Sucked Into Another World Pt. 5

Jase thought Fairy Land was beautiful, but he couldn’t get past the smell of the place. It smelled too much like perfume and he didn’t like it, but there was no doubt about it: the place was beautiful. Plants grew everywhere. Flowers, trees, bushes, and petals just seemed to rain down all the time, fluttering and making their way to the ground. Stone paths were everywhere and fairies, animals, and humans walked them. 

“This place is beautiful,” Jodi said, looking over to Amelia.

“It really is,” Amelia said, sighing and gazing around. 

“Yeah, but it smells gross,” Jase said. They both looked at him, glaring. “Hey, don’t get me wrong, it is beautiful, but it smells like someone dumped a bottle of perfume here.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Amelia said, “it smells wonderful here.”

Emit laughed, “Don’t worry, Jase, Fairy Land always smells this way for guys. I don’t know why.” 

Jase gave Amelia and Jodi the see I’m not crazy smile and looked off over the treetops. He could see the Great Oak Tree. They were so close. 

The group walked for another hour before they reached the edge between Fairy Land and the woods where the Great Oak Tree was. Two things gave away that this was the edge: one, there was a sign that read the Cold Woods, and two, it was like a line had been drawn and there were two different environments entirely. One side was fluttering with petals and smelled weird and the other was thick trees and foggy air that smelled so clean it shocked his lungs. 

“This is where I leave you guys,” Derek said. Emit walked up to his old friend and wrapped his wings around Derek’s leg. He looked up at him, 

“Till next time,” Emit said, letting go of Derek’s leg. 

“Till next time,” Derek nodded to Jase, Amelia, and Jodi, “good luck.” Then he morphed into a bird and flew back to his home. 

Jase took a step into the Cold Woods. The temperature completely changed and Jase got why it was called the Cold Woods. 

“You guys are going to want to pull out your cloaks. These woods can get pretty cold the closer you get to the Oak Tree,” Emit said, wrapping his cloak around his shoulders. 

Jase pulled his cloak from his bag. It was a thick fabric, and he immediately felt warmer when he put it on. He put his hood on to warm up his ears. They walked in silence for a long time. 

“I like awkward silence as much as the next guy, but do you guys wanna play twenty questions?” Jase asked. 

“Sure,” Amelia and Jodi said at the same time. 

“What’s twenty questions?” Emit asked. 

“It’s a game that people sometimes play when they’re bored from where we are from,” Jodi said, “the point of the game is someone will think of something in a category and then we ask up to twenty questions to figure out what you’re thinking. So if I was thinking of a leaf, then you would ask questions to figure out I was thinking about a leaf.” 

“Okay, I think I get it,” Emit said, “so who goes first?”

“Jodi, you go first,” Amelia said. 

“Okay.” They played that game for a few hours, taking turns. They laughed and goofed around, and then they were at the base of the Great Oak Tree. 

“I can’t believe we are here,” Amelia said looking up at the tree. 

“Okay, I’m going to go in and tell them why we are here. I know one of the councilors, so she can get us a meeting.” Emit walked in and Jase, Jodi, and Amelia stood there waiting. 

“What do you think will happen to us once they know we are not from here?” Amelia asked.

“I don’t know if we are the chosen ones, but if we are who knows what that means for us,” Jodi said. 

“They’re coming out,” Jase said, looking at the door. Emit and a tall, slim woman walked out. She has waist-length hair that was so white it looked like it glowed. She has crystal blue eyes and her ears were long and pointy. 

“Jase, Amelia, and Jodi, this is Luna,” Emit said. Luna gave them a warm smile, 

“Hello children,” her voice was soft and kind, “my other council members are excited to meet you. Please follow me, I promise no harm will come to you.”

The group walked into the oak tree and were struck by its beauty. There were intricate carvings everywhere, and it was so much bigger inside than it looked on the outside. 

“We cast a spell on the tree so the space inside is much bigger than it appears on the outside,” Luna said, leading them over to a staircase. 

“I saw a map of this tree and there were thirteen floors, and it looked like there were thirteen chairs, so does that mean there are thirteen counselors?” Amelia asked, looking at Luna. 

“That is correct there, are thirteen councilors for the thirteen regions of our world,” Luna said. “Okay, everyone, hold hands.” Jase held out his hand to Amelia as he tried to be cool about it, but he just prayed his hands weren’t all sweaty. Amelia calmly laced her fingers through Jase’s hand. “Okay, now don’t let go no matter what,” Luna said. 

Jase was about to ask why, but then he found out. It felt like his body was being turned inside out and then it was all over, and they were standing in front of two large green doors at the top of the Great Oak Tree. 

“Did we just teleport?” Jase asked. 

“Yes,” Luna said, pushing open the doors. “Follow me, the council is waiting.”

To be continued