Annabelle’s Bastion

It felt better to pursue discovery when the sun was shining in the sky! Judging by the location of it, Anna had probably been out for a good twelve or more hours.

Despite how sore her muscles felt as she stretched and yawned, she could only feel excitement for the coming day.

Even the cut on her forearm displayed abnormally quick recovery and was almost just a light scar. It was a little cool to have one, though it would be a nightmare explaining it to her parents.

Her stomach suddenly growled, interrupting her admiration.

“Well…” Anna cleared her throat. She stood, ready to leave her temporary home. First, she bowed her head toward nothing in particular. Once again, she felt eternally grateful for whoever once lived in this forest.

If, one day, she had the opportunity to aid them, then she would without question!

She seamlessly conjured her ring and enhanced her body to scale down the tree.

Once she softly hit the grass, a ring appeared above her hand as she pulled her breakfast from her space. A black glow gave away to an odd cracker-looking food along with various forms of what looked like jerky and tasted fruity.

“Hopefully, they have good food in there!” Anna said before putting the bland, dry cracker in her mouth.

She ate her boring meal while speed-walking through the trees.

Each step forward felt weightless as she hummed her way forward.

When was the last time she was so excited—so happy?

The culmination of months spent searching. After hours upon hours of tears, sweat, and exhaustion… it was finally time.

Giving up was never an option, but the amount of times she had to return to bed with a day of nothing almost made her reach a breaking point. Multiple times. From finding that Goblinfish weeks ago to looting that cave, she finally felt like an explorer again.

And now it was all paying off.

“There it is,” Anna mumbled as the tree-tower crept into view. She picked up her pace.

There wasn’t a chance it wasn’t something important. So important that she had to go through a maze and nearly die to a guardian just to obtain access!

Once she got closer, the massive carving in the tree became visible. The dragon head, one very similar to the one on the hilt of her new sword.

“You can’t tell me this isn’t an important place!” She’d take out the sword to compare, but it took so much mana and time to store.

At that point, she was practically sprinting to the tower.

Soon, she was in the familiar environment she had called home for months.

But it wasn’t actually familiar, and she froze right as she entered the proximity of her makeshift camp.

“What the hell?”

The silly, poorly made fence she constructed out of sheer boredom was gone, destroyed. Her day marker carvings, once covered by a blanket, were uncovered. Even her trusty table was displaced! Some minor objects were thrown about, such as fabrics of ripped clothing and fish bones.

It wasn’t a mystery, really.

She cautiously looked upward toward the rough bottom of the raised, gargantuan tree.

“I’m confident in my searching,” she whispered.

There were absolutely no living people anywhere in this forest.

Anna picked up the various scattered items, but there wasn’t anything to glean from them. Nothing was damaged, just thrown about. They didn’t care to hide that they were there.

Whoever searched her camp was obviously only curious—an investigation.

“Surprised, maybe?”

If there was someone who was already in the tower, they’d have had many times to search her camp before today. In fact, they would have known from the beginning that she was there!

With that in mind, she effectively dashed the uncomfortable feeling that she had been being watched.

But if she had delayed her expedition by a day or two, she’d have met someone!

“Okay, well…” She paused as she approached the gazebo that held the circular platform where the key was to be slotted. “Will they be violent? I don’t think I can—” she stopped.

If someone came after her that had more intellect and capability, she would die. That was it. With no attacking capability and a sword she couldn’t wield, she was utterly helpless.

“But I can’t stop here, can I?”

She had come too far to stop out of fear…

Hopefully, she could just placate them by showing her nonviolent intentions.

Regardless, she didn’t have a choice. If she couldn’t go forward here, she might as well have died in that chamber.

“Here we go,” she said as the key materialized with a black shine in her open palm.

She knelt and slowly slotted it in the open space.

It fit perfectly, a firm squeeze as she pushed it in.

“Okay!” She gave it one more push, and it made a loud clicking sound.

Anna jumped off the platform, the butterflies in her stomach running wild.

She watched the platform like a hawk, waiting for any change.

A second later, a loud, ethereal chime came from the altar as the yellow key began to emit the same glow it had in the chamber.

Like blood, the mana seemed to flow out of it as it seeped into the spiral patterns carved into the platform.

Soon, the glow spread into the ground and up the beautifully entwined branches that created the gazebo.

The entire thing glowed… but no gate opened.

All the platform did was hum, one that quieted down once the light was spread.

“Okay?”

Anna waited another minute, just in case it was one of those doors that had a penitent for dramatic timing.

But nothing happened.

“Maybe…”

Just to be safe, she picked up and threw a rock at the platform.

It only clattered against the stone, nothing happening to its body.

That was an instant douse of cold water.

She carefully approached it, but she didn’t feel anything abnormal. Even standing beside the key, she felt nothing unusual or any signs of something to come.

“What do I do?” she asked.

Another minute passed, and nothing changed.

At that point, as devastating as it was, there was either something else she had to do, or… it wasn’t a door at all.

Anna fell to the floor, sitting on the platform as she just stared at the glowing key.

Was that really it?

Did she risk her life for a light show?

She shook her head.

“There has to be something, right?”

Her clone said as much herself: get the stone and enter the tower! If such an arrogant, seemingly knowledgable being was that confident, then there just had to be something she was missing.

But how? There was probably someone in the tower… maybe it was something like a gate that had to be opened internally?

Nothing in the vicinity changed outside the gazebo, so that was probably it.

She gave the key a few pokes—it felt cold despite all the power it contained.

“Should I pull it—” Just as she grabbed it, she was interrupted by the sound of rushing wind behind her!

Anna jumped to her feet, turning toward the source of the noise as her ring silently expanded around her forehead.

The whistling wind appeared tangible; white whisps that spiraled around a single spot a short distance from the platform.

Soon, sparkles of green dotted the winds, sparkling and spreading like glitter until it joined with the wind.

Finally, as Anna’s heart was beating out of her chest and her enhancements activated, the winds separated.

They spread out, creating a spiraling arch of pure white dotted with green. The space within that arch quickly filled with a blinding white light, bright enough that Anna couldn’t keep an eye on it.

She almost pulled out the sword but stopped herself. What if it was some kind of relic? She was technically a thief right now!

The bright glow surrounding the white gate dimmed.

That was definitely a gate, and Anna stared at it—the anticipation was killing her.

There it was… the alien race.

What was she about to see?

Anna’s mouth uncontrollably dropped at what she saw walking out of it.

There was plenty of time for her to wonder what sort of aliens lived on Sorana. During those times, she pictured all kinds of things… from sci-fi-like bug creatures to multi-limbed humanoids.

But this shattered that illusion.

“An… Elf?” she muttered.

Not just any Elf, but one of the most mesmerizing she had ever seen, even in fiction!

The first thing Anna noticed was the ears—they were as long as her hand! She was tall, a little taller than Aria. Her long, smooth, and bright golden hair went down to her lower back, and she had a green gem attached to her pale forehead. Those eyes… were green as well, shining like emeralds. Her mature, stoic face looked at Anna not with anger or wrath but with what she could only describe as interest or curiosity.

Her outfit was a tight white robe wrapped at her waist with golden highlights, cut on the side of her legs to reveal her pale skin.

Anna coughed and shook her head. She was too shocked and was staring!

“H-hello?” Anna cautiously asked.

She immediately felt stupid. Obviously, they weren’t going to speak the same language! But what was she going to do?

The Elf’s green eyes swept her, and Anna felt entirely seen through. It was as if the woman instantly saw through everything she was with that powerful gaze. They stopped for a moment longer on Anna’s own eyes, slightly surprised, but they noticeably widened at her ring before squinting slightly.

Oops!

“S-sorry!” Anna dismissed her ring, hoping to come off as unthreatening as possible.

Regardless of her prior expectations, this was her first meeting with an alien! Most likely, she was the first human to ever contact an Elf!

“Um… I’m—”

“Please,” the voice echoed softly, stopping Anna in her tracks. It was melodic, almost musical, with a calm strength that sent a tingle down her spine. “Return your ring.”

That was English! This Elf was speaking English with a perfect, beautiful flow that Anna perfectly understood!

“H-how…” Anna shook her head. Damn it, where did all her social skills go! “Yes!”

Her ring expanded around her forehead.

The Elf suddenly moved, approaching Anna with unhurried steps.

Anna nervously swallowed but resisted the urge to retreat as she neared.

Once she was directly before Anna, she stopped. She smelled like a faint trace of pine.

“Why this color?” the Elf softly said, more to herself than to Anna. “It’s not a feature of your kind—the other didn’t have it. The accursed is not present within you, yet this color is how you draw your strength… strange.”

Did she know about the expedition Bastion had? That made sense, but then how did she not realize Anna was there?

“U-um… w-who are you?”

“You have a pleasant voice, one confused yet graceful,” she said, taking a single step back and looking down at Anna’s eyes. “Green eyes as my own, yet…” She reached and swept through Anna’s hair, earning a jolt from her. “Yet, why is it this color?”

“I-I… I was… born? Like this.”

Was ring color decided from birth?

The Elf nodded. “Yes—you don’t appear to be violent like the other.”

“What?”

She lightly shook her head. “Why are you here? Have you not heard the calls of our lord?”

“Uh…” Anna quickly shook her head. “Wait, why…why are you speaking English?”

That was the real mystery! It wasn’t at all fragmented, each word spoken precisely! It didn’t feel like some kind of absurd magic, either—she’d have felt that. This Elf was just speaking the same language!

“Hm?” She tilted her head slightly.

“We’re… we’re speaking the same language!” Anna exclaimed. “I’m not from this world, and yet—”

“The common tongue?” she said, sounding like Anna was the one being weird for questioning it! “Every world speaks this language, even the one you hail from. No?”

“Yes?” Anna’s mind was already in shambles. Never mind being in the presence of such an otherworldly beauty, but none of this made sense!

“Ah.” Her eyes widened briefly in recognition, and she nodded toward Anna. “I understand. You are a priestess in training, similar as I was. You have not yet traveled worlds, and this is your first.”

Cute!

Wait.

“Half right!” The Elf tilted her head at Anna’s words. Anna cleared her throat. When she felt such friendliness from someone, it was so easy to let it get to her head! She lowered her voice. “This is my first world, but I’m not really a priestess or anything. I don’t know what this lord you speak of is at all.”

Actually, it was probably that sound.

But Anna hadn’t heard it at all! Whatever it was stopped the night she was left, and she never got to hear it! The amount of annoyance that caused her curious mind…

“Not a priestess?” the Elf asked in disbelief. She pointedly looked at Anna’s eyes. “With eyes like those? Are your people uninformed? But the other…” She lightly shook her head.

Right—they did have similar eyes. Anna had been told a lot that her eyes were like shining emeralds, but it was an embarrassing thing to point out.

“No? Sorry. I’m just a normal mage right now… stranded in this world.”

“Stranded…” She paused, once again sweeping Anna with a renewed look of concern and care. “How disgraceful of me. I apologize. You have been isolated, a guest without a host, while I have been carrying out my lord’s duties.”

Those words, spoken so softly and beautifully, almost made Anna tear up. It sounded and felt like the Elf was genuinely apologetic as she looked at Anna with sympathy.

“I— yes.” She cleared her throat once more. “It’s okay.”

The Elf lightly shook her head and gestured toward the white gate, leaving her arm out invitingly. Her voice was even calmer, touching Anna’s heart as she said,  “Come—even without being a priestess, you have found one of our trial gems, and you deserve a respite.”

“T-thank you,” Anna said, wiping her eyes as she followed her.

Was it really that easy to get her all emotional?