———
The first thing Puli noticed was the cold. It was a bitter, bone-deep chill, the kind that crept in slowly and settled under her skin, refusing to leave. Her entire body felt stiff, an aching feeling had seeped into her muscles with every shallow breath. It wasn't just a passing sense of glum; her chest was tight and her bones heavy. Puli tried to swallow, but her throat was parched, her mouth dry as if she hadn't had water in days. Her cracked lips stung as the cool air brushed against them.
A dull, throbbing pain pulsed in her right hand, not sharp, but deep, like a bruise buried beneath the surface. It felt as though something inside her hand had been broken and was slowly trying to piece itself back together, though the ache was distant, as if her body had become numb to most of the pain.
'Where am I?', she wondered faintly, her mind sluggish, unable to process much beyond the sensation of discomfort. The world felt muffled, her senses dulled, but she was aware of the ground beneath her—a gravelly floor, uneven and hard. The small rocks pressed against her cheek, rough and unyielding, their sharp edges digging into her skin. She could feel the weight of the earth, gritty and iced, grounding her in reality.
With a groan, Puli slowly raised her head, the movement sending a wave of dizziness crashing through her. Her neck strained, muscles protesting as though they hadn't been used in hours, maybe days. She blinked and squinted into the soft light filtering in around her. Everything was blurred, the world spinning lazily in and out of focus as she tried to force her vision to adjust.
Her pupils contracted sharply against the gentle light, her eyes struggling to make sense of what they were seeing. The light wasn't harsh—nothing like the museum's bright, artificial fluorescents—but a soft, natural glow. Sunlight, perhaps, but muted, as though filtered through layers of mist or fog. She blinked again, willing the world to come into sharper focus, though her limbs still felt like they were made of lead, pinned down by the weight of fatigue.
The sound of crickets chirping reached her ears, a soft, rhythmic chorus that filled the stillness around her. It was faint, almost soothing, like a distant lullaby played just for her. In the distance, she heard the gentle calls of birds, their songs weaving through the air in slow, melodic patterns. It wasn't the bustling noise of the museum, nor the distant hum of city life. Puli found it was peaceful. Strangely so.
For a moment, Puli lay there, simply listening. The world around her was calm, quiet in a way that made her feel unnerved. It didn't fit with the last thing she remembered. The chaos, the shouting, the searing pain. Yet now, everything was still.
Too still.
Her mind felt disoriented, grasping for a memory that was just out of reach. For something beyond the cold and the pain.
With an effort, she pushed herself up onto her elbows, her body trembling slightly with the exertion. She winced as the gravel beneath her shifted, the sharp rocks biting into the tender skin of her palms.
Finally, she managed to lift her head fully, blinking away the haze of confusion as she looked around. She wasn't in the museum anymore. That much was obvious. Gone were the sterile, polished floors, the towering exhibits of ancient relics and fossils. Instead, she was lying at the mouth of a cave.
The cave itself was shallow with its entrance wide and uneven, carved out of dark stone that glistened faintly with moisture. The air was cool and damp and the scent of earth and moss thick in her nostrils. Just beyond the cave's mouth, the landscape opened up, bathed in the soft, golden light of early morning. The sky overhead was a pale wash of blue, streaked with delicate clouds that seemed to drift lazily on the breeze.
Puli's breath caught in her throat as she stared out at the world beyond the cave. Tall, ancient trees stretched up toward the sky, their leaves rustling faintly in the breeze. The forest beyond the cave was dense, their bark was a deep, almost black color, crisscrossed with odd, silvery veins that shimmered in the faint light. The underbrush was thick, a tangle of ferns and moss-covered stones that seemed to carpet the forest floor.
'What the hell? Where am I'
As she shifted slightly, trying to sit up fully, her hand brushed against something cool and rough. Her breath hitched as she glanced down, the memory of the stone tablet flashing briefly in her mind. But when she looked at her hand, she saw nothing but dirt and rocks.
'What happened?' she thought, her heart pounding in her chest. The throbbing pain in her hand returned with a vengeance, and she winced, lifting it to examine the strange golden veins that had once pulsed beneath her skin. But now… they were gone. Her skin was normal again— dusted with dirt, but otherwise unremarkable. No glowing lines, no strange markings.
She frowned, flexing her fingers experimentally. The pain was still there, but the glowing veins had vanished as if they'd never existed at all. Had she imagined it? The memory of the searing pain, the burning heat, felt too real to be a dream.
She shivered as another cold draft blew in from outside the cave, wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to ward off the chill. Her school uniform—now crumpled and smeared with dirt—did little to protect her from the biting air. The navy-blue blazer hung awkwardly on her shoulders, and her tie was askew, half-loosened from the frantic events she could barely recall.
Puli squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts, trying to make sense of the jumbled mess in her mind. There had been a museum, her friends, and then… the stone.
The stone had done something to her, something she couldn't explain. And now she was here.
Wherever here was.
With a deep breath, Puli forced herself to her feet, her legs shaky beneath her. Her knees wobbled as she stood, but she managed to steady herself by leaning against the rough wall of the cave. She took a step forward, her shoes scraping against the floor, and moved toward the mouth of the cave, where the sunlight beckoned.
As she stepped out into the open, the full magnitude of her surroundings hit her. The forest seemed to stretch out in every direction, an endless sea of trees, ferns, and mist. The sky was impossibly vast, and the sun hung low on the horizon, casting long shadows that danced across the ground. No matter where her eyes looked, there wasn't a trace of human civilization, not a street light or a road in sight.
For a moment, she simply stood there, gazing out in awe at the alien beauty of it all.
This wasn't anywhere near London. This wasn't anywhere near home.
Wherever she was now, it was a world unlike anything she'd ever known.
———-