Hal's eyes sprang open, their blue irises darting left and right. His memories felt foggy for a while as he tried to paint a clear picture of what happened.
"Now I remember the sky turned into a dragon" The mere fact that these words made him feel almost insane, he scratched his head for a while, only to realise that he was in a big bed with black covers.
"I see you're awake" Hal almost jumped as he turned his gaze upwards and saw a beautiful young woman with black hair that seemed to shimmer with stars, making it seem like a cloudless night sky had been placed on her head.
Her eyes were of the same black colour, with their centre seeming to have that very star that entranced Hal surrounded by other tinier stars that added to her beauty.
She wore a long black gown and long black gloves that stretched to her elbows. Some of her hair fell to cover her left eye, though it was still visible behind the thin strands of hair.
Hal pulled back into the bed that was beginning to look more like a prison, while the woman gave him a cold stare that still felt like it went through him.
"Who...Who are…are you?" The lady listened to Hal's timid voice calmly before bowing down to speak in a respectful tone, "My name is Alastella Georgia Fernis, and I am a servant of the stars, Mr. Hal, sir"
Hal found her calm way of answering a little off-putting, but what he found confusing was "How the hell do you know my name?" Alastella stood straight, and for the first time, Hal saw emotion on the lady's face as she smiled before speaking once again.
"Oh, that happens to be none other than my glorious Lord who sees and knows it all, in fact, he was the one who brought me here so that he can speak to you"
Alastella straightened up and stared at Hal with that gaze that seemed to go through him, seeming a bit distant. Her smile lingered for a while as she placed her hand on her chest, opting to speak again.
Hal used a brief moment to think while everything looked and seemed weird, even the room they were in. It was a stone room made from black stone, decorated with minor engravings of different constellations, those known and unknown to him, and four lanterns glowed with a gloomy blue colour, illuminating the room.
Hal had a million thoughts running through his head. He thought about the present offer. Who was this lord? Why did he want to talk to him of all people, and did he have to see him, the man could bend the sky into a dragon for God's sake. From a strategic standpoint, it would be unwise to reject the offer of a man who knows an unknown amount of information about him.
"Okay, then, can I speak to this lord of yours if he can allow it?" Alastella bowed again with the grace and beauty of someone with her looks "Then please follow me, Mr. Hal".
She straightened up and turned to walk without a single sound. Hal got off the bed, landing on the cold floor, the stone feeling like ice to his feet. He followed Alastella out of the room and into a long hallway that stunned him as soon as he laid eyes on it.
It was dimly lit by the same lanterns that lit up the room he woke up in. The hall was lined with windows from one end to the other. The windows displayed stars and asteroids floating around with planets that were spinning in their orbits. They were also bright, misty objects flying around, they were of brown and white colours, moving as they changed their shapes, some looking serpentine while others took up more bulky appearances, and faded through walls as they left behind a glowing trail of mist.
Hal's eyes got stuck on a constellation of an archer who waved at him before sending out a bright arrow that struck the constellation of a bull a distance away, which turned violently to the archer, who seemed startled by it, but before Hal could witness the end of that conflict, Alastella's voice called to him.
"Mr. Hal, please refrain from paying attention to those pranksters, and besides, we have my Lord", she pushed the door open carefully as Hal saw the bull chase the archer from the corner of his eye.
The sound of the creaking door got Hal's attention as he turned to face the doorway he was about to walk through. He soon entered into a rectangular room which, like all the rest, was dimly lit by lanterns.
At its centre was a large table that was lined with seats, with the biggest and most fancy seat being at the end of the table. Seated within it was a young man whose age Hal could not really figure out.
The man had dark grey hair that resembled a dark stormy sky, and his eyes were a dull brown colour, which gave the man a natural, nonchalant look. He wore a coat with a lifted collar and a scarf tucked carefully into his black, fashionable suit.
"Please take a seat, I've been waiting for a while to meet you" The man's eyes seemed distant as he studied the glass of wine that he gently picked up from the table. The man's voice was dominating, flowing clearly with a sense of mystique that plagued whoever heard it with curiosity about its owner.
Hal sat down at the other end of the table, taking time to appreciate the huge planet outside the window to his left that looked quite similar to Earth but larger, with the light reflecting from it showering him and the lord of the manor in the blue light as he finally turned to face the mysterious man.
"I would advise you to have something to eat before we have our talk", the man pointed to the plate that was covered with a metallic bowl. Alastella came and lifted it off the plate, revealing a tantalising meal on the plate.
After his meal, he turned to the Lord whose face was illuminated by the light bouncing off the planet outside the window. The lord had a smile on his face as the misty creatures Hal had seen earlier came to surround him, causing Hal to reel back.
"Please don't be scared of them, they won't hurt you, it's below them" The sentence didn't make him feel comfortable instead, it induced a question "What are these things anyway?"
"I call them nebula spawn, in other terms, they are like the children of the stars, and when they grow, they birth entire galaxies. They also mainly feed on gases and space dust particles, so they won't attack you unless you attack them first"
The lord continued to smile as a nebula spawn poured wine into the wine glass he held before it floated away, fading away into something intangible. The man took one final drink from his glass of wine before standing up with his drink in hand.
"May you please follow me, it's time we had our talk" The lord walked with careful steps, leading Hal through the vast walls of his manor. The lord reached a black door and opened it, letting Hal enter first before entering the room himself.
The room looked like an office with a shimmering ceiling that had a map of the entire night sky with the moon at its centre. The lord took a seat behind the table and gestured for Hal to do the same.
"Huh, I really like the night sky, especially the one back home, that's why I imprinted it here, but enough of this, let's get straight to the point as to why I called you here" Hal felt his heart speed as the man crossed his fingers and proceeded to say "First let me introduce myself, the name is Ermond Varrant Grand Fernis the sentient of this story who you replaced".