Forcas

"No! No! You are not to say that," he scolded himself. He put on his benign smile again and looked down at me. He was twice my height so I had no choice but to crane my neck.

"Are you here to meet my master? If you are, then I reckon you've got the courage to muster. But if you're perhaps here to bare witness of this place, then this nobody would be happy to be your guide." He told me as he brought his right hand over his chest.

Is he giving me a choice? I'm guessing that the master he's referring to was the primordial being I'm supposed to meet. But what if it's a trick question? What if I say I only wish to meet his master and am not at all interested in this place? Will he get angry somehow? And so I smiled at him and said, "Mister, as much as I'd like to meet your master, I also wish to learn a thing or two about this place. Will that be too much?"

He stared at me. I don't know what he's thinking as I cannot read his face. I even thought I gave him the wrong answer for a second.

"But of course, if it's too much then I'll gladly leave."

"Very well. I shall be your guide," he spoke finally.

"Does that mean you're letting me in?"

"Yes."

And with that, he took something from his inner breast pocket. It was a key and he opened the gate. He then prompted me to get in which I anxiously did.

A sweet scent immediately wafted into my nose as soon as I stepped in. Oddly enough, it's making me feel a little bit nostalgic. For a second, I had the strong urge to go home. Back to the place where I actually belong. Back to when I was still Sean.

'Get ahold of yourself, idiot!'

"By the way, mister. How should I address you?" I asked him when I realized we haven't introduced ourselves yet.

But instead of telling me his name, he craned his neck to look back into the wasteland. His lids drooped ever so subtly and the corner of his lips rose slightly forming into a smile. A sad one. "I'm just a nobody. But if you wish, you can give me one."

Is this also a test?

"Are you sure, mister?"

"Yes," he said.

"Well, if you say so."

Honestly, I'm kind of hesitant but he doesn't seem to be joking around so I thought of a name for a while.

"Forcas. What do you think about Forcas?"

"Forcas. I see. Forcas it is. Then, from now on, this nobody shall go by the name Forcas. What about you? Would you tell me your name?"

"S—Jack. Please, call me Jack." Ugh! I feel so lightheaded. The scent seems to be getting stronger and stronger.

"Jack it is. Very well! Follow me," he said. He has become enthusiastic all of a sudden albeit very subtly.

He was twice my height which means he's got longer legs than I do. As a result, his normal step is equivalent to two or three steps of mine. And as a matter of fact, I am half-running just so I could match his pace.

Okay, so we continued to follow the stone pavement. And I gotta admit, this place is in fact beautiful. That is if you'd ignore the weird-looking plants on either side of the pavement. And by weird, what I meant really was absurd-looking plants that were as if they were pulled out straight from a cosmic horror. They seem to be alive too! Goodness!

There's one that was purple in color, probably two feet in diameter. It has a spongy texture that was covered with hundreds if not, thousands of holes. Up close, there seemed to be something that looked like small maggots squirming in every hole. They're disgusting!

I hastily pulled my attention out of them and jogged my way towards Mister Forcas. He's humming an unfamiliar tune as he walks. Then he halted and turned to face me. He still wore his benign smile.

"What is it, Mister Forcas?"

"Nothing, Jack. I just realized I've never been a guide before. This is also the first time that I will be showing the place to anyone. And — And I don't know what to do. Oh no! What should I do?" From the sound of it, he seems to be panicking but I can feel a tinge of excitement in his voice. I might have made the right call after all.

"Don't think too much about it, Mister Forcas. If you're worried about me then I'll say please don't. Why don't you show me your favorite spots here instead?" I told him. He seems to be elated by the idea.