I feel like I’ve just lost my home. The Dark Thicket isn’t Ms Pink’s castle and Gerant, as gentle as he has been with me, isn’t who I belong to. He is trying to comfort me, but his words of wisdom are beyond me right now.

This isn’t the end.

It’s written in the stars.

Starlight is all you need.

Firstly, this looks like the end to me. Secondly, I don’t know how to read the stars and lastly, neither do I know how to harness starlight energy to nourish myself. In a state of despair, I follow Gerant’s lead as they retreat into the depths of the Dark Thicket. I don’t question where we are heading until the ground beneath my feet begins to descend.

Unsure of everything, I stop.

Sensing my halt, Gerant stops and turns around. “Erika, why did you stop?”

“I am not the Erika. Erika is not my name.”

“It is who you are. You and the Erika are one and the same.”

“No, we’re not.”

“Erika—”

“Stop calling me Erika.”

“What else can I call you?”

“I have a name. My name is Taeyeon.”

“You are denying your existence.”

“My existence is Taeyeon.”

“Perhaps you are resenting the Erika in you right now. Maybe you’re wishing you didn’t have the power to stand up against the person you love. But you do. You have the power. You can have all the power you need if you believe in yourself.”

“Look at where this ‘power’ has left me. This ‘power’ that I have no control over. This ‘power’ that I know nothing about.”

“You are determined to discount yourself and the power you possess at this moment. I can understand why you would feel and think this way. But we have to move.”

“Why?”

“Do you trust me?”

I look at Gerant, from his great horns to his great hooves. How can I not trust Gerant who has lived longer than anybody else? So I nod. “I trust you.”

“Then, come with me.”

With a deep sigh, I walk up to Gerant. “Where are we going?”

X

Underground, it seems. Past the giant leaves covering the entrance of the cave, the air is getting cooler as we walk on, downwards into the earth. Why are we going deeper and deeper into this cave? Where does this cave lead to?

Nobody is talking so I decide to ask later. Besides, I trust Gerant isn’t leading me to my death so I shouldn’t have to worry about our destination. The ground is rocky but smoothens out a little as the cave widens and enlarges. Wondrous formations surround us, growing in majesty and my eyes feast on the crystalline colours of blue and green reflected by the rocks. Spiralling from the ground and down from the ceiling, my early lessons in Geography come to mind. Stalagmites and stalactites. These are similar, but their colours more vivid and intense than the ones I’ve seen in regular caves.

“We will rest here for a while,” says Gerant after coming to a stop in a particularly wide cavern fill with curious formations resembling chess pieces.

Glad to have a chance to rest my legs, I lower myself onto a little green rock with a flat top and lean against the wall. Being the giant that Gerant is, he settles in the open area beside me, free of rocks or formations.

“Where exactly are we going?” I ask, figuring that now is a good time to air my questions.

“Have you heard of Lakkos?”

I nod. “It’s the cave that Ttrowtos is said to have entered.”

“Aye, that Lakkos. Do you believe the tales about Ttrowtos?”

I can only shrug. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.” And in truth, I really don’t. Not so long ago, I had believed that Ms Pink and I will never part. Not so long ago, I had been dedicated to fighting alongside Ms Pink and supporting her in everything she does. But in the span of one night, we have gone from the perfect pair to this.

“Princess Pan Ni made a choice. So did you. But it doesn’t diminish the love you have for each other.”

Staring at Gerant, I wonder if I had voiced my thoughts