Moonguile Forest, it was called. It seemed innocent enough. They hadn't even known it was there until they'd seen the faded sign on the roadside. Milly claimed to have heard the name before, but didn't know anything about the place itself.
As they followed the path away from the town, the grass and shrubs began to give way to trees. And at some point along the way, Aegis noticed something strange.
He couldn't quite tell what it was. Right now, he barely noticed it. It was more a gut feeling than anything else, but something didn't feel right about this place.
He was quiet at first. No one else seemed worried at all. Sagi certainly wasn't. He and Aegis couldn't hear each other's thoughts, but they usually had some idea of how the other was feeling. Right now, the boy seemed more focused on keeping an eye out for monsters than anything else.
His caution turned out to be unnecessary. There were monsters here, of course, but none seemed aggressive. Most of them seemed more wary of the group than anything. They'd flee as soon as anyone got close. Eventually, Sagi and the others began to relax their guard a little.
It was beautiful here. Patches of sunlight found their way through the trees and lit up the forest floor. Every now and then, they'd pass by a patch of flowers. They clustered in the sunbeams, pressed close to one another, each trying to reach the light. It was quiet, save for footsteps and the occasional gust of wind.
The strange feeling didn't go away. The further they went, the harder it was to ignore. There was a funny sort of familiarity to it, like it was tugging at some deep corner of Aegis' being. But instead of being comforting, it was unsettling. And as far as he could tell, he was still the only one who noticed it.
Eventually, he broke the silence. Sagi?
His partner stopped walking. "What is it?" he asked.
Do you feel anything unusual?
Sagi thought about it for a moment. "Not really. Do you?"
Yes. It's hard to describe, but there's something strange about this forest.
Guillo interrupted them. "Is something wrong?" they asked.
Sagi turned towards the others. "Aegis says that something feels weird here."
"What kind of weird are we talking?" asked Milly.
Uncomfortable. Like something's…trying to reach me. Maybe not. I can't explain, but it started when we came here, and it's only gotten worse.
Sagi repeated those thoughts. "Are you two feeling anything like that?" he added.
Milly shook her head. "No, not at all."
"Me neither," said Guillo. "Looks like it's just you, Aegis.
Sagi traced the path ahead with his eyes. "Is it alright if we keep going?" he asked. "We can leave if you'd like."
No, I think I'll be fine, replied Aegis.
Sagi nodded. "In that case, let's look around a bit longer."
The path continued for a while, but eventually it gave way to a small clearing. A slow-moving stream was visible to the left. It wasn't too wide – the other side was easy to see from where they stood.
Guillo took a few steps into the stream, and put one hand into the water. They waited for a little while before turning back towards the others. "It should be safe to cross," they informed them.
Sagi and Milly followed it into the water, and the group continued across. Partway through, however, Aegis felt a strong tug on his mind. It lasted a second or two, disappeared, and then pulled on him again. The forest he saw through Sagi blurred slightly – was their connection being disrupted? The boy put a hand to his forehead and stopped walking.
The tugging sensation stopped, but the discomfort Aegis had felt before was still present. Milly looked back at Sagi. "Are you alright?" she asked.
He took a deep breath, and met her gaze. "Yeah. My head just felt funny for a moment there."
You felt that too? Aegis asked.
It hadn't been to the same extent, clearly, but this wasn't good. If it was just Aegis, it might've been alright, but if it was starting to affect Sagi as well…
"You're still feeling weird?" he asked.
It was much worse just now. I don't know what's going on, but –
A sharp jolt hit Aegis, and he was overwhelmed by the presence of something. Again, he couldn't help but notice how familiar it felt. It was like he knew it – like he should have recognized it. He heard something whispering to him, calling him, but he couldn't tell what it was saying and he wasn't sure he wanted to, and…
And for just a fraction of a second, he was somewhere else, not with Sagi but somewhere cold, dark, silent, surrounded by an energy that was so unspeakably vile that he couldn't begin to describe it, and then…
He was back, and Sagi was trying to get his attention. "Aegis?" he said, sounding more than a little concerned. "Can you still hear me?"
I hear you.
"Did something happen?"
Yes. I can't really say what, but it was…
He tried to think of how to explain, but he had no idea where to start?
What was that?
If he could, he'd be trembling. Before he could think any more about it, though, he felt a cold hand grab Sagi's wrist. "We're leaving," said Guillo, firmly.
Sagi nodded in agreement. "We probably should. It doesn't look like there's much to see here, anyway."
As they made their way out of the forest, the strange feeling began to fade. By the time they were back on the road, it was as if nothing had happened at all.
When they stopped for a break back in Cebelrai, Sagi took his chance to ask someone about the forest. The young woman gave him a worried look. "You went to Moonguile Forest?" she asked.
"Is there something wrong with that?" replied Guillo.
"Well…we're not really supposed to go there. They say there's something evil hidden in there if you go deep enough."
She shrugged. "It's probably just a legend, but I'd rather not take any chances."
That was all she had to tell them, and all the explanation they'd get.
This may require a bit of background info. Moonguile Forest has the "Ar" End Magnus, and that's the one that corresponds to Marno. I think the game may have had a line or two alluding to this, but it wasn't much. I think it's entirely possible that being there could affect him somehow, so I just sorta ran with the idea.
As for the name Aegis...well, they don't know his first name at this point in the story, and even when they do, they don't use it. So I needed something. Pretty sure it was a name of some Greek mythological hero's shield, so I think that goes pretty well with the whole "guardian" thing.