“What? Why would you think so?” Arthur asked confusedly. So far, he was going with the premise that these two kids were thrown into this forest with their memories cut off. Arthur was unaware of the reason for such a horrible thing or why they would be left in this particular forest.
“That’s what the letter told us,” Finlay replied. “All it said to us was that we were meant to remain here and that they couldn’t bring us with them. It also says that we must survive and come back when the time is right.”
“…” The entire group frowned in confusion. Those words sounded way too specific for someone who did a very horrible act like this one.
‘You would expect them not to have any sympathy towards these two kids. But this letter doesn’t sound empathetic at all… Could it be?’ Arthur rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Looking over his shoulder, he noticed that the others had reached the same conclusion as he did without uttering a word. It seemed clear as day what the intentions of the person who left this letter were.
“Were you left here because there was no other choice?” Isla asked.
“… We don’t know. But, we never hated the person that left us here. We have learned and grown a lot on our own. We are confused, but we think it was done for a reason, and until we meet the person who left us here with that message and these necklaces, we won’t judge them.”
“You two…” Emmy muttered in a daze.
Seeing the peaceful smiles on their faces, they were all speechless. How could these two not hate the person that did this to them? After everything that happened to them and the things they went through on their own. They could not imagine the fear and the deep sense of loss they felt when they woke up here. Not to mention the struggle to settle down and adapt to this hostile environment.
Yet, they didn’t seem to blame nor hate the person that left them there. Such a level of emotional maturity was extremely hard to find in adults, let alone small kids. It was simply something worthy of deep admiration.
“Hehe, in any case, now that we’re leaving this place. We can finally look for this person to know what happened.” Serko laughed awkwardly.
“Do you know where to look exactly? I mean, this world is pretty big.” Herculia asked curiously.
“Mm, they did mention the place where we should head. Mm, what was its name again?”
“I think it’s the ‘High Wall Of The Gods’.”
“The high wall of the gods? Do you know where that is?” Isla raised an eyebrow.
‘This name sounds really ominous for some reason.’ Arthur thought to himself.
“No, we don’t know where that is but we at least know of the location. We will try to ask about it.” Finlay replied.
“I will try to help you if I can too.” Arthur smiled.
“Really?” The two kids’ eyes lit up. “You don’t have to, Arthur! You already did us a huge favor!”
“No, I want to help as much as I can.” He shook his head. “You two are very good people with really kind hearts and you deserve to find your purpose. Don’t let this world take that right from you, got it?”
Seeing the pure smiles on their faces, Arthur could relate to them. That pure smile was something he used to have when he was a kid, unaware of the cruelty of the world. He still tries to keep that smile, but it was certainly way harder to do that with all the things he went through.
He didn’t want to see Finlay and Serko lose that smile. The Divine Realm is far more cruel than the real world so in a sense, this forest had preserved these two kids better than what the outside world could’ve done.
“Thank you… *Hick* thank you, Arthur.”
Hearing the two start gasping for air, he looked up only to see their tears falling down their faces.
“Hey, hey, why are you crying now?” He panicked.
“You’re so kind…” Serko replied as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “We can’t really thank you enough for how much you helped us.”
“Haha, look what you did, Arthur.” Herculia laughed warmly.
“I didn’t mean to, ok?” Arthur rubbed the back of his head. ‘Oh man, I don’t know how to calm crying kids. What should I do?’
“Fufu…” As the others were giggling while Arthur was trying to make the two kids stop crying, they didn’t notice Isla’s expression change a little as she turned away from them.
Her eyes squinted as she started quietly walking away from the group. The first to notice her weird behavior was Danny.
“Isla?” He called for her.
“Shhh…” She shushed him quickly as she looked up at the ceiling, completely focused on it. Her body was completely still. Then, she felt it.
“What is happening?” Slowly, everyone started looking at Isla.
“The ceiling… It’s shaking.” She replied coldly.
“Huh?”
“Focus on it.”
Immediately, the entire group went silent as they waited for the shaking to happen. It didn’t take a few seconds before the entire house creaked again as if it was hit by an earthquake.
“I felt it!” Herculia exclaimed.
“It’s stronger than the previous one,” Isla explained. “Something is happening outside the house.”
*Boom*
The third one came a little stronger than before, alerting everyone. So, they quickly moved out of the house. There, they felt it way clearer along with a deep, echoing sound that they couldn’t identify. It almost sounded like someone hitting a large drum and the noise echoed far and wide.
The trees around them and the ground beneath them were moving visibly. It was getting more and more prominent with each passing second.
“What the hell… is going on?” Danny muttered as a cold feeling started washing over his body.
As they were all trying to figure out the situation, Arthur looked up above him as he suddenly got an idea.
“Hey, Finlay, is there a way to access the roof above the house?” He asked.
“… Yes. Why do you ask?”
“Can you show me the way? I want to check something.” Arthur replied as he turned around and walked inside the house.
“Where are you going, Arthur?” Isla asked.
“I’m climbing to a higher area to see what is happening.” He replied.
Hearing that, the entire group quickly followed him as the earthquake grew more and more violent very quickly.
Climbing the stairs, the dwarves led them to a door on the second floor that opened on the balcony. With its altitude, it gave a clearer look into the forest, beyond the high branches of the trees.
“Hmm, I can’t see anything from here either,” Herculia muttered.
“Hey, put me on your shoulders, I will take a look,” Emmy said.
“No, there is no need.” Arthur shook his head as he moved to the side and looked at the ceiling above the house. Then, he stood on the handrails and jumped in the air, reaching the edge of the wall before he climbed on top of the house.
“Fuuh, that’s some work.” He dusted his clothes as he turned around. “Ok, let’s see what we have he-”
Mid-sentence, he stopped as he froze in place. His arm remained on his forehead as if he turned into a statue.
“Oh no…” He muttered.
“What are you seeing up there?”
“… This is fucked up. This is one of hell of a funny joke, Divinity Online.” He said as he clenched his fists. Then, he looked down at the group.
“We need to leave this place… NOW!!”
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3
