Looking around, Hera felt both scared and amazed by her surroundings. The trees in this jungle were absolutely massive. Each could reach well above 10 meters in height, and the diameter was nothing to scoff at either. She imagined that some of those trees could turn into two-bedroom houses if someone was to start carving away. Even the bushes and flowers were much bigger than she was used to. A single petal was about the size of her head. In a way, the size and shape of the flowers reminded her of the Jupiter Birdtrap that she faced when she first arrived in the Waperath Jungle.

"Wait… this is where we are. Isn't it?" Hera asked no one in particular.

"I'm sorry, Hera. But I don't understand the question," Nimbus said.

"Me neither," Lurize added.

When the Empress turned back to explain it to them, she was surprised by Lurize's appearance, but she didn't have enough time to process that, for a voice crept into her mind, making her jump.

"Yess. We are in the Waperath Jungle. Here, I arose. Here, I lived. Here I grew," this voice was still shrill and gargled, but it sounded much more clear right now. Less that of a monster and more of a disturbed person or a sentient creature.

"I really don't want to get used to that," Hera sighed.

"You won't. I guarantee it," Lurize placed one hand on Hera's shoulder.

"Thanks," the Empress replied and placed her hand on the Royal Tutor's. However, doing so made her remember why she freaked out.

His hand, which was supposed to be made out of metal, now felt rugged, as if she was touching the trunk of a tree. She spun around to face her titled blade and took in his new appearance. Instead of the metal sheets that formed his armor, now he was wearing mostly wooden armor. Not a well-maintained or properly sanded wood, but as if someone just grabbed pieces of a trunk and slapped them together. Another thing that was a far cry from his previous appearance was his helmet. It was as if someone had ripped out a giant Rhinoceros beetle head and was using it as a helmet. At least it still looked like a helmet and not his actual head.

"Lurize… are you ok?" Hera asked.

"What are you talking about?" Lurize looked at her and then at his hand, "What iz thiz? Why am I wooden?!" he gasped, finally realizing that something was very different.

"Mum!" Daskka gasped.

"Ha! You lost," Nimbus snickered.

"What were the two of you doing?" Hera turned to them.

"We bet how long it would take for him to notice. I said under an hour, Daskka said it would take longer," Nimbus explained.

"That doesn't count. Mum was the one who made him realize it!" Daskka gasped.

"Doesn't matter. you never specified that mom couldn't be a part of it," Nimbus replied with a smile. But he noticed how everyone was staring at him, "What?"

"Did you just… Call me mom?" Hera asked. It was the first time he had ever said that.

"What? No, I didn't," Nimbus huffed.

"Yes you did," Daskka chuckled.

"They are correct. You called Hera mom," Lurize nodded.

"I… it was an accident!"

"Do you see me as a mother figure?" Hera asked.

"No! You are my Empress. Royalty! The noblest of all beings," Nimbus replied.

"Would you like me to read you a story before bed? When we are out of here since I don't have any books with me."

Nimbus opened his mouth to protest, but he closed it a few moments later, "I think I would like that…" he admitted.

"Can I be there too? I miss when you read to me as I was trying to learn how to speak," Daskka added.

"I didn't participate in that. May I join too?" Lurize asked.

"Ok, ok. When we leave here, I'll make sure to read to you before bed," Hera chuckled, but the light mood was interrupted by a roar coming from deep inside the jungle. It seemed like whatever made that noise was far away, but it was hard to tell the direction, "Let's find everyone first. Edge, can you fly up? Take a magnet and go as high as you can. See if you can find anyone."

'Why him? Wouldn't it be better if I went? I'm smaller, and if something breaks me, it wouldn't be that much of an issue. Edge's skills can be more important if anyone gets hurt,' Scythe suggested.

'Are you sure? Even if I get hit, I can take more punches than you,' Edge said.

'I am. It's better if you protect the Empress,' Scythe replied.

"Ok then. If that's your decision, I won't complain but be careful. If things seem dangerous, get back here right away," Hera replied.

Scythe flew up as high as she could. It was funny to see the magnet attached to her since the magnet was even larger than the earrings themselves. After a few moments, she talked with Hera, 'I think I found something. I can see some movement.'

"How far away?" Hera asked.

'Three, four hundred meters? Hard to tell. The trees are too big to give me a proper measurement. But it doesn't look like a monster unless it's a monkey or something like that.'

"Let's start moving towards them. I don't like being alone here. Everyone, make sure to keep a lookout for any monsters or something that might hurt us," Hera said as they started walking. She could ask Nimbus to fly up into the sky, but she still wasn't sure the kind of thing she would face here. If there were a lot of flying creatures, becoming a target wasn't a good idea.

She passed a couple of trees when she saw a large pink praying mantis that was about the size of a rabbit. It looked almost as if it was made out of cherry blossoms, but it moved like the bug she already knew.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cherry Mantis - Level 25 (Flower affinity)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mylo would have a full day with that one," Hera chuckled.

"Should we attack it?" Nimbus asked.

"Leave it. At least for now. We don't know if they are the kind who take care of their family or something like that. Or worse, it's a baby, and the mother will chase us if we kill it. But it's good that we know that some creatures here are low-level," Hera replied.

"Good call. If we have to deal with a mother now, we will be in trouble," Lurize nodded.

As Hera continued to walk, she kept looking at the trees in this place. Their colors seemed more vibrant than that of a regular tree. The brown of the trunks was more intense, the green of the leaves looked more alive, and when she found flowers, they looked so beautiful that they almost looked fake, but their smell and feel were very much natural. Three minutes later, Hera reached where Scythe found movement. Luckily, it wasn't a monster, but Helena, who was walking around the jungle.

"Hera!" the mage cheered and rushed to give the Empress a hug.

"I'm so glad you are ok," Hera hugged her back, but she stopped talking as soon as she looked at Helena, "Lena… Your eyes."

The mage's eyes were now partially black. If Hera was to make a guess, she would say that half of her eyes were already showing her curse.

"Mine? What about yours? I can only see a bit of white in the corner of your eyes."

"Really? Is it that bad?" Hera asked before reaching for her tablet, but she quickly remembered that she didn't have it here.

"Yeah… I think that using the curse's memory as an anchor point to bring us here made us know a bit too much about the curse," Helena looked around, "Do you know where everyone else is?"

Hera shook her head, "I don't. Scythe is up above the trees, looking for them, but she couldn't find anyone besides you. Also, I can hear the curse kind of clearly now. So be ready for it."

"I can hear it too. Started when we got here. It told me to go to the ziggurat. Not that I know where that is."

"Ziggurat? Yeah, I think that this really is the Waperath Jungle. There was a ziggurat there. The curse also told me that, but I'm still a bit iffy if it was the truth or not," Hera nodded.

"Don't go to the ziggurat!" Sammy's voice reached them before he did. Just as they noticed that the small turtle appeared floating from behind a tree, "I finally found you two."

"Sammy, Are you ok? The spell worked, right? We are in the past?" Helena asked.

Sammy nodded, "Perfectly. We managed to come to the right place and at the right time. From what I gather, we are sometime before the curse even started. We might even be able to stop it from being created altogether. Also, let me say this again. Under no circumstance should you go to the ziggurat. There are too many people there, and any interaction could create a new branch in the timeline," the real reason for that warning was that, at the present moment, the curse had no solid memories of the ziggurat. If they went there now, it would be easy to see some things that could prove that this wasn't the past but a memory. Unfortunately, Sammy couldn't talk to the people he brought here about it. Otherwise, the entire plan would collapse.

"Oh, ok. Yeah, it's better if we stay here then. Do you know where the others are?" Hera had just asked Scythe about it, but she still couldn't see anything.

"I do. I already asked everyone to gather in a specific location. I'll guide you all there," Sammy replied and started to float to the east.

"Was there a reason why it was harder to find us?" Helena asked after some time of walking.

"Actually, yes. Unlike how things are when I dive inside a memory, coming to the past and then teleporting around is more complicated. I can't just jump to one of you. I have to do short jumps around searching for something that has the same mana signature as my spell," Sammy explained.

"I see. And would you mind explaining the spell to me? In length, I mean. I think that might be very useful," Helena asked, her eyes sparkling with the possibility.

"I'm afraid I can't. Not this spell. The actual spell is no longer in my mind. After casting it, the system removed it from me as soon as we got here. I think that it doesn't like when people mess around with the timeline," Sammy sighed.

Around five minutes passed before they managed to find the rest of the group. Everyone was by a large maple tree that towered above the others, which was impressive in itself. Hera also realized that everyone was wearing different clothes. Even if some of the differences were not as big as one might expect. First, anything that was made out of metal was no longer there. Instead, it was replaced by either stone or bark. That includes Hera's own boots, her belt buckle, and Alex's chain vest that she wore beneath her clothes. Second, denim or any mixed thread material was replaced by either silk or leather. Mylo, for instance, was wearing some puffy silk pants instead of his regular pants that had some metal pieces to increase his defense.

Blue's armor was now a stone plate that was surprisingly flexible, but it still looked clunky. Alex, Bonnie, Adriel, and Shane were more or less the same, but there were some pieces here and there that were different. The biggest one was Alex's shoulders. She had some metal parts that could increase her defense and help her not strain her arm, but now, instead of metal, it was something made out of bone, which gave her quite an intimidating look.

As Hera admired everyone, Sammy stepped forward to guide the party to the Hidden Village, the location where the curse was born.