The commute of colours could have given everything away.
In the obscure void of time and space, the palette of indescribable colours, displaying my entire life, Kiera saw her standing there watching the scenes of life like a silent commuter in a movie theatre. She didn't know about her whereabouts or who this person was. The only thing that was clear was that it wasn't natural.
Maybe it was a dream.
Kiera couldn't have seen her, if not for being the only person other than the other woman in the void.
There she was, so breathtakingly beautiful. She just stood there dressed in a long, billowing, greyish black gown with translucent bell sleeves flowing all around her, as if almost floating in the air. Her eyes were two brown, almost black orbs which looked like black lakes which hid various mysterious thoughts- so expressive, yet so mysterious at the same time. Her long black hair, falling evenly on both sides of her pale face, brought out the beauty in it all the more. She wasn't wearing any ornaments or any makeup, but she was the most beautiful woman Kiera had ever seen.
Kiera immediately recoiled at first, not knowing what to expect from the woman in front of her, but then when her beautiful pink lips turned into that familiar curve, Kiera felt herself relax and felt her legs walk towards her. And when she spoke, her voice was so melodious Kiera felt that at least a hundred minstrels could have written songs describing their love for her.
'Kiera Mitsue, we meet at last.' She smiled as she extended her hand.
Kiera's hands seemed to have a mind of their own as they shook hands. She seemed pleased, but then her smile faltered and her eyes showed sadness from within, creating a weird feeling within.
"Am I supposed to know you?"
The lady's eyes glistened with a sad glimmer of hope.
"Not yet, but your partner is not here yet."
Everything changed. Kiera felt uncomfortable as if large bulky hands were now pulling her backwards, insides feeling insanely hot, her stomach was numb and all she could was feel herself being sucked into a tornado. Her head felt heavy, and she lost consciousness as she saw red circles in front of her eyes...........
Kiera gained consciousness but was still dizzy from the after-effect of what the hell had happened around her. She stretched her arms and yawned tiredly as she relaxed back onto the soft bed.
Wait.
Soft bed?
That's not supposed to be there.
Heaven?
Nah, how could that be possible?
"Ah, I see you're awake."
Kiera jumped nearly six feet off the bed and crashed on the floor, hard.
"Oh my goodness, are you okay?" she heard the same musical voice again.
Kiera clambered up to my bed in shock and fright to see a beautiful lady sitting in one corner of the bed. And she would've freaked out even more had not her face been familiar. She had those same mysterious black-almost-brown eyes and long black hair. The only difference was that her hair had now been pulled back into a ponytail and she was wearing a black shirt coupled with a white hoodie and blue denims and white sneakers, topped with a denim jacket with a schoolbag in her hand. As beautiful as this person was right now, Kiera had this sudden urge to comment about this person's fashion sense.
"W-w-who are you? Where am I? Why am I here?" Kiera's mind was filled with a lot more questions. However, these were the only ones that could leave her mouth. She wasn't a person to have talked in front of a stranger, but she needed to get out of this place.
"I'll answer the questions in due time. For now, you can call me Contemporary Romance."
Wait, what?
"Contemporary romance?" Kiera voiced her thoughts. "Isn't that a, you know, genre?"
The lady said nothing and just smiled in return. Kiera, wary of this lady, returned to the bed, pulling the sheets up to her chests. Her eyes shut themselves tightly. If this was a dream, she would wake up soon. Yes, that would do the trick.
The door creaked open, and it took all of Kiera's energy not to shoot up from the bed. This time, two men entered the room, one of them looking like a mean business with his suit and all, the other a high school kid. Well, he looked like a high school kid, with his arrogant walk and flashy clothes. But he seemed familiar.
The businessman said a few words to the kid, motioning towards the bed, while he himself took a seat beside "Contemporary Romance", a file in his hand. The kid greeted Contemporary romance and smiled, and Kiera felt like she was a kid who was being left out of stuff, or a very popular inside joke.
"Will anyone please explain what in the world is going on? And please tell me whether I'm alive or dead?" Kiera asked, exasperated.
Everyone looked at Kiera with a smile. And to say that she feared seeing them smiling would be an understatement.
"Am I not supposed to be dead?" she asked.
Contemporary romance's smile changed. It was no more caring like it had been now. Instead, it was sad and somehow..... guilty and her eyes seemed to sparkle with something. Hope.
"Not really, you're in the Equinox."
"Am I dead?"
"No, not really, you're in a state of half sleep, rather."
What?
"Wait. Pause and Rewind. I'm not dead, but I'm not really alive, I guess? Because half sleep is basically death. Doesn't that sound kinda, I don't know, kind of fantasy?"
The businessman looked up at her.
"Even facts were one day thought to be fantasies." he said. "We had you two brought here because you guys actually wanted a way out of the real world. We won't blame you for that though, the human world is a really messy place. Even us Novelleo gods hate it."
Kiera did a double take internally. Novelleo… gods? As far as she knew, Novelleo was the site that she was writing her Katsu fanfic on. She looked at the boy, who was now sitting on the edge of the bed. He looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place his appearance. And he seemed to take all of this better than she did.
"A bit of explanation, please?" Kiera asked once she found her voice again.
CEO looked at Kiera as if she was the most confusing person on earth. Then his face morphed into something more of a recognition. "Oh, I see CR hasn't prepped you with the information yet. My bad, I told Ratsu everything here before we entered.
So this place it's called the Equinox. It's basically made of dormant or sleepy energies that humans emit once they're asleep. When humans are sleeping, it makes their minds more vulnerable and hence easier for deities like us to communicate with humans. You might have heard of gods and dead loved ones appearing in people's dreams. It all happens in the Equinox. You guys with me so far?"
Kiera and the boy nodded.
"And now, why you're here? Earlier this day, someone broke our precious sleep and told us that the two of you wished for an escape from this world. I do not understand why those wishes led to calling upon us, considering we're not even actual gods, but we decided to be lenient and provide an outlet for the two of you. It's a vague idea, but here's what we decided."
"We let you live inside a story, like live out a fictional story for once. It's not a permanent solution, but it's the best one for now. It will be just like living your own life, except it's just a story that we spun. It could be over once you really want it or die."
"Like Jumanji?" the boy asked warily.
"Yes, like Jumanji. Don't worry, nothing will happen. It will seem like you've been living inside this really long dream. It won't affect anything or anyone in the real world."
"We tinkered a bit in the magic and changed your appearances. In case you guys ever actually knew each other in real life, you won't recognise each other. But then again, it's for you to decide after the story if you want to see each other or not. We could arrange for that, of course."
"So what do you guys say about this?" Contemporary Romance asked, bouncing in her seat.
Kiera looked at the boy and weighed her options. One could be that she could join this guy on an adventure and have the time of her life before returning to the dreadful world again. Or two, she could refuse all of this and return to the dreadful world again.
It was clear which option she wanted the most.
"I'm in."
"Great, Ratsu?"
"Sure, I guess. It's not like it's harming my life or something."
Contemporary Romance clapped their hands. "Perfect, just one more thing we need to cover."