#AnonimNotoriuArt - iD - Third Scene
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III
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I wonder, what happens with everything we leave behind? All those we met, how much do they mean to our lives and what do we mean to them? Do they still live? If they died, where are they now? What about you? What about me? What do we do with all the objects we get attached to, the things and feelings that we received in so many years...? Answers are no longer relevant in the absence of pain and regret.
I slowly open the papyrus, with my eyes closed. Now I know, that everything that has been lost has no fault.
-Do not open your eyes yet, she told me. Close it back and tie it up with the veil. It will protect it until we arrive.
I did just that. And when I opened my eyes, she gave me a little bottle wrapped in skin.
-Drink a little of this. It will do you good.
I did not even think of asking what it is or what effect it has. A strange, bitter taste... it smelled of plants, and it spread trough every cell of my body in less than a moment. I suddenly felt lighter, more at peace, like a slipping from a disturbing dream into a clear vision. Big and colorful birds like I never seen before were flying close by. The shore is near and the sky is clear.
-Something else; she tells me, taking my hand into hers. Wear around your neck this turquoise stone tied with a thread from my hair. When we get to the shore, without it, they will not let you walk on the sand. Only if they see it they will recognize you and they will show us where to go next.
-Who are they?
-The gods of the great desert.
-The big desert?
-The white mountain looks close only because it is very big. Until we reach it, we will be seven days and seven nights in the arms of the desert. And the gods will protect us when the demons will deceive us with illusions and wrong paths.
And the boat stopped. I took a few steps through the cold water until I reached the shore. I did not see anyone, nothing, not even our shadows. But I felt we were not alone. I knew. From nowhere, a spiral of smoke opened like a whirlwind, and from within there appeared three immense, translucent beings. I could not tell if they were women or men. They did not say anything, but they were smiling gently and it seemed to me that a voice came to my mind:
-We are the three of the wilderness, we will help you reach the foothills of the mountain, beyond the hot and dry dunes. We know that you have the papyrus that opens the gate. We have felt it's perfume. The demons will also feel it. But they will not touch you so long as you wear the turquoise stone.
Then they gave me a white feather and the same voice came to my mind:
-The Moon, your mother and our daughter, asked us to give you this owl feather. It said you would know what it means.
I tilted my head in gratitude and took the feather. A thrill passed through me the minute I touched it and I heard the Moon, although it was not there:
"Believe me, my child. They will help you overcome all dangers. Go where they say, do what they say and you will be safe. And take good care of the fae, she is your heart."
Grateful, as if I had received my soul back, I listened to her:
"Go after the purple cloud, neither too slowly nor too fast. Do not be afraid. They will be with you all the way."
The three gods of the great desert then returned to the spiral of smoke and the vortex closed behind them. I looked the fae in the eyes, took her by the hand, and I said in my mind without speaking, without moving my lips:
"Now I am ready. We can go."
She responded in the same way, thinking, smiling at me.
"I've waited so much that sometimes I did not hope anymore. You were lost for so long..."
We held each other tight for a few moments, when, suddenly, a shadow pleasantly enveloped us in the unstoppable heat around us. A violet cloud was forming above us, and, pushed by a breeze like an opinion, it was headed for the white mountain. I followed it without hesitation. Tonight, in the dark, in the wilderness, we will face the demons.
