The next day, Cule went around to the tribes around the globe and did her duties, but in addition, she gave them all a speech. To her though, it wasn’t just a speech; it was a promise to them all.
“Everyone, I’ve been dreaming,” she said empathetically to the crowd of carvations. “Dreaming of an era where we do not struggle, do not fight, do not starve. I’ve been dreaming of a paradise for our children to play in without strife. I’ve been dreaming of saving my entire race of people but feeling powerless to do so.” She formed a fist. “No more! Today marks my journey to scour every depth of existence to find a place for us all to live together in harmony!”
Each time she said it, Cule got less and less believing stares. Everyone hoped that they could have that kind of dream come true, but they had completely lost faith by that point. Even her own people were skeptical.
“Are you sure?” one of her people asked.
“I was born ready,” Cule sighed, psyching herself up. “But if I don’t come back, I’m sorry.”
“Confident, aren’t you,” one rolled his eyes.
“Shut it!” Cuca hissed, knocking him on the back of his head.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t know where I’m going,” Cule admitted. “And I don’t know if I’ll find anything. But I’ll be looking where nobody else’s searched before, so wish me luck.”
“Make sure to come back,” someone said.
“Aw thanks,” she smiled. “I will.”
“We still need The Great Magic if you fail.”
“Hmph,” Cule pouted. “Careful, or I might accidentally leave you behind when I find paradise for us.”
“Good luck!” someone shouted. “May your heart guide your magic!”
“May it guide all of ours,” she laughed, spreading her wings.
Cule flew away to find somewhere isolated and found a small hill to focus on. She had taken with her a small satchel that had some things in it. Sometimes magic takes too much effort and just having stuff on hand is better. Plus, if she found living things she knew that non-magic gestures had a greater chance of not scaring them away. Gently, she sat cross legged, closed her eyes, and started to channel magic. She wanted to teleport, but this time she’d be going somewhere that she hadn’t been before.
“Where can we go?” she mumbled to herself.
“Anywhere outside the realm of conventional living.”
“Really narrows our options, doesn’t it?” she said. “How about as far as we get from here? We can work backwards.”
“If you wish.”
“May my heart guide my magic…”
Cule breathed deeply and let The Great Magic guide her, giving it control. Her eyes glowed white and Cule felt her body rise, not in control. She was riding in the backseat of her own body as The Great Magic took control, raising her hands with a white glow.
“Will traveling to these weird places hurt my body?” Cule asked.
“I will protect us.”
“I still worry.”
“We would suggest you have faith.”
In a large flash of white and a massive booming crack, Cule was gone.
* * * * *
“Wow, this place is… boring,” Cule remarked, getting control of her body back when she reappeared.
She looked around and saw nothing. She was on what felt like a beach. Or maybe a desert. Cule felt something like cool black sand under her toes. The entire place felt noticeably freezing and devoid of anything. Aside from the obsidian colored sand, there was a black sky and that’s it. Mostly flat terrain without trees or steep hills or anything. A flat plain of black sand and skies that seemed to go on forever.
“Where is this place?”
“As far as we get from the realm of The Living.”
“So this is where people go when they die?” she said curiously.
“We did not say that,” The Great Magic said. “Death and Living are closely linked. Out here there is neither life nor death. There is… nothing.”
“Damn… That’s… spooky,” Cule shivered, taking a quill and notebook out of her bag and started writing.
“What are you doing?”
“Well, if I’m traveling all around, then I might as well write it down,” she shrugged, scribbling. “I’m exploring new frontiers here.”
“We are not to be used for personal fame.”
“It’s not for fame, it’s to write down some of this stuff,” Cule corrected, sitting in the sand and running her hand through it. “Then I can show everyone.”
“Documenting takes valuable time away.”
“It won’t take too much time,” she sighed looking around. “We’re looking at the same desolate horizon, right?” She finished writing a description of the whole place in a couple pages and drifted her pen to the top of the page. “Does this place have a name?”
“We are the first.”
“Hm, fine.” She pointedly wrote a name at the top of the page. “Our travels start in The Elseworld.”
Cule got up and shivered.
“Let’s leave. This place feels… wrong. Like the birthplace of something horrible.”
“Where do you request next?”
“Perhaps somewhere closer to life and death.”
“As you wish.”
Once again, The Great Magic took control and warped her away to another location. As she teleported, sand kicked up in all directions and fell back to the ground, reverting the world as to how it was before. Not a movement. Not a sound. Not a soul. Only stillness.
* * * * *
“Fascinating place,” Cule admired, dipping her finger into the lava and taking it out unharmed. “This is a world completely drowned in fire, brimstone, and magma.”
“We are at the lowest point of death.”
“The fire and heat make me afraid for my book though,” she said, hugging her notebook to her chest. “I’ll name this place Hell.”
Cule finished the entry and tucked the notebook back away in her bag. Then she put her hand to her chin and thought.
“Why are there no carvations here?”
“We do not reside in these deaths.”
“I don’t understand,” she said, furrowing her brow. “What happens to us when we die then, if we don’t go to planes of death?”
“We exist in us.”
“What?”
“We exist in us.”
“Ok…” she sighed. The Great Magic was infamous for never giving straight answers. “I’ve had enough of this place anyway.”
“Then let us move.”
* * * * *
“The next level up from Hell is so… peaceful,” Cule noted.
She was standing in a wide open field of grass, occasionally dotted by a tree or slope. The wind gently grazed through her hair in a way that made her smile. It was boring, but in a tranquil way, like she could sit under a tree and nap forever.
“This level of death is closest to life.”
“I can feel it,” she nodded. “So… interesting. I would never have guessed.” Cule finished writing her description and wrote a name at the top. “Welcome to… Asphodel.”
She closed up her book and put it back in her bag.
“Next place?”
* * * * *
Cule appeared in front of a set of firmly shut gold and silver gates, which she rattled to get open. The gates hardly remained closed for long though, and Cule swung them wide open. What was inside was a large expanse of golden streets. There were no structures around, but it was a perfect place to put some.
“This is the top of death.”
“I think we found our new home,” Cule proclaimed proudly. “Maybe it doesn’t solve the food problem, but we can work together and-”
“No.”
“Oh come on,” she rolled her eyes. “We’re really not going to find a better place to-”
“It’s not for you to settle on.”
“I think this’ll be Heaven, and-”
“This place is not for your people.”
“Well then where can we go?!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air. “Can’t go here, can’t settle there! Where then?!”
“Where do you think you can find resources? Where do you think your people can live peacefully?”
“I don’t know,” Cule grumbled. “It’s hard to find food in places outside of life, but…” She paused and thought. “Can you take me to the top of life?”
“I believe we can take you anywhere.”
* * * * *
“Wow…” Cule breathed, touching her feet down on the grass.
She had landed in a small grove of trees and smiled. Cule reached up and took something off the plant. It was a fruit.
“Magic, what is this fruit?”
“It appears to be extremely nutrient dense.”
Cule took a bite out of it, the soft crunch making her smile. In a few more chomps, the whole thing was gone and she felt better than ever. Normal food down where they live never made her feel as good as this.
“Do you think this place will do?” she asked, taking out her notebook and eagerly scribbling down some notes while picking more fruit and shoving them into her satchel.
“I believe the carvations would prosper here.”
“I think so too,” Cule said confidently, finishing a drawing of homes around trees full of fruit and carvations picking fruit, labeling it The Village at the top of the page. “Just like my dreams… Let’s go save my race. Only took a day and a half.”
Comments (0)
See all