Elara had slumped down in a chair at the jarringly empty village marketplace. She'd needed a moment to herself after over an hour of running about.
The people of Silvershade had still just been coming to terms with what they'd unknowingly experienced this past month. Reclining in her seat, the girl could see many opened doors, with people gathering in groups to discuss what they'd been told by the village messengers and criers earlier that morning.
While the headman's estate had focused on procuring necessary supplies, the villagers themselves also had to clear away spoiled and rotten produce from their homes and storage units. Thankfully, the flower curse had also drawn in Silvershade's livestock and animals, which had all subsequently awoken upon its destruction; there were no starving bodies to be cleared away.
As Elara had sat there in silence, vacantly taking in the scene while she recuperated her strength, she'd suddenly felt a strange twinge in her mind – a sort of disturbance in the presently pleasantly blank state of her thoughts.
Something…
She had ignored it. She'd had more than enough of twisting through confusing thoughts and second-guessing herself of late.
But…
Something was… wrong…
No.
Something… there…
That… man…?
…
That man!
Elara had jumped to her feet then, the chair she'd been sitting in clattering backwards with the force of her movement. She'd paid it no mind.
Instead, the girl had gone running, twisting her shoulders and dodging past huddled groups of people and empty carts and crates as she raced – all the way to –
'Sir – sir Arro!' the girl had panted, bending somewhat to catch her breath the moment she'd come to a stop, next to a man who had been bending over some boxes.
'Ah? Young lady?'
The man had straightened up, and even taken a step back to get a better look at her.
'It is you!' Elara had exclaimed. 'So you'd also been drawn into the curse, then!'
'I was, indeed?' the man responded a little uncertainly.
Elara had suddenly remembered how the man had escaped their conversation in the dream realm, and had had to focus on holding back her anxiety when she next spoke.
'Then, has your friend returned? The one whom you'd accompanied to Silvershade in the first place?' she'd asked.
The man had looked at her in bewilderment.
'My… friend? But I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, young lady.'
???
'Sir Arro… you did tell me that the reason you're here, in Silvershade, was to accompany your friend on his visit home. The friend, who is the one that does live here… sir…' Elara had racked her brain, 'sir Veylor! I'm certain that's what you'd said!'
Sir Arro had just frowned, looking all the more baffled by her words.
'Young lady, you must be mistaking me for someone else. I'm the one who hails from Silvershade. I was caught in the curse when I traveled home to meet my family. I do not know of any sir Veylor.'
Elara had swallowed back what she'd wanted to say next. 'I… see,' she'd said in a small voice. 'I see. In that case, I'm afraid I've troubled you needlessly, sir Arro. I shall take my leave.'
And with that, the girl had turned heel and left as quickly as her feet would allow her.
Arro had gazed at her retreating back, as he mumbled to himself, 'That is all very well, but how did the young lady know of my name at all? How very strange…'
*
Elara had raced into the estate.
She had to find the tower magicians. She had to find the tower magicians. She had to…
Throwing open a door to the main hall, the girl had stopped short.
There they were!
Standing before her was her dear maid Lana, leading sir Siel and that other, older magician – the one who'd supposedly broken the curse. Sir Rin.
'Lady Elara!' Lana had exclaimed, her bright smile lighting up her beautiful face.
But this time, Elara hadn't responded in kind. Striding over to the two tower magicians, she'd first locked her gaze onto the wide-eyed Siel, before shifting it to the more reliable-looking Rin.
'There is something you must know,' she'd said by way of greeting.
Siel had only continued staring at her with those wide eyes of his. Rin, however, had wrinkled his brows slightly, before promptly saying, 'Tell us, then.'
Good. He'd listen.
'This wasn't a curse. This isn't a curse. It's a distortion, sir Rin! My talent has - I have - suffered a distortion.'
Rin had blinked, a trace of confusion flashing across his gaze. Even so, the man had caught onto what she'd been saying.
'We are still asleep,' he'd said.
'Yes. It's reached the point of twisting, and even creating false versions of our memories. All of this is deception, based on my memories, and – and understanding of this world. You, me, everyone in Silvershade! We are all trapped in it.'
Lana had been turning her head back and forth, following their conversation. The girl's eyes had widened to almost the same amount as Siel's; testament to how shocked she'd been by what she was hearing.
'Lady, what…?' she'd asked, reaching up a hand to gently hold on to Elara's shoulder
Elara had held it there, still refusing to break away from holding Rin's gaze.
'I'll tell you all about – ' she'd started, only to stop suddenly.
The older tower magician's gaze was… whirling.
The man himself was whirling. The whole scene was whirling. The three people before her seemed to be swirling away in a confusing mess of colors, moving and twisting even though they'd only just been standing there.
'What? No…' Elara had shaken her head, hard, chasing some faint hope that doing so would fix the world around her. It was to no avail.
The shadowy, twisting figures of Lana and the two tower magicians seemed to exist on a different plane of existence – one which she could neither touch, nor make herself heard in. With only vague, blurred colors indicating movement, it seemed as though the people who'd just stood before her were… stepping away. Walking backwards, then suddenly walking in her direction once again.
'Hey? Lana. Lana! Sir Siel! Sir Rin!' Elara had called out desperately.
None of the swirling blocks of light and color and shadows acknowledged her.
Faintly, almost as though they were mere thoughts or distant echoes, a few voices had then started bleeding through the maddening scenery, to enter Elara's ears.
'…because the young lady had wanted to run around to all…'
'…the sun had risen…'
'Haha!'
'No. What? No!'
'…I understand.'
…
'The pleasure is mine.'
'Who are you speaking with!? I'm here! Lana!? I'm here!'
'…on our way to speak with your father, Elara!'
'…learn of the origin …cursed flowers.'
'Why? I'm here! Sir Siel? Why can't you hear me!?'
And just like that, Elara had watched the twisting figures recede, moving further and further away from her as they continued speaking of something.
'…our young lady …sit still...'
'…needn't have…
…just how kind our Elara has always been.'
Elara had tried racing after those figures, calling, screaming, until her voice was hoarse, but the nearer she got, the farther away they seemed to go. It was as though someone had poured differently colored inks into a small stream, and she'd been trying in vain to keep them from mixing. Regardless of her wishes, the water kept flowing, and the colors kept mixing, as they were carried away from her.
'Please! Please! Tell me you can hear me!' she'd screamed, holding out her hand towards those figures of light and shadow, color and emptiness.
But they'd rounded a corner, and were gone.
And all of a sudden, the hall Elara had been standing in seemed to have twisted back to the way it had first been. The colors remained within their borders, and the lines didn't sway or swirl.
The world had returned to normal in her dream.
And she was alone once again.