The Other Side

Lilian ; Princess

I woke up in the morning with a bad headache. My whole body was screaming for two things : water and fresh air. I painfully got up, wondering where it came from. I walked to our fridge and gulped down an entire water bottle. I then went to my little sister's room to check up on her. I opened the door to see her gone. I sighed.

"Well this is gunna be a long day." I muttered, closing her door and poking out my head in the hallway.

"Hey..." I called out to the guards. They turned to me.

"Where's my sister?" I asked them.

"She went to train the kids. It's her job."

Right. A job that gives us beds and food.

"Can I take a walk?" I asked, hoping to be left alone. A guard slowly walked up to me.

Tch. Of course I won't be alone, what was I thinking.

I walked with the guard on my trail and passed by huge windows which gave on an even more spectacular garden than the one we went to a few days before. I stopped right on my track and stood there, gaping. The grass was a rich green and a few trails of pavement were vaining it. Flowers bloomed in patches and the trees never seemed to end. I looked up and realized the ceiling was at least 50 meters up. About seventeen floors up.

"What's that?" I continued taking in as much information as I could. I saw a spiraling staircase which went all the way up to the ceiling. I didn't even dare to think how many stairs there were. I knew that I could probably not even get to the middle without falling from exhaustion.

"Those are the princess' gardens. The only way in is from her apartments so about no one, except maintenance and the princess ever go in there." The guard quickly explained.

"What a waste." I muttered. Almost no one got to stay in such purity and beauty.

"I know." An unfamiliar voice spoke from behind me.

I turned around and saw the guard bowing down. I cocked my head to the side and took in the figure in front of me. It was a girl, about my age or slightly younger. She was short, well, shorter than me and had shoulder lenght white hair. Her hair was slightly messy, and she was wearing a simple flowy blue summer dress. She was so pretty.

"I've never seen you around." She continued. "You must be new!" She smiled softly. I nodded.

"You know, we don't see many Sylphees roaming around with a single guard. I'm guessing you must be with Kyo's bond." She spoke thoughtfully.

"Kyo?" I asked, not recongnizing the name.

"Kyojin!" She started. Reading the confusion still in my eyes she tried again.

"Captain Soji."

"Oh! Eliza's boyfriend. Bond. Whatever." I realized.

"So you are with her! I wanted to meet her, but no one was there when I went to your room, so I was heading back to my apartments when I saw you." She turned to the guard. "You are dissmissed." She said.

"But, Your Majesty-" He started. My eyes widened in realization. She was the princess.

"Don't question me, please, I just wanna spend some time with my new friend." She argued. My heart thumped in my chest.

Friend.

The guard sighed and got up before leaving.

She started walking and I followed.

"So, what's your name? Mine's Hime, by the way. I know, not very original, but that's how my parents were." She spilled out words like they were rehearsed.

"The name's Lilian." I started, before adding, "but my friends call me Lilith."

She smiled.

"Well, Lilith it is. I like you. If you wonder why I came to talk to you, it's because of how much interest you showed in my garden. It's my favorite place ever. I always go there. I decided to bring you there with me."

I smiled. I could listen to her talk all day. Her voice was sweet, but not childish and very calming. I could listen and she was there, her voice sweetly ringing in my ears.

"Aren't those a lot of stairs?" I thought back to the staircase.

"Oh! I'll show you when we get there. It's the magic of the place. I understand your dread. I hate stairs as well. Are you claustrophobic?" She suddenly asked.

"No, not really." I answered.

"Okay, good. We're taking the elevator." She said.

"The ele-what?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"You've never taken an elevator to go up floors?!" She asked, sounding very shook by my affirmation.

"No. We didn't have floors in my village. We all lived in tents. Very large tents." I explained.

She pressed a button in the wall.

"You'll see. It's fun." She said, before a 'ding' echoed in the corridor. A panel from the wall slid open to reveal a rather large metal box. She stepped in and motioned for me to do the same. I did and the panel closed behind me. She smiled, again. I melted. We started moving and she grabbed the metal bar behind her, wincing slightly.

"Are you alright?" I jumped to her side. She grasped my arm and looked up at me, white clouding her eyes. When her eyes plunged in mine, they came back to their usual dusty blue colour. She smiled, before hugging me.

"Thank the gods." She mumbled as I wrapped my arms slowly around her.

Another 'ding' sounded in the box and she slowly pulled away, smiling.

"We're here." She stepped out and I followed quickly, not wanting the machine to swallow me.

We were in a vast sitting room.

"Was that your private ele... thing." I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"Yeah, that was my private elevator. No one else is allowed on it. It has fingerprint recognition. I'll add my bond's fingerprint when I'll find her." She shrugged.

"Her?" I asked.

"Yeah. Her." She smiled before montioning for me to follow her.

She stopped before a vast trap on the ground. Hime opened it by pressing yet another button.

"Here's the magic of the place. Get on the first stair." The princess instructed me. I looked down in the large opening and saw the spiraling staircase. I did as Hime told me and stood on the first stair. She joined me on the stair and pressed a button on the ramp.

"Say, how many buttons does this place have?" I asked before suppressing a yelp, as the stairs started rolling down.

"A lot." She chuckled. "This is called an escalator, it's used so the stairs move by themselves."

"This is so cool!" I exclamed, taking in as much air from the place as my lungs let me. The smell of spring invaded me.

So different from my sweet desertic home.

I sigh. The place itself made me believe heaven existed and that it was this exact place.

☆☆☆☆☆
~Elo☆