Shinja had gone past the last path that led straight to where her grandmother lived, where her soul resided and visited every now and then. It was all real to her and the thought that Terese was ever a spirit never occurred to Shinja for each time she came to the Secret Garden, Terese would come too and be with her.

If she were ever to find out that none of it was real, that her grandmother was long gone even from her favorite place, she would be distraught. She rode too fast that her satchel fell off the horse's back.

"Birds! Wooo Flower-bender wooo..." The mare came to a sudden halt, slowly pacing down its trots.

If she had not held on tight as Flower-bender engaged in this action, she would have fallen off due to inertia, the sudden movement causing her to jerk back and forth unsteadily. She dismounted the horse and ran back a few steps to where her satchel had hit the ground.

She made a move to mount her horse yet again but...as she did this, a pair of huge hands grabbed her by the neck, scratchy fingers covered her mouth.

The stranger began squeezing her throat, leaving marks on her tender skin causing the veins on the sides of her neck to pop dangerously on the sides. There was no way of telling who or what it was.

I am going to die here.

Night had fallen. A mist covered the place getting in the way of her vision. The stranger by the way they grabbed her, felt masculine especially his rough grubby hands, the grunts he made were a tell-tell sign. He pulled her off the horse and dragged her until Flower-bender was a mere thick white spot engulfed by the mist.

Am I really going to die here?

Not many people knew of this place. Who would find her body? She braved her mind to stop thinking the ill thoughts. She nursed enough courage and bit the grabber's hand so hard that a coppery taste hit her tongue.

Blood? She grimaced.

Her assailant's disgusting blood was in her mouth. Shocked by the action, he let her go at once, and she started screaming almost immediately; the two actions happening simultaneously. For an instant, Shinja thought she was seeing things when she turned to see the face of her assailant. The man glitched right before her eyes, fading in and out, in and out, until he was no more...

It cannot be. Ghosts? It felt so real. Ghosts can't touch the living. They definitely had no such grip.

It was a ghost and a man all at once. Ghost-man? What had she gotten herself into? She wondered if by seeking for clarity and space she had opened a can of worms inviting worse evil for herself. All in the name of seeking clarity and space! Stuck in wonder, Shinja could not tell what the creature had wanted from her.

What did he...it want?

There was no time to ponder on that. Squinting her eyes, she forged her way through the mist in search for her mare. The mist was too thick almost tangible. She walked straight ahead, afraid that a foot in the wrong direction could send her into a wall of another strange creature. First came a thud as she stumbled into something fluffy and swishy, then a bray. She had found Flower-bender.

Poor thing, she thought afraid of saying a word.

"Quiet," she whispered to the discomforted mare. Her skittish trots could cost them their lives. "We don't want to wake anything bizarre. It seems like we are not alone chap." She tapped her side twice and mounted once more. "Let's get out of here."

In all the confusion, one thing did stand out, they had to get to a safe place as soon as possible. Darkness brought with it its own demons. Her heart palpitations did nothing to help but confirm that thought.

Atop her horse, she checked her satchel in search for the charm book. She had thought of using it to craft a protective charm that would keep her through the entire journey now that she had realized she was not the only one roaming the murky forests. The charm had to be in there somewhere. She knew that there was always something to be offered by the char-ch-

Wait a minute!

Her thoughts froze as her fingers stopped their frantic search.

"Where is it?" she whisper-shouted at Flower-bender. "Where is the book Bender?" she couldn't have--she remembered her fight with the strange being. "No! He couldn't have. Could he? It can't be! No, no, no, no!"

THE BOOK WAS GONE! HOW?!

What am I going to do now? Where is it Bender?

Her eyes opened wide in disbelief. Shock? Fear? So many emotions were going through her mind at the moment. When had this happened? When had she lost the darling book?

Damn it all to hell!

"I'm stuck," she sighed in defeat, "We're lost Bender." The mare grunted as if in response.

Yet again, she dug her fingers deep into the pockets of the flimsy satchel-call it hope or whatever. Nothing. Her mind was running wild with all the possibilities of when and where she had dropped the book. She got the satchel off Flower-Bender's back and shook it upside down like a woman at the verge of insanity. How had she lost it? When?

"This does not make any sense," she spoke out her eyes tearing. "I cannot lose that book. I simply cannot!"

Suddenly, she halted her frantic search. Something oddly cold was creeping up her foot. Slowly, she lowered her head, taking deep breaths to quieten the scream fighting to tear her throat. Utterly shocked by what she saw, she let out the suppressed scream. She squirmed atop Flower-Bender nearly losing her footing, shaking her leg to throw it off of her.

Where are all these creatures coming from?

With the end of her veil she wiped the slimy residue left behind by the odd creature. Its slime glowed, green and gold in their lightest forms, the colors would have matched that of a beautiful galaxy, if it had not come from an odd creature. It had looked like a frog but then again it had a tail attached to its rainbow colored back.

A frog with a tail? Was it even a frog? She had not seen anything like it before in her entire life but then again, there had never been a Silver prince in her life ever. The Silver prince, Silver... come to think of it, this was all his fault.

"This is not the time and place for all this. We shall blame around another time. We need where to put this pretty head of yours."

Shinja felt like giving up. Regret flooded her mind as she turned to leave. You should have stayed back at the palace. She started thinking that maybe facing the prince was not that bad as she had initially thought. God, she was such a mess! She put her slime covered veil back on the top of her head.

She had been so much in a hurry to even consider using a more secure bag choice than the one she had carried, look where that got her. Now she had lost the charm book! Perfect!

"Hey! Stop it already! What's done is done. Now let's find you a place to sleep." She wanted to take her own advice, believe in the courage the words were meant to bring, nothing came.

Shinja realized that she was in more trouble than she had thought initially. She neared close to the border crossing into the Black Forest. It was not called black for nothing; her grandmother had warned her against using it. When she arrived at its edge, she realized the reason for all the odd creatures. It had been because she was nearing the Black Forest.

'If ever caught between using it and choosing another path, use another path my child. The Black Forest is a friend to no one. It seeks to take and only take." ' Terese had warned her.

Had fate brought her here, or she had done that all by herself? Could someone actually bring fate to themselves?

"So, I guess we are taking the Black Forest Bender. You and I. Are you ready?" The mare shook friskily in the bid to turn her away. "I know, I'm scared too," she spoke before galloping into the darkness.

The Black Forest.

~*~

The king and the rest were now getting closer to the Green Lake. As soon as they got close, they heard a crying voice of a young woman. It sounded far off from where they were. Had it been Shinja? No one could tell. The places they were approaching were spookier than those they had initially gone through.

Prince Silver quickly branched off into the forest because he of all the princes had heard Shinja cry. He was sure the voice they heard was hers. The king stopped him with his sword at the front of the prince's chest and nearly laughed at the young lad's inability to think straight.

"I would hold my horses if I were you boy. You have no idea what we are in for. You have no idea." The older man spoke looking ahead. "I understand your eagerness. This, however, is my kingdom. It is my daughter that is missing. It would be in your favor and hers if you followed my lead."

The young lad's eagerness would serve their demise if he did not engage wisdom. When Silver turned around to seek approval of the other castle knights and guards, Bolton saw his confusion.

"Listen to your majesty, milord. This part of the kingdom roams with all kinds of evil. The underground witches use these outskirts to keep people off the land. Only the Greens keep them at bay.

"If a stranger comes in too soon, makes one wrong move, they can be dead in the wink of an eye. Too many voices, lots of creatures, creepy glowing eyes in the dark. One had to be extra careful, if they were to make it out of these lands in one piece."

The prince was not satisfied with any of their 'excuses' made for him to slow down. He saw no need for tardiness at this point. It was only out of his respect for the king that he held back.

"Many things in this forest tend to disguise themselves as people we know, more so those we love. Don't fall for them." The king said this with finality never making eye contact with the prince, he only stared ahead as if staring deep into the forest ahead with his eyes lost in thought. Of course, he was with them even though his mind was cast afar off.

Silver stared down at the sword then lifted his eyes to watch the king. He let out a frustrated sigh.

Wasn't the king concerned about his daughter?

The king's calm bothered Silver. He felt that the older man was not trying hard enough to find his daughter. This was a matter of life and death.

You do not know the half of it boy. The king thought. As her father, the king worried more than anyone but he masked it with false confidence, feigning hope. Someone had to remain hopeful. As a king, it is what is expected of him.

Pink-White raised the reins of his horse nudging it to gallop ahead of the crew away to the Green Lake. There was something he had to do without attention of the rest; make the lake disappear. The camouflage was created to mask strangers from ever realizing that the path was present for use. It was only used for emergencies. Like this one. Pink-White convinced himself.

Other days, what everyone saw was a lake believed to be so deep nobody dared cross it. Tales that held truth to them were whispered among the people of the kingdom about it.

The knights saw nothing out of sort when they came riding behind the king. Pink-White let them ride past him on dry ground-where a lake had been. Once everyone was out of sight, Pink-White a few paces from them, threw his crested ring onto the ground. Immediately the precious Green Lake surfaced.

His ring that had hit had ground bounced back like a pebble from a water surface. He wiped it dry across his thigh and turned to meet up with the rest.

On their way into the forest on one of the paths, prince Brown noticed a small brown pocket book. It's covers beaten by years of being passed down through generations. Curious, he bent down to have a closer look. With shifty glimpses, he made sure no one was watching him.

He dropped his sword to the ground so that he had an excuse for getting off his horse amidst a mission, he picked up the little book before anyone else noticed that it was there. He pocketed it into his breastplate and did not mention it to anyone.

"For later," he smirked.

~*~

Shinja went through the Black Forest with unscathed except for the bugs that bit her here and there, she suffered nothing serious. Maybe she had overcome her tests earlier. That was far from it. Her grandmothers had kept the evil at bay. Every step she took inside the Black Forest was completely marked by the three women.

She caught glimpse of the hedge laying adjacent to where she paused with Flower-bender. Her grandmother's flower garden, finally. Sight of the garden brought such unexplainable relief to her.

Hope at last!

~*~

Pink-White, his horsemen and the princes made it inside the Black forest. Always a step behind Shinja. So close, yet so far. They did not know that. Fighting off beasts in a forest full of nothing but evil had been expected that did not take away the surprise experienced by the lot when a beast jumped out of the thick bushes onto Bolton metallic sleeve.

In full battle-mode, they all combatted the beast. They barely won.

Voices began whispering into Pink-White's thoughts. The sound they made was like little dry leaves in the summer rubbing against each other roughly, except these leaves were saying words not just making a crashing sound. First, he dismissed them as paranoia trying to magnify his fears. He did not want anything distracting him from his mission.

The voices nudged harder until finally they cut through the thin wall his mind had put up in an attempt to kick them out.

The voices spoke. Fortunately, it was not the tormenting horrors of the Black Forest. Its horrors were known for hounding the victim's mind, filling it with horrible fears and threats driving them to insanity of never-ending melancholy. That was not the case this time, it was hope. Sweet hope being declared crisply into his mind's ear.

"You will find what you seek. Near is the door you seek to open," whispered the voices. Wishing he had let them in sooner, Pink-White carried on with renewed vigor and hope.

Dusk rained over the forest faster than the sun rose from its sleep. The king ordered the horsemen to find a suitable place to set up camp so that they could rest. Silver on the other hand could not rest. He was kept awake by a strange vision of Shinja professing her love for him, then after she waved and disappeared into thick dark woods. The dream repeated itself over and over tormenting him throughout the night.

~*~

While at the entrance of the garden, Shinja's soul left her body drifting into the clouds. Her lifeless form plopped off the horse's back down onto the ground. Flower-bender's knees broke as she bowed to the ground circling her keeper's body.

Her soul reached out to Silver floating into his dream. There she saw him, when she got closer in front of him, she slapped his cheek and disappeared into thin air. In that same dream, she rejected his flowers.

Early the next morning, her soul returned into her body frame and she woke with a start.

"Where am I now?"

First off, she noticed that she was no longer on Flower-Bender's back. She was sure of it that she had been with Silver a while back. Was it all a fantasy? Someone had picked her up, cleaned and dressed her. Wh- her thoughts were cut off when she her eyes opened. It did not make any sense.

"What was I seeing a second ago if my eyes have been closed the whole time?"

Once her eyes were fully opened, she saw her grandmother, Terese.

"No! How is this possible grandma? Am I dead?" she spread her fingers over her cheeks feeling for her flesh.

"Oh, my little bird! You are very much alive."

"Then how..." Terese did not let her finish.

"You needed my help child. I could not ignore coming to you. You were so lost."

Her grandmother made sure she ate, they talked for a bit and then she prepared to leave for home.

"For all it is worth my child, choose love." Terese concluded their little chat.

"Thank you, grandma. I now know what to do." She stared off into space where her grandmother had been before becoming no more.

She took a different route out of the forest one that led to the Middle Forest which was much safer than the Black Forest.

"Nothing lasts longer than love." Terese had said.

She would bank on that to keep going maybe she had finally figured out what to do. We'll cross that bridge when we get back to the palace.

The palace? They must have noticed she was gone by now.

"I must really get back to the palace. They must be thinking the worst. Oh goodness! My sisters?! Papa!" What was her father going to make of her reckless actions?

She planned on apologizing, hopefully even explain her reason for doing what she did. She thought this to convince herself that she was going to talk to her father even though she knew well enough that it was not going to happen. We will cross that bridge when we get there for now, I have to get out of here.

~*~

The king used the junction that joined to the Middle Forest. Even when he had done that, he did not leave his mother's place unsearched. He sent men into Terese' flower garden that they may search it. They came back with nothing helpful, only that the place did not exist. They could not see it. He remembered his mother's protective charm over the place.

Oh, mother! How did I forget that you would have that place hidden to ordinary eyes? On any other day, this would be something that brought a smile to his face. This was not the day. It meant another dead-end in trying to find his youngest daughter.

Of course, they had not seen it, only with a Green would a stranger be allowed to see Terese' special flower garden. He blamed himself for having not gone along with them. So much for giving out orders, your majesty! There was no time for them to make the search again. They had wasted so much time already. He chose they leave that and continue on to search other places. The entire Middle Forest was another jungle of its own.

Where are you Shinja?

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