The Underworld
The light of the phosphorescent moon weaved through the blooming cherry blossom trees. Little did anyone know, that deep in the Sakura Forest, hidden in the shadows of the beautiful pink blooms, lay a cave. Any person or creature that enters it will be whisked off to a magical land. There is still quite a long journey wandering through the steep tunnels that become darker and darker, until, you enter a land filled with the whooshing sounds of rivers and the pale blue skies which were lined with wispy white clouds. The only way to escape is a magical opal found in the gleaming waters of the Moonshine Pearl Pond but years ago it was stolen and fate has taken over….
“Ava Cateilia, come here this instant!”screamed mum.
“Coming.”I groaned. Getting up on Mondays was terrible after being used to sleeping in during the holidays.
I scurried out the door and shoved my blue and pink Jansport bag through the car door.
The day zoomed past so fast that as I lay in bed and peered out the window at the starry night sky that night, I wondered, if maybe someone had used a machine to make time whoosh away. Soon I was in a deep sleep, at least I thought I was.
Around me the air slowly turned a whirl of blue, pink and purple, the sound of wind echoed in my ears. I felt a tingly sensation stream through me and I was lifted up off my spongy bed. My eyes fluttered open, I was in a very peculiar room glass bottles were tied in a bunch and tiny glowing fireflies fluttered inside them, leaves were strung together and lay on my lap, two faces of angels stared at me hovering above my face….okay, they weren’t actually angels but they were so beautiful they could pass as angels. “Hello darling,” one of the beautiful creatures whispered.
Her voice was, gentle and soft. “Kind of like a fairy,” I thought. But then I realised it couldn’t be possible that one minute I was at home in bed and the next I was in a different dimension, where everything in sight was made out of nature.
I tried pinching myself to see if it was a dream. But to my surprise, after trying strategy after strategy, I realised that it wasn’t a dream and I wasn’t going to open my eyes to hear mum screaming “get up!” from the bottom of the staircase.
Tears were pricking in my eyes. Suddenly one of the angelic creatures spoke up again, bowing deeply, “ Your majesty, I don’t believe you told us your name.”
“Ava Cateilia” I repeated shyly.
“What a beautiful name,” the creature commented. “Well, your majesty,” she began.
“What are you and where am I and why are you calling me Your Majesty!” I interrupted. Without thinking, I started crying and buried my head in my chest.
“What are you and where am I and why are you calling me Your Majesty!” I interrupted. Without thinking, I started crying and buried my head in my chest.
“Don’t cry darling. It is quite overwhelming. But the reason you are here, is because you were chosen to save our people and the creatures that live here in the Underworld.
“Well you must have made a mistake, because I don’t know anything about this world and I want to go home.”
The creature glanced at me gloomily, “I’m afraid there is no possible way to escape from here, unless the missing opal is found.”
That is when the excitement of the adventure began.
From behind the golden hair of the creature, appeared a tiny fairy and as she fluttered towards me I could now see that she was clothed in a magenta, rose petal dress that swiftly swung around her knees. Her wavy brunette hair, that rested on her shoulders, was held back with pint-size flowers.
“Welcome,Your Majesty,” she whispered, curtseying.
“Who are you, must I ask?” I questioned.
“Petunia Rose,” she whispered in a high tone, “I am your Royal Guardian. Your Highness will be wanting a grand tour I suppose?”
“Of course,” I was bursting with excitement. I didn’t want to seem impolite, so I showed little more than a smile.
The little fairy let out a shrill whistle. In no more than a second, a sparrow’s head came into view, peering through the window. It was quite an unusual sparrow. From the top of it’s head to the border-line of it’s neck was pale blue and slung on it’s back was a saddle. “This is Oceania,” announced Petunia, “She will be guiding us if we manage to get lost.”
In a few minutes, we were flying through a forest. The refreshing aroma of pine was carried on the breeze. Soon Petunia, Oceania and I came to a clearing. I heard the crashing of a waterfall and suddenly a glorious sight met our eyes. Glistening water slipped through the gaps in between the row of rocks along the edge of the stream. Below, the slick water crashed on a pond that was filled to the rim. Water lilies bobbed on the surface and were nudged by the shimmering fish and creatures that were living in a whole other world beneath the blue sheet of liquid.
Petunia hummed a merry tune. To my surprise, Oceania shot forward in such speed that I was jolted and nearly flung off into the thick, glossy, water that spilled out below me.
Oceania slowed down as if she suddenly had noticed that I wasn’t used to being on a massive sparrow and glided straight for the waterfall. I yelled in alarm but my voice was muffled by the vibration of the water.
My eyes were adjusting to the darkness of the rocky cave, and as my vision came back to me, It seemed as if the cavern expanded every second that ticked by. In just a minute, the tunnels of the cave seemed to trail on forever. “Mistress Lannia,” Petunia’s voice echoed off the uneven walls. A small light appeared glowing in the distance and streamed through one of the narrow tunnels. A deep purring sound grew and soon a snow tiger cub pounced out of the shadows alongside a beautiful enchantress. She wore a crimson-silk dress. Her skin was a pale shade of beige and her brown, sandy coloured braid looped over her shoulder. “I see that you have brought a visitor. Goodness, doesn’t she look quite like Emily Cateilia?” she questioned.
Silence swept across the cavern. Petunia and the enchantress stared at each other with beaming smiles spread across their faces.
My feet were lifted off the ground and gradually I vanished into thin air. I glanced down and gasped. I got the shock of my life as I saw a white coat of fur patterned with black stripes belonging to the snow tiger cub pet of the enchantress. I could hear the buzz of Petunia’s wings above me and noticed that we were riding through a cherry blossom forest. I seemed familiar, yet I couldn’t remember where I had seen it.
Petunia sweet voice sounded in my ears, “ You recognise this place don’t you?”
I nodded in reply. The ground was covered in snow and in the centre of the fluorescent flowers was a cave. Not any ordinary cave. A magical one. Anyone could tell, by the way it shimmered in the reach of the sun’s outstretched rays.
Petunia pressed her fingers to her lips. I crept inside the cavern and my eyes widened. Boldly standing in the middle was a golden tree. Powdered glitter seeped out of the trunk and scattered into the sand it’s roots were coated in. As I peered at the glitter floating swiftly to the ground, a ring of smoke puffed out from behind the tree.
