Surprise shakes my mind clearer, as I realize the lake had turned into a small pond in the middle of a beautiful well-kept garden. An old temple surrounded by creeping vines and bushes catches my attention briefly, looking as if it had been erected long, long ago.
The splash of vibrantly colored leaves, forestry, and several man-made structures make me slightly anxious, but comforted. It seems that I had miss seeing so many shades after day by day staying stuck with a handful of minimal scribbled colors; something that I had never realized until today.
A fluttering line of blue at my peripheral vision catches my attention, and I turn attentively, only to see it turning a corner from a tree into the direction of the temple.
I am not one to succumb to curiosity, but after checking my surroundings, it seems as if this garden had been isolated like a tiny island; except that it wasn't an ocean that surrounded it, but a cliff with rampant vicious waters and stony spikes at the bottom. If one is to fall, I would be quite unsure whether they'd die by drowning, or getting impaled by the dangerous-looking rocks.
With no choice left, I cautiously took the same path towards the temple. Because of the wet clothes sticking on my back, I felt vulnerable to the cold without any fur, yet I stubbornly refuse to let my limbs shiver by making them taut.
Walking past a small gazebo and an identical fountain to that of the one in the Circ, I cross over a bush to a wide clearing where I could more clearly see the entirety of the temple. A gasp escapes me as I see a beautiful dazzling beam of blue light escaping the open roof of the temple. A sense of trepidation and astonishment electrifies my heart at a guess that I make.
Ting ting—
The soft sound of a bell, almost inaudible to hear, had sounded. My eyes widen when I turned to see a tall ethereal beauty with spider-web-like blue hair that reaches up to the floor. Her hair is longer than her white and silver-blue robes, and is scattered on the grassy floor in all directions.
Her dazzling iridescent crescent-moon eyes stare at the sky in a daze, eyeing the blue beam of light with a sad melancholic look; thin delicate lips parted slightly as if she is always in the middle of sighing.
Ah, I know that look.
That helpless look of wanting to be free but cannot. How many times had I wanted to seize the sky and fly but was never able to, as the shackles around my hands and feet were too heavy to be lifted into flight to the horizon?
As if on cue, she notices that she isn't the only person in the garden anymore. She and I flinch in surprise at the same time, as we stare at each other. Her crystal cerulean eyes lock on to my golden irises. I count the seconds, and yet I am not able to feel any connection with her even after staring for so long.
Am I really in a dream? Why does it feel so real?
Her lips move, but not a sound comes out. In the silence, she mouths—
"Come find me, wanderer".
No words are uttered, and yet it feels as if I heard her voice, a trace of plea hidden somewhere in it. Or is it simply my imagination? She smiles genuinely and kindly at me, and a sense of familiarity breeds inside of my heart.
Where have I seen that smile before?
I wasn't able to continue pondering about it—a gigantic beast, far bigger and taller than the me or the other person appeared out of nowhere, growling deeply at the intruder that is me. Head down low, with eyes centered only at me, the large sharp overgrown fangs look extremely menacing. It eyes me like a naughty but easy prey that willingly delivered itself directly into its territory.
For every step it took, I inch far, far backwards, but slow enough in fear that it may directly run to catch me with its mouthful of blade-like teeth.
The beast looks like a giant saber tiger with no stripes, two large and sharp protruding fangs continuously being flashed at me in warning, and slight amusement. Its tail is fluffed up in what seems to be low-key attentiveness, and what I guess is anger.
Who wouldn't be angry at having someone cross your own home? I berate myself. I shouldn't have gone wandering about! But in the back of my mind, I contradict myself, fully knowing I might've done the same thing anyway, even if I was allowed a redo.
The muscles on the beast's back flexed for every time its paw take a forward step, its talon-like nails digging and uprooting the grass in every step. Soon, it completely obstructed my view of the other blue-haired lady, who neither moved, nor said a word during the whole process.
For a moment, I think about whether I was the only who could see her.
I weigh my options of escape. Although my chances were slim, I decidedly dash back to the pond. The giant saber chases me with no pause, agilely springing into action the moment I took my first step.
Those four paws are something never to be trifled with, that much I had understood early on. It wouldn't be the first time I realize that the speed of two legs are nothing compared to four.
Knowing I can't outrun the beast, I try to dash faster to the pond, urged by this strong gut feeling I have that it was my only way out—I need to jump. I know could've jumped off the cliff or lose the beast in the garden, but I couldn't shake off the feeling that it was wrong, that I would die if I did so. Somehow, it felt like I am under a test, but the cost of failing it is my life.
My gut told me to dive. Resolutely, I did.
I felt the shivering coldness at the back of my neck—the fangs of the beast were so near that just a few inches more and it could have not have grazed my neck, but could have instantly bitten it off. But I fell down into the waters, safely dodging away from its fangs.
I gasp and cough in shock, my body trembling non-stop in bone-deep coldness and fear.
A warm hand helps rub my back, ebbing away the dread and the distress.
"Are you okay?" Obrecht's worried voice echoes next to me ear, but it sounded as if he was talking from somewhere underwater.
I twist my neck, inching my right ear to my shoulder, in a useless attempt to shake off the ringing sound in my hearing.
"Vid, are you okay? Videre--?" Slowly, Obrecht's voice sounds a lot clearer than his earlier muffled question.
I turn to him, and place a hand on my face, surprised to feel the cool surface of my mask. Only then does the haze in my head clear.
Like a sort of countermeasure for traumatic things, my mind pushes back the haunting but familiar feeling of brushing up with death, back into that dark, desolate corner of my mind. Another shake of my head makes me dizzy, but it is enough for me to momentarily forget and distract myself away from the horrendous memories.
Once my vertigo reduces, I glance at the person in front of me, as he steadies me while I stand up. Seeing the two expensive stones that I had seemingly dropped to the floor, I panic as try to I pick them up.
These are expensive!
Obrecht catches my hand before I get them and resolutely says, "Bear with me", as he lifts off my mask. Caught off-guard, I feel the cold air on my cheeks and neck. I shut my eyes in reflex, and try to move away but Obrecht's other hand grasps the back of my neck to steady me.
I hear a few background noises of people breathing out in surprise, or so. The feeling of eyes on me made me want to hide farther, and grab the mask and run.
Against my wordless objections, Obrecht sweeps his hand over my forehead, brushing my hair away. I keep my eyes shut, my breath halts as Obrecht seems to be inspecting something.
Belatedly do I realize the warm feeling I had on my forehead. But with my and everybody's attention set on my forehead, no one noticed the odd frozen behavior that the other person beside Obrecht portrayed.