It was now my nightly ritual. I would strip and change into my sleeping garments and stuff my robes inside my hat.
Then, I'd go and pee. I'd stretch, brush my teeth, and then set up my sleeping sack (far away from Alwyn and Aliza). Then I'd sleep. But I didn't know this would be my last time ever sleeping.
As I felt my eyes grow heavy, the soft dirt around me started to pull me in.
Initially, I thought it to be one of those strange, unexplainable feelings that sometimes come over you when you try to sleep.
A dizziness washed over me, though, and I opened my eyes in alarm. I was spinning, falling through a dark abyss.
What the hell!?
I clawed at the air, trying to find something to grab ahold of. But there was nothing, at least within arms reach.
"ALWWYYNNNN!!!!"
My voice didn't echo in the dark abyss, and I soon lost hope of getting out the way I came. I just fell and fell, the air rushing past my ears.
Eventually, though, the sound of the air dampened, and I noticed my fall slowed to a gentle downwards float.
Is it magic? Where even am I?
I felt my bare feet touch the cold, damp stone and sighed in relief.
I nearly died of shock when I felt something fall onto my head, but when I grabbed it, I realized it was only my hat, which had fallen all the way down there with me.
I looked around and saw in the distance a doorway, glowing with warm light. I made my way over to it, unsure of what to expect. Certainly, I didn't expect what was there when I arrived.
I stepped through the door, my feet landing on warm carpet. It was a bedroom, a small one, with a desk, chest, and bed.
What's this doing down here?
In the corner of my eye, I noticed something move. I spun back around, now facing the bed. I squinted and rubbed my eyes, making sure I wasn't hallucinating.
Obvious at first glance was a black cat, which was sprawled out on the top of the bed, staring at me silently.
What shocked me even more was the suspicious lump beneath the blanket, and I suspected someone was sleeping.
"Ehem. Hello?" I called out, awkwardly hoping not to disturb the person's sleep. But I needed answers...
"She's asleep, meow."
Did the cat just speak? It did, didn't it?
"Am I dreaming?"
"How would I know? Meow."
"You can speak...!?"
"Of course I can, meow."
"But you're a cat."
"So? You're speaking, aren't you? Meow."
"But I'm not a cat."
"Oh... that's right. I got confused... meow."
"Uhh... okay... can you wake up your owner? I need help."
"She's not my owner, meow. And why would she help you? Meow."
"Well I don't think any of us want me down here for too long, do we?"
"Hmm... okay. Meow." The cat got up and started to jump up and down on the lump beneath the blanket. "Girl, wake up! Wake up! Meow!"
The lump jolted and sent the cat flying off the bed and hitting the wall. A dark hand appeared, pulling the blanket away.
Revealed now was a small... girl? It was a shadow, living and breathing(?). She stretched and swung her feet off the bed, dropping to the floor.
"Errr... hello," I said.
"# ######## ## ##### ###," she replied.
I don't understand...!!
"Ignore her 'words,' she is useless in that aspect. I believe she knows the exit from this place, though. Meow."
The girl looked at me for a few moments, then headed to the door opposite from the entrance. I looked to the cat, who nodded at me, and followed her. I heard the faint taps of the cat following behind us.
On the other side of the door was a sight I couldn't quite make sense of. A sprawling, dry desert blew sand into my eyes. The sand was pale and fine, and was an endless sea.
There were no objects in the entire plain that disturbed the surface. Though I knew for certain that I was underground, there was no ceiling to see.
Perhaps it was just so high up that it looked like the night sky. What concerned me more though was the complete lack of walls, it truly seemed as if I was in an endless desert.
"Where are we?"
"####### #####."
"Are you familiar with Bishan? Meow."
"Bishan? Bishan... it sounds familiar."
"The twelfth emir. Divine Emir Bishan. Meow."
"Ahh... isn't that a southern goddess?"
"Right, I suppose you wouldn't know much about it. She's the same as your Saint Pischt. Meow."
"Saint Pischt? What does that have to do with this place? She's the saint of the seas."
"This is Bishan's—excuse me, Pischt's ocean. Meow."
Ocean?
The arid air made my eyes water and my mouth feel like sandpaper. No, this was not an ocean at all.
"### ## # ####### ### ########."
"She's a glutton for moisture. Certainly, this is the place with the most water on earth. Despite that, it's so dry.
I believe she stores it all deep beneath the sands, and will only be satisfied once this place flows with rushing water. Meow."
I suppose goddesses can be quite unusual... not that I'm sure 'Pischt' even exists at all.
"I see... well, where's the exit?"
"###### ##"
"Follow her. Meow."
We followed the girl down the sand and approached a small wooden rowboat. The girl climbed inside, and I copied. The cat jumped up and into my lap.
"Why don't you sit with your owner?"
"I already told you she isn't my owner, now start rowing. Meow."
"Rowing? Through the sand?"
"Just do as you're told, meow."
I started to row. I'd only rowed a boat once before, and it was quite the strenuous activity.
Despite what you might have expected, rowing through the sand was actually incredibly easy. It felt as if there was no friction at all.
Is this magic, too? A real scholar like Alwyn would know.
A few minutes later, we were far into the horizon of the desert. I could barely even see the 'shore' we came from.
"## ### ##### ## ## ######## ######!"
"What? Why, meow!?"
"## ###### ## ##### ## ########!"
"Why would we need an offering? Bishan allows cats to visit freely—oh no, meow."
"What? What's wrong?"
"Bishan's going to punish us. We left without giving an offering, meow."
"Why didn't you tell me sooner!?"
"I forgot you weren't a cat! Meow!"
"What exactly is the punishment!?"
"Death, I believe. Meow."
I didn't even mean to come here!!
The sand beneath us started to shake, forming a swirling whirlpool that pulled the boat around in circles.
Thinking quickly, I grabbed my hat and stuffed my hand inside, looking for anything to offer up. My hand brushed against a glass vial...
Is this magic?! Or actually the work of a divine saint...?
"I offer this to you, Divine Saint Pischt! Please forgive me!" I shouted into the desert.
I threw the vial of dark liquid from my hand into the center of the swirling whirlpool, and winced as I waited for the sand to calm. Thankfully, it did, and I let out a great sigh of relief.
"What was that, meow?"
"It was a vial of perfectly balanced nutrition potion... I didn't even think it would work."
I looked at the girl, who was staring at me in awe.
"## ####! #### ### ## ## ####!"
"I'm not telling him that, meow!"
All of a sudden, the desert started to shake once again. The boat started to splinter, it burst into sinking pieces, and the three of us fell into the sand.
"What now!?"
"No... it can't be, meow! Boy, look away! Look away I tell you, meow!"
Look away from what?
Something violently exploded from beneath the sand, I couldn't make out what it was through the cascading grains. I squinted, trying to get a better look.
A colossal leviathan was suspended midair, tendrils squirming as if underwater. Dozens of luminous, ribbon-like fins twitched and shuddered in the air.
I had to look away before taking the entire thing in, my ears rang and my eyes burned. A searing pain pierced my skull, and I retched.
"#### ### ### ##### ####? ### ### #### ### ## ########!" the girl shouted.
"## ####, # ## #### ######## #### ###### #####. ##### ### ####?" the leviathan sounded.
"Cat! What are they saying?!"
"I don't know, meow!"
"What is that thing?!"
"Watch your mouth, boy! That's Bishan! For some reason, she's come out from below. Don't look at her again, or you'll lose your mind for good, meow!"
"##### ## ####. # #### ######## #### #########!"
"## ######? ### #### #### ### ## ##### ##? ### ## ### #### ##### #### ##### ######!? ### ### ##### ## ### #### #### ## ####### ### ## #####, ## ## ### ###### ## ####!"
"## ### ##### # ###### ####### ## ### ###, ### #### ### ##### ## ### ### ########!"
"### #### ## #### ##### ### #### ### #### ##### ##, ######. # ### #### ###### # ###### ###. ### ### ### ##, ### ### ####, #####."
"### #### ## ### #####?"
"#### ######### ####. ### ### #### #####."
"### ####!?"
"#### ## ###### #### # ###### ###, ######. ### #### #### #### ## # ######..."
"####. ### ## ##, ###!"
My brain hurts...
The conversation seemed to end, and the leviathan sunk back into the sand.
I was seeing double, and felt as if I'd been mauled by a young girl and her family of bears. I looked at the cat and the girl, who didn't seem to be in much better shape.
"## #####, ######."
"She says she's sorry, meow."
"For what?"
"...I don't know. I'm only a cat; I am too simple to understand the gravity of what she's told me. Only, I know it's not good. So, on her behalf, I apologize deeply as well. We'll be seeing you, then. Or not, meow."
"What? Hold on—!"
I started to sink beneath the sand. I clawed and pulled, trying to get back to the surface. But it was useless.
I squeezed my eyes shut in an act of defeat, but instead felt relief from the crushing pressure. Then I felt something hit my face.
When I opened my eyes, I was in my sleeping sack, situated between Alwyn and Aliza.
So it was a nightmare after all... but why am I sleeping with these two!?
The sun was only just rising, so I refrained from getting up. The two preferred to sleep a bit in, anyway.
I closed my eyes once again, but whether it was because I feared having another nightmare, or I was simply well rested, sleep did not find me.
I stayed there, eyes closed, for a few hours before the two beside me stirred.