Chapter 23

The curtains fell, but so did the background they were in. Like a bed sheet hung on a line, a thin cloth dropped to the ground and deep thick forest appeared behind it. With the fall of the curtain, everyone walked into the area, they on the right of where the curtain fell still remained illusioned, causing everyone to feel as if they were apart of two scenes. Otto walked over the curtains, taking care not to step on what seemed like fragile material.

Everyone hesitated, but seeing Otto turn out fine, they walked over as well. As they walked over, they realized that they couldn't see the old grassy plains, but a small dark blue lake in the distance. The curtain on the floor was gone and they didn't see any immediate method with going back. The forest was still looming over them, it almost seemed as if it was upset with how much doom and gloom it projected.

"Huh," Otto said, startling everyone out of their silence, "Scary tree." There was a shuffle along the edges and everyone turned to see a small squirrel running across, except it wasn't a squirrel. With its huge pointed ears and bright yellow eyes that looked a lot like Ater's, it stared at them.

"Should we say hi?" William asked, "Or is it just going to stare at us." The squirrel-like thing jumped in a circle two times before someone turned up behind him. She had light floating hair that seemed to just fade away into the scene, along with two nearly transparent arms and a winding dress that never quite reached the ground. The squirrel jumped in two circles again and she petted it.

"What are… you doing… here?" Her voice came out quiet, soft, and slow, like someone who was drunk, but not slurring. Her soft voice seemed to echo through everyone's head and it made her seem both farther and closer away.

"What do we say?" Otto turned to ask everyone, ignoring the lady completely, "She seems high or drunk, or like, a combination of both." The woman stood there, waiting for their response, not quite moving, but swaying.

"I don't know," Klaus replied, "Answer her question, Bette–"

"Maybe she's mad cause we kind of just threw down her curtain?" William offered, "She could just be sleep walking. Does she seem like she's sleep walking? Her eyes are kind of… lidded."

"Maybe she's just tired?" Hai-rong offered, "Ater, Ater!" Ater was still looking for whatever it was he was looking for as he scuffled around, poking his head everywhere. The appearance of the lady didn't faze him as he shuffled through the bushes, even going past the lady to thread his fingers through some plants.

"Shut up," Ater said, "I'm looking for something."

"You can't seriously be looking for something now?" Otto said, walking over and past the lady, only to be pushed back, "What, Ms… What's your name?"

"My name… is… Melons…" She said, "Please… answer… the question."

"She's drunk," William concluded, "What kind of name is… Melons? I mean, great name and all, but Melons. Melons, are you drunk?"

"She's not," Ater said, "She's just like that and her name is Melons. It's not… It's not what you think it is here." Ater explained as he poked her cheek, her eyes remained glued forward as she stared at Otto. Her yellow eyes creeped him out so he turned around to face his group.

"She doesn't seem to let us go through until we answer her questions," Otto said, "So, how should answer?"

"Call her Melons," Mei-wan started, "And apologize for calling her drunk and high, before answering her question." She paused and looked around, not sure if that was the right thing to do with someone who did look hazy. Her yellow eyes looked more pitiful as she waited for their answer, the squirrel sitting there all the same.

"Hello Melons, sorry for making fun of you. We want to go to Mormio," Klaus said, glaring at Otto, "Is that okay for you?" The lady didn't answer, ignoring him.

"She wants to talk to you, Otto," Elizabeth said, "C'mon go. The map says we need to go into the forest."

"The same map also cut us for being us," Otto said, "Hi Melons, sorry for before. We're really just here to get to Mormio. That fine by you?" Melons looked down and stared at him, before nodding and moving out of the way, the squirrel jumped two times.

"Be… careful," She said, "Lots of… monsters… inside… hidden… monsters. They will… attack without… permission… from Him."

"Thanks," Otto said and Strawberry Pudding went into the forest. It was dark, although there was clearly sunlight above them. The large leaves stopped light from reaching the ground as they walked through. Great blooming puddles of mud all around them as there was a critter here and there, running from one end to the other. Their arrival seemed to disturb the area.

Elizabeth was up front again, watching everything as she looked around, nervous. The forest was cool, cooler than the village. She walked forward before seeing a chasm, everyone saw the chasm. It was dark and scary, with small steps going inside. It was clear that it was a staircase, but it didn't look maintained and it definitely wasn't the safest option. They weren't even sure if they should go to Mormio.

Elizabeth took in a deep breath and went down into the staircase, everyone followed, blindly trusting her as she descended. She was scared, her eyes blown wide as she frantically tried to find light until Hai-rong lit up the area. The path was almost done, but they could see nothing that looked remotely like Mormio. She continued walking, deeper and deeper into the chasm as she tried her best to not scream at the strange feeling in the air.

There was an assortment of things on the ground, strange relics, tools that were useless and of interest to Ater, who wandered around, picking at things only to throw them off. He didn't seem as fazed, as if areas like this were more normal than the group assumed. It wouldn't be completely off putting to Elizabeth if that were the case, it was just, his scuffling was getting annoying, aggravating her already weakened nerves. She sighed and ignored him, focusing on the light that Hai-rong had given her.

"It's dark, cold, and musty here," William said, "Are you sure this is the right direction, Milly Mills?"

"Pretty sure," Elizabeth said. Ms. Lost had gone quiet, muttering about sleep. There only appeared to be a few hundred meters to go and as she crossed the area, she noticed that the terrain changed. From gravelly paths to a smooth walkway, it was still dark, but it was an improvement. There was a crack, a single crack and suddenly the area began to tremble.

"Liz!" Otto yelled out, "I don't see anything wrong! What's going on?" The ceiling started to fall and everyone began to run, running away like their lives depended on it because it did. Ade was caught by Otto, who dragged him far faster than he could run with his scrawny legs. He made some protest, but soon stopped as everyone ran faster than the two of them. The ceiling crashed down and Ade looked behind with horror as the ground trembled. All of them ran into a room, through a small door and found themselves dropping falling into a hole.

They felt something concrete against their backs as they fell through what appeared to be a slide, going at high speed until they slowed down just a little, only to tip once more, falling in freefall before brushing against another slide of sorts. They slide down a steep slide before they were in freefall once more.

Screaming, they fell onto a net like structure before standing up immediately. There was a click click click sound and the boom of what sounded like a product creation plant. Otto looked around frantically; Ade had fallen somewhere near him, he was sure. Hai-rong's spell was immediately gone when she fell, but was soon back on and they realized they were in a huge net, above what looked like a factory.

There were several people below them, working on a project that seemed to have them rolling about. There was a crunch and someone's arm got stuck in a machine as Strawberry Pudding looked on. A splatter of blood and a scream as a man with ragged hair felt his arm squeeze and sort roll into a machine. He felt himself getting pulled in as nearby bystanders simply watched. He tried to pull, pulling as hard as possible, only to give up, resigning himself to his fate.

His arm went in, and soon his shoulder and head, his head giving away a horrible crack and then, slowly, his entire body went through, squished under the machine. The product, because product was still being set on, just on top of the man, was dyed a deep dark red and some white remains of what appeared to be an eye. Otto forced Ade to look away as everyone stared at the incident, shell-shocked.

"W-where," Hai-rong started, "Where did you take us, Liz?"

"Not sure," She said, "Ms. Lost brought us here." The map came back to life as it looked around, staring at everything that was happening. She put a smiley face on the map, a small smiley face appeared on top of a truck and everyone below looked up to marvel at it before going straight back to work, as if a man didn't just die beside them.

"That truck," The map made the smiley face shine even brighter, "Is your ticket to Mormio. It'll teleport through a mass portal and you'll be in Mormio before you know it. Perfectly safe, just don't get caught by the workers. They're easy to kill, but there are a lot of them."

"What if we get caught by the workers?" Mei-wan asked Ms. Lost.

"They'll send you to their boss."

"And who's their boss?" Otto questioned as Hiro looked around frantically. He seemed the most disturbed out of everyone, trying to look in and out for a way to leave, "Hiro?"

[When can we leave?] He asked, [This place isn't safe. It's getting on my nerves.] Otto turned to Ater, and noticed that even he looked surprised at the sight. He probably never saw it before. Otto bit his lip as he tried to come up with something, anything, to get them away from the factory before Hiro could continue panicking.

"Guys, Hiro is panicking," Otto said, "I don't know why, but he says it isn't safe here and we need to go." Everyone turned to stare as Hiro, assessing him, although Otto had no idea what they had to assess. He was biting his nails, looking from side to side. His already messy appearance went manic as he started to fuss.

"It's his skill," Ater said, "It's a highly defensive skill that probably causes him to sense when something is wrong."

"Then why wasn't he nervous when the ceiling fell?" Klaus asked, "If this was caused by danger, then the ceiling falling shouldn't have been dangerous."

"It could be human," Elizabeth said, "Y'know, human danger. Maybe he isn't sensitive to stuff like buildings falling, but to people who are dangerous?" Everyone continued to stare at Hiro before William took off a small coat and draped it over the other. He wasn't cold, but he was shivering. Everything in his head told him that he had to leave.

[They're coming!] Hiro said, [We n-need to leave!] He pulled Ater aside and started talking to him, voice turning into a buzz as he talked fast. Too fast as Ater told him to calm down. His hands were shaking and his pupils dilated. A door swung open, crashing with a bang. A man and a woman both walked out. The man seemed disinterested in the entire business, his eyes wandering. They were right above him. He looked up, and then looked down.

"Sora," He said, "Stop looking around."

"Someone died," The woman said, "Tryin' to find hi– There!" She scuttled over as workers made way. The man who was crushed was facing the ceiling and the woman poked the failed product that was clogging the machine. Pulling it out with ease, she turned to the other, smiling. Sora was smiling before she wasn't. There was something wrong, the air felt strange, an excess of mana although there couldn't be an excess of mana, not when she and Shiki were the only ones in the room. The others didn't have any mana source and wouldn't be able to use mana anyway.

She looked around, not seeing anything. Strawberry Pudding was set up high in the chamber, not completely visible unless someone was looking directly at it. Shiki looked up at them again before he looked at the truck. A message appeared in front of everyone.

[I can help you go to Mormio.]