TRIAL 1 Forest of Memories

[Rukh's POV]

“It’s a goddamn maze!!”

“What?” Luna asked, stunned, looking around the forest, searching for the massive gate which couldn’t be seen anymore.

“I should have noticed earlier, damnit! The moment we entered the forest, the fog behind us kept getting thicker and thicker. It must be to make us lose our sense of direction.”

“But that still doesn’t make sense to not being able to see the gate. There is no way the fog could cover that entire massive gate.”

That is when it hit me. Something that I should have noticed earlier

“No, it’s possible” I replied

“You might have noticed it, too. There is a sweet scent mixed in the fog,” I said

“Huh?... now that you mention it, I can smell it too. Wait? Could it be?” she replied

“Yes,” I replied as I continued.

“The sweet scent must be some gas or pheromones exuded by the plants and flowers here that tricks our brain to confuse us. The gate should still be in the middle of the forest, though the reason we can’t see it is because our brain is choosing not to see it. Though, this is just what I think. It might not be true, too,” I explained as I made sure not to take my eyes off her.

“Shit!! Luna spat

“Though it’s not just that, I just noticed that this forest is unusually quiet. There is no other sound other than us. Not even the rustling of the leaves or the cries of insects,” I finished.

“It must be to put more psychological pressure on us”, Luna remarked

“I am sorry” Luna apologised

“Why are you apologising? It’s not even your fault,” I asked

“It’s just that…because I was busy talking and enjoying myself with the flowers and beauty of the forest, I distracted you too along with me. If I had just kept quiet, then we would have noticed this sooner,” She answered, Her face full of guilt and sadness

For some reason, I didn’t like her making that face.

‘It’s not your fault, so don’t blame yourself. In fact, because you talked about the flowers and beauty of this place, I was able to figure out that it was the flora that exuded the scent. If you hadn’t made me notice it, we would have still been wandering around not knowing a thing and failed this trial.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Luna looked at me in the eyes, feeling a bit comforted with my words.

“Really?’

“Yes”

Luna gave out a small but warm smile as she heard my response.

I preferred her smiling than having to make that sad face again. Wait, why did I think that?

“So now what? What should we do?” Luna asked as she got back to her usual self

I looked around, trying to come up with a possible solution, but nothing came to mind.

“Let’s wait here a bit and plan our steps. Based on how there is no day and night, I am sure now that there is no time limit for this trial,” I said, convinced.

“How can you be so sure?” Luna asked me with curiosity

“If there was a time limit, then there would have been some mention about it by the angel before. Assuming that she didn’t mention anything about it, I am guessing that for all the first trials, there is no time limit.”

I continued, “And even if there was a limit, then there would at least be some sort of clue. Though this is just me being hopeful,” I finished.

Luna stared at me for a solid second with a serious face and said

“You know, you don’t look as smart as you are.”

“Well, thank you for the compliment,” I replied sarcastically, noticing a smile slip through my lips.

I could see Luna giggle, too.

I started brainstorming ideas that could possibly help us pass this trial. Wandering aimlessly would be stupid, and just following our gut feeling will not prove helpful either. So, how do we solve this? Wait, could this be a maze? Or am I just overthinking things? But looking at this situation, this is the only answer I could think of.

The fog is to make us confused about our paths, the smell is to play tricks on our brain. Wait, could it be its not a maze but just tricks? What if the direction we are walking to is the correct one?

“Hey, how about we climb these trees and get a better look?” Luna asked, bringing me back to reality, away from my thoughts.

“Huh? Sorry?”

“I said, how about we climb the trees to have a better look at the view?” She repeated

“Hmm, I don’t think that will work. The fog is really thick. Even if we look at the surroundings from a higher point of view, it won’t make any difference, as we will just see more fog. Besides, the trees are really tall. Wasting our time climbing the trees would be a bad decision.”

“Hmmm, but it’s worth a try though. Who knows, we might find out a way,” she replied

“Even if you climb the tree and could see the tower, there is a high chance of it being a fake vision generated by your brain…”

That is when it hit me. Vision! That’s it. If we don’t want our brain messing up our vision, then we just need to stop looking.

“Hey, I think I have an idea,” I said excitedly, looking at Luna

She looked at me with a confused face

“Well, what is it?” She asked

“If we cover our eyes with a cloth and keep walking straight forward, then I think we might reach the tower”, I concluded.

“Why do you think that moving forward will take us to the tower? And how can you be sure the tower is in that direction?” She asked.

“Well, do you remember how we chose this route that will take us straight to the tower before entering the forest?” I asked her.

“Yes?” she answered

“The fog started appearing once we entered the forest, and it was not outside the forest zone.”

“Wait…do you mean.”

“Yes, that means the route that we took was the correct one, and it will eventually lead to the entrance of the tower”, I concluded.

“Excellent!! That actually sounds convincing,” Luna replied with a bit of excitement.

For some reason, it was pretty nice looking at her being happy and excited.

“But how do we walk with our eyes covered? We won’t even know if we are going straight or not,” She asked.

“Well, I have a plan.”

“Ohh? So what is the plan, detective Rukh?” Luna asked jokingly as she giggled

“Well, my subordinate, the plan is to…” I followed alo