Celeste's life is far from the enchanting fairy tale one might expect from a princess. Her father, a ruthless and self-absorbed king, leaves a trail of death and destruction in his wake. To seal alliances and maintain his power, he arranges for Cele...
The evening ripples on like a slow-flowing stream. I wish I was happy with my plan and the attention, however, I have questioned the plan several times this evening. No matter how much I will doubt, there is no turning back.
At the moment, the endless free supply of booze is enough to remove the doubts. I have not counted the amount of glasses and if I did I had lost count by now.
I stumble across the dance floor without purpose or plan. The elves around me are a blur. Faces dance in blurred shapes before my eyes, the music comes by in fits and starts and the conversations around me seem miles away. Some see alcohol as a road to darkness.
For me, it is the exact opposite. The world becomes softer, lighter and fuzzier. It is an escape from my crazy reality. I walk, or rather stagger, towards the table of drinks. I look at the options and see the blue drink Nalu mentioned. Without thinking, I grab the bottle and put the opening to my lips. The unfamiliar blue liquid slides through my lips like water.
It burns, tastes sweet and has a floral aftertaste. It makes the world around me even blurrier, my head even emptier. My eyes see nothing more than a blur as the bottle hits my lips for the second time.
'Do you think that's a good idea yourself?' a very familiar voice sounds in the distance. I ignore the voice I can't put my finger on and take a big gulp of the blue drink.
'Okay enough,' says the same voice before the bottle is pulled out of my hand. The realisation of the event does not sink in until seconds later. I am pulled along on the floor before I realise the bottle has left my hand. I can't seem to find the focus on the person pulling me along. I stumble out of the temple after the person like a defenceless injured deer.
'Does she do this more often?' another voice sounds as I close my eyes to soothe the twisting before my eyes. The stars glisten in the darkness, dancing in the evening.
'Too often.' Answer another voice. I open my eyes and seem to be able to see sharply for the first time. The temple has disappeared from my sight, giving way to the houses. The small amount of lamps help the moon illuminate the stone paths. It is clear that the elves have left their homes and are gorging themselves on liquor. The houses are dark and lifeless.
'Where...w-where are we...going?' I mutter as the world starts spinning again. I can now identify the person pulling me along as Novak. The black hair and red eyes reveal his identity without question.
'Bed,' he replies gruffly. A lady with white-blonde hair opens the door of the house we have ended up in front of. I realise only seconds later that it is Alisha. I would expect sobriety to return immediately with Alisha's presence but nothing could be further from the truth.
The door is opened and the moment I step inside, the world starts spinning even more violently than before. Whether it's the heat of the house I don't know but the feeling only seems to get worse. Despite Novak's attempt to pull me further along I go still. My abrupt stop almost causes me to fall forward. Novak is just able to catch me to keep my face away from the floor.
'What's she on?' Alisha asks as I rest my head on Novak's shoulder. Slowly the nausea begins to rise, my throat burning more and more violently.
'No idea. It was a blue liquid in a glass bottle.' Novak's words were short and quick throughout the walk. His tone changes, the rush is out and the irritation seems to subside.
'She has pure cunraab on?' Again I close my eyes. The stars seem to have hidden in the blackness. The colours of the night light shine through the darkness. The deep blue and even a little green of the northern lights shine in the sky. The colours dance like the nymphs under the moon, slowly, in the darkness but enjoying the moon.
'What is cunraab?' asks a voice in the distance. The colours are too beautiful to look away, too joyous. I seem to have been sucked into the colours. They tingle through my body, blurring reality.
'Cunraab is....a plant that....in...the same effect.... weed. In large... quantities...hallucinate,' voices echo in the distance. What they say my brain no longer registers. Awareness of where I am slowly begins to fade and whether I am standing or lying I cannot tell you. In the distance, I hear people talking to each other but what they are saying is too far to hear.
The colours dance like a show before my eyes, my hands tingle and my body I no longer feel. The world around me seems non-existent and that alone never makes me want to leave this stupor. If I could think at all, I would no longer know what about. Awareness of time, place or the people around me seems gone for good.
I stare at the colours for what seems like hours. They become so bright it seems to blind me. Blue, green, pink and red, a rainbow dancing in the black. I want to reach for it, to touch it. I think I reach for the colours but my hand doesn't seem to exist. I reach until my arm seems unable to go any further to the point where the colours can be felt.
My touch seems to startle the colours. Out of nowhere, they all disappear into their homes and the dark black takes over the surface again.
'Help,' echoes through the darkness. The voice is weak, filled with fear but above all rooted in panic. Shivers run down my spine as if the icy night chill touches my bare skin. The darkness does not reveal the source of the voice. It seems like an endless corridor without light.
'No one is going to help you boy,' a heavier voice answers the cry for help. After those words, the darkness seems to find its silence again. I hope for a return of colours but it does not come. Something rustles in the distance, followed by a loud reverberating sound. The ground seems to tremble beneath me. I would like to take a step backwards but am unable to move, nor see what the source is. The line between reality and fantasy is taken.
'Please,' sounds the anxious voice. My eyelids seem numb. As I attempt an escape from the darkness, a sound reverberates through the room that I may never completely wash out of my ears. A scream of pain, a loud thumping sound and a laugh. The groan that follows is profound and chills run down my spine. I don't know what reality is anymore but if this is fantasy I would rather go back to my dark existence.
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