Universos

4

Come on girls, don't give in like this! Look, we are already lost anyway, what bad could happen? - I ask innocently without even considering the possibility that something worse was actually about to happen.

- I think you are right in the end... - Sarah says - Let's test door by door until we find ours, but let's not be stupid enough to enter these separate f*****g doors!

- Yeah, because if we all get stuck or something, at least we'll be together! - says Lary

We all agreed and then began our frantic search to find our way home.

We went up and down steps, opened and closed doors, stuck our heads through every kind of portal and saw all kinds of things that you, dear reader, could not even imagine!

We saw everything, we saw people made only of electric impulses, we saw animals made of sponges, we saw beings with a body made of blue goo but a head like that of a goldfish, we saw places that were completely dark, and others so bright that we couldn't even open our eyes.

After several, several hours of immersing our heads in doubtful places we managed to test almost all the doors except for two.

We were all tired from walking around and testing universes, so the girls, the clones and I decided to sit down on a platform a little higher than the level we arrived on. This platform was in front of two doors, the doors that we had not yet tested.

- Manitsu, in what universe are those doors? - Lary asks nonchalantly

- This door leads to Universe U23R which is merely a room with two people and a table, this is the only universe that hasn't been... Shall we say... altered by our miscalculation that brought the ladies to our universe.

- And the next door? - asks Sarah.

- We don't know for sure, the only thing we know about that door is that the two people from the U23R universe have a strong connection with the people from the next door universe.

-Unfortunately the people from the U23R Universe don't speak the spoken language, but the artistic one, and since we are more precise we can't understand the information they try to give us about this universe in question. - Completes Lang Sin

- What if we asked them? I have an artistic streak there, maybe I can understand them... -I speak up

- That would be a great idea! -Sarah stands up together with Lary

- So let's go girls! And my goodness, I wonder if there is food in the U23R Universe.

- I'm afraid they don't eat the same kind of food you are used to, their diet is based on mites and cockroach remains which are affectionately nicknamed gruminus by us...

- Ok, after this I have lost my appetite? - I say, eating myself up with disgust

We followed united and fearless inside the door and found two completely normal people looking at a white tableware that was positioned on the left wall, both of them were sitting behind a white table and didn't even notice when we arrived.

- Hello? - says Sarah with uncertainty in her voice.

The two strangers in white clothes and stared at us with their big black eyes, as if they were asking what we really wanted from them.

We were a little startled, but as the seconds went by we relaxed, as both of the strangers appeared harmless.

Then the girl standing next to the boy with blond hair and an oval face, with brown hair and an oval face, lifted her head and gave a slight smile and took out a marker that you use to write on white plates.

We stood looking at the girl while she went to the painting and with great delicacy in her gestures began to draw a big question mark.

I quickly deduced that she was wanting to know why we were there, so I gestured with my hands:

- Where does the next door go?

The girl looked at me and then turned her attention to the board and drew three pictures. The first was a door, the second was a village next to a pine forest and the third was the face of a lion, the same lion with glowing eyes that I saw in my dream the night before.

I look still stunned, how could this be real? How could that same lion that haunted my most recent dream be drawn in such detail by a girl who didn't even know my name?

Then Lary, who had no idea of the hidden meaning of that particular lion, asked, also gesticulating:

- Do you know how we are going home?

The girl smiled and once again went back to drawing, but changed her mind and tried to babble the words very quietly:

- Next door has universe with more universes....

We looked at each other and Sarah more than quickly asked, making several exaggerated gestures:

- Can we go home next door?

The girl moved her head in a positive gesture and drew a door and next to this door was a circle with crooked edges and next to this circle with crooked edges was the drawing of the planet Earth.

We were more than happy, we could finally go home and get out of the mess. Then we all thanked them with more gestures and went back through the same door we came in to find the clones still sitting in a relaxed way.

- So, did you manage to talk to them? -Martinez Liu asks.

- Yes, and even better, the next door has a universe that has more doors to other universes and one of these doors leads to ours! -Sarah answers, practically shouting

- The only thing that makes me a little curious is that how did they know that our universe was the material universe and how do they know so much about the next door universe? -Lary asks

- The only two inhabitants of the U23R universe know everything and everyone, surely they already knew which universe you belong to just by looking at your outfits. -Miu Shinan answers calmly.

- So girls, do you want to stay here or go through that door and find your way out to our universe? -I ask, arching my eyebrows

- Sweetie, no need to ask twice... Let's go! -Lary replies

- Thanks guys, and good luck expanding your universe! -I say smiling

- The pleasure was ours, ladies, and good luck in your quest! -Speaks Martinez Liu smiling back at me

- And one last thing, about the universe that you will enter we would like to go along, since we don't have much information about it and we would appreciate if you give us the opportunity to accompany you in order to gather more information for our database. -Speaks Manitsu standing up while all the other clones stand up together with him.

- Well, that wouldn't be a problem for me! And you girls, what do you think? - I ask looking at them for an answer

- All right, I like them! -says Lary while Sarah nods her head in agreement.

We all went together through that door in order to unravel the mysteries of that completely unknown universe that would give us the door that would take us back home.

The journey was a little different than the other doors, first we passed through a long dark tunnel with small points of light on its walls. Then everything had turned dark blue and suddenly the only source of light was coming in the distance at what seemed to be the end of the tunnel, I really felt myself going towards the light at the end of the tunnel.

We were getting very close to the light and it was getting closer and closer until the ground beneath our feet became sandy and began to swallow us up rapidly. There was no way to save us and the desperate screams coming from our throats was the only sound emitted in that tunnel which started out attractive, but in the end became terrifying.

We wake up on the ground, on a very dark and extremely short grass, there is a beautiful blue sky over our heads and a dense forest of pine trees all around us.

I get up and realize that everyone was still asleep and completely out of sight of the humid and mysterious forest that surrounded us.

I crouch down and with a light push of my hands I shake Sarah who immediately wakes up and asks in a sleepy voice:

- So, did we get to that universe?

I nod my head and realize that everyone was already waking up, I look to the sides and start to feel something strange, as if something or someone was watching us, but I did not know who or what it was so I tried to ignore that discomfort and then to relieve the tension of that moment I asked:

- Is everyone okay?

Everyone nodded in confirmation and then we realized that leaving that universe or even finding the village that the girl from Universe U23R had drawn so delicately and perfectly on her whiteboard was not going to be the simplest thing in the world.

We were concentrating on finding some place that could serve as a route out of that situation when I heard Lary's desperate scream.

I look to the side and see a horribly hideous creature that looked like a hybrid of human and snake, the being's head was a strange mixture where the right side was identical to that of a man with blond hair and blue eyes already lifeless and the left side was like the head of a black snake with totally red eyes. The arms, legs and torso were human, but there were no genitals at all on its body which had some black scales scattered everywhere, the nails were extremely long and moss green in color and there was a long black tail on its buttocks which remained motionless and flat on the ground.

The creature was staring at us with great fury, and we, without getting excited, started running through the trees, all together and in the same direction while the creature chased us and squirted some kind of green, gooey liquid from its mouth.

We ran for about half an hour until we found a meadow and lost the creature. So in the midst of this chaotic scenario I decided to speak up:

- Guys, let's keep moving before that thing finds us and kills us or whatever it might do to us.

Sarah, still gasping for air, turns to me and says:

- And do you happen to know where we have to go?

I look around for answers, but find none, the only thing I can see is a trail opening up through the short grass covering the green meadow.

I see no alternative but to follow that trail and hope that it will lead us to at least one town or even the village drawn by the girl in the U23R Universe.

I then turn to the others and with a slight uncertainty in my voice I say:

- Guys, let's follow that trail, maybe it will end up in some town...

Lary then already recomposed rolls her eyes and with a lot of irony in her voice answers:

- Yes, but what if it leads to some other place full of that kind of monster we just found? Sorry sweetie, but if you want to die then do it yourself because I won't!

I take a deep breath and try not to get angry with Lariany's unfriendly attitude, because she was scared and probably distressed, maybe because of this situation Lary is reacting to everything with such dislike.

And just as I was about to answer Lary, Sarah's already stressed voice comes up saying:

- I'm sorry Lariany, but we are in a weird universe with even weirder beings and we are only left with two options: (a) Stay here and wait for the lord half man half charge to kill us all or (b) Do what Christine said and follow that trail to at least get a chance to survive!

Everyone keeps quiet, Lary remains motionless as if Sarah's words were in fact a big punch in her stomach, then, to dispel the tense atmosphere that has settled between us, I decide to speak:

- So, people, let's just follow the trail and get out of this kind of creepy forest?

Everyone agrees and we follow the trail.

An hour after walking along the trail everything seemed to get more tiring, I was horribly tired, everyone was tired to tell the truth.

The sun was at its highest point, indicating that it was about noon, and hunger along with thirst were bothering everyone.

I remember the apples in my bag and open it, and unfortunately to my disappointment they were all on the road.

Frustrated and hungry, I grab those rotten apples and throw them by the side of the road as we continue on our way.

About three hours later I see a sign and full of hope I say:

-People! I think we've reached a town or something!

Everyone with a little more joy hastens their steps in hopes of seeing the sign that says

"Welcome to Fortway".

Then we go even faster down the trail and a town full of dark wooden houses begins to appear in our field of vision, finally now we are free from that dark, dank, gloomy forest.

We agreed immediately and headed into the town, which was quiet with cobblestone streets and rustic wooden houses with small balconies in front, the whole town seemed to have stagnated in the glorious days of the westerns, for everyone sat on the balconies, little white-haired ladies sat in their rocking chairs knitting, while the young people came and went from their houses with small wooden logs to fuel their fireplaces.

Finally we arrived at Mr. Staly de Solar's house, and to our surprise it was just like the others, a rudimentary cabin, but slightly larger than all the others.

We entered and were all greeted by a round-bodied lady with red hair tied up in a high bun, a slightly square face with brown eyes and rosy cheeks.

- Hello Margaret, these are pilgrims who have just arrived, please, I would like them to stay here with us, they have no place to spend the night? - Staly speaks with a touching compassion in her voice

- Welcome my dears, sit here while I tidy up your rooms!

We sit down on a large dark wooden bench while Margaret walks from place to place carrying sheets, pillows, and blankets for our first of many nights in Fortway.

A few minutes later the door next to us opens and a very quiet male voice speaks:

- Hi Mom! I hear that pilgrims have arrived... - A tall, greenish blue-eyed, muscular, very defined, with a beautifully trimmed beard, well structured jaws and slightly dark red hair, he was really handsome and logically not for me, because I'm just a pilgrim, right?

- Hello Joseph, they are sitting on the bench in the living room.

Joseph turns to us and smiles gently, our eyes meet, we stare at each other for at least six awkward seconds, and then with one hand he waves and more than quickly he turns and walks out the door in search of firewood as his mother had just asked.

- My dears, your beds are ready, the bathroom is just down the hall, and please take a shower and get ready for dinner, the towels are on the beds in your rooms.

- And what are our rooms? -I ask

- Well, I have prepared four rooms which are the doors on the left, make yourselves comfortable!

We agreed and headed towards the rooms which were very ordinary with two single beds lined with very white sheets, there were lamps on the dressers, an illustrious candle on the ceiling, and a very large rustic window on the right. Everything was very simple, but it was very cozy.

An hour and thirty minutes later we were clean and Mrs. Margaret was in the kitchen cooking what was at best a stew and which I really hoped wasn't frogs, toads, lizards or snakes.

- Chris, Manitsu and the other clones want to go on an expedition through the forest, Lary and I are going with them, do you want to come with us? - Sarah asks, intercepting me in the corridor seconds before I reach the dinner table.

- Man, this is going to be bad... I just don't think you should go... - I speak in an advisory tone.

- But Lang Sin was talking to Joseph and he said that in that forest there is a lethal sword that can only be controlled by pilgrims from other universes!

- Wow, so you mean Lang Sin is friends with handsome Mr. Joseph?

- Are you into the guy? - she says, lowering her voice

- Maybe, but don't change the subject! I don't think it's a good idea to go, seriously, this expedition is going to be bad!

- Look, if you're a coward, I can understand that, but if you change your mind, we'll be on the veranda at midnight, we'll wait for you for ten minutes, if you don't show up, we'll go without you! -Sarah says and then turns her back, leaving me completely alone.

Hours go by, and even after eating Miss Margaret's wonderful meat stew (for the glory of God it wasn't frogs or any other inedible animal) I couldn't stop thinking about how screwed my friends were if they really went into that crazy forest.

My God, how can they be so reckless like that? Going into that forest at night is like asking to die or something!

And worse, they go to that forest at midnight, do you know what happens at midnight? Everything bad!

Man, I hate it! My head can't stop thinking that this is going to be bad and that they won't find this sword, but a horrible monster and they'll have to run back to the village with their tail between their legs, if they don't get caught first!

The most terrifying midnight of all

It was midnight, the moon was at its highest point and ever since the lights went out I couldn't sleep, thinking about the stupid thing my friends were about to do.

I sit up in bed and get to thinking, should I go or not? If I go at least I would have a chance to help them in case something happens, but if I don't go and if something happens to them I would never forgive myself.

I take a deep breath as if through inflating my lungs courage and strength can become part of my spirit.

I get up and very carefully light the lamp beside me, put on my sneakers, grab my purse and go out the window that was open.

I arrive at the balcony a bit anxious in the hope of finding them and, luckily or not, there they were, forming a circle and listening attentively to Martinez Liu and Manitsu's instructions.

- Hi... - I speak whispering

- Hi, welcome to the group! - Answers Sarah also whispering

- Don't forget we will all stay together, and if anything happens, everyone runs

- So that's the big plan? If you meet any monsters you just run? - asks Lary

- Yes," replies Manitsu.

"Bro this is going to be bad..." - I think while analyzing everyone's faces.

We started our walk to the forest, and the dread inside me was only increasing with each meter that we were advancing towards the forest.

The night was cold, the air was heavy, and as we approached the forest the whole environment became more and more humid.

Nobody dared to say a word, we were all afraid of the monsters that lived in that place and if we were lucky we would make it out alive.

We arrived at the forest, everything was more strange and frightening, as if there was an evil power involving everything and everyone, the only thing I could think was "bro this is going to be bad", the crows and owls emitted their sound, the trees swayed according to a strange wind that my skin refused to feel, everyone was tense and attentive to any kind of noise with their lamps illuminating the way.

Everything was going well until something fierce began to emit a frightening roar, we all raised our lamps in the direction of the roar revealing what I feared most, the monster from my dream, he was much more fierce, wild and terrifying than I could remember, his eyes were locked on me as if he knew me from somewhere.

My heart stopped, my breathing quickened, and the only sound that stood out in the midst of this chaos was the desperate screams of everyone who ran in the most varied directions leaving me alone with that terrible beast that gave another roar even more powerful than the first and soon after prepared its body to advance on mine, making me run.

I was lost in the forest, and the monster was running furiously a few meters behind me knocking down trees and destroying the grass under its feet with its deadly claws, I didn't know where to go, the only thing I had in mind was to run away, to run far away, to run to a safe place. The leaves of the plants around me whipped my face that was protected by the palms of my hands and my arms that were protected by my red jacket.

I look to my right and see a cave and without much thought I enter it, I follow it still running to the bottom of the cave and find myself with a series of torches lit in a long corridor.

I slow my steps and start walking, the energy in that place was different, as if there was a new power radiating throughout the corridor.

I continue walking down that corridor, I was completely attracted by the desire to find out what was at the end, then fifty steps later I discover what was at the end of that path lit by strangely lit torches, it was a stone table with a simple long box made of black leather resting on top.

I opened the lid and my eyes could not believe the object inside, it was a sword, the same one I had seen in my dreams, but this one before my eyes was bigger, sharper, more lethal. I pick it up and feel its blade dance through the air as I handle the weapon.

But a noise of rocks moving calls my attention, then I look back and see nothing, I only feel a slight sting on my neck, I turn my gaze to see what had stung me and to my sadness it was a green dart, I remove it in a great hurry, but it was too late, its poison was already in my body and pulsating in my veins.

I feel my eyes heavy, my body simply did not obey me anymore, I take four awkward steps back and let my body fall backwards to the earth, and everything starts to become distant, the light from the torches starts to turn black, my body stiffens, and finally, with consciousness already out of my reach I fall into a deep sleep and distance myself from the world around me.

Waking up from a deep sleep

I open my eyes, and I am still in the cave with my body covered by a thin blanket of white sand.

I look to the side trying to check if anyone was there and luckily no one resided in that cave but me.

The sword was still on the ground, lying beside me, everything around me was the same but something had changed inside me, I was more alive, more fierce, more courageous.

I stand up and with the sword in my hands I cautiously walk out of the cave, I look to the sides and find no one in my sight, but I can't get rid of the feeling of being watched, I hide behind a wide-stemmed tree that was to my right and very carefully I spot another snake man sneaking among the medium-sized plants that lived in the forest that surrounded us.

He was about to leave when I hear a squeaking characteristic of rattlesnakes in our world, I look quickly to the right and cannot believe the creature my eyes revealed to me, it was a huge black cobra with an erect body almost three meters tall with red eyes and giant fangs.

I spot that beast and as if it were a more than natural extinct my muscles move the negative blade, and with a sword edge I cut the serpent in half, it falls to the ground and turns into a kind of black sand.

A loud scream is heard in the trees, I look to the side and see a man lying completely n***d, I run to him and point my sword in his direction.

I was sweating cold, I had just killed a giant snake and now this man appears out of nowhere n***d amidst the humid vegetation and these big old trees.

The blond-haired boy stares at me, as if trying somehow to identify me but his efforts are in vain, it seems to me he is blind.

- Who are you? Where do you come from? -I ask adamantly and watch out for any sudden movement of the boy

- My name is Feliph, I am the second son of the Great King Emanuel Clariston, and who are you?

My muscles stopped, my whole body stiffened, I was in front of the prince of a whole kingdom to which I was just another foreigner, I didn't know what to say or how to behave in front of such a person.

My brain wouldn't stop working, insistently searching for an adequate answer to that situation, one wrong word and God knows what they could do to me and to my friends who have so far disappeared.

- I apologize for my rude manner Your Highness... - I speak a bit slurred and using up all my erudite Portuguese.

With one hand I help the handsome young man with exuberant muscles, mesmerizing eyes and tanned skin.

- Tell me, please, what is your name? - he says, trying to find my face that was a few centimeters below his.

- Your Highness, my name is Christine Calegan, but if you prefer you can call me Chris!

- Yes, dear Chris, thank you very much for ridding me of Apolinor's terrible poison...

- Apolinor?

- Yes, it's a black snake almost three meters tall that turns everyone who receives its bite into Apolinors who are half man half snake.

- Wow... So it was a pleasure to kill that thing for you, I guess...

- Excuse me my sweet young lady, but what does the word thing mean?

- Well, thing can mean anything, like, when you don't know the name of an animal or object you can just call it a thing and everyone understands! Well at least in my dimension...

Feliph's lips form a sweet smile that makes my bones crumble and my facial muscles outline the shyest and most naive of smiles, he sure as hell was cute.

- Men, forward! I heard a shout coming from this direction, maybe the pilgrims are trapped here!

It was the voice of Joseph who with a wooden bow and a quiver of arrows made of leather on his back was sneaking through the trees looking for me and my friends, I look to the sides looking for something that could protect the integrity of the prince, but there was no more time, Joseph was approaching so I took off my jacket and with it I cover the lower parts of the prince, he realizes the jacket and holds it covering his region.

- My goodness, was I n***d? -He asks very embarrassed.

- Yes you were, but don't worry, I've sort of provisionally fixed your situation.

-Chris, thank heavens you're alive! - Speaks Joseph running towards me -Who is this?

- Hi Joseph! And this is Prince Feliph...

- The lost prince! -Joseph exclaims in shock.

- We have to report quickly to the Great King Emmanuel! He will surely decorate her and throw a party on behalf of his lost son!

- We only have one problem, your highness is kind of n***d you know....

- Yes, I'll call the other men and see if any of them have a pair of clothes for your highness! - he says as he runs off into the woods in search of clothes.

I turn my gaze to my right hand and the sword was still there, unshakable, the cold hard steel of its blade dripping black liquid from Apolinor's death.

It could make my insides sick, but I couldn't even shake it, it was as if it had become something usual for me, dead monsters and freed people were now part of me. I don't know what was in that green dart in the cave, but it changed me, this sword changed me, everything changed?