Realm Jumping
The burn of the summer setting sun evident on my arms. The orange hues of light projecting upon my freckled cheekbones; my once forest like eyes now turned to the richest shade of jade.
I’d once come up here with a friend. His eyes the colours of sapphires- or the deepest part of the glittering ocean on a warm summer’s day. We’d come up here, to yet again watch the setting sun dip and dance behind the clouds, falling behind the varying valleys, forests, and mountain ranges beyond what the human eye could see.
How I envied him.
He had left, through what seemed to be a gap in existence- a hole in the atmosphere, a pocket between realms- Reality and dream lands. Leaving me to waste in a reality that drained and sucked the life out of every living soul that inhabited it. Including me.
I’d once followed, once; and only once. I was blinded by what I had thought was right; I’d simply followed my heart instead of my head. Following him through the pockets of realities had altered me somehow, yet I can’t describe how it did. Once more, looking upon the setting golden globe I lost myself to the memory…
The wind soared through my ears, threatening to rip the skin off my mere human bones. Fires roared within my veins, making me feel alive- closer to living than I had been in a decade. Clouds of storms faded from the darkness of my mind, the thunder echoing through the hollowness of my skull. I felt myself slipping, slipping through realms, pockets, holes- I felt myself be made anew. I felt like myself.
I hadn’t realized I closed my eyes. Perhaps I’d closed them out of instinct against the roaring winds that seemed to rip past me as I travelled.
After opening my eyes, I saw glens of green, trees taller than statues of Rome, birds livelier than I had ever heard. It felt peaceful, calm, homely. Though I felt odd, I hadn’t felt this much like myself in what seemed like years. Almost out of fear, I raised my hands to feel my face; to make sure I was still here. To make sure I was still me. I felt my once rounded ears, now turned into the sharpest point. My once golden hair turned white at the ends. My Forest green eyes now had flecks of gold.
I had transformed.
I looked into my reflection, a nearby pond coincidentally close by. My face the same as it once had been, my bone structure only sharper- as if I’d fought years of wars, wise with tactics and experiences. Only I hadn’t been in wars, I’d barely lived- not only in this foreign body. But in my own.
I’d wondered about for what seemed like hours. Meandering through the lush evergreen forests, the moss soft beneath my faint touch, green the richest natural colour I’d ever seen it. A few times I’d seen a figure, a shadowy figure lurking amongst the sun's rays that had peeked through the trees. I’d ignored it, though with nightfall-
I set up a fire, the shadowy figure seeming to haunt my every move as the sun dipped behind the clouds, followed by the never-ending horizon.
‘What do you want?’ I shouted into the abyss. My heart beating faster than what a human body could handle. I could feel it. I could hear it. The thrum of my heart against the cage of my ribs. Begging to be let free. Snapped out of my thoughts, I heard the sticks and leaves snap and crunch as the figure loomed closer. The height difference staggering.
As though the figure was coated in shadows, I held out a hand just to make sure it wasn’t a hallucination from the darkest place of my imagination. I hit something seemingly solid. Muscle, Bone- Person.
A toothy, white grin forced its way through the shadows. I would have responded had darkness not wrapped around all six of my senses, coating logic and common sense in a thick blanket- smothered, choking, dying to be let out.
…
I awoke. Not in a cell like my subconscious had warned me of- no. I was in a room. A bedroom
A bedroom so big I felt like I would drown. Lush swirls of black coated the plum-coloured walls, leading me to look out upon the balcony. I looked up towards the sky- stars. Beyond my deepest imagining and comprehension- stars in such numbers it made the stars back home look like specks. This- this wasn’t just a night sky- this was a milky way of a reality I didn’t deserve to have set foot in.
Everything in my bones ached of distaste, discomfort. Like my bones were telling me that I don’t belong here. Go back they said. My subconscious edging me to jump off the balcony- as if I could grow wings and fly back to the rip in the world. But I didn’t budge, I didn’t want to.
I retraced my memories- of the blackness smothering my senses- everything. Before my eyes closed and awoke here. That smile- toothy and white; almost feline plaguing my thoughts as I say on the bed simply toying with the loose threads of the bed sheet.
Hours. Hours had gone by. I’d paced the room a million times over, part of me believing I was a prisoner- just at a ‘higher classed’ prison.
As if the shadow had sensed my insanity, it slunk into the room- that toothy feline like smile upon their-his face.
I glanced into his eyes- as blue as the deepest part of the ocean, with flecks of grey swirling about his irises.
‘So. You followed.’
Crap.
‘Wh-what are you- what are we?’ I stumbled upon the words as if I’d never spoken before.
‘Faeries’ His voice as dark as the night- which had now enveloped into the start of dawn. His facial expressions showed utter boredom.
‘Sorry to bore you.’ My tone sharp, blunt.
‘Apology accepted.’
Why this-
‘You’ve crossed territories. Realms- not only without invitation, or permission but as a mortal.’ He almost seemed to be in disbelief- almost. ‘And as much as I enjoy your company in the mortal realm, I’d much rather you come here when there isn’t an imminent threat upon us.’
‘What’s your name…?’ I blurted out; I’d been speaking to him for near months now, yet not even a name to call him by.
I thought he’d dismiss the question, however as I went to speak to bury that question, he said; ‘Nox. My name is Nox.’
My senses came to a halt as I stared into his navy irises. Nox, a term in a language I’d forgotten meant night. In which his eyes resembled the sky and stars I’d seen and admired hours ago.
‘Leera, I’m sorry but you can’t be here. I can’t have you here. Not yet’ sorrows and a million sorries clouded his eyes and facial features. Before id even gotten a chance to respond the same darkness coated my senses again, paralysing my body and mind once more. Before the world under me faded to black, something cold was placed in my palm along with the words
‘I’ll see you soon. When the time is right.’
I’d woken up a month ago now. How soon was soon? What threats was he talking about? I’d woken up feeling drained- as if magic had swept me off my feet into the skies above, only to drop me thousands of feet below. The sun had set, stars peeking from the inky sky. The cold thing Nox had placed in my hand was a necklace of a star, silver and covered with tiny white crystals. Engraved on the back
‘Soon shall the stars align, and when they do we shall meet again.’
I wondered if it was all a dream- a cruel, sick joke implemented by my own traitorous mind. Maybe. Just maybe- I don’t want to know. Perhaps I’d rather live in eternal stubbornness believing that world is real; rather than grieve the world that sucks away life and hope and happiness from every damn soul that so much as lives. Maybe that alternative realm was all a dream. A dream I wish I hadn’t awoken from.
I clasped the necklace in my hand- as if that was my lifeline to believing it was real, that I wasn’t dreaming.
As that thought finished, I could have sworn I heard a voice behind me, calling me like the whispers of the wind that stroked my hair. I turned to see that wickedly feline smile once more.
‘Was this soon enough for you?’
I smiled. For the first time in what felt like eternity, I truly smiled.