Face the Music, 8/2

[000Curiosity]

It’s been 2 weeks and four days since I left. I’m still uncertain of my place is this world. I write this atop a large tree overlooking the tremendous forest I find myself in. The sea of trees seemingly go on forever with no settlement in sight. I can faintly hear the rush of the stream nearby but above that I hear music again.
It’s sad. It sounds like a music box I once had as a child, it came with a story book my parents had bought me for my 5th birthday. The book was about a human who had turned into a monster and was sent into a world made up of monsters. The human lost all their memories but made friends with another monster and together they made an exploration team to travel the world and discover its secrets. But to do so they must join a guild, which the other monster was terrified of joining due to their anxiety, but together they were able to brave the trials to get in and formed an official exploration team. After a few missions news gets out that the time gears have been stolen. Time gears are what keep this world’s time flowing, and without them time in the area halts, slowly killing all life within. All the rescue teams swear to stop the thief and begin their hunt for them. But the thief is too quick and steals all but one time piece before the rescue teams manage it’s at a trap and capture him. Once captured an ally turns on everyone and steals both the heroes and the thief into the future! For you see the ally came from the future where the time gears were not stolen, and the time god’s madness grew as the time gears slowly grew weaker due to not being cleansed. The ally wants to ensure this future still comes to fruition and so kidnapped the heroes. Before they could be executed in the future they make a daring escape moments before the claws of a wraith could slash their necks. Traveling through this devastated world truly shows the stakes of the matter. If our heroes don’t succeed in calming the time god in the past then this barren wasteland will is what their home will become. They manage to get back to the present and need to get to the time god’s tower to defeat them, but the armies of the future pursue them. Finally reaching the tower they ascend it and defeat the time god, calming its madness and restoring the time gears to normal, bringing back the flow of time to all. But before the celebration can begin, the human begins to fade away in a golden light. They were brought to this world for the purpose of saving it, and with their duty fulfilled they must return to their own. Both partners begin to cry as the human slips further and further away from reality, and the music box begins to play. It was a solemn melody that ended once the human finally departed from the world. I can hear it now.
That was the book that made me want to begin to adventure. The tales that it told were of glory, fun, and friendship. It fills my chest with warmth to remember those days, when I had a sense of adventure. I can only get a glimpse of it now. Small moments with friends, reminded of the simplicity of youth. It’s hard to see a reason to go back, I feel at peace in the woods. But I know peace is not forever. In the distance I’ve heard the sounds of battle, metal clashing, magic zinging, and hungry chewing. I know I must fight, protect those whom I care for or at least protect myself but it just seems so much easier to stay here. Let the world slip by. I find myself wishing that if I laid down still enough and for a sufficient amount of time the moss would absorb me.
But no, I am here. The stars are here as well. It’s odd not being able to see the constellations of my home. The lack of familiarity only brings me further into my brooding. But there are stars here nonetheless Maybe I’ll make my own constellations. Forge my own path.

[Author]

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