Fly On The Wall: Fairy Tales From A Misanthropic Universe, Vol. I by Alfy Dade Page B

corridor,
clad in dull gray cloaks. “I'm sorry,” he continues, now sheepish,
“I must beg your forgiveness I've one more prying question though –
how do you see?”. There it is. The question which Hugo had been so
avoiding, now wielded carelessly. Benjamin immediately realizes his
mistake, shrinking into a slumped shell of a man. Hugo shoots
crystal daggers at Benjamin for his bold rudeness, despite his own
curiosity. The creatures eyes look dead into Benjamin's, chilling
him to the marrow.
    “ In the same way, darlin', that
you're blind.” Cryptic. They continue down the corridor which
seemed to be carved through solid crystal rock. It's composition
changes every few hundred fathoms, and with that its color. Each
color occupies an entirely distinct portion, yet neither Hugo nor
Benjamin can perceive any joins between them. Fortunately, that
color tunnel filters the sharp unnatural light, making it more
colorful – and more tolerable. Deep tanzanite purple, shining green
emerald, and hypnotizing ruby red, the walls switch from one to the
other jarring Benjamin's vision.
    “ Also, how can we possibly be at the
center of the earth? This is supposed to be molten rock, or, hell,
even dinosaurs, but now…uh…what are you again?” Benjamin's
curiosity is unending.
    He's inquisitive,
perhaps too much for his own good. Even so he's funny, always
asking, always wondering. It's a shame, they need more like him up
there. He's so na ï ve, so different. I wonder….no, actually that's silly. He
couldn't accept our reality, he wouldn't. They never do, they're
always too indoctrinated by the surface leaders. Ugh. The creature twitches her nose, supposing it
neither here nor there. They're hers now, to do with as she
pleases, which is exactly what the creature plans. “Well, don't you
think you should ask a lady her name first?” she asks,
coyly.
    “ Oh goodness me!” Benjamin's jaw
hangs aghast at his own rudeness and oversight. The matter had
slipped his mind during their exquisite meal. Benjamin feels
playful, he shrugs off the daggers shot through Hugo's eyes. “Well
then, fair maiden, what is thy name?”
    “ Maeb
ë,” she responds. The creature does not feel as playful, the
corner of her mouth twitches with scorn. And so, Hugo, Benjamin,
and Maebë walk down to jewel corridor. After several hundred more
fathoms they approach a magnificent arch, made of, as Maebë puts
it, of “a single big hunk of what y'all call
diamond.”
    “
WOW!” Exclaims Hugo.
Benjamin, however, is too shocked to say anything, he can already
see the riches unfurl before him.
    Maebë begins
her explanation, but Hugo has trouble following it. He simply can't
bring himself to believe her wild words, they are too strange, too
foreign too alien. Admittedly though, he never thought anything
lived at the very centre of the earth, much less creatures as
beautiful as her and much less ones with diamond archways. But that
all is true.
Perhaps her words
are true.
    “
You see, Verne was paid
off. We needed to stay hidden, and misdirection is the easiest. A
story here, a movie there, and suddenly all people believe that
there is nothing more at the center of earth than dinosaurs, or,
even more laughably, molten rock,” Maeb
ë smiles, “sure it didn't fool people for long, and
especially not the adults, but it kept children from poking their
noses where they should not. That was our primary aim, for they
were the ones who found us first.” Maebë pauses & purses her
lips briefly. “Halley came close in 1690 with his hollow earth, but
it was still quite a bit off, and thankfully nobody paid him any
mind. Since then no others have managed to make any progress, not
really anyway.” The relief in her words is clearly visible, almost
as though she herself underwent the harrowing near-discovery.
“Since then, your rulers have helped us hide ourselves. Our reality
was always deemed too much, too harsh for the regular populace.
Your rulers, and I