A musical echo of some rare raindrop tipped and tapped inside a misty forest, animating strange blue and orange leaves of mystical trees in a sort of serene dance. It also produced irregular sounds when droplets made their way into the few puddles of water spread across the forest floor, adding to the calm. Yet, with every stone, every branch, every blade of grass, and everything that made up the forest of which the rain had blessed, there was also the body of a girl who was calmly sleeping on a slab of white stone who got wet by the light rain. She breathed in and out a cold white mist with the same beat of the forest dance. Her sickly white skin almost looked like porcelain with the droplets of water on her skin which reflected the moonlight of the night sky.
The girl rested on the side of a tree which was different and bigger than every other. It had long rectangular leaves of an almost transparent blue that moved lazily in a weak wind. Some of those long paper-like leaves had fallen over the girl and mixed with her long dark hair. At one point, an old leaf was taken by the wind, and it floated down to the face of the sleeping girl, then as if it was a mother waking up their young, the girl calmly awoke.
As the girl moved, tears caused by a nightmare rolled down her cheeks. Her mind was still on a cloud, but with time, she managed to sit straight where she looked up to the sky. In the past, she would often wake up in the middle of the night because of some nightmare and every time she would simply look at the moon, when it was visible, from a window by the side of her bed to calm her beating heart. But this time, the calm and almost perfectly white moon wasn’t the same she was used to. This realization froze her mind while a rush of blood came over her body. She was stuck staring at this strange moon which had a long chasm that split it from south to north. It looked more like a closed eye turned to stone than anything else.
Even as she looked at the stars, none were placed where she was used to, and even more odd was that she could see a distant planet of light gray color that was surrounded by moons made of red crystal. There was even lighting moving between each of those strange moons.
At the sight of this sky, a panic took the better of her. Her head looked everywhere, but there was nothing she could recognize. She started to move back, pushing with her hands and her feet, until her back was met with a large stone, but even if the stone stopped her movement, she was still trying to push herself further back for a few seconds. She could still remember the night she had escaped, the scary forest, the people trying to catch her, the arrow flying at her, the bloody moonlit path, the night sky, the stars, the moon...and pain...She could still remember that fateful night. And it then dawned on her: she couldn’t see the other girl by her side.
She had a sort of knot in her throat that made breathing hard and the only sounds she could produce were panicked breathing. Left and right, all she could see were strange trees but not a sight of another girl. She used the stone, which was strangely warm, to help herself get up on her wobbly legs. She stood at her full height but felt insignificant and no better than a crawling worm when she found out she was alone.
She moved for a few steps lost for what to do, which also showed in her expression that were all over the place, as if she didn’t know what she was supposed to feel...She then tried to move faster - but was it her mind or her body or maybe even both that were still sluggish - and tripped on nothing and fell in a puddle of water. She lifted her body slowly and tediously until she was on her knees. It was then that she saw the other girl...but when she tried to reach for her, her hand only caused a splash of the water she had fallen in. All she saw was a reflection; a reflection of herself...of the girl she was looking for.
“Alice?” She finally managed to utter a word. But it came with so much pain when she saw the lips of the reflection move with her lone calling of the girl’s name...
Her hand trailed over her sickly white skin and then it caressed her long black hair. She was Tsuki, but this was the body of Alice...She used to have a healthy body with short hair that made her something like a tomboy in the eyes of some, while Alice was born sick and had rarely left her room, making her body weak.
She didn’t know why, but she started to cry a little, and while looking at her reflection, she could see another odd detail. It was that her left eye was the calming azure of Alice while the right was the vibrant green of hers. It felt wrong to see part of herself so close to the most important person in her life, yet it was also quite calming. ‘It’s wrong!’ she told herself. She wanted to be with Alice, not to be Alice.
She wasn’t able to understand what was going on. Her mind was starting to calm down but there was no explanation she could come up with that made sense. For a moment, she thought it might have been a sick joke from her mistress, a cruel sorceress who enslaved her when she was young, but it couldn’t be.
Kanga, the sorceress’ name, was a cruel woman, but she never did anything that extreme. She was violent with those who crossed a moral line she had set and escaping from a forced situation didn’t cross it. And all things considered, Kanga did treat the two girls well. Alice’s parents used to be some kind of noble and when her sickness got worse, they tried to sell her to be a plaything...When Kanga found out, she was the one that bought Alice and the payment was that she killed everyone implicated. With Kanga’s help, Alice was even able to slowly heal.
She also loved Tsuki’s singing and often tried to act friendly with her when no one was around. But Tsuki could never forgive this woman because she caused the death of her family. In truth, Tsuki couldn’t really remember her past. She had a lot of memories of taking care of grazing sheep and a docile foal. She could remember that she loved the foal, as it followed her around like a dog, but she could never remember what it looked like. It was even Kanga herself who had to explain that she had killed Tsuki’s family since Tsuki couldn’t remember anything. Yet, Kanga never gave a reason for her action.
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***
Tsuki tried to think of a few theories, but nothing really made sense to her. She sat with her back to the big stone while hugging her knees and simply looked around her. She felt like there was no reason to live without Alice.
As she was thinking about what to do with her life, she could feel something in her left hand. It was as if someone was holding it, as if Alice was by her side and holding her hand...Even if it was only her imagination, she chose to believe that Alice was truly by her side.
“Say Alice. Don’t you think the sky is beautiful?” Tsuki asked while looking at her hand. She had a distant smile as she waited for an answer but only the wind responded in its usual distant whistling: no better of a response than silence.
“Yes! I really hope we can have a good life in peace. We could go see the sea or even climb a mountain! You always dreamed of traveling and seeing lots of things. And we’ll do a lot of things. And we’ll learn a lot of things. And we’ll...we’ll...” Tsuki started with a large smile but as she kept talking to herself, tears started to fall until it was a deluge. But in the end, she forced a smile and dried her tears.
She knew Alice for a long time and even though she herself never had the best life, she understood Alice never really had one. Always stuck in a room and too sick to do anything...Every time Tsuki was with Alice, she wanted to hide her own pains and show a big smile to try and make Alice's days slightly better. Now again, she wanted to act strong to not let Alice feel down no matter where she was.
“I promise this to you Alice. I will find a way to bring you back to my side...and we will be happy.” A small promise yet an enormous task...
***
In the end, she needed to do something. Sitting and crying would never solve her problems. Thus, the lone girl finally stood up in this misty forest with a goal set in mind: to bring back the most important person in her life.
At this point, it had stopped raining. Strange white crystals were coming out of the ground which then bloomed into transparent moonlight blue flowers. Then ghostly butterflies manifested from the surrounding trees, and they flew lazily toward the newly blooming flowers to drink whatever nectars they had.
Some of those phantasmal creatures flew around Tsuki in a sort of dance, examining this strange person. As their wings tired, they went and rested wherever their wings took them: some landed on the surrounding trees, other on the grass, one even landed on Tsuki’s hair, and some other went to the big stone.
Those last ones allowed her to understand what the stone was, as her sight which was following the butterflies’ dance got focused on it. It was a sort of tombstone with strange markings which was built in front of a mythical tree made of flowing energy visible to the eyes. On the tombstone, there was the carving of the different phases of the moon with both half-moons painted in a luminescent blue. Under this carving was a long text which Tsuki could somehow understand.
Here is the second resting place of Aisha, a legendary alchemist, moved from the valley of seven-pine – her place of death - when it was destroyed. May she rest in peace, this girl who saved more people than those reading may ever see. My reason to live, she was all that I had. She cared for me when I was bloodied and dirty. She cared for those in need. Giving so much: her life was spent. If you may see her ghost, do not fear, and let her guide you. May she rest in peace, the goddess of hope, a young alchemist full of dreams...May you rest in peace my love...
-Yuu, the broken witch...
The text started with precise engravings of the stone where each symbol was masterfully made even to Tsuki’s eyes who had never seen them. When it talked about the destruction of seven-pine, the cuts were deep and short, almost filled with rage. The cuts became longer in the midpoint and almost disorganized by the end. Tsuki could feel the sadness of the writer in those simple lines as if they held onto some memories. The name of the writer was almost destitute of any strong emotions with the way it was engraved, but Tsuki felt as if the writer despised their own title but loved their name.
In front of Tsuki was the tombstone of a dead goddess if what the engravings said was true. Tsuki didn't know who she was or what she had done to save people, nevertheless she wanted to show her respect.
She got on her knees in front of the stone in a way she thought could be respectful and her hands laid on her knees. She tried to think of something to say, but she found herself at an impasse. What was she supposed to say to a dead goddess? Yet, as she stayed in this pose on a hard slate, it allowed her to ground herself a bit more. The fear and the sadness were less present, and she was listening more to her surroundings.
A cold wind blew in her long hair of which she wasn’t used to. But the cold the wind had to offer and the leaves around her that looked to be dying in a reddish hue; it was the call of the coming winter.
As a gust of wind blew stronger, it allowed Tsuki to feel two moving objects tied to a belt she wore, since her dress was too big for her size. On her left was a deep purple duvet bag tied with large red strings. It looked filled with all sorts of things going from soft to hard. On her right was a wooden box with a meticulous pattern she couldn’t really understand. It was quite heavy to the point she was surprised she only just realized she had it tied to her side. The strangest thing was that neither Alice nor herself had those items before falling to their death...
It was too dark to look inside, and she felt unsafe in this strange forest in the middle of the night. She wanted to say a prayer of sorts before leaving this place.
“My name is Tsuki. I wanted to say thank you...Your tombstone says you helped a lot of people. It’s why I’m thanking you. I’m looking for someone...She saved me in the past and I was so happy when she did. I bet you made a lot of people happy. I wish I was able to do the same, but I don’t think I’m strong enough. For now, I just want to help that one girl. It’s a bit selfish, I know...But I want to focus on her. If I ever manage to save her, I’ll try my best to help other people. I just don’t know where to even start. If only I had some sort of guidance or anything...I would be eternally grateful.” Tsuki tried to hide her pain, but it could still be heard in her quavering voice. Yet, nothing happened...
She got up with a hopeful smile. Talking like that made her feel better, like a weight was removed. The day would soon come, and she wanted to find somewhere safe as soon as possible. Looking at the sky, she used the strange planet to decide her path. She glanced one last time at the lonely tombstone before going deeper in the forest with the hope to find a village.