Hollyn, The Archer

"Oooh!" Christian responded nervously.

'That is strange…it is glowing brighter and brighter…and…I dunno if I can control it...!' He thought panicking slightly feeling an immense pressure on him.

"Wait, Sir Richard!" A voice chimed.

"Oh, Aspen how is the gaurd duty?" He asked.

"Christian can leave, but that other boy can not!" He yelled.

Galen wanted to hide his face as everyone stared. Apsen made his way down to grab his arm Richard stopped him from going further.

"What is going on that you need this kid?" He questioned.

Galen watched as Aspen looked at him for a few seconds before speaking.

"He holds a special aura that could be valuable to the company sir!" Aspen replied excitedly.

Richard narrowed his eyes at Aspen before looking at Galen studying his features for a few seconds.

"And what is it exactly that you are saying you have with him?"

"He has a special aura? That is interesting...you say I should bring him along for the meeting with the boss?" Aspen replied.

Galen's head spun from confusion. He had a duty to perform and couldn't stay here listening to whatever they were discussing.

"Wait, I have to find someone so I can't stay here!" Galen yelled.

"I am going with him!" Christian huffed.

"You will not touch this boy, but you will be in the shadows to assisst Christian and his friend," Richard stated turning to look at Christian and giving Galen a stern look.

"Understood..." Apsen replied annoyed.

"Alright let us go, Galen!" Christian cheered.

Galen felt himself being dragged by Christian towards the door leading out. Before closing the door he turned to face Richard. "Thank you for letting me leave."

As soon as they got outside Christian was swinging his large sword in wide swings through the air to get a feel for it. Galen laughed as he followed the blonde haired kid watching him act so happy and carefree as if they weren't about to be in danger.

"Hey you can stop swinging your sword, your hands will hurt like hell," Galen chuckled.

Christian glared at Galen who looked at him curiously as he placed his sword into its sheath before reaching out to rub Christian's sore hands gently.

[Reminder: six days to find Adam]

"Who is that?" Christian asked.

"Wha-?" Galen shouted.

Christian grinned as gawked over his shoulder who was reading his messages. He was speechless and confused how to procede with this whole thing.

[Hello?]

Galen looked at the message mystified and unsure how to answer it. He stared at the message for a moment trying to figure out if it were real.

[Hi?]

[Ple-se me-t me a- the towe- sou-h]

Galen glanced up at Christian worriedly trying to gauge how he felt about this whole situation. Christian grinned widely.

[Your message isn't loading fully]

[Ple-se me-t me a- the towe- sou-h]

[Are you Adam?]

[Re-ic city]

[User offline]

"What does this mean?" Glaen pondered.

"We should ask one of the labs?" Christian replied.

They started to go the other way when suddenly Christian tripped over something sticking out of the ground causing him to tumble backwards rolling a short distance away coming to a halt.

Galen hurried back to see what happened while Christian stood up wiping some blood away from his mouth. He saw what the problem was a bear trap. It looked like a huge metal bar covered with spikes.

He bent down to pull the trap but found that even though it was big, it didn't budge at all. Galen tried tugging it again with more force but it still wouldn't move.

Christian picked up his weapon and stepped forward. The trap suddenly fell apart causing a large amount of debris falling from the sides sending Christian reeling back. The pieces hit his legs causing him to fall over and land hard on his knees.

"Who put a damn trap here!" Christian shouted glaring at the ground.

"Are you okay?," Galen said grabbing Christian's hand.

"Yeah...yeah, I'm alright now." Christian sighed as he stood up brushing the dust from his pants as he glared daggers at the ground.

A red glow from the distance caused Christian to pull out his broad sword only to have Aspen jump in front of the boy holding his daggers out ready.

"Stop right there!"

A woman jumped down in front of the three . Her hair tied neatly into two small buns on her head and her green eyes glinting dangerously as she approached them. She dressed in archer clothing that consisted of green leather dress shirt with long sleeves which matched her pants and brown boots.

Her hands rested on her hips as she eyed the duo warily. Christian stood up straight and put his sword back in its sheath. He looked around him trying to identify where they were after such a short distance.

All he could see were trees and rocks and nothing else besides a road a little ways off in the opposite direction.

The woman spoke up breaking the silence between the two, "I suggest you don't do anything stupid because I really won't hesitate to kill you both."

"Why do you have traps out?" Aspen asked.

The woman glared at him before turning towards Galen, "Well you must have done something to make my job a lot harder than it needs to be."

She took a threatening step forwards until Christian moved in front of Galen protectively.

"Woah hey lady relax! We're not gonna do anything weird!" Christian reassured.

"We don't have time for this we gotta go, Christian!" Galen noted.

"You are right...look we gotta now!" Christian spouted.

The woman raised her eyebrow suspiciously staring at the couple then glanced at Aspen.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"South of here..." Galen pointed in the wrong direction.

The woman rolled her eyes before shaking her head in disappointment.

"That isn't south you morons!" She chided.

"What?!" They exclaimed at the same time.

She ignored their reactions continuing to speak in a condescending tone.

"Follow me and try not to die!" she ordered.

"Wait, who said you could come with us?" Chistian questioned.

"Well, I did of course! she laughed.

"Why would you wanna come with us?" Galen thought.

She looked away shyly for a moment with a sad glimmer in her eye . She seemed almost vulnerable.

"I just do, that's all."

"That does not make us want to follow you..." Aspen responded.

Galen nodded slightly in agreement looking over to Christian to see if he was agreeing with Aspen. When he caught Christian's gaze he frowned wondering why he seemed upset about following them.

"Come on! Let's just go! We'll be better together than alone!" Christian insisted.

"There is a lab in the South Tower called Willow Mire Lookout and...and" The woman stopped.

"And?" Galen prompted after a few moments of hesitation.

"My brothers aura was said to be weird or something and he was taken from me!" She explained.

Galen was reminded he too was told similar such as Aspen who gawked at him from the sidelines. He felt sympathetic for her and the fact that she lost everything. Christian glanced at Galen concerned as the brunette stared at the floor avoiding her gaze.

"Then if you are telling the truth you can come with us!" Galen noted.

She shot happily a smile before following behind them.

"I...I actually sat the traps to get a hold of the lab assistants to hold them ransom..." She admitted.

"Instead you caught a pair of idiots!" Christian laughed.

She giggled in return before speaking again, "And I'm sorry but I can't just leave them lying there without taking something to help my brother!"

Galen smiled as he watched the pair bicker with each other in amusement. This place really was quite peculiar.

"My name is Hollyn by the way!" She grinned.

"My name is Christian and this is Glaen," Christian answered introducing them.

"Nice to meet you," She grinned.

Hollyn led them to the entrance of a tall stone building that had an enormous black metal gate blocking their entrance. After making a quick scan over her shoulder to see if anyone was nearby she opened the iron gate allowing Galen and Christian entry.

"Ever since the labs have been inserted there has been sudden landscape changes and the easiest way to the south tower is through here!" Hollyn noted.

After pausing inside the gate to allow them to catch up they continued walking through the dark corridors until they reached another giant black metal door, this one wasn't locked. Hollyn pushed against it and when nothing happened she pushed even harder forcing it open.

As soon as they stepped outside they found themselves gawking up at a giant beautiful garden with flowers and plants. It had the most beautiful scenery ever. It looked so peaceful and calming. Hollyn gestured for them to follow her as she walked up a set of stairs leading to an archway that led them to the top of the tower which had several windows looking out towards the sea.

[Welcome to Celestial Gardens]

Down below they could see a cobble walk way and people walking in large parties happily together enjoying the peace of the gardens.

It was surreal seeing how normal the people seemed to live their lives when compared to Galen's own world. His eyes landed on a large house that was located on a hill and it was surrounded by a garden full of bright coloured flowers, it looked so inviting to him.,

"We need to go through here and just go from there where we can get some training in," Hollyn stated.

Walking down the steps slowly they finally get time to take in the sights around them. There were various types of flowers decorating the flowerbeds along with colorful statues and benches that were scattered throughout the garden.

"These are pretty," Christian commented

Hollyn nodded in response smiling at him. Suddenly a loud sound echoed across the grounds. Everyone turned around to find a group of men wearing white armour coming towards them at high speed. They ran past them without a single glance in their direction. Hollyn narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she followed the direction they went towards.

"What was that all about?" she wondered aloud.

More men in white followed to notice at the end was a woman long golden locks dressed in light purple gown with large flowing bell sleeves and a belt around her waist supporting her small frame.

"Lady Eira," Hollyn greeted, bowing lightly.

"Who is she?" Galen whispered.

"Hell if I know..." Christian muttered.

"Lady Eira is an expert healer at least level 115 if I last recalled...she gets tapped often to do parties for big dough." Hollyn said.

"How expensive is she?" Christian asked.

"Why do you plan to buy her for some power leveling?" She smirked.

Christian shook his head as if he didn't hear Hollyn and just turned to look down the path the men had gone in. Suddenly something flashed in the corner of his eye catching his attention.

The crowd went back to normal as soon as they left. People went back to chatting amongst each other or just enjoying the sun and relaxing while others played games around the fountain and some even made sandcastles on the grassy areas of the garden.

"Level 10, but my parent's friend is also a lab assistant nearby so I am being used to gather data..."

Galen recalled instantly how his father was recently hired for lab work and started to gather suspision quietly as he watched as the three conversed. Hollyn's voice suddenly snapped him out of his thoughts causing him to look towards her confused.

"Are you ready to train now?" She asked.

Christian nodded excitedly as Galen just shrugged in agreement.

"Yes we're ready, thank you," Christian thanked.

"Good, be sure to get ready as this will be a long session!" She smiled.