Memories came rushing in all at once, from birth up til now, and when it stopped, Nara found herself in a field of the flowers she once loved so much that the entire palace was decorated with them. The light from the moon illuminated where she was standing, and she looked around to find that she was alone.
The azaleas swayed with the wind as the scenery behind them changed from night to day.
It was then that she noticed two people standing nearby, holding onto each other. Though their faces were blurred, Nara immediately recognized them and rushed to hug them both.
"Mother! Father!" She cried out.
Yet seeing them here meant that she was dead. It was only expected after falling down such a high cliff.
So this was what the afterlife looked like…
Her favorite flowers and her beloved parents.
"My dear." Her mother's voice brought her back from her thoughts. Her face was held by the woman, so gently that Nara felt tears running down her face. There was a warmth to the touch that she had missed so much.
"You must wake up."
Huh?
Nara looked up in confusion to see that the figures of her parents were slowly beginning to fade. She panicked and desperately tried to clutch onto their clothing, only to be met with air. She caught one final glimpse of her father and mother smiling at her as they spoke in unison, "Go back, our little Nara. They are waiting for you."
She wanted to ask what they meant, to tell them about everything that happened, but words would not leave her mouth. She could only watch as everything disappeared.
Not… dead?
Groggily opening her eyes, the first thing she saw were six pairs of strange colored eyes staring right at her. Seeing how she had gained consciousness, three voices all spoke at once, faces leaning towards Nara.
"Oh my, oh my!"
"Kyu! This is good, she has awoken!"
"Haha! She's finally awake!"
Upon the realization of this current situation, Nara was alarmed and scooted back uncomfortably, yet the three beings followed her. She eventually found herself stuck in place. There was no more room on the gigantic bed, only the wall behind her, so she nervously swallowed and turned her head to look at the three.
Her eyes widened in more surprise. They definitely weren't human!!!
If one were to glance at them, they could tell these three creatures resembled human children, but it was easy to tell the difference; one had a tail, one had wings, and the last one had horns atop his head. They were dressed in weirdly fashioned clothes, and their hair were all different colors as well. The most noticeable feature about them were the scales running along their cheeks and other parts of their bodies.
Rather than human, they looked as though they were mythological beasts.
And as if noticing Nara's discomfort, the child with horns giggled, "Oh my, oh my! She's frightened by us!"
The one with the wings laughed alongside his companion. This was their first time interacting with a human, so they wanted to sniff her scent. They started leaning even closer to Nara.
"Don't scare her! The master will get angry, kyu!" Although he had just been doing the same as them, the child with the tail looked to be the most reasonable. The other two seemed to be Nara's age, but this one was slightly older in appearance. He shook his head in dissatisfaction and poked his friends with his tail in a warning. They both frowned before releasing Nara.
By this point, Nara's head was spinning. If she was not in the afterlife, what was this place?
"Where am I?" She inquired in a small voice.
The boy with the tail spoke first, "Kyu, you must be confused."
"I am Samu, kyu!" He then pointed to the child with the horns and said, "That one is A-Tae. And the one besides him is Seong."
A-Tae and Seong were twins. The only discerning feature about them were the wings and horns.
Feeling Nara's curious gaze, they both grinned, exposing their sharp canine teeth to Nara. This was friendly on their part but to Nara, she felt as though she was being threatened and immediately hid underneath the covers.
"Haha!" Seong laughed.
"See! The human is afraid of us!" A-Tae joined in.
Using his tail, Samu dragged the two of them by the collars and pulled them off the bed.
"Kyu! The master told us to be polite to her! She will become our new mistress very soon, after all!"
Nara's attention was caught by those words and her expression was dismayed. The three of them did not seem to find a problem with what they said and just stared back. Just to be sure what she heard was correct, Nara pointed at herself. They all nodded.
"Haha! The human doesn't know a thing!" Seong clapped his hands and giggled. His bird like wings moved slightly when he laughed.
"Know what? What do you mean new mistress— I don't know you guys! Where is this? Where is my brother?" Nara was defensive and sputtered out several questions.
The twins had a cheeky smirk as they watched her panic. They viewed Nara as an even more entertaining toy once they saw her discomposure. If she were to know what they were thinking, she would be even more shaken up.
"Mm-mn. Everything will be explained to you, of course, but that is for later. First we have to tell the masters that you have awaken! Kyu! You two will watch over her. Behave yourselves accordingly!"
Samu did not give Nara another chance to say another word before he left in a hurry, his tail chasing behind him. Nara watched as her only protector(?) disappeared and once he was fully out of sight, she was grasping the sheets fearfully.
To her surprise, the two creatures that stayed behind made no effort to try and harass her anymore. They sat in silence for a few seconds before Seong disrupted the quietness.
"You don't seem much older than us, haha!"
Nara's brows furrowed as she hid further.
"Of course, I'm only eight!" She responded.
"Whaaaat?!" A-Tae seemed shocked by this. "You're still a baby!"
"How old are you guys then?" She asked.
"Three hundred and seven years old. Much older than you!" The two of them replied in unison.
Neither of them were human, so their bodies worked differently. In human years, they would only be a year younger than Nara, but they had already been alive for centuries. It was just that their species took several hundreds of years to develop fully.
"If you're only eight, why does everyone say you will be our new mistress?" Seong was curious.
"Yeah, yeah! Why!" A-Tae repeated.
"I don't know. I'm confused myself…" Nara mumbled.
"Haha! Then how did you get here? No human has ever come to our world before!" Seong had already joined Nara on the bed as they talked. Nara was getting used to them, so she didn't say anything about him intruding on her personal space. She could not do anything against them anyways.
As they listened, Nara explained to them about everything leading up to this point. She told them of how she witnessed her parents die, and how her uncle had tried to kill her and her brother. She fell off a cliff as she was running away and when she woke up, she was facing the three of them.
There was a part of the story that the twins gasped upon hearing.
"You're acquainted with Lady Hubei!"
Nara tilted her head. "I just told you about the four great dragons."
"Your kind really do not know anything." A-Tae clung onto her arm and claimed, "This world is Lady Hubei's creation."
"You said you fell into the ocean, right? Haha! Lady Hubei created this palace underneath the sea, where no mortal can reach." Seong was clinging onto Nara's other arm.
Having both twins holding onto her, Nara felt suffocated and yelled at them in frustration. Then her eyes lit upon hearing about Hubei and she asked, "Is Hubei here then?"
The twins smiled cheekily and said, "Noooope!"
Just then, an unfamiliar person entered the room. The smell of smoke that followed choked up Nara's throat, and she coughed.
"What are the three of you chatting on about so loudly?"
Standing besides Samu was a tall and imposing woman. She wore an all red attire and her long, inky black hair was flowing freely as she walked. Her appearance was as beautiful as Hubei, but instead of the clean and tranquil aspect Hubei carried, hers was far more fierce and dominating. The presence she emitted was like a scorching heat, yet enticing enough to want to get closer—only to end up getting burned.
Her eyes fell on Nara, and she frowned.
"So you are the bride that washed up here." Her voice was cold as she said this. "He could have chosen anyone… but a human, really?"
"W-What do you mean?" Nara was scared by the hostility of this lady and sought the twins for assistance.
"Don't be scared! Our master trusts her the most! She was most likely sent here to take a look at you." A-Tae whispered to her.
Nara wanted to say that she did not even know who their master was, but found her mouth being unable to move.
"Hmph." The woman snorted.
"My lord has truly lost it if he is taking such a young and disgusting burden as his wife."
She emphasized the word "wife." Her spiteful gaze averted from Nara and the woman turned to Samu before saying, "The lord requests that you dress her properly for the 'joyous' celebration tonight."
The manner in which she said the sentence was beyond mocking. After giving her orders, she then left along with the strange smoke that had accompanied her here.
Nara's heart was thumping. She frantically turned to Samu.
"What did she mean by bride? Why am I getting married?! I can't be married!" Nara wailed. She was so confused.
The twins were by her side wondering why this human was so discontent with being betrothed to their master.
"Kyu, I thought that we would have to explain it to you sooner or later." Samu swayed his tail. "You are the first ever human being to set foot into this palace."
"What does that have to do with suddenly being forced to marry someone I don't know!" Nara shouted angrily. "Besides, isn't this Hubei's place? Where is Hubei?"
"How disrespectful, kyu! To think a mere mortal can address her so rudely." Samu looked angry, but quickly composed himself. "Kyu, I suppose we can let this behavior slide since you will become the master's wife. As for your question, Lady Hubei is in the human world completing the duties that was assigned to her."
Nara clenched her fists.
"The master is a lonely person. There is a legend amongst us that he once loved a human… Kyu! But we do not know if that is true. We only know that the first human to come here will be able to save our master!" Samu pointed his tail at Nara.
"And that is you."
"Oh, my! Don't think badly of our master! Our master is very kind." A-Tae patted Nara on her back.
"You'll like our master very much!" Seong imitated A-Tae's patting motion.
"I'm only a child… no normal kid would be happy about being sold off to a creepy old man!" Nara grit her teeth.
"Huh?" The twins blinked. They thought that Nara's words were hilarious, so they started to laugh. This time, Samu laughed with them.
"The master is very good looking! You will be surprised once you see him later!"
Nara almost blurted out that if the three of them looked like animals, how handsome could their master really be, but stopped herself. She did not want to offend someone and face the consequences.
It was just as she thought, she couldn't trust anyone here. She needed to find a way to go back to the human world by herself.
Her brother…
Hui…
Hui was waiting for her. She didn't know what happened to him after she fell, but she knew he had to have survived. There was a feeling in her chest that knew he was alive. She needed to go back and let him know she was alright. She had to be there for him.
"Ah! The human is planning to escape! Haha!" Seong was quick to call her out. After all, her expression revealed all her thoughts.
"Give up on those useless thoughts, kyu. Once anyone steps inside this underwater palace, it is impossible to leave!" Samu clicked his tongue in disproval.
"Even you guys?" Nara questioned.
"Asking us is useless. We don't know how to leave either!" A-Tae cheered.