Chapter 2: Beyond the Sea of Trees

"Should we try exploring, then?" Camille suggested. "We don't know much about this place and why we're transported here in the first place. We don't know the cause or if there's other people here besides us."

"I agree," Alicia said. "We're not sure about its safety too, so I guess we could explore in pairs or something?"

"In that case, I'll go alone," The old man, Mr. Chen, croaked, slowly walking away to a south direction.

They hesitated a bit, but couldn't say much either.

Alicia just yelled that they could meet up back again after an hour or so and the old man just glanced back a little.

Alicia volunteered to take care of the little boy, Ali, and they went in an east direction.

And so, Haru was left with Camille.

They decided to take up the path leading to the palace-like building and walked together, carrying an awkward silence with them.

Groping through this atmosphere, Camille peeked glances toward Haru. "You must be nervous right now," She softly interjected. "Seeing you in a school uniform, you were probably on your way back from school or somewhere fun."

Haru stopped on his tracks, looking down. "I… was trying to kill myself before."

Camille's eyes brimmed with shock.

Haru looked back at her and immediately retracted himself, panicking, "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make it so gloomy. I just thought I'd tell honestly."

Camille breathed out, "Don't worry. I was just shocked when you suddenly said that. But it's fine to talk about that with me, you know."

"Oh, thank you."

Soon, Haru and Camille arrived inside the castle and they saw a whole grand of a golden interior.

It's as compelling as its exterior appearance.

Its most striking feature was the banquet before them.

A long table stuffed with meat, fruits, and meals were presented. It's a whole feast.

Above it was a bluish glowing text of instruction that said, "You can eat here."

Haru and Camille looked at each other, as if reading each other's mind.

"That totally sounds like a trap," Haru said and Camille agreed.

They kept looking around and found a few rooms inside the castle. They were all empty, but they weren't dusty.

It's as if someone was taking care of the castle the whole time until their arrival.

While Haru kept on going in and out of the rooms, hoping to see any clues or changes, not even knowing what his goal was, Camille became fixated at the feast that was near the entrance way of the palace at the ground floor.

She returned to the long table and sat down in front of it, staring at the foods, as if she was being hypnotized and drawn towards the meals.

Her eyes turned blank and the world to her spun out of control.

She began moving her hands, trying to get a mouthful of the food in front of her.