Work Text:
The goddess descended through the ancient oaks of the forest like a whisper of power. The sky was dark and cloudy, the moon was invisible practically— shrouded in the dark clouds that come after rain.
The video became static, the screams of the former squad of agents becoming evident through the trees.
“Out of the eighteen that tried challenging SCP-8409, only six managed to come out. Others declared missing or found dead.”
That was Ash’s explanation. The forest goddess, or something. Maybe a dryad of sorts, or some nymph, or just the forest making hallucinations. They don’t know if it’s the forest or if there’s a creature in there.
The drive to a small town nestled near the hills of the forested area was a nice one. Though it was four hours of driving, it was enough mental preparation.
The small town was evacuated a week prior to the mission of retrieval of an anomaly, then lived in and investigated by field agents.
Sitting in the back of the van is him and another. Pangi is there with the squad of agents, more prepared and more wary than the ones that before them.
It’s a sunny day, wisps of clouds flying through the sky in a slow motion, the leaves of trees gently nestling from the wind that flows through the hills. The town is silent, with occasional conversations between field agent and the agents sent to retrieve the anomaly.
“You gonna throw up?” Delilah asks. “You know, you can. We’ve got three hours to settle down.”
“I’m okay, just… actually mentally preparing myself for whatever is gonna happen.” Pangi replies with.
Delilah nods and takes his answer, giving him a granola bar before arriving with the squad in the middle of the town.
Pangi looks over at them, before standing up. His legs wobble slightly from sitting down for a few hours in the same spot. He’s lucky that they still haven’t put on gear and armour otherwise all of them would just topple eachother while attempting to get out.
Pangi picks up the granola bar, unwrapping it as he walks over to the others, still in t-shirts and cargo pants so that putting on uniform doesn’t take longer than it usually will be. They’re not a tactical response team, or a rapid response team so why rush that fast into combat.
“Pangi’s finally up,” Delilah says, putting on her gloves. It’s funny that she tells not to rush, but she’s definitely the first to put on her gear and uniform.
“Yeah, honestly almost fell asleep but remembered I would definitely get demoted if I slept on duty.” A yawn comes out of Pangi and he stretches.
The day is amazing to say the least. A perfect temperature, not stepping on “too hot” but not “too cold” either. A flawless mix of both. The clouds make way for the sun and the breeze is light. Pangi can see how the blades of grass he and the others are stepping on, sway with their arrival. The hills roll over the horizon.
A sunny, perfect day about to be ruined by an anomaly.
“So, Pangi.” Delilah throws him a water bottle. “Hope you slept well, today’s gonna suck.” She laughs it off like any other joke. Pangi chuckles along with it, but he stops eventually.
It’s the same thing over and over again.
A mission to be completed with threat of death and pain looming over his shoulder like some shadow he can never run from.
If that’s what makes him an agent, maybe. He counts for such because he’s made it through the basic requirements of becoming an agent for the foundation. Military service, over eighteen, healthy condition. And everything that’s happened to him back then is worse than being in the military.
He should’ve stayed an architecture student if only life went the path he wanted it to go.
But, there’s nothing left for him to do but keep walking down this sad path. With every step he takes, the weight of his past burdens and the uncertainty of his future choices weigh heavier upon him, like an impenetrable page of a book.
Pangi walks to one of the houses they’ve set up(or rather just repurposed), and he looks at the forest.
The trees are tall, heavy with leaves blossoming on their branches. Barely any sign of decay or wither even with the fact it’s settled near where coal mining was popular.
Pangi can't help but wonder, in awe and admiration, if there is a force greater than nature itself at play here. That’s maybe just a part of him, but his fear of the unknown picks at that part of his mind. The back of his head.
The evening soon settles in, the sun slowly going down just beyond the horizon. The blue of the sky wavers into a warm orange, with purple streaks flying around.
The team takes a moment to admire the evening sunset. They’re all in their uniform and tactical gear, their helmets held in their hands.
“This… could be our last sunset.” Delilah says to the team. “Just enjoy it.”
The team stand in silence, all thirteen of them. They don’t know much from eachother or what they want in life, but this is a moment of peace.
Delilah puts on her helmet first and everyone else soon follows. They all prepare their rifles for any threat, a flashlight attacked to the barrel. They’re all loaded.
The forest is shrouded in a quiet stillness, the only sound being the soft whispers of the wind weaving through the trees. They once howled like a wolf, in that static video of the failed team. There was violence behind their actions, they know that, they just didn’t want to tell the director nor the senior researcher back then.
They were given flamethrowers, but seeing the video, they made the decision to decline the use of it in the mission.
Would it be stupid? Yes. But in all honesty, the foundation’s morals are always being tested.
Pangi is with two others, and the others are all split into duos. The wind remains still like a soft breeze. No signs of any hostility and Pangi prays to any god out there that can listen to his pleas that it remains non-hostile.
Their steps are quiet, the intercom between them remaining silent as they walk. The leaves don’t crunch under their soles but that’s better than being swallowed alive like the last group that went here.
The forest emits an eerie silence, as if nature itself is holding its breath, wary of disturbing the presence of the anomaly residing inside. Was there an anomaly? Or was it just an illusion from the forest itself? They’re bound to find out soon, come out with the information, dead or alive.
Being like minded individuals, they all seem to see something move in the corner of their eyes, all jerking the aim of their weapon towards it.
The light shines on mushrooms growing on a tree. Just the normal kind. Nothing different, nothing out of the blue or anything worthy to be sent to be tested back in the labs.
Relieved, the group lowers their weapons and exchanges perplexed glances. Nothing moving, just the normal critters running around.
Pangi, in the back of his head, begins to doubt if they’ll ever catch this anomaly. Let alone contain it or even find it. The doubt begins to creep into the minds of the entire group, slowly eroding their confidence.
The intercom buzzes, then a beep. And then Delilah is talking.
“Found anything yet?” Delilah asks the entire group.
Everyone else responds no. It’s been nearly an hour or two of them just searching and finding nothing in the forest. Just a dead end for them to be in.
Pangi and the two others he’s with, steps into a clearing. Somewhere in the middle pf the woods. The clearing is quiet, the grass almost up to their knees from years or even decades of not being touched by human activity.
Their flashlights point to one and one thing in the middle of the clearing.
A flower.
“Stop.” Pangi says to one of the other when they try plucking a sample. The flower stands tall and vibrant, its petals shimmering in shades of an amethyst purple and baby pink. It looks innocent but they can’t just pluck things.
He’s nervous about it.
The other two look at him for a second before looking back down at the flower.
The intercom beeps again. “Found something,” Pangi says to everyone. “I dropped the location.”
The team quickly gathers their equipment and heads towards the location where Pangi dropped the coordinates. Although spread out quite evenly throughout the packed forest, they manage to make their way.
At first, the others think it’s just some flower. Until no one manages to pick up a name for it.
A tulip? No, they don’t grow here. A chrysanthemum? The shape doesn’t look like it. Lavender? No, they grow on barren soil.
“You know, it would really be nice if we had an actual botanist with us.” One of them says.
“Yeah, as if the foundation is gonna let a part of the research team die during live combat.” Delilah replies back. “So… anyone wanna vote on plucking a petal out for testing?”
Pangi looks at the others. Their hands are raised except for him and Delilah.
“Pangi?” The others ask.
“Well, you know,” Pangi pauses. “knowing what happened to the last people that tried getting samples and stuff, I don’t think we should be doing this. Like, what if we die like them?”
Pangi's voice trembles as he considers the risks involved. The others exchange glances, understanding the weight of Pangi's concern. Delilah nods at him.
“Does anyone have a camera or something? Atleast then we could have something to send to the lab.” Delilah states. “Plus I don’t really want anyone here to like…. die today. That would suck.”
“Yeah, dying would obviously suck.” Pangi replies and the group chuckles lightly with him. “Okay but like, is it just me, or is like that reviving anomaly just stopped showing up? Like I think she got tired of everyone dying.”
As Pangi's words linger in the air, a gust of wind rustles through the trees, carrying with it an otherworldly whisper. Everyone flinches and one of them get to work to taking a picture of it.
“Okay so um…” Delilah clicks her tongue and steps forward, her eyes scanning the dense forest. “That was weird, we should keep searching for something.”
The group nods in agreement, their curiosity piqued by the strange occurrence. With a newfound confidence, they continue their journey deeper into the heart of the forest, their eyes scanning the moss-covered ground and the towering ancient trees that seem to cover the sky from their view. For research, of course.
Each step they take feels like a trespass into a realm not meant for mortal beings. All peace and non-hostility they felt quickly begins to fade.
What did they do?
They try to split but Delilah decides against it as leader of the group. It’s clear she doesn’t want anyone wandering off and possibly getting lost forever— or worse, dying and being found.
They stick together, no matter the decision of others.
The growth of flora becomes evident as flowers with vines wrap around trees and fungi overtake the base of trees. There’s no evidence of any human being here before.
Pangi steps on something hard, not shaped like a rock. He looks down, flashlight beaming onto what he just stepped on.
A rifle just like his, wrapped in moss, almost apart of the ecosystem itself.
“Found something.” Pangi says to the others. He’s behind all of them in the trail they’re taking. He shines his light on the barrel of the rifle, looking up at everyone else.
“Damn, that was someone.” One says.
“Yeah and unless you wanna swap places with that guy, we’re gonna keep moving.”
They’ve travelled maybe around seven kilometers already. But seriously all their feet must be messed up and exhausted by now.
Delilah stops, leading everyone else to halt in their tracks aswell. Everyone moves closer, so they’re lined up, shoulder-to-shoulder with Delilah.
They’ve reached a river. A river, one that reaches their knees.
“Oh come on!” One of them yells.
“Alright time to turn-“ Pangi wants to leave but the forest behind him is terrifying. “nevermind.”
“So do we go barefoot through this or do we potentially damage our gear?”
The river is several feet in width, and the flowing of the river is a gentle one. Not enough to push them, but good enough.
Delilah sighs. “Man, this… this mission’s so boring. And horrible.” She steps into the water, her pants soaking into the river.
“Oh so you’d rather… okay. Right.” Pangi follows after like the group.
They just quickly walk through the river, a trail of people in their gear. Still, the forest persists with it’s overgrown nature. Moss covers most of the trees and the grass is tall and sharp. The trees close in on them, tightly packed and forces them to take a winding trail. The trees begin to look like walls almost. Their place becoming a maze.
Their line is slow at moving as the forest becomes hostile. The winds howl between the trees, and everything begins to cram. Pangi is sure he can feel his own breath in his helmet.
“Guys um….” Delilah steps into a clearing and in the clearing is a tree. Taller than the others, and completely covered in moss.
But the worst thing they’ve shined their flashlights on, is a hand protruding out the tree itself through a thin crack. The hand is covered in vines, a single rose rested on the knuckle of it’s index finger.
“Did we just find a dead body?” Pangi asks. Hopefully not, because everything is already bad enough.
Delilah walks closer to, examining the hand. She looks at it closer, removing the flashlight off her rifle to put it through the crack to see if there’s a body attached to the hand. It would probably be better for her psyche if it’s just a hand and not a dead woman stuffed into a tree.
And against all fear, there is a body. Delilah peers down the crack, until she sees eyes looking at her and she backs away.
“Oh, come on.” Delilah says. She grabs her flashlight and attaches it back to her gun as the crack on the trees begins to split and out crawls a woman, completely devoid of resemblance to a living human.
Her hair is frizzy as she crawls and the team don’t know what to do. They all stand in horror as this woman, as she is in the video they watched in the early morning, comes crawling out of the tree and onto the grass.
This is the goddess in the video.
She’s more terrifying up close.
There’s butterflies fluttering around after coming out of the tree, obscuring all their views from actually shooting the threat.
They’re all down, one by one. Before Pangi even realizes it, the back of his foot gets hooked onto the roots of a tree and he’s out cold.
Pangi wakes up, not to the warmth of a home or even the coldness of the medical wing he’s used to. No, he wakes up with the smell of the forest still with him. It doesn’t take long for him to realize too that his helmet is gone and his head is pounding.
“You’re the first awake.” A voice manages to make up the coldness of the forest.
Pangi opens his eyes and there’s the woman that was crawling out the tree sitting down. Pangi soon realizes then that he’s in a train cart and he looks around, everyone else is there, asleep still.
“Okay, so don’t be…. alarmed.” The woman says. “But yeah… your friends are all still asleep.”
“What- who are you.” Pangi looks out the broken and tainted windows of the train cart and they’re near a cliff overseeing a valley.
“I’m…” She looks to her hand. “Rose. Yeah, I’m rose, nice to meet you and your…. really scared friends.” She stands up with a laugh as she gestures to all of them. “You?”
“Uh- Pangi.” Yeah so he just introduced himself to this fairy, forest goddess woman.
“Alright, so in this month, I’ve seen three groups hop into my forest and attempt to find something wrong.” Rose explains. “Can I ask why? The last group unfortunately died and when I tried asking the last one alive, he thought falling down a waterfall was a better idea than helping someone out.”
Pangi pauses, looking at her. Rose is genuinely confused and he can see that on her face.
“We’ve received reports of some activity and we were sent to study it and contain it.” Pangi answers.
“Oh.”
“I’m sorry for any problems caused.”
Rose looks out the window, before she stands up to walk out the train cart. It’s midnight and the moon isn’t anywhere in the sky, but just a sky. Pangi soon follows.
Rose stands several feet from the edge of the cliff.
“So, can we leave?” Pangi asks.
“Obviously, you can.” Rose answers. “The path is easy to navigate, just follow the trail they’ve tried putting before and you’re back in that small town you’ve all set in.”
Pangi looks at Rose. She’s not a human, a fairy maybe. She doesn’t have pixie wings but her hair looks like that of a nymph.
“You’re very pretty.” Pangi blurts out and when he realizes it, he slaps his hand over his mouth. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”
Rose looks equally as shocked as him, but she laughs it off. “Thank you. But when I crawled out of that tree, you didn’t think that?”
“The butterflies scared me more.” Pangi admits.
She nods in understanding. Rose looks over to the valley.
Pangi fiddles with his hand and fingers.
“Were you human before or is it… you’re a goddess? We have you designated as the name forest goddess for a month or two now and… yeah.”
Rose acknowledges the question but she remains silent, in deep thought. “I was a human, but that was a long while ago.”
Pangi nods slowly and stays silent.
“Time for you to go, I assume.” Rose says. “Your friends are waking up.”
Pangi looks over to the train cart where he can see the others then standing up through the windows. He looks back at Rose and—
She’s gone. Vanished as if she was never there in the first place. Pangi looks around as quickly as possible before the others step out.
“Pangi?” One of the others calls out.
“You’re awake? You didn’t wake us up?” Delilah asks.
“Yeah- um…” Pangi looks around. “I don’t know, must have been sleep walking around. Glad I didn’t fall into this cliff.”
Delilah sighs as she counts the team. Thirteen of them, the exact number they came in with and the exact number they’re coming out with.
“Atleast we still have our gear.” Delilah remarks before she walks. The group follows and Pangi just stands still.
There’s something in his pocket. He grabs it and it’s seeds.
He runs after the others as they find the winding dirt path into the thick barrage of trees again to go back to their site.
They didn’t catch an anomaly, but they still have some information.
The drive back to site-15 is silent with the occasional joke of accidentally finding a fairy. Pangi laughs with them, a light little chuckle. He knows what she could be.