Chapter 30: Enchanted Encounters
Chapter 30: Enchanted Encounters
Heading in the direction the root pointed, the group of three were greeted by the sight of an extremely large tree. Its bark appeared smooth, with a mix of snow-white streaks and coal-black swirls, creating a strangely beautiful contrast. The branches were full of lush green leaves. The guy from earlier was tied to a smaller tree next to it by the vines, one still stuffing his mouth as he made muffled noises. Thankfully, it seemed that only one vine was in his mouth, and none of the other vines had gone into his clothes; they were merely wrapped around him.
"So you asked us to follow, and now we're here. I must thank you for not subjecting us to some kind of tentacle-H scene like you're doing to him. But I'm curious, why now? And why only after finding him in your green H scene grasp?" John said, uncertain about the current events but trusting his gut feeling that told him the nature here wouldn't harm him.
Faster than anyone could see, a vine shot out from the tree and wrapped around John. Its tip reached up and rubbed against his cheek in an almost affectionate manner, much to everyone's surprise. Seeing this, Alice took out her knife and positioned herself beside John. Just before she could cut the vine, John stopped her.
"No, don't. It's not doing anything to us. Don't hurt it or attack, Alice. Only if it tries to hurt you should you strike back," he instructed, receiving a surprised look from her.
"No, the vine is affecting your brain and controlling you. Soon you'll probably think you're a veggie or plant food! Nooo, not to my cuddling bed, which is meant for entertainment!" Alice seemed to scream, her overly dramatic tone making it difficult to tell if she was being serious and actually believed her words or if it was all part of her own act to stay entertained and amused.
Greeny, however, seemed to be shaking. She felt hostility in the air, as if the further she was forced to go, the more the surroundings seemed hostile toward her. It all seemed to originate from the tree in front of her—an unpleasant and unsettling feeling for someone who was normally in tune with and loved by nature.
Reaching up, John lightly rubbed the vine. "Alice, I'm fine. It's not doing anything to me, and I don't think it plans to harm us," he assured her, trying to calm her down. Looking up at him, she quickly put her hands over herself as if trying to protect her modesty.
"Noooo, its vines will do bad and naughty things. It's already getting to you and trying to make me drop my guard. Then those tentacle things will do all sorts of bad stuff, and I'll lose my mind and end up some kind of broken puppet. You'll become the plant lord and use me to plant your seeds! Noooooo!" Alice exclaimed, her tone bordering on hysteria as she stared at the vine. An amused glint could be seen beneath the surface of her fear and excitement.
John was honestly at a loss for how to react to that. Clearly, Alice had some rather interesting tastes, and she was projecting them onto the current situation. He was tempted to play along with it, to pretend the plant was taking control of him and that he was going to do exactly that—to toy with her and find some amusement before shaking his head and dispelling those thoughts.
Greeny, on the other hand, seemed far more terrified. Her eyes were wide as she looked between the pair and the tree, doing all she could to appear as small as possible. She was trying to avoid drawing attention to herself, but it felt as if the very surroundings were staring down at her with hostility. The tree was the source of all her current feelings.
"We're glad you're finally back! We were scared and worried when we changed. Some went out to look for you, but they couldn't find you. So I convinced them to stay and grow more. It's been two bright times and a dark time since we changed, and in that time, we pushed ourselves to change this place while we waited for you! We knew we wouldn't need to wait long! We hope you like what we've done! We may not have been able to show our feelings or communicate before, but we always listened and loved hearing what you had to say. We wished we could help you!" childlike voices echoed around them.
Slowly, a mix of small, almost childlike plant people emerged. Their skin ranged from brown to green. Instead of hair, they seemed to have various stalks or branches with leaves. Their sizes ranged from that of a finger to a foot tall. Almost invisible wings on their backs allowed them to fly as if they had invisible wings, with bark and leaves making up their clothing. Emerging next were animated stick figures, the size of small dogs. Their frames appeared thin and easily broken but remained strong and sturdy. Their feet seemed to root and uproot from the ground as they walked out. One by one, they emerged alongside the plant-like people, with the stick figures leading the way and the child-like sprites surrounding them.
From the black and white tree, a pale female figure emerged. Her form was the embodiment of seduction, with long black hair down to the middle of her back. Bands fell down, framing her face that held a pair of crimson eyes as red as blood. She wore a black and white dress that hugged her form, with a long green vine wrapping around her waist, connecting her to the tree. Alice, on guard, stepped between John and the plant woman, her face a stern image of focus as she prepared herself for anything.
"I may not be as big a nerd as John over here, but I do know a bit. I'm not going to let you do the whole seduction-kiss thing like that plant villain woman did in that movie. And I'm sure as hell not going to let you use him for nutrients by trapping him in a fantasy and draining his life forever either! Try it, and I'll be a lumberjack to cut you down!" Alice declared, standing protectively in front of John. She received an amused look.
"We would never dream of harming our master. We are just extremely glad we can now properly interact with him and hopefully aid him somehow. And little girl, if you did try to 'cut me down,' as you put it, you would find yourself so far in the ground you would never be found again. But I must say, he does have some good taste. You are rather cute, and I would not mind sampling you like our master would our bountiful fruit," the woman from the tree said, her voice dripping with honey and carrying a seductive tone. She slowly approached Alice, lightly rubbing her cheek once she was close enough. This left Alice frozen and unsure of what to do, much to John's amusement.
Turning to look at Greeny, Elena's eyes hardened, and the air grew tense. "That one, though, we can feel holds hostility toward our master. We don't know why she's with him, but we understand he probably brings her around to keep her in check. We don't question master's intentions or actions, though. We greatly dislike that thing, though," Elena said, her eyes hard as she glared at Greeny. Even the stick figures and child-like sprites joined in, their eyes holding burning fury towards her.
"What? But why? I'm a fairy. We always have a good and pure nature with nature, oh incarnation of Mother Nature! If anything, they're what you should hate. Humans are horrible, foul, and polluted beings. So how can you side with them like this? Surely, I'm far better to work with than these beings who are no better than nutrients to your mighty kind!" Greeny argued, trying to persuade Elena to see things her way and help her escape her captors. She hoped to prey on Elena's seemingly newfound nature and her own self-perceived purity to gain an advantage.
Instead, Greeny received an even more heated glare. The stick figures pointed their sticks at her, and the sprite-like children hissed and glared with fury. Stomping her foot to the ground, Elena vanished for a moment and reappeared in front of Greeny. As she stamped her foot, roots sprang up from the ground and pulled Greeny down, pressing her firmly into the soil. The chain didn't slack, causing her to be pulled both up from the lack of slack in the chain and downward from the force of the roots. Groans of pain turned into screams as the roots wrapped around her arms and legs, as if attempting to pull her apart. The sounds of her pain echoed as the roots sprouted thorns, which slowly dug into her skin.
"Listen well, you little shit. One, I'm not Mother Nature or whatever silly delusion your mind is concocting. Do I look old to you? Do I look like a mother? Two, the only filthy one here is you. Not once did you say anything decent. Even when we made our feelings toward our master clear, you disparaged and looked down upon him. Clearly, you are some kind of stupid. Three, we would have happily ended you for the remark about turning our precious master into food. We would have dragged you deep under, rooted you deep, and used you as a source of food. We would have kept you alive as our roots dug into you until your passing, keeping you as our food source for ages. And lastly, four. My name is Elena, and I'm quite proud of it, as I chose it myself. Hmph," the newly named Elena said as she stepped on Greeny, pressing her head slightly into the ground, which elicited muffled cries of pain.
"Elena, dear, could you please let her go? While I don't really care whether she lives or not, I'm sure she still has some use. I'm worried that you and the others might get sick from any type of compost she might turn into. The other issue is that those cuts need to be treated, and some of my supplies will need to be wasted on her now—unless the yarrow and onions would be willing to help with blood clotting and act as antiseptics, with long leaves from willing plants acting as bandages," John calmly suggested to Elena, receiving a smile from her at being addressed by her master. Her wide eyes indicated that she realized her actions, while justified in her opinion, troubled him. Meanwhile, Alice seemed to be enjoying the events from the side, her sadistic side clearly savoring every bit of what was happening to Greeny. An odd masochistic voice within her wished it were her in that position, with John doing all that a bit lighter, causing her face to burn bright red. Trying to divert her thoughts, she looked around for something to distract her and remove the images from her mind. She spotted the guy from earlier, wriggling as best he could with tears in his eyes and the vine still in his mouth. She went closer, trying to help get the vine out of his mouth so she could hear what he might have to say hoping it would be enough to distract her away from the train of thoughts she was currently having.