Chapter 34: Orororororo!

A faerie...
Roland shuddered.
The kind from the stories that were forbidden to be told.
Just like elves, dragons, and unicorns—a creature of legend...
A dangerous monster.
And now, it was dancing a tap routine on the palm of his hand.
"Kill... you?"
Roland narrowed his eyes. "You are a faerie."
A monster that drinks human brains and devours human flesh.
"You must learn to tell the truth from the lies in books, Roro-roro."
She seemed miffed, hands on her hips, her cheeks puffed out like balloons. "Tree fruit juice tastes better than brains, and the faces of newborn bear cubs are more tender than human meat..."
Before Roland could even ask, she flashed a cunning smile.
"Of course, don't ask Aurora how she knows that!"
She was dangerous.
Compared to Enid, Aurora gave Roland a different feeling.
Enid was like a forge, like a raging flame, like a sharpened blade.
But this one currently in his palm...
She was like a breeze, elusive, at times gentle and at others violent.
"You are different from everyone else."
Aurora folded her arms, her tiny feet tapping against the pad of Roland’s finger. "There were two of you at the beginning, but now only you remain. Are you truly going to walk that path of judgment? Such a pity, such a pity! Aurora is going to cry!"
With that, she covered her face.
And she actually cried.
Roland: ...
At this moment, he found himself missing the text that would occasionally pop up in his vision.
"Miss Aurora."
"Call me Aurora, or Auro-roro-rora."
The little faerie parted her fingers, peeking at Roland with large eyes before quickly shielding them again, wailing with a "crying" sound.
Roland: ...
"Fine, Aurora," Roland conceded.
"I've changed my mind! Call me Auro-roro-roro-rora!" She pushed her luck.
Roland felt like rolling his eyes, but he sighed. "I don't know. Honestly, I know absolutely nothing about the mysteries—I possess no knowledge of the Great Path. I have to be careful, don't I? The nail driven into the soul, the price I must pay..."
"Oh?"
Aurora lowered one hand, revealing half her face. "I told you, those little dark filaments you've gathered aren't nearly enough to reach the Higher Rings."
She cupped her chin, looking him up and down.
"Father of All... you have no aptitude for that path."
Aptitude?
Is this what Enid meant by: 'It is not you who chooses the path, but the path that chooses you'...?
"Exactly! You aren't 'Silly-Ro' anymore, you're 'Smarty-Ro' now."
"Thank you."

"Such good manners! Smarty-Lan! Come now!" She suddenly dropped down, hugging Roland’s thumb and rubbing her cheek against it. "Come on, this is the place for you! I have waited a long time; if your torch goes out, it's all over!"
A moment ago, she had called him a torch.
"So, what does that mean?" Roland asked.
Aurora licked her lips, her nose twitching as if she were gathering Roland’s scent.
"Because you are wonderful, Roland-land, and the Auroras like you very much. Everyone likes you!"
"You have seen a more interesting world; now, how will you think? With whose brain? Whose memories? Whose methods?"
"The Arbiters and the Heteromorphic are enemies, you know."
"Can you do it?"
"Do you like me?"
Roland watched Aurora, seeing her toes sink into his palm, muttering to herself before springing up to dance.
A mad little creature.
This undoubtedly caused her to overlap with certain stories in Roland’s memory...
Some emotions, some recollections.
To be honest, Enid hadn't reached this lesson yet.
Perhaps the lectures on ghosts and the Heteromorphic were reserved for Mr. Dewinson.
He hadn't had the chance to tell him yet.
But indeed, just as Aurora said, he felt a certain degree of affection for this... this Heteromorphic lady.
She was interesting.
She was nothing like the faeries described in the forbidden books; her behavior was, in fact—consistent with the stories told by Miss Nina.
That made her feel strangely familiar.
"Aurora, what 'should' our attitude be toward the Heteromorphic?"
The little faerie flapped her wings, her smile eerie.
"That, little Lan-Roland, is something you must use those eyes of yours to 'listen' to for yourself..."
Roland fell silent.
"How about it? Come into the mist, come into the mist, it suits you perfectly!" She prattled on, trying to bewitch him, dancing one moment and crawling around on his palm the next... or rolling over in frustration.
She was incredibly restless.
"Then, tell me about this path first... I at least need to know which god lies at the end."
Then he could go back and inquire about it.
"The end?"
Aurora lay on Roland’s hand, resting her chin on her palm, her two feet drumming against her backside.
"At the end of the mist, there are no gods."
...No gods?
"You can go ask, Roro-roro-Aurora never lies!"
The little faerie flapped her wings. "The price of the mist is simple, very simple for Smarty-Ro! I guess so, don't you?"
"Try it and you'll know!"
"I promise you'll be able to accept it!"
Roland frowned.
The way this faerie, who called herself Aurora, treated him from the very beginning...

"Yes, yes! That's why there's no torch! It makes Au-Au-Roro so sad!!"
She sobbed again, "But... ha!"
The little faerie flew up from his palm, drifting unsteadily before Roland’s eyes. She smirked, extending a fingernail to tap his brow. "You are so wonderful here, you are perfect for us! We love you, and you love us!"
"Roland-Ro doesn't know so many things! To have a clever brain and not use it to learn, what a pity, what a pity!"
She suddenly flew closer and closer, almost standing on the tip of his nose.
"I have a question, Aurora."
Roland drew his head back. "Since you said there were two torches, before this, did you not go into the dreams to meet the other one?"
The faerie shook her head. "It was tainted, it was tainted... Aurora cannot get close to a tainted torch..."
Tainted...
Roland dared not confirm his suspicions.
"Come."
"Child of the Mist."
She chirped joyfully, the buzzing of her wings growing louder.
She was excited.
"Come!"
"I will tell you the secrets of the mist!"
"The whispers of the wind!"
"The gathering of the white trees!"
"The wonderful us... and the soon-to-be-wonderful you!"
Her fingernails suddenly grew long and sharp, like two rapiers. "Auro-roro has a gift for Lan-Roland, you must return, come back quickly! I will wait for you on this path!"
Before Roland could speak, she violently twisted her wrists—
And plunged her sword-like nails into her own eyeballs!
Ink-green liquid streamed down her nails, like a thickening, congealing substance clinging to the sharp tips.
Then...
That horrific, ghastly black hole stared right at Roland.
She bared her teeth, revealing a mouth full of fangs.
"The gift is right here."
"Roland-land, are you afraid of pain?"
Like lightning, she slammed into the tip of Roland’s nose, driving the liquid-coated nails deep into his eyeball!
It felt like an ice needle from the summit of the Frozen Mountains drilling into his brain!
Roland felt his very thoughts freeze over.
Pain...
An agonizing, burning sensation jolted the boy from his slumber.
He sat bolt upright in bed.
In the dead of the silent night, the apothecary was plunged into pitch-black darkness.