Kingdom of Life and Death (The Fifth Element Chronicles)

Chapter 4 "Burning truth" [part 1]

If I did not believe in other worlds until that moment, at that instant I began to believe in the impossible.

They revealed themselves to me as a confirmation of the craziest thought.

Other worlds in the memories of the wealcere.

I saw many people, different places.

Places with strange artefacts. Wheels of other material than wood. Houses of stone, as tall as the sky itself.

Women in pants, men in skirts, worlds of possibilities that seemed only dreams in mine.

And Isabelle, in different forms.

Always the same face, just different versions of her.

Focus on the truth.

Show me the truth.

As if her very memories sucked me into a small but mighty swirl, I fell right where I was supposed to be.

It was a splendid castle, a sparkling castle full of plant life.

The great castle of Tellus.

I had always heard of how beautiful it was, but I had never imagined seeing it as it was in the beginning, as the castle of the first Queen of Tellus, Queen Tulip.

I stood next to Suzanne in the middle of a great hall.

It was splendorous. It was decorated with magnificent paintings, large windows and thousands of plants lining the walls. The sun was shining brightly and there was something in the air akin to magic. My world no longer felt like this. There was a purity that I no longer knew, that perhaps was already lost.

'Suzzy,' Tulip sighed as she saw her appear.

Suzanne ran to her and they embraced with indescribable love. It was there that I noticed Suzanne's appearance, she was younger, her hair was not white, but blonde, but she was totally dirty, as if she had crawled through the mud over and over again.

My eyes then went to the Queen.

Tulip was a fairy with deep red hair, a slender figure and big brown eyes. She wore a green dress, with a few slashes, which revealed her long legs. Her wings shone as brightly as her castle.

They held each other for a while until they were nose to nose. All I could think about was Caelus, how I felt every time I saw him. As if the air in my lungs was more refreshing, as if the shadows were disappearing.

That's how I saw them.

'I was so worried you would have been taken away forever,' the Queen told her, stroking her hair.

'But you saved me, they released me as soon as you pleaded for me.'

Tulip's eyes filled with doubt.

Suzanne noticed it too.

'Well... actually... it wasn't really me, I mean yes it was me, but someone else helped me.'

From behind her, a man with beautiful green eyes started walking towards the couple. He was tall with beautiful golden hair. He looked like a person carved by the Gods themselves. His walk was calm, his gaze peaceful. He did not look like the monster I had been told about all my life. And yet I recognized him.

It was him.

I recognized him as if he were a long lost relative.

'King Benedict saw to it that the Kingdom of Eurus released you. He convinced Ectomos to release you.'