Fairy princess

On a clear afternoon in New Zealand's South Island, the sun shines on the sparkling surface of Lake Iteo, a huge lake that mirrors the blue sky, white clouds and the shadows of snowy mountains and trees.

The beautiful natural scenery of the South Island is like a fairyland on earth, and birds of all breeds fly over the snow-capped mountains.

A yellow bus chugged along beyond the primeval forest beside Lake Iteo, where, because of the terrain halfway up the hill, the whole lake could be clearly seen.

Inside, the tour guide Uncle, wearing a visor hat, patted his megaphone and then raised it to his mouth.

"Now we're looking at one of the most famous lakes in the South Island." He said, "People can take more pictures."

In front of him was a carload of tourists from the United States. Some of them are city white-collar workers, some are old women on farms, and some are just starting high school students. Even though they've seen some of New Zealand's beautiful lakes before, Americans are still proud to pull out their phones and take photos - even if they can't tell which lake is which when they look through their phone albums.

"This lake has a beautiful name. It is called Etio." The guide leaned his elbows against the back of his chair and looked at the exotic tourists. "Do you know why this lake has a little girl's name?"

Adults looked at each other, and a few rows ahead, several high school students in yellow uniforms raised their hands.

"We know! We just finished a trivia contest!" A Hispanic girl said, "Because this lake has a legend that it was once the home of fairies..."

"Yes, indeed." The uncle did not think that someone could really answer, he quickly grabbed the words, "New Zealand has a lot of myths and legends, and one of the myths is that the world used to be different species living together."

"Like World of Warcraft!" Ned, a fat little Asian, said excitedly. "Elves and humans and orcs and shamans and all that, right?"

"Well, it's actually a very traditional Western myth, more traditional than a game." The tour guide uncle said helplessly.

He cleared his throat, and then he went on,

"According to legend, one of the branches of the Elven race once lived here. These elves love nature, are peaceful by nature, and have a good relationship with humans. But one day, a sleeping ancient monster wakes up, and this terrible monster decides to devour the world. The righteous races banded together to fight it and the other dark species, yet the war continued for decades and still did not end, and the world was in danger of destruction."

"Just then, among the Elven people living here, the youngest daughter of the Elven king decided to meet the ancient monster and seek reconciliation. Unexpectedly, the monster fell in love with her appearance at first sight, and demanded that the fairy princess fall into a deep sleep with him again, and that she give her best years to him."

"All the elves of the clan were against such a reconciliation, but the fairy princess agreed. She gave a thousand years of her adult life to the monster, took the form of a little girl, and fell asleep with the monster." The guide smiled, "According to legend, she slept by the lake and became a tree." That is why the people of later generations have crowned her name on the lake to commemorate it."

"Wow." "Exclaimed the American tourists.

"By the way, look carefully at the lake. There is an old tree with roots like a girl lying on her pillow." "Said the uncle." Some say that this tree was made by the legend of Etio."

Everyone immediately looked curiously to the left of the bus, but all they could see was a lush virgin forest and a lake.

"Take the car in, guide!" Someone said, "You can't see anything that way."

"No, you can't." The guide also said helplessly, "The forest around the lake is a forbidden area, and rashly entering will be wanted by the police."

'Why?

"Well -- I don't know about that. Some say it's to protect the animals in this pristine forest, others say there are secret bases in this forest." The guide shrugged his shoulders. "You can't go in anyway. It's been sealed up for years, since I was born."

There were groans of disappointment from the tourists.

'But! I'll tell you how the tale ends, and you'll be very interested!" The guide cleared his throat and said excitedly, "It is said that the fairy princess will wake up on the night of the full moon in seven thousand years, and this year, it will be seven thousand years!"

"Guide, you're not making this all up, are you?"

"Yes, or why don't you let us see the maiden tree..."

In the midst of the noise in the car, the little fat Asian man in the yellow uniform put down his binoculars.

"I can't see anything at all." He said disappointedly, "Peter, what can you do?"

Inside, leaning against the window, sat a white boy with brown hair who appeared to be fifteen or sixteen years old. When he heard the little fat man say this, he unzipped his backpack on his lap and pulled out a white, tech-y monoculars.

Peter Parker holds a telescope in one hand and controls a flat screen the size of a single hand on the other.

"Karen, can you help me search the tree the guide told me about?" 'he whispered.

[My pleasure.] A mature, attractive female voice rang from the wireless headset in Peter's left ear.

Asian fat little Ned and Peter look intently at the flat screen, see countless green trees skimming across the screen, and finally, the picture stops.

The two boys gasped.

"My God." Ned muttered. "The root of this tree really does look like a girl."

On the screen, an ancient tree, larger than any other tree, stands not far from Lake Iteo, surrounded by empty Spaces and enjoying the sunlight - as if all the other trees had gone out of their way to avoid it when they were growing.

The trunk of this tree is so thick that it looks like several adults could not hold it with their open arms, and it seems to be really very old. Under the thick tree trunk, the roots are coiled and connected, and the appearance of a young girl lying on her arm is clearly visible, like the roots of her long hair down the "back" and into the earth.

Click.

Peter suddenly realized that Ned was holding up his phone and taking a picture of the screen.

"But I always thought, this tree is not man-made carved?" Ned touched his double chin, a little unconvinced, "Otherwise, how can a normal growing tree have such a strange root?"

"That's why it's a scenic spot." Peter shrugged his shoulders.

"That's right. Even in ancient mythology the world was in danger of being destroyed. I wonder if there were any superheroes back then."

While Ned was still thinking, Peter's cell phone rang. He took his phone out of his bag and looked at the screen -- it was Tony Stark! Peter hurriedly connected the phone at once.

"Hey, Mr. Stark! I'm fine, I'm not busy, although I'm traveling in New Zealand, but if you need me, I can go back now, I --!"

"Peter, Peter! Tony called his name twice before he stopped the overenthusiastic teenager. The man said helplessly, "I know you're traveling in New Zealand."

"Oh, right..."

As long as Peter was with Karen and the suit, Tony would know where he was.

"I didn't call you to ask you to go on a mission." 'Tony said.' Some of the Hydra remnants have gone to New Zealand recently. Keep an eye out... '

"Then capture them!" "Said Peter excitedly.

"Then stay away from them." 'said Tony.

"How can that be? Who's going to protect the poor people of New Zealand?" Peter muttered, "New Zealand doesn't have a hero."

"Do you remember James Barnes, the Winter Soldier? "He's in New Zealand too, so don't worry, he'll sort it out."

"The hero with the iron arms at the airport?" Peter said excitedly, "His iron arms are so cool! ... But why is he in New Zealand? '

Tony sighed.

"There are too many things going on in the middle for children to care about." He said, "Just know that he's going to fix it." If you meet Hydra --"

"Stay away from them." "Peter muttered unhappily.

"That's a good boy." Tony said with satisfaction. "Be in touch."

Peter turned off the phone, stared out the window and exhaled in frustration. When did Tony stop treating him like a child? Wait until you graduate from college?

The coach resumed driving away from the forest where the fairies are said to have been born, while the surface of Lake Iteo still shimmered.

...

At night, the sky is full of stars.

In the gloomy primeval forest, sporadic gunfire came, disturbing the quiet of the woods, and flocks of birds flew.

The lake looked soft and cool, reflected in the moonlight. The old trees swayed their branches under the moon, and other trees rustled in the distance.

At that moment, the moon was covered by dark clouds, and the world was darkened. James Barnes, the former Winter Soldier clutching his shoulder, walked out of the woods.

He takes out a team of Hydra, but accidentally uses a powerful anesthetic Hydra uses against superhumans. The sparkling lake swayed before his eyes, Bucky was thirsty because of the drug, and human instinct kept him close to the water...

The scene in front of him constantly overlaps, the man's eyes a black, fainted at the foot of the giant tree.

The clouds gradually parted and the moon climbed to the highest point of the curtain.

The moonlight fell on the branches of the old trees, on every leaf... Under the giant tree, the bark of the tree roots formed by the girl lying on her stomach slowly fell off. When the moon shone on the roots of the tree, the Maiden's head moved slightly, and dust and bark shook.

The next second, a slender white hand reached out and supported the earth.

...

The winter soldier seemed to see a shadowy figure in his coma. She seemed to have long blond hair and a soft glow all around her.

Between dreaming and waking, Bucky felt extremely tired.

How do you think a winter soldier with an incredible fighting force gets a shot in the shoulder and goes to heaven?

Shame. Shame.

Bucky opened his eyes in the early morning and his mind went blank.

He did not know where he was, but he could feel the soft crowing of birds in his ears and the natural fragrance of trees and flowers at the tip of his nose, too good to be true, as if he were still in a dream-like peace and quiet.

Bucky hadn't slept this well in a long time. In fact, it was the first time in decades that he had slept so soundly and without having any nightmares.

In a brief daze, Bucky remembered the night's struggle with the Hydra Remnant Party, which made the man immediately wake up from the sleepy dream.

He looked round with wide eyes, but found himself as if he were in the wild, with a simple triangular 'tent' of branches and leaves over his head, from which the sun fell on his bare shoulders and chest.

Bucky looked down and saw that his upper body had been smeared with herbs on all the wounds, and his gun was at the edge of his head. He brushed the herbs off his che