Lustrous Horizon

Chapter One

The time is close to morning. The morning shines a lustrous green along the horizon of the forest full of gooseberries. Olivier climbs the tree to reach the house atop. He knocks on the door and eventually the door is slowly opened by a young man of the same age,mid-twenties. The person has fluorescent green eyes, blonde hair, and stands at five feet ten inches. Just slightly shorter than Olivier. Currently, the guy is shirtless.

The guy looks disappointed as he allows Olivier to step into his home. He puts on a green T-shirt, brown shorts, and black shoes.

"So," said the guy with fluorescent green eyes, his tone is very serious. "Explain to me how you fail even with all the information that I have given you."

"I'm sorry, Hilaire!" said Olivier, his voice shaking. "Please don't tell the brothers about it!"

The guy, whose name was just revealed to be Hilaire, stares at Olivier with his serious fluorescent green eyes.

Olivier swallows hard. "I tried to ambush him at night, but he was stronger than I thought."

Still silence from Hilaire.

"Jules was fighting against the Leaf Wolf's partner, and I was facing off against the Leaf Wolf alone."

"Partner? What's his name again? Edgar?" Hilaire finally said something.

"I really didn't get his name."

"And what about the Rainbow Girl?"

"I met her and the mom. They were sleeping when Jules and I fought against the Leaf Wolf and his partner." Olivier explained.

"So, you didn't even get to the girl, huh?" Hilaire sighed. "Alright, I'm in charge now. Just do everything I say and the brothers won't even know."

Olivier sighs a sound of relief. "Thanks, Hilaire!"

Hilaire shakes his head slowly. "You'll owe me after this. And trust me, I always collect."

Stella Lily Aron, her childhood friend Harold Vernon, her mom Cecilia, and Edgar arrive at Groseilles Forest from the east entrance.

The common species of bush in this forest is gooseberries. The land of this forest is flat which gives it a horizontal scene. At the center of the forest is a town. The homes in this location are mainly houses built on trees. However, there are also homes built on the flat ground. There is a split in the center of town caused by a river flowing north to south. This is the same river from Clementine Valley. Due to this, there are two town squares; one for each section.

The story so far is Harold and Edgar are on the search for the Lustrous Goblin. Stella and Cecilia are in search of paints so Stella can get another self-portrait done.

Entering from the east entrance, Harold wants to look for an inn to check in. The nearest one is located at the eastern edge of the forest. Upon checking, there is only one room available. Luckily for everyone, it has two beds. The girls would have to share one, and the boys would have to share the other. Stella giggles at the idea that Harold and Edgar would be sharing the same bed.

After checking in, Harold and Edgar go around searching for any lead regarding the Lustrous Goblin. Stella and Cecilia, on the other hand, decide to go search for a place to eat.

Outside the inn, Stella and Cecilia look around the area. The only things in sight are trees and gooseberry bushes. And buildings with people living inside them!

"Any place to eat, Mom?" Stella asked. "Preferrably something sweet!"

"I don't know, dear." Cecilia answered. "We'll have to walk around until we see something that looks good."

A girl from the inn follows Stella and Cecilia outside. "Excuse me?"

Stella and Cecilia turn around to look at the girl. She looks to be early twenties, light blue eyes, light blonde, five feet six inches, skyblue top, white shorts, and brown boots.

"I don't mean to overhear your conversation," said the girl in the skyblue top. "But I heard that you wanted to eat sweets. May I suggest the gooseberry clafoutis? I know a place that has the best!"

"Gooseberry?" Stella asked. "I have never heard of that."

"Neither have I." Cecilia said. "Is it a local thing?"

The girl nods. "Yep! It's made with local gooseberries. They're everywhere in this forest, but only one place I know makes the best."

Stella looks at her mom and then back at the girl. "Sure! I'll try it!"

"Great! I'm Corrine, by the way!"

"I'm Cecilia and this is my daughter Stella."

"Nice to meet you, Kora-by-the-way!"

Corrine's smile turns into a frown.

Cecilia sighs softly and shakes her head very slowly.

Stella is confused. "Huh? What's wrong?"

"Corrine! My name is Corrine."

"Oh! I thought you also said your surname." Stella giggled.

With that said, Corrine leads the mother-daughter duo to the center of town where it is separated by a river.

Harold and Edgar had left the inn and went to a local bar north of the inn. Despite being ten or eleven in the morning, there are six customers already drinking. The average height amongst them is about Harold's. These customers are fit and athletic.

Harold walks up to the bartender. "Water, please!"

The bartender, who is cleaning glasses, looks at Harold in confusion. Without responding to Harold, the bartender resumes his maintenance.

"Okay…" Harold said and turned to Edgar. "Not sure what that was about."

"Maybe you asked for water and not alcohol?" Edgar suggested.

Harold looks around at the customers. "Alright, then! Let's try this again." He turns to the bartender. "A glass of beer, please!"

The bartender stops the glass cleaning and pours a glass of greenish beer for Harold. "Why didn't you ask that earlier?"

Harold chuckles a little. "That's because I don't drink."

The bartender grabs the glass of beer and splashes it at Harold's face. "Get out, then!"