While the caravan was setting up the camp, I went deep into the forest where the witch supposedly resided. This forest was only a few days away from my hometown, or rather, what was left of it. I was the only survivor of the disease, so I had no reason to go back there.
The way to the witch wasn’t exactly dangerous, but it was still hard to get there. There was a thick fog the closer she got, and aside from it getting dark, the treetops blocked any and all light. Still though, something inside her gave her the feeling she was getting closer.
I woke up from what seemed to be a faint light. It couldn’t be sunlight, as there weren’t any windows, so it had to be something else. I was curious, so I got up, put on my glasses, and looked around.
Em was still sleeping. As I didn’t want to disturb her, I quietly exited the bed. I looked at what seemed to be a skylight. At night, it would radiate a low bluish light, akin to what you’d get on Earth when there’s only the light that gets reflected off the moon. This time, though, it simulated the morning sun. It was impressive how close it got to the real deal.
Despite not having eaten anything at all since the previous day, I wasn’t feeling peckish, which was odd. Still, even though I wasn’t hungry, I still wanted to eat something. As there wasn’t anything better to do, I decided to explore the temple a bit.
There were quite a few rooms we haven’t explored yet, however, these rooms seemed to be locked, with no means of opening them.
So far, we knew that there were at least three floors. On the ground floor, or what we referred to as the ground floor, we had the big floating sphere. We still weren’t sure what its purpose was, but we’d soon find out. Next, the first floor had the balcony and the bedroom. Finally, the basement floor consisted of one big room and a door that didn’t seem to open.
This room was really peculiar. There was a big ring drawn on the floor, with patterns. It seemed like something you’d see in a fantasy story. I wasn’t sure what its purpose was or if it actually did anything at all.
As I got deeper, the fog began to clear up. It was dark, save for the few fluorescent plants. The only source of light I had was a small vial containing a liquid that would emit a light when shaken. This light would remain for a long period, though with each use the duration would decrease. For now, it was.
I was close, I could feel it. There was a certain pressure the closer I got, and any sound the forest made would soon make way for a silence. There were now a lot more fluorescent plants, which finally allowed me to properly see.
After a while, even the trees had a glow, bright enough to lighten up the area, allowing me to see even without aid. Everywhere I looked, I could see butterflies. Most were resting, but I could see a few fluttering around.
The path eventually led me to a clearing. Right there, at the center, was the shape of the human figure, covered in butterflies. As I approached the figure, the butterflies began to fly away, until I could finally see the face of the Butterfly Witch.
She was beautiful, and even though she looked nothing like her, I was sure she was her.
It wasn’t long before Em woke up. I was sitting near the sphere, just looking at it. There wasn’t anything else to do.
“Hey,” Em said.
“Good morning,” I replied.
“Has anything changed?”
“About the sphere? Not much, I guess.”
I could see that there was something on her mind. I didn’t really mean to, but I accidentally began to read her thoughts. She definitely did sense something.
“Are you…” Em said.
“Am I…” I replied. “Oh wait, I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. It seems our minds are still connected.”
There was a smile on her face, and my heart began to race.
“But did you feel it as well?” Em said.
“Yeah, I guess I do,” I replied. “Seems like the tree is slowly healing. What caused it, though?”
“I guess this sphere has something to do with it.”
“I’m confident it’s that, but the question is, what is this sphere exactly?”
I got closer to the sphere, and Em joined me. As we approached the altar, the sphere slowly descended, and we were able to put our hands on it.
The sphere was cold, though at the same time, a warmth emanated from it. The very same energy that we felt throughout the tree was also contained in this round stone, except more concentrated. It was almost like it was the heart of the tree.
“It’s a dungeon core,” I said.
There were rumors about the Butterfly Witch, an old woman hiding in the woods, giving blessings to those she would find worthy. It was even told that she could bring life. There was only one condition. You’d have to answer the question correctly.
“Greetings,” the witch said.
I dropped down to one knee and lowered my head.
“I’d like to apologize for my intrusion,” I said.
“Please rise,” the witch said, as she walked towards me, and I did as I was told. “I know why you’re here. Well, it’s not a simple task, bringing back something that has been lost will take quite some energy. It isn’t something I’ll do for just anybody, and it’s not like you can’t live without it.”
“Please,” I said. “I understand, but please, I beg you.”
“Do you understand the toll?”
“I understand.”
The witch sighed. “Very well. Like I said, I wouldn’t do it for just anybody. All I want to know is the answer to my question. What is my name?”
Out of all the things she could have asked, she asked this one, the one where nobody knew the answer of. She was only known as the Butterfly Witch, not a single mention of her actual name.
And yet, deep down in my heart, I knew what it was.
“Em… Emily.”
She looked into my eyes, and I could see something familiar about her, yet I wasn’t sure what it was. It seemed though as if she did recognise me from somewhere.
“That is correct,” the witch said. “Thank you.”
She smiled at me, then walked over towards me. Then she stretched out her hand, touching my belly.
A butterfly landed on her hand, and it began to glow, which extended to her hand, and eventually my own body. It was a strange sensation, yet I wasn’t afraid.
As the glow disappeared, the butterfly fluttered away again, and the witch took her hands off my belly.
“Miss witch,” I said.
“Please,” the witch said. “Call me how you used to call me.”
Her choice of words were confusing, yet I was able to understand what she meant.
“Em,” I said. “Is it done?”
“It is done,” she replied. “You’ll be able to conceive again. Now go back, and live your life in happiness.”
I headed back out, but before I did, I turned around.
“It was nice seeing you again,” I said.
“It was nice to see you too, Gui.”
“You mean like in those manga?” Em said.
“Yes, exactly!” I excitedly replied.
“So, what, we can create dungeons now?”
“Even better, we can bring back some life to this tree.”
Em was pouting and said, “Lame.”
“Well, at this point there’s not really a use to building dungeons, right?”
“But what if people come in and try to invade our place?”
She had a point, but at the same time, there were other issues we had to address.
“I don’t think it’ll happen soon,” I said. “First of all, we don’t know how many people are still alive in this world, and second, we’ll deal with it when it’s time. Right now, though, there’s nothing really to protect. All we have is this temple, nothing else.”
“I guess you’re right,” Em said. “But what are we going to do?”
“Well, we still don’t have food, and since we also have no way to cook our food, maybe we should grow some fruits.”
“That actually doesn’t sound too bad. How are we going to do it, though?”
“That’s actually a good question. Like, generally, in manga, there’s some sort of menu or list of items that can be purchased with dungeon points or something.”
“Maybe that’s also how it works here.”
“Yeah, but this isn’t a video game, or a manga.”
“Then how do we control it?”
“I have no idea, actually.”
We went silent, and were deep in thoughts for a moment, when suddenly, something popped up in front of Em. Something that seemed like a user interface for a game, except there was just a panel with the word “orange tree” on it.
“What happened?” I asked. “What did you do?”
“I don’t know,” Em said. “I just imagined myself picking an orange tree from an item select screen.”
“Okay, but why specifically an orange tree?”
“I just felt like eating oranges.”
“So, how do we place it?”
“I have no idea.”
Em tried to touch it, but nothing really seemed to happen. Then I had an idea. I focused on the panel and it vanished. In its place, though, was a holographic image of the shape of a tree that just happened to have oranges in it. It wasn’t so much that I knew what an orange tree looked like, I just imagined a holographic representation which I could just direct myself.
“Is that how it works?” Em said.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Let’s discuss this later, after we’ve placed the tree.”
We went outside, to find a suitable spot. Em found one, somewhere near the entrance. Just as I thought about placing the tree there, the holographic representation was replaced with an actual tree.
Em looked at the tree in amazement.
“So wait, how does it work exactly?” Em said.
“Honestly, I have no clue,” I said. “Or rather, I only have an idea. Like, the way this works, I think, is you think of something, either in words or an image or whatever. Once you have a clear image of what you want, you’ll need to imagine yourself actually placing it. The method I chose was based on several sandbox games I used to play.”
“So wait, can I do it as well?”
“I mean, why not?”
I could see a hesitation in her eyes, but she was set on doing it as well. As she prepared herself, the same panel popped up in front of her, though this time, it was smaller, and a small green square moved around the ground. Eventually, the square disappeared, and in its place was another orange tree.
“It’s larger than I expected,” Em said.
“I think it’s fine,” I replied.
“Yeah, I think I like your technique more. I like to know what I’m placing.”
We finally arrived back at Nassar’s village, where it was time to finally bring him home. The caravan stopped at the town square, and after a while, and after a while an older lady rushed towards us.
“Where’s Nassar!?” she said. “Please tell me he’s okay!”
There were tears in her eyes. Apparently she didn’t get the message in time.
“Ma’am, please calm down,” I said.
“Don’t call her ma’am,” I heard Nassar say from the back of the caravan. “She’s going to be your mother-in-law.”
“I didn’t agree to that yet.”
As Nassar exited the caravan, his mother rushed towards him, and the both of them shared a tearful hug.
“Mother,” Nassar said. “This is Melika, she’s my fiancée, though she’s probably still mad at me for pretending I was actually dead.”
“It’s not what stopping your heart was meant for,” I said. “You could have actually killed yourself, especially with the bleeding.”
It was true that I was still mad at him for tricking me into marrying him, though truth be told, I probably still would have ended up doing it anyway. It was just that, at the time, I thought he was going to die.
I was glad I didn’t actually kill any of my own men, I merely incapacitated them. Not that it mattered much in the end, as they all got executed for treason anyway. I still would have felt bad if I killed people just because one person pretended to be dying.
I looked at Nassar. Even though he hadn’t fully recovered yet, he was in high spirits. At that time, I wasn’t sure if I really loved Nassar. But seeing Nassar like this, it made me smile, it made me happy inside. Nassar made me happy.