"There are ways to request things of people without physical violence."


    "Your condescension is astonishing for the sick bastard you are."


    I only just noticed, but everyone was the same height. Elle''s legs didn''t grow longer, it just looked like she got bigger. How did I not see that before? She slapped him two times, right?


    "What king does not look down on his subjects?"


    Just then, she put her hands on the side of his face. I thought she was going to slam their heads together, or hurt him again but instead they-


    Did they just kiss?


    "NO!"


    The one who looked like Reynold started running towards the two of them, they kissing up until he got there and forced them away from each other. The one who looked like me walked toward me and knelt down while putting his hand on my shoulder.


    "Do not worry, this is simply how they are."


    "Were they not just fighting? I saw her slap him-"


    "Lovers'' quarrel."


    "Isn''t she- wh- what about that guy?"


    "The one that screamed just now?"


    "Yeah? I- I don''t know what''s happening right now. Aren''t they-"


    "Unfortunately, I can not explain anything to you without harming you once more. You have already been punished severely. Simply do as you''ve been told, keep your eyes closed."


    The one who looked like Reynold was pointing his finger at the king and shaking like he was going to explode.


    "Get away! Stay back! You! YOU!"


    The one who looked like Elle put her right hand on his right shoulder and started patting him.


    "Now now, he meant no harm."


    He turned back toward her and he was still shaking. He was waving his arms around crazily.


    "He- you- no harm? I am harmed!"


    "Well he may have intended to do that, but I remain unscathed."


    "I- why are you doing this? I''ve tried to-"


    "Clearly she prefers the type who would not stumble over himself."


    The king was smirking at him, the one who looked like Reynold clenched his fists. Something about seeing Elle kiss someone else annoyed me, but seeing Reynold get angry felt even better. Why was I upset? I didn''t care about her.


    "If you attack me, understand that you may lose your arm."


    "You''d draw that rusted blade?"


    "Do not be ridiculous. Your arm would break upon a moment''s contact."


    All of them started laughing except for the one who looked like Elle, but she was still chuckling. She covered her smile with her left hand and her right hand was still on the shoulder of the one who looked like Reynold. The one that looked like me laughed for the longest again. I felt like I would go deaf with him laughing this loudly while being right next to me. After another while he stopped, and the one that looked like Reynold was staring at him angrily. The one that looked like Elle spoke again.


    "I do not believe either of you truly want to fight. If you want to continue this argument please at least move away from the child, I have yet to ask him the questions I was promised answers for."


    All of them walked back to where they were when the king was talking to me except for her. She looked at the one who looked like me for a second, and he picked me up again and put my back down on the soft cloud. After that, he walked away near where the king and the one who looked like Reynold were arguing.


    "Now, will you keep that promise you made before Venio interrupted us both? Their appearance likely entails that you will be returned to your home soon enough, I must make use of the little time I have left."Stolen novel; please report.


    I nodded at her and she smiled back at me.


    "Wonderful."


    Instead of getting down on one knee in front of me like the king did, she sat next to me on the cloud.


    "Now, tell me, child, do you have anyone you love?"


    I flinched and moved slightly away from her.


    "Why are you asking me about that?"


    She chuckled.


    "Well, you did not look away when I embraced Venio, but I saw a troubled expression on you. Tell me, who do I look like to you?"


    I took a deep breath before answering her question.


    "You look like someone who I used to be friends with."


    "Why have you split apart?"


    "I figured out that she wasn''t actually my friend, that she was trying to control me."


    "Well, I can certainly tell you about being controlled. How are you sure of this, though?"


    "I''m not totally sure, but-"


    "You''re not? Your accusation holds weight, child. To be controlled by someone else is the most despicable experience you will encounter, but you must not mistake it for something else. Innocent children get hurt by lies such as those."


    "She just- she acts like an adult. She''s not an adult, she''s my age, but she''s always acting like a teacher, like my mother, really. She''s constantly making me hold her things, carry her around, and do whatever she wants, whenever she wants anything at all. Someone who is actually my friend wouldn''t do that. Nobody my age has ever done what she does."


    "Well, have you talked to her about this? Have you confronted her about these issues that stand to ruin your friendship?"


    "No, but-"


    "No? So you assume malice in her? You believe without confirmation that she would move to hurt you? To put you through misery for her own gain?"


    "What do you- Why do you care?"


    "Why do I care? Sweet child, I have been stranded for many years. I have heard of events you could not fathom, and I have experienced love, more than any one of them can say that they have experienced love. Sweet child, your annoyance is one founded in love. Why else would anyone find themselves upset at a kiss? When that manchild came to separate us during our embrace, would you not say that he harbors feelings of love for me?"


    "I would-"


    "Sweet child, why were you so quick to see her guilty? Why would you betray the notion that she was your friend after so little time? What reason could you ever have to-"


    "I didn''t have time!"


    She stopped questioning me for a second, she looked confused.


    "What do you mean by this?"


    I couldn''t speak. I didn''t understand her. Why wouldn''t I question Elle? She tried to hurt me, and then when she came to apologize, she tried to do it again. Why would she not be trying to control me if she pinned me down on my bed?


    "Sweet child, nobody from your home can hurt you here."


    That felt so strange to hear. It was the same way that Elle spoke, but it felt different. Maybe it was because she sounded different than Elle, but she still looked like her. What was she trying to do? What did she want me to say?


    Does she want me to become friends with Elle again? I can''t do that, it''s just wrong. Nothing that she could say would make me think that becoming friends with Elle is right. I couldn''t look at her if she was going to try and make me think that. I looked straight ahead instead.


    I saw her face out of the corner of my eye, it looked like she was sad about something.


    "Before I came down here she did something to me. I don''t know why she did it, I don''t even know what she did."


    She leaned in closer to me, and I could see that she had a different look on her face than before.


    "I was lying in my bed and she knocked on my door. When I let her into my room, she said she had come to apologize. I let her in, and she was wearing this pink gown. I had never seen her wear it, I didn''t even know she had it. After she apologized she just-"


    She put her hand on my shoulder.


    Why was she putting her hand on my shoulder? Why was she touching me? It reminded me of Elle, and it didn''t help that she looked like Elle. What was she doing? What was I saying that made her do that?


    "She took her clothes off, and she jumped on me. She held me down on the bed and talked about how she loved me. I pushed her off and into the wall. When I went to help her, she stood up and said something about how she tried. The next thing I knew I was down here."


    We sat there not talking for a bit. What was she waiting for? Was she going to say how it wasn''t Elle''s fault? Maybe she would say that it wasn''t actually Elle, but that it was some person pretending to be her. What, an adult? An adult fully pretending to be a child? What sort of magic does that?


    As we were sitting there, out of nowhere she starts to get close to me, and then moves from putting her hand on my shoulder to trying to hug me? I didn''t like it. Why did she have to touch me? Why was everyone putting their hands on me lately? I don''t want them to. I don''t want her to hug me!


    I shoved her away, and as I did I was able to shortly look at her face. She looked sad. Not like Elle, Elle would always cry and whine and scream, but I knew she looked sad. She looked like she was about to cry.


    "I''m sorry, I just- why did you try to hug me?"


    She went from sitting up to putting her elbows on her legs and placing her head in her hands. Her fingers went through her hair, and she was looking down now.


    "You do not know why I weep, do you, sweet child?"


    She looked at me again, and I saw tears rolling down her face.


    "They do not care for us anymore. I know not what happened to the observers, the regulators of this world that I came to rely on even in this state. I woke up one day to find that everything I thought to be true of what lies above had changed."


    She sat back up and fixed her hair before speaking again.


    "But if I am to know one thing, sweet child, it is that this world is no longer fair."


    She looked over at the others. The king and the one who looked like Reynold were still arguing with each other. The one who looked like me was sitting off to the side and grinning at them. Everybody else seemed like they were doing their own thing, but none of them were talking to each other.


    She looked back at me. Her face didn''t look like Elle''s anymore. I didn''t know what it looked like exactly, but sort of older. Despite only seeing grey and black, I could see the wrinkles on her face. I could see the tear stains on her cheeks. I could see her eyes. They were blurry, probably covered by tears.


    She tried to speak a few times but her voice was shaking. When she finally spoke,


    "I weep because you serve as the finest example."