Chapter Seventeen
That doesn’t explain the problem
It’s funny how the fruit made me feel better. Is this what it feels to be poisoned?
I can’t fall asleep. I didn’t walk outside my body last time I slept. Maybe I won’t if I’m totally exhausted?
I’m lying wide awake on the hard ground watching the stars above. It’s a bit chilly, but not as cold as I thought the night would be.
Things should make sense but I’m utterly confused. The fruit satisfied my hunger completely. I haven’t felt this good since I could walk with my own legs. I’m not suicidal anymore, which is good. I’m just filled with a great sadness. I lost someone I loved. It’s normal.
Lex is dead and I need to move on. I have a purpose with my life. Didn’t Lily ask me to look after Lex? I failed that mission. I will not fail to solve the problem with Paxia. I’ll do it in memory of Lex. He’ll be proud of me, wherever he is now.
I am trying to put together the pieces of memory I have of the battle. It happened very quickly and I was brutal. I reach out to a thin grey thread and pinch it lightly. My whole body starts vibrating from the power inside of them. Is it electricity? I feel safe knowing it can’t hurt me.
At least I didn’t die, yet.
“Meryl.”
The soft whisper of my name makes me sit up straight from the ground. I’m covered in dust, but it doesn’t bother me. It’s a part of the life here to be covered in it. I didn’t feel anyone approach and I still can’t sense the person saying my name. I turn around as I get up onto my feet and there she is, the woman I saw a few months ago.
“Lila,” I greet her quietly. “It’s time, isn’t it? I can feel Tarih. It’s quiet now. I solved the puzzle with it, but I’m still confused.”
She’s smiling back at me in the dark. I can’t see her very clearly, but I recognize her and her voice. She still has that friendly attitude and it makes me feel calm.
“I don’t think anyone can solve Tarih. Tarih do whatever Paxia five wants to do.”
“Who is Paxia five?” I ask, wanting to know more about it all.
“There are five keystones and five holders. You are number three and I am number one,” she starts telling me. “The number has nothing to do with importance. We are just the five chosen to control this world. You could call us the gods of Paxia. But not gods in the context Earth sees gods in.”
“I guessed I passed the test,” I mumble to her.
“You figured how to use Tarih. I’m here to bring you to Paxia two. She can’t leave her post. Here take this.”
She hands me a bag made of fabric and I feel the smooth clean surface with my palm. I feel a pattern sewn into it but I can’t see what it is.
“Thanks. What do I need it for?”
“I thought you could pick a few fruit. They made you feel better, right?”
“I thought they were going to kill me,” I tell her honestly.
“They are healing fruit. We use it for medicine, rarely for eating. They are quite rare since they only grow here in this environment. It’s too strong for humans, so they die of overdose if they eat them. They can never be toxic for us.”
“Ok,” I say understanding what she’s explaining. I could have eaten these the whole time instead of starving. Or die trying. I fill up the bag with fruit and hang it on my shoulder. “Can I just ask one thing before I go?”
“Sure,” she says patiently.
“Why did my Dad leave? What made him start this whole mess?”
“It was just a mistake,” Lila tells me sadly. “We visited Earth and he fell in love with that planet. We spent a few months exploring it. He kept delaying our return to Paxia and in the end he gave in to my pleading. It’s just that he didn’t follow me back here. He tricked me and just sent me home.”
“I’m sorry,” I try comforting her. “We’re you close?”
“Yes, we have a son,” she reveals to me and I take a step back in surprise. “His name is Heal. Your father chose to walk out on us. Earth was too tempting for him.”
“He’s such a traitor,” I hiss with anger. “Doesn’t it feel weird to meet me?”
“No,” she says warmly. “I always wanted a daughter. That’s you. I’m taking you from him so he knows how it feels to be abandoned.”
She grabs my arm gently and I feel the web grabbing us in a tight grip. We’re teleporting through it and it’s just as thrilling as the first time I tried it with Lex. I feel stunned of envy by the way she’s taking us through the threads. I hope I become an expert like her one day.
We land inside a well lit up cave. The stone walls are black and it’s a comfortable temperature in here. The smell is quite damp and a bit unpleasant. It looks like we are outside an entrance that goes deeper into the cave. I’ve never been to a place like this so it feels a bit exciting.
“Don’t worry, I’m not kidnapping you,” Lila giggles.
“I’m not worried,” I tell her honestly. “I want to stay in Paxia.”
“I hope you won’t be against a small trip back to Earth?”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to fix the problem,” I answer her tiredly and follow her through the entrance into a round hallway with two doors.
It looks like an apartment minus the windows. It smells a lot fresher in here to my relief. It would be hard to live in here if it smelled like a cave. This must be where Paxia two resides. Lila escorts me through one of the doors and we end up in what I think is a kitchen. It doesn’t look too different from kitchens at Earth.
The fridge has a door made of glass so I can see everything inside of it. I walk closer and study their way of packaging the food. Everything is put into boxes. I’m licking my lips at the sight and tear my eyes away to explore the stove. It must be the stove. It’s made of some kind of light blue metal and the side up is made completely out of glass. There’s nowhere to turn the stove on and I scratch my head a bit confused.
“I’ll cook us something,” Lila says and aims for the fridge.
The cold air from it hits me when she opens the door and she sings quietly to herself while she’s preparing our dinner. I take a seat on the dark pink glass chair. It’s a bar table and everything looks so stylish and pretty. Not to mention how clean it is. I’m afraid to touch anything. The whole kitchen is free from personal belongings and small items. It’s just glass furniture and kitchen appliances.
“We don’t have anything to eat that’s exactly like the edible things at Earth,” Lila rambles on. “I hope you’ll like the food on Paxia though.”
“Where are we?” I wonder changing the subject.
“Still on the Wica Island,” she says and chops the ingredients down like an expert. “This is the power facility to everything on Paxia. Paxia two lives here so this is her home.”
“Doesn’t it get lonely for her?” I wonder and study the table that is completely free from scratches. “Where is she?”
“She’ll be here when dinner is ready. She likes being alone. She doesn’t have time to see anyone. She must keep the balance in the energy flow steady.” She looks up from what she’s doing and meets my gaze with a smile. She nods towards the table. “It’s all made of crystal. Most things are. They are treated so they can’t break unless you apply the right formula onto it. You have a lot to learn about Paxia!”
“It’s just,” I hold back the tears but I can’t swallow the lump in my throat. “I let him die, Lila.” I change subject hastily again, unable to hide the truth anymore. It feels like I’m going to explode of sadness.
“Did you?” she looks at me with a frown. “I’m really sorry Meryl. Let’s dedicate our dinner in his memory.”
“At least he didn’t end up as someone’s dinner. It’s such a waste, the way he died. He just cut himself on a rock.”
“At least he had you,” she tries to comfort me.
“He didn’t need me,” I sob. “He needed a hospital.”
Lila walks up to me and puts her hand comforting my shoulder. “Why don’t you fresh yourself up while I make dinner? I’ll show you to your room.”
I walk with her through another door. We end up in a hallway with ten similar looking doors in it, with five on each side. She opens the third door on the left side and motions for me to go inside. I walk into the room with inspecting eyes, not sure what is hidden in there.
The sight is quite pleasant. The floor is covered in a white mat and I quickly pull off my shoes to not make it dirty. The walls are painted in lavender and it looks very comfortable to sleep in here. There’s a huge bed in the middle of the room made of dark grey crystal. The covers are thick and white and I want to jump right into it.
I’m not sure if I actually died and ended up in heaven. This is luxury compared to the worn out house I lived in for the last few months. I thought we did well the keep the house clean, but I understand now that it’s far from it. I’m not sure what they are using to keep the dust away.
“There’s a bathroom over there,” Lila points at another door and then the closet. “Just pick anything to wear. They should be in your size. You’re going to spend some time here when you’re needed. It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out the water system.”
“Thanks,” I say awkwardly and head over to the bathroom.
My mind can’t get over the luxury of this place. It must be the crystal that’s making it look so expensive. The sink and the tub are made of it and there’s even a separate shower. There are several small crystal containers on an inbuilt shelf in the shower part with labels what they are for. I almost cry out of joy when I see the body scrub, shampoo, conditioner, hair mask and body wash.
I open the cabinet over the sink and can’t hold back a shrill of joy when I see the toothpaste. I’m sick of washing my teeth with only water.
Fluffy white towels are hanging on hooks and I carefully take off my clothes so I don’t dirt anything down. I throw the dusty clothes into an empty basket. I guess it’s for clothes that need to be washed.
I step into the shower and touch the digital shower display. This is neat. I have no idea how they are using the stove, but the shower can easily be adjusted after my needs. I pick out the temperature and let the water fall down on me like a waterfall. I moan in pleasure as the dirt follows the water down into the drain. I love hot showers.
I’m not sure how long I stay in the bathroom, but I use all the creams to make myself clean, soft and pretty. There’s a full body mirror and I stare at my body in wonder. I forgot how it felt to be thoroughly clean. It’s a nice feeling.
I step into the bedroom and open the closet. I didn’t give much thought about what Lila was wearing, but seeing the clothes in the closet makes me remember. Five different one-pieces in a lovely fabric are waiting for me. There is also a dress and other regular clothes. They’re all one coloured or sewn together with other colours. I’m starting to wonder if they even have patterns here.
The hunger is reminding me that I need to eat so I quickly jump into a light green one-piece and leave the room after putting on a pair of white shoes. It will be exciting to taste a Paxian cousine.
I enter the kitchen and a short girl with long silky black hair is sitting on the chair I was using earlier. She turns her head around and glares at me angrily. I stop dead in my track, not because I think she’s rude. Her attitude reminds me of Lex. She’s really beautiful in a purple one-piece. Lila’s one-piece is vanilla coloured. The whole set up makes it so obvious that we’re not on Earth anymore.
“I’m Meryl,” I say and walk up to them.
“I am Paxia two,” she answers me with a cold voice. “You may call me Dahlí.”
“It’s very nice to meet you Dahlí. I love your name.”
“I’m named after a rare gem,” she explains to me with a smirk. “Meryl is a nice name too. I believe that’s the name of your father’s mother.”
“Oh, yes!” Lila nods excitedly. “She’s so thrilled to meet you. Meryl is a sea animal. I believe you call them starfish at Earth.”
“That’s quite…cute,” I add with a headshake. “I never knew the meaning of my name. Dad never told us anything about his family.”
I sniff the air and it smells wonderful from the pots on the counter.
“We were waiting for you,” Lila says and jumps down from her seat. She hands me a crystal plate and I accept it with a thanks. “Why don’t you start?”
“Go ahead skinny bones,” Dahlí teases me while swinging her legs restlessly.
“Don’t mind her attitude,” Lila says to me. “It means she likes you.”
“I’d like any cripple from Earth who survives seven months on this island,” she replies with a grin. “You must be really sick of the food here!”
“Seven months?” I say surprised.
“Yeah, time flies when you’re having fun,” Dahlí says with a laugh. “I barely leave this cave. I’ll take you to my work place after dinner.” That thought seems to bright her up.
I look down on my plate and Lila is lashing up food on it. It looks very appetizing. There are pieces of food in a white sauce. I’m not sure what to call it. I take a seat next to Lila’s chair and Lila serves herself and Dahlí.
I take a bite of my food and the taste is making me want to eat more. “This is truly delicious,” I compliment Lila and notice the new girl’s dinner manners. She’s shuffling the food into her mouth like she hasn’t eaten in days. She looks healthy though and she’s thin like a stick.
“I’m glad you like it,” Lila says happily. There’s nothing wrong with her table manners. “Dahlí has always been a wild monster.”
“Everyone loves me this way,” she says with her mouth full and I laugh, entertained by her personality.
Lila and Dahlí are quite the opposite of each other’s personalities. It’s fun to listen to their friendly quarreling. They make me feel better. They are both a lot older than me, but they are starting to feel like two friends. I should feel like the odd one out, but I’m not. They are clearly happy to have me here.
Dahlí shows me the Energy room after dinner. Lila stays in the kitchen to do the dishes. I am still confused how they are using the stove. I’ll find out eventually. Lex death has put me out of order so I don’t really care what’s on the agenda. I just want to survive the day without breaking apart. All these new things are keeping my mind busy at least.
I gasp in surprise when we enter the Energy room. I’m not sure how to describe it. The same damp smell from earlier hits my nostrils. The round cave is huge, with a platform reaching around it. There’s a deep hole in the middle that’s taking up most of the room. A huge ball of grey energy is resting by the surface of it and strings of violet and grey threads are bursting out from it. It looks beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
“Welcome to my reality,” Dahlí smirks at me and walks smoothly towards the edge and reaches out her hand towards the huge mass of energy. It calms down instantly. ”So, do you like it?”
“What is it?” I wonder amazed and walks closer to it. I can feel the energy tickling my skin and it’s powering me up. “Is that the tiny grey threads?”
“They’re not so tiny anymore, huh?”
“It took me forever to notice them!” I say crossly. “Is this what you are balancing?”
“Yeah,” she smiles lovingly towards it. “My love and my curse. I don’t control it. I just make sure that it is well balanced. We don’t want more grey threads than necessary out there!” She pulls out a string of grey mass and it looks like it enjoys what she’s doing. “Just imagine how Paxia looked like before they figured out how to tame the grey strings into one place.”
“What’s my role in all of this?” I ask amazed by the way she’s managing the grey sphere like it’s a pet.
“Your role has nothing to do with Tarih,” she explains quickly. “It’s more complex than that.”
“How is it complex?” I urge to know when she falls quiet.
“You are in the Diala section,” she says slowly. “The Diala positive Holder. Lila is the negative one. The fun thing about Diala is you can’t learn it. Diala is locked into two keystones and they balance each other out. Your father threw his away on Earth. That’s why our worlds are in unbalance. You have to ask Lila the rest. I don’t want to give you any wrong facts.”
Dahlí starts walking around the power ball and waves for me to come with her. She moves quickly on the solid stone ground and I try to catch up with her. She turns around when I’m right behind her and she pushes me into the huge ball of electricity.
The scream gets stuck in my mouth when the energy grabs and holds on to me from all directions. It takes a few seconds before I collect myself enough to let the webs pick me back up on the ground again. Dahlí just giggles at me.
I’m still shaking from the fall.
“Why the hell did you do that for?” I grunt annoyed.
“Wasn’t it fun?” she says excitedly and pats the energy field. “Tarih likes to play.”
I step back and start walking away from her. I rather hang around Lila. At least she isn’t crazy.
“Hey, aren’t you going to thank me for the net?” she yells after me.
The hopeful faces of my tribe members shows inside my mind and I close my eyes. Who is going to take care of them now when Lex and I aren’t around anymore? When will they stop waiting for me to return?
“Did you place it there?”
“Yes,” Dahlí says proudly. “I needed some fresh air so I took a walk and placed it there. I stayed a while to see who found it and it was your tribe. I didn’t aim for anyone particular. It’s just too bad the other tribe ruined it.”
“Why did you place a net when you don’t care to help all those other people?” I say angrily.
“I do care,” she tells me seriously with a hint of anger. “I want to help, unlike Lila. She doesn’t care if they’re dead or alive. I am not a Diala Holder. There is nothing I can do to help them. We are invisible to humans. They walk right through us. The only place they can see us is at Earth and that’s only what Lila told me. The only reason you can see us is because you are a half Paxian.”
“What do you mean Lila doesn’t care? She’s trying to make it right. She found me so I could close the portal to Earth.”
“Little human,” she sighs. “It is not time for you to learn about Paxia yet. Lila means no harm with the Earthlings. She will return them to Earth when the balance is restored. New humans would end up here if she kept sending others back. That’s a complete waste of time. She will set everything right once you find the balance key. She needs you to fix the problem with Paxia.”
“You aren’t making much sense,” I say tiredly. “I am going back to the kitchen.”
“Paxia is the problem!” she yells after me as I round Tarih.
Lila is singing while doing the dishes. I admire her long red hair. I seriously need a haircut. I haven’t been to a hairdresser since a month before the car accident. Lila has already cleaned off the table and I jump up on one of the chairs without disturbing her.
What Dahlí explained to me does make sense. I can’t feel either her or Lila through the web. Maybe they can’t help the humans stuck in Paxia in another way than finding the keystone on Earth. Just imagine what would happen if a human left this island and found a town empty of people but with objects moving around. I shudder at the thought. That would be a real ghost town.
“Dahlí says Paxia is the problem,” I say to chase the image away. “Can you explain to me what the real problem is?”
“I’m cheerful because there’s no happiness here,” she says and puts the last plate on the dish rack. “That’s why I don’t blame your father for what he did. You can pretend that you’re happy if you close your eyes well enough. He didn’t want to fix the problem so he took the first opportunity to leave. He knows how passionate I am in fixing Paxia matters. So he took the decision that was best for both of us.”
“That doesn’t explain the problem,” I say disappointedly.
She walks up to me and grabs my cheek. “You look so much of your father. That’s good.”
“Good?”
“Paxia is corrupt. Everyone will want to know where you are from and I am going to tell them that you are my daughter. They just need to look at you to see that you inherited your father’s key. Whatever you do, don’t tell anyone that you are from Earth. The only ones you can trust in this world are the Paxia five’s.”
“I’m not used to seeing a happy Paxia anyway,” I sigh at the news, all confused over the new information. It seems like they only have confusing things to tell me.
“You won’t need to meet anyone until you return from Earth anyway. Did Dahlí tell you what the numbers we have stands for?”
“She said they aren’t important.”
“The numbers stands for each letter in Paxia. You are the X-factor.”