The Forest Guardians

41. Arc Review

Hello, I'm Omen, one of the Guardians of the Library. Or one of the last ones remaining.

Our story started when Dark Shadow, the Library's nemesis, and his infamous retainers, Damon Windsor and Countess ambushed the Library. Mike and I were out on a mission. By the time we came back, the Library was in shambles and our friends were long gone.

Mike went to hold back the Shadows, monstrous beings that were born out of negativity, while I went ahead to stop Astorath.

By then, Dark Shadow and his people had left. It was at that moment when I discovered that Ravenna Cross, the Founder of the Guardians, who was missing for hundreds of years was sleeping under her statue. However, it was too late because Astorath found her and stabbed her with a blade.

Just before the blade reached her heart, Ravenna awoke. However, it was at that moment that I was knocked back into a bookcase by a sudden powerful wind that appeared out of nowhere and fell unconscious. When Mike found me, both Astorath and Ravenna were nowhere to be found.

With no leads to find them, we could only focus our energy on other areas.

In order to stop Dark Shadow from ruining the worlds, we needed more help than ever. So, Mike reached out to the other branches of the Guardians. But in fear of the growing darkness, only one responded.

The Dark Horse Organisation.

Mike knew some friends there so he was thankful that they responded. Xerxes Break and Sharon Ricci were also friends with Mike's previous partner, Kagura Lee. Kagura unfortunately died on a reconnassiance mission, leaving Mike to escape back into the Library with valuable information.

However, the Dark Horse Organisation had a few requirements for us to join forces.

They needed us to remember who we once were. And to find the Alice letters before finding them in the world of Wonderland.

To aid us in finding the Alice letter, Xerxes had sent the first letter. However, during the delivery, it got lost in the world of Black Butler that I was in.

In the world of Black Butler, I was on a mission to recruit some of the retired Guardians. They were members who had decided to stay within their favourite worlds as gatekeepers. Sebastian Michealis, the butler of Ciel Phantomhive, was one of the many. Along the way, I realised that there was a nefarious plot concocted by Dark Shadow. He had even recruited one of the shady characters in the world of Black Butler, Undertaker.

Meanwhile, Mike stayed behind in order to receive the answers from the organizations and checked for other abnormalities within the Library. In order to find the letter, he had to enter the world of Black Butler. By coincidence, we found it before it could wreak any more havoc.

In the process, we received a promise from Sebastian that he would protect the world he was living in along with his master. We also found out that Dark Shadow was inventing a new mind-control substance called the Black Pearl that could control any living organism like a doll.

Fortunately, Undertaker found out about his actual plot and realized that both of their interests did not align the moment Dark Shadow thought of harming the world, including the Phantomhives. Therefore, he secretly created an antidote to counter it. As a result of Undertaker turning sides, he was killed with his own invention by Dark Shadow's people. His death left us with many mixed feelings because he was not entirely driven by selfish reasons.

Regrettably, while Undertaker left an antidote, he did not leave any recipe for it. Hence, Mike decided that he would seek help from contacts from other worlds while finding the other Alice letters.

As this meant that we would leave the Library vulnerable, Mike decided to gift me with an early present. It was an invention that he was working on. By injecting my magic into the mechanical egg, I would be able to have my own familiar which could act as my partner for future missions. This way, he would have to worry about me being unable to handle future difficulties. As for the Library, he decided to activate all his robotic inventions to safeguard it and the secrets within.

This was the only way for us to find the letters quickly.

I went to the world of Young Sherlock Holmes according to the clue given by the first Alice letter. At the same time, Mike had a person in mind to decipher the antidote so he went to the world of Harry Potter.

In the world of Young Sherlock Holmes, the Alice letter predicted a tragedy that I had to stop.

However, I was unable to do so which led Sherlock Holmes, the protagonist of his world, to have short-term amnesia. To help him recover his memories, Sherlock's friends and I went to a circus. By luck, the second Alice letter was there. While helping Sherlock recover, I also met an interesting person. I met another mesias within my mind, a mysterious girl who broods and had her own special room. She claimed that she was awakened by the Alice Letters and asked me to find an item to recover her memories. However, the other mesias in me; Envilia, Shiro, Yin and Yang had no knowledge of her or even sensed her presence.

So, what connections does she have with me?

Unfortunately, within the YSH world, I met Damon Windsor, one of Dark Shadow's retainers. However, he only stalled for time while threatening the lives of the characters I was protecting. In the end, due to my weak strength, he even kidnapped Sherlock right under my nose.

As for Mike, he met Countess in the World of Harry Potter. Just like Damon, Countess also prevented him from returning back to the Library. When Mike returned, he was heavily wounded but his wounds were not life-threatening. Luckily, he had gotten the recipe of the antidote which was broken down by Professor Dumbledore and gotten the third Alice letter.

In that World, he had even met Elder Lowell.

The Elders too had fallen into Dark Shadow's trap on the day of the Library's ambush, leading to their destruction. That was the last time Mike saw her. With the interference of Countess into the HP World, Mike saw that the storyline changed, leading to the capture of Peter Pettigrew, the release of Sirius Black and discovering the existence of a fanfiction universe.

Now, we are left with the last Alice letter to find.

~~~~~Author's Note~~~~~ 19 Sept 2021

Yes, I'm back again! I'm still not quite getting the vision I wanted for the next Arc so there may be occasional hiccups here and there in terms of plot holes. I will see how it goes. Thank you for waiting, please continue to support me by liking and commenting whenever possible!