Unknown Life (1) (Editing in Progress)
1.2

Welcome? What was I supposed to think about this guy? He’d kidnapped me, and I had no idea where I was.

I looked around again and realised it wasn’t just cloudy but foggy as well. I could see buildings in the distance. I looked closer and my jaw dropped. I was staring at a fortress of multiple buildings merged together. Dark stones built together creating a defence with numerous levels. Every window I could see had a gothic style arch and some had stained glass. The architecture that stood before me was magnificent. I was stunned.

What’s happened to me? Am I really seeing this?

I spun around again and brought my attention back to the stone wall. I stood there, the wall between me and the clouds, and I realised that I could see the landscape through them in the distance. I slowly made my way over to the wall and looked over the edge. I saw green fields with bushes lined with trees. It dawned on me that I was looking down at earths ground. I was floating on something in the sky. How could that even be possible?!

Things had gotten a little interesting.

I looked around again. It looked like a normal place you would see in the country with a few trees here and there. I could see a big fountain with four levels in front of the fortress. The first level seemed to have a massive but shallow pool, ankle-deep with a few springs of water around the inner circle. The second level looked to be a bowl with water pouring out of it. The third was similar to the second, and it was stacked in the middle. The final level wasn’t a pool. It was a statue of a woman in a long dress that looked like it was blowing in the wind. She appeared to be embracing the sky.

The whole thing was beautiful. I kept looking around, trees were everywhere and pathways leading to who knows where. The fog was lifting and I could see a bit better. The fortress was built around the fountain in a semi-circle that opened towards me. I was stunned. I didn’t know what to say or what to do. I was frozen and scared. Millions of emotions were rushing through me, so many that I couldn’t even pick one. They all ran around my head, and I didn’t know how to deal with it.

I turned back to the strange fellow, who brought me to this unknown place; he was studying me. He held his arms tight behind him like a soldier waiting for a command.

Realising I had a voice I blurted “Why did you bring me here? What is happening?” My throat was quite dry.

“I brought you here on account of my orders that were provided today, and I do not know anything more. All that was said to me was to bring you here, and the rest would be taken care of.” he said calmly. A run of the mill kind of day for him I guess.

“This is crazy! You can’t just take someone! That’s insane! I don’t know you, you creep!” I yelled, waving my arms like a madwoman.

“I was given the order to bring you here. It is not crazy at all, and my name is Brock.” he replied.

“YES. IT. IS. CRAZY,” I shouted and realized I had raised my voice. “And giving me your name won’t change anything!”

“Well, you asked for it.” He cocked an eyebrow.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, was he that crazy? I felt like this was just a dream, or come to think of it, was I still going crazy or was I out cold or something?

I looked over the stone wall again. We were floating in the air on an island, I assumed.

“Are we an object in the sky right now?” I asked, finally getting my mind to process. How is this normal?

“Yes, we are floating in the air over a small city right now, but no one can see this building because we are invisible to the humans.” He replied.

I gazed back at him in disbelief, “What?” I asked.

“No human can see you right now,” he repeated with annoyance.

“What? But I am human.” I countered.

“No, you are not. You transformed into an immortal on our way up,” he said.

Everything was even more confusing now. Am I not human? I must be dreaming. Too much was happening, and I couldn’t believe it. I looked over the wall once more, and before my mind could fully process what I was doing, I was over the wall, falling down towards the ground. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I knew that I needed to be in real life. This couldn’t be real. I wouldn’t let it be real. I had to do something about it, so now I was falling into my hope of imaginary death.

The ground was coming fast, and I guessed I should be ready to embrace it. Suddenly, arms wrapped around me and then my back was on the ground. I was staring up at Brock, who looked concerned and annoyed all at once.

He had to have jumped after me with nothing, how did he land us safely?

In the face of his stony expression, I felt small and uncomfortable. I considered the events, everything was a blur.

“What are you trying to do, kill yourself?!” his voice roared as he looked at me, making me feel like the crazy one.

“I don’t know what happened… I wasn’t…thinking…at all” I stuttered.

“You just jumped, and now I have to watch you like a hawk before I can leave” he muttered, picking me up as he rose to his feet. He balanced himself and me upright on the ground.

We were back in the sky; I watched the light blur and catch the clouds. We landed softly on the grass as I clutched him for comfort. I felt light-headed, and I knew I was seconds away from passing out. My knees buckled, and I fell, but Brock caught me.

“Are you alright?” he asked sternly. He sounded like he asked because it was the proper thing to do, not because he actually cared about the answer.

“I don’t know. I…I… don’t know.”

“You are transitioning, so take deep breaths and try to relax,” he said.

“Transitioning?” I repeated and broke away from his grip. My legs felt like jelly, with pain shotting from tow to hip, but forced myself to stand anyways.

“I am sorry, but you have to come because this is the only place that can really help you.” He paused for a moment, “Help you deal with your new life,” still no empathy in his voice.

What did that mean, ‘new life’? Now I was painfully scared by what he meant.

“You seem somewhat steady. Follow me,” he said as he strolled towards the fortress. I didn’t follow him, and he noticed and came back to grip my elbow and pulled me along while I struggled to walk.

“Fine,” he muttered, and without my consent, he roughly picked me up in his arms and carried me bridal style towards the unknown buildings. I was practically a feather to this beast. I struggled against his grip, but everything I tried was useless, he was too strong, or I was too weak. Eventually, I became too tired and shaken to fight him. Finally, I gave up and let him take me through this mysterious place. I gazed around as we walked under an archway.

A blackened sandstone castle rose out of the ground making it look like earth. Sunlight glinted quickly across the handcrafted stained glass windows before being swallowed up by the all-encompassing stone. Archways and doorways twisted and intertwined with one another, pulling my attention away as if it were a maze. My wandering eyes could not escape. Sky tunnels above, connecting opposite sides of buildings to one another. The pathway we were taking was lined with bushes, shrubs and flowers. I was in awe, no matter why or how I was here, this place was beautiful.

“Are you able to walk?” Brock said roughly, snapping me out of my daze.

“What?”

He grunted in frustration, “Are you able to walk properly?”

“I don’t know, but I can try”, I replied and positioned myself to be let down. He carefully allowed my feet to touch the ground but kept a hold on my elbow to either support me or make sure I didn’t run off again. When he thought I was ready, we strolled forward. Then up some stairs towards a large building and slowly approached some old wooden doors that he opened for me.

Spread out before me was a grand living area with blood-red leather couches. Gothic style armchairs surrounded a large brick fireplace and behind the furniture was a staircase crowned with stone arches.

The architecture was breathtaking, and I felt like I had just walked into a medieval castle. I looked around once more, still in awe of the place. A few sputtering gas lamps provided just enough light to show the detail on the couches and stone floors. They glistened against the light like water.

“I will be dropping you off with someone. They will provide you with the details that you need…welcome to your new home… any more questions, ask her,” he said. He sounded relieved that he wouldn’t have to deal with me anymore.

“You honestly think this is all normal… you’re actually nuts… I barely know you, and now you are dumping me off with another stranger?” I demanded, as fury began to rise up in me. I tried yanking away from him, but again my attempts were unsuccessful against his strength.

He scoffed, “You’ll be fine; besides, I need to update my post, and I don’t want to deal with a whining teenager.” His voice was clipped and even more annoyed as he began leading me up the archway stairs.

I started freaking out again since, from the start, I didn’t know what was going on. And I didn’t know how to get away without falling to my death.

We reached the top of the stairs, there were multiple hallways with multiple doors, and some gas lamps that flickered. Brock led me down one of the hallways. Passing by, I noticed that each door was wooden, but in a metal frame. The place again reminded me of a medieval castle, and every design was unique. The most logical explanation was that this was a dream.

We arrived at the end of the hall, where a massive stained glass window stretched from the ceiling to the floor in front of us. Colourful light flickered through it onto the grey stone floor, creating a mosaic of reds, yellows, greens and blues. As we walked I studied the window’s design. The graceful figure of a woman held the earth inside her hands, her gentle eyes gazing down on it. Her form was crafted with the most mesmerising purple glass I’d ever seen. It looked like she was floating in space, surrounded by stars. The window fully captured my interest, I was so drawn to it.

Brock knocked on the door, and it opened, revealing a woman who looked about the same age as me, with brown hair and deep blood-red eyes just like Brock’s. It made my blood run cold. She was beautiful, and all I did was stare.

Brock spoke up and bowed. “Highness, here is Asema, the one you were told about,” he urged me forward, making me stumble a bit.

”I trust you know your instructions,” he said, then turned and left. I was about to scream after him, but he was gone in a blink of an eye. I slowly turned around to face the woman who was looking at me curiously.

“Hi… don’t worry, warrior Brock keeps to his mission, you won’t see him again” she smiled and backed into the room behind her as a gesture to invite me. I hesitated, of course, but inched my way into the room. Inside my head, I was shutting down, responding only to what was happening to me. That was until saw the room, and was halted by it’s beauty.

I walked slowly into what looked like a living room area with a circle of couches that looked like they were from the 1920 era. They surrounded a coffee table in the middle. On the right were a couple of bookshelves, and to my left was a vast bright window that stretched floor to ceiling. It was half-covered by deep burgundy drapes that lazily hung on either side. Behind the circle of couches were two twin beds, four-poster style.

“So, from what I’ve seen on your face, it looks like you like this room. Yes, I do agree it is nice, anyways let us get you settled.”

“I am sorry”, replied, backing away from her reach “—who are you?”

She smiled warmingly, “My name is Emily.”

I didn’t reply but kept staring at her, and she pulled back again.

“I understand you are a bit freaked out right now, especially after how one of the Warriors of Kadea handled you…but don’t worry, I can help you through all this, Madam will deal with Brock.”

I still didn’t move. I stayed in place.

“Don’t worry, I am not going to hurt you. I am just going to show you around, especially in the girl’s corridor,” Emily assured me again.

This time waiting on me expectantly to approach her.

Reluctantly, I did, and she guided me to the bed closest to the window.

“This will be your bed, and the bathroom is next to mine,” She pointed, I looked around again, yes this was amazing, but it still felt like an unbelievable dream. I guess I would be weirded out once I woke up. Emily guided me to the foot of ‘my’ bed, where a chocolate brown antique dresser was positioned.

“This is where your clothing will be and your school uniform is placed in the top drawer.”

Wait, what? This is a school? School for what?

“A school for what?” I questioned, beginning to freak out again.

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Brock didn’t say?”

I shook my head,

“It’s a school for immortals. You are here to learn about your new self and your powers as well as the history of this new world,” Emily chimed.

Taken aback, my mind started to whirl again.

“None of this is making sense,” I stated and started to freak out. My breathing became uneven.

Everything was flashing before me now. Emily looked at me for a moment and didn’t say anything. But she gestured her hand to me.

“Asema take my hand,” Emily said. I looked at her and her outstretched hand. What else am I going to do? I took it, and she slowly pulled me into a hug. To be honest, that was the only thing that somehow kept me calm. It felt nice and warm, keeping the situation not so crazy.

Her touch was soft and light; after a while, she drew back and looked at me in the face. Almost as if she was searching for something. A response I believe from me.

“Are you able to come with me…to meet our headmistress?” she asked.

I looked at her and saw her face was soft, and her eyes were kind, she was not going to do any harm to me. And I felt safe with her, it was almost something radiating from her.

“Yes,” I replied.

She nodded and led me gently to the door, and off we went to someplace I don’t know where.

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