The more Arthur studied these paintings, the more confused he became. At the same time, he also became more convinced that there was something unusual about them. Lady Morgan mentioned the artifact that Lady Myra came into, was sourced from her contacts from the art world. Arthur could not help but wonder whether that artifact had to do with these strange paintings that he found.

Eager to find the answer, Arthur moved onto the last painting. This last piece was entitled, 'The Cherry Blossom Tree'. It was the piece that was sitting on the easel. It was a painting of a solitary cherry blossom tree standing amidst a large field of flowers that seemed to stretch into infinity.

Cherry blossom blooms were suspended in mid-air, filling up the sky. Even though the blooms were stationary in the painting, Arthur could easily imagine them twirling in the wind as they made their way from the top of the tree down to the flower field. In fact, that was the thing that Arthur could have sworn had happened when he focused attentively on the painting.

The blooms seemed to dance in their own unique rhythm and through the screen of cherry blossom, Arthur caught sight of something in the painted sky. It was circular and black so it stood up greatly against the whitish background.

It looked like a seal and reminded Arthur of the symbol he saw in the second painting. Intrigued, Arthur reached over to touch it. As his finger landed on the seal, the next thing he knew, a black screen covered his eyes and the young man lost his consciousness.

...

When Arthur next came to, he was lying on the ground and the surface underneath him was rough and grainy. Arthur opened his eyes and what he saw was the most beautiful scenery he had ever seen in his life.

The sky was filled with cherry blossoms that swayed like little dancers to the rhythm of the wind. There were so many of them he could barely see the sky behind them. There was a large canopy above him and the canopy was bright with the blooms of cherry blossom. There was a pink hue to everything.

'Have I died and gone to heaven?' thought Arthur. The young man closed his eyes again and enjoyed this rare moment of serenity. At that moment, the thought of the quest had escaped his mind, the beauty of the nature around him inspired the young man to just let loose and soak himself in the tranquility of nature.

However, there was something that encroached into his sense of serenity. It was the sounds. Two distinct sounds came from above Arthur and they disturbed his peace and quiet.

The first sound was that of a bird chirping. That would not have seemed that out of place in a nature setting because bird song could be quite relaxing but the chirping of the bird that Arthur heard was filled with distress and duress. It sounded more like a crowing of a chicken as it was led to the chopping block to be slaughtered.

The second sound was ostentatiously more at odds with the serene environment. It was the sound of combat. It sounded like the clashing of two wooden weapons.

Frustrated, Arthur peeled his eyes open and the moment he did, he saw something sail through the sky. The object that careened through the sky, knocking the numerous blooms out of the way, was of the same color scheme as the cherry blossom. If Arthur did not follow the trajectory of the subject closely, he definitely would have lost sight of it amidst the mess of florets that it melted into.

As it arced through the sky, Arthur was given a few seconds to catch a closer look at it. The thing seemed to be wearing a giant cherry blossom as its body and the limbs that were flailing as it was tossed through the air seemed to be made of wood.

Before Arthur could confirm the strange creature's identity, it dipped out of Arthur's view. Arthur quickly sat up. The scenery that unfolded before Arthur's eyes made the man's breath catch in his throat.

A giant field of flowers stretched as far as his eyes could see. The flowers were of the same species, they were all cherry blossoms. The field undulated, touched by the caress of the wind. From Arthur's perspective, the field looked more like a sea of flowers than actual land. The blooms were piled so high that Arthur could not see the trace of soil underneath them.

Arthur reminded himself that it was not the time for sight-seeing. He scanned the field and when he saw the creature, Arthur frowned. His earlier observation seemed to have a certain validity to it.

He saw the wooden limbs bob up and down above the sea of flowers like a drowning man waiting for rescue. Arthur's heart chilled because he could sense the creature's duress.

The field of flower was in reality a cruel sea. The creature eventually gave up struggling and it sunk underneath the surface. The field swallowed up its latest victim and the creature disappeared without a trace, becoming a part of the field itself.

'What is this place? Where am I?' Arthur thought. The young man stood up to have a better gauge of his surrounding. He walked to the edge of the precipice he was on and he looked around, there was nothing else but the field of flowers.

Arthur looked behind him, he realized he had been sleeping on the branch of a large cherry blossom tree. The tree seemed to be the only thing that was visible for miles and miles.

There was no one else around. This was strange. The last thing Arthur remembered was he was inside Lady Myra's study. Since when did he get transported to this strange land?

Arthur looked around him at the incredibly gorgeous scenery. 'Wait a minute... The solitary cherry blossom tree and a large field of flowers... Where have I seen this before?! This sure is familiar... Oh right!'