The sheets around my body rustled as I stirred from slumber. I could feel the sunlight trickling in through the windows as I rolled over and stretched. It had to have been a dream. The pink smoke, the woman with green skin, the angel in the white that saved me, all just a figment of my vulnerable state of mind. It would make for a great story, sure, but it was nothing more than that. Putting to rest the events of my sleeping state, I sat up and ran a hand through my mess of tangled hair with a yawn. I felt so rested, so relaxed. It was the best sleep I’d had in some time and for that I was thankful. I had too much going on in the next few days to worry about lack of sleep and tiredness.

My feet touched the floor and something soft and furry tickled between my toes. “Hmm?” I hummed, glancing down at what I’d put my feet on. The white fur rug cozied up to my skin as my toes dug into the softness. My gaze drifted up, looking around me, realizing this was definitely not my bedroom. A window sat open, letting in warm rays of sunlight as a gentle breeze blew the canopy around the four poster bed I sat upon. The room was decorated in lavish whites and golds, the walls glistened from the metallic wallpaper and a golden chandelier hung unlit above from the ceiling.

I pulled myself away from the bed, realizing my clothes had been changed and I’d been put into a simple white lace gown. My fingers ran along the fabric, soaking it in before my attention once again returned to the open window. My feet padded over to it as my hands rested against the sill. Carefully, I poked my head out, drinking in the sunlight as I looked left and right, listening as a bird chirped nearby. The landscape outside was beautiful, a garden bloomed below near a courtyard that was met by the brick walls of… was this a castle? The building seemed to go on forever as I looked from one end to the other, then back out to the scenery. A forest stretched beyond what looked like a small village of sorts, reaching as far as the eye could see. What stopped my wandering gaze, was the sight of pink smoke rising up above the tree tops.

A lump formed in my throat that I couldn’t quite swallow down as I stepped inside and pulled the window shut. I backed into a wall as I remembered the events from before I passed out. My fingers rushed to my head, brushing the skin, looking for any signs of the injury, but they found nothing. I still had no idea where I was, and though the land outside seemed beautiful, I knew that evil could hide even in the most beautiful of places.

Trying to stuff down an anxiety attack, I rushed to the door and slowly, carefully pulled it open, listening for any signs of someone nearby, but all I could hear were distant voices. Taking in a deep breath, I slipped out and down the hall, peeking around corners, occasionally looking up into the faces of people with colorful hair, both men and women, looking strong and bold, most standing before different settings in paintings. I never stopped though. I needed to get answers, needed to find my way home. I had a life, a family, though one who didn’t seem overly concerned about me these days. I couldn’t just take a vacation without telling anyone.

As I moved, the voices grew louder and I realized they were arguing. I neared the open door they were drifting through and stopped, quietly peeking an eye around the corner to take in the scene. Twelve men sat around a table, and with them was the beautiful angel in white. Her fingers were laced together and pressed against her lips as she looked between two men.

“We should send her back to her world. She doesn’t belong here!” one of them snapped. His dark hair was matched by equally dark eyes and he didn’t look too pleased to be sitting there.

“She’s here for a reason, Kyungsoo! We can’t ignore this! We can’t ignore her!” another dark haired man across the table argued back. As he spoke, an electricity seemed to fill the air, the room growing more tense than when I’d first peeked in.  

“She should go back. I don’t trust her, and since she’s arrived they’re crossing the border more frequently. She’s nothing but trouble and—”

“Enough!” A louder voice rose above the others and a man with golden hair in a blue shirt stood up from his seat. His face was kind, but his posture seemed to indicate that he meant business. “Yixing, what do you think?”

A young man in round spectacles sighed into his clasped hands as he looked from the woman, to the man named Kyungsoo, then back to the one who’d ended the fighting. “Regardless of what we decide, she needs rest. I say we give it a few days. Let her stay here in Central City. Take care of her and see that she gets better. The rest of us can go home, sleep on it, think on it, talk to leaders. Our votes can be collected in a few days and we go from there. But, in my professional opinion, she needs time to finish healing, and once she finds out what’s going on, she’ll struggle.”

The golden haired man still standing nodded. “Right. Then it’s settled. We’ll do as Yixing suggested. Regardless of her status, regardless of whatever danger her presence has put us in, she’s still a person.”

“Shh,” the angel cut in after sitting in silence. She stood from her seat as all eyes found her curiously, her hand raised. “She’s here,” I heard her whisper. All at once, every pair of eyes in the room turned to the door, staring angrily, curiously, affectionately in my direction.

I caught my breath in my throat and froze for a moment before coming to my senses and running. I didn’t know where I was going, but I ran down hall after hall, turning corners, flying down stairs. I finally came to a pair of doors and threw them open, running into the sunlight, hoping I would managed to find my way home, but I knew it was useless.

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“Let me just freeze time! We can strap her down or—”

“Are you crazy? Don’t answer that. Catalina, allow me. I can have her back in a snap. I think she’d be less afraid with me than she would with Tao.”

The redheaded woman looked between the two men she considered friends with a kind smile on her face as she shook her head. “Thank you both, but I’m afraid if either of you approach her right now, she’ll run further. Let me handle this.”

She retrieved her cloak from a nearby coat rack and looked to the twelve men still gathered around the table. Her eyes locked with those of the golden haired man and as if they shared unspoken words, he nodded at her. “Right, the rest of us, let’s collect our things and return to our homes. Kai,” he turned to the man who’d offered his help moments before. “In three days, would you please be so kind as to gather everyone’s answers regarding the situation and bring them to me?”

The dark haired man nodded quietly in the direction of the other before he pulled his coat over his arms. “C’mon, Kyungsoo. I’ll take you home. Yixing?”

The spectacled man raised his hand and shook his head. “I have some business to finish in the city, but thank you for the offer. Safe travels, you two.”

With a final nod to everyone, the pair vanished within thin air. The others began to excuse themselves until only the man who’d clearly established himself as a leader and Catalina remained.

“Take care of her, Cat. I don’t know who she is, or why she’s here, but it could be the time has come earlier than we all expected. She could be the one. I’ll be in touch in three days via Kai.” He placed his hand on her shoulder as she gave him a nod and the two departed down the stairs.

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The scent of the freshly bloomed flowers tickled my senses as I moved from hedge to hedge in the sort of maze I’d found myself in. Eventually, my lungs screamed and my legs wobbled until I collapsed in a corner of the garden. My chest heaved as I gasped for air and tried to calm myself. As my heart slowed back to its normal pace, my fingers reached above my head toward one of the flowers on a vine. I the petals carefully with a heavy sigh. “I just want to go home,” I whispered.

“You must be confused and scared,” a gentle, yet familiar voice danced into my ears.

My gaze drifted up to find the angel who’d saved me before, cloaked in white, carrying a beautiful, purple velvet cloak that she extended to me. I watched her carefully, but she made no movement to harm me. Up to this point, she’d done nothing but help me, even though she hadn’t taken me home, she’d somehow saved me. I knew she held answers to my burning questions, like where I was, how I got here, how my wound was mysteriously gone, and who that woman I had met before was.

With a deep breath, I found my feet and took the cloak from her hands, draping it over my shoulders and realizing that I had been cold without it. “Thank you,” I mumbled as my fingers clung to the soft fabric. I studied her again as we stood in silence. A smile stretched her lips and I had to wonder why.

“I’m sure you have many questions. I can answer some, but not all. I’m afraid there are… choices that have to be made before you can know everything. How about we sit and talk, and after, we can go inside for something to eat, okay?”

The offer seemed genuine and she still hadn’t moved, hadn’t shown herself to be a threat. I nodded, though a little hesitantly, and followed as she wove around some of the hedges until we were upon a bench. Together we sat, and I watched as she turned her gaze to me. It was then, I realized her eyes were a beautiful green, like the leaves of the plants surrounding us.

“Where would you like to start?” she asked, snapping me from my daze.

“I… Er… Where am I? How did I get here? What happened to the cut on my head?” the questions tumbled one after the other from my lips.

A soft chuckle escaped her as she laced her hands together in her lap. “You’re in Central City within the kingdom of Uliaver. This is my home.”

My brows furrowed in confusion. I could recall the name Central City being used before during the secret meeting I’d happened upon, but another thought struck my mind. “Central City? You mean, like the city from The Flash?”

This time, it was the woman’s turn to look confused as she shook her head. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never heard of this… Flash you speak of. We are Central City because we sit in the center of the kingdom.”

Listening to her speak only brought on more questions. Kingdom? Did that mean there were other places that were ruled over here? Who was the supposed ruler of this kingdom? Now wasn’t the time, though. I still had more pressing questions that needed answers.

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you how you arrived here, not yet. There will be a time and a place for the answers to that, but it’s not now. Forgive me. As for your wound, we have a fantastic healer, Yixing. I’m sure you heard his name mentioned when you slipped in on the conversation,” she softly worded with a kind smile.

A blush tinted my cheeks as I remembered the way thirteen pairs of eyes stared at me in the doorway. They were all so handsome, but oh so frightening as they gazed upon my half concealed face. “S-sorry,” I mumbled in something of shame. “I heard the voices down the hall and… But wait, how did you know I was there?”

She was quiet, her gaze looked away at the flowers nearby. I could tell she was thinking, perhaps deciding whether that was a question she could answer, since she’d said not all could be revealed, whatever that was supposed to mean. “I’m what we call a huntress. People like me, in my position, we can sense others who don’t belong within our world. Since you’re not from here, I can sense your presence more easily than anyone who lives here. It’s how I found you,” she calmly answered.

My mind was already reeling with thoughts and more questions. I was supposed to just believe that I was magically transported to another world? Curiosity still coursed through my veins, as I looked at her yet again. “And the other woman? The one with the green skin? Is she a huntress too?”

Her lips puckered in what I presumed to be a way to keep herself from talking as she shook her head. “I’m afraid I can’t answer that question right now either.” As she finished speaking, a bell rung from somewhere on the other side of the vast castle that stretched out before us. As the world fell quiet again, she sighed and smiled at me. “How about we go in for a bite to eat, yeah?” She stood and offered a hand to help me up.

I took it and stretched my legs. “I… Never got your name.”

“Catalina. And you?”

I hesitated. I wasn’t comfortable giving strangers my names, but at this point, I had convinced myself all of this was just a dream. After all, there was no way I could be in a world that wasn’t my own. This was all in my head and soon, I would wake up from it and write it all out into a fantastical story. “You can call me ___,” I finally answered. With introductions complete, I allowed Catalina to guide me back into the castle so the two of us could satisfy our hunger and, hopefully, I could get more answers to questions.