Jae left the castle and waited for nightfall. It was the longest wait in his entire life.

To Jae, it felt like decades had passed before darkness finally came to drape the castle. He had used some of the gold coins Jun had given him to buy a horse (it was not the time to refuse help from another man because of pride). His motorcycle would have been a faster means of transportation but then it was also noisier which might draw unwanted attention. Plus, he didn’t have it anymore (What did Jae do to it? He sold it, of course). When he arrived on horseback, Hye was already waiting for him by the black gates. It was suspiciously quiet and the guards were nowhere in sight. This must have been Jun’s doing. It had to be. Jae leaped off the horse and landed on the ground barely making a sound. He approached her on foot with the horse’s rein in his hand. Hye had a blue velvet cloak on that reached all the way to the ground. Her whole body was hidden underneath the fabric but he could tell it was her. Next to her on the ground was a large chest.

“Princess…” Jae whispered, “We can’t bring all this with us… He’ll collapse even before we reach the outskirts of the first village.” He pointed to the horse while it made a low snort in agreement.

Although he couldn’t see her face clearly in the moonlight, Jae knew she was frowning.

“But they’re all my precious belongings. Remember all the trinkets you brought me?”

Jae couldn’t help chuckling. She was planning to bring all that with her? “I can always buy them for you when we reach the outside world. There are plenty out there-“

“These are different. You gave them to me when there were not many around. They are my precious…” He just didn’t know how much each and every one of them meant to her. They brimmed with memories… memories of Hye and Jae together.

Sykotica Notes: Photographs were taking by the lovely Bella Kotak. Her palette is just... See more of her dreamscape works. Keep scrolling to see the full original photos used here.