The sky is still blue, the clouds are still white and I am still me; my thoughts are much more organised and the world doesn't feel so loud. The woman with thick green hair folded her arms; her expression looked very serious and she said—or more like whispered—"When you're unconscious, your bodies may be taken to the Secret Garden." That name was completely unfamiliar to me, as it was to the two men near me, who looked bewildered upon hearing it.
"Secret Garden?" I repeated.
Mother paused for a moment before looking around to check if anyone else might be eavesdropping; I became even more curious about this place. After checking, Mother began to explain. "The Secret Garden is a place between life and death, a place whose location is unknown even to the God of Space." Just hearing that raised dozens of questions in my mind.
"It is a place where, simply by entering it, your body will gradually be healed of any wounds or illnesses," Mother paused for a moment to give us time to think; she didn't want me to go mad like I had before. "As far as I know, the only way to enter that place is to be invited directly by the owner of the garden—Mary Lennox."
"But why did she save us?" Robin asked, as we weren't special enough to deserve her help. Mother had to think for a moment to come up with a plausible reason, until she finally found some.
Mother held up one finger. "Firstly, perhaps she simply couldn't bear to see you in that condition," she said, then held up another finger. "Or secondly, because she knew you mustn't die there—especially you, Alice," she said, pointing her finger at me.
"Huh?" I echoed.
"Your Everafter holds immense potential; you can draw anything you wish from your cards, and you're still a Fable now," she said. Those last words took all three of us by surprise; there was something odd about what she'd said.
"I know you're finding my words a bit odd just now, but I'll explain it later. Even if the God of Space doesn't know the location, you should be proud of yourselves for managing to get in."
"Of the three gods of Neverland, it's only the God of Space who has the least information; I wonder why?" asked Romeo. That god was indeed very mysterious, and had the fewest followers of them all, despite the fact that he was the one who created the world and even what lay beyond it.
I glanced at Mother, who was giving an awkward smile; she was definitely hiding something. "Do you know anything about that, Mother?" Robin fired off the question before I could.
Mother scratched her cheek slightly and avoided making eye contact with us."Well… You could say they're quite a problematic god, And the fact that there's so little information about them is deliberate, so that nobody realises if they make a mistake." she said; since she was being so expressive now, we could easily tell if she was hiding something.
She finally looked back at us. "Do you still remember that incident with the roots and the giant?" The three of us nodded. "This is just my assumption; I could be wrong…" She glanced around nervously, as if struggling to think of how to explain it.
She finally began, "The giant and that magnificent house above the clouds were a mistake made by the God of Space." Hearing that took us all by surprise—a god making a mistake like that?
"I think the God of Space was preparing something, but because of those roots, the incident happened much sooner than it should have."
"Because once that giant was defeated, the giant's mansion above vanished—as if it had never existed in the first place. Who else could do that but the God of Space, right?"
Hearing that, it all made sense now. I glanced at Robin, who now seemed to understand just as much as I did, but when I looked at Romeo, I saw his hands clenched tightly.
I'd recognise those eyes anywhere—I'd always seen Red's eyes whenever we discussed Rudolf, and Romeo's eyes were exactly the same as Robin's now—filled with the fire of hatred, but with one difference: the hatred in Romeo's eyes was only just beginning to ignite.
Seeing his reaction after discussing that massive event led me to form a theory in my mind—had he obtained his Everafter during that incident? And had the circumstances and the requirement to forcibly sacrifice something caused him to lose something, or someone, precious to him?
"The same goes for those roots, which vanished the moment everyone fell asleep." Once Mum had finished explaining, I felt I had to lighten the mood.
"By the way, now that we know Red's surname, let's go and find his twin—" Before I could finish speaking, Romeo suddenly interrupted in a slightly heavier tone than usual.
"Sorry, you lot go on ahead; I've just remembered I've got other business to attend to." There was none of his usual cheerfulness in his voice. "If I see anything, I'll report it straight away," he said before turning and walking off just like that; seeing that only strengthened my suspicions.
Once he had disappeared from our sight, I immediately turned to Mother. "Has your new body caused you to lose that sensitivity of yours?" I asked, as Mother should have been able to sense what Romeo was feeling immediately.
"Huh? It does take a few days for my abilities to fully return, though—it might even take over a week," Mother said, tilting her head. "Er… Did I just accidentally say something I shouldn't have?"
"Romeo seems to have bad memories of that giant incident," Robin remarked, and I was surprised that he'd picked up on it straight away too.
"You've realised it too?"
"I used to be like that as well."
"Huh?"
"Never mind."
Mother clapped her hands. "All right, I'll apologise to that man called Romeo later—I haven't even introduced myself to him yet, but I've already upset him… How foolish of me." If she suddenly admitted she wasn't actually Mother, I wouldn't be surprised—she was so very different from when she was in her previous body.
"There's something else more important, isn't there?" I said, and that immediately took Mother's mind off it.
"Oh, right! You two go and look for Red's twin, and I'll try to find someone who might be able to help you," said Mother, before turning around and heading off—I seemed to know who she was going to contact for help.
"Wait, Mother," I called out, and Mother turned her head back. "Don't contact Holmes about this… I still don't want anything to do with him, and if you happen to bump into him—tell him I'm sorry."
The real reason was my pride; I'd already given him a piece of my mind in public, and if I were to be helped by him again—I couldn't bear to think of the guilt and embarrassment I'd have to endure.
It took Mother a moment to understand what I meant. "All right, you can count on me, sweetheart!" she said before blowing me a kiss goodbye.
I really do feel as though I'm being flirted with by an adult woman whilst doing my usual night-time strolls. "Are you seriously Mother?" I muttered, but she had already run off, leaving me and the man with ginger hair standing beside me; I glanced at him and our eyes met.
I looked back at the road ahead. "Let's go, Greenie," the nickname slipped out of my mouth unintentionally; I ran forward whilst he stood frozen in surprise.
"Hey! Don't call me that—my name's Robin," he protested, running after me from behind—even though Red wasn't here, Robin's presence went some way towards easing my longing.