For a moment, the scene only had the sounds of the birds and insects that resonated around the four figures.

Tommaso didn't know what to say. He was terrible with kids. Just one hold of a baby would be enough to make them cry. Dante being the more extroverted of the two then smiled as he spoke, "Hey there, kids. Um... what happened to you? What are your names?"

The older elf looked to his sister before he gulped and spoke, "My name is Parun sir... T-this is my sister, Asha..."

Asha cowered behind his older brother. He eyed Tommaso especially nervously. Of course the girl was nervous with him, why wouldn't any kid be? Tommaso could only grumble mentally.

Dante then smiled, "My name's Dante, and this is Tommaso. Um... Did you hear us crashing? Was that why you guys are here?"

Parun nodded, "Y-yes sir. We were harvesting apples until we heard the noise... And then we saw you two..."

"Apples huh? That sounds really good," Dante said with a smile before Tommaso rolled his eyes. "Sorry for the intrusion... we were fighting the enemy before we crashed here."

"I told you to eat more before we were deployed but no apparently a cup of coffee is still enough for you, huh?" Tommaso said with a sarcastic smirk as he crossed his arms.

"Shut up," Dante said quickly to Tommaso before he looked back to the two elf kids, "Do you guys live around here? We could really use a little help... Where are we exactly?"

Parun then smiled a bit. These two didn't seem like bad guys at all, "You're in the Lean Nou forest, sir. Umm if you want you can come with us? We have a lotta apples to share."

Dante was about to speak before Tommaso chimed in, "Yeah this guy needs some feeding. He's starving like a pig y'know?"

"Dude come on," Dante said with a grumble however Parun simply smiled.

"Come on!" Parun said as soon he then held Asha's hand and started to head the way they came.

Dante and Tommaso soon followed. Once more, the gunner spoke, "Don't you think this could be like that one thing in the movies where we're lured somewhere and eaten?"

"Oh come on Tommaso they're just kids," Dante said as he rolled his eyes.

"Sure... but what if that's what they want you to think?" Tommaso said again with a little grin before Dante looked back.

"Yeah well I really want that apple so I think I'll take my chances," he said as he continued on following.

The walk wasn't too far, just five minutes away. Enough to hear if their transport was coming to run back. Soon they reached another opening as there was some sort of small hut with a little farm. From there the two kids picked up the baskets of apples they were bringing back as they approached the small cabin.

Dante whistled, "Straight out of a book," he said at the cozy looking sight as Tommaso rolled his eyes.

"We're literally in a world of elves and dragons, the hell we are in a book," Tommaso said with a grumble as he then eyed a strange-looking mound to the side.

Dante decided to ignore Tommaso's sarcasm as he looked to Parun, "So you kids live around here? Where are your parents?"

Parun and Asha smiled for a bit until the question was asked. Asha had a more sad look as she gently sets the apples on the ground. Parun did the same as he fumbled with his hands, "W-well no... when um... Louria invaded w-we ran away into the forest... mom is... dead.... Pops is a soldier b-but we haven't heard from him..."

Dante blinked before he frowned softly. Soon he kneeled on the ground as he gently grabbed the two's shoulders, "You guys are very smart and brave for saving yourselves. Even braver than me, and I was the one who was fighting the Lourians," he said with a smile as the two elves did the same at that.

"Y-you fought the Lourians! That's so cool! ... Thank you sir," Parun said with a little chuckle now as he then grabbed an apple and gently offered it to Dante, "Here you go! You can eat a lot if you want!"

"Thanks, kid," Dante said as he ruffled the elf boy's hair as he took a bite. He went wide eyed at how juicy and tasty it was as he nodded in approval.

Tommaso eyed the mound as he let Dante do the kid talking. He narrowed his eyes at it. It looked very unnatural for it to just be there. He approached it as he was about to step on it before...

"HEY!"

The four looked to the side to see two elves with more mystical clothing. The man in particular did not look happy, "Get away from there!"

Tommaso raised his hands in surprise as he stepped back, "Okay okay I'm sorry, sheesh!"

The elven woman then looked to the kids as she rushed and pulled them away from Dante who stepped back in a rush. She then spoke cautiously, "Who are you? And how did you find this place?" She asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Uh— I—"

"Humans! How did you get into this forest!?" The man said accusingly as he suddenly pulled out a spear and aimed it at Tommaso who was now back-to-back with Dante.

"Whoa hey calm down! We're—"

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Parun then spoke up as he shut his eyes, "T-they're good guys! They were fighting the Lourians before they got here! Please don't hurt him!"

The two older elves looked to Parun before they eyed the humans again. The man in particular narrowed his eyes as he spoke suspiciously, "You two don't look like Qua-Toyne warriors. What's with that outfit?"

"N-no sir we're not Qua-Toynians, we're Italians!" Dante said as he looked back to the man, "Maybe you haven't heard but I swear my country is fighting alongside yours to defeat the Lourians! Look, see?" He then pointed to the flag patch on his shoulder.

The woman eyed the two for a moment before she sighed, "Drop it Wol, I think they're fine," she said.

"B-but—" the woman looked to Wol with a furrowed look before he groaned. Soon he lets the spear hang on his back. Dante released a sigh of relief while Tommaso stayed quiet.

"Thank you... we really mean no harm. We didn't even mean to come here," Dante said as he dropped his arms and so did Tommaso.

"How in Elysia did you even get here in this exact spot?" Wol said suspiciously as he crossed his arms.

Tommaso then chimed up, "We were on a mission before we got hit and crashed because somebody here was staring out to the distance," He said as he narrowed his eyes to Dante.

"Hey don't blame me, you have eyes like me too!" Dante said as he looked back at Tommaso.

"Okay, calm down you two... Let's start off more calmly," The woman said as she cleared her throat, "My name is Meena, that's Wol... I suppose you know Parun and Asha by now?"

Dante nodded with a more calm smile, "We have. We just wanted to rest somewhere until someone comes to pick us up."

"Well that rescue isn't coming here," Wol said as soon he grabbed an apple as well, "This forest's magically protected from the outside world for a specific purpose. Even if you got a compass it'll just go crazy and not bring you anywhere," he casually said before he took a bite.

Dante and Tommaso stood there before they looked at each other. With a more serious look Tommaso spoke, "So wait— our transport won't be able to find us?"

"Nope," Wol said before he swallowed the bite of apple. "Even if you got the best compass in the world you'll just be walking in circles around here. You'd need to listen to the forest's voice for a guide. But I don't think you... humans... can."

Tommaso stood there before he groaned out loud. "Oh great! How are we gonna head back now?"

Meena then frowned to Wol, "Don't scare them like that!" She said before she turned to the two humans. "We can guide you out of here and into the fields by Gim... but it would be quite the hike. Right now we're a bit tired since we were harvesting berries and fishing for food."

Asha then smiled widely, "Miss Meena is gonna bake an apple and berry pie!" She said in excitement as Meena simply smiled at the two before she looked to Dante and Tommaso.

"We can guide you out of the forest. All we ask is that we do it by late afternoon. We'd like to have lunch and rest for a bit, I'm sure you two do as well," she said.

Dante then shrugged, "Well fish and pie sounds really good right about now," He said with a more relaxed grin while Tommaso sighed deeply. He really missed his bed right now.

...

As the four elves and two humans sat around a crude wooden table, Dante ate neatly though quite quickly. In fact he was already digging into his slice of pie.

Tommaso meanwhile was just halfway into his fish. He looked to the mound once more as it just looked so uncanny in that part of the forest. Soon he pointed at it as he spoke, "Say... what's with that little mound? It doesn't look... natural."

Wol and Meena stopped eating as they looked to each other. With communication through eyebrows, Wol furrowed his as Meena had a more relaxed look. Soon Meena swallowed the bite of fish in her mouth as she spoke, "It's... a protective spell we have placed upon an ancient relic. We have taken every measure to protect and keep it safe."

Wol nodded, "Even 10,000 years later, our ancestors made sure this spell would continue on and on. I know you humans don't think we look like it, but me and Meena here are over a hundred years old. We've been protecting this place ever since we can,"

Dante went wide eyed, "Holy crap... that's such a long time," he said as soon he set his very clean plate down.

Tommaso furrowed his eyebrows as he kept his stare on the mound, "May I see what's under it?"

Wol and Meena looked at each other again. With a shrug from both, Meena spoke, "Very well. Mind you these are sacred treasures so please don't do anything to even scrape them."

Tommaso nodded. Dante eyed him weirdly. What was up with him? Why was he so bothered with the treasure? Even he was curious now. The two Italians stood up and so did Wol and Meena. Parun and Asha watched the adults curiously as they continued eating.

Meena cleared her throat. With a hand on the grass, she closed her eyes as she performed her enchantment. It was in such a language that somehow neither Dante nor Tommaso could understand her even though they understood her perfectly just before.

The mound then started to move. Dante and Tommaso stepped back cautiously as it opened up. Sunlight started to peek in as Meena spoke, "Here it is..."

Dante and Tommaso eyed the relics. There was armour. A red cape. A helmet with red fur on it. There was a sword stuck into a stone. The armour was positioned in a way someone leaned against the stone dying before their skeleton was taken away. There was a large shield, the tunics, and a banner with understandable letters. It was...

"... relics of the War God Emissaries."

Dante and Tommaso couldn't believe their eyes. Perfectly preserved against the stone was a full set of armour. It was the armour of a Roman Legionary.

The two stared dumbfounded, before Dante spoke in a stammer, "I-I don't understand. This is Roman armour...!" He said.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Wol asked in confusion.

"This! This is an armour set from my country! They were old warriors in our ancient history! I can tell, look these are our letters!" He said shakily as he pointed at the red banner. The two elves looked at each other in shock and then back to Dante. "These were our old soldiers of the Roman Empire! That was what our country was over 2000 years ago!"

"N-no but... this was over 10,000 years ago, when the demon attacked our world!" Wol said in defiance. How can the legendary emissaries come from the same place as these two humans?

"Wait, Wol... don't you remember the story told to us?" Meena said as she looked to Wol.

"Story? What story?" Dante asked in confusion.

Meena looked back and frowned, "Thousands of years ago, when no nation was even in place in Philades, the Demon Lord Nosgorath invaded our world. For once everyone was unified in this common threat... when he reached Rodenius, the elves were cornered. We hid here in this forest and legend has it that the God of Green prayed to the God of War for help..." she said before she took a breath. "What came were thousands and thousands of men in red. They had the same swords and weapons in that time... but what was different was their willpower. Even if they were struck down, somehow they find a way to stand up and strike back. The sheer will of the War God Emissaries was enough to decimate the demons of Nosgorath before they chased him away out of Philades. And when they finished, they carried their dead with them back into the gates of the War God back into their world..."

Wol then looked to the relics, "But it seems one soldier got unlucky. He must've gotten lost in this forest while injured..."

Dante gulped, "Holy shit... this is huge. We gotta tell this to someone, Tommaso!" He then looked to the side, "Tommaso?"

Tommaso eyed the sword intently. With a careful reach, he gently touched the sword in the stone.

...

"Never surrender Timutheus! Stand up and claim victory with us!"

...

Tommaso gasped deeply as he staggered back. Soon the world went blurry as he fell to the grass. All he could see before he passed out was three faces looking down to him.