World of the Whimsical

For the next three days, I was overflowing with love and joy. I had no idea what was going on around me. All I knew was that Alice was by my side. There was never a time where she and I weren’t together. It felt as if our souls were totally in sync.

When I woke up on the fourth day, however, the energy was entirely different. My entire body was shaking, and I had some serious chills. I jumped out of bed to take a look out the window.

The sky was black. There was no rain. There was no lightning or thunder. The sun seemed to have been deleted from the sky.

I walked over to gently shake Alice awake. She looked at me, puzzled, and asked, “What’s wrong, Simon?”

I replied, “Come and take a look at this,” then helped Alice out of bed. As we walked to the window, the entire cottage started shaking violently. I held Alice tightly while trying to keep my composure; I was just as frightened as she was.

“Simon…what’s happening? What was that?”

“I wish I knew…”

We gazed at the dark sky. Many villagers had walked outside, as they wanted to know what was happening as well. Saying nothing, Alice and I changed out of our sleeping clothes and headed outside.

The ground shook once more, and a thunderous roar echoed in the sky. Everyone began to panic. Tree branches and other debris started flying in all directions.

Amid the fierce winds, Alice suddenly pointed at something behind me and shouted, “Simon! Look!”

I quickly turned around. An absolutely massive tornado was in the nearby woods. It didn’t seem to be moving. However, if there was one thing I learned from my short time in Omaha, it’s that whenever a tornado looks like it’s not moving, that’s usually your cue to get underground.

There was something strange about this one, though. I could feel a signature coming from it. No doubt about it, this was no ordinary storm. This was―

“Lahneus!” I shouted. “It’s Lahneus! He’s back!”

“What!?” Alice shrieked. “What are you saying!?”

A voice suddenly replied from the heavens, “That is Lahneus. More specifically, it is what remains of him.”

Alice and I looked up to see a girl with wings coming down in a streak of light. She sliced through the tornado, causing it to disappear completely.

“It’s you!” I exclaimed. “Wait, what’s your name again?”

“Eleanor,” the girl said with a smile. “It’s a pleasure to see you again. I hope Alice has been good to you!”

All three of us briefly chuckled as a horrible serpentine beast emerged from a shadow on the ground. It made sounds that I wasn’t able to comprehend. I could feel it staring directly at me; I drew my sword and warned Alice to stand back.

“Don’t!” Eleanor shrieked.

“Why not?” I asked. “I’m pretty much the only one in the world that can take on Lahneus.”

“The Lahneus you fought before is dead. He succumbed to his wounds as he was being transported away, causing his dark force to leak out. He is now a Remnant Shadow.”

My heart dropped. Did I just make everything worse? No, that can’t be right. There was no way I could’ve known what would happen after beating Lahneus. I didn’t even know he died!

“So, what now?” I asked. “How do I fight this thing, if I can at all?”

Eleanor looked at me, frowning sympathetically. “You can’t,” she said. “Shadows are evil in its purest form. Their existence is far beyond your own.” The ground began shaking again. The shadow was on his way back out. “Go, you two! Get out of here!”

Suddenly, Alice shouted, “No!”

“Alice…”

“I don’t want you to leave me again. Ellie, please don’t do this!” Although tears ran down her face, Alice was overflowing with defiance.

“Look, it doesn’t hurt to try,” I said. “Somehow and someway, we beat Lahneus once. We’ll do it again.”

“And we’ll do it together,” Alice chimed in.

Eleanor couldn’t help but giggle a little. She was most likely amused by our confidence. I didn’t come all this way just to sit on the sidelines, however. This was my time to shine―my opportunity to be the hero.

“Alright,” said Eleanor. “Let’s do this!”

Lahneus’s shadow re-emerged from the ground and let out a deafening roar. I readied my sword as the beast towered over us. He was staring directly at me.

At the right moment, as the shadow lunged at me, I slashed his head. Surprisingly, I was able to injure him. He cried out in pain and dove back into the ground. Eleanor looked at me, dumbfounded. I was just as confused as she was.

“I don’t think this would be a good time to explain anything,” I said, then pointed at the ground. “He’s using the ground as cover. Next time he comes out, don’t let him go back into the ground.” Eleanor and Alice nodded.

The shadow zipped towards me, still in the ground. I stabbed him with my sword as hard as I could, then flew back about ten feet from an explosive power surge. Though, that gave me an idea.

“Hey, Alice!” I shouted. “Come here for a second!” With her crossbow still drawn, Alice ran over to me. “Hold still…I don’t know whether or not this will hurt.”

I held Alice close to me. Vast amounts of power began to build up inside me. Then, as Alice fired the arrow, that power was unleashed.

Before Lahneus could retreat back into the ground, Eleanor suddenly flew towards him. She was holding a strange object that appeared to be made of gold. The object floated out of her hands and hovered directly above the wounded shadow.

Eleanor shouted, “Go! Get as far away from here as you can! Don’t worry―I will take it from here!”

Not knowing what to expect, I scooped Alice up into my arms. Then, I started running deep into the forest, not looking back as Enbridge became engulfed in light.