Garden of Illusions — Meilin

After being reunited with Yulan, we found Himari and Jianyun, as well as Haruki.

Haruki and Jianyun had already eliminated the illusions; therefore, their minds weren’t too affected. However, Himari was in a relatively poor state, even forgetting who Jianyun was. The garden itself was an illusion, as Lady Elpida said. Being in an illusion, my brain was getting fuzzy, and sleep threatened to take over.

This is horrible.

Why would one create a space to fool others?

At first, I had just wanted to escape this place, but looking at the people, all indulged in their own “fake” fantasies, I couldn’t help but sympathise with them.

Jianyun sighed; he appeared to be affected by the illusions as well, as his eyes were drooping. Despite all that, he still looked about as attractive as ever, and Himari, though she had forgotten him, couldn’t help sneaking glances. Well, who can blame her? She had even called him “pretty boy” and whispered to me in glee how lucky she was to be travelling with a party of such gorgeous people.

Yulan kept fussing over Himari, checking her temperature and muttering to herself. She fretted about Himari’s condition, which was understandable. Himari had mistaken us for her fans at first, and her actions were tipsy. She looked overjoyed, much like the citizens, with her cheerful bounces.

Haruki was down in the pits, like most of us, not saying a word on the way. Getting a chance to meet people who were once close to you, only to discover they were fake, must’ve drained a lot out of his spirit. Can’t say the same for me; I was more enraged than upset.

“I don’t know why I would even believe that was truly him,” Jianyun grumbled, scrunching his eyebrows. He was talking to himself, but curiosity got the better of me, and I replied, “Who?”

“My brother.” So that person Jianyun went to have a drink with was his brother. No wonder they looked so alike. I looked up at Jianyun’s distant gaze. “He had died in the battle against the monsters. I was unable to fight back then…” I didn’t know why Jianyun was suddenly opening up to me; perhaps he just needed someone to talk to. But I wasn’t the best when it came to emotional talks, so I simply replied, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

It must’ve hurt him to be reminded of such memories.

“And these people, they are all being fooled!” Jianyun said through gritted teeth, “I can’t just stand by and do nothing!” I silently agreed. Looking at the citizens of Eikasia, all laughing and singing cheerfully. From the start, I knew it was too good to be true. The place came straight from a musical, where it always ends with a happy ending.

But what can we do? We’re merely passing travelers.

Meanwhile, Himari chattered about her 'fans' enthusiastically. She had not known that they were illusions, and was by far the most cheerful person in our group.

“You said that we should meet this ‘creator of Eikasia’, right?” Jianyun asked, and it seemed he had just thought of an idea, because his face lit up, which only made him more alluring. Himari continued swooning over him, her face bright pink. Some passersby also noticed the charming soldier and gossiped among themselves.

“Yes?”

“Do you think it would be possible to ask them to stop this act? To lift the curtains of this illusion?” Jianyun looked at me determinedly. I widened my eyes in shock at the absurdity of the question.

Someone voiced out my exact thoughts. It was the snobby elf—I meant Lady Elpida, ”Huh!” She scoffed, “Finding the person is hard enough, asking them to rip down this work of art? Ridiculous. I won’t approve of it. He has spent so much work and careful design to create this piece, what makes you think he would tear it down at your request?”

“He won’t.” Jianyun said, voice unwavering, “But I’ll make him. No matter what it takes.”

Not bad. If we manage to take down the whole illusion, we won’t need to look for the exit. That would make life much easier for all of us.

Lady Elpida shrugged, “Alright. Do what you want. I guess it’ll be an interesting battle to see.”

We walked around the city, asking around for information about this ‘creator’, but nobody knew anything about him. The only answer we’ve gotten was: “Creator? Well, if you’re talking about the person who founded Eiksia, we don’t exactly know. Heck, we don’t even know about our city’s history.” And then laugh it off.

“Meilin, how long do we have to walk for? It’s been ages.” Himari’s shoulder slumped, and she pouted like a child. “I agree. Himari should take a rest, so should you.” Yulan was worried about the two of us, but that wasn’t the spirit we needed in this situation.

Eikasia had no end, except for the only exit. We’ve been going in circles for what feels like an eternity. Jianyun and I were the only ones focused on the task. Himari and Haruki were noticeably worn out, Yulan was fussing over Himari, and Lady Elpida was uninterested.

Elves are supposed to be smart. Yet this one is just slacking off! But wait…

“Lady Elpida,”

“Hmm?”

“You know this guy, don’t you?”

The tips of her mouth turned up, “What makes you think that?”

I knew it. “You’ve been referring to the ‘creator’ as he. Normally, one wouldn’t assume someone’s gender unless one knows that person.” I narrowed my eyes.

Lady Elpida’s eyes lit up, “You’re a sharp one. Perhaps humans aren’t that dumb after all.” Tsk. “I’ve already given some hints about his identity, but I’ll give another—garden.”

“Garden?” Jianyun furrowed his eyebrows, “Just that?” Lady Elpida nodded.

Garden. That would be the ‘garden’ from the garden of pleasures, which is Eikasia. And other hints? What hints did she give…The person is a male, Eikasia is an illusion created by a pair of artistic hands... wait, artistic hands? In Eikasia? Garden of pleasures...An artist in the garden?

An artist in the garden!

“That’s it!” I shouted, spooking Himari, who was half asleep.

“You got it?”

I grabbed the nearest person’s hand, almost by instinct, and it just turned out to be Jianyun. We ran and ran until we arrived at a garden, specifically, the famous garden of Eikasia. It was then that I noticed I had been holding his hand for so long. “Oh—sorry.” I finally let go and looked up at Jianyun.

Huh. He’s flustered? His cheeks sure seem redder than usual. Is he okay? I reached out my hand, but then suppressed the urge to touch his cheek to prevent any more embarrassment.

I strode right into the garden.

“Wait! You’re not supposed to go there! It’s out of bounds!” Himari gripped my hand tightly, “Look at the sign!” Maybe this was the effect of the illusion, for I saw no signs. Yulan held Himari back, “It’s okay, it’s okay. I’ll stay here with her, you guys go ahead.”

Sure enough, as soon as we ventured into the garden, an artist could be seen, painting the scenery. “By garden, you meant this garden. You also hinted that the 'creator' has an artistic mind. All that’s left is to check if the person is a man, right?”

Lady Elpida smiled, but this wasn’t the smug smile she wore all the time; it was a smile of genuine admiration.

Huh.

I had thought she couldn't think highly of anyone other than herself.