Chapter 5 : The Whispering Woods

Itona confidently strides towards Shuzuka, a smirk playing on his lips as he gazes down at him. Shuzuka tilts his head upward, meeting Itona's gaze with a calm smile as the tension between them rises.

"You're the one to talk; guess you didn't do your research," Shuzuka replies. In that moment, Itona notices Shuzuka glancing quickly behind him. A trail of smoke rushes past Itona, catching his attention. He turns to face the smoke, only to find Red emerging with a massive needle, her eyes fixed on Itona with the intent to kill.

Suddenly, Itona feels a sharp pain in his back, realizing he's been pierced by the needle. Swiftly, he pulls it out, attempting to retaliate against Red. However, the needle vanishes at the last second, leaving him empty-handed. Shuzuka, observing, notices no blood coming from Itona and uses Void's eye to see Red's aura but not Itona's.

Searching for Itona, Shuzuka realizes the threat as Red continues her fierce battle. He notices an aura behind Komi and attempts to warn her. However, hesitating for a split second, Itona's face fills with fear as he glances at Komi.

In an instant, Itona vanishes into thin air, leaving behind a collapsing clone that turns into a pile of dirt. Confused, Shuzuka stares at Komi, wondering about the mysterious occurrence. Jade, observing Shuzuka's confusion, stands up and suggests, "We should go."

Surprised, Komi questions Jade's decision, and Jade explains, "They know we're here, and staying will only bring more of this," gesturing at Red's damaged and collapsing house.

Akane offers comfort to Red, proposing they help repair the house and suggesting she stay at a nearby inn in the meantime. Yui, watching Jade, expresses concern, questioning why Jade is willing to go with them despite the limited time she's known Komi and Shuzuka.

"I'm just returning the favor," Jade responds to Yui, catching Komi off guard. As Komi looks at Jade with confusion, Jade chuckles softly, patting her back. "You'll get it eventually."

Komi still left in the dark, questions Jade if Jade is willing to assist her in this journey, As Jade reassures her that she'll be glad to help, while staring at Komi, she questions Shuzuka by what Itona meant when he said that Shuzuka himself betrayed the black rose

to which Shuzuka sighs and tells them that he ran away from the mission, and supposedly the mission was to take Komi back, but now there's seems to be change of plans as now they're planning on just eliminating Komi

and now Jade and the others are left pondering, struggling between the options, staying within the whispering woods and face enemies like Itona who want her dead or find the Black rose, they question Shuzuka asking for the location of it, Shuzuka declines saying that the location cant be pronounced and it cant be located, they push him to at least try

"its located in [     ]" his voice becomes distorted at the very end, they ask again, but the results are the same, they're left wondering as to why or how, the words that got distorted

Shuzuka tells the others that a special portal is used to get there, without knowing the location they're unable to even teleport or portal there even if they wanted to, which leaves them with one choice, either find the members of the black rose, or hunt down the area in which it is located in

Shuzuka tells Jade and Komi to get ready, and after a bit of preparation and Jade saying her goodbyes to the others the make their way to the edge of the forest, infront of them are what appears to be endless amount of trees that span deep into the unknown, an ominous aura seeps out of the forest and instills fear into Komi, while Jade seems to be a bit hesitant, Shuzuka turns to look at the two while holding rope

"now you see this? ill be tying this onto you so you two wont get lost"

Komi hesitated for a moment, her hand hovering in the air before finally raising it awkwardly. She nervously asked Jade what would happen if they were to get separated. Jade's response was a piercing stare, a silent warning urging Komi to avoid the peril of losing her way. Hastily, Shuzuka took charge, fumbling somewhat awkwardly as he secured a rope, connecting the two like a lifeline.

With a solemn countdown, they ventured into the ominous woods. Komi, feeling scared she closed her eyes before taking the first step, holding Jade's hand. As the trio crossed the barrier, an eerie silence descended, the air turning cold, and an indescribable sensation of being observed enveloped them.

When Komi cautiously opened her eyes, a surreal scene unfolded. The vegetation glowed with an eerie, pulsating blue, revealing an otherworldly beauty that broke through the enveloping darkness. Casting a quick glance behind, she was shocked to find that the entrance they had passed through had seamlessly melded with the rest of the forest. Trees sprawled into the unknown, creating a disorienting and tension-laden landscape that stretched ahead of them.

Komi turned around to ask Shuzuka for directions, but something was off.. Jade and Shuzuka were nowhere in sight. Panic set in, and she pressed her back against a tree, calling out for them, but there was only silence.

Meanwhile, Jade dashed through the forest, hoping to find an exit or anyone around.

Back in the woods, Shuzuka turned to speak to his pals, only to see the rope undone. He slapped his forehead, realizing he'd forgotten how to tie a decent knot. Chuckling to himself, he muttered, "Well, hope they find their way," and strolled through the woods with his hands in his pockets

Jade's relentless running seemed endless, days passing in what felt like a perpetual circle. Frustration finally gripped her, prompting a desperate change in direction, hoping for an escape.

Meanwhile, Komi, still pressed against the tree, accidentally tapped her foot on something. A quiet, pleading voice emerged from beneath, whispering for help. startled by the haunting whispers Komi started to run at a random direction, Her footsteps stomping on most of the foliage, and the whispers grew louder and overlapped, till it suddenly stopped as soon as she bumped into Jade, who seemed a bit exhausted.

Komi embraces her which surprises Jade, asking what had happened, she realizes Komi's hands are trembling from fear, despite the two being alone within the dark forest, surrounded by the mystical yet eerie silence, Jade couldn't help but stay put and comfort her, she holds her close as Komi starts to slowly calm down

Komi quietly whispered "Someone, someone was calling out for help" Jade puts her hand on Komi, and slowly caresses her hair, "Ah, don't worry, you must've been stepping on these" She gracefully brushes her hand on a flower near them, a quiet yet soft voice slowly and softly leaks out of the plant, the sound of an adult woman playfully playing with her child, "Where are you sweetie" ah, it seems they've been playing together, It leaves Komi utterly enthralled, as if the voice sounded similar, the woman's voice was comforting for her

Komi's curiosity led her to ask Jade about the flower, Jade briefly explained how the flower would listen in on the voices near them, and would start to mimic those voices in a whispering manner, its called a "whispera" but before Jade could provide her any more information, she catches a glimpse of something, a creature that seems to be peering one of trees, with its eyes vibrantly glowing blue

Jade's composure slowly fades away, turning into fear, Komi starts to sweat as she suddenly feels a cold gust of wind brush behind her, now petrified by fear, unable to turn around, her voice trembling, "Wh-what is it.. J-Jade? what's happening"

Jade struggles to get a word out, as fear grips her throat she can say nothing but move her lips and mouth the words "run" Komi's eyes widen as she starts to tremble in fear, with her hand shivering once more she realizes that Jade is unable to move, using what little courage she has left she slowly but carefully reaches for Jades hand whilst that is happening the unknown creature creeps out behind the tree, standing still

as Komi's trembling hands hold onto Jade's wrist a sudden burst of adrenaline shoots through their body making them both run away from the unknown horror, at the same time, It also chases after them, letting out a horrific scream and humanoid voices, as the two are overwhelmed with fear, hearing the voices of those pleading for help would only make them more desperate for escape, Jade looking around, finding for the exit, she catches a glimpse of it at the corner of her eye she suddenly drags Komi towards it

As it gets closer and closer, one of its claws manages to get a hold of Komi's cloak, they successfully make it into the light and it manages to get a piece of Komi's cloak, waiting on the other side their suddenly blinded by the ray of sunlight along with the astonishing view of the grasslands, they both sigh in relief and look each other, with such joy they start hugging each other, jumping and celebrating, they both smell and hear the sound of cooking? food? they look to their side and see Shuzuka sitting on a dead log with a tent next to him, cooking what seems to be meat, he stares at both of them for a bit in awkward silence "ah.. I... thought you two would be there alot longer.."

both of them being understandably shocked, Jade asks on how Shuzuka got out first, he briefly explains that he simply just went in a straight line, in fact, he actually saw the two having a moment, he didn't really want to disturb them plus he saw an unknown creature peering within the shadows and figured that that thing would help them get out, Komi ducks her head in embarrassment not really focusing on the fact that the two of them nearly died, Jade, on the other hand, grabs Shuzuka by the collar and shouts at him asking him why he didn't help

"I mean.. you two didn't really die, and I was right, it did help you get out of the forest" A frustrated Jade stutters, and knowing that Shuzuka was technically right, she couldn't help but just agree to what he just said, Komi decides to join the two around the campfire and embraces the beauty of their surroundings, the calm breeze, almost as if it was worth it, looking around she spots a nearby town, she points at it notifying the two, Jade recommends that they should rest since exiting out the whispering woods distorts your sense of direction, and also messes with your vision, making you think its close but in actuality, it's about 10x farther, "it'll take about an hour or so for this to wear off so we'll be here a while"

Komi quietly sits in front of the campfire staring and poking at it, Shuzuka then realizes that Komi's starting to fall deep into her thoughts, feeling a bit bad, and bored, he decides to pass the task onto Komi in which she excitedly accepts, he tells the two that he'll be back in a couple of minutes, as he slowly walks along the edge of the whispering woods, he quickly gets farther and farther until suddenly disappearing

Jade on the other hand still wonders if the slime is still in her crystal, alive, a bit of time passes and Komi finally gets the courage to ask "so uhm.. what happened to your.. gem..? crystal?" Jade's a bit surprised but she knew that she had to spit it out, whilst holding it she explained in a soft tone "its a catalyst, it's used to enhance extremely weak magic, but it's also used to contain powerful magic, magic so strong its almost impossible to control, I've had this for a while, and they told me that once the day comes and the catalyst is off, that's the day where I'll be taking my final breath" 

That's one of the main reasons as to why she's helping her on this journey, before the day comes, she wants to help as many people as possible, experience as many things as she can and make as many memories as she can, she figured that this adventure would actually help her achieve most of those, Komi's understandably a bit heartbroken by it, but she promises Jade that before this adventure ends, all three of them would've made enough memories to last a lifetime, Jade lets out a small chuckle and laughs a bit saying that "I guess this Komi can communicate" she puts her hand on Komi's head and happily thanks her, and she would be looking forward to it, Komi looks at Jade for a bit and gives her a soft smile, unfortunately, they're interrupted by the smell of burning meat, Komi freaks out a bit telling Jade to help her with the situation but Jade just sits back and laughs with tears on her eyes

the sound of objects breaking are suddenly heard followed by a rusty angered voice "ARRRGHHH WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU FOLLOW HER ORDERS" Grabbing Itona by the shoulders, a soft female voice can be heard, asking them to please stop, followed with another the sounds of instruments start to play as it slowly changes into a voice "such a fool, all you had to do was follow the rules and be our tool" 

"WHY CANT YOU JUST BE LIKE THESE TWO!??!" he points to the two masked hooded figures standing quietly across the room, one of them quietly waves, Itona explains that it would be easier if they had taken them right then and there, ambush them, get them when they least expect it, they argue for a bit and eventually the door slowly opens, a voice telling the two to stop, sends shivers down their spine, a voice that's calm and soft, yet so ominous, an aura that's enough to freeze someone in place from absolute power difference, they both drop down in fear and lay their heads low, the bard plays a tune, mocking the two "two heads are on the line, this should be fine" 

she questions Itona about him doubting her methods, to which in a panicked tone he denies it, he tries to explain but then gets shut down by her reminding him that the threads of fate are absolute, "you were never supposed to win, fate is an unstoppable force, you've only delayed the inevitable, all you did was disrespect me" Itona's eyes widen as he struggles to get a word out he looks back up to see the piercing gaze of Madame Rose he looks back down and profusely apologizes, with his voice becoming more and more panicked, she places her hand on his head and quietly whispers "I forgive you.." before turning him into an empty husk for her to control she looks and calls him out, "you, head up, I trust you that this wont happen again?" he looks down, unable to maintain eye contact, quietly and calmly saying with a shivering voice "y-yes mam.."