Another hour of walking goes by before we make camp fo the night. Zack sets up his tent and immediately goes to sleep, leaving the three of us alone. Heraon and Azu set their stools on either side of mine and sit. I can feel the lecture coming.

Hearon leans back with a sigh, "So you and Zack are still not on speaking terms?"

I can't help but scoff, "I don't have any interest in talking to him, or either of you for that matter. You all lied to me."

Hearon nods in agreement, "We did, yes. But it was for your own good."

"Really? Not telling me I was going to my death was good for me? When I could at least choose to become a weapon for the military instead?"

Hearon takes a swig from the metal bottle he holds, sighing contently afterward, "By that time, we had already decided to help you survive here. Your talents are wasted in Titan, and we can use every competent person."

I shake my head in confusion, "Didn't you guys just talk about finding me a cozy job in the city? Spending my life on a desk job is a real waste of my abilities. I'm a fighter." I stand, pacing in front of the two. "Fighting is all I've known for the past two years. Putting my life on the line and betting on myself. Why is that so hard for you to see that? You've done it your entire life."

Hearon grunts and takes another swig, "Silen, you are addicted to the danger and adrenaline. That is a very dangerous game to play."

"And you guys aren't?" I shove my finger in his face, to which Hearon calmly moves to the side.

"No, Silen, we are not. We do this job to protect those dear to us. We do this so we can understand our world and find a way to eliminate the monster threat. Every man should fear death. It is what keeps us human, and it is what keeps us alive." Hearon stands, his body hulking over mine, "And until you realize there is more to life than fighting and reckless bravery, I am afraid you will never see the forest again."

I grit my teeth as he walks away, but I don't have a comeback. I know what he means, but even so, I don't agree. The danger is the only way I know how to prove to myself I am strong. Risking my life and triumphing proves all the suffering was for a reason. I sit with a huff and start picking at the glowing moss.

Azu sighs, "I understand you are angry, but you should listen to Hearon. There are more ways to live your life than risking it unnecessarily. Living as part of the crowd may be maddening to some, but living as a weapon is a fate I would not wish on my worst enemy."

I roll my eyes, "Spare me the sage advice."

She shrugs, "It is your life. At the end of the day, all we can do is try to help." She stands and stretches with a yawn, "If you really want to continue as a diver, here is a word of advice. You have an official license, so when we return, you are free to accept solo contracts. However, do not expect us to venture out with you again unless it is of the utmost importance." Azu walks over to Hearon, who is inspecting the MULE, leaving me to my thoughts.

A herd of those deer with glowing horns walk in the distance, stopping occasionally to scan their surroundings. Solo contracts, eh? I guess I'll need to check up on that when I return. With a sigh, I stomp the moss, causing a burst of blue to explode outwards. I should probably get some sleep.

****************

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Morning came and went quickly. The vibrancy of the nightlife had disappeared with the glowing moss, leaving a quiet that was as unnatural as it was silent. There were no more carvings or signs of civilization for most of the day, just more walking from beacon to beacon. However, things changed when the beacon's color changed to bright green.

"Silen, on guard; we are near our final beacon." I nod in Hearon's direction. It shouldn't be far now. It only takes a few minutes before the first platform comes into view. The massive trees clear out, and an actual opening appearing above us in the tree canopy. Ahead, six trees larger than the rest stand in a circle, a line of sunlight separating it from the rest of the forest in a perfect circle.

Situated around the gargantuan trees are six platforms, each one encircling the midpoint of the trunk. These platforms are made of dark wood and a thousand feet in diameter. Maybe longer. A tangle of bridges connects the six platforms, but it's too far to tell the structure of them.

My three companions line up beside me, "So this is it," Zack states.

I glance up at the tree canopy and the perfectly straight lines that separate the forest canopy from the ruins.

"Curious is it not?" Azu asks me.

I nod, "Yeah. It's too perfect to be natural. Whoever these people were must have had some insane tech."

"Or they were just good at trimming," Zack says with a chuckle.

"Let us get moving. We need to set up camp before night hits. With luck, we can start the investigation tomorrow morning." Hearon says as he starts walking toward the wall of sunlight, the rest of us following.

I stare at the lip of one of the platforms but can't make out any shapes. Or, more accurately, the shapes are distorted, faded. I point this out to Azu, but it's Zack who replies, "That's probably from the fairy. It has the nasty ability to distort space around a given area. We won't know what's actually up there until we breach the distortion."

"What exactly is a fairy?"

Zack looks up at Azu, who is perched on the MULE's head, binoculars out. She glances down and motions for Zack to take her place. "They are humanoid-shaped creatures." Azu lands beside me as the shadow of the nearest platform engulfs us, pitch darkness taking the place of light. Only a few beams of light pierce between the gaggle of bridges above. I switch on the floodlights as we make our way to the nearest tree trunk.

Azu hands me her glass with the grainy picture of a creature on the holo screen. It has the proportions of a female human with the wings of a butterfly, but the image is too pixelated to make out any details. "Unlike most Shells, a fairy does not use its physical might for combat. Instead, it uses mental attacks. Something unique to this particular creature. The full extent is not known, but it can cause hallucinations, pralyalizes, and even put people to sleep. It also distorts the space around it to confuse attackers. The most common method of the fairy is to dig into your mind to find your greatest fears, paralyzing you with a hallucination of it."

Azu visibly shudders, a look of discomfort on her face, "They are cruel. Fairies will constantly bombard you with situations that you fear, and they are so real you will not even realize they are fake. A fairy will toy with your mind until it is bored. Then, it will kill you with fear. With a situation so terrifying, you would rather die than experience it."

"Great..."

Azu grabs my arm, stopping me. She stares into my eyes, a serious expression on her face, "Whatever you do, do not look into its eyes. That is a death sentence."

I nod, a sense of foreboding casting over me. We reach the base of the nearest tree, its roots as tall as houses. We settle into a grove between two roots that hide us from anything on either side, and I get ready to start a fire.

Hearon grabs my arm as I reach for the starter kit in my bag, "No. No fires. Even if the fairy spends most of its time above, there is the remote possibility it will descend to survey below. A fire would give us away immediately. We only use lights when absolutely necessary. Turn the MULE into blackout mode."

I whisper a confirmation, and the MULEs floodlights turn off, and it freezes, not a single sound coming from its mechanical body. We set up camp in silence, using small lanterns to light the area just enough for us to see and settle down for the night.

I watch as darkness takes the forest beyond the ruins, lighting up as usual. However, underneath these platforms, not a single speck of bioluminescence can be seen, nor a creature heard. The silence is unnerving. Just as I drift into sleep, an echo, no a song, rips through my tent. I grab Nebula and jump out, my sword drawn and ready for a fight.

However, there is no monster skulking outside. Instead, I find my companions sitting beside their tents, a look of wonder on their faces. The singing had only gotten louder. It was an enchanting melody, like an angel crying, filled with soft, mournful notes. There were no words, only sounds like that of a choir. It both relaxed me and put me on edge. It was almost haunting in its beauty.

"What is this?" I ask as I sit.

"The song of fairies. Something only a few have ever heard, and even fewer have survived to tell." I glance at Azu as she speaks, a recorder in her hand.

"Should we be worried?"

"No," Azu shifts her legs to a crisscross style, "The fairy is above us; we do not have to worry about it tonight." The song changes tune, becoming deeper and more elegant, the sound reverberating through the forest.

"Why is it singing?"

Azu's sight remains fixed on the platforms above, her eyes closed, illuminated by the recorder screen, "No one knows. Some believe they sing to relieve their loneliness. Others believe it is a way to lure in prey. Fairies are one of the few semi-intelligent Shells, using logic and basic reasoning instead of the animalistic nature of the majority."

"And you? Why do you think it sings?" She shrugs but says nothing more. I let out a small sigh and lean against my tent, the haunting beauty of the fairy melody filling the silence.