Something's Wrong With the Different Realms

Four: Preternatural

Afterward, Horizon and I decided to look at the other pieces hanging on a string rotating around the tree. We pushed and pulled the lever. Some of the artwork was of creatures doing various poses and smiling, but most were about Zenobia or the surrounding Forest. The rush, bustle, smile, and variety of Zenobia. It was, after all, the anniversary of Zenobia, was it not? And the caves, water rushes, trees, pixies and the livelihood of the Forest. There were a few of the Flat-Fields and Flower-Fields.

There were even a few that depicted the beauty and splendor of the Mountains. In the piece, the powdery tops of the Mountains stretched toward the two moons in the youthful night sky. I'd heard about the splendor of the Mountains; I'd seen paintings of it. I'd even visited once a long time ago. I admire the pieces, whoever that was who painted the Mountains did a magnificent job and made the Mountains look more majestic than ever.

Suddenly, another piece caught my eye, one which depicted the Sheen. I reached my bony medium-beige tinged hand out to grasp at the piece. Was this real? I questioned. It was indeed real.

I looked beside me. Horizon's tanzanite eyes had widened and he wore the same questioning expression on his face that I was probably wearing as well. Then, Horizon's face sharply fell and he grimaced. Confused as to why he was in pain, I dropped to his side and drew a hand out to comfort him when something began tugging at me.

It was coming from my head. It started with a minor throbbing feeling, then a loud pounding, before becoming a sharp and unbearable pain. "It's happening again," I whisper-screeched.

"Is it because we saw that photo of the Sheen?" Horizon groaned. "Or are we only imagining this? Is it caused by the fact that we are nervous? Nervous about the journey? Nervous and excited that time we had visited the Sheen?"

"Maybe," I muttered. "Elves do generally feel pain in a specific area when nerves strike. Not sure why, it just happens. Though, I've never felt pain this great. So... I don't know."

"M'kay. Maybe. Why don't we move around slightly and try to alleviate this pain? It worked last time," Horizon suggested squeezing his eyes shut.

"You might want to open your eyes first," I suggested, fighting to keep mine open as well.

"Good idea."

Horizon slowly peeled his eyes again. Strenuously, we both moved into a crouching position on our knees. It would allow for easier movement while subsiding the pain.

"It's too difficult to move around, let's just focus on our surroundings and point out what we see?" Horizon said, casting glances at the frivolous young creatures darting around and the old couple who were smiling sentimentally.

I agreed and readjusted myself. I twisted my head around motioning toward the crowded booths and standing. One was selling sticky sweet candy on a stick, another had a creature chatting animatedly while a crowd of creatures gathered around in awe, and the third booth which was smack in between the two lively booths had a dark, solemn mood. I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't spared it a second glance. There was only one creature in the booth other than the stall runner.

The creature looked familiar but I couldn't quite place where I had seen their features before. They had a masculine figure, with cerise eyes, mid-toned pink-tinged rosy skin, and magenta hair with flamingo pink highlights. They resembled a flower and reminded me of this flower in the wood that seemed sickly sweet but was deadly to the touch. Now, where had I seen them before?

Suddenly, the memory struck me like a bunch of stampeding creatures. I had seen them quite a long time ago. I had almost forgotten about that memory.

Two years ago, Horizon and I were on one of our daily visits to the Sheen. A new moon and a crescent moon were hanging above the sky so we had known that the Sheen was going to glow spectacularly. We were just about to brush away the thorns blocking us from heading into the alcove in which the Sheen had laid when a figure emerged from the Sheen itself. It was someone other-realmly who had the exact same rosy skin, cerise eyes and magenta hair that the creature in the booth had. It couldn't be a coincidence.