In contrast to what Noelle previously thought, Roland was not happy that a decision was made without him.

"You allowed her to do what?" He whisper-shouted at her, careful not to be overheard by Willow or Lolita. "Do you realise how terrible of an idea that is? Why didn't you tell me!"

"Oh my God Roland," Noelle sighed, dragging her hands over her face. "I didn't think I would have to! Don't you like Lolita?!"

"There's something off about her, I can't explain it," Roland sighed. "Whatever."

Noelle exhaled, glaring daggers into Roland's back as he began walking away. Whatever he thought about Lolita, she disagreed. He didn't get to know her the previous night as she did. She took the bag that she packed, storing spare clothes and some food to last them a few days. With one last look around Lolita's room, she left, shutting the door quietly behind her.

Lolita was already downstairs, kissing her grandmother goodbye, while Roland grumpily stood at the door ready to leave.

"Good to go?" he asked.

"Just a minute," Lolita promised, before turning back to Willow. "I love you, grandma, take care!"

"I should be telling you that," Willow chuckled. "Now, don't get yourself into any trouble, young lady!"

"I won't grandma, thank you! I love you!" Lolita hugged Willow, and Noelle smiled at the heartwarming sight. When they were ready to go, they left the home and began walking once again down the sandy road while Willow waved to them from the window.

"Don't you think it is odd that Willow just let her go?" Roland whispered. Lolita was a few yards ahead of them, so she could not hear their conversation.

"Roland, drop it," Noelle warned, growing increasingly annoyed. "We can trust Lolita, she wants to help me get home."

"Help you get home? When was that decided?" Roland asked. "Did you just decide all of this with Lolita?"

"Yes," Noelle simply replied. "I need to get back to London, and she wants to help with that. Why, have you got something against me going home?"

"Of course not!" Roland defended himself. "I'll help you get home too, I just don't know why you shared all of this with Lolita when I helped..."

He cut himself off before he finished his sentence.

They had been walking down the road for hours, already stopping twice for a break. Noelle felt like she hadn't been able to fully recover her body from yesterday's strain and to be on her feet again so soon after took its toll on her body. Every time she requested a break, she could sense Lolita and Roland's annoyance, though they tried not to show it.

They reached a point where the road stopped, instead there was a sharp turn with a footpath, leading straight into a forest. Noelle wondered if it was the same one that surrounded the castle, as all this time they had been walking on the edge of the forest.

"You know this place. Where are we going?" Roland challenged Lolita, who was looking around her with a look of confusion plastered on her face.

"This looks... different," she said, turning around in circles as she stared at where they came from. "Did we go the wrong way?"

"Are you serious?" Roland exclaimed, slapping his forehead. "You are supposed to be leading us, Lolita!"

"Guys stop, I'm sure we can work something out, right?" Noelle interfered, stepping between the two. "How about we follow the footpath? It must lead somewhere."

"Sure," Lolita agreed, glaring at Roland, who returned the look with just as much passion.

Inwardly, Noelle prepared herself for a straining day with her two new friends who seemingly hated each other.

. . .

Ever since she was young, Noelle always found herself drawn to forests. Growing up in the crowded city of London, there were not many natural forests around, so she never had the chance to experience stepping into one. To her, being surrounded by the vast trees like a protective shield, the birds waiting in the trees and singing their calming melodies, and the dark shadows the sun cast over the soft, mushy ground fascinated her. The same thing that terrified her on one occasion, Noelle found beautiful when on another.

The forest they were walking in was just like everything Noelle had ever imagined. The footpath had long ago ended, and now they found themselves walking along the forest floor, stepping over little twigs and admiring the plants that grew.

"Look!" Noelle said, pointing at a small, bright pink mushroom that was splattered with squiggly spots. As soon as Lolita turned to look at it, her rosy face turned pale.

"No! Don't touch that!" She shouted, rushing to pull Noelle away from the cute mushroom. "Are there any more?!"

"Why?" Roland asked, turning around to look for any more of the fungi. "There's some there."

Lolita's face turned three shades paler if that was even possible.

"They are magical mushrooms! I read about them in a gardening book, they make you live through your worst nightmare!" She cried, gripping her hair in fear.

"Mushrooms that make you hallucinate? Definitely magic," Noelle jokes, but neither Lolita nor Roland appreciated her effort. Instead, they were at each other's throats again.

"Are you joking? Why would you lead us here if you knew it had magic mushrooms?!" Roland yelled, waving his hands in the air. "I knew you were trying to kill us!"

"You think I'm trying to what? I didn't know they were here!" Lolita defended herself, but Roland was having none of it.

"You said that you know the whole area!" He accused, jabbing a finger at her chest. "I knew it wasn't a good idea to take you!

"Stop!" Noelle rushed to separate them, desperate not to let them tear each other apart so early in the journey. "Instead of arguing all the time, how about we get out of here before they begin to work!"

"Fine, if Roland over here agrees to it," Lolita snarled, stalking away from Roland and Noelle and continuing forward. Roland and Noelle were left in her dust.

Noelle began walking, and Roland was left standing alone. He jogged up to Noelle, placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Why would you say that?" Noelle asked him before he could even open his mouth to speak.

"She led us here! She said she knows the whole forest and now we're lost?!" Roland said, pleading with Noelle to understand his viewpoint.

"She said she knew a different forest, Roland! Look, she even warned me about the mushroom," argued Noelle. Whatever Roland said she did not believe Lolita to be trying to kill them. She had no motive and was even slightly younger than them. "She has nothing to gain from hurting us."

"God Noelle, why are you so dense! Don't say I didn't warn you," Roland finished, speeding up ahead of her so they would no longer be walking side by side.

"Noelle!"

When she heard the voice scream her name, Noelle spun around. She looked to Lolita, who was calmly but somewhat angrily walking ahead, and Roland, who held his head high while muttering curse words at the world. None of them appeared to have heard it.

"Help me!"

This time, the call for help was followed by a desperate ear-splitting scream that dragged on for many long seconds. It was like a noise made by a tortured animal being hunted by its prey, and while the voice dimmed from Noelle's memory in the time she spent in Dacnella, with horror she realised that she knew who it belonged to.

"Noelle! NOELLE!"

Zuzanna lay on the floor, withering in pain as scarlet blood oozed out of the wounds on her chest. Her clothes were darkened with crimson as she desperately gripped at her chest to stop the blood flow, but to no avail. Her face was twisted and her legs were sprawled underneath her, bending in positions that would be unfixable. Her eyes met Noelle's, and she left a final message before they closed forever.

"L-Look out..."

Noelle rushed to her aid, placing her palms over her wounds as she desperately tried to save her friend. Zuzanna was not even supposed to be here, this was all wrong!

As her hands were stained red with Zuzanna's blood, she found herself hyperventilating. Her head felt dizzy from the lack of oxygen as she desperately attempted to perform CPR. Her vision swam from her tears as they dropped onto Zuzanna's body, mixing with the red to form a sickly silver substance. Fear and despair loomed over her, wrapping their grimy arms around her neck and enveloping her entire mind.

"Give up, Noelle dear," another voice rang out, and it was one that Noelle knew all too well. "You are home now."

"No!" Noelle shrieked, tearing herself away from his grasp. "Get away from me!"

She began to run, just focusing on throwing one foot in front of the other instead of where she was going. Roland and Lolita were nowhere to be seen, but Noelle hoped they had seen Adron and rushed to get away from him.

As her movements were slowed, Noelle found it hard to walk with the heavy weight around her legs. She looked down, and her fear was confirmed when she saw the white wedding dress she had tried on at Adron's castle wrapped around her waist.

She could not move, and the ground was pulling her down. The more she struggled, the more Noelle realised that she was trapped, and Adron was advancing toward her. Suddenly, the trees around her resembled people, thousands of them scattered around her, all watching and doing nothing to help the young girl.

"King Adron of Dacnella," a priest walked into view, holding his book as he read the words on it. "Do you take Noelle Park as your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do," Adron replied, his smile twisting into a snarl.

"Noelle Park, do you take King Adron of Dacnella as your lawfully wedded husband?"

Noelle wanted to scream her protest as loud as she could, but her tongue was tied. Instead, what came out of her mouth was a broken string of words, eventually ending in a "yes!"

He was coming closer, everything was coming closer. The people mocked and jeered as she was helpless to stop the inevitable. Her chest hurt and her head spun as she lost control of the world around her. Where was she? Wedding? Adron? White?

A white light suddenly flashed in front of her vision, and Noelle found herself being shaken on the ground. Above her, she could see Roland's pale face obscuring her vision. She blinked her blurry eyes, wiping away the tears rolling down her cheeks as she slowly sat up, making sense of the world around her.

"We need to get out of here... w-we need..." Roland stuttered, his eyes unfocused as he reached a trembling hand towards her. He gripped her arm, and she winced at the force as he dragged her up.

"They're going to... they'll take me back..." His words made no sense. To Noelle, it seemed like he was seeing what was not there. "Noelle hurry!" Roland desperately pleaded, pulling her along the forest.

"W-where's Lolita?" Noelle asked, running after him. Her legs still shook and she felt weak, but she was more focused on finding her friend.

"Who? I don't know... we need to get out!" He sounded like he was on the verge of tears. "They'll take us back... Noelle move!"

Noelle tried to regain her senses, focusing on her surroundings rather than what she had just seen. Opening her eyes, the forest did not seem so scary anymore; the trees were not so dark and the shadows were not as looming.

"Roland, calm down!" She stopped the boy, facing him towards her. "This isn't real! Y-You're hallucinating, it's the mushrooms! No one will take us back, we're safe."

"I-It's not?" Roland asked, his voice on the verge of tears. Noelle nodded in response.

"I promise. You're safe," Noelle encouraged, hugging her friend. He wrapped his arms around her back. "Now we need to find Lolita, she might be in trouble."

They ran through the forest, searching for the girl, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Lolita? Lolita!" Noelle called, but she was gone.

"Wait, do you hear that..?" Roland halted her and they both froze. Suddenly, Noelle heard quiet sobs drifting in the air, and they were coming from the direction of a fallen tree.

"Lolita, is that you?" Noelle asked, slowly stepping towards the tree. She saw Lolita crouched on the ground, gripping her hair with her hands as cries wracked her body.

"I-I don't want to die... I don't want to die!"

Noelle stepped forward, rushing to calm the girl down while Roland awkwardly stood behind and watched, trying not to look.

"Lolita, breathe. In for 5, hold for 6, and let out for 4. Repeat," she instructed, and soon the hysterical girl's sobs stifled and she looked at Noelle with glazed eyes.

"T-Thanks," she said, her voice groggy and pained. "That was... awful."

"Yeah," Roland agreed. "Let's find a way out, I don't want to stay here any longer."

Noelle helped Lolita up and they began to walk through the forest again, trying to find a way out with more desperation than before. The mood was low and everyone was silent, and behind her, Noelle heard an occasional sniffle from Lolita or Roland."

"What was that?" Noelle finally brought herself to ask, after the silence began to get to her.

"Those were Lunatic Mushrooms. They're called that because they made you go crazy with all the hallucinations. Even one whiff of them can cause them to have their effect on you," Lolita explained. Her voice was noticeably calmer than before.

"What did you see?" Roland hesitantly asked, unsure if that was an appropriate question.

"I died," Lolita replied simply.

"So that's your biggest fear?" Noelle inquired, her curiosity growing.

"I suppose. What did you see?"

Noelle saw in Roland's eyes that he did not want to answer the question. He pursed his lips, looking away from them, opting to stare at the leaves instead.

"I... don't really want to answer that. It's kind of private," he muttered, trailing off at the end.

"But you asked?" Lolita said, frustrated at his response. "Wouldn't that automatically mean that you were going to tell us too?"

Noelle saw that another argument had the potential to break out between the two, so she quickly stepped in.

"Don't worry Roland. You don't have to say anything you're uncomfortable with," she said, nudging Lolita with her elbow until she agreed with a smile.

"What about you, Noelle? What did you see?" Lolita asked.

She understood Roland's predicament once the question was directed at her. It was alright for Lolita to share, as death was a typical response amongst many, but marriage and watching your best friend die before you? Though Noelle supposed the second one was more "normal".

"I... watched my best friend die in front of me. Her name is Zuzanna," she revealed, and felt sick to her stomach when the horrific image of Zuzanna bleeding out returned to her head.

"That's awful. I'm sorry," Roland said, unsure of any other response. It was not something one could easily find words to say.

"This got awkward," Lolita muttered, and Noelle laughed in agreement. She noticed Roland did not. "What will we do now?"

"I suppose we will try to find a village where we can find an inn to sleep in," Noelle suggested.

"They won't let us in," Roland pointed out. "None of us are over 18 yet."

"I'm 15 next week," Lolita mentioned, but Roland rolled his eyes at her words.

"Not quite 18, Lolita."

"Neither are you, you're the same age as we are!" Lolita argued. "Since you're so mature, why don't you act like it? Why are you picking fights with a child?"

"I'm older!"

Noelle was really getting tired of them, to the point it made her head hurt to listen to their arguing. She began walking ahead, leaving them behind. In full honesty, she doubted they even noticed as they were so focused on bickering with each other.

As we walked, Noelle noticed that there were fewer trees around, and the orange, setting sun started to peek through the canopy. She sped up, as she realised that a little bit before her, the trees stopped completely.

"Guys, look!" She called and ran forward to see what was to come next.

Noelle exited the forest with Lolita and Roland close behind her. They arrived at a large meadow field, which bloomed with the most beautiful assortments of flowers and plants. It slanted uphill, and at the top Noelle could see a stone-like structure.

"Wait, I know where we are!" Lolita exclaimed. "This is Crystal Hill! It got its name from the beautiful colours that the rocks reflect during sunrise!"

"How far is the nearest village then?" Roland asked, and Noelle appreciated his question.

"Well, about six to seven miles away," Lolita answered. "If you ask me, I think it is best we set up camp here for the night before it gets dark."

"That's a good idea," Noelle agreed.

They began trudging up the hill towards the rocks. It was a hard journey, with Roland's revealed hay fever doing them no favours. Eventually, they reached the top, and Noelle was able to admire the beautiful structure of the rocks.

They took out the blankets they packed and placed them under a gap under the rocks, to shield them from potential rain or predators.

Turns out Lolita was right. It was a much better idea to set up camp when they did, because just as they were finishing the sky had turned almost black in the span of half an hour.

Noelle climbed under the covers, shivering despite the multiple layers she was wearing. They decided to huddle their sleeping area together to preserve their body heat, but Noelle grudgingly admitted that it did not help them much.

With a smile on her face, she reminded herself that each passing day brought her closer to home.