She loved fairy tales.
The princesses, the magic, the happy ever afters, it was everything a child would love. It was everything she loved.
She would put on pretty dresses and have little tea parties by the lake, or she'd sit by a tree and tell it her favorite stories. Her world evolved around them, and she always wanted to have a fairy tale of her own
"Lilia, honey, time for bed!" A gentle voice called
A little girl came running into the room, her bare feet making sound with the floorboards.
''Mom, can you read me the rest of the story?'' the girl said as her mother put her to bed, tucking her neatly under the soft, sage green covers.
''You want to hear more about Ceare?''
Lilia nodded, her grabbing a book from the bedside table. She sat on a chair across from the bed, opening the marked page.
The Infinites - the title glowed silver on the cover. In the center was a golden, embedded shape, similar to the infinity symbol. The cover itself looked like a vine-covered tree, with seven bright-colored gems standing on the bottom.
Lilia was fascinated by the book's outside, and even though she never looked inside of the book, looking at its cover was enough for her.
Her little green eyes were glowing with excitement, just like her soul was bursting with joy
''The new queen of Ceare was announced, and the whole universe was filled with love and joy. The new queen took her people dancing on the beautiful pieces of stone buried into the ground. Each stone represented a gem that was placed on the crown. The stone pillars around the area were covered with beautiful, green vines and the sky was filled with so many different colors. The Ceareians spent the coronation day with music and laughter"
As her mother kept talking about the world of Ceare, Lilia's eyes grew heavy. With the heavenly sound of her mother's voice, the little girl drifted off to sleep.
Lilia's eyes opened with the sound of someone calling her name
She sat up, looking around, and her wondering where the voice came from soon turned into wondering where she was.
Soft grass tickled her skin, wind gently blew her wavy hair and the sun shone on her face. She was too shocked to give any sort of reaction, instead she just sat there, taking it all in.
"Lilia! Over here!" She heard her name being called again, this time she was sure where the sound came from.
She turned around and found a ginger-haired girl stepping on the last of many stone steps, jumping to the floor. Seeing the girl smile in front of her, she knew exactly where she was.
The ginger made her way over to the grass. She sat next to her friend, taking in the lake spreading endlessly in front of them. "I brought you something" She said, smiling warmly.
In her hand was a silver necklace, the green gem on it shining brightly under the sun. "It's even the same color as your eyes"
Lilia took the gift into her hands, admiring the beauty of it. She had never been given a necklace before, let alone a necklace this pretty.
"Mine is dark blue" she showed her, the gem gleaming beautifly like the green one. Before Lilia got to thank her or even react, she took her other hand and dragged her to the grass behind them, or more specifically, a little trail in it.
"Valeriee" Lilia whined "Where are we goiiing?"
"You'll see"
The girls walked through the tall grass, following the barely visible path. The grass tickled their skin and they giggled uncontrollably.
The path had taken them to a a clearing with rocks of all shapes and sizes buried deep into the ground. Lilia stared in awe. It was just like the story.
It felt as though time was passing by at an abnormal speed, while also not passing by at all. It was the feeling of true peace.
Valerie looked into her friends green, hopeful eyes, her own filling with tears "I'm gonna miss you, Lilia. I hope we get to meet again" She hugged her giving her a pained smile
Lilia didn't understand her friend's words, or why she looked sad. She knew that she would find a way to visit again, even though she didn't understand how she was visiting Valerie in the first place.
It was only now that Lilia noticed the big round stones in between the rocks, and the vines that started coming from the sides as her friend approached the middle of the circle
Every other person would have been scared by the way the vines moved towards Lilia's friend or the way the stone lit up when Valerie stepped onto it. The stone glowed red
Lilia was fascinated.
"Wow" Lilia's mouth made an O shape, and with every other stone her friend stepped on, a new color started glowing. It was one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen
Valerie jumped onto the last stone, it glowing purple. All of the stones then glowed golden, in a shape Lilia was very familiar with. It was the shape on the cover of the book
"Lilia, promise me something" Hearing her name called by an unfamiliar out of the trance she was in. She looked around herself, as the voice that called her sounded unfamiliar
"Promise me that you won't forget me," She turned her head and realized that the voice came from her friend. "No matter how many years have passed, I need to be a person who you will remember. When the time comes we'll meet again" Valerie waved at her one last time, her body turning into mist
"Don't forget me"
That was it. Those were the last words Lilia heard before her friend vanished in front of her. She didn't know how she should feel. She was too young to understand it, or to understand what happened
She stared into the empty space, recollecting herself. No tears came out, she was too shocked to cry
She looked at the stones again. The vines have now fully covered the circle. She was angry at them, she blamed them for taking her friend. The sky turned gray
She was too young.
Where her friend stood now laid a book. The vines on the ground covered the book in all of the right places, as they were on the same spot the ones on the cover were.
Lilia went to the center of the circle, picking the book up. The book was almost too big for her tiny hands to hold, but she didn't mind
At this point in her life, she still couldn't read very well, but the name of the book she could read from a mile away. The silver letters embossed on the cover had been marked in her mind
The Infinites
She sat down, deciding to open the book herself. Excitement rushed through her. She had never looked inside of this book before, but when she opened it she noticed one thing
The pages were blank.
She went through each and every one of them, hoping to find something written but all of them were just blank, plain white paper.
Filled with confusion, she turned to the last page. To her surprise, this page wasn't blank
21.12.2112
Those numbers were the only thing in this book, but a few moments later they also disappeared. Just like Valerie did
She sat there, as strange mist surrounded her out of nowhere. The book faded from her hands and so did her surroundings.
Then she woke up.