Yu Valarfin was in a dream he had seen many times before.
In regular dreams, the world he found himself in felt authentic. Though he couldn't recall ever experiencing this dream before, his mind insisted that he had been here many times before, forcing him to believe that this place was real.
Although he could sometimes think freely in the dream, these thoughts quickly faded away. Just like in normal dreams, he didn't even have the ability to control his body.
He was walking according to the script presented to him by his brain, yet he believed it was his choice to walk and did not question why he was walking. This was the natural strangeness of a dream.
It was night but not starless, black and ugly like the nights in Yu's world. Even Yu Valarfin, who normally disliked the night, could not deny the beauty of such a night.
It was a clear night with a deep blue hue, decorated with thousands of stars.
The most beautiful was the moon. The full moon was much bigger and much brighter than he normally saw. As he looked at the moon, he thought of a woman, a woman as bright as the moon. He knew her name, but he couldn't say it.
He knew that the moon carried a piece of her beauty. Perhaps the reason he saw the moon so beautiful and so close to him was because he was above the clouds and nothing could block his view.
“But she is not a moon, she is a ####.”
It was not possible for a person to survive so high above the ground, above the clouds. Because of the cold, the pressure and the strong wind, a person this high up would have to die.
But because he was in a dream, he was neither freezing, nor exposed to the wind, nor breathless. He was free from all negative influences that could harm his body, so he could continue his dream without any problems.
He wanted to look at the sky more, to watch the moon more, because the more he looked at the moon, the more he felt like he was looking at her face.
But the dream shifted Yu's vision to the ground, not allowing him to look anywhere else. Yu was on a bridge.
Actually, he didn't know how correct it would be to call it a bridge because the ground beyond was empty. Instead of calling it a bridge, he compared the clouds below to a pool and decided that it would be more accurate to call the ground where he was standing a pool ramp.
Of course, the thought was forgotten as soon as it crossed Yu's mind, and his brain changed his vision to the clouds after naming the ground he was on as a bridge. Although he normally didn't like heights, he didn't remember having a fear of heights when he was in the dream.
“Sky Palace. I am inside the Sky Palace.”
He didn't see a palace around, he wasn't inside a walled space, but his brain gave the name directly to Yu and from then on it became the Sky Palace.
Yu didn't know what to do, but his brain gave him a scenario that he should walk. His body, which he had no control over, took a step forward.
The space where Yu stepped was empty, but before his foot fell into the void, separate stones appeared at the edge of the ground where his other foot had been. In the blink of an eye, the stones interlocked and extended the bridge, creating a floor for Yu's foot to step on.
As Yu stepped further and further, stones appeared at the edge of the ground and a magical bridge was built, stretching to infinity.
Below the Sky Palace were pillars that broke through the clouds and rose into the sky. Bridges like the bridge Yu walked on were built between the pillars and each pillar was connected to the other by these bridges.
In the brief moment when the dream gave him freedom of thought, he thought that there might be a pillar behind the bridge he was walking on, so he turned around and tried to confirm his thought.
But the dream met it with violence. The Sky Palace beat like a heartbeat as Yu's body trembled and Yu had to quicken his pace.
Here no one could look back, because the guests of the Sky Palace could only go forward.
He wanted to lift his head up and watch more of the marvelous sky.
Could he take his feet off the bridge and walk on the clouds? If he reached those pillars, what would he find?
As thoughts came to him that would lead him astray, the entire Sky Palace began to reject them. Yu could not be allowed to think of anything else.
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Because the Sky Palace was afraid he would go astray.
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Because the Sky Palace was excited that he was here.
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The heartbeat of the Sky Palace was warm.
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When he felt the soft and pleasant touch of a woman on his chest, his mind faced reality again. The only truth that existed here was that he could only go forward.
When his own heartbeat synchronized with the warm heartbeat of the Sky Palace, it became a melody. It resembled a harp, the fingers of the player moving softly from one string to another.
Yu felt the wind against his skin inside the Sky Palace as he accepted that he had to move forward.
It was like the wind on a summer night. It caressed Yu's skin and hair like a woman's touch and disappeared as gently as it had come.
As he walked across the narrow bridge lit by the moon and stars in the sky, he saw a tower rising far away from him.
The tower that rose was different from the other pillars. A human being could live inside it. The tower had balconies, windows and a door that he knew was there, even if he couldn't see it yet, but what set it apart from the other pillars was that it was the one to which Yu's bridge would connect.
It was special because it belonged to Yu.
“I must run!” he shouted.
As he got closer to the tower, his heartbeat quickened in sync with the sky palace. The closer he got to the tower, the more excited he became, ignited by an irresistible desire to go forward.
Yu Valarfin was on fire.
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Yet he kept moving towards the tower that had burned him.
He ran and ran. As Yu ran, the bridge he was walking on kept weaving forward.
He wanted to reach the tower so badly that he raised his hand towards it, as if he could grab and pull it towards him. Even though it was so far away from him, he wanted to touch it, he had to touch it, even if it burned his hand.
“I must reach!”
He ran.
“But I wonder why I'm running?”
Was he running according to the script of the dream or was it really his desire to run? What did Yu want to achieve in that tower?
“Someone's waiting for me.”
The answer appeared in his mind as if it had been there all along. Knowing the answer made him speed up even more.
“If there is someone waiting for me, if there is someone who has been waiting for me, I must reach her!”
He quickened beyond the limits of his body to catch up with that tower in the distance. He was so fast now that the speed at which the bridge was being built lagged behind Yu's running speed.
Yu was not afraid of falling, put his foot into the void and new stones suddenly appeared under the void. The new stones were not built into the tower, they just appeared under his foot and disappeared when he lifted his foot again.
“Even if I fall, I must reach!”
He was completely blinded. He was moving faster than a bird to see who was in the tower, to reach the person waiting for him. His thoughts were filled with reaching the tower, his heart was beating to reach that tower!
And after running for eternity, after all the distances he had traveled, he finally reached the tower. The bridge behind him and the tower were connected after he reached the tower and the door of the tower was opened to Yu. The person waiting for him was at the top of the tower, he just had to go little further.
He entered the door of the tower. There were stairs leading up from the floor and on the walls hung memories he had never paid attention to.
He kept climbing the stairs to reach the person waiting for him. In truth, he wasn't climbing the steps, he was flying. As he ascended, his heart beat as if it wanted to burst through his chest and out.
“Finally!”
After much effort, after every price, he reached the top of the tower. It was so high that the clouds he could touch from below were too far away for him to ever reach again.
He moved closer to the sky, so that when he raised his hands he could touch the stars. The moon was even bigger, coloring the night with its bluish glow. The whole night was painted in a deep and pleasant blue.
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And the one and only person Yu wanted to reach was there.
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She sat at the top, at the tip of the tower.
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She was a witch and as white as a sinless soul.
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She was wearing a one-piece white silk dress that covered her torso. Her long white hair was spread across the floor of the tower. She dangled her long bare legs down from the tower.
“More beautiful than the sky, more beautiful than the moon and all the stars, breathtaking...”
No words Yu knew were enough to describe the beauty of the Witch of the Sky Palace. Moreover, he hadn't even seen her entire face.
“How many more times will you come to see me?” the witch asked.
The voice of the nameless white witch was so beautiful that he wanted to listen her all night. She didn't sound reproachful. On the contrary, she seemed to want Yu to stay here longer.
“I know you.”
It was the voice that had apologized to him so many times and finally begged for his help. Yet he could not think of the name of the owner of the voice. Even though he knew who she was, his brain could not give him any name.
“I can't say I don't like it, though.” Yu realized as a smile settled on the witch's pink lips. The moon was her smile. “Thank you for being here, Yu.”
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“My name is Yu.”
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Despite Yu's desire to speak, the dream would not let him speak. Even if he could speak, he couldn't ask the questions he wanted to ask her because he would say the words chosen by the dream.
He walked towards the witch of the Sky Palace. He could see her chin, pink lips, white cheeks and nose, but he was not allowed to look into her eyes.
“Won't you sit down?”
Yu sat next to the witch. He was happy to be able to sit next to her. After all, which man would say no to sitting next to a beautiful girl?
He smelled her for the first time. The witch smelled like lilac, Yu's favorite scent. He wanted to hug her neck and inhale her scent.
In this magical land they were in, he could do this until dawn and never get bored, never leave her for a second.
Unable to look at the white witch's face, he looked down. The witch was waving her bare feet in the void. The sight of her feet made Yu exhale a hot breath as his cheeks flushed.
He felt a soft touch on his left hand. The witch took Yu's hand in hers and began to caress it carefully. Feeling the warmth of her hands made his heart tremble.
Yu's heart was filled with familiar feelings that he was experiencing for the first time. These feelings spread to all his cells, making him a prisoner to the witch.
And witch was grieving. Even though he could not see her eyes, he could feel her grief in his heart.
“It hurts me to see this in you. I'm sorry for condemning you to such a bad fate. I wish I could help you more.”
“You don't have to apologize.”
She should not have been sad. An emotion like grief was incompatible with her beauty, and if it was he who made the witch feel sad, his conscience would never leave him alone.
As the prince charming who came to rescue the princess in the tower, he had to ensure her happiness. He would not let her be sad.
“But look at your hand...”
Yu looked at his hand. His hand was completely blackened and the skin was hard as steel. Yu knew what kind of poison was lurking under the hard skin.
Such a beautiful person should not touch such an ugly piece. He immediately withdrew his hand and pressed it to his chest so that she would not touch it again.
Yu's gesture brought a bittersweet smile to the witch's grieving face. Yu felt something changing inside him. He had to have the witch.
“Are you normally this polite? Or can I assume I'm getting special treatment?”
“Special treatment. I am not that kind to everyone, only to special people like you.”
The witch chuckled. “Then thank you, Yu Valarfin.”
“My name is Yu Valarfin. Yes, nothing else but the name my father gave me. She wants Yu Valarfin to rescue her.”
The scenery was beautiful, but what was the witch doing here? Did she spend all her time watching the stars? Or was she always here waiting for Yu?
Then she didn't have to wait any longer. Yu Valarfin, ####### ###### was here. He had come to rescue her. Now that he had built the bridge, they could leave the tower.
Yu was about to ask to leave when the dream silenced him and the witch spoke.
“What are you going to do?”
The progress of the dream angered Yu because the dream did not want to let the witch leave. When the witch spoke, Yu's ability to think was taken away.
He looked where the witch pointed with her finger, down the tower.
“Oh no! Such a beautiful place...”
The clouds below were covered with black cobwebs. The cobwebs were breaking through the clouds towards the towers rising into the sky.
But worst of all, there was an ugly spider crawling on the webs. It was coming towards the witch's tower, walking on the webs it had spun above the clouds.
“Don't worry, the spider is moving very slowly. You can trust me, I will find a way to destroy the spider before it gets here. I will... I will destroy it, I promise!”
He put his right hand on his chest and offered the witch his own smile. It was not arrogant, it was sincere.
“Why should you put yourself through so much for me? You don't have to do this... You don't have to do this…”
“This is my choice.”
He was determined. There was no way he could just walk away when knowing that the witch secretly wanted his help.
“Can you really do it?”
“Of course! This is my world after all. I can do anything I want here! After all, I'm the one who will save the princess in the-”
“What happened... What happened?”
Yu Valarfin was silenced, but this time it was not the dream that silenced him. From here on he was in complete control and he didn't know how to continue his sentence.
“If the view below is ugly, look at me,” he said. “I'm a beautiful view you can't get enough of.”
Yu put his right hand on the witch's cheek. He felt the witch's warmth and he had to make her feel the same warmth in return.
The witch took his right hand. “Your hand is a little cold, but that's okay. My hand is warm.”
Together they looked up at the sky. The whole firmament belonged to the two of them, and even if they would get bored watching it alone, it was forever possible to watch it together.
“I'd like to see this place in the morning,” the witch said. “I'm sure it's more beautiful then.”
They watched the stars together for a while. Thousands of stars were scattered over them to decorate their night. They were beautiful, but the cold blue light they gave off reminded Yu of a sad legend.
“You know, I once heard that the blue stars in the sky are moving away from us and the red ones are moving closer.”
“They all have a blue glow. Does that mean they're all moving away from us?”
“Maybe.” Yu looked at the witch. “But it only takes one to get close.”
He laid the witch on her back. He still couldn't see her eyes, but her pink lips were staring straight at him.
He was acting purely on instinct. He climbed on top of her and brought his face close enough to feel each other's breath. He moved to her lips. Just a few inches and he could kiss her.
His heart was now too fast for him to control, and the wonderful feeling he had just experienced had taken over his whole body. Yu Valarfin had given up his freedom.
“Yu...”
The witch called his name.
Yu wanted to say her name too, but his brain still refused to give him the name of this witch he already knew.
“Your name is...”