CHAPTER 40: CHAPTER 39: PARADISE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST (13)

No matter how hard Oliver tried to speak with the sage, he could not find any chance.

Every time he got close to him, the version that looked like Eleanor suddenly appeared beside him.

She blocked his way and pushed him back into the same closed loop.

He sat on the chair placed in the middle of the corridor, interlaced his fingers, and pressed them tightly until the color of his knuckles faded.

"What is wrong with you Oliver. She is not Eleanor. She is just a copy, nothing more."

He said it to himself while trying to stand up, but his legs betrayed him and he sat down again.

Seeing that version every time released inside him a bundle of tangled emotions.

An extremely complicated mixture of sadness, annoyance, and even that faint tremor in his chest.

The worst part was that she never stepped away from the sage. She always stood beside him or appeared the moment Oliver arrived.

And while he tried to think of a way to speak to the sage without confronting her, he began to notice something else.

The village itself was changing before his eyes. The buildings, the streets, even the faces.

Every small detail began gradually turning into an exact copy of his own village.

Even the people were going through the same thing. Their features and voices and movements were all turning into false versions of what he knew.

And upon seeing that, Oliver ran toward the tavern, and when he pushed the door open he saw Allen and Maron sitting around the same table.

They were drinking with the two other men, and with them was the copy of the old man he had seen earlier.

But it did not stop there.

Even the bartender himself had become a copy of the bartender who worked in the tavern of his old village.

Even the way he held the cup and the tilt of his body were extremely identical.

Oliver rushed out of the tavern quickly and headed toward the tower, his eyes fixed only on the ground.

He was trying not to see anything extra or see anyone’s face there.

And when he collided with the door he finally lifted his head.

After that he knocked and discovered it was not locked, then pushed it gently and entered inside.

Inside, Orion was still lying on the ground staring at the ceiling with eyes that had lost any trace of life

while Lemur sat beside him, patting his shoulder.

As for Aria, she was sitting on her chair, one leg over the other, her arm resting on the armrest.

The moment he entered she lifted her head toward him.

"Did I not tell you that your attempt is useless? You will not be able to convince these humans that this is only an illusion."

"Why are you talking as if I failed? Maybe I succeeded."

"Did you succeed?"

"No, but you should not assume my failure immediately."

"I can assume it as long as you returned this fast."

"This has nothing to do with my attempt to convince them."

She tilted her head slightly.

"In that case, why did you return this quickly?"

He sighed deeply and looked at the ground.

"The place and the people have started turning into a copy of my village."

When he heard that, Orion lifted his head.

"This means that your companions who came with you are about to merge with the city."

Oliver turned toward him.

"What do you mean? And how did you even know that I had companions who came with me?"

"I can feel it every time strangers enter the city."

Oliver moved closer to him.

"What did you mean when you said that my companions are about to merge?"

Orion closed his eyes.

"This is what happens to every group that enters this place. The longer they stay, the more the place changes. And in the end it returns to its original form and those people become part of the inhabitants of the city."

"Is there any way to stop that?"

Orion shook his head.

"I do not know. I tried for years, dozens of years, maybe more, and the result was always the same. The city returns to its original form, and those people turn into part of it and forget the past."

Oliver pointed at himself, then at Aria, then at Lemur who was still sitting near Orion.

"And why is nothing happening to us so far? Why are we not like them?"

Orion closed his eyes then opened them again while looking at the ceiling.

"I do not know the reason."

"Has anything like this happened before? Something similar?"

"I do not know, maybe it happened hundreds of years ago or maybe not, I was not following the outside world. I could sense the people when they entered and after that I knew nothing about them."

Oliver began walking around the place quickly, moving from corner to corner.

While he ran his hand through his hair nervously.

Aria kept watching him with indifferent eyes.

While Lemur shifted his gaze between him and Orion, feeling worried only because Oliver felt worried, even though he did not understand most of the conversation.

Oliver stopped after thinking deeply about it, opened the door forcefully, and ran toward the village without looking back.

He had to find the sage, he had to do something before everyone disappeared.

The village around him had already turned into a perfect copy of his own village.

The same autumn colors, the same faces, the same way people moved during the autumn festival.

But he did not stop. He searched every corner, near the square and at the edges of the road until he found him.

He was sitting on a wooden chair in the square looking at the statue in the middle.

And as usual, Lenor stood next to him.

But Oliver ignored her this time and ran directly toward the sage, grabbed the collar of his coat, and pulled him toward him forcefully.

"Sage, we need to talk now."

Eleanor pushed him slightly away.

"Oliver? What are you doing?"

He turned to her.

"I want to talk to the sage alone! Can you step aside?!"

"You can talk to him here. I will not interrupt."

He tightened his grip more.

"I said I want to talk to him alone."

"Have you suddenly become disrespectful? I did not teach you that, Oliver."

"Why are you copying her way of speaking? You are not Eleanor!"

Her eyes widened.

"What are you talking about? Are you trying to pull a prank?"

The sage raised his hand and stopped the fight that was about to happen.

"Enough, I need to speak with Oliver in private."

He pulled Oliver from the collar of his coat and dragged him behind one of the buildings, into an empty area with no one close.

As soon as they disappeared from sight, the sage turned to him.

"What are you doing, you idiot?!"

"That is not Eleanor."

"Yes, and I know that."

"Wait... what did you say?"

The sage sighed.

"Have I not hinted enough for you? I expected you to be smarter than this."

"Why did you not say it directly? Why did you stay next to that copy and talk to her as if you did not see what is happening?"

"Do you want me to shout at them that I realize something is wrong? Do you want them to take me? They took the little gray one because he acted as if something was wrong in this cursed village."