Chapter 34: The Hidden Spring (2)
The closer they got to the nearly dried-up spring, the more Maeve noticed the darkness around them growing thicker.
Maybe it was because so many dead trees still stood in the area. Their large, tangled branches stretched overhead, blocking much of the moonlight and leaving the forest wrapped in deep shadows.
"Hey, Ikarus, do you remember how we used to play around here?" Cerus suddenly asked.
He tilted his head back, looking up at the dry branches above them. "I remember some of these trees still had leaves back then."
Ikarus looked around the forest as well before letting out a soft chuckle. "I remember," he said. "Mother used to punish us whenever we wandered too far. She’d make us stand on one foot for hours and keep telling us to be good boys like Axan."
Cerus clicked his tongue and shook his head several times. "It’s not my fault I’m not as boring as Axan," he complained. "That guy seriously needs some fun in his life. He barely smiles. Sometimes it gives me an ick."
Talking badly about someone behind their back wasn’t exactly something people should learn from, but it seemed to be a very common thing among siblings.
One moment, they would be teasing each other mercilessly and acting as if they couldn’t stand one another. Then, in the very next moment, they would be laughing together or protecting each other without hesitation.
It was a strange kind of relationship, but somehow, it worked.
She used to be like that with her late sister too.
They had argued over the smallest things, annoyed each other countless times, and said things they probably shouldn’t have. But no matter how much they bickered, they had always cared about each other.
A faint sadness settled in her chest. If her sister were still alive, maybe those years wouldn’t have felt so lonely.
Maybe she would have had someone to complain to, someone to laugh with, and someone who understood her without needing an explanation.
Maybe... things would have been different.
But oh well, some things could never be changed, and all Maeve could do was accept that bitter truth and move on.
Pushing those thoughts aside, she turned her attention back to the path ahead. While Ikarus and Cerus continued gossiping about Axan, Maeve’s gaze wandered to the tree trunks surrounding them, and suddenly something about them caught her eye.
Tiny specks of light were scattered across the bark, like bits of glitter clinging to the surface. Every now and then, one of them would blink softly before fading away again.
Maeve slowed her breathing and looked more closely. "Why do they look like that?" she murmured, pointing at one of the trunks that gave off a faint sparkle. "I can see them blinking."
Both Ikarus and Cerus turned their heads toward the tree she was pointing at. They exchanged glances before suddenly chuckling.
"Oh!" Cerus suddenly exclaimed. "Now I remember why we used to come here all the time!"
His eyes brightened with nostalgia. "It was because these trees used to sparkle!"
Maeve tilted her head slightly, causing it to rest against Ikarus’ chest. "Sparkle?" she asked. "How?"
"Do you want to take a closer look?" Ikarus asked.
Maeve nodded slowly.
After a moment of searching, Ikarus walked toward a nearby tree that still had many blinking lights scattered across its trunk.
"Our mother used to tell us that these trees produced a special kind of sap," Ikarus explained. "The sap could glow. Back then, they didn’t just blink like little dots. The entire trees would glow in the dark."
His gaze lingered on the dying trees around them. "But now that they’re dead, the sap is slowly disappearing too. These tiny blinking lights are just the last traces of what used to be here."
Even without reading his mind, she could guess what he was thinking. It wasn’t really the trees he was mourning.
Actually, the trees were simply reminders, reminders of happier days and reminders of a time when his parents were still alive.
"They must have been really pretty back then," Maeve said softly. "I wish I could’ve seen them."
Ikarus smiled, but there was sadness behind it. "They were beautiful," he replied. "And I wish you could’ve seen them too."
For a while, nobody spoke. The only sounds were the distant rustling of dry branches and their footsteps against the ground.
Then Maeve noticed something strange. "The colors..." she murmured. She narrowed her eyes and looked around more carefully. "The colors are different."
She pointed toward one of the blinking lights. "That one is green." Then she turned her head toward another tree. "And this one..." She paused for a moment. "Pink, I think."
Cerus’ smile widened at once, and unlike Ikarus, who usually kept things short, he started explaining with obvious excitement.
"That’s also one of the reasons these trees are so special!" he said. "Trees with the same color never grow right next to each other. At the very least, there has to be one tree with a different color between them."
He grabbed Ikarus’ arm and pulled him forward. "See?" Cerus pointed ahead. "That one has pink sap, this one is green, and the one beside it is pink again."
Maeve followed the direction of his finger, her eyes slowly lighting up with wonder because the tiny blinking lights scattered throughout the forest suddenly felt even more magical.
After all, she had never seen anything like this on Earth before.
For a moment, she couldn’t help imagining what it must have looked like when the trees were still alive.
If she had been given the chance to come to this world much earlier, she thought she might have accepted it without hesitation.
[But you probably would’ve grown old by the time they became adults, Host,] Pinky suddenly chimed in.
The fluffy pink mochi wasn’t floating around this time. Instead, it sat comfortably on Maeve’s shoulder.
[And you might have died when they reached their prime.]
