Sebastian woke up with a sweat. He had a nightmare of Noah and his ill death but it was even more gruesome than before. 

He sat up and walked out of the cave, he leaned on a tree and watched the leaves fall to the ground. It looked like it was fall here then the normal spring weather.

Ethan walked to him and asked, “ Hey man are you okay you're not looking so well.” 

Sebastian stared at him for a moment and walked back to the cave.

“Only asked him what was wrong, what's his problem?” Ethans said annoyed.

Ayden was packing up the sleeping bags when she said “ He just woke up, give him time to adjust.” 

Ethan stuck his head up “ Well tell him to wake up earlier.” 

Sebastian turned around “ Well sorry I don’t act perfect your highness!” 

“What's your problem?” Ethan yelled

“ Nothing, just leave me alone,” Sebastian yelled back

Ayden grabbed her bag and walked out of the cave. The little creature followed behind her “ Hey no fighting we have to leave now before that thing finds us.”

Ethan tilted his head “ What thing?”

Ayden handed Sebastian his bag, he took it “ Oh  just some spear-wielding bunny monster who wants to eat us. No biggy.” 

 “ spear…bunny…monster, you're joking right?”

Sebastian smiled “ Nope, so are you coming?”

Ethan followed Ayden and Sebastian.

They walked northeast and saw little creatures flying about that the fluffy little guy tried to play with before flying back to the group. 

After walking for about 10 minutes or so Ethan asked, “ Okay okay I know this probably isn't my place but why are we going deeper into the forest if we are trying not to be eaten unless that's what you're trying to do, that's cool I guess. “

Ayden grabbed a piece of paper out of her bag, “ We are trying to find this mushroom right here the   Paraforni Azural fungi, know where it is?”

Ethan stared at the mushroom picture uncomfortably “ Why do you need this mushroom?” Ayden shrugged “ My dad needs it for his job.”

“ Okay cool so you want a deadly mushroom, nope I have no idea where it is but if you need it sure I'll help you. Although now thinking about it. You're not secretly some kind of rebel group are you?"

Sebastian raised his eyebrows “ Rebel group? I don't think so, also what do you mean by deadly I thought it just made people sleep?” 

“In small doses, the pearls can make people go to sleep but.” Ethan raised his hands. “ A whole mushroom can kill a whole town. “ He made sound effects of people dying “ If eaten it can make a person go into a coma and die.” 

“ yup that's cool so Ayden why does your dad need that.” 

Ayden shrugged “ My dad has a commission that requires it, nothing else, he isn't into some rebel group or anything. “

, “ Yeah, why is there even a rebel group anyway? I thought Daswela was better than Eriel?”

Ethan picked up a stick and started to smack the vines around them “ Some rebel group is trying to bring back necromancy, you can't please everyone I guess.” 

Creatures roamed the forest freely they didn't bother the group and there was no sign of the masked creature Ayden and Sebastian feared to meet. A bird shedding its winds flew past the group of teenagers as they were untangling from some vines, the colorful wings stuck to their hair and clothes like hot glue. “Are you kidding me?” Ethan said. 

Ayden picked the feathers off her hair, “ Hey at least we have pretty feathers.”

Sebastian shook his head “ Yeah but what are we going to use them for?”

“Exactly. Waste of time collecting feathers if you ask me.” Ethan commented

After they uncovered the vines and feathers they made their way to a clearing in the woods where there were broken-up stones that used to be buildings. Ayden grinned and jumped towards the stones “ We are here!” She said giddily.

Sebastian frowned “ I thought you said they were ruins?” 

“ They are! There used to be a village here but something happened.” 

Ethan jumped on a rock “We are here now! We can find that mushroom and get out of here!”

Sebastian stared at Ethan “ Uh why are you looking for the mushroom? We didn't ask for your help.” 

Ayden poked Sebastian in the arm “ Because silly we need all the help we could get, this mushroom is very rare so I asked Ethan to help us while you were asleep. He told me so many great stories about royalty! I was right, it is romantic!” 

Ethan jumped down from the rock and when he did so a round glass orb fell out of his gray bag. “ Uh, I just told her about the swans that lived in front of my window.”

Sebastian walked to him “ Ah that makes more sense, so where should we search first?”

As the two boys talked they didn't notice that the glass orb was on the ground, except Ayden saw it. She walked to it and picked it up. The orb was slightly heavy, Ayden wondered why Ethan would be carrying such a heavy object, inside the glass orb was a purple-looking smog with a glowing eyes symbol. “ Glowing eye..” she muttered and looked at Ethan with a new curiosity. 

Ayden walked to the group and shoved the glass orb into Ethan's chest. “ What is this?” She asked.

Ethan's face paled “ It's uh..”

“You're Overnight, aren't you?” 

Ethan looked down at his feet, while Sebastian just stood there confused “ and what's an Overnight? “

“An Overnight is a powerful house that is a part of the council, they are always the head of the council and a branch of royalty,” Ayden explained. 

“ And that's a bad thing because?” 

Ayden looked at Sebastian “ The council kicked my dad out of Daswela because he married my mother.” 

Ethan looked nervously at them “ Look I can’t control my parents, I don't agree with all their choices. I'm sorry your dad got kicked up but that orb is the only way I can have magic so please let me keep it.”

Ayden frowned “ Okay but I got my eye on you.”

The group separated in two pairs, Ayden and Ethan looked at the east side ruins while Sebastian and the little creature looked at the west side. 

Sebastian dusted up the bottom of the ground and looked for the terrible mushroom that will kill people who eat as he did so the little creature tried to help by trying to push a rock. Sebastian moved the rock to no avail, there was no mushroom. The mushroom was a work of fiction that everyone believed in. The creature flopped on the ground dramatically, Sebastian laughed at the sight “it's almost like you understand me.”

 the creature got up and tugged on his hair. “ Okay okay I get it you do understand me. But why?” The creature just shrugged and tried to push the stone wall. 

“ There is no use. I don't think there are any mushrooms here, or anywhere in the forest. "The little creature shook its wings and sat on a rock “ You know you need a name. Hm what can I call you.” the creature pricked up at that “ Hm, let's see what can I call you. How about Bae-Hoon? It means inspiration.“

 The little creature tugged at Sebastian's hair “ okay no.. hm how about Haru? It means sunlight.” The creature tugged on his hair again “ Okay none of those. Hmm, maybe nothing about light or. You're a girl aren't you?” The little creature tugged on his hair again “ Okay okay I get it no, How about Hachi? It means-” The little creature started jumping in the air and spinning in a circle “ Oh you like that, alright Hachi what shall we do next?” 

Ayden and Ethan walked to them “ What are you doing?” She asked

“I gave our little friend a name, he likes Hachi,” Sebastian replied

Ayden peered at the little creature also known as ``Hachi'' “ but I thought he was a girl.”

Sebastian shrugged “ I asked that but he pulled on my hair.”

Ethan yawned “ okay are we just going to be standing here? Did you find anything Sebastian because this palace is looking like a major bust?”

Sebastian got up and grabbed his backpack off the ground. “ Other than sticks and leaves, I'll have to say no.” 

Ethan's face  filled with dread “ does this mean we have to go deeper into the woods?” he asked

Ayden grinned “ yup, we ain't leaving this place until we find that mushroom.”

“But what if the mushroom isn't even here?’Ethan asked

“What?! Of course, it's here my dad said so it is here.” Ayden stomped her foot “ I think we're just being a coward.”

Sebastian looked at Hachi for advice but he was distracted by a frog. “ Guys, Ethan might be right, we have been looking all day for this mushroom that it's nowhere... Maybe it is deeper in the woods, maybe it's not, people can be wrong sometimes.”

“Are you suggesting we go empty-handed?”

Sebastian shrugged, “ we might as well have to.”

Ethan looked at both of them, “yeah I’m not going to peinod with you, might hit a cab and go out to Clockville, I heard it's very nice there are lots of clocks.”

Sebastian didn't know what Ethan was talking about nor cared to ask “ you don't have to, we aren't asking you to do anything.”

“Wait really? No, but Ethan you are the coolest, Ethan you can free my dad and you can live in the palace with me, or Ethan please make me the coolest human to ever live. Seriously? Nothing.” 

Sebastian and Ayden looked at Ethan confused “ we weren't even thinking about that?” 

“Seriously? People ask me for free things all the time.”

“ You should stop hanging out with those people. Duh.” Sebastian said he took off the plastic wrapping of a granola bar and bit into it, and handed a bag of chips to Ethan.

Ethan took the chips “ Huh I suppose I should. You guys are strange.”

Ayden smiled, “ the word is being nice.”

“Thanks for being nice?” Ethan said awkwardly it was almost like he was now being genuine and not being a prick for once 

Sebastian wondered what happened to that kid

After their lunch break, they headed deeper into the woods, but even there were no mushrooms, and they were dangerously running out of food. 

The sky turned dark and still, they were walking. “ Hey, guys? I think we should take shelter?” Ethan suggested 

Ayden continued to walk, her breathing was rough and her shirt was drenched with sweat and a couple of new acne was on her cheeks. Her red hair was frizzy. “ No my dad needs this mushroom; he is counting on us.”

Sebastian placed his hand on her shoulder “ Ethan is right we need a break. Your dad will understand.”

Ayden turned to him with tears in her eyes, “ But my dad might not send me on another mission because of this!” 

Sebastian sighed “I’m sure your dad will understand.” 

“ Are you sure?” 

“Yup.”

Sebastian turned his head to see Ethan staring at something and grinning hard. 

“Hey uh Ethan what's wrong?”

Ethan said, “ I just found the answer to all our problems.”

He pointed to a massive brown tree that looked like it was mutated somehow. In the base of the tree was a door, and in the branches was a house, the way to the house was a ladder that was wrapped up on a fence.  It looked livable and used.

“We are going to break into that house,” Ethan said.