expressions. "Let's regroup with the others," Ethel rubbed his face as he got up. The others nodded and followed after him.
After walking for a while, they reached a large clearing area with tents the color of their uniforms and a large bonfire. They sighed in relief as they reached the fire.
"Hey, Leon! What kept you for so long?" A male voice questioned. Ethel and the others turned towards the tents. A young man with deep blue hair walked towards him. Three other people followed behind him, they had the same hair color as Faythe, Yorick and Weslynn respectively.
"And what happened to your uniforms?" A young man with dark fiery auburn hair asked. Ethel, now known as Leon, awkwardly called out, "Big brother. We were only attacked by a few magic beasts in the forest,"
"Yeah! We fu**ing killed them all for ruining our uniforms!" Weslynn proudly added. "Jasper Lynn Thornfield! What did I tell you about your fu**ing language!" A young man with light sandy-colored hair hit Weslynn on the head as he shouted. Weslynn, now known as Jasper, pouted as he looked begrudgingly at the young man. "But you cuss all the time!"
"That is because I'm older!" The young man quipped. "What's good about being the oldest? It just means you'll croak first." Jasper quipped under his breath. The young man held Jasper's head under his armpit and Jasper started biting the young man's arm.
A gentle-looking young man with light green-colored hair looked at Yorick and asked calmly, "No limbs missing Finn?"
Finn (Yorick) shook his head, "None…," The young man nodded.
Faythe looked at her three teammates with a blank expression. 'They adjusted quickly.'
The young man with the dark fiery auburn hair placed his hand on Faythe's shoulder as she looked worriedly at her, "Elara! Are you hurt anywhere? You're not asking for compensation, did the magic beats bite your head—ah!"
Elara flipped the young man over her shoulder, "Who said you could touch me with your unwashed hands, huh?" Her expression, cold as her icy blue eyes stared at her brother coldly. "Nope she's good…ugh!"
The rest of the students looked on without a single twitch or change in their expression. At this point, the bickering and cussing had become a common sight in the school.
After a while, the teachers told them to settle down. Leon and the rest went to freshen up and joined everyone else by the fire. A young woman with light auburn hair clapped her hands, the place gradually became silent.
"I am student leader, Aria Nightshade. I want everyone to do a head count before we start!"
The students counted and made sure no one was missing, not knowing they already lost four students hours ago. Aria clapped her hands again to gain attention, "As you all know, we came to the Forest of Many Seasons to find the last Apothecary Elf of all the elven tribes. They were known to live deep within this forest, so the Rosen Academy Council have decided to hold the test here while you also look for the Elf," Aria looked at each of the student's faces. Her gaze lingered on Elara for a second longer and continued on.
"Make sure to stick with your group members and don't get lost." She said as she threw an annoyed look at Leon's group.
Everyone snickered at Aria's change in expression. After saying a few more things, Aria dismissed them. Leon and the rest walked towards their tent.
Finn made sure no one was around before he closed the tent. Leon looked at his teammates with a mixed look. "Umgh, let's get the story straight," He coughed as he looked at his teammates. "The originals died from a magic beast attack, and we took over. From now on we must call each other by the body's names."
Elara, Finn and Jasper nodded. Leon looked up, "It seems the 2nd remnant is here, and probably the other 'angels'. So, we must lay low for now."
Jasper raised his hand. Elara rolled her eyes at him. Leon nodded at him. "So, what should we do if we run into one?"
Leon, Elara and Finn: "Ignore!"
Finn pouted and crossed his arms. "No fun,"