I'll Reach You

Chapter 3

As she went on, Charlotte met more monsters, including a werewolf, a half-bird/half bear creature, and a shark-like thing that was hiding in a lake of moonlight. But what she was not prepared for was to be walking along the path of stars and all of a sudden see a woman lying next to it. Charlotte hurried forward, wondering if this was perhaps someone else who had attempted the quest. She knelt and rolled the woman from her side onto her back, and gasped as she saw that it was Floor. Her eyes were closed, her chest still. Charlotte hardly dared to breathe. Was this really Floor? Had she completed her quest? She traced the bridge of Floor's nose with a fingertip. In a flash, Floor's eyes opened and she stood up.

"Floor?"Charlotte gasped. Floor spun around and Charlotte about turned and ran. Floor's features were the same, but now she looked angry. Murderous, even. She snapped her fingers and a sword appeared in her hand. It was longer than Charlotte's, the blade tinged gold instead of silver, and shaped a bit like an icicle. Floor brought the sword up and spun it around her head, twirling it with deadly accuracy. Charlotte backed away. "Please, Floor, I don't want to fight you." Floor's only answer was to stab at her. Charlotte parried, Floor slashed, Charlotte blocked, and soon, they were locked in combat. Charlotte's mind was spinning. She wasn't even thinking about what she was doing, she was so confused. Why did Floor want to kill her? On and on they fought, until Charlotte got a lucky strike and hit Floor in the hand. The gold sword fell and landed next to Floor as she sank to her knees, clutching her wounded hand to her chest. She bowed her head.

"Kill me quickly," she told Charlotte. Charlotte hesitated. She couldn't kill Floor, no matter what she had tried to do to her. She loved Floor too much. To kill her would tear Charlotte apart. But was this really Floor, or was this some trick, an evil clone of her, perhaps? Charlotte didn't know. She studied the brunette's face, which was completely unreadable, stern, proud, and unforgiving. Her blue eyes were blank as she looked up at the younger girl. There was no hint of Floor's energy, her élan, in them. But Charlotte was still unsure of whether or not this really was Floor.

"What are you waiting for?" the kneeling woman asked.

"I can't kill you, Floor. You mean the world to me," Charlotte said, her eyes filling with tears. Her opponent laughed, a harsh, evil sound that was nothing like Floor's clear, beautiful, rippling laughter. She reached for her sword, but suddenly, Charlotte gave a quick thrust with her own weapon and stabbed her to the heart. The redhead's eyes were squeezed shut, tears streaming down her cheeks. She felt the impact as her blade hit its target and Floor screamed in agony as she crumpled to the ground. Charlotte opened her eyes, but she was too blinded by tears to really see what was happening. She blinked a few times, and saw her sword sticking out of Floor's chest. She yanked it out and fell to her knees beside the body.

"What have I done?" she cried. There was no blood, only the hole where the sword had been. Floor's eyes were open, staring into space, but seeing nothing. Suddenly, Charlotte saw a flash of red, and she fell on her back, dazed. After that, she could remember nothing more.

When she woke, she was lying on her back on something that felt deliciously soft and fluffy. Above her, she could see only black sky with twinkling stars. Somewhere, a voice was singing in a language that Charlotte did not recognize. She did recognize the voice, however. She would have known that voice anywhere. The girl sat up, and realized she was sitting on a cloud. Draped over her legs was more cloud.

"Okay, first I walk on stars, now I sleep on clouds," she thought, looking around for the source of the voice. She was in a sort of garden,with pathways and flowerbeds and a fountain shaped like a crescent moon in the center. But the flowers were all sparkling, glowing silver, and shaped rather like lilies, and the "water" in the fountain glowed white, casting a beautiful glow over everything. And there, standing next to the fountain, was a familiar figure. Charlotte threw off her cloud blanket and ran to embrace her, crying,

"Floor, Floor, it's you, it's really you!" The figure turned its head to look at her and a pair of sparkling blue eyes met Charlotte's hazel ones. Floor held out her arms and the younger girl rushed into them. However, she was bitterly disappointed to find that it felt more like she was hugging a cloud than a person. "But...I don't understand," she said, her lower lip quivering as she tried not to cry. "Why aren't you you?" Floor smiled a bit sadly.

"Charlotte, your quest is not over yet. It is nearly finished, but you still have to face one more test. This will be the one thing that decides whether or not you succeed. I pray you will have what it takes to do it," she said, taking Charlotte's hand in hers. Her fingers felt more solid than they had before, a bit like feathers instead of just cold air.

"You feel more real," Charlotte murmured. Floor smiled.

"You're getting closer to me. I'm stronger here than on Earth. You are so close, Charlotte. If anybody can do this, you can."

"So do you believe in me now?" Charlotte asked, and immediately wished she hadn't. Floor's face became wistful and sad.

"Well, Charlotte, you've come this far. I want to, I really do. But so many others have failed. It's hard to believe that anyone can do it. As far as I know, it's never happened. But like I said, if anyone can complete the quest, it's you," she said, staring into the fountain. She looked so sad now that Charlotte wondered is she was going to cry. There was a look of something in the ghost-woman's eyes that shouldn't have been there. Floor was supposed to be the strong one, the one that Charlotte could lean on when she needed to. But she did have a soft side, a weaker side, even, and it was showing itself now. Charlotte laid a cautious hand on her arm. At least it didn't pass right through the ghost, even though the arm did not feel solid. Floor remained still, so Charlotte slid an arm around her waist. Floor looked at her, and went down on her knees on the dark stone at their feet. She took Charlotte's hands and pressed them to her lips. Then she smiled and gently brushed a stray lock of Charlotte's hair back from her face. "Goodbye, Charlotte," Floor whispered as the world around Charlotte faded away.

"No, Floor! Stay with me!" Charlotte cried as, once again, she blacked out.