The Lost Paradise

Chapter 32

I had the same dream that night. The same cave, the same red door through which I entered a mirror room. The same chalice and the same message. I didn't understand the meaning of these dreams, which haunted me every single night now. I woke up in the middle of the night, frustrated. I reached out for some water hastily and dropped the glass down. Vanya who sleeps very lightly woke up due to the sound.

"I'm sorry, go back to sleep", I told her, as she wiggled her eyes to see what was happening. "You fine?", she asked with her eyes closed. "Yes", I replied back. "What's the time?", She asked me, with her eyes shut. "2 am", I told her, taking a quick glance at the clock. "Why are you awake?", She asked me. "Had a bad dream", I told her, going back to my bed. "What is it?", She asked me again. "Don't you want to sleep?", I observed the way she kept asking questions. "No, I didn't sleep in the first place. Having a headache", she said, rubbing her forehead. "Hmm", I said, thoughtlessly.

"You say", she started again. "Is something bothering you?", She asked me randomly. I thought about it, there were many things that were bothering me at that moment. I have never been a person who could open up easily, it was difficult for me to talk about my feelings and emotions, so I knew I won't be able to talk about the test. The only other thing that was bothering me was the dream. Was it possible for a dream to recur this frequently? I decided to maybe have her opinion on this, so I told her. Told her everything in the same detailed manner that I see them in.

She didn't talk for long minutes. For a second, I thought she drifted back to sleep but then she suddenly woke up and sat upright on her bed. "Do you want to check?", She asked me all of sudden. My brain took some time processing what she said. I got up too, suddenly on the thought. "You mean we should go and check if that place really exists?", I asked her wide-eyed. "Yes", she nodded. "Remember the minotaurs?", She asked me, and I nodded. "The way they led you? Maybe this is leading you to something?", She suggested. I gave it a thought, it did make sense to some extent. But I contemplated on the thought of reaching this place. "How do you think we can reach down there but?", I voiced my concern.

"I don't know", she agreed after a long pause. We stared at each other for long seconds. "This is frustrating", I told her, now getting up and walking up and down the room. "Don't worry we will figure it out", she assured me. "You focus on your test for tomorrow. We can leave on the night after my test", she added thoughtfully and I nodded. "Don't worry, okay", she repeated again. I smiled at how she tried to reassure me even though she had no idea how to work this out. It was difficult to fall asleep after that, but eventually, my brain was exhausted due to overthinking and I dozed off.

The next morning I woke up and walked towards the faction test house gloomily. "You look like you have no soul", Ryan observed. "I feel like I have no soul", I replied to him dryly. He laughed and put his arm around my shoulder. Professor Gregory and Fyun who were the only people present in the room apart from us eyed us. "I think you will do well, Eliza. Don't worry. You did so well in our last test. So smile okay. A smile suits you, you need to do that more often", he said. "Okay sir", I said, rolling my eyes.

By that time, Lianna, Yivan, and Henry had joined us too. Professor Gregory moved ahead and gave us a smile that looked so fake. "As I instructed that day. Today's test is going to be different than what you have gone through the last time. The allorns, faction of Yivan from your Flocc believes in peace with everything around them. Taking a test of this faction today, you will have to make peace with something that you have been running away from, all this long", he said. "Wear this", he said, handing out few badges to us. Badges in green. "Pin it on your beret", Fyun instructed us. I moved ahead and took one from her palm, and did as she expected us to do.

Yivan who would be the leader for today's faction test didn't receive a badge like ours, but one in gold and green. He too pinned it to his beret and waited. "The leader even though won't be present at the place you all will be in, he can communicate with you, with his special badge. It works the same way. You tap it and with whichever member you want to communicate pronounce their names. You would also be able to listen to your members when they are going through extreme emotions or hardship", he instructed Yivan.

My palms were starting to sweat due to anxiety. I wasn't ready for this. The thought of quitting right now kept crossing my mind. And I tried hard to push those thoughts away. It wasn't easy, it really wasn't. "You double-tap your badge, it means you wish to quit", he said, and I gulped.

He now motioned us to move forward and then gave us the red flower of love that we won the last time. We touched it one by one and then the white room started fading for us quickly. I found myself in a very familiar surroundings. The place where I spent all my life. I was standing in front of my house. The house that looked normal from the outside but was fully broken from within.

I walked ahead and reached the door, standing there hesitantly. I stretched my arm out to knock on the door various times, but couldn't find the courage to do so.