My First Second Chance

Chapter 9: Corrosive Confidence, Climatic Conflict

The sun had yet to dawn upon a new day. Although night had grown old and would soon retire, under such a gentle moonlight the world slept comfortably. That is, excluding Pheo, who had snuck out of his abode provided by the princess during the night. With a solemn and dedicated silence, he wandered the dark and slumbering forest, until he found the tallest tree ever seen.

Without a word, Pheo slowly reached out his hand and felt the cold and rough wood of the ancient tree. It was almost haunting if one thinks too hard about it: ancient wood that has withstood hundreds of years of wear and tear, witnessed heartbreak and death likely countless times and stood still and unmoving for the rest of its existence.

Pheo began to think out loud:

"Do trees have feelings? I wonder... If a tree could express itself, what would it do? Cry? Rant? Break completely? I wonder if some trees despise their long lives, despise us. I wonder... about a lot of things actually. Maybe I think too much, maybe, I should think more. Or maybe, I should stop thinking altogether... Perhaps, I'm better off this way, could I have ever been happy if things went as planned?" He pondered countless situations as he stared at the tree.

Soon, he began to climb.

"What if I..."

He found a hold in the grooves of the tree and pulled himself up.

"Maybe then..."

He held onto a branch before swinging on top of it.

"Damn it, I should've just..."

Inch by inch.

"Why didn't I..."

One hand above the other.

"If only I..."

His voice faltered.

His ascent continued.

"Why... Why am I..."

Soon enough, he breached the leaves.

"So..."

His feet held onto branches, and his first sight was the endless starry sky and the elegant and gentle moon.

"Wait, how did I get here?"

His words ceased, this entire time his entire body was tensed, but finally, he let go. His tightened fist relaxed, and he breathed a peaceful breath as he took in the majestic view before him.

He stopped and stared.

Finally, he spoke again, in a much more casual voice, devoid of worry:

"You know what? To hell with it, who cares anyway." A smile stretched across his face, and then he started to giggle, a giggle that turned to laughter, hysterical laughter even.

"Hahahaha! What the hell am I worried about? Come on, I'm in a damn fantasy world about to have a country-saving checkers match with the fairy queen!" His laughter continued as his smile shone brightly as a star.

It is said that on that morning,

There were two suns in the sky.

He laid down, supported caringly by the branches of the tree, and finally, he fell asleep.

His rest would not last long, however. Though his friends rushed to find and wake him, they didn't get the chance as in a single instant everyone was transported into a large stadium all on the bleachers with Pheo and the Queen sitting in the middle as a checkers board between them.

Liz watched anxiously from the crowd as worry filled her mind. She knew the Queen wouldn't be as petty as to cheat by reading his mind. However, the Queen was capable of knowing someone's entire personality and habits throughout their history with a single glare, meaning she knew his tricks. That combined with her intelligence surpassing any known possible human intelligence levels meant that Pheo's chances were below a single percent, yet not zero.