Elena awoke.
A strange stillness clung to her mind before full awareness, like surfacing from a drowning dream… or a memory drowned in fog.
The last thing she remembered… she was laughing in the rain, gripping her friend's hand as they ran down a glowing street, droplets dancing around them like free children. A moment of pure joy—
And then… nothing.
She opened her eyes slowly.
The sky above her was a color she had never seen.
The air… heavier than it ought to be.
She sat up, tension blooming through her body. Her black hair, streaked with dyed golden strands, fell across her face. Her golden eyes widened in silent shock.
This wasn't her city.
The houses were strange—some floated in the air, ringed by halos of light, while others bent, as if gravity bowed in reverence before them.
She rubbed her eyes sharply.
No… this wasn't a dream.
She looked around—and saw them.
Towering figures, impossibly tall, with carved features and sharp teeth. She felt like an insect among giants. Her body trembled. Was this real? Her mind screamed denial, but her instincts whispered the truth.
She staggered to her feet.
Their gazes were locked on her. Their faces weren't human. Their clothes were luxurious, foreign in every sense. Their surroundings… from another world.
She pressed a hand to her chest, trying to calm the war drums beating inside.
A nightmare, she wanted to believe. But her soul disagreed.
The strangest part…
She could understand what they were saying—despite having never heard this language before.
— "What is that thing? An animal?"
— "Maybe a hybrid?"
— "She resembles us slightly… Could a Nirvan have bred with some creature?"
She swallowed hard. Their voices were cold. Their words—terrifying.
She ran. Anywhere, away from their eyes, their whispers, their unknowable judgments.
She ducked behind one of the alien walls, breathing heavily, trying to understand.
"This isn't a dream… This is another world. I'm certain of it."
She watched them from a distance.
They were selling food she had never seen—colors too vivid, scents that belonged to no memory.
She gathered her scattered thoughts.
"They're powerful… giants. I'm weak here. How do I escape?"
She decided to return to the spot where she first awoke.
But she didn't notice… someone had been watching her.
A guard seized her. His grip was far too strong for her frail body.
The shackles were too large for her wrists, so he tied her with rope.
She trembled, barely able to breathe.
They threw her into a metal cart, bound like prey. As they moved through the city, she caught sight of a towering palace scraping the sky—its windows shaped like sleeping eyelids, its presence so vast it radiated fear even in stillness.
She whispered to herself:
"The worst that could happen… is death. And death is nothingness. No fear in nothingness. Everything will be fine. Don't be afraid, Elena."
⸻
They arrived.
The palace gates opened slowly, revealing a grandeur that stole her breath—immense, magnificent, terrifying in its stillness. She was led into a great hall, where a carved desk and a majestic chair stood like relics of time itself.
Then… he entered.
No—he wasn't ordinary.
He was tall, commanding, his features carved with surgical precision. Silver hair flowed over his shoulders, and his eyes… the color of night in exile. Dignified. Cold.
He studied her for a moment.
— "Who are you?"
She swallowed, voice trembling.
— "E…Elena…"
— "Are you one of the Nirvan?"
She shook her head frantically.
— "I don't even know what the Nirvan are…"
He stepped closer, slowly.
He raised a hand… and his fingers touched her cheek, as if trying to remember something long lost.
Then suddenly—
His hand pierced her abdomen.
But—no blood.
His hand passed through her like light, fingers brushing through her intestines… her heart.
Her eyes widened in pure horror. Her body froze. Her tongue failed to scream.
He whispered calmly:
— "Heart… stomach… intestines… You resemble us."
He withdrew his hand. No wound. No blood. No mark.
He studied her, intrigued:
— "This makes no sense. Our genes wouldn't create something this small, this fragile-skinned."
Before her nerves could shatter, a knight entered and bowed.
— "We've found the rapist, my lord."
— "Good. Bring him in."
A massive man was dragged inside, shackled and shaking. He fell at the prince's feet, sobbing.
— "Please… forgive me… I beg you…"
The prince didn't answer.
He turned to the guard instead.
— "Cut off his manhood."
Elena didn't understand—
Not until the guard stepped forward… and with his bare hands, tore the man's manhood off without a weapon.
The man's scream shattered the hall. Blood soaked the floor like a crimson sea.
Elena… couldn't bear it.
She collapsed.
Darkness took her.
The prince turned to the guards and said quietly:
— "Take her to the experiment wing, and clean up this mess"