[ETHERBOUND] Chapter 1: The Crystal Forest

What an incredible nightmare! A feverish feeling of fear coursed through my veins. But as soon as I was awake, any vestige of the nightmare vanished without a trace, and I felt calm almost instantly. I knew there had been a nightmare, but it was gone, and failing in my endeavor to recall it, I was soothed.

I opened my eyes, but to no avail, for the room was so dark that all I saw was the nothingness of a void whether my eyes were open or closed. To make sure, I blinked several times, and though I felt my eyelids opening and closing, I experienced no change in my vision. I could not help thinking that there should be some moonlight or external light that should at least allow me to see something other than pure darkness. But there was none.

Once I realized what it was that I was facing, I felt the feverish feeling of fear again. Being so wholly gripped by such a darkness invariably results in fear. This fear is such a grippingly strong fear that it is certain to paralyze anyone, from the weak-willed to the most adamantly brave minds. This paralysis then is accompanied by a warm sensation of numbness that washes over your body, quelling some of the feeling of imminent danger and providing for logical thought again. The first thought that came to my mind was that, somehow, I had gone blind in my sleep. My vision has always been very poor, and it was not inconceivable that somehow I had finally managed to push it beyond the point of no repair. Nonetheless, part of my mind was resolutely holding on to the hope that I was not in fact blind, and that this darkness was explainable by the sheer darkness of the night. I do not know how long I lay there in the darkness, frozen in place, waiting for time to save me, counting the seconds as they turned to minutes and maybe even hours. And with each passing moment, my resolve crumbled a little bit more, threatening to disintegrate completely into despair.

Just when I thought for sure I had gone blind somehow, shimmering lights pierced through the window, dispelling my mind of any such thoughts. The colors were predominantly vivid violets and bright blues, ranging from the deepest purple to the shiniest turquoise. A brief moment was all I needed to adjust my eyes to the light, despite the fact that I was trapped in absolute darkness just a moment prior. I sat up, finding myself not clothed in pajamas, but in a stately purple robe adorned with gold lines. I stood up and walked over to the window. Outside was not the backyard garden with its climbing ivy vines and tall trees with dull red leaves; instead was a glimmering silver path that wound through a forest. But these were no normal trees--every leaf sparkled. What a curious sight! The shock of seeing something entirely different gave way to a desperate desire, fueled by curiosity, burning inside me. I hurriedly searched my room for my door, but was not able to find one. Where my door had been previously, I now saw a blank wall.

Thus, it seemed that the only exit was through the window. Opening the window was of no problem. The window was covered by a thin screen purposed to block out insects and bugs when the window was opened. I had no desire to cut open the screen--after all, replacing it would be costly! I touched the screen, thinking of a way to get outside without disturbing it, when I felt the strong force of a sudden gale of wind smash into me. As it did, I looked up in horror to see the screen had ruptured. Well, so much for that. At least I didn’t destroy it. Hopefully insurance would resolve that particular problem.

With such a bright landscape ahead of me, it was absolutely imperative that I explore. I felt no drowsiness, but rather a strikingly powerful excitement. Heart racing, I crawled out the window into the luminous forest. What I saw was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen, or am likely to see. The trees were of varying heights, from small saplings barely taller than I was to towering giants far up into the skies. The aggressively bright tints in the undergrowth transitioned into medium colors smoothly. And higher up, all one would see were increasingly darker and darker shades of purple and blue the higher up in the canopy one gazed. The sky was not discernible from the tops of the trees. Whether it was complete blackness because it was nighttime or because the trees blocked out all external light, the roof of the forest was nonetheless very dark.

Strolling through the forest, I found that the trees were very much alive--the atmosphere of life permeated the woods as far as the eye could see. The leaves were crunchier than the dried leaves of fall, and seemed to all carry a sweet scent. It was as if every leaf was indeed crystal candy, and, were it not for a fear of potential poison, I would have verified this fact. 

I roamed the forest around my room, and was struck by something I can only understand as a physical anomaly. The rest of my home was nowhere to be found. My bedroom was constructed in a clearing in the forest. The room was alone in the forest, with no signs of a backyard, a front yard, the rest of the house, the street, any neighbors, or even any adjoining rooms to my bedroom. I circled around my bedroom a full three times before accepting this fact. 

It wasn’t until I realized the rest of my home had vanished that I started to worry about what I was supposed to do. A torrent of cold sweat washed over me. The forest, the vanishing of the house, and the strangeness of everything here finally set in, and I felt the overwhelming weight of chaos explode within me. I could make no sense as to what happened, how it happened, and why it happened.

How was I supposed to get back to the real world? This world that I was in was most definitely not real. In a strange way I can’t describe, it lacked any and all feeling of reality. It is a strange topic, and I know for sure I am not doing it justice here. But I must make an attempt, however feeble. It was simply as if reality felt very real compared to where I was now.

Completely dumbstruck by the absurdity of the events that were unfolding before my eyes, I paced back and forth, trying to make sense of the strangeness, to get even just a bare glimmer of an idea about what was happening, but my thoughts were a chaotic mess. The more I thought about it, the more confusing it was. People don’t simply go to bed one night and wake up in strange worlds the next morning. What happened to the real world? Nothing made any sense, nothing seemed like it was going to make any sense, everything was confusing and everything was falling apart! How did I get here? How do I go back? This world seemed interesting… should I continue exploring, or stay where I am? What if I get lost here? My panicked thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

“Oh! Hello there!” The voice was deep and distinctly kind. It had a certain smooth tone that conveyed the utmost certainty, but it was neither arrogant nor bold. I wheeled around to see a man of medium height and slender build. He smiled pleasantly, brightening his already smooth profile. Though he did not look old, he had a full head of brightly gray hair that was not unlike the color of liquid mercury.

“Who…? Who are you?” Seeing another person in the strange setting shocked me.

He chuckled a moment before responding. “I am the Herald, sender and receiver of messages, manager of the Grand Caduceus, and the fastest runner you’ll find anywhere here. What brings you, traveller, to the Etherworld?”

The Herald? The Grand Caduceus? The Etherworld? Was he just making things up? Did I have the misfortune to meet a wacko as the first person in this strange place?

“I… I want to know how I got here, what this place is, and how I can leave.”

“You ask some good questions, some very good ones! Unfortunately, you also ask some very vexing questions, very vexing indeed! And so, I am afraid I cannot help you, but perhaps I can help you find the answers you wish to find!” 

“Oh,” I mumbled, “how would you go about doing that?”

My disappointment at not having an immediate answer was lost on him. With remarkable rapidity, he produced a tattered cloth upon which were inscribed strange characters and illustrations. “Here, have a gander at this map!”

I glanced at the cloth. It vaguely resembled a map, though there appeared to be no language I recognized; instead, a collection of strange symbols accompanied each geometric shape which I could at least understand to be markings of important places. 

“We are here,” the Herald continued, pointing to a blank patch in a darkly shaded area which I assumed was the forest and the clearing that surrounded my bedroom. He slid his finger across the surface of the map, following a faded line. “That right there is one of the Binds. Take that, and it will lead you to places where others will be able to help.”

Again, I was baffled. The Binds? What would those be?

“What exactly is a Bind?”

The Herald seemed confused by my question. “What do you mean? A Bind is just what it is. It is one of the many that hold our world together.”

I was curious, and so I pressed further. “Well, what do you mean by that? How do they hold the world together? Why do I need to go find it?”

The Herald became even more confused. “Is it not obvious? The Binds hold the world together, therefore you must go to the Binds if you want to travel to different places,” with some annoyance in his tone, as if this were the most obvious fact in the world and it was inexplicable how anyone could fail to understand it.

I did not want to anger him, and so I stopped asking, but my curiosity was still unsated. I resolved to simply go to the “Bind,” whatever it was, and discover just what this “Bind” was for myself.

“How long will it take to get there?”

The Herald paused for a moment to think, then answered, “It’s not incredibly far away. It should only be a few hours’ travel.”

“A few hours!” I was flabbergasted. It was a school night, and I worried over how I was to get back home, let alone get some rest before school the next day. I thought for sure that a few hours must already have passed since I first got here, not including the time I lay frozen in the darkness. And then another thought struck me--my family would notice I was missing in the morning when it was time to go to school. Everything was unfamiliar and frightening. It took all I could muster to control the panic. Panic is very interesting indeed-you will find that it takes up so much space it should squeeze out any rational thought that seeps into your mind.

“I understand you must be very distressed right now,” said the Herald, in a much softer tone. “In my forty years at this post I’ve met scores upon scores of poor souls caught up in the chaos of the world. I find a cup of soothing tea always helps. Would you like to join me for one? We can sit and have a little chat, and then probably resolve whatever matters trouble you.”

Had it been a world I was familiar with, under a circumstance where I was clear of mind, I think I should have turned him down. On the map he showed me, his house was in the exact opposite direction of the Bind. But, this seemed to be the only person who knew things about this world and the only person to help me should I get lost. Deciding I would stop by his home first before embarking on a further journey, I simply mumbled a brief acceptance and followed him as he led the way.

We walked along a glittering path that wound through the forest, stepping on the crunchy crystalline leaves below. Seeing the leaves again brought a rather childish question to my lips.

“Hey, Mr. Herald! Are these leaves edible?”

He laughed a kindly laugh and replied, “Of course they’re edible! Have you never heard of the famous crystal trees? These trees are used in all sorts of cuisine! They are often used as a substitute for sugar, and in many cities, there are processing plants that create many different products from them. Every part of every tree you see here is edible, and an experienced cook will have a thousand recipes for every species you see here!” Then, to prove his point and to my amazement, he plucked a bright red leaf and prompted took a bite out of it. To my utter shock, the sound produced by the chewing of the leaf was thunderously crunchy and strangely reminiscent of firecrackers. He then added, “Oh, and if you want, you can just call me Herald! Everyone, myself included, will know who you are talking about.”

Hearing this good news confirm my original belief, I helped myself to a rather appetizing-looking deep purple leaf with thin blue shards protruding from it. Drawing it close, I saw the intricate pattern of crystals that was unlike any leaf I’d seen before. It definitely smelled sweet, but there was also a hint of tart sourness, like a sweet citrus. These same flavors persisted upon chewing on the leaf. The leaf’s texture was very strange, however. It seemed to start off very similar to any hard sour candy, but quickly began to crackle and pop like the carbonated rock candies that had stirred up such a controversy a while ago. Finally, after a good amount of time had passed, the popping subsided and in turn the leaf became sticky and chewy while its flavor sweetened. In this phase, it seemed very much like bubble gum, except, unlike gum, it dissolved over time. It was a very strange experience, but also very pleasant. I made a mental note to take some leaves and seeds with me whenever I left, in the hopes of studying its scientific properties and duplicating them, or perhaps cultivating my own farm of these crystal trees once I returned to the real world, wherever that was. It could be the roots of a wonderful business venture, one that I was sure could easily put the largest companies of the day out of business. I daydreamed about becoming a candy tycoon, sitting in a corner office, gazing at my face on the cover of Fortune magazine, looking outside at my many skyscrapers housing the many chemists developing new candies with the mystical crystal leaves, perhaps thinking of the factories constantly churning out new product… what a wonderful thought!

My daydreaming was interrupted by a sudden change of setting. We reached another clearing in the forest where the path we had been taking split into two. One turned to our left, the other to our right. In between the fork in the road was a heavily worn sign. Inscribed on the sign were two arrows pointing in the directions of the splits. Following each arrow were bold headings conveying the cardinal direction of each split (the left split went east and the right split went west). Under that was a brief list of what I can only guess to be place names. According to the sign, the easterly path led to the Dunes of Desolation and the Grand Caduceus, and the westerly path led to the Paradise Gardens and the Dreamcatcher. Time and again the place would be this strange, and I felt myself slowly becoming accustomed to it. Furthermore, seeing the sign somehow affirmed the Herald’s previous assertion that he was indeed the manager of such a “Grand Caduceus.”

The Herald turned left at the split and I followed. As we walked, I realized the ground was growing increasingly bright. I looked upwards to see a faint pink hue in the sky, the color of strawberry ice cream. The clearing where my bedroom was must have been a very thick growth of trees that blocked out the sky, and now that we had left the thickest parts of the forest, there were clearings where light radiated through. Seeing the sky again was comforting, even though it was very strange like everything else here. You may think that it is simply because I feared the darkness, but I will remind you that even in the darkest parts of the forest there were glittering shimmers of light emitting from each crystal leaf.

Of course, the tint of pink that illuminated the heavens above was like nothing I had ever seen before. But just knowing that there was a sky encircling the world and not an endless void above gave me solace. It felt like the sky was a snuggly blanket wrapping the world in its cozy warmth. I was completely taken in. But then I thought of my own comfortable quilt in the “real world,” and anxiety took over. I realized that I still had to return with all possible speed, and I began walking faster.

Presumably, we were going to go to this Grand Caduceus, and then I would be able to witness for myself just how grand this caduceus possibly could be. Previously, I had seen imagery of the caduceus before. It was a rod with a small sphere affixed to one end and wings protruding off the sides, with two intertwined snakes weaved along the rod. I could not envision such an object being described as grand. Perhaps it could be powerful, or holy, or mighty, but grand? The word didn’t seem quite right. 

But then I saw it. An incredibly large white caduceus so colossal it towered above even the tallest of the crystal trees (which was no small height, I assure you) and protruded strikingly against its pale pink background. The closer we got, the taller I realized it was.

We reached the bottom of the Caduceus. The Grand Caduceus was mounted upon a massively large marble base placed on a small hill. In the side of the hill, I saw a door, and I pondered what was inside. Seeing twelve different locks, I was naturally even more curious. I looked upwards, and found that it was immeasurably tall, but that it seemed to defy the laws of physics as I knew them. At the base, the shaft was incredibly thin, barely two feet in diameter, and yet at the top the wingspan appeared to be at least fifty yards. This architectural feat left me wide-eyed and dumbfounded.

The Herald was clearly amused at my shock, and exclaimed, “It’s not called the Grand Caduceus for no reason! This marvel can send messages anywhere in the world within just seconds! It is also the most powerful Caduceus in the entire world, relaying any message from anywhere in the world. All the other Caducei are powered by this one, as a matter of fact!” He beamed at it with pride.

“Messages? How does it work?” I was curious.

“Look, up there!” He pointed to several active slivers of gold at the top. Some coming towards the Caduceus, others were leaving it. These golden slivers were very strange. They appeared to be flying chunks of golden dust shaped into various hieroglyphical runes. “Each one of those strips is a message. Some messages come here and stay here. Others are relayed to other Caducei where they will reach their recipients. And if I so desire, I can create a message and send it!”

With this, any doubts I had about the Herald were dispelled. It was good that I now trusted him to be knowledgeable about this world, for another stranger sprinted over, shouting as he did so. I turned to face him. He was dressed in dirty, tattered robes that dragged on the ground as a dashed over. His hair was long, messy, and hung all the way down past his shoulders, with various beads tied into it somehow. His face also wore a beard of similar qualities. It was only because of my relative ease with the oddities of this strange place that I did not jump upon meeting him.

“Hey! HEY! Herald! Urgent news! The Director wants you to send a message to the rest of the Council!” His voice was deep and gruff. “One of the Binds in the southwest is collapsing!”