Chapter XXII - The Glade

I follow Minuet through an almost empty piece of a road, a person or carriage only occasionally traveling through the path. The houses soon became empty storage sheds and buildings, a strange silence hanging in the atmosphere.

"I hope you aren't leading us to a death trap or something..." I mumbled under my breath.

The president merely smiles with secrecy, not letting up any sort of reassurance or even just a witty comment.

We didn't have to travel far, the short end of storehouses come to a corner in the road, most of them overtaken by flora. The innermost sheds had fallen into disrepair, some of their roof panels or doors dangling only by a vine or hinge.

Minuet ventures straight into the trees that loomed beyond the boundary of the maintained area of residency, into the dense forest that laid beyond.

I follow behind her uneasily, wondering if she really was leading me to a death trap.

After a minute or two of hiking, the shrubbery soon opens to a small clearing, where a lone shed stood. It was strange to see a single storage unit randomly in a forest where its buddies were out there and this one was in here, probably haven't seen the light of use in decades. But why is this one here...?

Without a word, Minuet stops in front of the shed, carefully moving aside a panel of wood, an entrance into a broken-down unit.

She slides through the opening, leaving me to follow.

I step over a fallen wooden beam, and into the gap in the wall.

Inside, dusty shelves lay empty on the walls, lined by vines and cobwebs. A few almost unrecognizable tools lay in one corner, collecting dust. The beams of wood that once held it together had collapsed, now hosting as a roosting place for vines and fungi. The storage itself was still somehow intact, just a touch away from falling in on itself

Through a hole in the wall, I notice the trees behind it, growing so close to each other they had practically fused. This stretched from side to side like a wall, going as far as the sunlight that filtered through the canopy of the branches let me see.

The president stands in front of the vine-covered wall for a moment, the branches from the trees had grown into the shed itself, stretching outwards along its walls, giving it some structural integrity.

"What is this place?" I asked, craning my neck to look up through a gaping space in the roof, allowing some rays of light for us to see.

"A mysterious place," she said simply, saying nothing else.

At this point, I just want to pull an answer out of her, but I will refrain- like the good citizen I am.

Annoyed at her vague response, I cross my arms, waiting for whatever's next.

She kneels down, touching the base of the vines briefly.

As soon as her fingers brush the bark of a tree, the place glows with a green light. The leaves quiver for a moment, before slowly, the vines start to unravel and move away, revealing a large hole in the wall, among the other already existing holes in the unit.

Minuet glances at me, the hint of a smirk on her face, before leaping through the gap, landing on her feet with ease as she landed.

I wasn't as graceful, as soon I was able to ease myself through the hole, falling onto my bum on the other side, the vines intertwine back with each other like nothing ever happened.

The sound of leaves crunches under me, and I look over my shoulder at the dense wall of trees.

'Okay but...I hope that is the way out too.'

I catch sight of the president standing not far in front of me, her back turned before a curtain of green.

I stand up, brushing off the back of my pants as I do.

"I swear if someone gives me a piece of silver for each time I have fallen or tripped this week I wouldn't have to worry about food for the next month..." I said, grumbling.

Minuet looks back at me, amusement playing across her face, "Maybe then it would be worth all the bruising."

"Maybe," I said, "But I still need to pay rent."

She laughs in response, making me glow with pride.

"Well best you try to survive your classes first. If then I think that would be the least of your worries."She said, she then turns the hanging curtain of leaves, starting to brush them back, "You were wondering where I was taking you, so why don't come and see?" She disappears through the foliage, leaving it swaying slightly in the air.

Using my arm to move the leaves aside, I follow in after her.

A small stream trickled into the glade, the water crystal clear. The grass was a beautiful emerald, the trees only dotted with the fiery colors of autumn. I suppose this clearing was a little late to the season.

Under the shade of an overhanging piece of rock, a single bright crimson spider lily bloomed. With it, a magnificent doe gently touched the petals of the flower with its nose, its lean body donning a flawless light brown coat. A pair of delicate white antlers sat on top of its head, like intricately carved quartz.

It immediately perks up at our presence, blinking at us with its soft brown eyes. Then it turns its head and gallops off into the trees without as much as a sound.

"...You saw that too right?" I said finally, breaking the silence.

I receive no answer, looking to the side, the president was quietly staring at the flower.

"Hm? Oh- yes, I did." She snaps out of her daze, shaking her head.

I walk over to the rocks, feeling drawn to the flower as it seems to lure me in with its vivid color and form. "Huh..this..." I kneel in front of the lily, lifting my hand, and just as my finger brushes a single petal-

"Wait- Kusouishi-!"

The ground starts to tremble slightly, shaking pebbles in their place.

A deep voice rumbles,

"WHO DARES TO DISTURB THE TRANQUILITY OF THIS DOMAIN!?"