Chapter 47: Journey Into The Temple

Disclaimer:

Hi guys, there is a lot of dialogue in this chapter but it's needed in my opinion :P. Things still progress and you'll see/read some cool things soon enough! With that said, I hope you enjoy!


"Captured… great!" Lucas thought to himself as he shook his head in annoyance.

The Dual mage had his arms chained behind him with a set of green, metallic handcuffs. His mouth was taped shut as well so he couldn't speak to anyone. He turned his head to the left and made out the figures of the other Golden Dawn mages beside him.

Since they had been put in a dark room, they couldn't even see each other, let alone talk to one another.

"Alecdora really had to react like someone was about to steal his favourite toy or something", David angrily thought about the Sand mage. The Dice mage is usually well-kept, clean, and proper when it comes to missions as well as presenting himself, but this completely went against his character and he had Alecdora to blame.

"They even tied up the Captain! I would've thought they would be willing to talk to us so we could explain things, but after we got stopped by that giant Druid, we were thrown here straight away!" Mimosa panicked. Her eyes wandered to where Lucas was, right next to her on the right.

All of the Golden Dawn Knights that travelled to the Forgotten Forest were stuck in some underground bunker. There was a singular jail room with metal bars separating the group from the exit outside. The floor was a dark-green colour and it was also cold and wet like it had rained in the room.

"Hmph! I was just protecting the Captain from those scum. It's not like I did anything bad or anything, those people just overreacted. Besides, I was the only one who had the guts to do anything unlike the rest… If they ever hurt the Captain, then I'd show them!" Alecdora was busy replaying the events from a few hours ago in his head, looking towards the Captain in the process as well as looks of disgust towards his other squad mates.

"Alecdora has sure been silent this whole time considering he's the reason we're in this place! My big body does not work with these bindings and such a small room!" Hamon struggled to get comfortable.

"It's a real problem that they took our grimoires as well. For some reason, we can't seem to access them even though they're sat right outside these bars on the table in front of us!" Klaus saw the pile of spell books and wondered what they could do.

The set of grimoires, from every single mage, were neatly piled on top of each other right outside the reach of any of the mages. Grimoires can float to their user even when they have been separated, but something was preventing them from doing so.

"Anti-Magic? Is that what is causing the grimoires to not respond to us?" Letoile thought about the possibility. "The kid from the Black Bulls has magic-negating powers but this doesn't feel anything like that. I still feel magic but it's something else completely!"

"We are sure in a tight situation. I can't access my magic due to something cancelling it out and we can hardly move. Even if I pass on control, I doubt he would be able to do anything either, not to mention it would reveal everything…". William had a few ideas swirl around his head about what to do but all of them would be either ineffective or cause more trouble.

Lucas heavily sighed. This was a terrible situation he found himself in and he just wanted to escape, but it was proving to be impossible.

"I can't even use my spells or access my Dual Blades! I've tried using Heaven's Time as well as other spells but nothing…", he rolled his eyes. "It's like I can't even feel my mana".

Yuno, however, wasn't struggling at all but had his eyes closed this whole time. He was facing his four-leaf grimoire that was sat at the top of the whole pile and breathed in and out.

"Bell, are you there?" Yuno spoke to the Wind Spirit through their connection.

The cover of the Wind mage's grimoire was moving but couldn't open enough to let the Sylph out. Usually, she could phase in and out of the grimoire but due to the magic interference, she was left in a rather unnatural position.

"I mean… I'm right here but there's something preventing me… lifting this cover!" Bell said as she struggled to move through the tiny gap between the cover and the pages.

"Come on Bell, you can do it easily. You seem to appear when I don't need you but apparently you're struggling when I do need you. What is that all about?" Yuno said in a sarcastic manner which riled Bell up.

The Wind Spirit pouted and her face became red with anger and frustration. "I can't believe a stupid book's cover is preventing me from… seeing my Yuno!" She pushed against the cover with her hands and legs as her back pressed against the pages of the grimoire. With a few seconds of struggle, she managed to budge the gap between her and the cover a bit more and used that split second time frame to emerge.

"How was that… Yuno?!" Bell huffed and sweat-dropped. She floated towards her host and looked him in the eye, or at least tried to.

"Hey Bell, good work. Now… if you want to be useful, can you untie this rope around my mouth?" Yuno said to her via their link.

"When am I not useful?!" She shouted, fluttering her wings at a high speed. The sparkles from her wings spread around which blinded everyone.

The others grew slightly restless as they had their eyes infiltrated by Bell's sparkles and scales. However, once their eyes were fine, they grew a smile on their faces at the sight of the spirit.

Bell floated down to Yuno and tried pulling the ropes away from his mouth but it didn't work. She then tried to go down and pull at the handcuffs around his hands but it still didn't work.

"Huh?! What the hell is happening? I might be tiny but I have plenty of power to destroy these stupid bindings! I'll use my magic so here goes!" She was readying up a Sylph's Breath attack but was stopped by Yuno.

"Stop, Bell! We don't want to alert the Druids and if you make so much noise then you'll definitely gain their attention", Yuno explained.

Bell cancelled her attack and she let the breath she had held in out of her mouth. "Well, what do you want me to do then? I don't want to stay here hoping for the ropes to rot away!"

"See if you can fly outside and find some sort of key for these handcuffs. There is a keyhole in them so there has to be a key for it. I remember hearing voices just above us as well", the mage from Hage encouraged the spirit.

"You got it!" Bell put her hands to her hips and smiled. She flew through the metallic bars of the jail and escaped outside via the stairs.


A few seconds went by and the tiny spirit found her way to a singular door that let some light in. Fortunately, it was left unlocked and she easily passed by into the open.

Due to being underground for so long and having to be around darkness, the bright lights above that looked like a starry night pierced her eyes and took her time to get used to. When her vision wasn't blurry anymore, she saw the entire area for what it was.

Bell flew high up and examined the 'sky'. "So, this is where these so-called Druids live? There's so much natural mana here that it feels amazing, yet there's an eerie feeling around that diminishes that sensation".

The spirit made sure she wasn't seen as she mainly kept to the shadows and behind the different wooden and stone buildings that were in her path. Her destination wasn't actually even that far but due to the congested buildings and how everything was so close to each other, she had to find the right place.

Eventually, she saw a small, stone building that was covered with light-green moss and dangling vines with bright-red ladybugs crawling around. She flew towards it and peeked through the crack in the windows. Bell saw a group of three people with a huge, dark-skinned man. He had a set of black antlers and the symbol of a crown etched into his chest. His legs were crossed and he rested his head against one of his arms. The other two were opposite him with one of them stood up whilst the other sat with her legs crossed.

The interior of the building had a singular, brown rug on the floor with a dark-oak desk and three chairs near it.

"Master Cathbad, are you sure imprisoning those humans is the right move to make? Surely, they can help us in our mission regarding the incident that came up as of late". The man who was stood up pleaded. He was waving his arms to try and get through to Cathbad. This person looked to be around 18-years-old in terms of human age and he had a smooth complexion to his face.

The one who was the biggest replied.

"So, he's this Master Cathbad that imprisoned Yuno and the others? Hmph, he doesn't look so tough…", Bell thought with a bit of arrogance. She then realised something interesting. "They're speaking in the same language as us! Do multiple languages exist here or is it that a select few know the same language as us?"

"Are you saying we should rely on the spawn of those humans that sought to destroy us? What is going on with you, Dike?!" Cathbad, the Chief of the Forgotten Forest, roared. He slammed his fist into the dark-oak desk which caused one of its legs to snap off, putting the object on an odd slope.

A wave of mana came from the huge Druid and it caused Bell to lose her grip on the window. To help herself, she readjusted her wings and leaned further in after grabbing a better hold on the window sill.

"What on earth is that mana?! That's the most I've ever felt and it's coming from this old-timer!" Bell was in disbelief as she tried listening in again. As she did, she also scoured the room for some sort of key to free the Magic Knights.

Dike gulped and frowned. He did tower over Cathbad but that was only because he was the only one stood up. If they stood side-by-side, he would be comparable to a small child next to the Master. "Master, I understand the problem that could come with trusting them, but they are Magic Knights! We do not know the current situation or how they work, but the human that attacked us said they were the 'Golden Dawn' and said they were the best squad so, I believe they could be an asset for us! We can keep a close eye on them with our soldiers".

"You are always so trusting, aren't you, Dike? A mere advisor to the Chief, but you rarely have any good ideas", the other person added. She looked to Dike and smirked with an insincere expression. "Them being from the Golden Dusk does not matter to me at all. I can easily slice them up with my arrows and I do not even have to rely on my magic to do so!"

"Oh, do be quiet, Valmoira. All you want to do is fight like some dumb warrior, and it is the 'Golden Dawn' by the way, not 'Golden Dusk'", Dike shook his head, annoyed.

"These guys are so argumentative…", Bell rolled her eyes. As she did, she noticed a glimmer shining in the corner of the room on a hook in the wall. It was a set of rusty keys that the light outside shone on and the spirit made her move. "If I just… keep to the side of the room, I can grab those keys!"

Cathbad, the large Druid, calmed his voice down and spoke to the two. "Stop the bickering. Dike, you have to understand that they are only humans so what use can they be of us? Yes, we have a problem concerning a recently discovered energy source, but our soldiers are enough to combat it. Are you really saying we should trust them, especially since they attacked first?"

Dike sat back down and sighed. "That is not what I am saying. We should not trust them at all. I am saying we can merely use them for our benefit and if they prove successful, then we re-evaluate our outlook on them".

Valmoira stood up and leaned towards Dike. She had a bow in her hand and put it on Dike's lap. "I like the way you think, Dike! You should have said that from the start… Now, if they do mess up, I will take this bow and shoot it through their skulls", she chuckled.

"You are way too violent, as I said…", Dike shook his head.

"Are they planning to use us for their own benefit? They said an energy source so it could be the Magic Stone that we came for, but being their pawns is something unbefitting of Yuno and I!" Bell thought in anger. She crawled across the edge of the room, alongside the walls and almost reached the keys which were only an arms-length away at this point.

"Now that I think about it, there were three of those humans with intense mana structures. I believe that masked goldie had some interesting power levels, as well as that pretty boy and the scar-face boy", Valmoira mentioned as she sat back down. "Other than those three, the others had a good amount of mana too".

"Really?" Cathbad replied. "Compared to mine, they are essentially miniscule", he scratched his chin.

"That is correct, Master Cathbad. However, we cannot simply expect you to fight on the front lines by yourself so we should allow the humans and expose them to the danger first!" Dike added, earning a look of interest from the other two. "This is the only way I can persuade the other two…", he thought.

Bell had grabbed a hold of the keys now and was about to leave the room when she stopped and listened in for the final time.

Cathbad stood up and smiled. "You are finally talking in a sane manner, Dike! I will allow them out but have our soldiers keep a close track on them! Especially that pretty boy and the scar-face boy… I do not know why, but those two are the highest concerns for me!"

"YUNO IS NO CONCERN TO YOU!"

The three druids all turned around at the sound of the high-pitched squeal and they saw the Wind Spirit. She had almost escaped but her affection for Yuno wound her into trouble and she couldn't help herself in interfering.

Cathbad, Dike, and Valmoira all stood forwards and towered above the Wind Spirit.

"Oh, if it is not a lost fairy… what are you doing?" Cathbad knelt down and picked her up by the wing.

Bell sweat-dropped and her face went pale. "Um, about that… uh, we would like to lend you our help! Yes, that's why I escaped the prison and found you, Master Cathbad…", she said with a less than honest look to her face.

"She is clearly looking for a way to escape! Kill her!" Valmoira picked up her spear that was in the corner of the room and held it near Bell's throat. "Look at her hands, she has the keys!"

"Wait, do not kill her! If we do then the Golden Dawn will not listen to us!" Dike added, worried about where this might go.

"Relax, I am not killing this puny fly. I believe her so we should get along", Cathbad declared as he stood back up with Bell in his palm. "I shall take those keys back".

"Woah, did I really get away with this? Well, this did lead to Yuno and the others having to help but it's better than sneaking around, right?" Bell thought, giving herself a pat on the back.

The three druids, along with Bell, walked out of the stone building and headed for the prison where the Golden Dawn members were held. They didn't have to travel far as they simply jumped once and landed at the entrance where the others were.


Cathbad went in first, much to the surprise of the Magic Knights. They were not expecting to see him again. After the Master Druid, Valmoira entered second and then Dike at third.

"Did Bell fail? No, she would have told me through the link… if that isn't the case, then where is sh-!" Yuno had began to think the worst but saw a sparkly fairy in the palm of the giant Druid who looked at them in disgust.

"That huge dude caught Bell!" Lucas's eyes widened as he couldn't believe it.

"It is your lucky day, humans. We came to a collective decision and are willing to free you!" Valmoira laughed, putting the set of keys into the keyhole for the prison door and opening it.

"Collective decision… right", Dike sighed. "While a decision has been made, you are not to simply leave this place. No, we are going to have you work for us".

Valmoira walked towards Captain Vangeance and forcefully turned him around. He struggled against her but the woman's strength was too much.

"Quit struggling, Maskie! We are freeing you". The woman untied the ropes with ease and Vangeance let out a large sigh.

"Do not harm any of my squad! Yuno, call Bell back!" Vangeance shouted, prompting Valmoira to get annoyed.

"I said… We. Are. Freeing. You!" Valmoira shouted, grabbing the captain's sqad robe and pushing him into the wall.

All of the members stood up and started running towards him. Alecdora was about to shoulder-barge the woman whilst the others stood in front of their captain.

"Please, not you again", Valmoira rolled her eyes. She stepped backwards and let the Sand mage fall from his momentum, falling onto the cold floor face-first.

"Guys, stop struggling! We worked out a deal!" Bell shouted, giving the others a smile and a thumbs up.

"… So… that's what happened, haha!" Bell said with a huge sweat-drop. She explained the events that led to the druids agreeing to free the Golden Dawn but left out the other important details as it would reveal that she was eavesdropping on the druids the whole time. "I'll leave those for when I'm alone with Yuno and I'm calm enough to talk…", she thought.

The entire Golden Dawn, as they had their ropes and chains removed by Dike, stood with intense poker-faces. Valmoira had left the prison as she was itching for a fight and Alecdora was entertaining her too much. The squad were glad they could finally move around but becoming working prisoners for the druids was something they didn't think they would be doing in their wildest dreams.

"Yeah… great work, Bell". The first words that David could say were ones that were filled with annoyance towards the Wind Spirit.

"Thank you, Bell", Lucas said. The mage said his thanks with sincerity since he was finally free of those shackles. He walked over and petted the spirit much to her discomfort. He didn't even pay heed to the massive Druid who he walked up to.

"Let go of me… Lucas!" Bell shouted, pinching his nose.

"L-Lucas! Are you s-sure you want to be so close to him?" Mimosa warned, stretching her hand out towards the Light mage.

Lucas realised just how close he was when he slowly looked up and saw Cathbad's dark-red eyes look down on him and he carefully took a step back. However, he turned to Mimosa and assured her there was no danger.

"Don't worry, guys. Ki lets me know if there is any danger and I don't sense any!" Lucas waved, still slightly wary.

"Still… be careful! You don't even know these guys", Klaus mentioned, grabbing the mage's arm, and pulling him back.

Cathbad was silent this whole time. However, once he looked at Lucas, he realised just how interesting his mana signature was and that Valmoira was right about him. "You…", he said under his breath but stopped himself.

Valmoira shouted from outside, scraping her spear on the grassy floor. "That is enough chitchat from you humans! You are still our prisoners. Feel lucky that you are able to move around and help us with our task! Now, single fie and get out… oh, and keep that Sand Magic user on a lead since he wants to act like a loyal dog", she giggled. Dike wrapped his waist with the same rope and attached it to his arm as they all left.


The Magic Knights all left the room and just as ordered, they were in single file with Cathbad at the front, Valmoira in the middle, and Dike at the end. William was just behind the huge Druid with Lucas and Yuno behind him, whilst Alecdora was with Dike.

The group walked away from the prison and into the centre where they saw the flowing fountain. Plenty of other druids populated the area as they went about their daily routines such as shopping at the market stalls, collecting water from the fountain, and socialising with each other.

There were Druid children playing around with each other, chasing one another and play fighting. Further on, there were some sort of barracks where arrows, spears, and bows were being made and used by druids who were soldiers.

"Master Cathbad, if you'll allow me to call you that. Just what is it that you want from us? We apologise that we intruded in your land like this, but we needed to for our own mission", William spoke first.

Cathbad kept on walking without looking at the masked mage. He then replied with a slightly disgruntled tone. "Do you see the people here? The kids are happy and the adults are living well. A few months ago, we discovered a peculiar energy source deep in one of our ancient temples and we sent a few of our soldiers down to check on it. Weeks went by and there was no sign of them… do you understand what that means?"

"This energy source is the reason for your missing people… I am sor-", William tried to reply but was cut off.

"Do not say you are sorry. You do not understand our struggles and never will. I asked you this question because I wanted to gauge you as a person and you failed. The meaning of our soldiers not returning means that these kids and adults lost family members and friends as well. The knock-on effect is tremendous and that is why we are telling you Magic Knights of the 'best squad' to check the temple out too", Cathbad responded. However, despite the way he spoke to the Golden Dawn Captain, there was no anger but only sadness.

"I've never seen someone talk to the Captain like that before…", Hamon whispered to Letoile.

"You're right and it's not like we can say anything either because if we do, we'll end up like Alecdora", Letoile replied.

"How is it that you three speak the same language as us?" David asked. "We heard some of the other druids but they speak a different language completely".

"That is because your language was passed down to us through our ancestors. They had learned this language 500 years ago and up until around 200 years ago, every one of us knew this language. It is only since then it has been dying out and replaced with another", Dike explained.

Lucas was walking in stride with Yuno by his side and he was also listening in to the whole conversation. He thought back to what Cathbad said and asked William. "Captain, could this energy source be the Magic Stone?"

"I believe it could be, Lucas. We know that these Magic Stones have some sort of dormant power in them so they could have the possibility to do whatever happened to these poor soldiers", William replied.

With a flutter of her wings, Bell popped out from the grimoire again. This time, she easily appeared as there was nothing holding her back.

"I thought it was the Magic Stone too! Great minds, huh Lucas?" Bell smiled, sitting on top of his head.

"Yeah, yeah", Lucas replied, looking above at the Spirit.

"What was it with our grimoires back there anyway? Why couldn't we access them despite them being near us?" Yuno asked, wanting an answer on to why he had such trouble.

Valmoira replied this time, twirling her spear in front of her. "That was the work of our Magic Item Research Facility! If you look to the right, you can see the building where they are made at".

The group turned to the right as they walked through town and saw a light-grey coloured building. It was made from marble that had lost its colour over the years and many cracks and moss had started growing on its surface. The building was a large square with a tower on the top that had a rotating, yellow light flickering in it.

"Research facility? That's sort of like our back in the Capital. I didn't think-", Mimosa started to talk but Valmoira turned her head in annoyance.

"What? You did not think poor, old druids like us could have something as advanced as this? That we are the same as the people you discriminate against in the Forsaken Realm?" Valmoira hissed, a vein popping out on the side of her head.

"N-no, that isn't what I meant!" Mimosa shouted back, tired of them putting words in her mouth.

"Oh, so you have guts? I like that", Valmoira grinned. "We have actually had this facility for many hundreds of years. I believe it was year during the reign of your beloved first Wizard King", she replied as she switched topic back to what was asked.

"The first Wizard King?!" Lucas asked, surprised.

"This kid is weird…", the soldier thought as she continued. "Yep, it was during the time when he frequently made his visits here, sharing his knowledge of his Magic Items. We were so intrigued by them that we made our own. Those magic-cancelling shackles are simply the efforts of years of research".

"What was that voice outside of the forest then with the massive snake?" Mimosa asked.

"That was a new sound system we were trying out. It seemed to work and it let us know that you were coming, but I am not a fan of it. It is too loud and it goes against who we are as Druids. Technology and stuff like that is something for you humans, not for forest dwellers like us", Valmoira replied.

"Hey, I thought the sound system was good! We can never go wrong with advancing our own Magic Items. The one thing I hated was that you killed Monslak, our pet snake…", Dike added with a frown.

"Sorry about that…", the mages thought in unison.


The group of humans and druids had walked outside of where the townsfolk were and made their way to the ancient temple that Cathbad was talking about. It slowly came into view as they went across the hill.

It was a large building that spanned thousands of dark-oak trees in width. In terms of height, it reached all the way into the 'sky' and was supported by multiple, large columns that gave it structure. The colour scheme of the temple used to be a shining white but was now reduced to a mouldy yellow colour. The shining light in the sky reflected off the marble structure and caused the many insects and birds that were resting to scurry away from the intense brightness. On the top, and in the centre, there was a large statue with a set of two wings and four horns on its head. Its arms were missing as they had seemingly broken off due to the many years it was up there for.

"There is the temple. It is named the 'Temple of Valchronos'". Cathbad led the way to entrance which was just a gaping hole in the centre.

"Valchronos? It kind of reminds me of the Wizard King's name", Klaus pointed out.

"Novachrono. Could there be a connection?" William muttered.

"We are not sure who or what Valchronos was but it is something the Druids of old worshipped. We do not worship this Valchronos though as we have never seen him before. Our ancestors used to tell us stories about this certain deity but they all became lost as ages went past", Cathbad explained.

"It is said Valchronos used a very special type of magic that had never been seen before during its time. This deity had the power to do anything… that was the only piece of information we know now", Dike spoke up.

Valmoira walked to the front of the group and broke the single-file structure they had. "Can we stop with all this talk and send them in? I want to see what happens", she smirked.

"Hey! We're not your guinea pigs for you to experiment with!" Alecdora shouted, finally having been released from his lead.

"Oh, but you are. See, you guys are the prisoners here and we are the ones that instruct you. You cannot even overpower us with your measly magic abilities so what we say is what happens", she retorted.

After the toxic interaction was through, Cathbad explained what happened in the temple once more and instructed the Golden Dawn to go into the temple to see what happened.

"Dike, Valmoira, and I will follow you in, separate ourselves and follow each of your groups through the temple. Do not forget that we do not trust you so we will keep our eye on you. There is another soldier that is waiting for us inside the temple and will follow another group. The mission is to find the energy source and contain it, whilst also finding the other soldiers who never came back", Cathbad folded his huge arms.

"Make your own pairs or groups of three and meet us inside", Dike ordered and the three druids left the Golden Dawn as they headed in.

"Pairs, hm? Lucas, what do you say about us teaming up?" Mimosa asked, turning her body to the Light mage.

"That could be good! Light Magic and Plant Magic might work well together if we have to fight", Lucas added.

"Great!" Mimosa replied with a smile.

However, Yuno was looking on and had something to say. "Hey, Lucas. I want to pair up with you".

"Sorry, Yuno. I already agreed with Mimosa. We could go in a three though?" Lucas thought of a solution and presented it.

"Sorry, but there's something I want to talk to you about. I'd rather it just be us", Yuno spoke with no hint of including Mimosa.

"Yuno-", Lucas tried to speak but Mimosa interrupted.

"Hey, it's fine! It seems to be quite important and besides, you two are our strongest despite being rookies so I'm sure you'll be fine!" She waved and smiled. The Vermillion headed towards Letoile and Klaus instead.

Lucas frowned. "Yuno, what was that about?" He looked at the Wind mage and paused. Yuno had a look of seriousness about him and the Light mage thought he would find out about his reasoning later on.

As the Golden Dawn made their groups, they headed inside.

Captain Vangeance was with Alecdora who joined up with Cathbad.

Lucas and Yuno were in a pair who were with Dike.

Mimosa, Klaus, and Letoile were in a three who would be with a different soldier.

David and Hamon were together who would be followed by Valmoira.

"Okay, humans. Are you ready to go?" Cathbad asked although he wasn't going to take no for an answer. As he asked, the Golden Dawn all replied with a nod.

"That scar-faced kid has Time Magic. I can feel it, so I wonder what he will do as he progresses through this temple? He will surely come across some… interesting things", Cathbad eyed the Dual mage up before heading in his direction.


NOTES:

The Forgotten Forest arc makes an advance! A lot of dialogue but I needed it to set up the area they were in. It is a completely new place after all.

Exploration for the energy source begins. Could it be the Magic Stone, or could it be something else?

We will see more of the Druids in the next chapter since I want to focus on them much more. There is also the perfect opportunity to do so as they head off into their own groups.