ஜ Adeline ஜI briefly shut my eyes, as I weighed my options.
'Okay.' I said, a few moments later, opening my eyes to meet his sapphire ones again.
Nikolai nodded once, before placing his hand on my arm. 'Are you sure?'
'Yes.' I answered. 'I am.'
He moved his hand to the small of my back, as he resumed guiding me back to my chambers. 'Well, since you're about to experience one of my memories, and not just me conjuring up a random vision for you to see; you'll need to lie down. It takes more energy from me to recreate the memory, and therefore it will also take some of your energy, because of the power and energy that this requires from me.' he explained.
We finally reached the door of my chambers. Nikolai opened it, and led me inside.
I gulped, clambering onto my bed, before I laid down. He sat down next to me, reaching out to gently tuck a wisp of my hair behind my ear.
'Are you ready?' he inquired once more.
I nodded. 'Yes.' I inhaled shakily.
'Close your eyes. I'll be right here when it ends, I promise.' he reassured me with a tender smile.
I obliged, the world before me melting away once again as I shut my eyes.
At first, everything was dark. Then, a spot of light made itself visible. I felt drawn toward it, so I moved in its direction. When I was close enough, I reached out to touch it. When I made contact with it, it disappeared to create a new world before me.
Nikolai's memory.
I jolted in surprise, feeling a hand on my shoulder. I craned my neck to find Nikolai standing behind me.
'How are you here?' I asked. 'I didn't know that was possible.'
'Neither did I.' he admitted, moving to stand next to me. 'I must've been transported to this memory, too. I don't know why, though. It's never happened to me before.'
His eyes widened, he grabbed my hand and pulled me in a direction. 'Look. There we are. If we don't follow them, we'll lose them and this would have been a pointless journey to the past.'
So, that's what we did. We followed the kid versions of ourselves. They looked strikingly similar to us, right now; except... I had dark hair. Little Nikolai clasped the younger version of myself's hand, too; as they ran toward a vaguely familiar golden carriage, their backpacks jiggling with their rapid movement.
'Come on.' Nikolai urged, tugging me along. 'We need to get into that carriage, or we'll be left behind.'
We barely made it in time. Little Nikolai and a Little Me were luckily having a chat with the horseman. So, we slipped into the carriage swiftly.
'Can they see us?' I wondered aloud, as I gazed at our past selves.
'No. We're merely like apparitions. They won't see, hear or feel us.' Nikolai replied.
Little Me nodded her head eagerly. 'Mommy told me I could come play at the castle with Nikky!'
The horseman chuckled, as did I. 'Very well then. Head inside the carriage.'
Once our younger selves were seated, the carriage began moving. That's when I noticed that my hand was still in Nikolai's grip, which was surprisingly soft. He didn't seem to mind, and I didn't either.
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The Arrangement
FantastikWhen Adeline is forced into living in a completely new place, things start getting a little haywire. On top of that, the trees which give the world life, the trees of vitality, are dying. There are one of these life trees in each of the five kingdom...