Chapter 3 – An Uncomfortably Comfortable Day
Irene is woken up by an arm and a leg trying to replace her own. She quickly swipes them away and leaves her room to see arms and legs coming out of the castle’s walls and floors. She then escapes out the window and into the crystal forest. There she hears the cries of people from the animals, trees, and plant life. She can see people trying to get out of their prison of a body, but can’t manage to as their body forces them back in. In the distance, Irene sees Sharon smiling before she raises her arm then putting it down as a guillotine cuts Irene in half. This wakes her up from her dream. Sharon knocks on Irene’s door before entering.
Sharon says to Irene, “Good morning sunshine. Ready to go?”
“It’s not like I have to get changed or anything,” Irene says before the two share a laugh.
Though Irene might appear well rested, she feels on edge because of what Sharon told her last night. Sharon and Irene walk the city streets as Sharon shows her the things she and her subjects have made.
“It’s all amazing,” Irene says as she thinks to herself if people’s limbs compose some of this art.
“I made some of it myself from the finest crystals in the world,” Sharon says then points out certain statues and art pieces she’s made. “If you think this is great, then you should see some the rest of this world.”
Sharon summons a crystal griffin that lands near the two. They sit on it and it flies to where Sharon commands it too.
“This isn’t a person like us, is it?” Irene asks.
“Not at all. This is a rare creature I found in a desert region.”
“There are deserts here?”
“There is much more than that.”
There are many villages, towns, and cities that Sharon takes Irene to. Some are desert regions, regions with plentiful water, icy places, and lands covered in flowers. Each and every place is friendly towards them. They participate in the different traditions and ways of living each one of these places have and even play a game or two. Games like cards, sporting and even sparring. Irene enjoys herself and so does Sharon.
“I’m surprised the sun is still out. I feel like we’ve been out all day,” Irene says while the two are flying to their next destination.
“Days last longer down here while the nights are shorter,” Sharon says.
“How long have you been down here?”
“I don’t know actually. Thinking back on it, I might’ve been here for decades.”
“Decades? You still look like you’re my age.”
“It’s another wonder of this world. We haven’t even seen most of it all. It goes on for miles and miles almost like it’s unending. It’s truly wonderful. You’ve seen what it does to people. The good that it draws out of them. You saw how happy the people were. All of us live in peace and harmony under our one law; that no one impedes on the freedom of another.”
“And those that do get severally punished.”
“That’s right. Let me show you those who try to fight against us. There’s a part of the world that we’re fighting against in red crystal forest.”
“Amy…”
“Who?”
“Nothing. It’s just a girl I know who lives there.”
“Well, she better not be involved with those people there.”
Irene hopes that Amy is okay. Even though she only knew her for a short while, she might be her ticket in doing something about how Sharon deals with people who rebel against her one rule. When they get to the red crystal forest, they head towards a city with a castle in the center similar to Sharon’s but not as extravagant. It is under siege by soldiers with crystal armor and refined weapons. They’re fighting against people who have their own kinds of special armor and weapons. Creatures similar to Sharon’s griffin are flown by the crystal armored soldiers while the city has ballistas shooting them out of the sky. Both forces appear to be equal despite the support that Sharon has. Irene thinks to herself that there must be more of this world where Amy’s side has more support. One of the ballistas shoots down Sharon’s Griffin. The two-crash land into the city and into the heat of the battle. The Griffin isn’t dead as it takes out the ballista’s arrow and fights alongside Sharon's forces. Irene watches as people fight against each other and despite the fact that they can’t die, she can still tell that they feel pain. That there’s suffering happening in a world that looked like it completely lacked it.
Sharon transforms her arms into cutters and joins her troops.
“What are you doing Sharon?” Irene asks.
Before answering Irene, Sharon defeats several rebel soldiers on her own.
Sharon declares to her troops, “A queen who isn’t a servant to her people is no queen at all! I will join you and lead you to victory!”
Her troops cheer for her.
“Join us Irene and you will be given the highest honor when we get back home.”
Before Irene can answer, a crystal monster emerges from the castle. It appears to be composed of several people who pilot each part of the monster’s body. This gets Sharon’s attention and forces her and her forces to concentrate on the monster. Irene tries to gather herself until she sees Amy in the distance. She’s hiding from the fight and watches with excitement as the monster fights Sharon and her forces. Irene in the mist of the battle catches Amy’s attention and she waves her over. Quickly going to her before Sharon notices, Irene makes it to where Amy is hiding and hides with her.
“This is not the way I expected us to meet again, but it’s good that you got the queen to come here,” Amy says.
“I didn’t plan this,” Irene retorts, “This just so happened to be how we meet again.”
“It might be fate.”
“Is your big monster going to “kill” Sharon?”
“I don’t think so. Hearts like you are tough to kill. It might disable her and her army for a long time, but not put her out of commission permanently. This is our next course of action after we get you back to my secret base.”
“And how are we going to do that?”
“I’ll take you there, but you won’t like how I do it.”
“Why not?”
“My spies have seen you go in and out of Sharon’s castle. A lot of people think you’ve teamed up with them, so I have to make it seem like I kidnapped you. Trust me, it’s easier if you don’t say anything to them. I’ll do all the talking for you.”
“Just do whatever you want. I want to see what your plans are.”
“Turn around and close your eyes.”
Irene does this, and Amy sticks her cutting through Irene’s head, which knocks her out. Hours later, Irene wakes up in a sealed room underground.
“Amy? Amy?” she calls out.
She waits a few minutes until Amy enters her room.
“You’re clear now. That wasn’t so bad, right? Well, I hope it wasn’t,” Amy says.
“You stabbed me through the head,” Irene says while rubbing her head.
“Hey, if it took that to knock you out for a few hours, how much would it take to bring down Sharon?”
“I guess you’re right.”
“We’re going to start our meeting soon. Join us.”
After finally shaking off the feeling of being stabbed through the head, Irene walks with Amy and joins her in the meeting room. In it, she sees many people who look her age. They appear to be talking amongst themselves already.
Amy slams her hand down on the table before saying, “Ahem. Can we please have order in this room? Thank you.”
“We haven’t discussed what will exactly happen after Sharon is taken off her throne, Amy,” one of the other people say.
“And would you like to wait till more of your friends are turned into trees or other kinds of animals? I didn’t think so.”
The other leaders hold in their arguments in silence.
Amy continues, “We have a heart with us here. People with her personality know what’s best to do, so she’ll take over Sharon’s throne.”
“But she’s new here.”
“And she’ll decide if one of us should take over Sharon’s territory if need be.”
Irene whispers into Amy’s ear, “You never told me I’d be making a big decision like this.”
“You’ll be fine. Your appearance says so,” Amy whispers back. “So, are we in agreement?” Amy continues speaking to the leaders, “Sharon should be at her weakest now because of Irene. If we leave now, we’ll overthrow her kingdom in one day.”
“She’s right. I’m with her,” one of the leaders say as they raise their hand.
“Anyone else?”
Everyone else raises their hands, which brings a smile to Amy’s face. After dismissing, Irene talks to Amy.
She asks, “Who were those other people?”
“Leaders of other countries. I don’t always play nice with them, but we need them so we can get rid of Sharon. She’s the greatest threat to all of us since she’s been here the longest and she has the most advanced weaponry,” Amy says.
“Don’t always play nice? You’re at war with these people?”
“I decided to stop the fighting, for now, to take down Sharon. What’s the problem?”
“The problem is that people are going to keep fighting each other.”
“At least we won’t use the spells that Sharon has.”
“How do you know that? Hearts like me know best right? So why is a heart the worst threat to you right now?”
“Look, it will be different this time. Trust me.”
Irene looks into Amy’s eyes and smiling face and holds in her disbelief for now.
“Okay, Amy. I’ll give you a chance.”
“Thank you, Irene. You won’t regret it. You’ll love being queen.”
“I hope so.”
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