Characters
(Me-sha) Misha - A Lion
Zanus - A Tasmanian Devil
Fray - A Deer
The Unknown
Part Five
A gate opens within The Garden into the distance, looking onto the hilltop of the meadow. Stepping out is none other than Zanus and an animal from a place called The Patch.
"This, this is The Garden?!"
Zanus was in awe. She immediately plopped down to the grassy ground and grabbed it. She put her face close and felt it against her fur. She was smelling the grass and dirt. Stand looking over The Garden and see all the towns beyond.
"This is completely different from The Patch. And this view is indescribable—what a sight. Just look at all the green; everything is alive and this air. It's magnificent and so profound."
"Misha, is that you? Wait, you're not Misha. Who are you?"
"Oh, um. Sorry, I'm not who you think I am, and you could say I'm a friend of his."
"A friend? He's never mentioned you before."
"Well, I live in Branchville. So few animals visit there, and I only come to see him occasionally."
"Oh, so you're from over there. That makes sense. By the way, my name is Fray."
Fray, that's the one Misha mentioned before. I wonder what type of relationship they have.
"My name is Zanus. Misha has briefly mentioned you before, but not much."
"I see."
There was an awkward silence between the two animals.
"You know now that I think about it, I've never heard such a name as Zanus. And what type of animal are you?"
"Um, I have to go. I'm supposed to meet Misha somewhere around here…."
"That's not going to happen."
"Excuse me?"
"He's not here anymore."
"Not here? What do you mean?"
Zanus started to become irritated. She just wanted to explore The Garden.
"Oh, it's just that he moved from Fern Lily. Off to the big terrain of Aliceseal."
Zanus turned around and began walking in the other direction. "She really can be quite annoying." Fray followed after her. No matter where Zanus went, she followed as well.
"Would you stop following me?!"
Fray quickly stopped in her tracks. They both were in the middle of the woods, and Zanus stood there looking at her with frustration.
"What do you want from me?!"
"I don't know, and it's just something about you that is familiar to me."
"Huh, I don't follow."
"Well, you give this mysterious presence, but I feel a bit of Misha's for some reason. I just can't put my nose on it."
"I thought you said Misha moved."
"Oh, he did, he did. It's just weird, that's all. Hmm. Perhaps The Owl may help me, and he was the last to speak to me about Misha."
"The Owl? What kind of name is that? Are you sure..."
"THIS CAN NOT GO ANY LONGER!"
*SLASH!!*
*GRAB*
Without warning or hesitation, Zanus walks away from Fray. There she stood still and upright. Blood gushed down from her neck, spilling all over her white dress. Slowly the blood seeped into the clothing, turning it into a bright red dress. Zanus then stood on top of the hill in the meadow once more. Her fur had now turned black, and the once beautiful bright blue eyes had gone back to purple. It now burned more radiant than ever. She turned around, looking back at the woods while setting something down. Then she proceeds to walk away from it.
"From holding you, I read your memories, and I can tell you loved to watch the view together. So you can stay there and watch it forever, knowing you failed Misha."
As Zanus walked away, looking over her shoulder stood Fray's head on top of the hill. And there, her head stayed as her hair blew softly with the dancing grass.
"Although, your head does look good there. My little trophy. Hehe."
All the blood on Zanus evaporated. Soon after, her fur turned brown once more, including her eyes back to a bright blue. She was ready to explore The Garden finally.
"Huh? Where did that girl go? Oh well. It doesn't matter now. I can finally explore!"
Zanus couldn't contain her excitement. She touched practically everything that came into sight. So many animals in one place and their friendly smiles filled the warm, gentle air. It was perfect.
"Now, it's time to eat some of the food here."
The animals mainly ate vegetables here in The Garden. Zanus waited in line near a market but quickly got distracted by a group of young animals. They looked just a bit younger than her, but she couldn't help but be fascinated with them for an odd reason. She decided that she'd follow them for a while.
She helped a mongoose move a crate full of fruits and vegetables along the way. As a reward, the mongoose gave her a fruit. She was fascinated by the red color; so radiant, she thought. One bite was all it took for her eyes to fill with affection, and she correctly thanked the kind animal.
"He said this was called a tomato. What a love name and such divine taste. Ah, just thinking of all the possible foods I've yet to try. It's getting me so exciting, and I better hurry and not lose those kids I was following."
Sometime later, she got to see all the beautiful things they did. The four animals seemed relatively close to one another. It appeared that nightfall was upon them, and the younger animals started saying their goodbyes.
"NOW IS THE TIME TO SET THINGS IN MOTION."
Zanus grabs hold of her head.
"There it goes again. Whose voice is that I keep hearing?"
"GO, MY CHILD, TELL THAT ONE ABOUT THE PATCH. TELL HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS AND HOW BETTER IT IS THAN THE GARDEN."
Zanus's eyes turned purple, and she began to follow one of the animals from before. She became stiff and walked like a corpse without any form of control. All sense of reasoning was starting to fade.
(I can't move my body on my own. It's moving on its own, and I feel myself slowly losing control.)
When she finally caught up to the animal. He quickly turned around, startled.
"Hey!! Don't you know not to sneak up on animals? Hm. That's strange; your magic feels weird."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I wanted to ask a question."
"Oh, in that case, what would you like to ask?"
"I happened to overhear your conversations with your friends earlier. All of you couldn't decide where to explore."
"And?"
"Perhaps I could be of guidance."
"Wait a moment. You look no older than I am. Why would I listen to you?"
"You have a point. Well, if you ever want to see a place more beautiful than here, never mind."
Zanus walked away. She looked at the animal strangely, and a colossal grin overcame her face.
"I HAVE DECIDED YOU WILL BE MY ULTIMATE VICTIM. YOU WILL BE THE ONE TO SET EVERYTHING IN MOTION."
With that, Zanus disappeared with night.
<:/>
><[_: GARDEN: GATE:_]><
<:/>
Misha felt Zanus had returned. He quickly ran in her direction. He almost tripped over a branch, but he caught himself.
"Zanus, I have to tell you something. It's about what I did. I think giving you the mark was a misstep. Something doesn't feel right. I feel like I've awoken something I shouldn't have. This place, I don't know how, but I think it's alive. Something evil lies here. Zanus?"
"Does that mean you want the mark back?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry. I need to let The Owl and The Rabbit know. Alright, I'm going to call it back now."
Misha closes his eyes, and he feels a sudden push. Misha flew back, crashing into a tree, hitting his arm with a loud crack. Misha struggles to get on his feet, and his vision becomes blurry. Walking forward towards him, he could make out a figure—a dark one at that. For a moment, he thought he had seen a shadow of a long animal. But once his vision cleared, standing above him was Zanus. Her eyes were purple again, and her fur returned to black. Misha just realized when she came back that the colors were different. He was so focused on what he had done he missed vital details.
As things started to run through his mind, he began to regret a lot. But something started to eat at his heart as he knew what was to come. It was too late; there was no going back. Fray was right. And so he slowly got up, coming face to face with Zanus.
"You're not Zanus. Now I understand everything. It's bad magic, dark magic. The Patch is the opposite of The Garden. But these animals are controlled, and they are free when they are given the mark. Everything The Garden is The Patch is the opposite."
"...."
"How could you do this to me?!"
Zanus's eyes switch back to blue. Misha then knew it was her.
"What are you talking about? Weren't you the one that went on about how bad The Garden was? You felt like it was a prison, and how it took away all your freedom?!
"That's…"
"That's what you said. I don't think you're right about it. That place is the most elegant and eye-catching place I've ever seen. Almost as if living in a fairy tale. Even now, I'm still speechless about what I saw. I can't give it back to you, not to someone who didn't appreciate what they had. It would be best if you learned a hard lesson. And besides, I have a mission to complete."
"A mission? What are you talking about?"
"It doesn't concern you, Misha. I now know what my purpose is. I am his child, and he alone will be the bridge to bring down The Garden when the time comes."
"What did you say?! You're going to bring down The Garden. Are you insane?! Even if you could, it's impossible, and I will not allow that to happen!"
"It's funny how you hate that place but want to defend it now. You spoke so negatively about it. You're selfish and a hypocrite at its finest. You have a loving home and beautiful scenery to look upon daily. You were never thankful for what you had in front of you. I killed to have what you had!"
"Zanus, please…killed?"
"How could someone like you leave such a beautiful place?"
Zanus stood there crying. The big tears rolled down, making a splat sound upon hitting the ground. A puddle would soon form as she continued to talk.
"You, Misha, don't know what happiness is. You never noticed the happiness that was in front of you."
Just like that, the air blew softly. Misha's mane blew calmly with it as well. It was quiet between the two of them. But Misha then started to remember a familiar conversation with someone. Who was it? Who was this beautiful girl that he's known his whole life? She's so pretty and soft-spoken. Just what was her name again, he wondered. What was it? Then he started to hear the echoes of the voice inside his head.
"I just want you to know that things on the other side aren't always better."
"Tell me, Misha, are you happy?"
"That depends."
"Sometimes one should stop to notice the happiness they are not seeing."
"YOU should notice the happiness you're not seeing."
Misha grabs his head and falls to his knees. Tears began running down, and his eyes flashed bright green. And there, he saw something sitting on top of a familiar meadow.
"What is this? How am I seeing this? What did you do?!"
"I hope you know, Misha. I had no other choice. I'm sorry you trusted me so much only to get betrayed, but this is all on you. Goodbye, Misha, where I am going, it's much greener there."
Just like that, Zanus activated the Garden Gate and disappeared. Finally, the white of Misha's eyes turned gray. Welcome to The Patch.
End.
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