(TRIAL #1) Forest of Memories

[Rukh's POV]

As we stepped out of the gate, a huge forest covered in fog lay in front of us. In the centre of the forest was another huge gate, massive enough to pass through the clouds. Four small towers surrounded the huge golden gate, with each tower on every side of the gate, making it square.

“Whoa, what is this place?” said Luna bewildered

“I am not sure either” I replied with the same expression

“It’s so huge, the forest and….that gate in the middle.”

“So, now what? What are we supposed to do?” asked Luna with a confused face while looking at the view that lay in front of us”

“I am not sure either….do we have to enter that gate or what? I asked

“Let's wait here for a while and see if someone shows up to guide us”, Luna answered, looking at my face

“Why do you think there would be a guide?” I asked her with genuine curiosity

“Well, because when we stepped out of the first door, the angel guided us and gave us the information. So, wouldn’t there be one here?’ She replied in a confident tone

I thought for a while, and honestly, that didn’t feel like a bad option as there was no time limit for the trials, and it was better to wait and strategize than to wander off in an unknown forest

“Yeah, that seems like a good option. Let's wait for a while.”

We sat down on the grass-covered ground, making ourselves comfortable. I completely lay down with my face facing the foggy dark sky. After a while, Luna asked me

“Hey…Rukh”

“Hm?” I looked at her

“Thank you for…you know… coming here with me and not giving up.”

“You don’t need to thank me”, I answered with a fleeting smile

“Just because I want to vanish doesn’t mean I have the right to take away your opportunity.”

She stared at me with a compassionate look in her eye

I continued

“And it's not your fault this situation happened. It's that stupid God's fault that sent me here, so don’t think much about it.”

Luna replied

“So what will you do now?”

“My goal is still the same. To die.”

She stared at me with a sad look

“Why? Why do you want that? If I may ask”

“Didn’t you hear the angel’s words? I do not remember.” I tried to tease her for fun and spoke the exact words she told me before entering this place when I asked her the same question.

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“Oh, come on” she grunted, her face red with embarrassment

I turned my head to stare at the sky above me, trying to understand my own feelings. Why do I want to die? I asked myself, and the reply came from deep within me. There was a huge feeling of emptiness in my heart. But that was not it. Guilt, anger, frustration and sadness were mixed in that emptiness.

“It's just what my heart is saying to me,” I replied, with sorrow echoing in my voice as I stared at the sky. The grey foggy sky, as if mimicking my memories

I could feel Luna’s gaze at me, filled with sympathy and sadness.

‘Well, don’t fret too much about it. It's my problem to deal with; you focus on your memories and this trial. That is all.”

“All right”, she replied in a sad tone.

It felt like we had waited for a while; there was no way of telling how much time had passed. It seemed to us that we had waited for around ten minutes, but no one came to guide us.

“I don’t think anyone’s coming” Said Luna

“I think so, too.”

“Ahhhh, let’s just head towards that huge gate. It seems like we have to cross that gate to enter the next trial,” groaned Luna

I thought the same thing

“Fine, let's go!”

We both stood up and stretched a bit.

“Just be careful. We don’t know what might be here. Got it?” I warned her

“Got it!” She replied back

With uncertainty in my mind, we started walking towards what felt like the entrance of the forest.

“These trees are way too tall, don’t you think?” said Luna while looking at the trees

“I noticed that too.”

We stood at the base of the forest as we saw some trees huge enough to cut through the foggy sky.

“Should we enter?” Luna asked with caution

“It doesn’t seem we have much choice”, I replied with a sigh

We started walking through the forest, trying to be as careful as we could.

We walked for what felt like fifteen minutes, and Luna, who was pretty concerned before entering this forest, was now carefree as she admired the forest.

The forest, per se, was actually quite pretty, even with the fog blocking our vision, because the flora and fauna of the forest made it quite colourful. We saw various colours of flowers and various species of them as we walked, and those who even shined bright enough to cut through this fog and make us notice them.

“It's so beautiful”, Luna replied in fascination and admiration.

She smiled so brightly as she touched the flowers.

“Don’t touch them; they could be dangerous”, I contorted as she kept touching them.

“Don’t worry, they are harmless”, Luna replied without breaking her smile

“And how do you know that?” I asked in a quite sarcastic tone

“Just a feeling”, Luna replied back

I gave up.

“By the way, how far are we?” Luna asked as she stood up, leaving the flower to its own peace

“I am not sure, but we should reach the gate in abo…,”

As I looked ahead, I came to understand the horror of this forest. The gate that was huge enough to be seen from any direction in the forest was now nowhere to be seen. I looked behind to see our trail, and it vanished. I finally picked up what was going on

“Damn it, It’s a goddamn maze!!” I shouted with realization and frustration in my tone