Adenine The Knower

It's sort of an Alice in Wonderland inspired thing. haha. Reviews and critic would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

A cloud of smoke fogged my vision as I entered the large room. Shades of indigo and crimson broke through the pungent odor. I was able to make out the golden accents here and there as well. What’s going on? I thought wearily. Is he trying to exterminate his lungs and himself?

“Are you the one they call God?” A silky voice called through the shield of grey smoke. At first, I was not able to see her. However, as she leaned forward, I could make out her silhouette. She was slim, of what I could tell, with long, shapely limbs. Her voice was that of a fallen angel. I edged closer until I was only six or seven feet away from her.

She sat on a silken bed which seemed to be made of the finest material by the finest weavers. The cloth was red with golden flowers that danced around each other, tiny white pearls bordering the sheets. Hundreds of multicolored pillows laid scattered about atop the bed in an oddly organized fashion, each one sporting a tassel of some sort. A thin, transparent layer of indigo drapery surrounded the circular mattress, providing protection from bugs, but not from the peering eyes of toms who prowled into homes and peaked in through windows at night.

 Though the bed itself was a sight to behold, she herself was far more magnificent. Her long ebony hair draped over her creamy bare shoulders, and framed her heart shaped face. A pair of piercing emerald eyes balanced between blood-red lips cut through the grey cloud and straight into mine. She wore a blue dress covered in jewels and intricate stitching which split at the hip on both sides, revealing her long sensual legs. A pair of sharp matching heels held her tiny feet. To top off her high society appeal, a hookah balanced casually between her fingers, the pipe tying around her and connecting the main container which continued to poison her and the air around her.

“Excuse me?” I answered, finally remembering what it was in which she had asked. She seemed irritated by my response.

“Are. You. The one. They call, God?” she purred irritably, stretching out the end of each word as if I was an ignorant child.

“Um, no my lady,” I replied yet again. Though slightly taken aback by her question, I thought it best not to speak out of turn as not to insult her. However, I was rather anxious to return home. She poked out her lower lip in disappointment, though her eyes remained fierce and staring.

“Such a pity,” she mused. “I would much rather like to meet this fellow.” She raised the hookah to her lips and breathed in. As she exhaled, a new puddle of smoke joined the growing sea. “I would much like to have a smoke with him.” A wicked grin spread across her thin glossy lips. Suddenly, a frown replaced that grin. “So if you are not him, then why are you disturbing me? Who let you in?”

I hesitated a moment, but quickly recovered. “The servant. The one who’s always smiling.”

She groaned then mumbled something to herself before calling “Terran!” Several moments passed until a voice broke through the air. It was a laugh. The servant’s laugh. That dry yet amused laugh. The woman sighed angrily. She suddenly seemed tired and apathetic. “Terran, I do ever so grow tired of these games.”

A set of gleaming white teeth appeared in the air in front of me. They seemed to be frozen in a smile. Then a nose appeared, followed by a pair of eyes. Soon enough the entire body of the servant who led me to this room appeared. He had obviously led me to the wrong place, for I had been searching for Adenine the Knower, who was male. The servant sprawled out on the bed in a casual manner, almost as if he has done it thousands of times before.

The woman sighed yet again, her eyelids dropping. “Terran. This gentleman says you brought him here. Is this so?”

“Madame, my lady, my lovely madam! I am pure in intentions, I assure you I am.”

“Why must you speak in rhymes and riddles?” she sighed.

“Rhymes and riddles? Why, what a thought! Surely, your greatness, your minds not so distraught! Why, though my rhymes are tip-top, at their best, if its riddles you want, its riddles you’ll get! What shines like the moon yet burns like the sun, is lesser than two, but greater than one?”

“I haven’t the slightest,” she mumbled carelessly. “What does shine like the moon but burns like the sun, is lesser than two but greater than one?”

“Such a ridiculous riddle, why ask such a thing. Seems like an answer you’ll find in your dreams.”

“You are driving my patience, Terran. Did you let this man in?”

“I did what was asked, I completed my task.”

“And what, might I ask, was your task?”

“To bring this young man to where he was going, to Adenine the Queen, the Knower of Knowing.”

“Wait!” I interjected. “Queen? I thought Adenine was a man.”

Terran burst into hysterical laughter, pounding the mattress with his fist. Small bubbles of tears formed at the rims of his eyes as his face turned bright red. “Oh my, to think such a thing! Our Queen of knowing, mistaken for a king?” He continued to laugh. The woman, however, remained silent. However, there was a brief spark in her eyes that proved she knew of whom I spoke.

“The Queen? Of what reason do you wish to visit her?” There was a sudden sharpness in her voice.

“I was told she could help me. She could get me home.”

“And if she couldn’t?”

“Then it appears I’ll have just wasted my time coming to fine her.”

This silenced the woman. She stared at me, her eyes digging deep into mine. I stared back, completely unfazed by her vicious stare and bizarre appearance. As quickly as her concentrated frown had appeared, it vanished, and was immediately replaced with a hearty smile.

“Come, my dear boy! Follow me!” she cheered, standing from her silky paradise and gliding smoothly to the door. Terran rushed clumsily ahead, thrusting open the door and stepping back. He bowed, one hand placed over his heart, the other holding back the large silver door.

“My lady,” he mused. She nodded her thanks and twirled from the room. I followed behind her. Terran also held the door for me and bowed as I walked by. I muttered my thanks shyly and hurried out the door. “Good sir?”

I turned around to see Terran’s large violet eyes staring at me.

“Yes?” I asked awkwardly.

“It would be wise for you not to upset her,” he said in a threatening tone.

I was taken aback by the sudden anger and urgency in his voice. Before I had a chance to reply, however, he had disappeared. I looked around, trying to find someone to follow. I managed to catch a glimpse of the woman’s dress as she turned a corner at the end of the hall. I sprinted down the long corridor, eventually catching up with her.

We came to a stop at the end of a long, ornate hallway. The woman pushed open a set of doors, equally appealing as the hallway and the previous room, and stepped inside. I, of course, followed. The contents of the room were unimpressive yet breathtaking all the same. A single fountain sat in the center of the room, circled by large white columns, each 20 feet in distance from the fountain and each other. The floor was a collage of deep blue stones, held in place by a lighter blue substance which resembled cement. The blue stones shimmered under the moonlight, which reflected upon them through the single skylight.

Dimly lit torches, which hung from each pillar, emitted a faint blue glow, which also shone against the blue stones. The fountain, erected high in the center of the room, also emitted a light blue glow. Wisps of white smoke snaked and curled away from the turquoise liquid which sat, still and undisturbed, inside the fountain. The white smoke rose high into the air, but quickly disappeared once outside the safety of the blue glow barrier. I stared in awe.

“Close your mouth, young boy aghast, you’ll find it easy to loose yourself here, you’ll find out awfully fast.”

I turned around to see Terran standing behind me. His grim expression from earlier had returned, but only for a moment. It quickly vanished and his (seemingly) ever-present smile reappeared. He marched forward to the center of the room, casually brushing past both I and the woman, who had remained silent. He propped himself against the fountain. I noticed he had traded the bells which hung from his purple, pink, and white jester’s costume for small intricate charms of the sun and moon. The numerous shades of purple, which once seemed so bright before, had dulled and become less vibrant.

“Where are we?” I asked, unsure if I should accompany Terran or remain beside the woman. That question was answered for me as Terran held out his hand, gesturing for me to join him.

“Here, quickly you’ll loose yourself and soon, your mind, but one thing that will never be short is time,” he beamed in a cheerful voice. Though a smile was upon his lips I knew it was false. The melancholy was easily visible in his eyes.

I watched with interest as Terran plucked threads of the white smoke from the indigo dome that surrounded the fountain and braided them together. He continued this for several minutes, and then he finally pressed his hands together over the braided rope of smoke and blew into them. With a loud cackle, he tossed the rope into the fountain. I took several steps back, watching in wonder as a massive burst of turquoise smoke shot into the air. Once it had settled, Terran reached into the liquid and pulled something from it. His hands, though they had been completely submerged in water, were dry. I tilted my head as he extended his hand. A tiny silver moon sat in his palm. It was decorated in extravagant jewels, each one a different shade of beautiful blue. Its base was sterling silver and shone like newly purchased metallic paint, with microscopic pearls bordering its shape. It resembled the moon that hung from a chain around Terran’s neck. I glanced over at the woman. She had one to. It was embedded into her dress, lifting up the cloth on her dress.

“Take it, the making was not cheap. Though complex as it is, it is you’re to keep. Wear it and shall no harm come to you, at least if you do what is asked from you.”    

Though inappropriate, I couldn’t help but smile at the sing song way in which Terran spoke. His rhymes were simple, yet he practically sang them, giving them the audibility to be poetic. I quickly dismissed the smile and thought and grabbed the moon pendant. It was breathtaking.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” I mumbled staring deep into each stone.

“Wear it with pride, and if it danger, you face, reveal your pendant and walk the opposite way.”

“Huh?”

“If you are ever in danger or being threatened, show this pendant and you will be safe,” the woman spoke clearly, now standing beside me. “Terran, help the dear boy out.”

Terran nodded and snatched another string of smoke from the fountain and used it to sew the pendant to the cloth of a blue clock, which resembled the color of the stones on the floor. He handed me the cloak and motioned for me to put it on. I did.

They both stepped back to look at me. The woman nodded. Terran beamed.

“Ah, I believe he is ready, to face peril and fight to the death! Now serve your Queen, to your dying breath.”

I looked at the woman. She gave a faint smile. Then it hit me. This was Adenine who stood before me. The Queen. Adenine the Knower. All along I had been seeking a male, but I had not even considered the title to belong to woman. A very beautiful woman, at that.

“Oh!” I cried, dropping to my knees. “Your majesty! I’m so sorry, forgive my rudeness!” Though this was not my world, I was in the presence of nobility. Thus, it would be best to behave as such.

“Arise. Worry not with formality. Call me Adenine. And if ever “your majesty” or “Highness” ever utters from your lips again, I’ll have you beheaded on the spot,” Adenine scolded. I felt my face drain of color. She and Terran burst into laughter. “Oh, worry not. I’ll not have you killed. I’ve taken admiration to you, so you shall live.”

I sighed in relief.

“However. I do require your assistance.” Adenine had become serious again. Her voice was grave. She looked at Terran, who, in return to her gaze nodded.

“What do you need my help f-?”

I never finished. Terran grabbed my arm and jerked me closer to him. He gave me a quick smile before tossing me into the fountain. I expected to collide with it, and topple the fountain and myself over onto the ground. Instead, however, I was greeted by an endless pool of liquid. I opened my eyes. All I could see was turquoise. The blue liquid surrounded me like an ocean, with no sign of Terran, Adenine, or the room in sight. I screamed. Instead of an inaudible blubbering sound followed by bubbles, as was the expected result when speaking underwater, my screech reverberated through out the water as it would have on dry land. I tried talking.

“Where the hell am I?” My voice was clear. I could breath. Suddenly, I felt myself being sucked downward, deeper into the mysterious ocean. I tried desperately to swim and claw myself to the surface, but the force was to strong. The light turquoise quickly vanished and I was swallowed by blackness.

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

Incase it wasn't obvious, Terran is kinda like the Chesir cat :P Adenine is kind of like the caterpillar.

Reviews

[revenant21]

I READ IT FIRST!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHA! It was..... AWESOME! iLOVEd it. damn caps lock. Anyways, I like the way you described everything, the imagery was wonderful and beautiful, too. Wonderful job! Terran is awesome! I love his character, and the whole rhymy Cheshire cat thing. WONDERFUL JOB, *SL*!!!