Sloane the Slothful

“Woah, we’re outside?” asked Dahlian, looking up at the afternoon sky.

“No, we’re still in the rift instance,” I said. “It’s normal for the environment to change drastically like this.”

“Looks like you did your homework, Haruma,” said Florathea. “Then can you tell us where we are?”

“This place is… Oakheart’s Enchanted Forest. It’s normally hidden from outsiders unless they were invited by elves or other forest creatures.”

“Correct. Full marks for you.”

“How about you quit toying with us and tell us what you’re really after?” asked Ashrenne, stepping in front of us.

“Whoa, Boss, aren’t you still bleedin’ out?” asked Dahlian.

She patted her sides, where burn marks covered the wound. “I’ve already cauterized it while you were all talking. I told you I’m fine now.”

“Doesn’t it still hurt?!”

“Damn right it does.”

“Then just take a break! We can handle this!”

She scratched her head and looked around. “Well, if you say so then.” She promptly sat back down and crossed her legs again. “Good luck, you three. I’ll jump in if things go south.”

The orb giggled. “Ashrenne, I’ve always admired that laid-back attitude of yours.”

“Speak for yourself. Also, don’t act like we’re actually on friendly terms here, dirty husband killer.”

“Would you rather I act all mocking and arrogant then? I wouldn’t mind if that’s what you want.”

“Nobody said that! Also, you totally acted like that during the war!”

“And you also acted as a wannabe cringe hero. We’re not that much different, you know?”

“Cut that crap. No, we’re not.”

While those two briefly bickered, Dahlian and I cautiously peered at the elf, who’d been staring at the tree sapling in the middle of the grove the whole time.

“Sloane? You good, pal?” Dahlian called out.

Sloane chewed his lip and trembled.

“Hey, what’s gotten you shaken up so badly?” He glanced at him and the sapling and curiously approached it. “It’s just some tiny plant—”

The elf widened his eyes in horror, and in the blink of an eye, he snatched Dahlian by the arm and aggressively yanked him back. “No! Stay away from it!” he uncharacteristically shrieked.

“Woah?! What’s with you all of a sudden?!”

“S-Sloane…” I cautiously drew my sword. “Is that tree… based on your sapling familiar?”

Sloane turned to me and threw me a look I thought I would never see from him: anger, frustration, despair, panic, and confusion all mixed into one distraught expression. It was such a heartwrenching expression, and yet, it was the first time I’d ever seen such emotion from him.

“Haruma,” he muttered. “In your visions, did we ever… see my past like this?”

“N-no,” I reluctantly answered. “I… none of us got to know your past.”

“Then we must be living in the worst possible scenario…”

I twitched a brow. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Can you turn back time and avoid this then?”

“What? No, there’s no turning back from this. I’m not a time traveler. And besides! Isn’t it about time we learn something new about you?”

“Yeah! I wanna know too!” said Dahlian.

“No!”

Dahlian and I both flinched.

Sloane clutched his face, his pained expression gradually shifting into a threatening glare and sending shivers down my spine. “You can’t,” he hissed. “I… I-I don’t want to… remember… to see it all happen again.”

“Well, that’s too bad,” Florathea interrupted.

A low rumble crept through the scene, and we frantically looked around for the source, only to find out it came from directly underneath. A cage of roots sprouted from the ground and ensnared each of us except Sloane, who watched in terror as the sapling at the center rapidly grew on its own.

The sapling groaned and twisted its stems, growing into a normal tree with several orange fruits hanging around for only a spare moment.

“Ci… Citrine…” Sloane sputtered, his eyes trembling.

As if reshaping itself to mock him, its trunk faded into a gray hue, its leaves turned brown and wrinkly, and its oranges decomposed and reshaped into something horrifically graphic.

“Wh-what the hell?” Dahlian sputtered, gripping his cage. “Are those… bodies?!”

“They’re… dead elves… Hurk!” I cupped my mouth and retched, and Dahlian did the same. Ashrenne widened her eyes, speechless.

The person who took it the worst was obviously the elf himself, already collapsed on his knees.

“What’s this? You’re breaking down already?” asked Florathea. “We didn’t even get to the good part yet.”

“Ugh… What do you even want from me?”

“Nothing. You simply happened to be unlucky enough to pique my curiosity.”

“That’s just another way of saying that you wanted to bully the quiet guy to get a reaction out of him!” I shouted.

“Why does that sound so oddly specific?” asked Dahlian.

“Uh, don’t worry about it.”

“Riiight… Well, whatever! Let us out already!” Dahlian tried punching and kicking his way out of his cage, but the roots wouldn’t even budge. Ashrenne pretty much sat back and relaxed inside hers, whereas I clung to the bars of my own cage and hopelessly watched everything unfold before me.

Dahlian glanced over in my direction and waved an arm. “Psst, Haruma!” he whispered.

“What?” I whispered back.

“Just do the thing!”

“What thing?”

“Y’know, the thing you did back then!” He nudged his head at the bars and did a running motion.

My mind clicked.

“Hell no,” I grumbled, squinting at him. “Never again.”

“But you’re the only one who can get outta here and help him out!”

Ugh, he had a point, but this cage was too narrow to activate that out-of-control dodge teleportation. Not that I was willing to use it anyway, but still, couldn’t there be a less chaotic way to phase myself out of here?

Maybe… just maybe… if I could concentrate hard enough…

I squeezed my eyes shut and pondered deeply, imagining myself slipping through these bars like how those anime protagonists would imagine their magic flowing through them or whatever to get a power-up. It was pretty much my only idea at pulling off a miracle, and yet…

“Hup!” I headbutted the bars with a soft thud. The roots rattled for a bit, and that was it.

Dahlian blinked at me, and I stared back at him with a swollen forehead. Ashrenne sighed and facepalmed.

Our little moment of clownery unfortunately ended with another rumble. The decaying tree shot out its branches, and we all staggered around and clung tightly onto the bars as it hooked onto our cages and lifted us off the ground.

“It wouldn’t be as fun if people are left out, right?” asked Florathea. “Don’t you agree, Sloane?”

“No! Don’t drag them into this!” shouted the elf.

Ignoring him completely, the branches carried us right above the tree and left us dangling there, hopelessly succumbing to an unexpected torment attacking our noses.

“Holy hell, this tree freakin’ stiiiinks!” Dahlian screeched, squeezing his nose.

“Oh geez, hurk!” Ashrenne gagged.

“Eugh… I-I think I’m gonna throw up again,” I croaked, cupping my mouth. “H-help…”

Sloane pulled out a dagger and chucked it at one of the branches dangling us like bait, but it casually ricocheted off.

“What are you doing?” asked Florathea. “You should know more than anyone here that physical attacks won’t work on sapling familiars.”

He ever so silently pulled out another blade nevertheless, staring down at the tree.

“Or could it be… that you’re still afraid of using your magic?”

That finally got him to stiffen up for a brief moment before resuming his walk. “I don’t need magic to cut down a tree.”

“Prove it.”

Dozens of tree roots shot out of the ground and soared high into the sky before diving straight toward him. He swiftly dodged out of the way and swung his blade, but once again, it bounced right off.

He clicked his tongue and leaped out of the way again before the roots twisted and zoomed in his direction, resulting in a speedy chase around the grove. Though no matter how fast those roots went, Sloane sprinted faster.

Meanwhile, Dahlian and I continued trying to break our way out of our respective cages, doing no more than barely shaking our confinements around.

“Don’t bother,” said Ashrenne. “It won't break no matter how hard you hit ‘em.”

“Can’t you use your flames?” I asked.

“I can, but they keep regrowing too quickly, and my guts still hurt to go all out right now.”

“Damn it. Alright, fine.” I relaxed my shoulders and decided to spectate Sloane, but before I could even approach the bars…

“Haruma, behind you!” Dahlian shouted.

Before I could react, a massive thorn zoomed out of nowhere and pierced straight through my back.

“...Eh?” I croaked, choking out blood.

I collapsed on my knees, my senses rapidly fading away.

The last thing I saw before a green light suddenly flashed the scene was Sloane’s look of total despair… and a magic rune appearing and expanding under his feet.