Chapter 3

Little Aria who also heard the name was rather surprised. She had just heard the short story from her grandpa and now here she was visiting it with her class.

'Wonder what it will be like? Can I see the shrine?" Aria wondered.

The hill was rather close to the school such that they could reach there in ten minutes. Upon reaching there, the teachers quickly divided responsibilities and divided the kids into a bit more manageable numbers.

"Everyone come with me, make sure you don't let go of your partners." Lita spoke.

Aria looked at her partner who was none other than her friend Kelly. Kelly was the same height as her, but had black hair and black eyes.

"Let's go Kelly," Aria extended her hand.

"Okay, though this place doesn't seem as scary as everyone says." Kelly spoke.

"Of course! This is actually a really good place. Do you want to hear about it?" Aria replied.

"Sure." Kelly said.

Aria then told her the story that her grandpa had told her. She had a proud expression on her face as she went about telling the story.

Hours passed rather quickly as the kids learned more about the plants and their parts. They enjoyed it a lot as this was a direct learning experience than a class. It was afternoon now and they were going to eat lunch.

"Miss, miss! Can we play in the playground now?" one of the little boys asked the teachers.

"Sure, but don't go far our out of this area. We will get the lunch ready so be back in ten minutes." Lita said with a smile.

They were in a playground and thus it was obvious that the kids would want to play. The teachers knew this would happen and it was actually intentional on their part. This way the kids would tire out and eat more properly.

"Kelly, let's go find the shrine!" Aria suddenly said.

"Eh? Are you sure, but miss Lita said not to go far." Kelly replied, feeling doubtful.

"Don't worry, it will be fine. Grandpa Lu said this place is supposed to be safe, that's why it was named sanctuary." Aria said in a knowing tone.

"Umm… if you say so." Kelly replied, unable to oppose her friend.

The two girls quickly sneaked off and went back up the hill.

After about five minutes of wandering, Aria quickly found something.

"Look there! That looks like an old sign." Aria said out loud.