The young girl pouts.
"You just talked, so I know that you can do it."
I still stare at her in disbelief, while the calculating me tries to understand the illogical situation.
She has long, black and curly hair that creates a strong contrast to her porcelain like skin. The slightly round, warm face with big eyes made me wonder if there was a perfectly looking doll in front of me. No, it was not entirely perfect.
A thin, vertical line, not unlike a scar in the middle of her forehead was the only flaw on that weird person and with it I got the odd feeling, that this thing in front of me is real.
It looks mostly human, but there is something weird on her, apart from the fact that I still can't [see] the girl at all. Her eyes have a colour that I never saw on a human before.
I stare into those eyes.
The shade is a bit darker, but the colour is the same as one of mine. The purple eyes that I so far only saw on imps.
She opens her small mouth and lets out a deep sigh.
"Listen, I don't have time for that,", she chuckles with a sound like a small bell made of glass, "Will you hear out my proposal or not?"
I ponder for a while, that wouldn't even take a second.
The calculating me is just throwing around numbers. Calculations of possibilities that go nowhere. Ideas that instantly get rejected and conclusions that won't make any sense. I just can't understand the situation from a logical point of view and the calculating me just shuts down. Highspeed calculations in the back of my head to keep everything unwanted in check, as if it never was different.
So only the rational me is awake right now? Even if I call myself that, I can't really comprehend the situation either.
But I can make a rational decision, because I got asked a question. Not that the situation would give me the impression of a choice anyway. There is only one answer.
I nod.
"Splendid!", the girl claps her hands together in a happy gesture. "But not right now, you are a bit too dirty for my taste."
Ah...eh?!
I can understand the words and as I am covered in blood and partially even human innards, it is only natural to be called dirty. But I absolutely can not understand what is going on.
I'm not in a silent city covered in red any more, or was I ever there? What is going on?
There is warm steam all around me and the flowery scent of soap tickles my nose. My bare feet touch some floor covered in tiles made out of white stone and even the walls are protected by those.
I [look] around.
Apparently I'm in a gigantic bathroom. There are more rooms and even more all around me with somewhat odd [looking] people in them. I let my field of perception shrink down to only this room, due to confusion and another shock hits me.
I can [see] the girl in front of me!
She is as inhuman as I am and the aetheral outline of her body is even thinner than mine. Can I see her, because the Aether here is quite dense or was she not really there before?
So many questions!
A gentle knock on the door behind me.
Will this answer my questions?
No, it creates more.
"Did everything go to your satisfaction, my lord?" A dark and very caring voice was asking from behind the door. I forbid myself from [looking]. Nothing good will happen if this me also shuts down due to confusion.
"Even better!" The girl answered happily. "Send an imp in here."
An imp? What for?
Ahhh~! I want to clutch my head, but my body just stands still.
Okay, priorities.
What are you and what is going on?
Two simple questions.
I wont mix it with her like I would need to for a human. If she is even slightly like me, then she can just take the presented information.
She does that instantly.
A very big smile spans over her face and I notice a concerning glint in her eyes. Still her whole being [feels] friendly. I am not in any kind of danger… at least for now… I guess.
There are no words, as the girl communicates in the same way I do. "All in due time. Refresh yourself first."
There is nothing else for me to [listen] to and she just straight up walks to the door and leaves.
I [peek] outside, but there is no one there. Not a single trace of the ominous girl and I can't see the owner of the voice at the door either.
Completely dumbfounded I just stand there in the warm, way too big bathroom.
…
….
…
Haa~~~ warm water is such a bliss.
I don't know how I got here, but I don't want to ever leave if possible.
About two hours ago, I felt like waking up, even though I was awake all the time.
My overall feeling was deep confusion…
The rational me and the silly me are both me, so I have a vague understanding of what happened after the blind-guns killed me in that weird underground room, but nearly all the details are hazy and covered in some thick fog.
It's the second time that something like this happened and the memories of the first time are banned behind numbers, too. So I can pretty much guess it.
I killed, right?
I don't want to think about who, but for some reason the "why" is also banned.
\\If I don't want to think about it, then I shouldn't.
//You are right, I'm so clever, rational me.
Instead of overthinking about something that I instinctively don't want to know, I could just enjoy the situation.
And I really like the current situation.
My confusion began with meeting a weird man… woman? Elder? Kid?
Uhnn~ I don't know.
The "person" was quite similar to myself and my last clear picture is a young girl with purple eyes, so I will keep it as that.
The girl has a proposal for me, but doesn't want to talk right now, so I was left alone in this big bathroom.
I wasn't alone for long though.
A soft knock brought my attention to the door and before I could decide if I want to [look] outside or not, the door got swung open and a small person entered the room.
An imp!
Dressed in a black dress with fitting shoes, socks and a whit apron over the dress, she bowed the moment she entered. I know what this is, I've seen it in a book.
This imp is a maid, right?
She looks up and smiles.
I smile back.
The company of another imp relaxes me for some reason and only then I notice how tense my body was.
…
It wasn't the first time that I got bathed, but at least the impmaid didn't make me feel like a little child.
For some absolutely unknown reason I am covered in ashes, dirt and most off all blood. Not a very welcome state to be in, so getting scrubbed clean was very nice.
After that I was finally allowed in the big bath.
More a steaming hot pool that a bathtub, it was build into the ground. One end of it is shallow enough, so that I could sit there with my eyes still being above the surface.
I like the other end more. A weight in each hand so I won't float, I just lie at the bottom of the bath and relax two meters below the surface.
"And why are you working here?" I ask from the comfortable bottom of the pool without a sound.
Not a single word was spoken since she entered and still we talked the whole time.
She ponders for a bit, as my question seemed to confuse her.
I call it talking, but most part was just me asking questions and her politely answering them.
Her name? Fhe, apparently a completely normal name for an imp. I don't get how names work at all.
Where are we? In a bathroom at the ground floor of course.
Uhm… no, where is this bathroom on a more global point of view? The castle of Al Drem, far in the north.
… Yeah, that doesn't help me at all.
Who was the weird girl? No idea. Even when I shared a picture of her, Fhe didn't know a person like that.
So this girl doesn't belong here? Sometimes there are guests, but not everyone gets to meet all of them.
… So I probably won't find out anything about her at the moment.
And why is she washing me? She was ordered to do so.
Why following an order? Apparently Fhe works in this castle. I apologize for asking such an obvious question. She didn't mind it.
I asked a few other things, which lead to the current one.
"What kind of question is that, I was born here, obviously." She chuckles.
"Born?"
A quick nod to my short question.
"So imps are getting born, huh."
There is no answer and Fhe just looks at me with confusion spread out all around her.
"Say, little one, didn't you have the talk about the flowers and the pixies yet?"
The what now? And I get, that she didn't ask my name, but being called "little" by someone who is only four an a half centimetres taller is weird.
"We shouldn't ask our guests questions about them, so I won't ask where you are from and what brought you here, but I hope that you will stay… At least a little while."
Huh?
There is something sad and oddly warming in her [voice] that keeps me from answering.
While sitting at the rim of the pool, Fhe dips her tail into the water and gently coils it around me, to pull me up and out of the water.
Hey, I would have liked to stay in there for a few more days, or at least hours.
My complaining is ignored and I get wrapped into a very soft towel. This is nice too, but I prefer the water.
Can please I go back in? No? ...okay.
After drying me up, Fhe leads me into an adjoining room and helps me put on clothes.
I get how the panties work, but have no idea about the weird bathrobe like thing with very big sleeves. It is made out of black silk, has flowers stitched onto it and apparently gets worn without pants.
"Why can't I wear anything less weird."
"Because the master likes this aesthetic."
"Who?"
Again I get a weird look as confusion is spread into the room. "The master? The one who ordered me to care for you."
Yeah… no idea…
Fhe made a weird noise that sounded like giggling and a sigh at the same time, while I had to put on white socks that are weirdly sewn, to separate one toe from the others. "Don't worry, I will bring you to him."
I get nervous.
The little impmaid leads me out of the room, just to guide me through a huge building. While walking I draw my field of perception even closer, as to not impolitely [look] into any of the rooms along the way.
We walk for exactly 20 minutes. With all the stairs that we climbed up, we should now be on the fifth floor. With every step my anxiety grew more and more and I dared not to ask, what would now happen.
In front of us is a big, metal wing door with beautiful little pictures engraved into it.
I felt like swallowing a big piece of bread at once, but of course there was nothing inside of me.
Fhe carefully knocks twice on that beautiful door and then just swings it open without waiting for an answer.
"Master, I brought the little one!", she announced with a clear voice, fitting her bright smile.
Behind the open door is a spacious, bright room.
I [look] inside.
Tall, completely filled bookshelves hide the walls and a soft looking carpet is covering the whole floor. There are three stunningly pretty chandeliers, that cover the room in warm light with the magic circles imbued in them. The wall opposite the door is made out of colourful glass and the bright outside makes it shine like a rainbow.
In the middle of the room stands a luxurious looking desk. One very comfortable looking chair in front of it and one behind it. On the chair behind the desk sits a tall, muscular man, dressed in a luxurious looking bathrobe, quite similar to mine but entirely made out or silver silk.
He is humanoid, but a single [glance] tells me, that he is as much human as I am.
His snow white hair is neatly combed and there is a pair of black horns, even longer than mine, sprouting from his forehead. The tip of each horn is ignited by a tiny, blue flame. The so called master looks up and for a moment his burning red eyes fixate on me, before he looks at Fhe.
In contrast to the burning colour of his eyes, their look is actually warm and filled with joy.
"Wonderful, thank you very much, my lovely Fhe." His gaze shifts towards me without loosing any of the warmth. "And I have to thank you too, for being here… Fhe, would you be so kind to bring some bread for our guest? And no toppings please."
Uhh~ bread. I would like to have some, thank you very much.
\\Silly me is too carefree.
Hmpf.
Before I can counter myself, the impmaid shoves me into the room, bows once and then energetically closes the door behind me.
There is silence, but only for a slight moment.
The mysterious master stands up quickly, after the door got closed and takes a step back. Then he falls to one knee in front of his empty chair.
No.
The chair isn't empty.
A little girl with curly, black hair sits on the chair, as if she was there all the time. She also wears the same type of clothing, but in purple and with butterflies stitched onto it. I know her… do I?