Chapter 43: Flowers and Plants and Cottage

"Then you have to tell us your story, Mr. Wang," Alicia looked out, staring at the wonderful and cherubic sight of the Tale Park World. The risen sun was glorious. "You have to tell us. Otherwise, it'll either rot or spill out against your will."

Mr. Wang pondered a bit, still fiddling with his thumbs until he finally resigned with a sigh.

Alicia told him that he ought to watch the theatre in the central circus tent; it's what made her memories throughout their stay in the Tale Park World go into overdrive.

She told him about the circus tent's ability to show your desired sight.

"I'm guessing it would torture me," He chuckled. "My desire is what's hurting me the most right now."

Alicia smiled, "Then so be it."

They went to the central circus tent and Mr. Wang was the only one who went in. Alicia stayed outside, waiting for the gush of painful intrusion of a memory parade by the old man.

Inside the circus tent, what Mr. Wang saw was a warm and beautiful family in an ordinary Chinese household. It's peaceful and it has splashes of yellow and orange. The environment and the house with the sunset softly going through the glass windows were pretty.

The priceless view did almost nothing to the old man's expression, but it made his heart beat loudly. It thumped as hard as when he realized his youthfulness.

The memory travelled across Alicia's head and bolted through the next world until Haru, Ali, and Camille could see them in plain sight. Transparent and old.

A few moments earlier…

Haru's footsteps followed the rustling of the huge plants and flowers on his path. The magical forest was intriguing and beautiful, but he felt like it was luring them to some kind of trap because it reminded him of sirens who'd drown you to death.

He knew it'd be unlikely, so he kept walking, observing the unique flowers.

It's unlike he's ever seen in their original world with patterns and soft colors.

The flowers in this world had a sense of individuality and could be clearly seen distinctly among the others. Such that a rose can't be similar to any other bloody red flower or that daisies can't be similar to any other bright yellow or white or pink flowers.

Some have crooked and curved petals, some have gazed stems and leaves, and many have oversized center heads and pieces and petals too.

And they all grow complementary to the glowing lights floating mysteriously around the environment.

Soon, he met up with Camille who found a water body that looks like a lake. She was splashing it with her hands, enjoying it like a child.

"Look, Haru! It's a hot spring!" She exclaimed. "We can take a bath here!"

"It's a hot spring?" Haru neared and dipped his hand on the water. It was a bit warm and smooth, truly ideal for baths.

The water was also gushing in from underground through the center and overflowing out a path downward through the plants and flowers seeping onto it.

Haru saw another path of water flowing on the other side, so he got curious if there was another one of this hot spring somewhere.

"I saw from behind those trees, there's a hot spring as well!" Camille added, answering Haru's curiosity. "You should check it out. Let's agree to the time of bathing so it wouldn't be uncomfortable."

"Right. Then men will go over there to bathe. You can do it here. Should we take a bath right now?"

"Let's find some clothes or towels first. The palace from Castellia Fort and the tents from Tale Park World had one, so there must be something here as well. It would be nice too if we could replace the cloth for your arm sling. Does it still hurt?"

"Don't worry about me. We'll try to look for the cloths."

"Alright."

While Camille went the other way, Haru and Ali went in the opposite direction and helped look for some dry cloths. Few minutes of walking brought Haru and Ali to a huge cottage. Just like the plants and flowers outside, the cottage was larger than the normal ones.

Inside, there were indoor plants as well and the magic didn't end even as they went in. The cottage's interior was like an extension of the outside. It feels as magical and ethereal as the forest. And there, Haru found the most important things.

Towels, clothes, the diamond-shaped stone portal, and the devil's journal entries.

He hid the journal entries behind the oversized flowers nearby the cottage and met up with Camille again, telling her about the other items he found.

Before even being able to separate ways again to go to the hot springs, a gush of memory paraded from an extremely familiar person.

It was definitely from Mr. Wang, they thought. The ambiance and aura of the memories they are seeing felt exactly like facing Mr. Wang himself.