“Experiment 160, failed. Preparing extraction.”

The machine whirred and stirred, its claws hanging with an open mouth, waiting for the release of a button to pounce on its prey. Experiment 160 remained on the table, eyes closed but perfectly conscious. She was aware that she was about to face death, but she remained unmoved. She figured that if that was what’s in store for her, she should just accept it. She learned after all that resistance was futile, given that she’s resisted all her life and ended up in a horrible place. 

“Final check... Vitals still unresponsive.” The man sighed as if he was disappointed. What is he sighing for? she thought. I’m the one who’s about to be cremated. I should be the one sighing. If they could stop checking and get this over with. It’s tiring trying to play dead, you know.

A door opened and she felt another presence come in. The people in the room stopped and greeted her. “What’s going on?” the woman asked. 

“It’s been unresponsive for a week now,” the disappointed man said. “We’ve tried everything and it just wouldn’t wake up. I think it malfunctioned along the way and couldn’t handle it.”

The one on the table felt all eyes on her. Aish, why did she have to come here? She always makes things annoying for me.

Another door opened, the woman was entering the lab room. “President, you shouldn’t go inside. It’s dangerous,” the man told her. 

But the woman only gave a slight snicker. “Dangerous? Don’t worry, this girl can’t touch me. She wouldn’t dare.” The woman stood before the lying girl, staring down at her with piercing eyes. She sighed and kicked the table. “Yah, Chaeyoung-ssi, get up.”

The girl didn’t move. She kept her eyes closed and her body immobile, even the last strand of her long hair kept still. For her life to remain undetected, she had to hold her breath. The longest record she managed before was four days. Seven was already pushing it. If this woman touched her, it was all over.

“Are you having fun? Get up!” The woman kicked the table once again, stirring the girl trying so hard not to respond. “Is this really how you want to go? On my birthday? You didn’t forget, did you? Of course, you did. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be pulling this charade right now. If you want to die, die right at least. Are you going to abandon your promise to me, huh?”

Damn it. The girl opened her eyes, the monitor beeped at the sign of life. Her vitals started functioning again and she let out a long breath. She looked up at the woman who had her arms crossed. She scoffed and got up from the table, all the while the three other guys in the room stared at her in awe, like watching someone rise from the dead. 

Chaeyoung heaved a deep sigh. “You’re back early,” she told the woman as she looked up at her. The woman was taller than the average female. Her light brown hair was still kept loose, as if she was in a rush getting there.

“How can I enjoy my vacation, knowing you. I figure. No one else can handle your shenanigans but me.” The woman they called ‘President’ turned around and faced her employees. “You can leave her to me. Go back to work.” The men hesitated for a while, but they couldn’t refuse. They bowed their heads and exited the room. 

Chaeyoung was amazed at how someone that much younger could order people much older than her. She concluded once again how well-respected she must be. “Gosh, they’re like robots everytime I see them. Are you treating them well?” Chaeyoung leaned on the table casually, still looking up at her. Whether she be sitting or standing, as Chaeyoung was someone who was shorter than the average female, she always looked up to the woman— metaphorically and literally. 

“You’re really making yourself comfortable, aren’t you? How bold for a prisoner.”

“I wouldn’t be anymore if you haven’t come.”

“Were you really planning to let yourself get burned just like that? Why? Because your bored?”

“Because I’m miserable.”

Her response made the woman pause. She bit her lip and looked at her with sentimental eyes. “I’m sorry. But you know I can’t let you go. If I do, they would-”

“I know. You won’t be my savior. You can’t. I know… You made me, but you can’t destroy me. You gave me a name, tried to make it more bearable. But sometimes I wish you didn’t fix me that day. That was your only mistake.” Chaeyoung got up and headed for the other door that led deeper into her prison. “Let’s go.”

The woman watched her from behind. At first glance, she was very human. She spoke like one, she acted like them, but Chaeyoung was far from their kind. She didn’t belong there. But there was nowhere else she could ever belong.

~

The sun shone bright once again, its rays move past the window and into the castle. Sunlight enveloped the whole room and Mina was forced to wake up from her slumber. She stirred with an annoyed grunt. Her curtains couldn’t even stop the sunshine from entering. It was the time of day she despised the most, the time when the sun reached its peak and poured its heart out onto the town. 

She pulled her blanket over her head and closed her eyes. Just then, the door opened and in came her frantic babysitter. “Mina, it’s almost noon and you haven’t gotten out of bed!” she bellowed. Mina didn’t move a muscle. “Your father is on his way.”

The mention of her father was enough to get her up and awake. She sat up in a rush, “What?! Already?!”

Her bestfriend and companion, Jeongyeon, walked to her closet and started rummaging through her dresses. Mina quickly got up and brushed her unkempt, black hair neatly. She looked at the mirror to make sure her bangs were parted just right. “You really are hopeless. If I don’t come and wake you up every morning, I bet you wouldn’t leave your bed,” Jeongyeon said as she watched her clean up in precise movements. 

“That would be lovely, wouldn’t it. I can’t even get a whole day of peace nowadays,” Mina complained.

After getting her dressed and making sure she looked prim and proper, making sure Mina didn’t look like she had just gotten out of bed, they walked out and down to the first floor to greet the king. Jeongyeon muttered under her breath, softly, so only Mina could hear. “Who do you think he’s bringing this time?”

“I hope nobody,” Mina whispered back. “I’m tired of all this.”

The front door to the castle opened and emerged Mina’s father with a row of his soldiers standing still at the front. The two of them, along with the rest of the employees who worked there, greeted him with a bow. Mina already had a sour look on her face the moment the door opened, because following behind the king was a man she’d never seen before. 

Her father stopped in front of her with a smile. “I know I said I wouldn’t be back until a few days later, but I happened upon someone who I wanted you to meet,” he said. He turned to the man behind him and motioned for him to stand next to him. As the stranger did, he continued with his introduction. “You were most likely too young to remember this gentleman. This is Taehyung, a young scholar who once resided in our kingdom. However, due to his own personal reasons, he decided to pursue work elsewhere. I met him by chance on the road and he told me he had acquired his original goal, so I invited him over.” He turned to the man who never lost his smile, “I’m sure you remember my daughter.”

“Yes, of course. How can I forget?” Taehyung looked at Mina and gave a slight bow, in which Mina returned the gesture. His voice is so deep, Mina thought.

“I would like to show this young fellow the collection of books I’ve acquired since his departure. Until then, you may do your daily routine,” the king said to the princess. “Come back by supper and join us.”

“Yes, father.” With that, Mina waited until they disappeared from their sights before heading out of the castle, with Jeongyeon following right behind.

During the times when Mina wanted to vent or get away, she would sit by the riverbank and throw pebbles into the water. Without fail, when her father came back from his visits to other towns, she always did just that. The frustrations and objections she couldn’t voice, she would belt it out to the river. The water was an entity of its own; it didn’t betray her and comforted her in ways human beings couldn’t.

“Do you think he’s setting you up?” Jeongyeon asked as she watched her pick up another stone to toss.

“Without a doubt. Father doesn’t introduce me to anyone without an objective.” Mina groaned at the thought of walking down the aisle with a man she didn’t know, much less love. 

“On the bright side, he’s better looking than the previous one.”

“That’s not helping it. Whether he be the most handsome man in the whole world, I don’t want to marry just yet.”

“The king is growing feeble,” Jeongyeon said. “You can’t blame him for trying to find the one who succeeds his throne.”

Mina looked straight in front of her, staring into the unknown on the other side of the river. The town she lived in was always daytime, always bright as night never came. Mina never got to experience what it’s like to be enveloped by the moon. To her and her people, the moon was a foreign concept, forgotten and unwanted. On the other side of the river lies a different world, a world of trees and darkness, the only place where night seemed to exist. 

“Don’t,” Jeongyeon said. She was looking in the same direction. She knew all too well Mina’s habits as if it were her own. The princess always looked beyond whenever she was at the banks. “You know what’s in store for those who even had the thought of going to that forest. Every single person who’s ventured there never came back.”

“I know. I wasn’t going to. Just… I’m just looking.”

“I know you, Mina. I may be just a servant, but I’ve been by your side your whole life. And when curiosity hits you, it’s bound to bring both of us trouble.”

The princess sighed and threw the pebble on her hand into the water, the sound of it hitting the surface seemed to ring for quite some time, but it may have been Mina’s imagination. That rock is me, she thought. Sinking and suffocated, never to resurface...

~

“Dr. Chou, how long are we going to delay the process?”

The woman kept her head down, seeming apologetic. “She’s not ready yet. We don’t want any problems in the future so I want to make sure everything is set. We don’t want to rush into such an important process.”

Her superior sighed, hands on his hips. The sight of him disgusts the woman greatly. He was a despicable man, but he stood in a much higher position than her that she was forced to act respectful. With her head low, she glanced at the watch. Two minutes had passed since he came in. How can time go so slow? she thought. 

Finally, the man resigned. He told her once more to speed things up, and the woman only nodded, though she planned to do her own pace. With one last look at the door behind her, he gruffed and left. The woman heaved a deep sigh.

She headed for the back door with a box in hand and entered the password to open it. Behind it was another door, a much sturdier one with a password only she knew. She opened the second door and entered. Chaeyoung was sitting on the floor, legs crossed with a grin on her face. 

“Someone got scolded,” she said. 

“Were you eavesdropping?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You know I can’t hear anything past two walls.”

“How did you know, then?”

Chaeyoung shrugged. “Wild guess.”

The woman smiled as she sat in front of her, legs crossed. She placed the box in front of them and slowly opened it. There she revealed a small, round cake with three strawberries on top and a single candle. “We can’t light it up, but it won’t be a birthday cake without a candle.”

Chaeyoung smiled at the sight. It was simple, and probably tasted just okay, but moments like these always made her happy. They were things she couldn’t experience normally, after all. Chaeyoung just looked at it as the woman slowly took it out of the box. “You know, you always buy the strawberry one, but it’s not even your favorite fruit. And doing all this is just pointless because I can’t eat it.”

“Then, do you want to stop?”

The girl shook her head. “Not at all.”

“Then stop complaining,” the woman chuckled. 

Chaeyoung brought her hands together and started to clap slowly, singing the birthday song. When she finished, the woman leaned over and blew out the imaginary light from the candle. “Happy birthday, Tzuyu-yah,” Chaeyoung said with a melancholy smile. 

~

Why is he following me? Mina briskly walked to the front garden, but the man kept her pace. Hands behind his back, he followed her with ease. 

Mina tried to minimize her talking during supper. Her father mostly went on a rant about his political views and the growing of the economy to the young stranger. Taehyung spoke politely, more naturally than most people who were in the presence of the king. She only spoke when spoken to, and she tried her best to give the man less chances of striking a conversation with her. But now this same man was following her out the castle door without warning. 

She suddenly halted and turned to face him. “May I help you?”

Taehyung shook her head, still smiling. “Please, do what you always do around this time of day. I would like to accompany you.”

“Why?”

The man cleared his throat and looked around as if to make sure nobody else was around to hear. He spoke softly his next words. “To be honest, the king makes me nervous. He brought upon the idea of going to an abandoned building where he plans to create a place of learning, but just the thought of entering it makes my skin crawl.”

“Why? You’re a scholar. Shouldn’t that be something you’re interested in?”

“It’s not his idea that makes me uncomfortable. Just the words ‘abandoned building’ is enough to make me stay away. The dark is unbelievably scary.”

Mina chuckled, “Your afraid of the dark? The sun is really strong; it provides light to anything it touches.”

Taehyung continually shook his head. “I’d still rather not. Anywhere a ghost might lurk, I stray away from it.”

“Ghost?”

The man nodded. Mina couldn’t help but laugh out loud. She’d never met such a superficial person before, much less a man who contradicted his tough appearance. “Don’t laugh,” Taehyung told her with a slight pout, which just made Mina laugh all the more.

“A young man who ventured on his own to the great unknown, traveled for years without a companion, but is too afraid to step in an empty building because of ghosts. You have to admit, that’s a bit funny. If the king could see you now, he might think twice about me marrying you.”

“Marry?” Taehyung asked, confused. “I don’t have any plans in marrying you.”

“Really?” Mina looked at him. “That might be the case for you, but it’s not for my father. He only introduces me to men with the prospect of marriage.”

“My role in this kingdom is not to marry you. I don’t believe the king has set his sights on me either, as a candidate for the throne.”

“Then, why has he brought you here?”

“To teach you. He’s requested I teach all the knowledge I possess. He’s made marriage arrangements elsewhere. I thought you would be aware of the financial situation this kingdom is currently in. He’s met with the king of the neighboring kingdom and plans to converge.”

Mina couldn’t get her thoughts around his words. Financial situation? As far as she knew, her father was wealthy. The town seemed to flourish just fine without having to seek the help of other kingdoms. But as she thought about it, her father never confided in her his political plans. “What are you saying?” she asked.

“I’m saying if he was going to make you marry, it would be the king of that kingdom. It’s all presumptuous, however, but the possibility is more than likely...”

Taehyung words started to echo. Mina could no longer hear him; her mind had wandered off somewhere and her senses started to get numb. 

Mina didn’t bother letting him finish his sentence. In her mind, she was already stomping towards the castle and bursting in through the door, anger flooding her whole body. The servants would look up from their tasks as she made her way to the throne room. One cannot enter the throne room without permission from the king himself, but  Mina didn’t care at the moment. Emotions took over her like a tsunami wave ready to pounce. 

“Father!” she bellowed, gaining the king’s attention from his writing. “Rumor has it that there will be convergence with the Yang Kingdom and that you are planning to marry me off to someone there, to their king at that! Please, Father, tell me that these are all baseless rumors.”

Her father furrowed his eyebrows, displeased at the sudden interruption, but more so angry at his daughter for daring to raise her voice to the king. He placed his pen on the table in front of him quietly, then crossed his hands together. He turned to his assistant who stood in the corner, nodding at him as a signal to leave. The assistant did so and the room was only filled with the king and the princess. 

“It’s true,” he said. 

Mina waited for him to give a proper explanation, but he remained stiff, still looking down at her. She continued, “When were you planning on telling me? On the day of the wedding?” She clenched her fists, furious. 

The king could see defiant in his daughter’s eyes. Through the late years, the two seemed to be growing apart from each other. Once close with an inseparable bond, now the two barely said words to each other at the dining table. He often wondered what went wrong with their relationship. 

“Are you really going to sell off your only daughter because of money?”

Her father slammed his palm on the table, causing Mina to flinch. “You think I’m doing this just for money?! I’ve had enough of your ungratefulness. You have no idea how difficult it was to make that decision and the lengths I had to go through to ensure that you at least stay in this kingdom!”

“Princess?”

Mina snapped out of her trance and looked up at the man who bore her bad news. She was still standing at the garden; she hadn’t stomped into the castle and demanded answers from her father like she wanted to. How could she? All her life she’s been obedient despite having plans of her own. She couldn’t very well raise her voice to the king. 

“Sorry, I need to be alone,” Mina told him. And without waiting for a response, she walked away with her head down and her hands shaking. 

She sat at the river bank once more, staring at the darkness of the forest. Was she really about to be married to someone who could very well be her uncle? She wanted to cry, but who was there to console her tears? Mina continued to stare in front of her. “The darkness would be better than being here,” she mumbled to herself. She felt then that she was at a place that even darkness feared. 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N: I don't have much experience in writing scifi and before this, I've never written fantasy either, so please bear with me >< The story might be a little bumpy and I had a hard time trying to come with a proper setting and soul into the characters. But nontheless, I hope this new story gains your support. Thank you for reading!