Lumi felt her eyelids flicker as she slowly trudged back into consciousness. She was having difficulty trying to pry her eyes open as the lids were still glued together with dried tears and junk. She tried to take inventory of her condition but was unable to feel her limbs, causing a subdued flicker of panic as she tried to remember who and where she was. There were agitated murmurings above her. She felt someone prod her side with the tip of their foot before they outright kicked her in retaliation at her lack of response. She could only emit a weak mewling sound of pain even though internally she was curling up into a ball at the pain inflicted on her.
Danger. She was in danger.
She may not yet know what was going on but if this was how they would treat her unconscious body, then she did not want to wake up and deal with them awake. Already, she feel the heavy weight of sleep eluding her. She would soon be awake and be subjected to whatever horrors these people planned for her. She needed to get her bearings if she wanted to get out of the situation safely. She would not deny that she was scared. Would she be able to even get away from these people? And if she did, where would she even go?
She tensed up when she senses someone crouch down near her head. Not knowing what to expect, she primed her self to be ready to run if she so needed to. She was unsure if her was evident on her body, but she tried to mentally prepare herself for another attack.
"Get. Up. Lumiana Polaris!" A man growled at her, his anger palpable in his voice. "We do not have time for your games."
Maybe it was the anger, maybe it was hearing this strange name being assigned to her person, but the memories flooded her head. The heavy stream of images was so intense that she jerked up with a gasp, clutching at her head. She felt sick, the nausea causing her to feel unsteady even though she was sitting down.
"Is this really the time to pull you theatrics, Lumiana?" A female voice floated down to her. Lumi struggled but she managed to pry the eyelids of one eye open to see who the speaker was. Before her stood a diminutive young woman, only five feet in height. She had waist long brown hair with a reddish undertone. Her skin looked soft and pink, giving her a cute youthful look. Her green eyes were cold, staring at the weaker girl in disgust.
"We have to figure how to fix the mess YOU made before we all perish." The girl's voice took on a reprimanding tone. She was trying to glare down at the disheveled girl, but she gave nothing more than an impression of a kitten hissing in intimidation. Lumi said the only thing that came to her.
"Who the heck is Lumiana?" Again, the name seems familiar, but she was uncertain how it was connected to her.
The other woman actually had the audacity to roll her eyes at her, surprising Lumi to the point that she raised her eyebrows. She looked at the others to gauge their own reactions to the woman's attitude's but she was met with scornful gazes instead.
Great, she thought to herself. I'm surrounded by twenty hostile idiots instead of one.
Lumi tried to ignore the harsh stares, focusing instead on the room she was in. It was more barren than she expected. There was a threadbare bed pushed into one corner, a boarded up window, and the floor was made of hard stone.
Comfy.
Someone snapped their fingers by her ear, trying to regain her attention.
Slowly, she turned her head to the offender. It took all of her strength not to snap on the person. Instead she opted to blink owlishly at them. Once again, the other woman pouted at her.
"Lumiana," she addressed her sternly. "This is serious."
Lumi felt her eye twitch.
"Let me take over," it was then she noticed the young prince in the corner. She felt her heart thud heavily in her chest. Her palms became sweaty. She could tell that the prince became aware of her fear, and the bastard was enjoying it. It was she could do not to run screaming from his presence. Having him be nothing more than a ghostly figure was intimidating, but it was something she figured she could ignore, or at the very least exorcise. Now that she was pulled into his world and had to face whatever he had planned for her, she was aware of how precarious her position was. She clenched her hands into tight fists, feeling her fingernails dig crescents into her palms. Now that she was in his presence, she was even more certain that she was in danger.
He looked down at her, both metaphorically and physically judging her to be lower than the dirt beneath his feet. She sneered in turn when he pushed the other woman behind him, as if to shield her from her presence.
How sweet, she thought mockingly.
"You did not learn your lesson after your execution--" he began.
"Excuse me?" Lumi burst out. Execution? What was he going on about? They killed her before? How? Would she not have remembered such a death? She was going to question his sanity but stopped. She rolled the words in her mind, trying her best to decipher them. Something told her that there were truth to his words. She did not know how, it was like her mind was trying to remind her of something important that she had forgotten. She was certain that she had suffered some horrible fate by his hands. She felt herself break out into sweat, her skin becoming cold as her stomach dropped.
The prince huffed angrily. "There's no point talking to her." He turned to his companion. He gestured to some soldiers who stood guard in the corner of the room.
"Take her away!" He ordered.
"What-- HEY!" Lumi was roughly forced to her feet. She struggled against the men's tight grip to no avail.
"Wait," the woman protested. The soldiers paused, waiting to hear her words. She turned to the prince, placing her hand on his forearms pulling him closer to him. Lumi wanted to puke at such an intimate display. "Should we really send her away before getting more information from her? Maybe she feels put off by all of the people in the room."
Immediately Lumi's ears were assaulted by murmurs of compliments and praise towards the woman's kindness.
"She truly is a epitome of grace," one of the men whispered.
"To show kindness to the very woman who wronged her," another woman continued. "This is a testament to her character."
Lumi felt her face twist as the woman blushed demurely, basking in the compliments that the people rained down on her. Lumi had to refrain from rolling her eyes into her skull when the prince kissed the other woman on the forehead.
"We're getting nowhere," he explained to his companion. "It's only a waste of time." Turning back to his men, he repeated his earlier order.
"Take her away." He locked eyes with Lumi as she once again put up a struggle. "Lock her in the dungeon until she is ready to speak."
After resisting the urge to spit in his direction, Lumi went limp in defeat before she was pulled out of the room. The last thing she saw was the stupid prince and the annoying woman kiss each other.