A vast and endless body of water was covering my entire surrounding. Even though I was inside of this massive liquid, I couldn't feel running out of air. Neither drowning nor swimming could define what I was doing. It was more like I was floating in this watery field and kept on drifting inside, towards the darker part of this ocean-like body.
The more I struggle to escape the drifting, the more this darkness tries to eat me. It was like, connected to me that I had no choice but to let this water drag me into the pitch-black core.
But every second I get nearer towards the darkness, the darker the thoughts that circulate in my mind, and images start to form everywhere. Scenes of successes others had made in life and the failures I had encountered. Every bit of my memory swirls inside my head like a typhoon over and over, shifting from one scene to another. Each memory felt like a lifetime but at the same time only last a second.
Then before I knew it, I was at the very scene of the basilica, lit by the red flames engulfing the surrounding trees. But only the ruins of it remain.
Bricks were scattered, burying those who were inside the building while the craters filled the field. And the person who tried to help us… lies above piles of bones and rotten flesh from the enemy in the exact place where the pedestal was supposed to be. Her white robe was deeply stained by blood, and her eyes were shut tight.
I thought she was dead but somehow, it wasn't the case. She slowly rose and greeted with a grin on her face. "Heh, look who's fully back from the dead!"
"I… died?" I gasped.
"What do you think?" she asked, then gazed upon the surrounding.
"W-where are they!? Are they safe? Was I able to buy us some time!?" I asked yet she didn't answer my questions as if she didn't hear me. But the insulting grin on her face was already telling it. "so... was my sacrifice in vain?"
I failed to do something, again.
"This prophecy is really a mess, isn't it? I can't believe this scale is just the opening act." she sighed, claiming there was more to come. More malevolent than it already has. "But hey, it's been a while, hasn't it? L-"
Before she could even finish her sentence, the whole scene began to darken and I was back into the waters. Sinking and sinking until I reached the darkest part. A large and painful roar echoed that caused large disturbances, creating destructive underwater waves, currents, and whirlpools.
"Pathetic!" it roared.
And in split second, an eye of an enormous dreadful beast opened, gazing upon me with strong forceful intent that sent my bones to chill. Until my eyes were forced to awaken, and I found myself lying on a ground covered with animal fur.
My heart was still pounding hard because of the dream and the breath I exhale condenses but upon looking at myself, the wounds I'd gotten from the incident were gone as if it didn't even happen. The ripped gray sweatshirt I wear now has these improper stitches and the jacket I had was replaced with this raggy cloak.
I still can't figure out what's going on. But I can't be mistaken of what had happened to be just a nightmare. If the reckoning back then were just a frightening dream, then where exactly am I?
Except for the missing jacket, the outfit I had was the same. The red-tipped black scarf was still wrapped around my small bicep but the injuries I took from the dead had mysteriously vanished, leaving not a single scar behind. Even the phone I had was still in my pocket, just a little cracked and dead out of battery.
Yet the surroundings were unrecognizable.
The whole place was like a den of some kind of animal. Enclosed with dirt, roots from a tree creeps out of the firm soil. There were even potatoes growing on the wall of dirt, just big enough as the size of my palm.
But as I inspected further, I snickered upon realizing that I was just in a very messed-up home of a person as unwashed and distorted clothes were piled up in one section.
Items such as books and utensils were scattered in a very disorganized manner, and a large wooden chest was left into dust just by the side. There was even a scent of rotting and spoiled food but there are too many crazy junks to even spot where the scent was coming.
"What is this place, anyway?" I sighed as I caress a rose symbol inside a hexagon which was engraved in this smooth root pillar at the center of this unusual circular den. Even the root pillar itself shaped its sides in a hexagonal manner while its ends unravels into the grounds.
And just in the edge of the ceiling, an open hole leading outside glow with vibrating lights from the other side like dancing flares.
It was pretty convenient how roots acted just like a ladder leading out of this den. It sure made my climb easier but as I stretched my hand at the surface, a cold sensation jolted my hand.
"Snow..?" Flakes of snow gripped into my hand, slowly melting from the warmth of my skin while its chill wraps my palm.
Leaving through a small clearance was a bit annoying but the moment I got exposed outside, a tall tree brimming with life that was standing above the den with great might snatched my attention. It was just out of such possibility as what tree produces bright green leaves in such a harsh winter-like place yet here I am, looking at it.
The sky was still a bit darker blue but the sun seemed to be rising soon as the stars hides from the sun's incoming bright.
Around a bonfire, a young girl was sitting on a log, chipping small timbers with her small knife. She had long black hair stretching through her shoulder but some of the strands were hued blue, showing as the breeze blew. The snow around the small campfire was cleared by the heat, revealing the dirt moist with melted snow.
She was silent, minding her business until she cuts herself by accident and letting out a hiss before going back into her wood chipping activity.
"Are you alright?" I comforted, yet once again, all I got was silence until this grumbling stomach of mine broke this awkward silence. She pointed towards the bunch of round charcoal lying near the bonfire and gestured by rubbing her belly. "You want me to… eat that?"
She nodded, while I hesitate. It was still hot and didn't really look edible at first then the outer shell cracked, revealing a soft white paste with a familiar scent. It was an ash-roasted potato but a little too charred.
"So, what's your name?"
"M-maliyah…" she weakly replied, avoiding contact as she tries to reach out for the roasted potatoes near her, revealing the tiny cuts in her small hands and fingers. "Y-you?"
"Ah, you can just call me Jay" My sight ventured towards the great tree once more, and in my current distance, flowers of maroon became visible.
"Y-you can't eat them…"
"What!? I wasn't even planning in the first place. I'm not a goat!"
"No, that's not it… It's just… we can't eat them. They're poisonous…" she claimed. "It's best not to touch them"
"I just said I won't, didn't I?" I grumbled. "Never mind, can I ask you something? How did I get here?"
Confused as it may seem, I couldn't really recognize any place like this near the city. It wasn't even a country that would have snow filling up the entire place. In fact, snow doesn't even visit us there.
The world would have to tilt a little just for that to happen.
"Well… I should be asking you that though. This place isn't called "forbidden domain" for nothing. Dangerous creatures lurks in this place, especially at night" she claimed yet I was the one dumbfounded as like me, why should she be here as well if its that dangerous? "And last night, you would have been their dinner too if I hadn't found you"
"Cough! Cough! Seriously!?" I blurted, almost choking myself from my meal. "... I-I guess I owe you thanks."
"B-but… I do advise you to leave since you recovered… it's really not safe here…"
"What about you? Are you really fine living in that pit?"
"It's not a pit!" She pouted but still, why would a small girl live in such a place, and rather alone too? She doesn't look like she has a guardian, judging how messy her room was. "And I'm fine living alone… but can you really not remember what you're doing here in the first place?"
I wished I knew the answer to her question as well but… "To tell you the truth, I don't recall coming here... In fact, I don't even know where here is, actually." Just the fact that it snows in this place means it's not our place. And it was still odd how I suddenly ended up here.
Reincarnation? Probably.
But is this really true? A life after death? I could swear a blade thrusting out of your chest, aiming for the heart wouldn't what I'd call a light wound to survive with just fine. Yet I can't shrug off the feeling that I might just have survived but I can't figure how it was possible to transport me in such a distant place or was placed in a coma for a long duration while someone took me here.
The lady in white robe did mention sending us somewhere yet I wasn't on the platform for it to even happen.
"Strange... Even your clothes were different from ours when I found you in the woods," she muttered. But now that she'd mentioned it, her clothes were some kind of coat made of white fur and hide but with a little stain of dirt. Even the cloak I'm wearing is the same as hers although mine was dark-ish brown. Her ragged-out uniform was already dirty and the fur boots she has would probably break anytime soon.
"About the clothe... Where is it now? My jacket, I mean" If someone is in a place filled with snow and cold climate, a jacket is definitely a must-wear outfit.
"It's down there. I'll go get your stuff so you can be on your way" she claimed before crawling into the pit.
As the sun peeped behind the trees, she climb back with a changed outfit of something more formal. Unlike the worn-out clothes she had, she now wears a blue dress beneath that ragged cloak. Yet, she still had the same fur boots that are close to their limits.
But that blue dress… it looks… old. Medieval old.
"What are you looking at?"
"Ah... nothing… what's up with the dress?"
"I'm going back home… back to my house,"
"Back home? I thought that den was your house?"
"What? No! I only visit grandpa's de- Hold on, it's not a den either! And also, that's me, and my grandpa's secret hideout. Argh! Why did I just tell you that? Don't you dare tell anyone, okay!?" she pouted. "Oh! Here's you're hide."
She toss the folded jacket out to me which was a little heavier than I remember. It got a bit of snow and dust on it, but it was still fine and it looked like the ripped parts of the jackets were already stitched together. And the upper chest of it was patched with a cloth branded with a blue rose, similar to the one chiseled inside the cave.
"Thanks... this is like... a memento..." I reasoned then something peculiar fell after I straighten the jacket. "Except for that one… Why is that here!?"
"What do you mean? Isn't it yours? I found it near you when I saw you. It was in your hands last night." Yeah, it was near me, alright. But it wasn't in my hands but on my chest. It was the very blade that was stabbed into me that very night. The single edge dark blue blade that the dead man used to take my life.
"It's not…"
She took it from the ground and forced it into my hands with an agitated face. "Well, it's yours now. And you're gonna be needing it later"
"For what?" I asked then out of the blue, wolves from within the woods howled one after another and one sounded just behind the trees. "I thought wolves are nocturnal?"
"Since when?" she asked. "We better get going before they reach us. Night or day, wolves can be hungry, and they're more dangerous in packs"
"... ah, I think it's too late for that…" from the woods, a growling wolf appeared with its saliva melting the snow beneath it as it drops. It was no different from your ordinary wolf, except it was twice as large. "… this is why I hate dogs…"
"Stand back and get ready to run!" the girl shouted before creating a wall of ice from thin air, knocking the wolf off as it tries to leap at us. It kept squirming on the ground, trying to stand up but kept on falling back. "What are you waiting for? Run!"