A night breeze with a lavender-like scent tickled the skin and uplifted happiness, but sleep time was over. Human night vision is better here, and the quintet made their way through the plains.
After a while, the grasses began to recede as if they had reached a seashore of greenery, and in the distance, a group of hideous birds appeared, human-height, with black feathers covering only their faces and hands, which resembled human hands. Their tail and face were a compressed dinosaur face merged with a bird's beak. Their number was six.
They stood there staring at the quintet. Martinus drew his sword, and they fled, and the quintet continued on their way.
The light of dawn broke, and there appeared to be a forest ahead—a forest with trees hundreds of meters high, their trunks black and their leaves indigo, wrapped in a fog as if reserved inside it. Suddenly, Lusihar pushed Farid away, and out of nowhere, a huge black bird struck Lusihar with incredible speed, a speed that threw the rest away.
Lusihar's face hit the ground after the bird grabbed her shoulders. Blood flowed from her nose, and it flew away with her. Then she spoke, saying:
"Don't worry about me. I will be back. Continue on your way."
The quartet felt the danger after seeing the bird flying away towards the north until it disappeared from sight, and they had no choice but to continue walking.
delta sigma said:
"This is the Echo Forest, and its air contains a substance with negative mass—that substance predicted by several theories like General Relativity. It has no charge, and this results, first, in a decrease in gravity until it is almost the same strength as Earth's gravity, and second, it has no charge, which makes it non-reactive and only affects gravitationally in this place.
You may notice some strange things, like an echo of your voice, hallucinations, abnormal vision, strange colors, or you might see clouds melting and dripping, and liquid stones—all are effects of the severely distorted spacetime there."
As they entered, Farid began to feel as if his heart was soaring with joy, and the tightness in his chest gradually disappeared. He felt the air like a cold, refreshing juice flowing through his veins. He began to hear a sound like the sound of water, as if billions of cups filled with ice were being poured, as if children were playing in the sea, as if the singing of mermaids, as if a very wet sound. Farid began to stumble frequently and faced difficulty walking. delta sigma spoke after seeing the smile forming on Farid's face, and her voice came several times, rising before he saw her mouth move and leaving a receding echo after she finished:
"Don't be fooled by this place. Your body here is like dough. If you stay for a long time, it will be distorted to the point where you cannot leave here. We will change our shapes after we leave."
Then she rushed towards him, grabbed his hands, and with a swift spin, threw him soaring into the air at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour while he screamed. She quickly followed with long strides, and Martinus and Brihan followed her. Then each of them started flying. Martinus faced some problems with balance and fell frequently until he learned the correct technique.
Farid collided with some trees and faced difficulty controlling his rotation, and a feeling of dizziness crept into him.
"Heeelp!"
He grabbed a tree, striking his body against it forcefully until he felt pain, but he hugged it until the dizziness left him. Then he pushed himself to collide with the ground, grasped the weeds, and pushed himself with both hands as if he were floating next to the ground. Then he became excited and pushed himself upwards, accelerating past the trunks and tops of the trees, while the rest ran on the trees upside down and sometimes collided with each other. Brihan said:
"Is this the gravity of planet Earth?!
Gravity is almost non-existent. You must be enjoying yourselves."
"I wish! Rather, your planet is impossible to exist in our realm and is supposed to be a star... Wait, we've arrived!
[Brihan grabbed a tree trunk and turned, redirecting her kinetic energy towards the ground, and Martinus clung to the ground weeds]
Farid, stop! Get back here!"
Farid was somersaulting in the air, rising to the low clouds that looked like melting gray cheese.
Brihan said:
"You are going too far. Come back."
His shape began to distort and twist. He entered a cloud and came out wet, and his body had turned into twisted spaghetti, a sight that became more distorted the further he moved from their view.
"I-c-a-n't s-t-o-p."
delta sigma took off with her wings and caught him. His appearance became clearer the closer he got until she brought him down, and he stood like an astronaut and said:
"That was fun... Now, where is your house?"
"My house is this foggy shape between the trees."
delta sigma lifted a thin trunk of a climbing plant. The scene became clear. It was a somewhat large house, appearing to be wooden, with three floors, and as expected, its color was white, as if made of wax. The most prominent feature was the presence of a place for windows, but it was closed. The house was windowless, a closed block.
The quartet entered the house, which was dark inside with no light. The vision became clear when the roof opened with external light in a strange way. The interior consisted of empty corridors without any aesthetic sense, while the rooms were filled with piles of random objects, and in one of the rooms, there was a white organic machine pulsing like a living organism. delta sigma said when she saw their surprise:
"This house is made of me, and in that room are the organs that make this house alive."
To prove it, she entered the ground, and her face floated and moved across the floor. Then her features changed, and she rushed off. The quartet tried to follow her running, but she locked the path, which merged into a solid wall. Then, after seconds, she returned, having come out of the ground, opened the path, and advanced towards a room filled with strange and broken random objects, and said:
"We must find a transparent bottle containing colored, overlapping shapes in a way that looks incomprehensible. It's almost the size of Farid's head. Search there, and I will search here."
Farid was annoyed but happy because she was also happy and was now speaking with higher confidence. They scattered, searching for it. Farid spoke:
"delta , why did you lock the path earlier?"
"I wanted to hide something I am not proud of, and please don't ask such questions."
Martinus found it, and delta sigma continued:
"Be careful not to open it so the fog doesn't come out. I also found the wires. Let's get out of here. I am excited to regain my full power."
delta sigma continued searching to find something that looked like a silver ice needle, 30 centimeters long, with a small handle of the same material at its head, and she hid it.
The quartet exited. The house opened from below, and everything fell. The house wrapped upwards and then compressed until it turned into a small red ring floating in the air. It went towards delta sigma and floated above her head like a black crown composed of four hands with two thumbs, each thumb wrapping around the thumb next to it.
"Now I am 100% fine and stronger than before. Did you hear that, Global Alliance for Paranormal Studies spy?"
Brihan replied calmly:
"I won't ask how you knew about me, but from your unsurprised faces, it seems Lusihar told you."
delta sigma said:
"You are the most unsuccessful spy I have ever seen—a spy everyone knows is a spy. Let's burn these things and leave here for your safety."
Lusihar in Madalena knocked on the door of Room 102. Inside, Lusihar heard a sound of panic and the crashing of objects and dishes until the sound of running footsteps reached the door, which then opened slowly. The glimpse of a strange woman's eyes crept out. She saw Lusihar, then opened the door. It was only Dima, who said to Tiffany, who was hiding behind the door:
"It's only Lusihar."
Tiffany was wearing only her black underwear and short shorts of the same color, and it was almost to hide something that shouldn't be seen. Tiffany was holding a kitchen knife.
"Hello, Lusihar. Come in. If you weren't Lusihar, you would have signed out, heheh... Sit down. I'll get some welcome drink."
Lusihar sat next to the mummified corpse of Mazen. Tiffany had cleaned and repaired him for her perverse use. She tried to touch him, and his flesh was soft as if he had just died, and his corpse was not slack but was like a doll. She extended his arm, and it remained fixed. Meanwhile, she heard the sound of Tiffany arguing with her maid about who would get the drink until Tiffany returned to sit next to Lusihar, and the latter said:
"You are six hundred years old and still doing these childish things?"
"Did you come to guide me, you devil, heheh? How are your adventures with the Ninth?"
"He's a big coward. Right now, I'm supposed to be in the Western Plains having an adventure with him."
"Heheh, and what took you there? Did you leave him hanging out with an illusion? It would be funny if that were the case."
"No, I took the opportunity and ran away. It's just that I wanted to visit an old friend."
"Oooo, don't tell me!
[Tiffany shouted joyfully, saying]
Dima! Saleen is back! Prepare the biggest celebratory feast!"
"Yes, Ma'am!"
"Shhh, you cursed one, I haven't returned."
Tiffany's eyebrows and mouth curved in sarcastic, childish anger, saying:
"Dima, don't bother yourself."
Lusihar sat quietly thinking, then said:
"I am very weak. I need an effective offensive ability."
"Did you see me programming spells?!"
"I'm just asking, as you usually always find a solution."
"Alright, I have one of the codes... Wait, I'll get it."
Tiffany searched for a long time until she returned:
"Try this. I got it from someone. I think it's unused. I don't need it. It's a crimson fire spell. I think it suits your hair color."
"Fire! What a consuming ability."
"That's all I have. Take it or give it back."
Dima came, preparing a hot welcome drink and some cake, saying:
"Unfortunately, revered Lady Lusihar, I was eager to go on an adventure with you before I die. Tiffany always tells me about your adventures."
Lusihar replied:
"My dear Dima, that was in the past. This old Tiffany is the one who doesn't mature. By the way, Dima, you look very young."
Dima tried to respond, but Tiffany raised her hand, and Dima understood that she had to be silent.
Tiffany cleared the table of the card game and poured the hot welcome drink and handed Lusihar her glass. Lusihar drank it with great pleasure from its suitable warmth and delicious taste and said:
"Blessed are your hands, Dima. I always love what you cook.
[Dima thanked her with an innocent smile]
Oh, by the way, what were you doing, Tiffany, before you opened the door? I heard a noise inside.
[Lusihar saw something coming out of Tiffany's short shorts]
Well, don't tell me... It's not you, Dima."
"No."
Tiffany replied nervously:
"Rather, I am conducting a scientific experiment. Besides, I don't do this to my servants, as I am not a monster. Rather, my servants are loyal and respectable, and if they were not loyal, we would have other words. Isn't that right, Dima?"
"In both cases, I love it, and I love serving you, my great Lady."
"That is the talk I love to hear. When we return, remind me to give you a promotion and a pension."
"I will try to serve you for the rest of my life, my revered Lady. I have no one but you."
"That's touching. I'm going to cry."
"Before you cry, I want to ask you a favor."
"Th-This is why you came? No friendship or anything?"
"Listen, Tiffany, come to the palace as usual, and you will understand what I want."
"What is this strange request? And what if I wasn't smart enough?"
"You will know, and you will love it. Just remember Brihan's name, as she is your target. I say this because I won't be able to do anything, and I don't want to interfere and cause problems for myself. Just you do the mission, and don't worry, it is safe."
"Oooo, alright, I think I understand."
Tiffany's two strong guards entered, carrying some purchases, and Lusihar stood up, wanting to leave. John said:
"Revered Lusihar, what a pleasant surprise."
"Hello, John and Jonathan. How are you and how are your family and relatives?"
John continued:
"Very well, revered Lady.
[While Jonathan nodded his head confirming]
Do you want to leave so quickly? We brought some good food for tonight's feast, and you are the guest of honor."
"Thank you, I appreciate that, but I'm sorry, I have to go. You probably saw that big bird outside. It's waiting for me, and I have a somewhat long journey ahead, and I'm late."
"What a shame... We'll see you later, revered Lady."
Lusihar mounted the bird and left.
Tiffany said:
"Shall we milk some oxidized adrenaline for you?"
Everyone answered:
"Yeees, come on, come on..."
Tiffany closed the door with her fingertips and a cheerful, innocent face.