CHAPTER 44: 41: A STRANGE PLACE.

The last thing Edward remembered was the system screaming at him.

[ Objective: Escape immediately. ]

[ escape you idio- damnit! ]

[ Initialising emergency protocol. ]

Then there was a blinding flash of light.

He groaned, feeling around the fluffy, but damp ground he struggled to move his stiff body.

"What the hell happe-" He stopped mid sentence when his vision finally cleared, and the scenery in front of him came into view.

He was not in the palace anymore.

Instead, he was in some kind of jungle. So ancient and that he couldn’t even see past the canopy to the sky above. The trees were impossibly tall, their roots twisting like veins over the ground. Everything felt wrong—too quiet, too still, as if the entire forest was holding its breath.

He looked around, dazed, only to yelp in surprise.

There were four people laying around in the soft forest bed next to him.

The closest him was Selene.

Then there was Aria, who looked horrified for some reason.

Next to Aria was a young man with bright auburn hair, his hand reaching out to her like it was trying grab Aria.

And then,

"Calen?"

Calen was a little further away from him and the rest of the group. He too, was reaching his hand out, towards Edward.

"What in the hell just happened?"

He stared at the four unconscious people, momentarily paralysed by confusion and panic. His heartbeat pounded in his ears; his mind scrambled for logic. This couldn’t be real—maybe the system had glitched, maybe this was a simulation. But the smell, the damp, the chill on his skin... everything was too real.

Then, reason struck him again, and he hurriedly crawled towards Selene.

He shook her gently at first, then when she was not waking up, harder.

"Wake up!"

She opened her eyes slow, blinking in confusion. For a moment, her pupils didn’t seem to focus on anything. Then she gasped and sat bolt upright, her breath coming quick and shallow.

"What- Edward?" She gave him a confused look, then turned around scanning their surroundings. "Where are we?"

Her words trembled, a hint of panic threading through them. Then her gaze landed on Aria’s motionless form, and all the colour drained from her face.

"Aria!?"

She summoned something that resembled a wand out of thin air and hurried towards Aria.

"What happened to you?" Her voice was shaking in terror, enough to make Edward understand that there was something wrong with Aria.

[ Emergency protocol complete. ]

Before he could register the words, a pink aura rose from him, and Edward felt himself grow lethargic.

He was tired.

He was scared.

He didn’t know what was happening.

Was he...

Am i gonna die?

Then as his consciousness faded away, a sweet voice, a little hollow, but somewhat similar to his own whispered in his ears. Along with the panel that popped up in his fading vision.

[ You’re safe for now. Rest. ]

***

"Ed....rd"

There was something heavy was shaking him around, but Edward didn’t mind.

He was getting to rest after all.

He had just been really scared for some reason, and that had drained him a lot. He didn’t like being so drained, he needed to rest to regain his strength.

Maybe he could even rest forever, waking up after an Eternity full energised.

He...

He wanted to sleep.

But these stupid voices were starting to annoy him a little.

"Wak....p"

He scrunched his brows, and shoo’d the the voice away.

He was resting.

He wanted to rest.

let me sleep.

The weariness in his bones made him feel like he was a hundred years old.

He just wanted to...

...rest?

It was like an electrical shock when his mind jolted awake.

He sat up, gasping for air as he clutched at his throat.

"Edward!"

Someone hugged him from the side, and after a moment, he felt his shoulder being dampened by tears.

His vision was still swimming around, and there was a thousand different questions his mind was screaming at him.

What had happened?

Wasn’t the king talking about an order of some kind.

Order of the Eclipse...?

But what had happened?

How had they ended up here? In such a place where it was dangerous to even breath.

They weren’t in the palace weren’t they? What was that light he saw.

Then a familiar noise rang in his mind.

Ding!

[ Passive skill acquired: Clarity ]

[ Passive skill activated: Clarity ]

[ Clarity: Enjoy the effects of lessened resistance in the brain and fatigue build up over time. Helps the user think. ]

Edward felt the panic gnawing at his mind recede, and his vision finally started clearing.

He turned his head, at the person that was sobbing into his shoulders. His eye’s widening a little when he recognised her.

"Aria?"

She just snorted in response.

He blinked a couple of times, and then looked around.

He was surrounded.

Selene was next to him holding the same wand she had summoned earlier. The man with the auburn hair was standing with his back turned to them, holding something that looked like a sword with both his hands. And Calen... he was standing right in front of him, his face twisted in terror, looking like he had just been shot.

"Hey.." Edward croaked, trying to ease the tension.

Calen’s shoulders relaxed, and he fell onto the ground, taking deep breaths as he gave Edward a nod.

"What’s happening?" No one responded to him, rather, they all looked like they were on high alert, and Aria was finally starting to calm down. Her muffled sobs slowly starting to quiet down.

He tilted his head, rather confused.

Then when he was sure that no reply was coming, he looked around, studying the place he was in.

His brow’s scrunched, his confusion deepening even more.

The forest looked a little different from earlier. It was more desolate now... more rotten. Like some kind of vile infection had taken root in its core. There was a pungent smell assaulting his nose. And Edward felt like he heard something resembling a growl.

He opened his mouth, hesitating for a long moment.

"Where are we?"