Chapter Three
'I've been walking for quite a long time now' A sigh came out as I thought.
At this point, you would think you'd see the figures of the angels that left earlier- but no- there was no one around. The grassland felt peaceful; the winds blew on the grass, making it sway but my body felt nothing. It felt like I was the only person on this island and strangely enough, the joy I would feel normally was not there.
After walking for a while, a door entered my range of vision. The door was as tall as a decker bus, and its width was probably half the size of a football net. Its' main color was brown with intricate gold designs around its frame and knob.
Beautiful as the door was, it gave me an unsettling feeling. Looking around I still could not see any other being, so my best guess was that they all entered the door. 'It's best I check for signs of the other beings entering the door.'
I walked closer to the door to check the grass around it. If there were dents around the door it means they used the door. Still staying a good distance from the door, I checked the area around the door for any clue of entry only to be disappointed.
There were no dents, just mine. It made no sense, how were there no traces of any being walking around the door? At the very least, five -no- at least all of the other angels would have walked close to the door to inspect.
I looked at the ground, completely stumped. "What the heck, should I just enter the door?" Then I saw something out of the corner of my eyes. I smiled in realization. I squat to get a better look at the grass -yep- after a few minutes, the grass straightens.
'Seems I'll need to go through the door,' I got up as I looked at the door. I was already behind, so I had to hurry.
**A Few Minutes Later**
The four angels, adorned in their respective colored masks, stopped before the door. Each of them regarded the door with a hint of suspicion. "Ethel, should we use the door?" Weslynn inquired his gaze fixed on the door.
Ethel commanded, "Weslynn, Faythe, look for tracks around the area. Yorick, you're with me on checking around the door."
The response came in unison, "Yes!"
The four split up and started looking for tracks. The blue-masked angel, Faythe and the green-masked angel Weslynn looked around the rocks. Ethel the red-masked angel and Yorick, the purple-masked angel diligently examined the area away from the door.
Since they did not know what could come from it, they decided to maintain distance and watch the surroundings.
Ethel and Yorick were uncertain about what lay beyond the door, so they watched the door with caution and maintained their distance as they checked for clues.
After a few short seconds of searching, Ethel noticed a fading footstep in front of the door. Keeping his eyes on it, he called out to Faythe and Weslynn. Yorick noticed it as well and walked closer to inspect it.
"It is a footstep. From its depth and diameter, it belongs to a woman." Yorick concluded. Weslynn looked at Ethel as he asked, "So the door is safe to use?" Ethel started at the door before shaking his head.
"Just because someone used it does not mean it's safe. For all we know the person may be dead now," Ethel looked at the door. "But some risks are worth taking. Let's use the door."
Weslynn nodded esthetically, while Faythe and Yorick nodded more calmly.
The group of four opened the door and walked through without much thought.
***
The gentle breeze gently moved through the lush foliage of the tall trees, producing a soothing rustling sound. The melodic flow of water resonated throughout the forest, creating a tranquil atmosphere.
A figure lay sprawled in the lush green grass, the sunlight catching the glimmering strands of their blonde hair. Gradually, a low groan of discomfort escaped from the figure as they stirred, hinting at the presence of an underlying pain.
A melodic voice echoed softly gently complaining, "Ah, why does my body hurt so much? Especially my heart. I thought I couldn't feel pain," while rubbing the back of her head. Pausing as she felt the strands of hair, she slowly opened her eyes. Gazing at her hands, she quickly moved them to touch her face. Her soft and dainty hands met a cold, hard metallic surface.
The girl looked up and saw a flame symbol, and she made a short exclamation of understanding.
"Should have known it was not going to be easy." The girl opened the bag laid next to her. Inside was a book containing information about the body she was currently in. Her emerald eyes quickly skimmed through the information.
"Elf, eh? Quite interesting," She reached for her ears as she said that. 'Feels like normal ears, if you exclude the length.' She reached for her mask and took it off. It looked like a Volto mask. "It's removable? Good to know, but I won't be taking it off," She put the mask back on and continued reading.
'Nasrin Una, weird name. Umm, let's see what else?' After going through all the information, now called Nasrin, she looked into the bag. A few herbs and a white Bauta mask. It looked more comfortable, so Nasrin switched the masks.
Picking herself up, Nasrin thought of the words on the tombstone: Millennia ago, this vast grassland used to hold trees that seemed to touch the sky, and waters so clear you would think the clouds were on the floor.
Nasrin looked around. The forest did match the description of the tombstone, but why did one need to use a door to reach this place? From the looks of things, those beings could re-create the scene. Unless…
'Enough pondering, I'm not going to bother myself with this nonsense, I already have a lot on my plate from now on,' Nasrin rubbed her hair as she thought. Looking around, she did not find a trail. Seems the original got lost and died from something.
Seeing the were no wounds on the body, an animal attack was ruled out. Nasrin opened the bag once again and started inspecting the herbs.
'Pansies, lavender, hibiscus, ginger, catnip, nightshade… how did she even gather these? I thought each had different growing seasons and different qualifications to grow.' Nasrin removed the herbs and inspected them. Looking into the bag she realized she missed one.
"Ricin?!" Nasrin hurriedly dropped the plant. She opened the bag and poured out the contents. More ricin poured out with other herbs like henbane, oleander and wisteria.
Nasrin dropped the bag and moved a few steps away from the plants. "Well, that answers my question of how she died," Nasrin looked at her hands then looked at the plants on the ground.
'It's best a find a water source and wash my hands,' Nasrin sighed as she looked at the book with information. 'And it seems she an Apothecary as well. If she was, how did she not know how toxic those flowers were?'
"I better find a water source."