This event did happen in history.
In a certain forest that once existed in the universe, a girl fell while chasing a squirrel, rolled down the hillside, and then hit an abandoned wooden railing. Her leg was broken, she lost her communication tools and self-defense weapons, and had to wait for rescue.
What a terrible moment. The setting sun was dragged behind the tree shadows by the bloody light, and the wind in the forest was like a wild wolf howling. She huddled up inside her scratched coat, silently counting the birds flying in the sky.
After the last bird returns to the nest, night comes. Her face was blue with cold, and her broken leg completely lost all feeling. She would have died of cold and pain before her family found her. There may also be wild wolves wandering from nearby mountains, or bears and other monsters that prowl the night. There is no shortage of such content in children's stories and country tales.
She fell asleep in fear and fatigue. After an unknown amount of time, footsteps in the forest woke her up. She saw that all the leaves had become colorful, like a castle made of crystal blocks in the night. When she took a closer look, she was surprised to find that they were all butterflies with bright wings. Their wings have a symmetrical shape, but are surprisingly large and have a feather-like texture. This is a forest covered with butterfly wings.
A beautiful woman walked from the depths of the Butterfly Forest. She was wearing a dress with a tail that was as thin and smooth as a fish fin, and her long hair looked like flowing mercury in the moonlight. Her steps were as graceful as a snake's, yet her expression was so noble and approachable. She came to the girl's side and gently pressed her hand on her broken leg. The girl smelled a unique and refreshing aroma of grass and trees, and her pain and fatigue disappeared. How unbelievable, she began to suspect that she had met a fairy from a fairy tale - she originally thought that this was a fairy used by adults to deceive particularly naive children. Of course she herself was not one of them.
The fairy in the butterfly forest wiped the sweat from her face, as kindly as the girl's own mother. Where are you from? she asked in a voice as warm and quivering as a feather.
15 Anemonestrasse, Regenberg. The girl answered in her arms. Her mother taught her early on to recite her home address in case the overly active little girl wandered off to the scattered villages outside the town. The same land her grandfather had tilled.
The butterfly forest fairy smiled slightly. She told the girl not to worry because it was not far from Regenberg. She couldn't send the girl away, but people would soon discover her disappearance and come here.
The girl's statement was not surprising at all. Fairies cannot appear in front of adults (especially parents), which is emphasized in many stories. Since fairies are real, maybe these rules are real too. However, the Butterfly Grove Fairy agreed to stay with her until dawn broke over the unsettling night.
Is the night scary? asked the butterfly forest fairy. She looks even more beautiful in the night.
The girl told her about her fear of the night. silence. Tree branches swaying like skeletal claws on the street outside the window. The dark texture of the mahogany closet bottom resembles bloodstains and eyes. There were also the sounds of footsteps and moving furniture that echoed throughout the house.
Those cunning voices never reveal their true identity to her, they always remain vague and non-existent. As she curled up in the quilt, they lingered outside her bedroom, far and near. And when she mustered up the courage to open the door suddenly, or her mother and brother occasionally came to check the room, everything returned to silence. The Voice of the Night is as cunning as a wild cat, able to sneak into the corners of space that no one can guess at any time. It gave her endless imagination and fear, but she could never quite capture it. Letting your imagination hang on infinite possibilities is far worse than a ghost or a monster.
She told her mother about this fear, but her mother told her that it was just a normal phenomenon caused by fatigue and growth. Just in case, they also went to the community doctor for a check-up. A female doctor who was older than her mother, Aunt Fila, who lived near them, told them that there was no big problem, at least nothing that could be detected. Little Jania is extremely healthy for a girl her age, well nourished and well exercised. If she's only slightly uncomfortable, it's probably because she's growing. Her bones and muscles were stretching, like a willow tree snapping. That would inevitably cause her some discomfort, but overall it was beneficial. Ensure nutrition, keep exercising, and get enough sleep. As she gets older, the ringing in her ears from the pounding of her feet or the pounding of her drums will get better.
She believed what the doctor said, and since then, there have been no strange noises in her home. The infinite possibilities shrank quietly as her mind matured, retreating into a corner where no one noticed. Now she could distinguish the sounds and the images: trees were just trees. Shadows are just shadows. The sound of furniture being moved comes from next door or from the street. And sometimes it was just her brother who had trouble sleeping late at night walking in the living room. No. 15, Anemonestrasse, Regenberg, is still her comfort zone without any mystery.
But that may not happen again after tonight. She saw the fairy with her own eyes, a hundred times more beautiful than the black and white abstract words, and she had to admit that mysterious things must exist. She felt so lucky, but also filled with sadness, because from now on the sounds she heard were once again filled with uncertainty.
Maybe that's not such a bad thing. Said the Butterfly Forest Fairy. Night is the shadow of the palace of death.
what is that? the girl asked.
So the Fairy of the Butterfly Grove took her in her arms and told her the story of life and death: it was a task in charge of the two greatest goddesses, one was responsible for transforming nothing into something, and the other was responsible for the opposite. come over. Before life became life, they lived in the palace of death. However, it was the goddess of life who had power over them at that time. Whoever she chose, she picked a flower of life from her garden as a token and handed it to the lucky person. Whoever can walk out of the palace of death with the token can become life. At this moment, she is the controller of life and death.
However, after life became life and lived in the world of life, it was the goddess of death who had the power. She always holds a short sword that symbolizes her identity, and her gaze travels between all lives, staring at the tokens held by each life. Normally, the flower of life would only slowly wither under her gaze. But if she's in a bad mood, she can kill the flower in one fell swoop, like throwing it into a blazing fire. The token dried up, turned black, and burned into a pile of ashes in an instant. The life that loses the token dies. At this time, this life that once existed was completely owned by the goddess of death. She can use it at will and become the master of eternal life thereafter - although she does not master anything truly alive. She was just a taxidermy collector with endless display racks.
However, the girl asked her, that's not fair, is it? The goddess of life can only give, but the goddess of death can take away. Their power is unbalanced. Isn't that the goddess of death robbing her sister's collection? This is not like what her mother or teacher said, the balance of nature, the cycle of life, this is just a one-way street with no return.
The fairies in the butterfly forest began to laugh. She said it was a good question, but that a fairy could not reveal the answer to a mortal.
You need to find out for yourself. she whispered to the girl. I'll give you a gift.
The fairy in the Butterfly Forest reaches her hand into the grass. She gently closed her fingers and picked out a wine glass-shaped snow-white flower from the depths of the dark grass. A plant locally called crystal orchid. It emits an alluring and bright shimmer in the night.
Take it. said the fairy. She put the crystal orchid into the girl's hand. First, let the flower branch lie across the girl's palm, and then close the fingers one by one to hold the token tightly.
It's yours now. the fairy said to her. Keep it and use it well. This is a one time only experience.
The girl woke up with a start as the sun rose. She heard many dogs barking, including Leo, the neighbor's beagle, who had a distinctive bark. Someone else was calling her name.
When Leo crawled through the weeds, her brother was the first to spot her. He used a scrap wooden board to slide down the rocky steep slope, so he was faster than other adults. His black hair was stained with dew, and his eyes contained hesitation about the environment - they all heard from adults that people had disappeared in this area, and it was said that they were carried away by wolves.
How are you? her brother asked.
She wanted to tell him about the broken leg. However, when she tried to straighten her upper body, she found that her leg didn't hurt at all. She could stretch it easily, as if she wasn't hurt at all. She stood up directly from the ground, dirty but moving freely.
Did you fall asleep right here? her brother asked. It was indeed a bit embarrassing, and she must have kept the adults looking for her all night. But how was she going to explain what she saw last night? It seemed like just a dream.
At this moment, Leo barked sensitively. The grass behind the forest seemed to sway a bit. Her brother pulled her behind him, staring intently at the swaying grass. The dogs barked louder and louder.
They should stay away from there. But her brother walked up slowly. That's when she discovered that he had been holding a short knife in his right hand hidden behind his back. It’s their family’s folding fruit knife. He took it with him when he went out to find her on time.
He approached the grass and silently raised the knife. At that time, she wanted to call him to stop - could it be the butterfly forest fairy in the grass? That's ridiculous. It could have been some kind of small animal, maybe even a wolf. They didn't know whether the wolf the adults were talking about was true or false.
The grass trembled. A bright orange-red shadow rose from it. It pounced in their direction, and her brother swung out the folding knife as accurately and cruelly as if he were throwing a throwing knife. The blade passed through the target and hit the tree trunk behind. A teenager wasn't strong enough to pin it, so it slid down and fell into the grass near the base of the tree. The man who threw the knife walked over and picked it up.
She heard him yelp in surprise.
When he came back he had the orange-red thing in his hand. He showed it to her, and the girl saw the most beautiful and largest butterfly she had ever seen in her life. It was dead, almost cut in half by her brother's blade, a miserable specimen. She felt terribly sad for some reason, even a little angry at her brother - even though she knew it wasn't really his fault.
He was obviously at a loss and gently shook the two butterfly pieces onto the grass. Let's go up first. he said with barely any composure. The adults are looking for us.
He turned around and walked ahead. At this moment, she stopped him and picked a strange withered grass from his back. It seemed to be stuck to him accidentally. But when she recognized the dead flower, she was surprised to find that it was a crystal orchid that was completely dehydrated, as if it had been burned by fire. A vague fear made her tremble, and she almost cried.
What's wrong? her brother asked in confusion. What's so scary about this?
You are rejected! she says. And on the way up the hill, he stuttered and talked about his dream about the butterfly forest fairy. She couldn't tell adults about this, but her brother wasn't considered an adult, at most he was half a kid.
Your token has been taken away. she said breathlessly after climbing to the top of the slope. A token of your life! You have to find a way to get it back! Bring it back to its original state! Otherwise you will die soon!
She didn't know why she was so out of control, practically screaming at her brother. In fact that is completely unfounded. The teen, the half-blood male with her, was silent for a moment. He seemed to be thinking about what she said, or maybe he was just listening to the howling of the wind in the forest.
Maybe you don't have to get it back. He said. Just let whoever wants it take it. If it was given by someone else, let someone else take it.
She started calling him an idiot. In her native language and in his native language.
He shrugged.
Everyone ends up the same. he added.
