It was the final day in Treeville. And I cherished every last moment dearly. Or maybe I didn't. Maybe I hated every last moment.

But the quest ahead looked even more daunting and dreadful, it wasn't even funny. I tried not to think about it too much, even though by the end of the day I'd be out of the Village of the Trees and back on track, on my way to destroy the Crooked Realm.

I woke up. Thankfully, I wasn't halfway across the village in a wrecked cabin. I was fine and everything was still intact. I sat up in the soft bed and looked at the door. Light had slowly crept in from the windows.

Before I knew it, Willow came in. But she came in with another person.

A tall, fair boy with straight blonde hair stepped in with her. He had a perfect smile, and a very defined jaw. His eyes were twinkling blue. He almost looked just like Willow.

"Hey," I said to her. "Who's this?"

"Dylan," she said. "Tada!" She waved her hands at the boy. "This is my boyfriend, Marcus Metson."

My heart sank into my bones and fell apart.

"Hi, Marcus," I said, waving a hand at him, then getting up from the bed so I wouldn't look awkward. I hope I wasn't looking weird in front of the guy I envied. "Nice to meet you."

He waved back. "Hi, Dylan. I've heard great things about you."

I had to hold back the urge to cringe. I've heard great things about you?! What was that supposed to mean?

"Thanks," I said. "You, too."

He snickered then said, "Thank you."

God, this guy was a practical repeat of Jake. He had the perfect body shape and face, along with the desired and admired immaculate hair. And those eyes, those lustrous, entrancing blue eyes!

I could tell from one look at Markus that he was the Jake Colton of Treeville.

Willow seemed to adore him heavily, like he was the most ideal human this world had to offer. He was. And I wasn't. He's everything I'm insecure about, just like Jake.

I'm getting deja vu, but not in a good way. My whole world seemed to be slipping and falling apart, just like it had when I was younger.

Okay, no. I wasn't going to get this broken over a girl. Even if I liked her, she didn't like me, and I had to accept that. But...

"So..." Willow said, breaking the ticklish silence. "What now?"

"Oh," said Markus in the coolest voice ever, so deep and silky. "Maybe I can show him where I work now?"

I wanted to laugh so bad. A farm. He worked at a farm. He did the same thing I'd done in Shlaido, just more impressively. Why was that so funny but not funny at the same time?

Willow nodded and said, "Of course. Is that okay with you, Dylan?"

As much as I wanted to say no and stay in the cabin and not have to deal with the hardships of heartbreak, this was Willow, my friend. I couldn't just decline her little "union" of me and Markus.

I held back a large, crushed sigh and said, "Yeah! Let's go... see this farm, I guess."

Gods was I awkward.

We walked out of the cabin and over to his farm, which was down a meandering dirt path. It was pretty far away for somewhere relatively general in the village. In Shlaido, the farms were as close as could be. It was important to check on crops occasionally, at least once or twice a day, and so they had to be close enough to see.

But you could hardly see the farm here. We had been walking for a bit, and I supposed to break the silence, Willow said, "So, Dylan, are you excited about your quest?"

Excited?! Oh, I don't know, Willow, maybe not. Maybe I'm horrified half to death over the major possibility that I'm going to die and be cooked and eaten by a bunch of monsters while the Souleaters munch on the remains of my spirit. I don't know, just a hunch, though.

"Oh... uh... sure..." I said. She gave me a suspicious look.

"It's fine if you're not," Markus said. "It's okay to be scared."

Thanks. That means a lot coming from the guy who could probably lift two horses if he put his mind to it. And he wouldn't even need magic, unlike me. Seriously, why was this guy acting like it's not okay to be frightened, unless you're me. Then it's fine.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm not scared, though. Nervous, more like. Maybe even a little anxious."

I didn't care if I let all my emotions and feelings spill out, because I probably wouldn't see this guy for another ten years, when him and Willow got married and had a beautiful wedding, followed by the fact that Willow birthed eight of his children who'd all grow to be valiant like him and percipient like her.

He shrugged. "That's cool, too."

Cool?! Wow, I didn't know being a fucking loser was cool, Markus. God, how much more annoying could this guy get? Seriously.

Willow nodded. "Yeah. Either way, I know you'll do good out there, Dylan. We both do."

We both do. A raging fire bursted into my soul at these words and my heart wanted to scream and shout if it only could. I was so annoyed and angry and upset for no particular reason.

"Thanks," I said. "That means a lot."

I thanked the heavens I wasn't short-tempered like my father was. Or at least that's what Grandma said he was like, always getting irritated over even the slightest annoyance. I was good at not getting mad too easily.

We had finally made it to the ranch and I noticed one thing before the others: a gigantic gold tree sat in the center of the fields, laid out over the dirt and soil that littered the ground.

The Golden Tree. It looked way less sightly to the eye than it had before. Its once glorious and gorgeous bark was now deprived of its beauty, looking drained by some kind of magenta liquid, its gold leaves slowly dying and falling from its sad-looking owner.

"Oh no," I said.

"Yep," Willow sighed. "It got the same amount of wounds that you did, broken and unpolished. Poor thing."

Poor thing indeed. It didn't even seem to be able to stand anymore, it looked so frail and infirm.

"What are they going to do with it?" I questioned.

"Oh," said Markus, even though nobody asked him to talk. "Well ever since you had a little incident with the tree, we've been working on rebuilding and re-polishing it so that it can have its same former glory."

It felt like he was blaming it on me, like I had made it look this way. Like I was the one that threw it.

"That's nice," I said. "Well, I hope you guys succeed. I want to be able to visit and see the pretty thing again."

Markus laughed and nodded.

I took one last look at the once-breathtaking tree that was now unsightly. Then I turned around and saw Willow and Markus sucking each other's faces. They were kissing so passionately, it was hard to see whose hands were whose.

Apparently they were trying to use the Golden Tree as a distraction.

Ugh. So nasty. They hardly took notice of the fact that I was now watching them kiss. I just turned back around and admired the Tree, even if there wasn't much to admire. It was much more nicer than the action being performed behind me.

I couldn't even shut out the disgusting noises they were making, so slimy and gross. I had to take a few steps further and ignore this as much as I could. But there was a line indicating that one's entry was unwelcome as the builders ahead were working too hard. So I didn't get to keep a full distance from the pecking couple.

Eventually it was over, and I turned back around. Their faces were all red and saliva-y.

And here I was, thinking kissing was cool and cute. Yeah, hell no. If it was as revolting as this was, I didn't want to partake in such lip-moving actions. Ever.

"So... what next?" Willow said, as though her face didn't have a bunch of Markus' spittle all over it.

"What next?" I repeated. "Well, I don't know."

Markus gestured at some crops stupidly. "Maybe I can show you what I grow."

I actually couldn't hold in laughter. Like I couldn't already see what he grew: corn, wheat, and potatoes.

"What?" He asked. "What's so funny?"

He really was just like Jake, in all the bad ways and all the good ways.

Willow couldn't contain a little giggle, either. She knew just how dumb he was, how much of a bimbo he was.

"Seriously, what's funny?"

Me and Willow burst out laughing.

•••

It was almost sunset when I was preparing to depart from Treeville. I didn't know if I was even fully ready for it. The last day had been weird and silly and horrible all the same, so maybe it wasn't all that bad.

Either way, my time in Village of the Trees had been unmatched, even by the Hark Kingdom, in both good ways and bad. I got to see a gold tree, got ambushed by a bunch of giants, and got ridiculed by Markus, but then totally ridiculed him back.

Either way, the last day had been both unique and zany.

Just like in the Hark Kingdom, I bid everyone farewell, except for the important people, which were best for last.

•••

I had all of my things ready to go, and Mayor Con had even sent a few of his farmers and guards to go looking for my bag and, though they didn't find all of the items the pack had before, they found Squeak! The little cub licked my fast as soon as he saw me.

I kept Squeak in my bag just like before and was now ready to leave. Everybody was waiting for me at the same meandering dirt path that led to the farms which also led to the exit of Treeville.

"Bye, Dylan," me and Con shook hands. He gave me a nearly toothless and I gave him a grin of my own. Was this truly goodbye?

"Goodbye, Mayor Con."

I crossed over to the hooded figure who'd saved me, Sydon.

"Thank you," I said. "For everything. I wouldn't even be alive without you."

He simply shook his shadowy head. "It was no problem, lad. If you're ever in danger, remember that you have magic! Now bye!"

I nodded, said bye, and crossed over to Willow, who was holding hands giddily with Markus.

"Bye, Willow," I hesitated to hug her, but her boyfriend nodded and we squeezed each other tight. "Thank you for everything you've shown me. You're one of the greatest friends I've ever had. And that's saying something, because I made quite a few friends at the castle."

She laughed and said, "Gee, Dylan. I'm going to miss you. We all are. But uh, good luck. You're going to need it."

I nodded and finally turned to Markus. "Bye."

"Bye," he said simply back.

No more words needed to be exchanged between the two of us because our expressions and eyes said everything that needed to be spoken, though not into existence.

Willow held back tears as I took one last wave at everybody before crossing through the fences that symbolized one's departure from the Village of the Trees.

Squeak gave out a little baby howl, which echoed endlessly through the night, and followed us all forevermore as made our way to the Crooked Realm, where we would have to destroy the monsters and eventually the king, Downfall.

Would I even succeed?