Chapter 13 -
12/3/2017
When Bulkee and I were up against the first row of planks, I noticed a drastic rise in temperature. The place felt like a giant furnace.
I dabbed a finger at the shiny facet of the plank in front of me. Despite the moist and glacial look, the boulder was dry and hot, emitting intense heatwaves.
I surveyed my surroundings carefully. On average, the crystal planks were a foot taller than me. Up close they appeared less like rock candies. Rather, they bore a good resemblance to large figurines.
No. More like figurines cased inside the planks. I could almost hear fretful whimpers coming out of them.
The thought was so spooky that all my earlier excitement waned, replaced by a sinking quiver. I pushed aside the imagery and told myself to keep trudging.
A solid two miles later, I started to suspect that we were going in circles. I had always been good at using visuals like a scarecrow or a pamphlet on a post to mark my way in corn mazes. But I found this labyrinth disorienting. It seemed that in every direction we turned, we came across planks identical to the ones we just passed.
I ground my teeth against the bottom of my lips. Again I felt thirsty and my anxiety tasted like salty spam. I was ready to stop for a break, when I caught giggles from behind me.
“Did you hear that?” I whipped around.
Bulkee shook his head.
“Hehe. Hehe.” There went the tittering again. It was faint but audible, not far from where we stood.
I gave Bulkee a searching look and he returned a nod of confirmation. We stood waiting in silence. When the giggles came around again, the noise pierced into my eardrum like it was ripping my flesh.
“Who’s there?” I asked and found no one in sight. My skin tingled, when a shuffling clatter arrived in response. I was certain of having felt something odd about a crystal plank to my right.
Sure enough, there was a female voice coming from it. “The Round Girl talks.”
“Yes, the Round Girl talks,” followed by another.
Who was the “Round Girl”?
And who was talking?
I held my breath and approached the pillar slowly. When I was just two steps away, something very bright appeared inside the plank. I squinted to see a slim statue of a girl stepping out of it, materializing before my eyes.
She walked up to me slowly. I gazed up at her, the voices of worries in my head fell flat against her shrieking giggles.
I couldn’t help noticing the smooth skin around her delicate features — the straight nose, the round eyes, and the curved lips that all suggested the significance of her status.
When she stopped laughing finally, she stood straight like a skillfully carved ice sculpture, her face tightened to a cold and distant expression.
Lifting her right arm, she extended a hand under my chin. Her fingers tapped softly bringing billows of ardor. I blinked at them, not sure what to do next.
As I debated on the right move, Bulkee stepped up to my shoulder and caught the crystal hand in a split second. I almost jumped, when I saw him reach forward and firmly press his lips onto it.
The girl tittered again, apparently pleased. But I bit my lower lip, as her gibbering became almost eerie to my ears. What surprised me next was yet another crystal sculpture emerging from the plank and moving to stand right next to the first one. The two girls appeared identical with the same quality of ice sculptures.
“I am Crystaline, the Enchantress of the Pocket of Crystals,” said the first one with her chirpy voice, as she retrieved her hand from Bulkee.
“And I am Krystaline, with a K, the other Enchantress of the Pocket of Crystals,” Krystaline also raised a hand to allow Bulkee a kiss on it.
The Enchantresses fixed their gazes on me. I nodded uncomfortably, noticing a tint of brown in Crystaline’s eyes and a tint of green in Krystaline’s.
“What are you doing here, Round Girl?” asked Crystaline.
“Round Girl?” I flustered, my eyes casting around the arena.
“Yes, you, the Round Girl,” repeated Krystaline, pointing a finger at me.
By the word “round”, they clearly implied “chubbiness”. But it was strange that they would impose such a descriptive on me.
I had always been slim.
In fact, I was so self-conscious about being too lanky and angular as a gymnast that I cringed whenever people complimented me for being skinny.
The point was that out of all body image issues, being chubby had never even occurred to me.
Seeing my face, Crystaline laughed, “Aren’t you? Look at how plump you are!”
Plump? Okay. That’s too much. I chewed on my lower lip, feeling hot flashes on my ears.
“Oh. The disgust on her face!” The Enchantress let out a chortle. She swiftly seized my hand. “Come and take a look.”
They turned on their heels, dragging me with them. My fingers felt hot in Crystaline’s sweltering grip. I was heaving when they finally stopped at a large plank with a flat and reflective surface.
“Stand in front of it,” one of them addressed me. “Take a good look at yourself.”
I was obliged unwillingly. What I saw throw me into confusion. Inside the mirror, a teenage girl in teal T-shirt and denim shorts slouched with a dumbfounded expression. Her face was fleshy with eyes, nose and mouth all jammed together by her inflated cheeks.
I reached forward with my left hand to touch the image and the girl in the mirror touched mine with her right hand. Her arms were plump like turnips, and her fingers round like baby corns. I stifled a gasp, when I caught the dab of jade in her dull left eye. I finally registered the fact that I was staring right at my reflection.
“How is this possible?” I uttered, trying to wrap my head around what I was seeing.
“What did I tell you?” Crystaline scorned. The message behind her question was delivered with such a triumph that her breath felt like flames on my cheeks.
“That’s right. Why shouldn’t we call her the ‘Round Girl’,” Krystaline followed. “I mean, she is –”
“So round, indeed,” the two Enchantresses said in sync. Their lips curled in disdain, as their eyes rolled in the deep sockets.
“But that’s not my name,” I managed to say. “‘Round Girl’ isn’t my name.”
“Well. Well.” The Enchantresses began fuddling at the folds of my shirt. “So you do have a name. What is it then?”
My body shuddered at their touch. Alexandra Sasha Ears. I wanted to announce to them. But I straightened my back and decided to respond with silence. I had recognized their insincere inquiry as the first sign of endless taunting.
I knew that my response, whatever it was, would just fuel this cruel exchange. It took me at least two years of hallway taunting in middle school to come to this realization. The more I defended myself, the more I would get picked on. That was the law.
I held my head high and kept my lips sealed. I refused to submitting to their bullying.
“What a shy girl, scared of facing her true self.” Krystaline speculated.
“And certainly a defiant one,” said Cystaline, as she blew a breath of hot air on my face. “What a pity! She doesn’t even have a name.”
Say whatever you want. I thought, tightening my face into a stony expression.
“Her name is Sasha Ears.” Bulkee cut in.
“Oh! Look at that.” Crystaline lifted an eyebrow like she had just taken notice of him. “What a teeny tiny thing!”
“How puny!” Krystaline concurred with the same amused look.
“My Enchantresses. The name of the knight you are talking to is Bulkee,” He said calmly, remaining unfazed.
But the Enchantresses reverted their attention back to me. “It doesn’t matter what her name is,” said Crystaline. “Now you tell us. Round girl. Why are you running around in our arena?”
“I am looking to get some water,” I replied with a searing pain to my dry lips. But I was glad that the subject had been changed. “From the hill up there,” I pointed. “We had seen a lake and we are making our way there.”
“You saw it?” Crystaline glared at me.
“I thought that I had,” I hesitated, glimpsing over to Bulkee.
“She thought that she had seen it,” Krystaline sneered.
“Sure! She’s seen it. Of course, she has,” Crystaline twirled a strand of hair around her pinkie. She quickly exchanged glances with the other Enchantress. “It was the Lake of Tears that you had seen. I understand that you need some freshwater from the Lake. But you seem lost.”
I glanced down at my sneakers and let her statement fall to silence.
“Don’t worry,” Crystaline purred like a kitten. “We will point you to the Lake of Tears.
“Right to it!” Krystaline echoed.
I looked back up at the Enchantresses who now faced me with a smile. I felt such an exaggerated charm that I could almost their bleach-white teeth sparkle with a blinding light. A lump formed in my throat as a voice in my head told me that they seemed too eager to be trusted. I began mentally tallying ways to decline their offer.
As I assessed my options, a sea of fog appeared out of nowhere and closed in on us. The visibility of the arena deteriorated drastically. Along with my field of vision, my mind grew hazy and the clarify of my thoughts plunged.
“You are not going to get anywhere in this fog.” Crystaline pointed it out. “I’m going to tell you how to get to the Lake of Tears. You need water, don’t you?”
I gave a quick jerk of head, as I began to grasp the upside of my offer in hand. I didn’t have to waste another chance for direction with the TimeBoo k pendent. I could save it for something else, if I accepted help from the Enchantresses.
Crystaline held out a small beige-colored pouch. Tugging at the string she angled the bag, till a stream of violet dusts spilled down to the ground. “These are Lilec dusts. Look closely.”
I bent over and squinted at the faint gleam of a trail less than two inches over the ground. It travelled like a snake away from us into the distance.
After dispersing the Lilec dusts, Crystaline dropped the empty pouch onto my open hand. “Have it,” she said. Her voice was cold, although her lips had elongated into a letter “U”. “Follow this trail. At the end of it you will find the Lake of Tears.”
I nodded mechanically, as a pang of heaviness grew in my eyes. It was hard to keep my gaze trained on the Lilec trail.
“You have to scoop up the Lilec dusts and put them back into the pouch as you go,” she said. “You will get to the end, as long as there is not a single trace of dusts left behind.” She shot a look at Bulkee and spoke to me in a hushed voice, “One more thing.”
“Yes?” I drew in a breath.
“The Lilec dusts are whimsical in nature. They can become unpredictable, if touched by someone unauthorized. So, we will only entrust one of you to manage them.”
“You can trust me,” I said with a quick nod.
“Okay. Be sure to not let anyone get a hold of them. Or else –” She paused.
“Or else –” I waited.
“Or else you will never find a way out,” Crystaline and Krystaline replied together.
With another giggle, the Enchantresses twirled around. They lifted a hand and waved without glancing back. I stared at their backs, as they walked off like they were escaping from a plague pit. In no time, they retrieved into the dense fog that erased all signs of their presence.
I dabbed a finger at the shiny facet of the plank in front of me. Despite the moist and glacial look, the boulder was dry and hot, emitting intense heatwaves.
I surveyed my surroundings carefully. On average, the crystal planks were a foot taller than me. Up close they appeared less like rock candies. Rather, they bore a good resemblance to large figurines.
No. More like figurines cased inside the planks. I could almost hear fretful whimpers coming out of them.
The thought was so spooky that all my earlier excitement waned, replaced by a sinking quiver. I pushed aside the imagery and told myself to keep trudging.
A solid two miles later, I started to suspect that we were going in circles. I had always been good at using visuals like a scarecrow or a pamphlet on a post to mark my way in corn mazes. But I found this labyrinth disorienting. It seemed that in every direction we turned, we came across planks identical to the ones we just passed.
I ground my teeth against the bottom of my lips. Again I felt thirsty and my anxiety tasted like salty spam. I was ready to stop for a break, when I caught giggles from behind me.
“Did you hear that?” I whipped around.
Bulkee shook his head.
“Hehe. Hehe.” There went the tittering again. It was faint but audible, not far from where we stood.
I gave Bulkee a searching look and he returned a nod of confirmation. We stood waiting in silence. When the giggles came around again, the noise pierced into my eardrum like it was ripping my flesh.
“Who’s there?” I asked and found no one in sight. My skin tingled, when a shuffling clatter arrived in response. I was certain of having felt something odd about a crystal plank to my right.
Sure enough, there was a female voice coming from it. “The Round Girl talks.”
“Yes, the Round Girl talks,” followed by another.
Who was the “Round Girl”?
And who was talking?
I held my breath and approached the pillar slowly. When I was just two steps away, something very bright appeared inside the plank. I squinted to see a slim statue of a girl stepping out of it, materializing before my eyes.
She walked up to me slowly. I gazed up at her, the voices of worries in my head fell flat against her shrieking giggles.
I couldn’t help noticing the smooth skin around her delicate features — the straight nose, the round eyes, and the curved lips that all suggested the significance of her status.
When she stopped laughing finally, she stood straight like a skillfully carved ice sculpture, her face tightened to a cold and distant expression.
Lifting her right arm, she extended a hand under my chin. Her fingers tapped softly bringing billows of ardor. I blinked at them, not sure what to do next.
As I debated on the right move, Bulkee stepped up to my shoulder and caught the crystal hand in a split second. I almost jumped, when I saw him reach forward and firmly press his lips onto it.
The girl tittered again, apparently pleased. But I bit my lower lip, as her gibbering became almost eerie to my ears. What surprised me next was yet another crystal sculpture emerging from the plank and moving to stand right next to the first one. The two girls appeared identical with the same quality of ice sculptures.
“I am Crystaline, the Enchantress of the Pocket of Crystals,” said the first one with her chirpy voice, as she retrieved her hand from Bulkee.
“And I am Krystaline, with a K, the other Enchantress of the Pocket of Crystals,” Krystaline also raised a hand to allow Bulkee a kiss on it.
The Enchantresses fixed their gazes on me. I nodded uncomfortably, noticing a tint of brown in Crystaline’s eyes and a tint of green in Krystaline’s.
“What are you doing here, Round Girl?” asked Crystaline.
“Round Girl?” I flustered, my eyes casting around the arena.
“Yes, you, the Round Girl,” repeated Krystaline, pointing a finger at me.
By the word “round”, they clearly implied “chubbiness”. But it was strange that they would impose such a descriptive on me.
I had always been slim.
In fact, I was so self-conscious about being too lanky and angular as a gymnast that I cringed whenever people complimented me for being skinny.
The point was that out of all body image issues, being chubby had never even occurred to me.
Seeing my face, Crystaline laughed, “Aren’t you? Look at how plump you are!”
Plump? Okay. That’s too much. I chewed on my lower lip, feeling hot flashes on my ears.
“Oh. The disgust on her face!” The Enchantress let out a chortle. She swiftly seized my hand. “Come and take a look.”
They turned on their heels, dragging me with them. My fingers felt hot in Crystaline’s sweltering grip. I was heaving when they finally stopped at a large plank with a flat and reflective surface.
“Stand in front of it,” one of them addressed me. “Take a good look at yourself.”
I was obliged unwillingly. What I saw throw me into confusion. Inside the mirror, a teenage girl in teal T-shirt and denim shorts slouched with a dumbfounded expression. Her face was fleshy with eyes, nose and mouth all jammed together by her inflated cheeks.
I reached forward with my left hand to touch the image and the girl in the mirror touched mine with her right hand. Her arms were plump like turnips, and her fingers round like baby corns. I stifled a gasp, when I caught the dab of jade in her dull left eye. I finally registered the fact that I was staring right at my reflection.
“How is this possible?” I uttered, trying to wrap my head around what I was seeing.
“What did I tell you?” Crystaline scorned. The message behind her question was delivered with such a triumph that her breath felt like flames on my cheeks.
“That’s right. Why shouldn’t we call her the ‘Round Girl’,” Krystaline followed. “I mean, she is –”
“So round, indeed,” the two Enchantresses said in sync. Their lips curled in disdain, as their eyes rolled in the deep sockets.
“But that’s not my name,” I managed to say. “‘Round Girl’ isn’t my name.”
“Well. Well.” The Enchantresses began fuddling at the folds of my shirt. “So you do have a name. What is it then?”
My body shuddered at their touch. Alexandra Sasha Ears. I wanted to announce to them. But I straightened my back and decided to respond with silence. I had recognized their insincere inquiry as the first sign of endless taunting.
I knew that my response, whatever it was, would just fuel this cruel exchange. It took me at least two years of hallway taunting in middle school to come to this realization. The more I defended myself, the more I would get picked on. That was the law.
I held my head high and kept my lips sealed. I refused to submitting to their bullying.
“What a shy girl, scared of facing her true self.” Krystaline speculated.
“And certainly a defiant one,” said Cystaline, as she blew a breath of hot air on my face. “What a pity! She doesn’t even have a name.”
Say whatever you want. I thought, tightening my face into a stony expression.
“Her name is Sasha Ears.” Bulkee cut in.
“Oh! Look at that.” Crystaline lifted an eyebrow like she had just taken notice of him. “What a teeny tiny thing!”
“How puny!” Krystaline concurred with the same amused look.
“My Enchantresses. The name of the knight you are talking to is Bulkee,” He said calmly, remaining unfazed.
But the Enchantresses reverted their attention back to me. “It doesn’t matter what her name is,” said Crystaline. “Now you tell us. Round girl. Why are you running around in our arena?”
“I am looking to get some water,” I replied with a searing pain to my dry lips. But I was glad that the subject had been changed. “From the hill up there,” I pointed. “We had seen a lake and we are making our way there.”
“You saw it?” Crystaline glared at me.
“I thought that I had,” I hesitated, glimpsing over to Bulkee.
“She thought that she had seen it,” Krystaline sneered.
“Sure! She’s seen it. Of course, she has,” Crystaline twirled a strand of hair around her pinkie. She quickly exchanged glances with the other Enchantress. “It was the Lake of Tears that you had seen. I understand that you need some freshwater from the Lake. But you seem lost.”
I glanced down at my sneakers and let her statement fall to silence.
“Don’t worry,” Crystaline purred like a kitten. “We will point you to the Lake of Tears.
“Right to it!” Krystaline echoed.
I looked back up at the Enchantresses who now faced me with a smile. I felt such an exaggerated charm that I could almost their bleach-white teeth sparkle with a blinding light. A lump formed in my throat as a voice in my head told me that they seemed too eager to be trusted. I began mentally tallying ways to decline their offer.
As I assessed my options, a sea of fog appeared out of nowhere and closed in on us. The visibility of the arena deteriorated drastically. Along with my field of vision, my mind grew hazy and the clarify of my thoughts plunged.
“You are not going to get anywhere in this fog.” Crystaline pointed it out. “I’m going to tell you how to get to the Lake of Tears. You need water, don’t you?”
I gave a quick jerk of head, as I began to grasp the upside of my offer in hand. I didn’t have to waste another chance for direction with the TimeBoo k pendent. I could save it for something else, if I accepted help from the Enchantresses.
Crystaline held out a small beige-colored pouch. Tugging at the string she angled the bag, till a stream of violet dusts spilled down to the ground. “These are Lilec dusts. Look closely.”
I bent over and squinted at the faint gleam of a trail less than two inches over the ground. It travelled like a snake away from us into the distance.
After dispersing the Lilec dusts, Crystaline dropped the empty pouch onto my open hand. “Have it,” she said. Her voice was cold, although her lips had elongated into a letter “U”. “Follow this trail. At the end of it you will find the Lake of Tears.”
I nodded mechanically, as a pang of heaviness grew in my eyes. It was hard to keep my gaze trained on the Lilec trail.
“You have to scoop up the Lilec dusts and put them back into the pouch as you go,” she said. “You will get to the end, as long as there is not a single trace of dusts left behind.” She shot a look at Bulkee and spoke to me in a hushed voice, “One more thing.”
“Yes?” I drew in a breath.
“The Lilec dusts are whimsical in nature. They can become unpredictable, if touched by someone unauthorized. So, we will only entrust one of you to manage them.”
“You can trust me,” I said with a quick nod.
“Okay. Be sure to not let anyone get a hold of them. Or else –” She paused.
“Or else –” I waited.
“Or else you will never find a way out,” Crystaline and Krystaline replied together.
With another giggle, the Enchantresses twirled around. They lifted a hand and waved without glancing back. I stared at their backs, as they walked off like they were escaping from a plague pit. In no time, they retrieved into the dense fog that erased all signs of their presence.
