The only thing that Teresa could do was throw a blanket over Thana after pitying her poor son, who is shaking uncontrollably on the side. She wished she would have dressed the young lady in her clothing despite its vintage appearance and holes in many places rather than her sister's old nightgown that is bigger than Teresa herself.
It was her mistake. She had expected an outburst from the lady regarding the choice of clothing Teresa made. But when it comes to the overly large nightgown, the lady could only laugh.
"As if you've never seen skin before," Thana said in between her surprised laughter until her face became stern and her laughter died down. She asked with a sigh, "what place am I in? Does anyone know how to get back to London?"
Both Teresa and her son glanced at Thana after hearing such a foreign place. They shared the same confused glances at each other before Teresa answered, "London? Could that be a new name of one of the kingdoms?"
"From what I heard, there haven't been any name changes in centuries. If there were, then I'm sure it would have reached Aqora and other kingdoms in a matter of days. Words do travel faster," Elias nodded at his mother's answer.
He looks at Thana curiously, asking, "could you be from Cidias? It's the nearest neighboring kingdom here. You couldn't have traveled far on your own, and something must have happened if you don't seem to remember where you're from. Were you perhaps attacked?"
"The only thing I remember is being inside that forest-" Thana responds bitterly, remembering every detail of what happened, including the man by the stream.
"That forest was within the palace walls; how did you end up inside here?" Elias was ready to interrogate when he pulls a stool to have a seat. This scene is what he was waiting for, as he needed to know the lady's identity.
They've let a stranger inside the palace, and they're responsible for anything that may happen. Both Elias and his mother's life is at risk until they find out who the strange lady could be.
"-what? The palace? No way I'm inside the palace," Thana chuckles slightly in absurdity, whispering the last word when suddenly the memories of being inside limbo come flooding back to her mind.
Her annoyance grew when every single word that Otto said replayed in her head. She remembers and hears him loud and clear as the memory plays like a short movie in her head. He claimed that Thana was dead, and she had ended up inside a book.
No. Otto purposely killed Thana and placed her inside of his book for whatever reasons he had. She still finds it hard to accept, wishing that all this was just a horrible dream. But even as she pinches herself over and over, she could only hiss at the pain with nothing happening.
Thana will never wake up from this nightmare; she's stuck.
"Because you're already dead; there's no going back," Otto's voice rang through her mind when at the same time, Teresa asked Thana whether she was alright.
Both Teresa and Elias were only looking at her with worried faces as Thana continuously pinched her arms while being deep in thought. They knew that something was wrong with the girl they rescued in the middle of the forest. Thana doesn't know that they are as confused as she can be.
However, Thana could only hear the old man's voice dominating in her mind that she snapped at him out of the blue as if he was there with them, "shut up, old man, you're a murderer! I shall tear you apart when we meet again!"
The room went dead silent; the only sound one could hear was the sound of Thana's harsh and deep breathing. When the stool creaked as Elias tried to get up and move away, Thana snapped her eyes toward him like a predator catching its prey. He gulps nervously, seeing the burning passion in those cobalt eyes.
"We should turn her over to my superior now, mother. I do not believe that she's sane at the moment; please move away from her, for she could harm you," Elias said, holding his right hand ready on the handle of his sword while eyeing his fearless mother.
Teresa shook her head at her son, keeping her eyes on Thana, "dearest, you're not from this world, aren't you?" she asked, taking Thana by surprise that her mouth formed into an 'o.'
"If what the old man is saying is true, then the world I'm in isn't real. Everything around me, including the both of you- nothing is real."
Elias broke into fits of laughter after hearing Thana's revelation, calling out her nonsense in between his cachinnation, "you've really lost it. I'm sorry to burst your little bubble, but you've woken up to reality. This is reality, and everything is real!"
"You're in the Kingdom of Aqora. The most prominent and most powerful among the others that are in the Pegia Continent. Wake up; you're in the year 1715. Oh, and you're a human being on this planet in case you've forgotten that too."
Thana's jaw dropped, and she repeated, "1715?"
Elias groaned, "mother," he walked toward her and went closer to her ear as he whispers, "I think she's pretending to be insane and clueless. You know the missing mages could play tricks on you to conceal their identity. But what's worse, she can be a spy from Creupias."
"Wait," Thana uttered, narrowing her eyes at Teresa, "you asked whether I'm not from this world. How did you know that I didn't come from this world?"
"You're not anyone from the neighboring kingdoms, nor are you a spy from Creupias," Teresa said to Thana before looking at her son, "she's not a mage, and she's not pretending to be lost and confused."
"Dear, I understand you're from another world. What the old man was saying is true; he told me very briefly of the girl I shall meet days ago when I was in the market."
"Mother, what are you saying?" Elias asked, becoming more and more confused.
Thana rose from the bed; this time, she's standing while holding the blanket around her, looking at the two that are nothing but fictional characters of Otto's book.
"So you've met him. You met the author of this b-"