The Tree's Heart

XXVII

The night of new moon came much quicker than Clover had expected. She was feeling much better again, now that she could eat and drink whatever she wanted without having to be afraid of what might happen to her. She had also calmed down a little after her little wedding adventure in the fae realm. Maybe it would make a good story one day, when she had children. If she would ever have children.

Maybe she would just be that one weird aunt that never travelled and was into tarot cards and all of that. If that happened, she could tell all her nieces and nephews those stories and they'd just think it would be a fairy tale that their weird aunt was telling them. The problem was that Clover found it hard to remember whether she had any siblings. She felt like she had at least one older brother or sister.

On the day she was supposed to go back, Willow let her sleep in. Clover only woke up around noon and was kind of upset that she had wasted so much of the day, when she wanted to just hang out with Dras for a bit, but Willow's reasoning was that she had a long night ahead of her and she needed all her strength for that. Clover still didn't really know what was involved in her trying to get back, but Willow had said she would tell her in time. For now, she could spend the afternoon with Dras.

They just sat outside the cabin with some food and drink and had some idle conversation. Clover knew she was going to miss Dras and how friendly he was. She would miss his smile the most. She wished she could somehow have a picture of him, so she could look back on it, but her phone had been dead for months and there was no electricity out here, so she couldn't even charge it. She'd just have to remember.

As the evening was drawing near, Clover would have to go back and say goodbye to Dras one final time. She knew that it was unlikely she would ever see him again, but she didn't cry when they said goodbye. She wasn't sure why, maybe it was the anxiety about the whole process of getting back to her own world. She was sure that the tears would come eventually, at least once she had left the forest.

Back in the cabin, Willow was sitting down, going over her notes again and again. She looked up when Clover came back in and told her to get changed into her old clothes – the ones she had arrived in. Clover felt strange getting back into her shorts and the shirt she had been wearing. It seemed like it didn't really suit her anymore, like she was out of place, like her clothes were too mundane for this magical place.

But she had to make sure that she didn't raise any suspicion, so she had to look just the same way she had looked when she first came here. Willow told her that she couldn't tell anyone about what she had seen in here, because it would either land her in an asylum or it would get more people to head into the forest, which would make the magic of the forest stronger. She used a lot of technical terms for this entire process, but Clover had no idea what exactly it meant and how it all worked. Maybe she'd understand one day.

When she was done getting changed, Willow was packing up the potion and a few other supplies, before telling her to come with her, that they had to walk to a certain point, and that Willow would explain how everything worked along the way. Clover wasn't sure what to expect from this whole thing. She wasn't sure how she would feel being back in the real world. She was worried about it, sure.

But she was also looking forward to going back home to her own bed. To being able to have her phone again, to being able to go back to college now that the summer was nearly over. She had things to do out there.

"Right, so here is the main thing about the way back. You cannot under any circumstances open your eyes until you get to a safe point. And since I know that it won't be easy to keep your eyes closed, I'm going to blindfold you before I send you on your way. Don't worry about falling or losing your direction. The ritual should make sure you'll always walk the right way, as long as you listen to your intuition." Willow had started explaining.