The Laws of Paxia

26. Endless Colours

Chapter Twenty-Six

  Endless colours.

  I inspect them closely. I can’t find a single spaghetti-vine that has the same colour as another. My eyes have grown sensitive of their actual colour. Every single one of them is intriguing, but none of them stands out from the others. I guess I must have my mind set where to go before they can lead me the way.

  Vita is sitting next to me on the blinking ground, scared like one of those rabbits Dilly used to chase around in the park. I’m still not sure if I should trust this stranger, but that bond we just created makes my mind not want to let her go. There is only one option for us to find out the truth. We have to go to her world. She made my life easier by handing over the travelling Key. I owe her enough to bring her home.

  First of all I want to find the vine to Earth so I can close that portal like I promised. I look around for it, but I can’t find it. I give Vita a nervous look, but she’s patiently sitting there with her eyes set on the ground and knees resting against her chin. She only glows slightly in here and I’d mistake her for an Angel if I didn’t know better.

  She looks tired and depressed. Dark circles surround her eyes and match her scared personality. It can’t be all of it. I need to dig deeper and find out who she really is. I’m not sure why I want to know so badly. She just intrigues me.

  I clench my teeth in frustration. Why can’t I find my way home? Is this place holding me away from there on purpose? That’s not good. I can’t close the portal to Paxia because I need Tarih to slip through. Or do I?

  “Vita?” I shake her arm and she looks up at me with her big evaluating eyes.

  “Yes, Iris?” she answers me with caution. I guess I didn’t earn her respect yet.

  “Is it a common known fact about the Prophecy and Iris? Do you think all worlds know about it or just a few? Are the worlds in the universe on the same level or layer? We don’t know these things where I come from.”

  “Your world with the Rainbow is on a completely different level. All the rest in here is in the same layer.” She tells me this with a huge sigh. “Your planet lies in the Rainbow belt. This is the operating room for the usual worlds, also called the Iris belt. Everyone knows that the universe is big with too many worlds to keep track of. Only my world, Kria and Crest knows about the real threat from Paxia, but everyone knows about the Prophecy. I know everything about it. Still, I’m shocked to find out exactly how many worlds there are.”

  She looks up and I’m once again charmed by her eyes. The warning bells go off inside my head and I fight another urge to push her away. Instead I invite her in and eat the new experience like I can learn something from it. Maybe I can?

  I hold up my Tarih amulet to gain her attention to it. “Does it mean I can use this even if I close the portal to Paxia?”

  “Yeah, no doubt about it.”

  I close my eyes, relieved over her answer. I focus my mind on Paxia and I’m met with the blackest vine in the room. Grey is pulsating through it with the darkest purple shade in the background. A gash is in it and I lean the new orange Key against it. It’s sewn together like I did to Crest. The only difference is that I don’t tie this one into a knot.

  Okay, time to go to Kria and return Vita back to her home.

  No.

  No?

  Go to Florem.

  It’s an order and not a suggestion. The miserable looks of Vita make me feel guilty over going somewhere else just because this Saha person thinks she has power over me.