“Is she supposed to stay asleep this long?”

“I don’t know. It’s been ages since I had to use physical charms. I didn’t want to use any more power than necessary so coming here would have less of an effect on her.”

“They’re so delicate, aren’t they?”

I crinkle my nose at the feeling of something soft my cheek and bury my face in the pillow, trying to make sense of the dream voices speaking in an unfamiliar language.

“Taemin.”

“What? I can’t help it. I missed noona.”

“Forget it.” Despite the heaviness that lingers in my head and tempts me to stay unconscious, I blink my eyes open against the pillow. “I hate it when dreams won’t stay quiet.”

The voices stop.

    Groaning, I knead the pillow, but stop in confusion. Why does it feel like silk beneath my fingers? I don’t have anything that nice. Blinking my eyes open as I roll onto my back, I try to make sense of the blurry blue mess in front of me. I rub my eyes and sit up, but quickly fall back with a groan as a massive pain roars through my head.

“What the hell?” I mutter, curling into a ball with both hands covering my eyes in a feeble attempt to protect them.

“Lilly, what’s the matter?” a semi-familiar male voice asks in English as cool fingers ghost over my forehead and wrists.

“My head hurts and I can’t see,” I whimper, my head pounding with each word.

“His Majesty said not to tell anyone, but she’s in pain and your powers aren’t suited for this,” one of the earlier voices says, adopting English as well and speaking quietly. “I’ll get Yixing. We can trust him.”

The first person sighs. “All right, Minho. Make him swear not to say anything, arasso?”

    A small animal nose presses against mine, making me lift my hands away from my face in surprise. Whatever it is seizes the opportunity to press its sleek head under my hand. Instinctively, I cuddle it closer, which makes the creature begin purring.

“Taemin,” the person scolds lightly, sitting beside us and my hair when I refuse to let go of the cat. Softly, in the language he was speaking earlier, he begins singing.

I don’t know how long it is until I hear a door open and shut, followed by the muffled sound of footsteps.

A new voice says something in yet another language I don’t understand, signaling the arrival of new man.

“Of course it’s her,” the first man says in an exasperated tone. “You think we just keep random humans lying around here? Seriously, Yixing, she doesn’t look that different.”

“He wasn’t here to know what she looked like, hyung, remember? He was still at his father’s court,” the second male voice who had been there before reminds him.

“Mianhae,” he sighs, getting off the bed. “I just hate not being able to do anything. And speak English for her. I haven’t had a chance to give her the gift yet.”

“Hyung, just hush and let him help Haeyoung.”

“It’s Lilly,” I mumble as a new weight on the bed replaces that of the first person.

The newest man hesitates before responding. “All right, ...Lilly. I’m Yixing. I’m going to help you, okay?”

    I nod, but still flinch a little his warm hands gently cup my face to bring it out of the pillow. A sensation like a stream of cool water from a shower trickles through my head, slowly taking the pain away with it as it drains from me. Subtle aches in my body spike before disappearing as well, making me go limp.

“Better?”

Relaxing my grip around the cat, I cautiously open my eyes to look in wonder at Yixing.

A warm smile graces his pale, thin face as his dark eyes meet mine. “You should be fine now, Lilly, but I can come back if you start hurting again.”

“How’d you do that?” I ask, my now clear mind slowly getting back up to pace.

A familiar face suddenly pops up beside Yixing. “We’ll explain everything later. Right now, it’s probably best to get this over with while Yixing’s still here in case something happens.”

“Kibum? What are you doing here?” I ask, trying to reach for the memory of the last time I saw him because I feel that’s important, only for it to skitter out of the way.

“One more thing and then I’ll explain,” he promises, reaching out to place both hands against the sides of my head.

    I’m still too unsure of what’s going on to stop him. I just lie still as he holds my gaze for a few seconds before covering my ears with his palms. Pressure swells in my head, making me wince and push at Kibum’s hands, but to no avail. The tension finally breaks with a popping in my ears.

“That hurt,” I complain as he releases me, picking the cat up again. “What did you do?”

“Can you understand me?” he asks, ignoring my question.

“Of course I can, but that’s not the point. What did you just-”

“Brilliant!” he smiles, clapping his hands. “Feels good to be speaking normally again. No offense to English, I love it, but it always makes my mouth feel funny.”

“Seriously, Kibum, please stop it. What’s going on? Where am I?” I ask again, slowly pushing myself away from him as I begin noticing the room.

    It looks like something out of my textbook, unlike anything I’d seen in real life. Thick blue columns support a high ceiling that’s covered in carved wooden tiles. Intricately embroidered tapestries depicting majestic beasts and swirling clouds decorate most of the wall space. The bed and other furniture are just as lavish and ancient looking.

I feel myself begin shaking as I scramble off the bed, still looking around wildly. My eyes focus on the three men on the other side and I clutch the cat tighter. “W-where am I? How did I get here? Did you drug me or something?”

    Kibum slowly stands, but freezes when I take a step back. Gone are his clothes from before, replaced by rich robes of some kind. Yixing and the other man, who I assume is who Kibum called Minho, are wearing similar clothing.

Kibum raises hands, speaking in a soothing voice. “I promise no one’s going to hurt you. You are perfectly safe. Why don’t you sit down and I’ll explain?”

“Where am I?” I demand loudly, scanning the room for a door, a window, anything. Unfortunately, the only door I see is behind them. “Why am I...wherever this is?”

“I’ll explain everything when you’ve calmed down.”

“Calmed down?” I let out a bark of false laughter. “I’m in a room with three strange men wearing stranger clothes who’ve done something or several somethings to me and you want me to calm down? Fat chance!”

“Yixing, can do something?” Minho says in a low voice.

“I heard that!” I back up to the wall even though Yixing hadn’t moved. “Stay away from me!”

“I won’t touch you,” he assures me, sinking to the floor. Folding his hands neatly in his lap, he glares at the other two, who assume similar positions.

Partly mollified but also because my legs are shaking too much, I let myself slip to the floor too. “Is someone going to tell me anything?”

“Do you always talk this much?” Kibum asks, earning himself a kick from Minho.

Only when I’m scared, but there’s no need to admit that. The cat squirms and mews in my arms, reminding me I need to get a hold on myself. Maybe if I don’t admit it out loud, I can regain my courage from this morning. This morning...

“Where are we?” I ask for the millionth time after taking a deep breath, loosening my grip on the cat and it as I think. “We were by the river and... I don’t remember after that. Did you drug me?”

“Like I’d stoop to using those nasty things,” Kibum replies. When Minho kicks him again,  he sighs and adds, “I sedated you, but not with drugs, so I could get you through the Veil without a fuss. Passing through the barrier was what made you sick.”

“Veil?”

“You think it’s all right to be telling her so soon? She just woke up,” Minho says quietly.

“Tell me what?”

“Better to get it out now, right?” Kibum counters, turning to look back at him. “You want to just dump all of it on her when she meets him?”

“Meet who? I can understand you!”

 Minho glances at me, his dark brown eyes unreadable. “No. That wouldn’t go well.”

“Is someone going to answer me?”

“We’re in the palace of King Munmu, the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea,” Yixing says, meeting my eyes calmly. “The Veil is the imperceptible barrier that separates your world from ours. Earlier, Kibum hyung made it so you can understand and speak the language of the court, which is Korean. Before that, I healed you because your mortal blood was still rejecting the magic you had to pass through when Kibum hyung brought you through the Veil. As for why he did that and who you will meet, it is not my place to explain.”

I feel my jaw drop as my mind reels with his words. “D-dragon king? Magic?”

They look at me worriedly when I laugh again.

“Lilly?” Kibum asks cautiously.

“Wow. I really am thinking about class too much. It’s even coming into my dreams,” I giggle. “I knew I was getting Rachel’s cold. Must’ve dozed off while I was reading.”

“She thinks it’s a dream,” Minho sighs.

I laugh again, pointing at him. “Bingo! Rachel’s going to love this one when I tell her.”

“Lilly, look at me.”

I look back at Yixing. When I meet his eyes, a languid feeling creeps into my blood. Embracing the feeling, I wave at them. “Time for me to shut up and go to sleep, huh? Well, was nice being weirded out by you. See you in class, Kibum!”

Cuddling the purring cat, I lay down on my side on the floor and close my eyes, glad to for the dream to be ending.

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Annyeong lovelies! Do you like it so far? I hope so. ^^ Anyway, I'm going to try doing the individual reply thing with the comments for this fic, so I'll see you next time, ok? Saranghae!