49

'I'm so restless!' said Lucien, pacing the parlour one evening.

'When are you not?' groaned Kuro. 'Go read a book or something!'

'Oh!' said Lucien, whirling around with sudden realisation. 'YES! I'm going to read a book! Bye!'

'He's half crazy,' said the cat, dealing out cards to Grace, who only laughed as she tried to hold them properly.

Later that night, as Grace went upstairs, she noticed Lucien's door ajar and peered in. The demon had a large book in his lap, and was frantically making notes in a way that somehow looked comedic and impressive at once. She smiled and went to her own room without a word.

*  *  *

'FRIENDS!' bellowed Lucien next morning, making Grace and Kuro dash out, barely awake, wondering what he was up to now.

'Yeah...?'

'Friends,' continued the demon excitedly, 'I stayed up all night reading that cursed book I asked Kuro for – I'd nearly forgotten about it until yesterday!'

'So?' said Kuro, unimpressed.

'So, I have made groundbreaking discoveries!! And the long and short of it is... there's a sure-fire way of getting to Earth!'

Grace and Kuro looked blankly at him for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.

'He doesn't give up, does he?' said the cat, rolling his eyes.

'Yeah...'

'Huh?' said Lucien, confused. 'What's with you two?'

'Lucien, forget it,' said Grace gently. 'Even I'm used to this life now... and it's not so bad, really...'

'Are you giving up? Seriously? Where's the girl who told me she had a life to live and it wasn't here?'

'That was before, okay? But, seriously, nothing ever seems to work, and I've been thinking, maybe it's time to just accept this place, and be happy...'

'Well, go ahead and be happy,' grinned Lucien, his excitement not a degree less. 'But my dream is Earth, Grace; and I know it's yours too. We must never lose hope! No matter how many times we fall, we'll rise again and laugh at it together.'

'That's oddly inspiring...' observed Kuro. 'And depressing at the same time, somehow...'

'All right,' relented Grace with a smile. 'Let's do this, then. I'm ready for your new plan.'

'Now that's the spirit,' said Lucien happily. 'So... apparently, the centre of the Blue Wasteland contains a portal – if you can reach it, that is. Boom! Simple.'

'Wasn't that book from Earth?' said Kuro, puzzled. 'How could they write about the Blue Wasteland?'

'Ancient Egyptians had extremely skilled magicians. That book was a guide for communicating with the underworld—'

'The mafia?!'

'No, idiot, the dead! And of course that includes Hell.'

'And the dead mafia too maybe...'

'Yeah, whatever. Anyway, the method described in the book is for getting from Earth to a place they called the Land of Eternal Tears – just an old name for the Blue Wasteland! All we have to do is reverse it and go to Earth from there instead!'

'Okay, let's suppose it works; but the real question is, how are you going to cross it? They say seven steps are enough to affect you. A journey to the centre could be fatal.'

They paused. This was by far the riskiest plan they had come up with, and yet...

'We'll find a way,' said Lucien determinedly. 'The key to surviving that place is to not lose hope. I think my dream for Earth is enough to keep me going. Grace, I'll look out for you, I promise.'

She smiled at him and nodded. 'Let's do it, then.'

*  *  *

Kuro watched as the two went into the kitchen passage after breakfast. 'This thing turned out to be more useful than we expected,' he remarked. 'Hey, take care, okay?'

'We'll be fine,' grinned Lucien. 'See you on Earth!'

They went down the dark passage, silently wondering if this was finally it. At last, they stood before the radient portal, hearts hammering.

Lucien looked at Grace and smiled. 'Are you ready?'

Grace nodded and held his hand. 'Let's go!'

They stepped through the blue ring, and for a moment, it felt as though they were walking on water. Then, ground appeared beneath them again – soft, marshy earth that seemed to be drowning in its own sorrows. Their surroundings were beautiful, but barren: bluish-grey mountains in the distance, and various-sized lakes across the land.

'Those mountains can never be climbed,' said Lucien rather sombrely. 'It's an illusion.'

'That's depressing...'

'Fits for a land like this...'

As they walked on, they began to feel an aching sense of weariness creep upon them. Each step required excessive energy; and their journey felt more and more pointless and never-ending.

Soon, as their very will to walk seemed to vanish, Lucien stopped suddenly. 'Why are we even doing this? It was an idiotic idea! Let's turn back!'

Grace looked at him. 'Don't you want to find the portal?'

'I do, but...'

They walked on in silence.

'I'll never get to Earth.'

Grace held his hand firmly. 'You will. It's just this place getting to you.'

'But—'

'No buts. We chose to come, and we'll go all the way, remember?'

Lucien sighed, dragging his feet and grimacing at the wet dirt which seemed to be bogging him down. Everything looked so... disappointing.

'I don't want to go!' he snapped. 'Hell, I don't even want to live! I'll never get what I want! My dreams are crushed!'

'Your dream is just out of reach!'

'Like those mountains!'

'Like your heart. Believe in it.'

Lucien nodded with a heavy sigh. 'I suppose...'

'How long now?'

'We're probably halfway through.'

'So it's all downhill from here.'

Lucien smiled weakly. 'Guess so. Gosh, this had better work. If it doesn't, I just might collapse here or something. What a sucky way to die!'

'I'll catch you if you fall. And drag you all the way back if I have to,' said Grace. 'No dying on my watch!'

Lucien grinned, and suddenly, walking didn't seem too hard. 'Thanks. That warmed my heart...'

As they went on, Grace gazed at the vast expanses of water, wondering how things had come to this. What would her life be like if she hadn't been summoned here? Better or worse? But more importantly, where could she make more of a difference?

She frowned. Lucien would have gotten along just fine without her. Her aunt might be glad to be rid of her, though. Who really needed her? No one...

You're a burden, a menace...

'No, I mustn't think that...' thought Grace desperately, just as she tripped over a stone and fell forward into a large lake.

'GRACE!' yelled Lucien, dashing forward to grab her, but she was already sinking in the water.

Everything grew quiet and muffled as she sank, and somehow, she lacked the strength to go up. It was the end, probably. How else could this plan have ended?

Her eyes closed, and she found herself slipping from the water into a dry bed – her bed, in her old room, while her mother made pancakes and called her down for the third time.

'Mmm, I'm sleepy,' she said, just like she had said that day. 'I don't want to get up! You're mean for making me go to school!'

'Awww, Grace, don't say that,' said her father, entering with a grin. 'You know what? If you're a good girl today, we'll get ice-cream later, okay?'

'I don't want ice-cream. I don't want anything... there's a big test today,' said Grace sheepishly. 'I'm so scared I'll fail...'

'Pass or fail, we're here with you,' said her father gently. 'But if you pass... maybe we can get you that doll you wanted from the toyshop the other day...'

'Oh, really!' said Grace in delight. 'I'll do my best, then!!!'

*  *  *

Grace felt a pang of fear as she waited for her parents to return. She had passed the test. She wanted to tell them, but it had been three hours. She found a pot of comfort soup in the kitchen. She was starving, so she ate it by herself.

They never ate comfort soup alone.

*  *  *

Her aunt stood firmly beside her as the police noted down the particulars. She only caught fragments of the adults' conversation.

'Accident.... near the toy shop... hit-and-run....'

'Your mother is in the hospital. Your father had this in his hands before he died,' said a sympathic-looking officer. 'I think it was for you...'

Grace took it with numb hands. The doll she had wanted. They hadn't waited to know whether she had passed or failed. They had gotten it anyway.

She broke down as she realised they had gone out of the way for her... Had she gotten up without a fuss, they wouldn't have driven there. They wouldn't have taken that route.

*  *  *

She stepped out of the hospital, clutching her mother's cross, sobbing.

Her parents had died because of her... and she could never let go of that guilt as long as she lived...

'Don't cause me trouble,' said her aunt sternly, taking her home.

Grace nodded. Never again.

*  *  *

'Grace! GRACE! Wake up, you idiot! Don't you dare do this to me!'

She opened her eyes. She was out of the water – Lucien was still holding her in his arms, drenched from head to toe. His face was frantic as he tapped her face.

'Human, talk to me! Grace!'

Why did he care? She didn't deserve it...

'Go away,' she said, her tears freefalling. 'Without me.'

'You really don't deserve to be mine...'

'You're nothing; just a girl who's a burden to everyone she's with!'

'Your own parents died because of you, didn't they?'

She wept uncontrollably as Lucien held her close in bewilderment.

'What's with you?' he said in a panic. 'Why are you saying this?'

'I don't deserve happiness,' she said. 'Because my selfishness is the reason my parents died... go on without me, Lucien, I—'

'Enough! Not a word more!' said the demon hotly. 'You can never be selfish, human! You loved your parents. There was no way you could have stopped their death. It's not your fault!'

'I'm a burden wherever I go...'

'Says who? Your stuffy aunt?'

'But—'

'Oh please! Forget everyone else! I think you're amazing, Grace. You're the girl who turned my barren yard into a garden! The one who showed me what good food really is. The one who... made that castle feel like home. I like you, Grace, and I don't care about anything else. You'd better come with me, or else!'

Grace smiled. And as she did so, her cross glowed; a bright beam of light that shone on them both and instantly made them feel better.

'See?' smiled Lucien. 'You're full of light energy!'

'I just realised,' said Grace suddenly. 'That it's not always me; it's you, Lucien. Right now, and the first time my cross glowed at dinner – it was because of your energy!'

'I'm a demon,' said Lucien. 'I don't think so.'

'But you have a heart – a beautiful one.'

Lucien went red – but whatever he felt surprisingly propelled him forward.

'I feel lighter somehow,' he said after a while. 'Like the storm has passed and I'm walking into safety.'

'Me too. Maybe we're approaching the centre...'

They stopped. Ahead of them was a lighted abyss.

'This is it,' said Lucien excitedly. 'It's supposed to land us there directly.'

'So, are you sure about this?' said Grace, looking at him.

'Sure,' smiled Lucien, holding her hand firmly. 'With you, I can go anywhere!'

'At the count of three, then...'

'Three... two... one—'

They jumped.

And fell... deeper into a sea of light and water that whirled around them as they floated through the portal.

Then, they landed with a thud and looked around.

They were lying on a stretch of pinkish sand, with gentle green waves lapping over them and the orange-trunked palm trees nearby. It was a beach.

'It's beautiful, but it's different,' said Grace, puzzled.

Lucien walked over to the side and gazed at a purple flower that seemed to glow like a gem. 'Felinzia...' he said with sudden delight. 'My mother always said my eyes looked like the felinzia flower...'

'She did?' said Grace, standing next to him. 'Does that mean, then, that we...'

'We're not on Earth,' said Lucien. 'We're in the realm of the Fallen Garden!'