Imagine #1: A Dream...

Chapter 17: Next Stop: NatureVilla

VEX ARENDELLE

Friday, June 26, 2020 - 2080 RC

"The Royals aren't at the palace. They left this morning to a different planet," Dane informed us at the table near the end of lunch. "I saw them in the Planet Room when they left."

We had just filled Dane in on what had happened with Daydream yesterday, and we were wondering what the Royals' reaction would be. They hadn't done anything all of yesterday, and Daydream was still there at breakfast, although she seemed to have skipped lunch with us. I guessed that the palace was used to this kind of thing, or that they were all too terrified of Daydream. Whatever the matter, the reaction seemed to be 'ignore it'.

"Where did they go?" Hazel asked, wiping her hands with a napkin.

"A planet called NatureVilla. Supposed to be another nature-based planet, a very peaceful place. But I've never gone there, so I don't know for sure." Dane answered.

"Do you think that the Nightmares attacked again? The planet could be getting darkened right now!" Sylvia exclaimed, getting up quickly. "We should go there too. If the Nightmares didn't come at all, we can just explore a little. It's been a few weeks of training. We should try blocking the Darkness again."

"Sounds good to me," Diana chimed in, looking at us expectantly.

Another nature planet? Forestical wasn't enough, I guess. I sighed. "Sure," I agreed. "Let's go." Dane opened a portal to save us some time, and we all stepped through the now-familiar swirling clouds.

NatureVilla was... pretty much exactly how I thought it would look. We had portaled onto a relatively secluded trail, the main doorway portal was still in sight a few yards behind us. On all sides, we were surrounded by a birch forest with lush, bright green, shrubbery underneath.

The temperature was cooler than the Dream Center, the heat wasn't unbearable, but somewhat nice. There was a gentle breeze, and fluffy, white, clouds drifted past the sun. Sun. There's no Darkness here. The planet was beautiful, I suppose. But it was really not my kind of place, not really my style. Hazel, on the other hand, looked very happy to be here.

"This place is like Forestical," She chirped happily. "Maybe even a little prettier," She added.

"This is the most beautiful place I've ever been," Diana said in awe, swiveling her head around to take in all the angles. Well, you've never seen a frozen waterfall, or the designs in the cracking ice of a frozen lake, I thought wistfully, which was kind of surprising.

I had complained about Polarex almost constantly, saying the ever present snow was annoying and how much I wished I could be somewhere else. But now that my home wasn't really there anymore, all I really wanted to do was go back.

Everyone was busy drinking in the view, but we still had a goal to accomplish here before we could be free to explore. "GUYS. We still need to find out why the Royals came here, since it's clear that there's no Darkness," I reminded them.

"Right, we should move forward. They're probably in the closest city to the portal, or they wouldn't have used the main portal in the first place." Sylvia deduced. "It shouldn't be too hard to find them."

We had been walking only for a few minutes when the first NatureVillan appeared. We were still on the dirt trail in the forest, the city didn't seem to be too close, but someone was here.

He looked around our age, and he was taller than Sylvia, who was the tallest of us all. He had dark ash brown hair, warm brown skin, and amber brown eyes that slanted up slightly at the corners. His clothes were scuffed and looked somewhat worn. He was sitting by the edge of the trail casually, and didn't seem to be in a hurry for anything.