Chapter 3

DINA :

Whatever personal misgivings we may have had, she didn’t have to escape. Like it or not, I had to accept she wasn’t here anymore. I was worried; she didn’t know anything about the outside world. We were at the bottom of the sea, surrounded by many traps and protections. And until the place she was in was known, travelled to, and safely arrived at, she was fully at the mercy of the unusual world.

“This is all your fault!” Charles, an old man doing literally nothing all day, said to me, his voice shaking with anger. “Did you think we wouldn’t know what you were doing? Teaching her all that. Telling her about the outside world, if you hadn’t done it…”

“If I hadn’t taught her, she would be already dead,” I interrupted. “Furthermore, none of you cared. Stop showing those faces like you truly wanted the good for her, shall I remind you how we ended up here? It isn’t a funny story to remember.”

“She is right, Charles,” said Lilith, the best swordswoman in our group, kicking her spear towards the others. “Dina. Don’t take it wrongly. You were the only woman with a motherly sense of kinship and we cared about her; I taught her my swordsmanship. You know how I care about my techniques.”

“I agree,” said Allyssa. “Whatever situation we were in now, it’s better than if we’d disappeared back then. Although,” she added, checking her basket full of ingredients she wouldn’t ever use again probably. “It would be nice if we had an idea how to get to her or snatch a baby from outside, that if we can do it.”

“This is the question, isn’t it?” I said. “One of several I expect you have. And I have questions of my own, and then perhaps we should make room for civilized conversation and discuss the best course of action. She is practically my daughter. I raised her before you could learn about her connection with the heart while you just let her cry under this cursed barrier.”

I looked at the statue holding the gem, trapping us in this realm even after death and noticed the vines wrapping it and overgrowth dissipating. The statue was like a throne where a woman sat down holding a cube in a majestic demeanour; she was definitely a woman but her clothes were of a man, with a drawing on her forehead in the signs of a star similar to the one I saw in Dahlia while being a baby, years ago. No one had seen it besides me and the woman who brought her to us. It was my guess; Dahlia appeared next to a portal, the same one she took to escape, and I heard the chant of a lovely voice accompanying her.

“What are you doing, you idiot?” Allyssa exclaimed, incredulous. “What are you pushing your hands for inside my basket?”

“Sorry, I had to check,” replied Charles. “There was no time to argue with you but I think things are returning to normal. The illusions are shattering.”

The companions ran around the island while I steered out of trouble. Instead, I observed the young boy Dahlia brought, he stared at the statue like studying it. It wasn’t that strange the illusions would disappear; they were all created by the small Dahlia, what she believed in was a reality in this small space, her power manifested and she wasn’t even aware of it or more like we were the ones who made her that way. Everyone started teaching her things to get what they wanted, those hypocrites. Even Lilith, who missed her swords, taught her only to touch a weapon again.

The leaves on the trees didn’t stir and the clouds didn’t drift. Even the insects in the air were frozen in place as if trapped in a time freeze; we were the only ones that moved. With anxious glances, the others turned back.

“It seems we became ghosts again,” said Jack, a man who liked immersing in alcohol more than anything. “I won’t taste beer again, such a shame!” he sat down his hands on his head, lamenting.

“It is expected,” I said. “We shall embrace the boredom again,” I sighed. “I miss my little Dahlia but anything happens for a reason. Our meeting again was meant to be and we shall stay here ignorant of what the world became. Tell us, young boy! What brought you here?”

The young lad, dressed in common clothes with a hat hiding his brown hair, raised his head looking at me and I knew how much my premonition was true; the one standing in front of me was an old man with a rusty demeanour. He approached the statue, grinning.

“I was looking forward to it. This magnificent looking puzzle. It took me years of searching and here I am… in front of it. If you’ll excuse me, I shall embrace my prize.”

I sighed, looking at the horrified gazes following the young boy. My companions could be so clueless sometimes. It didn’t take you to touch it to have it and any way that thing was cursed by Victoria.

The boy climbed the statue and put his hands on the heart, with eyes full of joy and triumph. However, as we all expected, the boy turned to ashes leaving bones and clothes behind.

“As I thought, his fate was sealed,” commented Jack. “Only the little Dahlia could touch it without the curse consuming her. So, old comrades, what now?”

I sighed.

DAHLIA:

“Why do you think I do?” I said and again no one understood me.

Here were the basic facts. The person they called ‘madman’ or ‘mad scientist’ had one session with each of us; it took an eternity of waiting in a cell and my butt killed me. That man believed in some kind of inexistent disease; like we were sick and we needed a special pill to cure us. He asked us questions and didn’t care much for the details, also I lied.

“My name is Natalie. I am twenty. I have a younger sister who is more beautiful than me and more intelligent, she is thirteen. My parents are still married to each other but my father cheats on my mother. I have a point on my neck which I got from a vampire and a bite in my butt that I got from a werewolf. I soared the sky riding a dragon and saw the sunset under the wing of a wica…” Pretty much, he didn’t understand what I said.

I basically sat down for hours saying anything with dull eyes. HE tapped his pencil against the pad of paper he was holding and just stared at me. His stare made me feel helpless but I didn’t forget to avoid showing I understood them. I saw the hint of a smile then he told me to go. Apparently, the weird language I spoke with didn’t interest him that much. The second day was weirder. I suppressed the urge to cry while he checked me. His hands trailed over my body exploring everything. Everything was weird, even the places he checked us in. The third day was the last day of the examination. Well, I thought it was but it wasn’t. He transported us to a forest and put us in a cage next to hyenas. I felt horrible next to them, they had wide teeth and sharpened claws. I looked back and forth from the madman to the hyenas then stopped on a tall man with visibly changed eyes.

We exchanged a look, he seemed so handsome. Truly, I had never seen handsome guys; I thought Jack was one with his short blond hair and pale blue eyes; I even had a crush on him. I even lied about learning languages to speak to him, but I learnt nothing and tasted beer instead. My heart pounded fast and my cheeks heated every time I saw the stranger.

That man had a playful aura around him. He had black hair with a long tail at the end that reached his knees. Long hair is beautiful like Sister Dina; she is such an elegant Lady. He had a fake smile. Well, everyone possessed one and there were other handsome men too. My eyes seemed to relax on him. The other girls had weird stares; keeping away from the hyenas as much as possible. Although we had iron bars separating us, they still stood leaving a distance. I didn’t talk to any girl or befriend them; it wasn’t like they understood me. Furthermore, any attempt to befriend them would be useless; I was a burnt steak of meat after all.

The man looked bigger than the others, with his muscles and mysterious aura. As square-jawed and handsome as ever, but with a steely glint in his eyes that I’ve never seen before. If I were outside, I would definitely gather my courage and talk to him. I would obviously lie to find a topic to share with him. Lies protect from betrayers. Suddenly, I got an idea; I would lie and see if he turned, if he did I would try my best to approach him… If not…

I put my hands around my mouth and shouted. “I know where the heart of gems is.”

Their reactions were priceless; they looked at me like I was some kind of psychopath and laughed. However, the one my eyes didn’t leave opened his eyes widely. I could almost swear his pupils dilated. I smiled like an idiot when he looked at me.