KOU REACHED OUT AND HELD onto Lady Mania’s hand. Together, they appeared as if they were mother and child. The crowd parted into two as if a path was formed between two waves of the ocean.

Up the stairs and past pots of blooming flowers with glowing petals, Mania led the small child through a set of double doors into the trunk of the massive, iridescent tree. As the doors slammed behind them, she released Kou’s hand and walked ahead.

A warm light filled the massive, circular room. Hundreds of bookshelves were lined across the tree’s inner trunk. Looking up, the small child saw golden leaves where the warmth came from as wisps of air circled around it almost like it was dancing with itself.

The small child was mesmerized by the colorful library but came across a clay pot filled with dirt and a small pitcher of water next to it. Kou took out the seed from their pocket, remembering the moment they spent with Sentiana before her passing.

“She was kind to us all,” Mania said with her hands together, catching Kou’s attention. “Sentiana always insisted to stay in the Elkhin Lands with the hope you would come. She was wise beyond her years to do so. Go on, I’m sure she has waited so long to regrow.”

Kou carefully planted the seed in the clay pot with care and even poured some water from the pitcher as a leaf popped up from the soil.

“Now, Abraham instructed you to come here, hasn’t her?” she asked, standing in the center of the library.

The child nodded.

“And I presume you’ve seen the murals on your way here?”

Again, Kou nodded, cupping their hands together and making the sapphire star appear and float above their hands.

Mania took a step back, surprised. “So, you already acquired it then. Listen carefully, Kou,” she took a deep breath. “Go home. Forget the rest of us and just head home to your family.”

Kou noticed she was trembling as she spoke her words. The White Rabbit took a step forward and shook their head.

“We’ve already seen the consequences of what happens when one rabbit tries to save this world.” Her eyes seemed to be filled with pain and regret. “If there’s anyone who can truly be saved from the disasters of Oasia, it’s you.”

Kou shook their head again as they dropped their hands to their side, causing the star to vanish in thin air. With eyes glowing with determination, the small child stood their ground in defiance. They saw through her words and could see the pain she hid even more clearly

Mania dropped to her knees with tears welling up in her eyes. “I’m sorry, I should’ve known you’re just as stubborn as her.” She wiped away the tears with her sleeves. “I can’t be cruel or strict, it’s just not in my nature.”

Kou rushed up to her and held out their arms, waiting for a hug to comfort her.

Mania shook her head and stood up. “Not this time, White Rabbit. I’d rather learn from the past first before receiving any healing from your touch.”

Kou dropped their arms to their side with a disappointed look.

She chuckled. “You’ll get one soon. Now, for what you came here for.” She spread her feathery wings as several books floated out from the shelves and neatly stacked themselves on top of one another. Many of which were opened and leaned against the stack.

“The Legend of the White Rabbit isn’t necessarily wrong but it’s not right either,” she said as the books altogether appeared as one larger picture book before them. “It’s the tale of two rabbits. One who was born as the sun and the other as the moon.”

Two silhouettes were back to back and a golden leaf fell from above. It landed on the silhouettes, adding various colors and revealing them. The left silhouette was Kou with the sapphire star above their hands while the other was the Black Rabbit with eyes of moonlight. She had a rose-colored crescent moon hovering above her sleeved hands.

“Up to this point, you have only heard half of the foretold tale,” Mania said as the large page softly turned. “Your twin sister’s name was Tsukiko, but she preferred to be called ‘Tsu’.”

The next page showed the tall, lopsided building with the open room at the bottom level. The reminiscent, deceitful guise of the starry, night sky sent chills down Kou’s spine. The following page showed the bedroom they woke up in but directly across from the small child’s bed, was another like their own.

“The tale simply followed with the awakening of the two rabbits and the steps they took to restore the cycle of day and night,” Mania said and continued, “however, she was the first to wake then you sometime after.”

A tiny yawn could barely be heard from the pages of the large picture book. A small girl in a black, oversized bunny hoodie slowly opened her strange, yet beautiful moonlit eyes. She sat up and yawned once more as she swung her legs over the edge of her bed.

“Like you, she didn’t have a voice. She tried to wake you, but it was no use,” Mania narrated. “Your journey was like hers, but the city wasn’t empty. Instead, it teemed with life and activity.”

The Black Rabbit was shown on the next page, walking through a familiar path with bright lampposts and red lanterns along it.

“She was very determined to save all without your help. However, that was not how the tale was originally foretold,” she sighed as a bench with cushions was lowered from above, dangling by several wires. She sat down and helped Kou onto it.

The image on the page warped into a heavy storm with Tsu, the Black Rabbit struggling to move forward. As it turned once more, it showed the little girl in the village of the iridescent tree.

“After we took care of her, she left no matter how much I called out to her,” Mania said with saddened eyes. “I tried to stop her but there was nothing I could do.”

The pages of the large book quickly turned and turned until it rested on the final page, showing Tsukiko was trapped in the eye of a powerful storm.

“She tried to bear the weight of the world on her own, but it just wasn’t possible by herself. She wanted to save all of us but in the end, she was only one girl against the terrifying nature of Oasia.”

The massive picture book ended as the collective books that made up each part flew back to their places on the shelves.

Kou tried to stay awake but leaned against the harpy. The journey the small child took from the swamplands to hearing of their twin sister tired them out.

“It’s okay, you can rest. Everything you’ve done so far must’ve been too perilous for a single child to face alone,” Mania said as Kou laid down with their head resting on her lap.

The small child slowly closed their eyes and dozed off.

                                       ***

Distant from the iridescent tree, the ashes of Forestria Synesthesia were picked up by a heavy, yet powerful storm that rose in the horizon and in the center, was none of than a little girl.

Every step she took, the ground lit up with moonlight before quickly returning to the darkness beneath the eternal night. She suddenly stopped in her tracks, staring up at the strange yet calming full moon. A single tear welled up in her eyes and flowed down her cheeks as she tried to reach out to it. Once the tear reached the ground, the entire forest of ash brightened with glistening moonlight for a mere moment before succumbing to the shadows of the night once more.

Further beyond the horizon of the forest, a small fishing boat rested on calm, serene waters. Spotting what could be trouble in the distance, an old man pulled out a black spyglass and extended it. Abraham saw the large storm in the distance and couldn’t believe his eyes. He rushed over to both sides of his boat and pulled up the two fishing rods. He started the engine and drove the boat as fast as he could, causing waves to form beneath the starry night sky.

The entire world of Oasia seemed calm and still for a single moment but it was disrupted by the approaching storm of a shrouded world’s anger and despair. Huge swarms of luminescent butterflies of various colors emerged from their homes and flew away to escape the powerful winds.