On All Fours

The Seven Magic Bearers spared no time. After packing their bags, Doki brought them to the foot of Thalms Mountain where the entrance to the Enchanted Forest was located. From the outside, a thick mist covered the woods to keep the wild animals out of sight. But upon stepping inside, hundreds of flora and fauna would greet visitors. They rarely have visitors.

"So where exactly is the entrance?" Toki asked his brother. "We've been wandering for hours. Any lead, Mr. Portal?"

"I don't have a clue yet. We've covered the entire mountain so far, but nothing's out of the ordinary. Except... "

"It's the mist," Olivia said. "A magical mist covers the entrance to the Enchanted Forest and we can't rely on our eyes to find it. Besides, we're out of territory, so our powers are weakened here."

Doki nodded. "So that's the reason why I've been having a hard time navigating through the forest."

Deep in wonder, they rubbed their chins for a few seconds before a loud TONK interrupted their thoughts. They turned their heads to see Clover rubbing her forehead while knocked flat on the ground.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Snow asked while eyeing the bruise on her forehead. "Did you bump into thin air?"

Clover pounded an invisible barrier, and the entire mountain shook as her gesture rippled through the sky. Birds flew away, and animals wailed in panic. "Oops," she smiled, "We can't find it with our eyes, so I closed mine."

Silence.

"Hahaha!" Doki rubbed his stomach. "Who would have thought such a silly trick could solve our first problem?" He wiped some tears off his eyes. "I wish I had your luck for an entire day."

Max shook his head, and the corner of his lips twitched. "Now we need to break through this barrier." He tapped the barrier, and just like earlier, it caused a rippled effect through the forest. "The forest's magic enforces this barrier. Breaking it would make the entire forest collapse, so we need to pass through without using brute force."

They looked around and poked through the barrier, one after the other. Not even a strand of hair could penetrate through it.

Few more minutes passed, and they witnessed a family of deer enter the Enchanted Forest with ease, and thought animals could easily enter—until a crow dropped dead on their feet after banging its head with the same TONK.

"Uhm," Snow bit her lips. "Do you have any idea what this means, Olivia?"

Olivia looked at Minmin, and the cute mink shrugged his tiny shoulders. Olivia sighed. "We're just as clueless. Professor Gullingun's right on this one. There's no record of the key to the Enchanted Forest."

They slumped their shoulders and sat on the ground to brainstorm. Kid rubbed his chin and turned to Clover. He shook his head. "Hmm. There's no way your 'aunts' can help us through this crisis. I guess."

"I hope there's a key or something. I'm sure she'll be able to find it. Or for the sake of her greatest luck, it might just appear right in front of her." Olivia said.

The sky trembled, and rain started pouring down. They all stayed under a tree, and as Clover reached inside her bag to get another drink, a ring fell off her finger, and it started rolling away. She immediately crawled on all fours to catch it, barely missing the sharp rocks that could have injured her knees. The moment she caught the ring on the palm of her hands, she felt an icy breeze blowing past her ears. The last thing she knew, she was already inside the Enchanted Forest, her friends watching in astonishment.

"What in the world?!" Kid shrieked. "How in the world did you get inside?!"

Minmin started beeping and Olivia summoned her out to see what was happening. With a faint blue light, Minmin's screen displayed the words, "Key to the Enchanted Forest found."

They looked at one another. "What key?"

On the other side of the barrier, Clover stood on her feet and walked towards her friends. This time, she couldn't pass through the now solid wall. "Is my luck finally running out?" She whispered to herself. "I guess I'll have to live inside this forest my entire life then."

She spun her head around the forest, and dozens of mythical creatures had their eyes pinned on her. Most of them looked docile, but even the ravaged ones didn't seem to have plans of attacking. Even the blazing eagle three times her size only hovered overhead with its talons out.

"What's happening?!" Snow shrieked. "Did that stupid barrier amplify her powers?! Is she going to get trapped inside?! We have to get her out!"

"Calm down," Max said, "Even if her luck's not working inside that barrier, there's no way the fates would let her inside if it's a trap. She got inside for a reason. There's no way they'd let her get trapped inside forever."

They all looked at one another with the same thought in mind. They wished Max was right, the same way he wished he was. No one could see it in his eyes, but he was just as worried as the others.

What if the fates really blundered? What if Clover gets trapped inside the Enchanted Forest? Well, he had one thought in mind. If it comes to that point, he'd have to break the barrier to get Clover out. At all costs.

Snow turned to Doki, and he furrowed his brows. "What? I can't summon a portal to the other side, if that's what you're thinking."

"Okay, okay," Olivia said. "Let's all calm down and look back at what happened. Maybe Clover did something we didn't notice. Toki, can you take us back to those seconds?"

Toki snapped his fingers. "Gotcha."

A large portal-like screen resembling a magical fountain appeared in front of their eyes. They all watched what happened in replay.

First, Clover opened her backpack to grab a strawberry-flavored Kewl-aid, but then her ring gets pulled out of her finger. She dropped her backpack and crawled to follow the ring as it rolled to the other side of the barrier. And Viola! She was already inside!

With only two things happening, confusion struck them even more.

"What in the world does this mean?" Olivia said. "Did she gain some overwhelming luck from that single ring slipping out? Or—" In a snap, a single lightbulb dinged above her head. She was quick on her feet with her finger pointing up. "Aha!"

"What is it? What is it?" Kid followed her around.

"That's it! That's the key!"

"What is?!"

"Listen... I know this might sound crazy. But I think, to enter the Enchanted Forest, you have to walk on all fours."

"Huh?!"