Chapter 4

She woke up, feeling a sense of peace, but then realized that she wasn’t on the blanket she thought she was lying on… but she was somewhere she has never seen before. Rose sat up, panicking because she didn’t know where she was, but then realized what her surroundings were: the skies were filled with colors of Aurora Borealis and there was emerald green grass, sparkling and gleaming, like gemstones. She leaned closer, and saw that the blades of grass were REAL emeralds! Looking up, she gasped. Surrounding her was glass-like flowers-no, swarovski flowers! 

The trees were all gemstone too! The tree trunks were made of amber and tiger’s eye. The leaves were a beautiful mix of emerald, dark green nephrite jade, and Russian diopside, and all the green gemstones she could think of, they were there, in those trees, in her surroundings. She was amazed by what was in front of her eyes, but then she realized that this place couldn’t be real. “All this is not real, all this is not real…”, she kept repeating to herself, pacing back and forth. “This is real, you are awake now.”, a soft, feminine voice stated. Rose turned around and stepped back. She had blue, long hair, a pale complexion, almost polar-white,  ice blue-gray eyes, and was wearing a blue long skirt, covered with blue and lavender vines, and a flouncy-sleeved blouse, with forget-me-knots clustered on it.

 “Who are you?”, she asked the girl. “Welcome Rose. I am Celeste.” She stood in shock. Rose stumbled on her words, baffled on how she already knew her name. “ How do you -”, Rose started. “I know because I am here to protect you”, she said calmly. “You are my destiny.” Rose began to wonder what she was talking about. She wasn’t scared of her, but she was still curious how she knew her name. There was a long moment of silence until Celeste said “You are in the Amazonite Forest. You came just as expected, like my star ancestors said you would.” Rose stood still, trying to process where she was, how she got there, who this girl was, and why was she here and not home? “This forest… it’s made of gems! How is this possible?”

Celeste giggled. ‘What’s so funny?”, Rose asked. “That is exactly what I said the first time I was here. I couldn't believe where I was, until I touched that tree.” “What?”, Rose said with a confused tone in her voice. The girl sighed. “Touch that tree trunk, then you will understand what this forest is.” Rose slowly walked towards the tree, even more confused than before. “Go ahead, it won’t bite!”, she said through a laugh. “Okay. Understanding, come to me.”, Rose said with a mocking tone. She pushed her hand onto the tree trunk, and closed her eyes. She saw crystals forming, sprouting from the ground, and the leaves growing out from the amber branches, as more and more gems formed into what was now a forest. Rose stepped back, shocked on what she saw, and turned on her heels to face the strange girl. “How did I do that?”, she questioned in amazement. “You didn’t, I did”. “Oh. So what, you gave me a uh, flashback of how this magical forest came to be?!?” She simply responded with, “Yes, that is exactly what happened. Good job, you are handling this better than what my family expected.” Rose’s mouth fell open. “Come on, let’s take a nature walk together, and no questions. The longer you are here, the better understanding and connected you will be to this place.”

Time passed, as they quietly walked through the forest, hearing that familiar hum again, from the same bird. Rose turned to look at the girl, following right behind her. “Well, since you know my name, I am assuming you know more about me, right?” Celeste nodded and smiled. “Ok, so why does that melody sound so familiar to me?”, she said with a curious tone. The blue-haired girl breathed deep, taking her question into consideration. “I don’t want to tell you yet, it’s too soon. You just got here.” Rose was shocked. “Why?” She blew off her other question. “I said no questions. You will learn more the longer you stay…”, and she stopped there, making Rose wondering why she was hiding so much. “ I'm so tired. Can we stop, or can I go home?”, she asked desperately. Celeste frowned. 

“I know somewhere we can go. C’mon.”, she instructed. Rose stood up with shaky legs, taking Celeste’s hand. “We are not that far away from it”. After talking and Celeste plucking a pink, glass flower for Rose, they finally had sight of a tall, glass like structure. “We’re almost  here!”, Celeste breathed, pulling Rose by the arm. Rose breathed in the fragrance of the swarovski flower. Not even a real flower! “The flower, it smells so good. Why? It’s glass!”, Rose exclaimed. “That’s just like a Earth flower, but it’s not structured like one at all. Be careful, push through the vines, you could get tangled in them easily.” After running the rest of the way, they finally arrived to their destination. “Oh, we’re… here…” Celeste said while panting. Rose gasped in shock. They were standing in front of castle, one like she has never seen, never dreamt of. It stood so tall with a milky and smooth appearance, with the colors of the Aurora Borealis, flowing smoothly through it. She stood there thinking that it was the most breathtaking sight. “Oh my gosh… it’s so BEAUTIFUL. I’m speechless!”, Rose exclaimed. “Unfortunately, this place is only temporary.” Celeste gave Rose a look. “Maybe”, she said with a smile.

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