The markings formed pictures, and as Leo descended he first saw a painting of figures wors.h.i.+pping a giant demon. He then saw a picture of what seemed to him a large serpent with great feathery wings and short limbs being killed. He remembered a story his mother would tell him before he fell asleep. He remembered the large castle, and the stone walls he lived inside of, and he traced his way back to the room where at the age of six, his mother would say, "Leo."

He would answer, "Mother."

"What do I have for you today?"

"A story about Fairies."

"Once," his mother said, "There was a kingdom in the sky. Up, above the plains. High above the seven mountains. A kingdom of fairies lived in harmony."

He remembered his mother's sweet smile. He remembered how she paused with her smile in the middle of the story.

Little Leo would say, "Don't end it there!"

She continued, "One day, a little boy with curly blue hair like yours wept beside his mother's sick bed and said, 'Oh! If only I could fine the great fairies of legend. Then I could wish for her health to return.'"

"Why was she sick?"

"She had the plague."

"What's a plague?"

(Leo was recalling the first time he heard the story.)

"Plagues kill; they kill millions."

"Why?"

"Because they're plagues," his mother said, "And if you keep asking questions, I'll stop, and you'lll have to wait until tomorrow night for the end of the story."

"No! I'll be quiet!"

She smiled and continued the story:

"But then a small fairy heard his plea for help and took pity on him, for he and the mother were poor and could not afford a doctor.

So the fairy said, 'Cimb the highest mountain of The Seven Mountains--Mount t.i.tan, and you may make a offer to the supreme fairy.'

The boy said, 'How will I know it's the great fairy?'

The little fairy said, 'You will know by the great white, feathery wings and scaly body and short limbs. Now go, and do not, I repeat, do not make a deal with any other large fairy resembling it, for they have black wings, and they will only grant you death.'

'There are other large fairies?' the boy exclaimed.

'Yes,' the tiny fairy said, 'Now go, for the Supreme Fairy will only linger for one week, until it flies away to its kingdom, and return much later.'

'How long is later?'

'Longer than your life.'

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And so the boy obeyed the little fairy, ev en though it appeared to be a mere ball of light. He wondered if it was a figment of his imagination, but he realized that it was his only chance, his light in the darkness.

The little boy left his village at the foot of the mountain and entered the woods. He climbed, and climbed, and climbed, until his hands turned red and he grew blisters, and until sweat drenched his clothes. He himself began to feel sick from the cold mountain air, and he noticed he had trouble breathing, so he stopped. He took a break on a plateau with small flowers and green gra.s.s. He saw goats grazing and eagles nesting, and then he saw a shadow rise and cover the entire plateau.

It descended. The flaps of its wings scared the goats and eagles away, and its presence emitted pressure that covered the entire plateau. The boy was scared, but he didn't have the strength to leave, and so he let it descend. He hoped it was the Supreme Fairy, but when it landed, he saw black, scaly wings. He saw its red eyes and jagged back. He saw its body tower over twenty meters.

It said, 'Boy, what is it your heart desires?'

'My mother, she is sick. Can you take me to the top of the mountain? I need to see the Supreme Fairy!'

The large fairy said, 'I will, but for a price.'

'What?' The boy said.

'Your wisdom.'

'After I make my wish to the Supreme Fairy.'

'So be it.'

And so, the large Fairy scooped the boy into its claws and carried him up the mountain. The boy felt air rush over his body. He s.h.i.+vered from his fraility. The two reached the top of the mountain, and the boy felt lightheaded. He stumbled before the Supreme Fairy. He couldn't even recognize a thing. His vision blurred, and all he saw was a hazy white silhouette that expanded into his mind.

The Supreme Fairy said, 'What is it you desire human child?'

The boy summoned the last of his strength and said, 'My Mother! Please! Heal my Mother!'

And so, the Supreme Fairy healed his mother.

The Large Fairy proceeded to take the boy's wisdom, rendering him a dumb, and the boy died dumb, at the top of the mountain, for the cold had quickly killed him.

And so, the boy saved his mother, and to this day, the people of the Seven Mountains tell his story to remember that the Supreme Fairy really exists."

Leo returned to reality. His recollection happened in an instant, but for you the reader, I stretched it out (Aren't I nice?). He finally reached the bottom, where a picture of a tower that reached into the clouds was surrounded by humans and demons.

And so, Leo entered cautiously into the dark corridor below Ahab's palace.