Nature Chose Me

The Town of Fae pt. 1

"So… mister All-Father the Mighty King of Nymph, how are we gonna go to Songmire?" Asked Gytha as soon as the both of them left the Garden of Time through the ever so mysterious covered in vines gate.

"We are not going to Songmire yet," Staas replied, walking his way to Northwest just like Isergia suggested.

"Eh!? Then to where first?" The girl was suddenly struck with confusion.

"The place where they plant thingy."

From the gate, it took a couple of hours for them until the sight of where they were headed finally appear since Staas chose to walk instead of just running like the wind while carrying his nymph.

On the way, Staas kept playing with vines and branches created by his magic. They were small compared to all the trunks and roots he used against the knights.

He even did so while he was talking with Gytha. Then since she felt as if she was being ignored with how Staas eyes never went to her face, the girl proceeded to ask, "What are you doing?"

"Trying to study the gift you gave me," Staas answered with a straight face.

"Oh…" Gytha's face was a bit red after hearing that. She's relieved that the thing she's been guarding for more than a thousand years through countless reincarnations finally found its usage. "By the way, Staas."

"Hm?"

"Thank you..."

"You're welcome, but for what?" She actually managed to get him to look at her.

"For being you."

Far from where they stood, a sight of wooden walls appeared. With how limited his knowledge and how short the distance of where he travels throughout the 2 years of his new life, the presence of those walls took away his attention.

"Have you ever been to the Plantation (Space Plantation), Gytha?" The boy bathed in curiosity.

"Nope, I've always been around the Spirit Grove. I've never really tested out how far I can be separated from you, coz I didn't want to miss the day you finally awake, so I never went anywhere." Gytha looked surprisingly happy even with how sad her statement was.

"I see… so it will be the first time for both of us, right?" Asked the boy.

"Yup!" She smiled wholeheartedly. To her, today might be the second happiest day of her life.

The presence of trees slowly became thin. They continued their walk through the purposedly created path called 'road'. Surrounding it are all kinds of farm fields, all of which already turned yellow, indicating how close they were to the time of harvest.

During their journey on the road, Staas kept asking Gytha what's this and what's that like a curious child. But with how limited the presence of books is in the Spirit Grove, there are a lot of things that even come out new to her. Although, at least she can answer anything about plants correctly.

Long walk done they take, the two then finally arrived at the gate attached to the wooden walls. These walls may be made out of uncut trees that might as well be alive, but they're not the same as the one in the village of nymphs. These ones can be manned, also weaponized at the top.

"Welcome to the Space Plantation, please state your purpose of visit— Oh Goddess…" The guard greeted them at the front of the gate. Although the moment he glance at the tip of Staas' aura from afar, he instantly knew who he was. Just being near him, sent chills down his spine.

The guard is a faery, a spirit with a pair of colorful transparent wings on his back. His skin is pale orange, his eyes are shaded with yellow iris, and a sclera the color of green.

The faeries are a bit taller than human knights Staas faced before. And unlike the other spirit— which is the nymphs— they do wear attire. The guard right here was coated with armor made out of green bronze, along with a spear and shield on his hands.

"Uh… my name is Staas… the Druid… of Spirit Grove. I come here to… explore the world...? Did I say this right, Gytha?" Staas answered the Guard's question, even though he didn't ask for his name. The boy glance at his companion after to ask for confirmation.

"It's a good try, I guess…" Gytha can at least appreciate his effort, even though it's quite stiff.

"A Druid you say? I thought only a fae can hold that title… although none of us became one since the last century." Commented the guard.

"I don't know… the Head Elder said to use it behind my name," Staas replied, being innocently honest about it.

"Is that so?" The guard stroked his chin, he somewhat got the grasp of what the elders were thinking.

The three elders' influence also included the Faeries. These winged spirits also knew about Nymfrik who was now already awakened under the name of Staas.

They also knew about Staas’ condition where he lost every fragment of his memories, including the memory to speak, read, or write. That's right, Gytha has been teaching him how to do all of those from scratch.

"Well then about your purpose of visits… adventure? Well, Your Grace Druid of Spirit Grove, if you wanted to explore this fae town, you might want to come at another time." The Guard told them with a sense of tiredness in his tone.

"Hm?" Gytha and Staas glance at each other. "Why's that?" The girl asked with a confused face.

"Well, uh… we have a bit of… human problem." The guard seemed conflicted on whether to tell them this thing or not.

"Does the plantation also got attacked by the knights?" Gytha questioned him.

"Also?" That word immediately grabbed the guard's attention.

"That's right, the village of nymphs had faced a human situation." Gytha went on.

"Everyone got prisoned in ice!" Staas added.

"Wait, everyone? Then how come both of you survived?" The guard turned intrigued.

"Well… we escape, they chased us, however. But then they stopped after I thrust this inside their helmet." Staas showed the guard his spear that he stole from the knights.

"You— you killed them!?" The guard was shocked hearing Staas' story.

"Oh yea, that's the word."

The guard just stood there in awe, took a while for him to finally come back to reality.

"Come with me, Your Grace, there's someone I wanted you to meet." As he said this, the guard waved a sign to his comrades to open the gate for them.

*Kriek!*

The gate is a giant double door and they open like how it's designed to be. However, just like this town's wall, it's made out of an uncut tree that is still fully alive.

"Come!" The guard then headed towards the town to guide them.

"Alright…" The two followed him, although unable to grasp what is happening.

Inside was the town of the fae. Trees all the eyes can see, standing tall and proud with all kinds of treehouses attached to their trunk and branches. There were maybe roads on the ground, but the true way of travel is the bridges between the trees which are crowded with faes walking around.

As soonest the two pass the gate, everyone's gazes quickly got pulled toward Staas. All eyes were now on him. His aura is just so tremendously massive, dense, and terrifying. It gave them shivers just by staring at it.

And as I said before, every fae knew about Staas. They knew who was currently walking among them.

Staas didn't realize this however, he's just attracted by the beauty of this town, and the flickering light coming from the faerie's wings.

"So where are you taking us, sir?" Asked Gytha, unlike Staas she could feel those eyes staring at him.

"To someone that might be happy to see you." The guard replied.

They continued their pace until they met a building that wasn't located high above the ground, nor attached to any trees. It was a large hall with fortified walls and windows, and its room has many spots for archers to nest. Every part of it just screaming military headquarter.

*Slam!*

The guard slammed the door harshly to attract the attention of everyone in that hall. An act that usually will anger anyone there, but since Staas stood beside him, the only thing they felt is dread.

"N—Nymfrik!?" Said one of them out loud and every single one of them immediately knelt.

"Just Staas please, I don't want to use that name until— wait… you know who I am?" Staas was surprised by it. Gytha however, not so much since she can see Staas aura just like everybody else. And it was somewhat a given that the fae would know about his condition especially with them also being a part of the Fatherwood Forest.

"Of course, Your Holy Majesty! Every fae can easily recognize who you are." The one who called him before replied.

"Ah… am I that obvious, Gytha?" Staas was a bit saddened by it, he felt like he was doing something wrong.

"Don't worry Staas, the faeries are also part of the forest, them knowing you is just natural." Gytha has not yet found a way to explain his aura to him. The elders also asked every nymph to not tell him about it.

"Ehm! Allow me to introduce myself, Your Holy Maj—"

"Just call me Staas please…" The boy quickly corrected the fae.

"As you wish, allow me to introduce myself, Staas. My name is Nightfall Starjewel, the Chief of Faeries, the Portreeve of this town." The fae continued.

"I am Staas, the Druid of Spirit Grove." The boy also introduced himself. To be fair, he only wanted to do it again. Because it felt cool to do so.

"A druid? I see…" The chief nodded, he can quickly understand his situation. "So, Your Grace, is there any particular reason on why you bless us with your presence today?"

"The guard told me that you might be happy to see me, so I followed him," Staas blatantly replied.

"Well indeed I am, Your Grace… indeed."