Chapter 244: She Accepts an Invitation
"A celebration?" Christian asked, surprised.
"Yes. A celebration. Tonight, after sunset, if what I'm reading is correct." Robin replied. "We are to meet our guide in the location where we sent those two villains earlier."
"An easy enough feat with Quinn's help." Christian noted. He tilted his head. "So? Are you going?"
Robin glanced up at Christian. "Well, it would be rude of me not to go, don't you think? Besides, I did promise Dirk that I'd stop by when I'm in the area."
The corners of Christian's mouth turned down upon hearing that. "Oh, right. Dirk..."
Robin raised an eyebrow as a thought came to her. She smirked and said with an incredulous tone. "My Dear Christian...could it be possible that you, the crown prince of Ekkinshire Kingdom, are jealous of an elf half your size?"
Christian realized that he had been seen through. "I wasn't thinking badly of him, just....you seem to have him in your thoughts recently...just how much do you like him, I was wondering..." That last bit was mumbled under his breath.
"In any case, we'd have to go there anyways." Robin sighed. "Dirk's grandfather is one of the Demon Protectorates-I mean guardians. We need his approval seal too."
"..." Christian suddenly felt like he had been a bit foolish. Indeed, a good way to get on the good side of such an elder was to be friends with his grandson. If he had gone and spoiled the situation later out of jealousy, then Robin would probably hate him. There were far too many things to be mindful of. Christian sighed softly to himself.
"Well, in any case, you might want to ask and see if any of the others would like to come along." Robin reminded. "If my intuition is correct, this party's bound to continue long past midnight."
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Soon enough, sunset arrived.while most of Robin's party decided to go, a few stayed behind. two of the guards stayed to make sure the master gnome was undisturbed. Gerard, due to his full stomach at dinner, fell asleep, and could not be awakened.
The rest were ferried by Quinn to the place of meeting. But the clearing which had been full of elves was now empty. in the deepening twilight, they looked around for their supposed guide.
"There's no one here..." Ponzu said, somewhat disappointed. It wasn't often that one had a chance to meet with elven kind on friendly terms. He was also looking forward to seeing what sort of foods they would have at the party.
"'Patience is a virtue', Ponzu." Robin chuckled. "We're probably just a bit early is all."
"Early is the word, yes. Aren't you humans always somewhat late, according to the latest fashions?" A voice sounded from behind them. While the rest of the company glanced at the ground behind them, Robin looked up into the trees. Incidentally, half a moment later, Keith also glanced up.
"Good evening, Tyrstle. So you are our guide, huh." She noted. The elf smirked from his place in the tree.
"It seems you are more quick witted than your companions. If I were to attack, they'd be unaware until after the arrow had left the bow. Well...the brown beard might not have suffered injury." Tyrstle noted.
"Thank you for the lesson in tactics, sir elf. However, I hope we may never need to avail ourselves of it." Robin shrugged, good-naturedly. "We are after all here to attend a celebration."
"Yes... If you will follow me. It is not far." Tyrstle hopped down to the ground, and headed into the woods.
They followed him into the dark shadows of the trees closely, to prevent getting lost. After walking around a large tree, the non-human comrades sensed it first, and stirred slightly. The smell, location and direction they were walking in was suddenly different. Robin didn't have their sharp senses, but after a minute, she also realized it.
"Interesting..." Quinn smirked. He had a good idea of what had just happened. If they hadn't been led to this point by an elf, they would be turned around back to the forest edge. Either that, or helplessly lost within the forest's hidden labyrinth.
Up ahead of them, all of a sudden, Robin was aware of a massive tree. It wasn't like the large oak tree she had seen when she made a contract with Skye. Oh no, this tree was truly massive. If there hadn't been a crown of leaves at the top, Robin might have mistaken it for a tall stone mountain with sheer sides.
With the sun having set, it might seem odd that she could still see it clearly. However, both the trunk and the leafy canopy was lit up like a Christmas tree. Tiny points of light in all different colors and sizes covered the massive trunk. Even the area under the tree canopy was covered with a golden light. It truly was a beautiful sight. But there was also a certain sense of pressure coming from it.
"Is it perhaps the world tree?" Robin asked, surprised.
"No. It is the last living remains of the ancient garden of Ydnn." Tyrstle said, reverently. "This was placed here by the world creator to maintain the balance of mana in the world."
"So all those colored lights are?" Robin asked.
"Elemental excess." Tyrstle replied. "It is gathered here, and expelled through the sap. Once the sap has hardened it no longer glows, but is filled with the element. we take these and plant them where there is a lack in a certain element."
"It sure is beautiful." Robin noted quietly.
"We elves agree." Tyrstle nodded.
"Wait, what do you mean by lacking in a certain element?" Jasmine asked.
"Some valleys are dark all year without the sun's light touching their depths. Growing deserts, flooded river areas, desolate places, crumbling stone mountains...these are all considered places with some form of a lack in a crucial element. we may not be able to handle the excess like the ancient tree, however we can supply out of what we have been given to help bring things back into balance." Tyrstle explained.
"Do all elves do this?" Robin asked, unwilling to take her eyes off the beautiful sight.
"Each have their own talents. But I can say that as a whole, we have an advantage in finding such irregular areas." Tyrstle diplomatically brushed the matter aside.
Robin blinked, and suddenly turned her head to the side, feeling vaguely that something was not right. She shook her head. She felt dizzy, as if she was underwater and everything was suddenly going in slow motion. The dizzy feeling began to get worse. Then...
Smack!
The sudden loud sound jolted everyone out of the dreamlike almost trance that they had been in. They turned to look at Robin, whose cheeks were now a bright red. Robin had calmed down.
She looked back at her companions, who looked slightly confused at her actions.
"Are you good? Not feeling dizzy or like you're dreaming?" She asked.
"Yes? We're all awake now that you've sacrificed your cheeks to make that loud noise." Jasmine joked.
Robin scanned their expressions...they seemed fine. She sighed with relief. Thank goodness. Then, she turned to Tyrstle, to speak.
"Did you truly bring me here to have a party? Or to hypnotize me with a mesmerizing sight?" Robin asked in caution.
"If you were not of strong will and character, then it might go that way. I have heard the elder say that if one did not hold fast to one's self, then they might be overwhelmed by the large amount of mana in the atmosphere...Ah! I apologize. I forgot that it is easy to get mana drunk in this place for someone who lives in areas with less mana density." Tyrstle said, suddenly realizing what had happened.
Robin asked Jasmine. "Well? Is it true?"
"There is a lot more mana here than can be found usually." Jasmine agreed. "As someone who is used to handling large amounts of mana, it is more comfortable, to be sure. But, all that you need to do is expell the extra mana if you're being overwhelmed. Because the mana in the area can get somewhat concentrated if there's a magic fight, anyone who lives at the castle is trained in this. So...there should be no issues"
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