***
"Nilly.. could you tell papa the boat rules again, I think I've forgotten again."
"Silly papa! Fine I'll tell you the rules one last time, you better remember!"
[Laughter] "Okay"
"First only go on the boat with either mama or papa, second never forget your emergency floaty"
"Ah yes that right, thank you Nilly"
"No papa! I'm not done! I didn't get to the most important part yet"
"Is that so? Then could you tell me?"
"The most important part is to never go past the red rope on water or the Great sky witch will strike you down!"
"Oh no how could I forget something so important"
"That's right, but now you owe me a caramel apple!"
"Okay okay, thank you for telling me again Nilly"
Papa it hurts...I think the sky witch got me...
***
[Murmur..Murmur]
Where is all this speaking coming from..
I don't feel good..
'BLAAAAUC'
'COUGH COUGH COUGH'
"THE GIRL'S ALIVE"
"HURRAH!!"
W-who are all these men..?
"You know it took quite the pretty penny to save you girly..it's gonna cost ya"
[faint laughter]
what the heck is this guy saying? And where am I..
I take a look around my surroundings
wait.. is this the giant ship from early?
'WHACK'
"OW FU-"
A lady behind the man hits him on the head with a stick
"Just what do you think you're doing to the girl who almost lost her life!"
She slowly comes towards me
"I'm sorry, these hooligans have no manners. Why don't you stay seated"
I look at her skeptically
I try to feel for my belongings but they're not there
"M-my Satchel! Where is it..!" I said
The people look at each other confused
"My bag, I had a bag with me"
Everyone stared at me silently, as if I was a crazy person
Then I hear from a little farther away, a man asking-
[Whisper]What is she saying..?
what does he mean? Can they not understand me? But I can understand them perfectly fine.
"Do you mean this?"
A chill ran back my spine from this man's voice, why? It's not like I've heard it before.
The people in front of me looked back at the man and moved out of the way for him to pass through.
I heard his footsteps gradually getting closer
I have my head down, every footstep he takes just shakes my core.
He stops right in front of me.
Slowly I pick up my head to look at him
My satchel, he has my satchel! I quickly look up at his face..
[THUMP THUMP, THUMP THUMP, THUMP THUMP]
Those eyes, just what is up with those eyes?
'THUD'
"Anddd she's out like a light."
"Oh dear, she must have been exhausted.."
"..Take her to my quarters."
"You quarters sir? Why don't we just put her with the other ladies?"
"No, take her to my quarters. Let her rest there."
"Yes sir."
"Everyone else, back to work. We're leaving this place soon."
"Yes captain!"
***
"...Nilly...Nilly.."
"..it's time to wake up Nilly.."
"Just a few more minutes papa.."
..papa?.. why's papa here..?
"Wake up."
"!!!"
'huff, huff, huff'
It's hot. I'm covered in sweat and now I'm wearing a white dress with a brown wool jacket
"You must've caught a cold"
"!!"
I turn my head to the direction of the voice. It's that man again, he's across from the bed I'm laying on, sitting down at a desk.
he's just there, writing on some paper. He's speaking to me but not looking my way. Good, I don't think I can handle it if he looks at me again.
First I want to leave this room. He probably moved me to this bedroom area when I was unconscious.
I slowly get off the bed, he doesn't do anything to stop me. The scratches of the quill continue.
I completly turn my back from him and go near the door
[DOOM..]
I feel it again. It's as if the world is ending right before my eyes.
"Stop!" I shout
"...stop what exactly?" The mysterious man said
It's like a pair of ice cold hands are wrapped around my neck
I choke trying to muster out the words I want to say
"Stop looking at me"
The scratches of the quill stop
"And how would you know I'm looking at you? It's not like you have eyes on the back of your head"
That's right, I don't but the eyes on that man are the only things that have made me feel like this throughout my whole life. Just what does this man have to do with me.
I bite my lip, hoping the pain I feel is enough for me to move my legs.
I push through the pressure and reach my hand out to open the door. The door swings open, I cover my eyes with my hand because of the brightness.
The sun gently hits my face. The sound of the splashing waves merging with the laughter of the bustling people seems to bring me peace.
I've never experienced a scene like this, there are so many people here. I bet mama and papa would have loved to see all this.
I take a few more steps forward to soak myself in the sunlight. I start to close my eyes and then suddenly, someone grabs my hand from behind me.
I look down at my hand to see warm little fingers.
"Oh hello.." I said
It's a young girl, she's maybe around 6 years old. She has a such a colorful wreath on her head and the prettiest pair of eyes, they were like the color of amethyst and shined as brightly as the Jem.
I turn her way and crouch down to her.
She starts moving her other hand in a weird way but for some reason I can tell what shes trying to say to me.
She wants to play.
But before I could say anything, someone behind appears behind me.
"She says she wants to play"
A young man holding a wide basket of flowers, smiles down at me.
The girls runs over to him and hugs his legs.
I slowly stand back up. He extends his hand to me
"Nice to meet you, I'm Luka" he gently said
I stare at his face, he's very pretty compared to some of the man I've seen on this ship, he has grey eyes and blonde hair that looks silver when he moves his head.
"Ah did I say that wrong? I'm still learning the language of upper continent.." he awkwardly said to himself.
upper continent? Where is this located, Is that the language they hear me speak?
"That little one doesn't speak"
I turn around to see that man again, he probably followed me out of the room. But now he has a white cloth over his eyes.. for some reason I don't feel scared anymore.
"Well, more like she can't"
Confused, I turn my head to the girl. She laughs at the man named luka with her mouth open. Her tongue is not there, it looks chopped off.
"Did you people do that to her?"
His thick eyebrows furrow, his lips pressed together showing his dimples
"No we didn't"
He stepped forward, closing the gap between us
"We saved her from the people who did such a thing"
He gets closer to my face, I lean my head backwards to widen the gap more. There's not a single pore on his skin
He's quite handsome even though the mask if covering half of his face
his hair is long and black
he looks like a charming prince from the books I read when
He looked surprised for a second then gave a small smirk and backed off
He walked towards the little girl and picked her up
"We'll be arriving soon so I think you should get changed" he said
He waved his hand and 3 older girls grabbed me and started to take me away
"It's best to change into something with a bit more coverage... princess"
he snapped his hand smiling and I was suddenly in a bathroom.
What did he just call me..?
***
"Princess? Did the captain I know just call a girl princess??" Luka baffledly questioned
"Why not? She called me a prince first"
"When did she call you a prince?"
"Just a few moments ago, isn't that right lilac?"
[Giggles]
"See, I told you"
[Sigh]
"Whatever you say Ilias"
***
"It's time to clean up miss!" One of the girls said while removing the jacket off of me
I shake my head no to imply that I can do it myself
"But we insist"
I shake my head a little more aggressively, glaring at them
"If that's what you wish"
The girls leave out of the closest door, I walk over to the other door to see inside but it's just cleaning materials.
I walk over to the sink and look at the mirror, I stare at my locket through the reflection, thinking about mama and papa again.
I turn my head back to see the bath full of water, I put my hand in to feel the warmth and I got ready to go inside
It felt nice, my body submerged in the warm water. I added some soap to create bubbles, the scent was good.
I closed my eyes to gather all my thoughts
"..Nilly.. Nilly.. it's time to wake up sweet child.."
This wasn't papa or mama's voice. I don't know this voice from memory but it's beautiful and so soothing.
'KNOCK KNOCK'
I open my eyes because of the knocking at the door.
"It would be best if you come out soon miss, I've left a new clothes for you to wear on the door hook"
How would these people know if I understand them or not when a lot of them don't understand me?
I get up from the bath and wrap myself up with a towel, I walk over to the sink and fill it up with water.
I stare at my reflection in the water.
"..Nilufer..?"
"!!"
I moved back from the sink
My reflection just spoke..
I slowly walk towards the sink again
"I can help you Nilufer.."
I clench my hands and grit my teeth
"Help me how? Who are you.."
"..you know who I am Nilufer..you know"
The hair and freckles on my reflection start to glow, I look up at myself in the mirror to see that I'm also glowing
Freaked out I drain the water and put on the given clothes and start quickly make my way out of the bathroom.
I open the bathroom door to see that the ship has docked, there was a city, a very big city. I ran to the edge of the boat to see the city better. There where people everywhere my eyes reached.
"Hello again princess"
It's the man again. His expressions really don't match his words, he calls me princess with such a cold face expression.
He extends his hand to me
"Would you like to explore?"