The crickets sing a song for you
Don't say a word, don't make a sound
It's life's creation
I make worms turn into butterflies
Wake up and turn this world around
In appreciation
"Every dune we make it to, I will teach you a new word," Sweden told him.
Max was tired. The dunes were seemingly unending and walking through the sand was a lot more work than walking on flat stone had been. It was like they hadn't gotten a break from the snow of the mountain but at least there was no wind and only moderate inclines. Sweden was faring well now but he knew it was harder for someone with shorter legs.
"It is hard," he continued. "But if it gets too hard, I can carry you again."
The small hand squeezed his. "I can do it!"
Sweden nodded. He liked the determination even if he were to end up carrying him when all was said and done.
It felt warmer as more of the chill left their bodies. Sweden knew that soon they were going to be able to feel the heat and likely suffer for it. Yet he would manage especially now that the sky was no longer dark. It was a deep red; it was no longer night. The sun was close and Sweden felt pulsing excitement to get home.
Many things here are not real.
Sweden still had those words stuck in his head. He glanced down to Max and wondered, Are you who you say you are? Who I was looking for?
He was already attached to the child and knew that if it was only a creature testing him, he would be distraught. He liked children a lot and thought they were fun, which was why he had wanted to adopt Sealand and raise him with Finland. After all, Finland had once mentioned when they were in North America how fun it would be to have a child around them and Sweden had wanted to fulfill that wish.
I'll do my best was what he had said. He had wanted a family too. He had Sealand and Ladonia now to take care of, not to mention that whenever Finland was around he was kind to them too.
He is a great parent.
But was Finland really considered one of their parents? Sweden was, but as much as he would love to have Finland around with them too, he had his own place. Then there was the question about how Finland felt about it all. Sweden cursed his silence again because right now he had no idea if Finland wanted to have a family with him or not, or if they already were in one.
It's fine if he doesn't want to, he thought. That's his choice. I respect him and would not force anything upon him, especially something as big as that. But… it would be nice…
They did have a dog though, or at least Sweden thought so. Finland had little Hanatamago the most but she was his too- wasn't she? Sweden was questioning this notion now, but before it had seemed that she was something they had shared with each other because they had named her together and both cared for her. Sweden carried her, he taught her tricks, played with her…
She seemed to love him and right now his heart ached. He missed her. His free hand longed to touch soft fur, petting the spot on top of her head so that her black eyes closed and she dozed. His chest quivered. He loved that stray Finland had found to death and now there was another thing on the list driving Sweden forward.
At the top of a dune, Sweden chose the first word. He gave Max the word kärlek, meaning love. It was the first thing he had thought of and it was something important.
"Shair-leek," Max attempted.
Sweden said the word more times for Max to repeat after him.
"Kärlek."
"Shäääärrlek."
"It's better. Shorten the first part," he instructed him. "Kärlek."
"Kärrlek."
Sweden smiled softly. "You're smart."
The boy beamed. He then seemed to want to please more, so he went over the words he knew again and again.
"Snö! Kärlek! Snö and kärrrlek! Snöööö!"
Sweden readjusted his grip on Max's hand and blinked contently.
Max then said, "Finland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden are Nordic countries!"
"Yes." Sweden's heart beat placidly. "That's right."
"Can I have another word?"
They were only halfway to the next dune, but Sweden didn't want to disappoint such an eager child.
"Okay. Vän means friend."
"Ven!"
Sweden drew the word in the sand like he had with the word snö before in the snow. He showed Max the letter Ä then helped him pronounce it, using his throat.
"Vän," Max said.
"Yes."
"You are my vän!"
They moved on, leaving the word behind. Sweden replied gently, "You are mine too."
Then at the next dune the word was hund for dog. Like hound without the O, he had explained. But when Max tried to put love and dog together in a sentence, Sweden had to explain that kärlek was the noun for love and the verb was something else. Max knew what a noun was and a verb, but Sweden asked if he knew about adjectives, adverbs, and conjunctions to find that he did not.
Sweden found immense joy and peace teaching Max anything he didn't know. He felt as though he had been accepted as a father and was raising him.
"Jag means I."
Max had that one down quickly.
"Jag älskar is 'I love'."
They went over that again and again until he could pronounce it coherently with an accent. They reviewed the other words. Sweden held off giving him new ones until he could correctly recall the previous ones when quizzed. Sweden tested him then on the other things he had told him about, like where he should look for trolls (Norway), who had a lot of volcanoes (Iceland), which country had a statue of the Little Mermaid (Denmark), and what a sauna was and the country that loved to use them (Finland).
"Jag älskar min vän," Sweden said.
"I love my friend?"
Sweden nodded, then said, "Jag älskar min hund."
"I love my dog!"
Another nod.
Max exclaimed, "Jag älskar snö!"
Sweden inhaled sharply when the sand in front of them stirred. Something under the surface slithered away, flowing like a serpent to the next dune and disappearing into it. Max had seen it too and had jumped into him. Sweden let go of his hand to briefly put his arm around him comfortingly. He rubbed Max's arm and felt a slight trembling under his touch.
"It's okay," he mumbled.
"What was that?"
"Nothing to worry about."
Sweden took them to the side to pass around the dune although it killed more time doing so. Walking back out on the sand behind it, Sweden saw nothing stirring the sand now.
He was so startled. If he had actually seen what it was, he would have been more scared.
That concerned Sweden more. How was he going to protect him if he kept getting afraid when it was paramount that he did not?
It's not fair. Being scared doesn't mean a lack of caring for returning.
Sweden then recalled the words of the other Original who had first spoken to him. The piece of advice he had been given that seemed trustworthy, that there was an Original he would meet who was quite unfair in this way. The Face-Stealer. It hadn't been the tree, who had mainly left them alone and had also been considerate enough to bless Sweden with advice.
Do not look at the Face-Stealer, Sweden remembered. Its reflection is not as scary as it is apparently… But around here there are no reflective surfaces. Farther still then, before we met it.
"Är means am, is, and are all in one word," Sweden went on. "So now you can say 'I am'."
"Jag är Max!"
"Ja. Du är Max."
Sweden told him how to say you in the singular, then how to reverse the verb and noun to make a question. He was proud by how fast Max was learning. He understood Sweden's deep, rumbling voice very well, or perhaps because Sweden had been talking so much it was getting easier to understand him? It seemed so. Like in the snowstorm, he was focusing on including vowels when he spoke, and being louder.
Sweden spied a long lump in the sand. When they neared it, it slithered toward them. Max yelped and Sweden scooped him off the ground. Sweden stood stalk-still as something curved around his feet then sped away. When it had been closer, he could make out its shape under the sand better. It had a large, smooth head and a thin, long body. Those proportions would not belong to a regular snake.
"B-Berwald…"
"You're safe. I got you."
When he was sure it was far off, Sweden placed Max back down and they kept moving.
They practiced everything again. In what seemed like an hour, Sweden gave him new words. He told him how to say each of the five Nordics he had learned about in Swedish. He also taught him the word for Swedish. From now on too, Max could practice by replacing the English word with the Swedish ones whenever they were to talk about them.
"So Finland is just Finland?"
"Ja."
Max understood that ja meant yes. He asked how to say no, to which Sweden replied, "Nej."
"Sverige."
Sweden turned his head out of habit when he heard his name in his own tongue.
"Island… Danmark."
Sweden kept nodding.
"What was Norway again?"
In Sweden's peripheral vision he saw something white rising from the sand. When he turned his head, it had ducked under the sand too fast for him to properly see it.
"Norge," he answered.
"Norge and Island älskar fish," Max said. "Finland älskar salted licorice. Sverige and Danmark är vän."
"Vänner," Sweden explained. "That is the plural."
"Friends?"
"Ja."
Something poked up again on the side where Max's view was blocked by Sweden's body. This time Sweden saw the top of the round head before it disappeared.
"Sverige och Danmark är vänner…" he murmured absentmindedly to Max as he came upon a realization. The head had resembled something, because it had been white and smooth with cracks over the surface.
"Max," he uttered. "The things moving around right now- they won't hurt you. Don't be afraid of them."
"O-Okay…"
"Can you say katt? It means cat."
It was becoming increasingly more important to distract Max. Sweden heard sand shifting and he tried to get in the way so Max couldn't see the sand rising as something moved along beside him.
"K-Katt."
He flicked his eyes down to the child. Max was hearing as well the sounds beside Sweden and was trying to see what was there. Sweden then glanced to his other side and checked that the sliding creature under the surface was two metres away.
"Katt and hund." Sweden tried to keep his voice steady.
"Katt and…"
The sand sprayed Sweden's shoes when the creature swerved around to be in front of them. Max almost stepped on it and he leapt backwards with a shriek, letting go of his hand. From the ground a skull rose attached to a spine, vertebrae like scales and curling like a snake. The jaw opened with the few tendons connecting it to the skull, baring an almost complete set of teeth.
Max screamed. It struck like a viper in the blink of an eye.
Sweden had already been stepping out in front of Max and before he could realize what had happened, teeth clamped onto his arm. It hurt more than being bitten in the forest had- these teeth were hard like stone and the jaw was abnormally strong. He yelled out and skipped sideways, trying to shake it off. It let go on its own and dropped to the ground where it immediately rushed to Max.
Sweden stomped his foot down on the spine whereon the creature promptly turned and bit his leg. Sweden grimaced and reached down to grab it. He lifted his foot and yanked it off him despite how it tore off a piece of him with it. With his hand locked around the base of its skull, he held it up and at a distance as it snapped at him and writhed. The spine flicked out jerkily in all directions while Sweden debated what to do with it.
Throwing it away wouldn't be a good idea if it would just return. There was also the matter if what he was doing now was considered fighting, which one of the rules forbade. He was supposed to ignore things like this although now clearly he wasn't. Yet it could not harm him now, so why not fight it? Try to destroy it by breaking the head off the spine?
More may come that I cannot fight, he thought. Destroying one of these might not turn out in our favor.
This world was unpredictable. Sweden needed to stick to the rules if he wanted to stay safe. Thus he cast the creature as far as he could before quickly saying to Max, "Close your eyes and get on my back."
It was swiftly arranged. Sweden saw the sand moving as it came back and they could both hear it. Sweden said, "Do not be afraid. It will not reach you."
That was not true; he knew it could jump high. However Max needed a false sense of security and blindness for everything to work out.
"Berwald," Max whimpered nonetheless. "Are you okay? Why's light coming out of you? I-Is that bad?"
"I'm okay. And don't worry about the light, because everything will heal fast."
Sweden walked on, making sure to kick sand as he went to mix up the sound of the creature now following them with his own movements. To divert Max's attention once more, Sweden asked, "What's your favorite school subject?"
It was a random question but like with many small children, Max was keen on talking about his daily activities.
"Reading! I love stories."
Well, Sweden didn't think that reading was a subject and assumed that Max didn't remember the word literature which was probably used for the subject in elementary schools. Regardless it was best to let him talk.
Max continued, "Like when we get to sit on the carpet and listen to Ms. Flynn reading a story! Like ones with the bears, or little mice…"
Sweden nodded along and grunted in affirmation every once and a while as Max went on and on about the things he did in class. The games they played for gym, including his favorites and least favorites, what he had just learned in math, what Magic Tree House book he was on, how this Ms. Flynn was the best teacher ever, and how his friends played tag every recess. Sweden couldn't help but feel more attached to the child as he listened, feeling more and more that he was his parent. He learned Max's life through the inane but all so important details he was given.
He must be real because the creatures attacked him, Sweden had decided. With that belief as well, he allowed himself to care more about the child's well-being.
He is so dear. He has a wonderful life to get back to.
Longer Max talked until they went back to the Swedish vocabulary words. As he listened, Sweden thought again, Not everything here is real… So what does that mean?
Were the creatures real? They certainly seemed so, being able to inflict harm. The mountains? This sand? Were these things really here as well? Sweden recalled the sea he had set out on and how by sinking through the seafloor had brought him to the other side. It made him wonder then, if the other half of the sea was an illusion or if the water itself was also not real. His memories of the cold depths were vivid but perhaps he had imagined the cold, for weren't there times when in the mountains if he thought about Finland he felt warm?
"Sverige!"
Sweden immediately perked up when he heard his true name called again.
"Kanada," he replied.
"Canada?"
"Yes. The same word but with a K."
Now he got himself thinking of the personification of Canada only to realize how seldom he thought about him. He scolded himself for that internally. He would have loved to be in Canada right now having a little fika with him.
He labored over the next dune to immediately find an oasis awaiting them. The red sky was reflected in the water, making it appear as though the lake was dyed with food colouring. Until then Sweden had forgotten about hunger and thirst. Once before in the forest when he had run, he had become thirsty yet had since never thought of it again.
I don't need water. It is a trick.
Max was quiet. Sweden took from this that he was obediently keeping his eyes closed, otherwise he most likely would have asked to have a drink.
Wait. Why didn't I see this from the mountain?
When they had looked down at the desert, he had never seen any water, only dunes until the wall which Sweden saw now as a black line in the distance.
Is the water not real? Does it only appear to those close to it to tempt them?
Sweden stared at the water. With his piercing glare behind the glasses he had already reset on his nose, he tried to see past the opaque surface. After a few seconds, the red faded in strength until he could see only sand and no water, and dozens of headless and spineless skeletons poised to strike. When he relaxed his gaze he only saw the still surface of the water again but a shiver ran up his back for having had seen the dark secret lying below.
He walked around the oasis without a word. He noticed then that the creature had stopped following them and for that he felt a sort of relief. That is until once over the next dune, three mounds of sand shifted and followed him. Their movements were loud and Max tightened his hold on him. Sweden murmured more words of comfort to him and felt him relax.
It was amazing to have his voice act as a calming balm instead of as an intimidating Sweden wondered if he took a turn talking, if it would do better. He decided that because Max liked stories, he would recall one and tell it the best he could to him.
And so he told a story about the Moomins to him, describing the pictures with the cute, hippopotamus-like creatures, and voicing their quotes. It was one of the beloved children's books from Finland and written originally in Swedish, so naturally Sweden knew it well.
Near the end of the story however, Sweden was glad that he had told Max to keep his eyes closed. Apart from the skulls on spines rising from the sand, a field of fire was now before them. The flames licked high and he could feel the heat already. Turning his head, he saw no way around it. He cringed to see black skeletons lying sprawled on the ashy sand which were now lifting themselves once noticing him. They ambled forward and Sweden knew that even if he did not step down into the field of fire they would come for him.
"Max, I'll finish the story," he said. "But first, I want to hear something from you."
"What?"
"Tell me about someone you love, who you want to go home to."
"Okay."
"Keep your eyes closed."
Sweden knew that the fire wasn't real. Like the oasis, it hadn't been seen before from above. He inhaled deeply as Max began telling him about his parents, then stepped into the inferno. The tongues touched his face and undoubtedly would have reached Max. Sweden feared that the child would shriek in pain, but all that emanated from him were words of love. Charred skeletons crept closer, but Sweden looked forward to where the sand recommenced.
This scene could only be described as Hell if Sweden were to be asked about it. He was surrounded by fire and monsters intent on punishment and destruction, yet he trusted their security. There was an end here. A chance. Hell, Purgatory or something else- for Sweden did not know if this place was ecclesiastical, they were allowed to leave with minimal provocation.
It was nice hearing about how much Max loved his mom and dad. It made Sweden want to take him home more than ever, for even if it would be sad to part from someone who felt like a son to him, he would be honored to send him back to this life. This determination drove him through the fire, to see past it until it no longer existed, and to push away the skeletons in his way and from touching Max.
Once out of the field, he praised Max for being so good then, as promised, he finished the story. With the child not knowing about anything that had just transpired, Sweden asked casually, "Did you like the story?"
"Yeah!"
"There're cartoons too. You can find them online then watch them if you'd like."
When you're home again, his mind whispered.
He started another Moomin story for him. It killed the time as they came closer to the black wall. Sweden checked the sky, finding it still cloudless and deep red, but still felt happy. He was proud of everything he had accomplished. He had walked for a long time, crossed many lands, endured pain, and passed many tests… when looking back now it all seemed so simple.
As though there was no failing now.
Sweden pushed up a dune then stopped. Below him, a woman cocked up her head and cried, "I knew I heard someone!"
He went down the dune toward her. His senses were heightened but compared to what he had just went through, he assumed that whoever he would find on the other side couldn't be so harmful. Afterall, she had the atmosphere of someone fresh from college, determined, intelligent, and full of potential. She had a walking stick that was taller than herself which she leaned on nonchalantly.
When closer however, she jumped back with a gasp.
"What is that on you?"
"What do you mean?" he muttered. He felt Max stir on his back.
"The dead thing."
Sweden blinked. "He's alive."
"I-I'm alive…" she whispered. "But that thing is beyond death… how do you not see?"
He only continued to stare at her. Was she lying? Why was she saying that she was alive…?
"He is alive," Sweden stated again. "I am too."
"I see that you are… not a monster but…" The young woman pointed over his shoulder. "It is rotten. Can't you see it?"
"No."
"It-Its skin…"
Sweden had taken such a liking to Max that he wasn't being swayed. Weren't his stories so detailed? His attitude so childlike?
He mentioned now, "He was attacked by the creatures."
"You're being tricked." Her eyes were wide. "Don't you know, how the monsters here will do anything to mess with you?"
"I do," he stated. "But he is not a trick."
"How can you know? Did you ever… see him bleed? The golden light of life? I have it. And if you are honest, you have it too."
"I haven't seen his."
Max adjusted his hands on Sweden's shoulders and buried his face into his neck. He could tell that he was afraid by his new clinging and shivering.
"Here." The woman lowered the staff so that the tip of it pointed toward Sweden. "The top has a point. Prick him with it and you'll know for sure."
Max likely had his eyes open by now, because Sweden heard him whimper then say shakily, "B-Ber…"
The tip was long and thin; a thick sliver that would likely break off but manage easily the job of drawing blood.
"No."
"How did you make it this far?" She frowned. "You're being foolish. It is just a prick anyway."
It was not just a "prick".
"I am not going to hurt him."
She moved the staff closer. Sweden stepped back.
"Do it!" she hissed. "Before that demon is the end of you!"
It was at that point that Sweden remembered the words of the first Original he had talked to. The living person had been called a he, not a she. Sweden decided to peer hard at the woman like he had with the oasis and the fire.
"I think," he said, "the only demon here is you."
The image of the woman, at least in his eyes, was gone. The outlines were there still, but he could see the taller black skeleton there holding the staff and regarding him with pupils glowing like the fire behind him. It had leathery, batlike wings that were stretched out to a grand length and were attached to the spine. Sweden looked to where its real eyes were and it tilted its head as though out of curiosity.
"Incredible," it said. Sweden heard the female voice in the background of the hoarse one now clearly heard. "No wonder you have made it here. You will surely, make it through the Maze."
Max was terrified and confused. Sweden heard him crying quietly into his hood.
"Nothing will stop me," Sweden uttered. "I am going home and he is too."
"The next stage is the hardest. It is… different. Sometimes, unfair. Something might go wrong for you."
He asked, "Am I going to meet the Face-Stealer?"
The black skull slowly nodded.
"I know to not be afraid," Sweden said. "Before I ended up here, I learned some rules."
"About here?"
"Yes."
"Tell me them, kindly."
Sweden, with a face of stone, did as he remembered them.
"Never be afraid. Never stop moving. Do not run or fight. Stay focused. Resist all temptations. Never look back."
"It's good," it rasped. "But I think another one should be added, one that is crucial to the next stage. Listen. You deserve this one."
Sweden waited obediently.
"Never give up, for no matter what happens, don't let yourself stay down when you fall. Get back up. Again, and again, and again. It is not easy, but you are stronger than you know. I see you as you see me, so believe it and fly."
"Thank you."
The guise of the woman was completely gone. Max squeaked and his fingernails dug into Sweden's skin as the Original was there suddenly to be seen flapping upwards. Sweden proceeded forward as though all was normal, which by then it felt just about that way. He heard its wing beats growing fainter and he felt Max shift on his shoulders to look after it.
Nothing bothered them for the longest time. Max wanted down, so Sweden set him onto his feet and stretched his back. They walked hand-in-hand again afterwards, approaching the wall. In a short while they were close enough to easily see the gray metal doors of the ebony-black building. They headed to one of them on a beeline, although Sweden felt an anxiousness blight him although he hadn't been disturbed by the creatures in a long time.
He wondered why he wasn't supposed to look back at the Face-Stealer. He had spent so much time here, seen so many things, so what could possibly be more horrifying than rotting, undead creatures? What could it look like, and why would its reflection not be as terrifying as itself?
Then, of course, he was concerned about Max. His eyes would have to be closed for the entirety of the labyrinth they were coming to. He assumed, that as long as Max did this they would manage.
The door was ten metres away and the wall of the building stood at three times his height. It was akin to a massive creature waiting to swallow them up. Sweden glanced down to Max and saw that his eyes were open now and regarding the building.
"Max, listen," Sweden said. "It's important. You have to keep your eyes closed for the entire time we are in here."
"Okay."
And he shut his eyes. Sweden took the moment to stare at him, but no matter how hard he looked he only saw the child there. He could not peel away any guise like he had with the Original.
He's real. I have to protect him.
"We'll be home soon," Sweden uttered as he took hold of the handle.
The door was heavy, creaking open slowly with a groan. Dim light trickled out although no light source could be identified. It allowed himself to see his and Max's reflection in the first huge mirror he saw clearly. They stepped inside and the door pulled itself closed behind them, shutting with a loud boom that shook the floor and mirrors.
To the right and left were long halls with each side covered by mirrors, all towering too high for him to be able to jump up and grab their tops. He could see the reflections of them as well at the far ends of each hall before each turn. In that way he would always be able to see anything far behind him.
Sweden decided to take them right. Thus began their journey through the infamous Maze of Mirrors.
