The morning light of the Willow Kingdom was always pleasantly warm, if annoying to Avgi. A beam of brightness passed through his unclosable window, hitting his golden eyes and perturbing his half-awake self. “Urgh.”

Despite the treetops being immensely thick, Avgi had built his house in the correct place for the branches to the east to not obscure the sun. At least, it did not obscure the sun as it related to his window and face.

There was also a lit candle on his nightstand with a nail in it. When it melted enough, the nail dropped onto the wood below, and that was the real punch that got Avgi to open his eyes. “Alright…”

He flipped back the blankets to expose himself to the cool air, practically swinging his body out of bed and hitting the floor firmly with his heels. Sparing no time, he walked down the cruddy stairs quickly and easily, and slipped his feet into his black leather shoes once more. Rather than change clothes from his purple tunic and gold cloak, Avgi put his hands upon the fabrics of his body, as an iridescent burst bathed the cloth in intense light. All scuffs and dirt from the previous day burned away, leaving his clothes fresh as he reached his front door.

Avgi knelt down to pick up his sword, sliding the sheath into his belt and left side, before stepping out to the dew-brimmed ground of unmovable branches and football-shaped leaves. “Six in the morning, first things first... Out the door."

Mumbling to himself while approaching the bark of the gargantuan tree his house was built on, the gold-haired young man began to shift. His golden yellow eyes turned a yellowish green, and his hair took on a wooden finish, jagged and solid. His dark skin gained a tinge of green as well, as he took a deep breath in with his nose, and breathed in copious amounts of then-harmless pollen.

The green mist slowly drifted throughout the air, moving aside as Avgi bolted towards the tree’s trunk and began to rapidly run up the surface, completely perpendicular with the ground. He reached a small knot in the bark, grabbing it and throwing himself up onto a higher and massive branch, before leaping up from it to a branch above, grabbing it with both hands from underneath and swinging himself upwards. Avgi disappeared in the thick leaves of the branch, before appearing out the top and flipping his feet back down to stand back up.

“And…!”

His feet sprung from the higher ground to continue dashing up the trunk, leaping from branch to branch of the monstrous tree. It was about three hundred meters in the trunk’s circumference, and was one thousand meters tall. To compare it with any other structures built by hand would be completely impossible, for it was large enough to dwarf all.

When Avgi reached the top, swimming through great leaves and a tangle of dense branches, he was finally able to stand on a floor that held perfectly stable, even as high up as it was. There were clouds above the tree, and they looked closer than anyone at ground level could ever comprehend.

The Willow Kingdom’s sky was filled with many light clouds of light green pollen, swiftly moving across the expanse with every wind. However, the man upon the top of Immemoria wasn’t focusing on the sky, but on what stood below. Out from the green region of the Willow Kingdom were seven other notable regions as far as one could see, some larger than others. He first glanced at the immediately-familiar Blazer Kingdom, with its dark clouds and red glow all around. In front of the kingdom’s main city was the carcass of the Aquadragon, and other than that, he didn’t see any notable events. There was no army marching, or natural disaster, or another dragon making its move.

More mumbling escaped his diligent self. “Blazer Kingdom at peace.”

The same went for the land adjacent to the Blazer Kingdom. Crystalline clouds loomed above the lands of ice and snow, relatively tame. The icy walls of the Frost Kingdom were not under siege. “Frost Kingdom at peace.” Neither was the other adjacent land to the Blazer Kingdom, a region where toxic lime acids seemed to seep from the grounds, and every building in their main city was built from copper that found corrosive stains yet. It held similar colors to the Willow Kingdom, under the complete opposite of contexts. “Toxin Kingdom at peace.”

Finally, the last large kingdom he gazed upon was the last fifth of Immemoria’s pie-esque borders. Unlike the rest of the kingdoms, bright golden clouds amplified the sun’s light as it shined down upon the golden and grand buildings of a truly beautiful city, in the eyes of the hero. Avgi looked down upon it with a fond smile. “Brilliant Kingdom at peace.”

Lastly, three smaller duchies were scattered across the lands, taking up a small chunk of the pie and a small circle of their own sky. In the middle of some of the Blazer Kingdom’s vast lands of burnt grass was a small town constructed of brown and grey stone, far cooler than its surroundings. Far in the distance, at the very edge of Immemoria’s landmass, a town of sand and water lied between Blazer and Frost’s border. Finally, leaving a notable electric blue landmark in the golden lands of the Brilliant Kingdom was a town difficult to make out, with every building surging with lightning. “Duchy of Crag at peace. Duchy of Sea at peace. Duchy of Shock at peace.”

With his survey turning up uneventful, Avgi was satisfied. “Perfect!”

He found an opening in the ground, and dove into it, feet first. His trip down the tree was far more of a blur than the run up, Avgi careening down like a meteor whilst running on the bark of the trunk. Always, before reaching terminal velocity, he lashed out vines from his arms after finding a branch to grab and swing on, catapulting himself towards other trees he could use to divert his momentum away from falling. He ran, swung between trees, and leapt his way down the terrifying heights.

When he reached a branch at the height of his house, he suddenly swung to launch himself upwards, grabbing onto a higher place and eventually canceling out his momentum altogether. Then, he extended his vines like a great rope, slowly lowering himself to the ground. After landing, the vines retracted back into his green arms, and he started to walk through the great forest of the Willow Kingdom without a care.

Eventually, after several huge bushes and huger leaves were vaulted over and tread upon, the overwhelming presence of trees died down somewhat. Avgi had reached a clearing, with a beaten path in the dirt that wasn’t filled with ankle-deep grass. As he arrived, he paid witness to a person kneeling at the hip-high root of a smaller tree. His face was obscured by the thick and deep green willow-esque hair that fell over his bowed head. On his back was an oak-brown cape, descending from a blue shoulder cloak and partially obscuring white pants and leather boots. Around his head was a thin crown of thorns.

Avgi approached, finally having found who he was looking for, and showing that joy well. “Hey, Salixio!”

The being’s head turned towards Avgi, Salixio’s moplike hair swaying aside to reveal his soft emerald eyes, tinged with the sap that rested underneath. A few bangs messily remained on his face, a detail that Avgi didn’t miss. The prince rose to his feet, gazing with relief and dread combined, as his hands also combined. “H-Hi, Avgi. I heard about the whole Aquadragon debacle, a few days ago… Are you alright?”

The hero was almost offended at such concern, or so he seemed. He immediately felt the urge to reassure Salixio, and that gesture came in the form of a bombastic declaration. “Of course! If I wasn’t, that thing woulda burst every single blood vessel in my body!”


Despite his effort, Salixio’s subtle nerve wasn’t exactly helped by such a remark. He almost audibly gulped. “Right… Glad that didn’t happen…” Briefly clearing his throat, Salixio continued on, still somewhat somber. “It’s good to know you’re okay, Avgi, but I don’t want to keep you too long. You must have things to do.”

Contrary to such a belief, Avgi shook his head happily, raising a hand and flicking it aside as if to cut the air. “Actually, it’s no problem at all. I, well…” His line of sight shifted away from Salixio, awkwardly drifting around. “Well, I looked over Immemoria, and everything was just sorta calm.”

Salixio was oblivious to where Avgi was going, nodding along pleasantly. “Oh, that’s nice.”

Avgi took a moment to continue, finally meeting Salixio’s eyes again when he did. “I don’t have a lot to do, for now, so… Mind if I join you?”

The true surprise came with Avgi’s proposition. In one way or another, Salixio appeared to not expect such a question, and quietly lit up when it arose. “Sounds good to me… I was just inspecting for irregularities. Haven’t found much so far, but there are still a few areas to go.”

One pale green hand gestured for Avgi to follow, as they began to explore the Willow Kingdom’s dense wilds.