Lands Unknown

Chapter 2

Rix

This is the best thing that happened so far in my dreary life. I still remember waiting for the ministers to come and take me away from this miserable place. Of course, that never happened, and I grew up. And as I grew up, I started understanding what it really meant to be left on the doorstep of a foster care, alone - That I wasn't going to see any of their faces for a long, long time. It was the worst thing to go through, knowing that my father was out there doing things no one should even dream of, that it was because of him that my mother pleaded with the ministers to send me away from him. I grew up knowing that I, who should be protected by my father, needs to be protected from him. I could never feel the love and warmth of my mother because of him. Loneliness has been my company for the last eight years. I never got to go to an ice cream store just to have fun and I never got to share my fears with anyone. I was on my own, until today.

I started my day thinking it would be another gray day in a gray week. I'd got it wrong.

I was having the bland cold soup they serve at the cafeteria when a flash of blue caught my eye. To be precise, it was a flash of blue hair. My dreams were finally getting to me or maybe this monstrous soup was poisoning me....Why else would I see her? My heart teleported into my mouth when I realized that she was real, and that happened when she grabbed my hand and started dragging me towards the exit. Not even one person tried to stop her, must have been one of her tricks, I thought. Next thing I know, I'm being shoved into a portal, and I end up waking up in that wretched garden where it all started in the first place.

As soon as Amaira was out of sight, they turned to me, and there I was, standing awkwardly, thinking I finally turned visible again. I expected them to say " Oh! You are still here. We totally forgot about you." As you already guessed, that is not what happened. Instead, Coral told me that my mother was alive and safe, that she was waiting for me to return. I am currently on my way to her place. It's where I'm going to live now. I think . The ministers tell me that the place where she lives is almost impossible to find. It's the only way she can remain hidden from my father. We move deeper into the forest, a place where no creature would dare to venture.

In my mind, I replayed the last time I saw her.

I was practicing archery in the backyard with my mum. The arrow hit the center. Again. I turned to look at her. She wasn't smiling, she wasn't looking at me at all . Instead, she was staring at the ground. She was sad, very sad. Giant drops of tears were slipping down her cheeks, and it was the first time I've seen her cry. I put down my bow and sat down beside her on the warm grass. I started plucking the grass and blowing it into the air. I didn't know what to do, mum never cried. Never. Not even when dad left. She was silent. I hugged her tightly, trying to break whatever horrible spell someone had cast on her that made her cry. Her slender arms wrapped me in an affectionate embrace. Somehow, I felt that it was the last time I was going to feel her arms around me in a long, long time. Then, they arrived. A man and two women. I saw them frequently, but with dad. It was the first time I was seeing them after dad left. I was happy, they usually brought me gifts from lands far away. But not this time. They looked serious, blue hair lady ruffled my hair as if it was the last time. Why did the air suddenly get heavy? Vine guy nodded solemnly and lifted me into his arms. Why wasn't anyone talking? Then they took me away from the house, away from my mum, away from everything. When I finally understood, I was already in a land far away.

"There it is." Clifton says.

"Where?" I ask, scanning the area. All I could see was a patch of vegetables and some bushes bearing wildflowers and berries. Beams of sunlight fight to tear through the thick foliage woven above us.

"There" Clifton points to something above me.

I look up and squint at whatever small patches of blue I can see. I see the bottom of a house peeking through the soft fluffy clouds. I just realize that all the trees around me have extremely thick trunks and they reach heights no tree on Earth would ever reach. And the house is built on one of these trees. Now I know why It's almost impossible to find and get to. No one would search the clouds hoping to find a house. I remember my mom telling me to reach for the stars, I never thought she meant it quite literally though.