...

Chapter Three

Gradually, Lillith and I drifted apart. She spent a large sum of her time with Balder and I wandered aimlessly, searching for something new to paint. I had been inside the Light Chamber for so long and nothing ever changed, which resulted in me painting the same image over and over again although I did create minor changes such as perspective, proportion, or truly anything new to make the same old landscape dissimilar.
One day I stood at the top of the highest hill in the Light Chamber, the one that overlooked the valley of sunflowers and had the best positioning to watch the sunset. I set my easel beside the grand old willow tree atop the hill that appeared that if not for being rooted to the ground, it could have tumbled down the hill and rolled out into the middle of the valley.

No matter how long one stays in the Light Chamber, it never ceases to steal your breath with its endless summer beauty, however, my canvas remained blank. Inspiration was increasingly fleeting as days passed. I became lonely and my desire to become assigned resurfaced. I simply wanted to be wanted… I needed to be wanted. I needed to be needed. Hours passed until I admitted to myself that no creative energy was left in my soul and so, disconsolately, I began to pack my belongings away.
Behind me she stood, staring at me with an unrecognizable emotion. How long she had been standing there was a wonder to me, I had gotten so wrapped up in my own forlorn state that all else seemed to disappear. But there Lillith was, I stared at her as she at me, silently…

“Thalia…” Her voice trembled and tears flooded her beautiful eyes. To stop the quaking of her lower lip, she bit it gently, bringing a hand to her mouth when that didn’t help. The items in my hands dropped to the ground as I rushed to her side.
“What’s wrong, Lillith? Tell me what happened…” My voice was a decibel above a whisper and I gently framed her face with both hands.

It was when I touched her that she truly broke down, tossing her arms around my neck and sobbing into my collarbone. My heart was crushed, what could have upset her so? We stood there body to body until her cries had slowly ebbed, the organized stroking of my hands upon her back seemingly resulting in her calm.

“Thalia…” She tried again, her voice a weary whisper. “I’m so sorry… I’ve alienated you and... a-and…” She hiccupped and for a moment it seemed she would erupt into tears once again, but this time she stayed strong.

“But I thought you would come back to me! You were always there before and I never doubted that you would be… I know I pulled away but I…”

“Lillith… it was what you wanted…” I sighed, suddenly weary myself.

“It was what I thought I wanted! Balder was appealing… but I could never love him the way I love you…”

Immediately all the feelings Lillith gave to me returned in a rush. The butterflies, the rapid heartbeat, the goose bumps – everything. I pulled back only slightly; on my face was a display of utter confusion and shock. Once again Lillith bit her lip, gripping me by the shirt and after a moment of pause, she pulled me back to her body. Our faces were so close that when she, in the faintest whisper, said ‘I love you’, her lips brushed mine.

Albeit it was my first, I guarantee it was the sweetest kiss I had ever tasted.

Chapter Four

The Light Chamber had never held such wonder before as it did after Lillith confessed her love for me. The air was cleaner, the grass greener and the sky more blue than it could have ever been. Constantly I was in a blissful state of euphoria and with Lillith always by my side, I couldn’t see my demeanor ever changing.
That would all come to an end, however, as only three days passed before Lillith came to me with the news of her assignment. I felt as though I had been tricked, as though whatever being responsible for the distributions of alter assigning had waited for Lillith and I to get together just to tear us apart.

“I’ll miss you, Thalia…” Lillith whispered into my hair as we both lay sprawled in the grass under the willow tree, my head nestled into her breasts. “If we ever meet again—”
“Don’t do that… please.” I sharply interfered. Whatever glimmer of hope she carried within her would only prove ruinous in the end and my knowledge of my own character told me that inevitably I could only blame myself.
“I don’t want to leave…! Oh, Thalia, I can’t stand the thought – we should escape!” Her emphasis on the last word stated was expressed in a shout, sending an echo down the hill. Silently, I stared up at her in all her extravagant beauty, wondering what could possibly be swimming through her thoughts.
“Lillith, you know how impossible that is. We’d never get past the Gate Keepers, love…”
The Alter Realm is absolutely brimming with copious beasts created for the sole purpose of guarding every nook and cranny of our empire. There are Lesser beasts of dim intellect and poor strength, Greater beasts who prove themselves to be formidable opponents though have been beaten quite often, and Seekers who do nothing but scan every area of the Realm. However, the Gate Keepers are the largest and most fearsome of all the beasts created here. None have gone past them unauthorized and those who have tried were immediately killed.
“I know this, but I need something to hold on to,” Lillith looked at me, her eyes searching. “I need to know that I will never completely be without you…”
“Never completely.” I promised, taking her hands within my own. “Keep me in your heart, Lillith. Make me alive with your memories of what we had here.”
My words brought tears into her eyes and so, for the last hour of her stay in the Light Chamber of the Alter Realm, we did nothing but hold one another.

Even after Lillith had left, I continued to live my life in happiness, phony may it have been. I thought that if I could at least fake the desired emotion, my body and mind would ultimately see it as the truth and the aching sorrow I felt for Lillith’s departure would cease.
It was perhaps the span of a month in human time that I was completely alone, until the day I met Lyssa. She had only recently been created – it was strange how now, having been in existence for nearly a year and a half, I could tell when an alter was new – and she had taken off wandering into the Light Chamber clutching onto her identification slip as if for dear life. For about a half an hour I sat under the willow tree, amused with how lost the poor girl seemed.

“You look lost there!” I called to her. She flinched, looked around for a moment, then realized where my voice had come from.
“Oh… I just got here, so I…” Her hand drifted to her neck where she rubbed at her throat.
“I understand.” I empathized, rising to my feet slowly. “My name is Thalia. What’s yours?” I smiled to her, holding a hand out in friendly greeting.
“Lyssa…!” She took my hand and squeezed it a little tightly, as though she found relief in having some other being to be acquainted with. Lyssa was a very beautiful girl indeed; her hair bounced in light brown chin length tresses that framed her face nicely and she had the darkest blue eyes I believe I had ever gazed upon. Lyssa was a younger alter, just entering the stages of strange body changes and the self-conscious awareness accompanied with this; I could tell she was uncomfortable with her sudden spurts as she had a little habit of covering her chest by crossing an arm across her body or simply slouching.
“Well, Lyssa. Welcome to the Light Chamber… and the wondrous life of being an alter.” The way I stated my greeting caused Lyssa to pause for a moment, question clouding her eyes until she finally decided it was nothing.