Salvation of The Scum Fifth Prince

[33 - Asmodeus; a truthful tale]

"Walk straight." said Soren tiredly as he moved, his snowy hair brushing by his eyes. "Don't turn around. Walk."

The Forest of Beginning and Endings was unfamiliar to them all, but Soren had been their before. Not only that, but he had a history of knowledge regarding the forest, compacted into pages of text.

Uncertainty would only result in getting lost.

That was how the forest functioned, with its own obscure laws that were confusing and unclear.

"Is this really it?" wondered Brioc aloud, his violet eyes darting about with a trace of disbelief in his voice.

No doubt, it seemed like a regular forest, surrounded by the crowd of oaken trees and swaying leaves. Designed to make people unsure and confused, so the forest could swallow them for all eternity. The strangeness, however, could be found in the minor details, so slight that one would ignore it.

There was no life in this forest.

The forest itself was the living creature, breathing as its ground trembled, as its leaves shuffled. But in such a lovely and comfortable place, there were no animals in sight.

"I'm pretty sure she tricked you." said Brioc after half an hour of walking, shaking his head with a shrug. "What can we do, you're just too trusting, Renren."

"No." Soren didn't even spare him a glance. "We're already in it."

"That—"

"It's true, magician." said Vendra calmly as she walked, her bare feet brushing against the ground in flawless elegance. "This is no regular land, I can feel it."

Alvara looked around with childish curiosity, as if seeing the world for the first time. In way, it was true. Trapped in the cycles of starvation, abuse and a multitude of other horrors one could mot comprehend, there was never a time she could enjoy such peace.

Even more, she may have never left those crumbling roads of the slums, may never have had the time to appreciate this simplicity.

This fact, Vendra seemed to understand, softly smiling at the teenager who occasionally seemed very confused. A child who had grown up too soon, would forever be a child in certain aspects.

In curiosity, in simple excitement.

"It's so relaxing." said Alvara with a long sigh, feeling the light kisses of wind on her face.

"This sort of forest can be seen everywhere." said Brioc casually. "We'll see much more exciting things soon."

"There's appreciation in the little things. You don't realize what treasures you hold until you no longer have them." said Alvara, stretching her arms in toward the sky.

The world which turned normal to Brioc was full of wonder to her.

It was a matter of perspective, a viewpoint that one could understand and another couldn't even begin to comprehend.

Her world was never beautiful, but she had appreciated the crumbling streets that felt much better against her feet than rocky dirt grounds that got under her nails.

She had appreciated the broken buildings which were far from warm, but still sheltered her from the darkness of the night.