The Torthai was massive. Roxanne looked up towards the tree in front of her, and it was wood all the way upwards, with thick green casting shade on almost the surrounding mile of area. And between the greens were small specks of coloured orbs above them.
“Welcome to the Torthai!” Dermot yelled. “Anyway, this is probably where’ll you be staying while you’re here.”
“By the tree?” Julian asked.
“In the tree!” Dermot replied confidently. “Walk with me, please.”
Julian groaned when he heard about more walking. The four of them walked around the tree, which felt like forever with its size.
“So what’s the deal with this tree, anyway?” Roxanne asked, touching it’s roots. Her experience with trees was limited, only really being familiar with the small potted ones around the miracle scouting group. But she had read up on the bigger trees around Saoloro, and this one just made no sense in comparison. The trunk would randomly have slashing shades of brown against each other. When she ran her hand through it, there was a completely different texture every few seconds.
“Oh, you mean with the tree? Basically, the whole thing is just a giant project to see if we could make the ultimate fruit tree by grafting all the fruits we could into the tree. I think there was a merging wielder around when it happened to speed up the process too, but the end result was a tree which can grow almost any fruit you want it to. And as our next experiment is gonna test, if three people can live in it!”
“Excuse me?” Julian asked.
“Look, we’ve had our own little sky society for around two hundred years. Housing ships are good and all, but the resources to build them won’t last forever even with wielders working with us. So the answer isn’t expansion, but rather integration! Which is why I brought you here!”
“Okay, but why do we have to do it? Can’t you get more willing test subjects?” Julian asked again.
“And am I meant to pay them? With what, exactly? Luckily, we do accept fruit-based beverages as currency, so you’re getting in the treehouse.”
Dermot stepped on a low platform, looking at the trio with such intensity that they felt a need to get on. Once they were, Dermot turned a lever, and the four of them shot into the sky like a speeding bullet. Once they were over and the platform stopped, Cassandra was clutching her head in one hand. Roxanne was trying not to puke. Julian was clutching to the wooden railings of the platform for dear life.
“So I have to adjust the speed you go up?” Dermot asked. Cassandra nodded wearily.
“Got it.” Dermot sighed. “Well, if you walk through the thick branches to the north, you should find the house. Anyway, your bodyguards should be here in the morning, so I’ll grab you then.”
“Wait, did you say-?” Julian asked, but Dermot already shot down before he could hear anything. Julian looked behind him, and the girls were already on their way to the house.
“Is this all?” Cassandra asked. The treehouse was a small wooden cube, with a small square cut in the end in an attempt to create a window. And inside the cube was nothing but two small mattresses and thin blankets over them.
“Any idea what the weathers gonna be like?” Julian asked.
“Probably fine if we’re expected to stay a whole night here.” Cassandra answered. “Besides, you can just cuddle up to me if it ever gets too cold, kay?” She continued, playfully rubbing Julian’s chest.
Roxanne looked on as Julian jokingly pretended not to be into it. She was hoping to spend the night looking for love, but Dermot had to push that out of the way thanks to Cassandra’s stupid slushy habits. So she looked around the room for something to distract her.
“Anyway, I’m assuming that’s a berry outside the window.” She whispered to herself, grabbing the big pink orb from outside the window. It was a solid circle, with spines on the sides but not the top or bottom.
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“Hey, is that an Akid?” Julian asked. “Wanna open it up?”
“Yeah, sure.” Roxanne replied. “Just let me…”
She tried slowly ripping the spines off to see what would happen, only for the pink centre to slowly drop and spill onto the floor.
“Yeah…you kinda have to pull the whole thing out in one motion before it…spills.” Julian sighed with a weary chuckle. “Whatever, I guess we’ll just have to sleep off the hunger.”
“The sun hasn’t even set yet.” Cassandra said.
“Any time is sleep time if you’re brave enough. Night.”
Julian took his hat off and lay on the mattress, which was followed by a solid minute of shuffling to find a position that felt somewhat bearable. He finally found it, but only after looking like the aftermath of falling out of the treehouse. Roxanne and Cassandra stayed up a little longer, talking about anything that came to mind.
“So, you look at Dermot?” Cassandra asked.
“Not much.” Roxanne replied.
“Really. I don’t know, he’s kinda handsome. His hair is just so…dorky? But in a hot way, you feel me?”
“Kind of?”
“I don’t know, maybe think about asking him out. Couldn’t hurt.”
“Maybe I will, honestly.” Roxanne sighed. “Anyway, I think I’ll go to bed. Night.”
“Yeah, me too. Night.”
The same dream.
The dream came to Roxanne every once in a while. Sometimes more intense. Sometimes it felt more real. This seemed to be one of those nights. She was alone in an empty void of darkness. Nothing but black as far as the eye could see. The place felt intimidating, despite it being her hundredth time there at least.
And then the figure appeared.
Sometimes it was upfront and appeared before her, and sometimes it tried to sneak up. This night was one of the latter. But it was so illuminated that it was always obvious. She turned around to greet it. Under all that light was a female figure, but tonight was so bright it was just a solid chunk of light.
“You’re nothing.”
That was what this being beamed into Roxanne’s head whenever they met. The voice was too echoed to make out a tone or voice, but the words always stuck with her. She tried standing still, trying not to meet the conditions for the next stage, to see what happens next if she’s to just stick this out. But she felt her legs move on their own and try to attack the creature. The creature then fades from the dream, leaving her alone in the endless darkness.
Then the tendrils came.
They wrapped around her legs. She tried to stay standing this time, but more tendrils just appeared by her shoulders and dragged her into the ground. The tendrils covered her mouth and eyes as she sank into the ground, and her only instinct left was to scream.
“Roxanne! Roxanne!”
When Roxanne gained consciousness, Cassandra was looking over her, her green eyes looking terrified.
“Are you okay?” She asked, moving her head. “You breathing fine?”
Roxanne coughed. Nothing built up in her throat while she slept tonight. Which was good, as sometimes Cassandra had tilt her head to let all the saliva out.
“So these are the night terrors?” Julian asked.
“Yeah.” Cassandra sighed. “This is one of the less harrowing ones.”
“Yeah, I saw the worst of it.”
“So what’s her deal, anyway?” Cassandra asked, still holding Roxanne’s face.
“I inspected her, and she doesn’t have many physical issues. I’m guessing it’s a mental issue of some kind.”
“And you can’t sort that out?” Roxanne asked.
“I’m a doctor, not a psychologist. Although if you want, we could definitely hit up Sangaria if you wanna get a proper diagnosis.”
“Are the guys there hot?” Roxanne asked.
“It’s a bunch of pale dudes in tight clothes and medical supplies. So yes.” Julian nodded.
“Awesome.”
“Anyway, does anybody know when we’re getting out of the tree?” Cassandra asked. “She’s losing love time.”
“Yeah, I am losing love time!” Roxanne yelled, freeing herself from Cassandra’s hands. “What time is it, anyway?”
“It’s about six.” Julian replied, checking his watch. “If I remember correctly, they usually wake up at around seven here, so it’ll be a while before Dermot gets back.”
Roxanne went back to bed, being woken up when Cassandra shook her awake. Dermot was standing over her, ready to go back to the ground.
“So, how was the treehouse?” He asked when they were out of the tree.
“Pretty good.” Julian replied. “It’s night terror proof, anyway.”
“Julian!” Cassandra yelled.
“I mean…we weren’t testing for that, but I’ll make a note of it.” Dermot shrugged.
“But anyway.” Roxanne asked. “What are you doing later?”
“Looking after you lot?” Dermot responded, looking confused.
“Awesome.” Roxanne nodded.
“But anyway, I was told that I need to hold off any discussions until your bodyguards get here.” Dermot replied.
“We need bodyguards?” Cassandra asked. “We did fight off a guy with a relic weapon on our own.”
“Look, it’s what the Lux lads want.” Dermot sighed. “And it’ll be a while till they get there, so feel free to get breakfast somewhere else.
“And we can go anywhere?” Roxanne asked.
“Basically.” Dermot shrugged. “You aren’t allowed to leave, but we have guys guarding your ship anyway.”
“Well, where are you eating breakfast?” Roxanne asked, placing a hand under to chin in an attempt to seductively present herself.
“Probably the lab.” Dermot sighed. “I’m too broke for anything else.”
“Well, if it’s good enough for you, it’s good enough for me.” Roxanne said, adjusting her voice in an attempt to sound dreamier as she stared into his eyes.
“We can get breakfast somewhere else.” Cassandra said calmly.
“Yeah. Besides, I need to stock up on insects.” Julian said.
“So we’ll leave you two alone for a while.” Cassandra said. “Don’t have too much fun without us!”