Chapter 43 : Dialogue
Dialogue
"Please leave, everyone. No matter the reason, the Forest of Spirits does not receive any outsiders," said an elderly elf.
"Is it because the Flower of Life is about to wither, and you're afraid people will find out?"
Odin sneered.
"You?!"
The elder's eyes widened in disbelief. The elves behind him all drew their bows, clearly not intending to let the two of them leave.
"Are you wondering how I learned of this? It was your Goddess who told us."
After speaking, Odin's lips twitched.
"Well, you wouldn't believe me if I told you anyway, but at least you should recognize this, right?"
Odin took out the Shengyu from her spatial storage.
"What is this?"
The elf elder asked suspiciously.
"You don't even know your Goddess's weapon? How laughable."
"You're saying—this is the Goddess's weapon? Then, how did you obtain it?"
"Besides her giving it to us herself, do you think we could have simply stolen it?"
Odin's mouth twitched again.
"Hurry and fetch the High Priestess," the elf elder instructed another elf beside him.
"Yes!"
The elf immediately turned and entered the forest.
"Please wait a moment. Everything will be clear once the High Priestess arrives."
"Really troublesome. What right do you have to talk about faith,"
Odin scoffed coldly, but the elder did not argue back.
Odin squeezed Yinhua's hand and said, "Your Highness, you don't need to say anything later. Leave it all to me."
Before long, the High Priestess of the elves—simultaneously one of the Seven Sages, the Wood Sage, yuexuan • Yuyaheid—appeared before everyone.
"High Priestess."
All elves lowered their heads in salute.
Yuexuan waved her hand, and only then did the elves look up.
"The Goddess's weapon—where is it?"
Yuexuan asked. Her voice was like a spring in a valley: crisp but not noisy.
"Here."
The elder respectfully presented Shengyu to Yuexuan with both hands.
"You claim the Goddess gave you this weapon?"
Yuexuan questioned Odin.
"Not me. Her,"
Odin replied, nodding towards Yinhua.
Yuexuan turned to look at Yinhua, whose weak magic made it barely perceptible—could the Goddess really have given her the weapon?
"Why did the Goddess give you the weapon?" ("Every time, it's 'the great Goddess' this, 'the great Goddess' that. Do you like that? If not, I'll stop. All these 'Sage' or 'High Priestess' honorifics—I'm getting annoyed too.")
"To help you restore the Flower of Life."
At those words, every elf immediately turned their gaze upon her.
"Do you know what that means?"
Yuexuan's eyes opened slightly.
"Of course I know. But we didn't come here to do this for free,"
Odin said, spreading her hands.
"As long as you can restore the Flower of Life, the elves will naturally grant any request you have."
"Any request?"
Odin confirmed.
"Anything."
Yuexuan replied firmly.
"Even if I ask you to be my dog, there'd be no problem?"
Odin taunted.
"... No problem."
Yuexuan hesitated, then answered.
"Che, how boring."
Odin closed her eyes as if having lost interest.
"Hurry and take us to the location of the Flower of Life."
"Follow me."
Yuexuan turned and entered the forest, with Odin and Yinhua following behind.
When Yinhua stepped into the forest, she felt as if she had shrunk into a dwarf.
All around stood trees that were thousands of years old—forming almost a natural barrier for the elves. Without a guide, anyone would surely get lost.
"Go a bit further, and we'll reach the Flower of Life. Please wait here,"
Yuexuan said to Odin.
"I can't go in with you?"
Odin asked.
"No."
"Why?"
"You... are dangerous."
"I see, understood. Then I'll just wait here for Her Highness to return. Of course, you'd best not try anything sneaky,"
Odin stared at Yuexuan playfully.
"If you are not deceiving me, naturally I won't harm you."
"Alright then, hope you finish soon."
Meanwhile, Yinhua was staring anxiously at Odin, as if saying, "I have no idea how to restore the Flower of Life!"
"It's alright, that one surely already foresaw this. Just put on a show,"
Odin's voice echoed deep in Yinhua's heart.
Only then did Yinhua feel at ease following Yuexuan deeper into the woods.
"What's your name?"
Yuexuan asked on the way.
"Luna · Yongye Yuan. That girl is Odin."
"I'm Yuexuan · Yuyaheid, the priestess of this forest and also Sage of our people."
"I know! I've heard legends about you for a long time. The Seven Sages—I've always admired you."
"Is that so..."
Yuexuan wasn't sure how long it had been since she'd spoken to a human. The innocent girl before her didn't seem to have any reason to deceive, so Yuexuan relaxed a bit.
"We're here,"
Yuexuan stopped.
The scene was garden-like, full of lush plants, herbs, and unfamiliar butterflies and insects. The emerald greens calmed the mind, save for a gigantic flower in the center—so out of place, its body nearly jet-black. Only a fringe of green remained near some petals, but the blackness was spreading, as though a rabbit about to be devoured by a tiger—on the brink of annihilation.
"This is the Flower of Life?"
"Yes. Once the birthplace of elves, the Flower of Life has slowly become like this for some time now. It's happened slowly, but it's been long enough that at most two months remain before it withers completely,"
Yuexuan explained.
"If you truly are the Goddess's messenger, please save it. Save the elven race."
"I... I'll do my best..."
Yinhua replied uncertainly.
'What am I supposed to do now...' Yinhua wondered inwardly.
'Put your hand on it.' A familiar voice spoke from within.
'Luna!'
Yinhua, heeding Luna's words, placed her hand on a petal.
"Hey, you'll be infected if you do that..."
Yuexuan started, only to see that some of the blackness on the Flower of Life faded ever so slightly. Yes, just a little, but it really did diminish a bit.
'Luna, you're incredible after all.'
'This is just chronic death. I've rewound its time by one month—which merely delays its death. It means nothing.'
'Isn't there any way to cure it?'
'It's a creation of the elven Goddess. You should ask her, aren't you her messenger?' Luna showed a sly smile.
'Such things—I've never heard of, not ever... I never knew I'd be chosen by the elven Goddess before!'
'Ahem, then for now, you can only help by rewinding its time once a day, just to temporarily extend its life. But this isn't a permanent solution.'
'Don't look at me like that, there really isn't anything else I can do now.' Luna spread her hands, looking quite helpless.
Yinhua glanced at Yuexuan, who was staring unblinkingly at the Flower of Life, and quietly stepped aside.
'Hey, Luna, I have something to ask you.'
'What do you want to ask?'
'Last night I had a dream. In it, I stood in utter darkness, unable to see my own hand in front of me. I was nervous and just kept walking east. I don't know how long I walked, but eventually I came upon a tall tower. On the stone tablet at its base were the words "Yuecang Court". When I opened the door, everyone inside was a stranger, but they said to me, "Welcome back."'
'What is Yuecang Court? Are they your friends?'
"...... I was born on a barren land where even dreams slumber. That place is my home—and they are my friends."
'Luna, who are you really? Or rather, who am I?'
'... You are something I discarded. For certain reasons, I abandoned you. I don't plan to apologize, because I don't believe the choice I made back then was wrong.'
'Then why did you come back to me? You already discarded me, didn't you?'
'It's like a big sister who leaves her little sister behind. Many years later, they meet again; the older sister can't go on living without the little sister anymore. But now, the little sister has no memory of the past, so the elder abuses the naivete and kindness of her sibling just to scrape by. How ironic.'
'A big sister and little sister? Hey, Luna, are you my kin?' The two looked too similar for Yinhua not to suspect as much.
"I am not your kin, nor your friend, but I will never betray you. You may always trust me."
'If I really am the little sister you speak of, and if I still had my memories, I wouldn't ask anything at all.'
'........... Idiot.'