Darius awoke on top of Nightshade with Fierce in his lap. It was night out, probably, honestly Darius couldn’t tell. Surrounding him was nothing but forestry. Not a sliver of sunlight could pass through the thick canvas that covered them overheard. He fell asleep again, waking up some time later.

“Where are we?” Darius asked, eyes adjusting to a new strange blueish light. “We were still in a forest last night. Was it last night? When did we get out?”

“We never did, sleepyhead,” Krista responded, “Just take a look.”

With a flourish, Krista pointed over the cliffside. There Darius could see that they finally made it. It was a beautiful city, a fantastic combination of nature and human involvement. It was almost like a grander version of Horizon’s own settlement.

A huge city, bigger than Acumenos’s capital, surrounded by large stone walls in the shape of a hexagon. Large wooden structures littered the land, sensible considering the large amount of timber, though the size and scale of the structure far exceeded anything Journey could make with similar material.

Then he noticed light within the canopy. Strange eel like creatures floated through the sky. Each producing a strong blue light. He took out There must have been hundreds of them, replicating a nice summer day over the city. Touching the light, Darius could even feel heat from the rays.

“What time is it?” he asked completely unsure of himself.

“I’ve always enjoyed the look on tourists’ faces when they see their first fairy,” Krista smirked. “Based on how active they are, I’d say it’s a bit past midday, New Dawn time, at least. Anywhere else it’d be just after midnight.”

Darius barely had time to register what Krista had said before he saw what was standing in the middle of the city. Far larger than any structure around, even larger than the castle Darius saw standing in front of it, was a tree. A single tree standing hundreds of feet tall, rose into the sky.

Its branches were like spider legs, shooting down from the heights towards the ground. Taking a glance around, Darius noticed that every other tree was just a branch of this great tree. Each was still so large that they looked like their own individual organism. Not to mention they shared leaves and branches of their own.

“That’s a… that’s a very big tree,” Darius stammered weakly.

“You really must have amnesia,” Amelia said. “To not even know of the Grand Tree, Vitnova, I thought Krista was joking!”

“Are they impor-” Darius started. “Never mind, the look on your face answered that pretty quick.”

“The Grand Trees are the source of wattiez, without them… I wouldn’t even want to think about it!” Amelia cried.

“Plural?” He asked. “There are more of these things?!” While Darius continued to stare, Kristina passed by him, carrying a striking piece of new equipment on her back, so much so that it even snatched Darius’s attention from the Grand Tree. “Where’d you get that sword?”

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It had a completely black hilt and was covered in wrappings, probably a makeshift sheath. Even through the wrappings, it gave off a mysterious hue, as if it was pulsating with a faint energy. Krista stopped Terra and took a serious look at him. “We think you may also have an affinity for Anomalous Wattiez.”

Darius must have had the stupidest look because Krista’s face puffed up as she weakly tried holding back a laugh. Amelia also covered her face trying to hide her smirk.

“Well, that’s… interesting,” Darius started slowly. “Then I guess, in Amelia’s words, I’d be a double freak.” That got Amelia to stop smirking, rather she looked down with a faint hint of shame. “I was under the impression that if you could use Anomalous Wattiez, you couldn’t use any other wattiez.”

“So was I,” Amelia responded dryly, “yet once again, you prove the impossible to be possible.”

“I’ve been messing with the sword since you’ve been asleep, and it’s definitely not just your average blade.” Krista said while unwrapping the sword. “First, it’s made of a metal I’ve never seen before. It’s a lot like iron, but it’s far shar per, less rigid, and lighter.”

“Might be something we call steel at… home. It fits all the criteria except for being lighter,” Darius argued. In response, Krista got off Terra and started taking swings. She was like a blur, effortlessly swinging the blade around. Krista even pierced the blade halfway through a tree like it was butter, only to easily pull it out. “Okay no, that’s not normal. Just being steel wouldn’t do that.”

“That’s not the only weird thing. This sword has a couple fun tricks,” Krista said as she swung the sword, catching the blade on Darius’s shoulder.

“Are you trying to kill me!” Darius yelled, but he didn’t feel any pain. The sword had glanced him, but there was no cut. “Bizarre!”

“One more thing,” Krista said, taking the sword and tossing it off the cliff.

“I’m assuming something is supposed to happen, but- It disappeared!” Darius watched as the blade fell until it vanished from sight. Guessing what happened, he turned to Krista who held it in her hand.

“Ahem, your applause please,” Krista said as she bowed.

“Funny, I think I may be rubbing off on you,” Darius teased, “Also, let me try!”

Continuing their journey, it wasn’t long before they made it to a security checkpoint. Amelia had to remind them to calm down as Darius and Krista kept playing toss with the blade.

There, they found 12 guards stationed around the premise. That being a 30-foot-wide high tower about 20 feet tall with four guards standing on top of it, behind a small bridge crossing a raging river. Underneath that tower, were two more guards that travelers would talk to. The rest of the guards routinely patrolled the area.

“That’s a lot of security,” Darius commented. “Are the borders around here a heavily contested area, or is crime just pretty rampant around these parts?”

Back in Journey, borders were relatively open. Trade and commerce amongst the six nations were necessary for survival. That did change when Acumenos went to war against Shining Twilight. From his youth, Darius could distinctly remember extensive security littering the streets and borders of the capital.

“There’s a war fought every week in Stellar.” Krista said gravely. “If it’s New Dawn and Soaring Sun today, then it’ll be Falling Starlight and New Dawn next time. The fighting has been going on for more than half a century, and it shows no signs of stopping.”

This new information worried Darius quite a bit. He was here to request aid from a foreign power, but if that power was already at war, what resources could they spare to help him? Darius decided that was something best left to worry about later. He was already here, no point in turning back now.

“Then we enter right over there?” Darius asked. “Will they need anything from me? Like some form of identification? They’re not going to arrest me, right?”

“Well… not just you,” Krista said slyly.