The Faeland: Enter the Fae (IC)

[NikoSmith]

*ENTER THE FAE*

Have you ever noticed when you dream that the line between realization and complete obviousness is blurred? Dreaming is like a high that is warranted every time you close your eyes, as if we were junkies to sleep and the dream was the point of euphoria. Even when we come out of our dreams, waking to the world we left behind, we seem to always want to fall back into a slumber. To return to the dream we had that we quickly forget. But what if you had dreams that you knew were too real to be an illusion of your collected consciousness? Dreams that made you explore a realm of infinite impossibilities that had casual realities hidden within each and every fabric of a REM fantasy. Well for some this state of imaginary reality was constant, like a relapse that you couldn’t escape from. Let’s say this, if you knew of a place that couldn’t exist but gave you everything you ever wanted as a child, would you go? This world we live in is full of things that we cannot see, things that are blocked by a thin veil that only ascended eyes can see, and now we enter the Fae, where all things seem to mirror what we’ve endured and symbolize atrocities we can’t accept. Let us enter the Fae…the world where legends of old prevail and are told.

She was falling into an abyss, serene descending in her white lace night gown from a bed that seemed too high to reach. Her hair and cloth fluttered with every passage of air she fell through, her arms and legs carelessly letting go, limp to what she thought she was real. Lily’s eyes opened slightly, seeing a little of the darkness but witnessing through her lens bright light that couldn’t be explained. An eruption of intense titillation spread throughout her body, ripping at her, bringing her into a world that she went to almost every day when she slept, even a ten minute nap took her to the Fairy World. There wasn’t much there but what was there could have been enough to send a cancer patient into a state of happiness. In seconds she was awakened in the Fae, standing in tall grass, looking at the sky with an array of beautiful colors, as if the northern lights had spread out into the morning sky. The Fountain of Undine was in front of her. An angelic like statue sat the very top of the five foot marble fountain that poured out water that looked as if it had a hint of blue color dye within its structure. The very rim was embedded with mirror fragments and trimmed with gold. This was always the place she ended up, going no further; she wasn’t able to at the very least. Every time she wanted to walk in the woods, her own body would stop itself, controlled by the very light within her.

It’s always this place…I don’t understand…There were never any answers given to her on the subject, as if thinking them would automatically give her some insight on this world. But she couldn’t complain, this world gave her a sense of hope, a sense that staying her would keep from all the insanity that the reality held within its malevolent grasp. She walked timidly to the fountain, peering into the waters, looking at her reflection as if something different would appear this time out of the thousands of others. She placed her bum on the fountains edge, looking into the sky of a myriad of gentle colors. The sky was different this time, it wasn’t the ocean blue like the usual, this was the first time that this place had changed. Her ears began to pick up some kind of snapping and cracking. As she looked down she noticed the flowers, of all kinds with insanely large petals growing from the very ground. They began to spew spores of exotic scents, lavender and vanilla and the sky began to pulse like it had its own breathing pattern.

“I guess you finally accepted your fate…” an extremely matured feminine voice whispered to Lily’s ear.

She turned her head to the side, and saw no one next to her. Her eyes dead locked in front of her, eyebrows burrowed and lips partly opened, astounded at the level of audible hallucinations she was experiencing. Was that real?

“Yes you’re hearing me silly…”

Lily turned her head again, trying to find the voice that was speaking to her. Only to find no one there. “Stop playing with me!” Lily raised her voice.

“Okay I’ll stop, gosh, just a little harmless fun.” The voice giggled.

Lily stood up, turning around towards the fountain and saw a woman, a busty red head with skin as smooth as porcelain. She wore a corset and a long skirt made from translucent silk like material. She had an extremely curvaceous body, enough to make Lily turn away and find clothes for her to put on.

“Who are you? I’ve never met you before…”

“I am a younger one than most of the others, but no worries I am a fairy like everyone else.”

“Where is everybody? I remember this place used to have so many fairies. Now they’re all gone. What is going on? I’ve been coming here more and more often now, I left this place behind when I was child.” Lily began to exasperate like a child who didn’t understand her math tables.

“You have many questions, understandable. We haven’t been properly introduced, Lily. I’m Selphie and you’re at the Fountain of Undine.”

She smiled as she hopped off the very top of the fountain and floated down into the waters with feet as perfect as a sculptors creation. She caught her footing like she was a virgin at flight. “There isn’t much time…I only have a few moments before this world fades away again.”

Lily tightened her eyes “Fades away? What do you mean?”

“The world you knew when you were a little girl has become a place that I can’t explain with words. But I will try my best. Fairy world has gone to…shit…as you humans would say. This place has lost all its goodness, and the only place that remains is this.”

“What about all of those trees, the road that leads out into the forest. Everything looks the same…” Lily was confused, almost reluctant to believe this fairy…because they were tricksters.

“Your eyes deceive you…you haven’t opened yourself up to see the reality that hides behind the fantasy. But after this last dream you’ll experience the truth of the matter, and I can’t help you until you’ve experienced your first time. So I warn you now, when you’ve entered the world you don’t understand you’ll be forced to survive. There are others like you…ones that will come to this world to learn of their very existence…to fight this darkness-”

“You’re not making any kind of sense, what the hell are you talking about??”

“You are about to experience complete and utter desolation. Your eyes will no longer be able to control and manipulate the sight of the fantasy and reality.” The sky began to thunder, cracking as if the very ceiling was beginning to break away and tumble down onto the ground below. The trees surrounding them began to lose leaves, autumn was coming early. The flowers wilted, and the grass began to recede like Moses parting the sea. Lily and Selphie looked around at the world changing, and Lily took a deep breath, trying to imagine a better world, as if she could control this one. “You must go, remember what I told you.” Selphie touched Lily’s shoulder and nudged her, pushing her back into the slumber she wished to go back into.

Lily awoke, in her bed, wide awake as if the morning called upon her. The satin sheets under her softer than any mothers touch, one that she missed. Her breathing was sporadic, the lungs gasping for air like she was being baptized in the lake of fire. The alarm clock blared on 7:00am, tuning into KTRK(67.2), simple ambient music, enough to get her through the morning like nothing happened. Her feet pulled out the bed and hit the floor as she sat up, hands going through her short dark brown hair as she tried to contemplate on the message at hand. She tilted her head up, exhaling and falling into the ceiling, losing herself but knowing she was still in this reality she knew as Renmarc. “Another random day…guess things don’t change.”

Soon Lily was out of the house, dressed in a sweet teasing summer dress with fitted jeans underneath and black 4 inch wedge shoes. Her purse in between her forearm and arm like a valley girl doing random shopping on a 12,000 dollar budget. Where was she off to today? Anywhere would have been better than her place, a raggedy apartment on the outskirts of downtown Renmarc. The rent was cheap and it was perfect because her job didn’t allow her to spend too much. And her job unquestionably wasn’t the highlight of the day; it was the secret of century. She walked down Henion Street, it went directly into the downtown area, and she knew the shortcuts like it was no bodies business. But her mind wasn’t on the quickest way to the Taiko bubble tea shop; it was focused on the dream at hand, the one that left her suspended in the clouds of utter madness. What was that fairy talking about? Selphie was her name. She was a new fairy; one that didn’t have wings…shit she forgot to ask about the wings. Next time she would, if there was one. Hopefully soon enough the dream would happen again, like it always did. The sun was rising, brighter than the burning of fireworks in July, warmer than a fat woman’s roll in the Miami sun. She turned off of Henion, down an open alley; it was the shortest way to Corporal St, no using walking in a square to get to where you needed to be. She pulled out her phone from her purse, looking at the texts she had missed during the night and found nothing new. She hardly had friends, a fair share of acquaintances and a butt load of out of state relatives, so truly her life was empty.

Her phone began to crackle and screech like it was setting off the stolen alarm. She pressed the touch screen repeatedly but it wasn’t working. “Shit what the fuck is wrong now”…silence came. The noise of cars, birds and airplanes fell away from her ears. As her eyes looked up she saw the alley way that she had stepped into was now dirty, dark and an almost wet like the fresh mildew rain had just made its first encounter. The sky was bloody, and random noises of like steel be dragged across a concrete floor was in the distance. Lily spun around, eyes surveying the locale and looking to find some kind of explanation. “Where…what is this?”

“Ey yo girl! You okay?”

Lily turned around to see a man outside of the alley, the world back to how it used to be, normal. Lily smiled nervously “Yes I’m fine. Just lost myself for a minute.” She began to walk towards Corporal St and found herself back on the sidewalks and found the Taiko across the street. She loved her some bubble tea, it was enough to make her forget about the past that tried to keep her back in a dull cloud. Crossing the street, signaling the cars to slow down she made it over and walked into Taiko. This was the only place in Renmarc that served bubble tea with shots of alcohol. There were teenagers inside, acting like school wasn’t for another few hours. The barista nodded at her, smiling sweetly. He had a little crush on her, she knew but she wasn’t going to give into his smile…she didn’t have time for a life with someone in it, one other she had to worry about. She sat down at the bar, having her beverage placed in front of her.

“You memorized my order?”

“Well a pretty girl like you, it’s hard to forget.”

“Aren’t you a sweetheart, how much do I owe you?” Lily’s eyes brightened up, batting eye lashes for a free drink.
He looked down shyly “I’ll just put it on your tab…”.

Lily smirked and nodded at him. “I’m gonna head to the girls room, watch my bubbles!” she winked and headed to the bathroom and entered. She looked down at the floor, wondering how far she could go without wondering if what that fairy said was true. As she walked into the bathroom she noticed burnt fallen leaves in the bathroom. Somebody was obviously a fire starter. As she brought her head up she witnessed the bathroom had changed into a hill with a tree on fire. Her eyes set on the blaze, tearing from the extreme smog attacking her eyes. Her mouth dropped in amazement at the size of the blaze. She back away, trying to escape the fire that could have easily consumed her.

“WOW!” She turned around bumping into the barista. The little café turning back into what she knew it to be. “You okay gal?”

“Yeah I’m fine.” Lily adjusted her dress and fixed herself up like she finished herself. “Were you coming to check on me?”

“Well yeah, you were in here for about ten minutes. I mean you could have been handling your business but I was getting a little worried.”
Lily looked at him, stuck at the fact of time speeding up. “Ten minutes? Wow, I thought I was in there for a few minutes…” she tried to hide the fact that her few moments of entering the bathroom was nowhere near the amount of time he had suggested.

Lily was back at the bars, drinking her tea, looking at the little tapioca balls. I guess this world wasn’t as bad as it seemed. Tapioca balls was safer than a tree on fire…but who knew when this would happen again. Suddenly the church bells rung, permeating throughout all the downtown area evening spanning to the suburbs. That ringing was the signature sign of Renmarc. After the third ring it became distorted, almost like a baby crying as most would say. She hated that bell, it brought back memories she wish she had lost along with the virginity taken from her.