This evening, in Growlgrove, Carl and Joshua were walking through the forest.
They had to leave the Blue Bismuth School’s grounds quickly and travel as fast as they could to reach the Growlgrove ahead of Reynard, and missed his escape entirely.
The journey they had to take to reach this place left man stains and tears on their traveling clothing. The two magi constantly looked around and jolted anxiously at every distant beast cry or call of a bird.
"We must’ve gotten lost," Joshua said. "Carl, maybe we should go back? What if we et sothing like another Singing Spider...
"Don’t be a scaredy cat. We just have to walk a little bit more. The center of the Growlgrove is close..."
"What if the Four-Moon Gate is guarded, Carl? Miss Marien said that it wasn’t, but what if?"
"Then we will go back! But we must check. Or you suggest returning to Markus without sothing to one-up Reynard?"
The last comnt made Joshua fall silent and shiver.
Naturally, Markus wasn’t happy to find that his mother’s hired assassin failed to kill Reynard. Sure, the hired wench destroyed his reputation, but clearly not hard enough! Otherwise, Reynard would’ve been dead instead of given a rare opportunity like Four-Moon Gate!
Perhaps, if Carl and Joshua weren’t so fearful of Markus’s mother, they would have spoken with her. She was a smarter woman than these two youths combined, and would’ve realized that sothing was amiss.
Instead, they were shouted at by angry Markus, and then fled his family’s mansion and feared returning without so good news.
Like the treasures of the Four-Moon Realm.
The two magi paused when they saw a silver glow co from the forest floor underneath their feet.
"Joshua..." Carl gasped, staggering back.
"I see it too!"
Both magi moved back, fleeing the glowing ground and standing on ordinary leaves again. Then, they had to hold onto nearby trees as the ground underneath their feet shook.
There was no sound beyond the whistling of the wind. All the beasts and birds suddenly went silent.
Fallen leaves burst from the ground and swirled in a massive whirlwind in front of them. From inside the whirlwind was coming a soft silver glow. The earth continued to tremble, but still, only the rustling of leaves on the howling wind was audible.
Carl and Joshua shook as they sensed powerful mana coming from the whirlwind and passing through them.
Then, the wind fell silent. All the leaves fell onto the ground again in a single heap.
In the middle of the heap, only twenty paces away from Carl and Joshua, was an ornate gate made of pure gold. It was beautifully engraved with plant and alchemical motifs, and a silver glow was coming from so of the engravings.
On top of the gate was an engraving of four moons in different stages and colors: black and dark, a white crescent, a yellow half, and a full red moon.
"The four moons..." Carl whispered, staring at the gate with wide eyes. "This is it! The gate... The gate found us! This has to an sothing."
"Does this an that we are chosen as worthy heirs?" Joshua asked, making a careful step forward.
"Definitely!"
Carl squared his shoulders and marched right toward the Four-Moon Gate. He raised his hand, wondering how he would actually open it.
As soon as he had the thought, the gate slowly opened inward. The other side was shrouded in a silver glow, making it impossible to see anything except a stone tile floor.
"What a miracle! Magic that can create sothing like this has to be beyond mortal. Probably even beyond Hertical," Joshua said, approaching. "Carl... Go first, please. This is... Well... You deserve more of the glory! You didn’t spend as long as I did in the hospital."
Carl scoffed. Although he tried not to show it, Carl’s heart was beating as madly as Joshua’s. But he kept telling himself that only brave magi reach any success.
"Things just never change with you, Josh. Fine, fine. But I get the first pick of any reward!"
He walked ahead through the gate. A short while later, Joshua hurried after him.
Even inside, they couldn’t see much of the secret realm except that they were in so sort of hallway.
When both of the magi went a dozen paces away from the gate, it soundlessly closed behind their back. Joshua turned around just in ti to see that, just as he saw the gate fading into nothing.
Exactly the sa thing happened at this mont in Growlgrove.
For another decade, the Four-Moon Realm was appeased.
Because of the disturbance created by Reynard and Marien’s heist, it would take three days before soone would question their absence. And this was only because soone went to check the Four-Moon Gates.
***
Reynard and Marien stopped for the night in a roadside inn. The place mostly served local farrs, and the few guests of the inn stared at the two youths with suspicion and curiosity.
Reynard tried to look less suspicious. Marien raised her chin and glared down her nose at anyone who looked poor.
The inn had a single room nice enough for Marien not to sniff at. Reynard took the inn’s second-best room, which was good enough for him, and ordered food for two.
While they ate in Marien’s room, Reynard explained his plan.
"Blue Bismuth School will definitely keep searching for us. They will probably post a bounty for our heads, at the very least. So we must change our nas. I’ve already decided, I want to be Faust! Um... Johan Faust."
In another world, there were no legends connected to this na... Yet. Reynard smiled.
Marien nodded in excitent. She was in an uplifted mood ever since their escape, and more agreeable than usual.
"Then I will be... Um... Julia." Her face fell. "Julia Windblown."
Reynard tilted his head.
"This na... It’s your mother’s, right? Not the surna, though..."
"Yes." Marien nodded, smiling again. "I thought I could honor her like that. After all, eventually, I will co ho from this adventure. I will beco stronger than anyone in the Blue Bismuth School ever did, and I will destroy the entire Four-Moon Realm!"
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