Note: My sincerest apologies for missing yesterday's posting! Studying for exams caught up to me and completely tore me away from writing! 

Once Cronos and I had arrived to the forest that inhabited Ryzel’s tribe, a faint metallic but perfumey smell beginning to waft through the air as we ventured deeper and deeper into the woodlands. I couldn’t help but let my mouth drop a little at the fauna around. In all honesty? I never really made it a priority to visit the Incubi and Succubi tribe every now and again! Although they followed the same rules as the town did, it was still as if I was walking into a completely different land with completely different cultures! A world that was as mesmerizing and intriguing as it was frightening. 

A culture rich with all sorts of things that ranged from the way they lived, their religions, their food, and even how they loved one another. But...somehow, someway, when one began to hear the quieted chatter of people and the slow beating of drums? The leaves and bark of the trees began to change color...instead of brown bark and orange leaves that symbolized autumn, the leaves were a dark purple-ish color while the trees themselves had shifted over to a blood-red color and were wet to the touch! The grass surrounding us was flaky and felt as if you were walking on fresh ash and...strangely enough? There were never any animals around here.

Not the Surface-Realm's types of animals at least, after all, usually deer were docile and skittish but after spending a good week or two here? They always came out feistier and more ready to stand up to hunters instead of simply running away! I always liked to say and believe that the hunters had just run into a different species of deer, after all, I couldn’t proudly say that I knew every type of animal here on Balerion but, having a fresher memory of the tribe’s plant life? 

I could give a few guesses as to why the animals acted the way they did. 

“The plants here give me the heebie-jeebies,” I commented, letting my hand run across a tree’s bark for only a second before I immediately saw a strange goo cover my palm. 

Slimy to the touch while smelling strangely of citrus fruits, I couldn’t help but raise a brow. 

Did the tribe throw slime on the trees or what? 

“As a colt, my mother once told me stories of the Daemoniums being able to slowly change life around them,” Cronos said with a small chuckle, my brow rising in interest. 

A race that was capable of terra-forming? That sounded like something from a sci-fi movie more than anything else!

However, though this was a world with talking animals and magic...I couldn't help but doubt it a little. After all, the tribe had been right beside the village for years now! 

Sure, the air always smelled a little bit more fruity but never have I ever seen the crops change colors much less have a more aggressive, almost alien-like appearance to them. 

“And how in the world would they be capable of that?” I asked with a small scoff at the end.

“Their god, The One, only interacts with them. Never mortals, The One favorites his first creations and has gifted them with all sorts of abilities. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had powers that were hidden to even their own eyes.” 

"Incubi and Succubi are called the 'humans' of the Daemoniums for a reason remember? They don't have any magic!" I reminded the centaur. 

"Not to mention, I hear from time to time that some of the tribe-members will sometimes go off to try and recover some items from the Under-Realm. Maybe they're bringing back some magical dust with them." I continued with a small shrug. 

"Perhaps." Cronos hummed. 

"But, not everything is how it appears to be-" 

Suddenly, a large branch fell in Cronos’ path, the random act making him rear up with a little a gasp while I quickly leaned over to get a glance at the branch. It looked like any other tree branch, sure it had some goo on it but that seemed to be normal considering the entire forest's state! But...despite that fact, I couldn't seem to shake off the little voice in my head warning me to heed Cronos' interrupted words. 

Not everything seems the way it originally looks. 

And the branch in front of me? Though as still as a rock, the feeling that the branch was alive, more alive than it should've been, wasn't crawling off my back anytime soon.

“Guess this forest really doesn't like us huh?" I joked, Cronos trotting around the branch with a shake of his head. 

But, the sound of something squeaking and then scuttling into rustling bushes made me quickly turn my head.

Gone, as if the branch was never even there to begin with. 

“Have you heard?"

I tilted my head. "Heard what?" 

"That the army whispers words of wanting to turn the Under-Realm into the Surface-Realm. They will be disappointed to see that the realm doesn't bend to mortals.” 

I rolled my eyes. "Welcome to humanity 101, my friend. As soon as we get bold? Testing out fancy new weapons on innocent people and driving them out of their homes? We try to 'fix' it." I said. 

"Make it livable for us instead of focusing on the rest of the people! But, at least this world is in somewhat of a better spot than the humans from my old home." I chuckled, causing the centaur to look back at me with a cocked brow.

“You always seem to hold disdain for your old home, may I ask why?” 

I nodded. “Well...besides the obvious problems such as people changing how Earth worked. It was slowly getting hotter and hotter and yet? Barely anyone big had a mind to try and fix it.” I started off. 

“Animals were poached left and right. I made a decision to never have kids back then! I didn’t want them to have to look at an elephant from a picture book or a photo!" I huffed. 

"And that's not even the worst of it, we were divided, the color of our skin? For some reason, it determined who we were as a person.” I sighed, causing me to shake my head at the seemingly distant memory. 

Only seventeen true years spent there and I could only recall bad memories besides all the good ones spent with my few friends and most of my family. Never again did I want to have to experience a life like that again! Where everything was determined on looks rather than who you were! White skin seemed to always triumph over dark skin, even in countries where the main color was something else, my color always seemed to get the better end of the stick! 

I didn't have any right to say that I knew what the other race felt like but...I could pull a good assumption and say it wasn't too good. When I looked back at Balerion? Sure, they weren't as bad as Earth but they were coming pretty damn close to it! 

Discriminating against an entire species? All based on things done in the past rather than trying to focus on the here and now as well as the future? 

They had Earth beat on that part.

After all, the answer was more simpel than Earth! 

Earth was a power struggle. 

These lands? The cure was no more than simply letting people stay in their own lanes, to never interact with one another if it came to that and let both cultures have their cultures! Not everything needed fixing in order to rise to humanity's standards. 

Life wasn't only filled with one race, one culture nor one person's ideals.

At the end of the music? We all bleed when we're cut by a sword. 

“Your world will survive,” I said in a more whispered tone after a small while of silence, the sounds of beating drums growing louder and louder by the second. 

“It’s nothing more than a case of fear and getting over said fear.” I continued with a small snicker, Cronos simply nodding his head before I focused my attention forward once more. 

However, once Cronos and I finally passed through the forest fully, Cronos slowing down to a walk to allow me to hop off his back, it wasn’t too much longer before we saw the tribe! 

Truly...it was like taking a glimpse into an entirely different land. 

From houses that were as tall as two oak trees stacked onto one another, to huts that could’ve been as small as a car! All made out of either hardened black clay that shimmered dimly during the night or red rock that was so tough that not even a pickaxe could make a dent into it!

A bonfire lied in the middle of the tribe where some people danced, drank, or ate. Children ran around and played and there was even a nearby stable with creatures I’ve never seen a day in my life! The animals resembled larger, hardier horses...their manes and tails were literally on fire! Some had hellish red colors, others a more galaxy purple while others were a simple light yellow! Their skin was like looking at cooled lava, the dimly glowing pulse underneath telling me that they were still alive despite their eyes having a completely solid black to them while their hooves literally burned the ground beneath them! 

‘Least I understand why the ground was ashy in the forest.’ I thought with a small huff as I continued to look around, my eyes finally noticing the multiple piles of jewelry in front of people’s houses. 

Already, I could tell they weren’t jewels from the Surface-Realm, the colors were either too dim or glowed brightly enough to the point it looked hot to the touch! It was a different world indeed, completely unlike the world in the town or the rest of the Surface-Realm in general.

“Lady Eos.” A pair of voices said, snapping me out of my attention before I looked to see a Succubus and Incubus. 

They bowed their heads as soon as they realized my attention was caught. 

“Mind telling us why you’re here?” The Incubus asked with a playful chuckle, his eyes having a playful glint within them before I cleared my throat. 

“Ryzel wanted me to meet up with him.” I smiled.

“Oh? Why here? Can’t he meet you at your house?” The Incubus asked, the Succubus suddenly nudged him in the arm. 

“Don’t you know? They’ll be getting out of their little ‘phase’ soon.” She hummed. 

I rolled my eyes with a small sigh. I respected Ryzel’s culture, truly I did! It was...entertaining? They worked hard and kept their own and the people that did them well safe and well but they knew how to tease and have fun! Playing pranks within the village was common from what Ryzel told me one time, not to mention, they knew how to celebrate when the time was right! But, in terms of everyone and anyone knowing each other’s business? 

That I would never get used to.