Not Your Kind of Fairytale (English)

Part 10: The uncertain fate

We were having breakfast at the dining room of the hotel, when the conversation we were all waiting for was brought up by Mr. Glicksy. He obviously knew what we were here for. What else would two people be doing in front of a huge cliff?

- So, you wanted to climb the clif, aye?

- Yes, sir, we were hoping to go through the branch in order to get to the Trepomo mountains, but as soon as Sorox and I got there we realised that it was not going to be possible.

- Yeah, I figured so.

I wondered if to tell him or not, but I figured that if he had given us shelter, he was a man I could trust. He knew me since I was five years old, and I knew that I could trust him.

- Mr. Glicksy, may I ask you for a favor?

- Aye, go ahead, don't be shy.

- Well, I was wondering if you still had that old elevator to climb the cliff.

- Aye, that elevator would still be working. It is quite dangerous I must warn you. But, if you wanna, it could climb the cliff one more time. At least it could try.

- Great, thank you.

- No problem, kiddo.

We spent the rest of the day outside. It had stopped snowing for a while. Mr. Glicksy told us that the weather has been like this for a while. Sometimes it snowed for days, and then it stopped. That is why not a lot of people are going to the inn nowadays.

It was 7:00 p.m. We were standing before the elevator. It was covered in snow, and it did not provide any reassurance whatsoever. It was clearly not safe. But in desperate times, people are willing to do whatever it takes. This was a desperate attempt to get to Xeris as soon as possible.

- It can only take one person at a time. It ain't what it used to be, that old thing.

Shila and I nodded, and we decided that I would be the one who would take it first. I stepped on it and held on firmly to the metal bar which was in the middle of the platform. I told them that I was ready, and Mr. Glicksy made it work. At first it moved slowly, and it moved a lot. If it had kept going like that I would have fallen, but somehow it stopped wobbling. I guess it was thanks to Mr. GLicksy, but I was way too up to see it, and way too scared to look down. I admit it, I was really scared, but I think that anyone would be under those circumstances. Think of an elevator made of wood, with no walls, wobbling, and going at a medium-high speed, with only a metal bar to hold on to. It was not the best of elevators, but still, it was an elevator. I realised that it had slowly stopped moving, and that I had closed my eyes.

When I opened them, I realised that the ride was coming to an end. I waited for some time and it finally stopped. I could not believe my eyes. I had made it! All of that fright was gone. I was filled with joy and happiness. I guesss that the landscape helped in making me feel that way. I was in the middle of a prairie so beautiful that words couldn't describe it. It is actually called the prairie of Numa, which in Zarian means imagination. It is considered one of the most beautiful places on Zaros, but it is also quite dangerous. It all depends on the person who sees it. The thing is that besides all those beautiful plants, trees and animals, lied a secret, buried within the depths of the prairie. There were a special kind of plants, called Numanoc plants. Noc means night. Night imagination. Numanoc plants release a special kind of spores which can be either good or bad. They are what keep this prairie alive. They help the plants grow. But they are the guardians of the forest. Over the night those spores change the landscape. Every night. They have the ability to change the Dna and the essence of the forest. They are the same plants, but they are either fully grown or just seeds.

When you breathe them in, they check your Dna, and just like Saint Nicholas is supposed to do, they discover if you are good or naughty. It is not magic, it is science. Hang on with me here. I know it s quite hard to believe, and that is why it is the most studied place in Zaros. So, if you are good, the plants will be fully grown, beautiful. If you are naughty, they will slowly transform into seeds, and I guess you know what happens. No oxygen. No life. They will warn you though. The first night, they will leave enough oxygen for you to breathe, and if you stay one more night, then they will change all the plants into seeds.

Now, shouldn't this affect everyone? If there is one naughty person and one good what happens? Do the seeds grow or not? Well, that is where it gets complicated. I told you that it depends on the person who sees it. Well, that is exactly what happens. For the good person, the prairie will be fully grown, and for the naughty, it won't. I will explain it. They really do not change the landscape. You just think they do. That is why they are so complex. They have the ability not to change the Dna, but to change your reality. They make you think that the plants have changed, and when your brain sees that there are no plants, it thinks it has no oxygen, and it will slowly become harder to breathe.

However, this will only work if you believe it. If you know that it is supposed to make you believe that, you will not believe it. So scientists will not tell you. That way the landscape will be safe. I know thanks to my father. I had access to all of the books I wanted. Like when Harry Potter went in the forbidden section of the library? Well, I am one of those privileged people who can get into the forbidden section of the library. It is still nice to see if the Numanoc plants think you are good or not. I got an A+. What I mean by this is that they believe I am really good.

Rumour has it that no King has ever dared to step here in case they think they are bad, and I believe this. The good side to this, is that as long as I am here, I am safe from "naughty people".

All of that happiness that I was experiencing was soon gone. As soon as I Heard something fall, I got scared again. I did not want to look back. I knew what that meant. Shila had fallen. The elevator had broken. I was very foolish, so I looked back. I saw the elevator on the distance, on the floor. I recognised Mr. Glicksy, and Shila. They were two little humanoids in the distance. I yelled at them, but they did not hear me. Shila seemed to be on the floor, and I did not know what had happened to her. But I had no way to get down. I was alone now. Once more. But I had to continue. I couldn't continue. I needed to know if Shila was ok. I started crying without wanting to, not being able to stop. I decided that the best thing to do was to go to one of the lodges that Mr. Glicksy's in had on left side of the prairie.

Here I am, writing to you, hoping that Shila is alive. Hoping for something I don't know. Hoping for an uncertain fate. Making myself believe I knew she was fine. But sometimes imagination is not good enough. Sometimes realism hits you and no matter how hard your brain tries to fight it, it can't. So you go to sleep, hoping for something you don't know, for something you want to happen. She couldn't have fallen. But my brain knew that there was a chance that she had, and that she had been badly injured.

Date: 20/ 10/ 15

Year: 2015 A.D.M. (after the dissapearance of magic).