The thoughts of familiarity dissipated as he came face-to-face with a unique young woman
She appeared to be somewhere between eighteen and twenty.
Her hair was dark, almost completely black but with a slight degree of lighter shades mixed within
The contrast against her deep blue eyes made it seem even more surreal.
She shared the saint's eyes, the same as the old man; however, her other qualities were certainly not that of a saint.
She was beautiful, yes, but not sweet.
There was no charm in her beauty, no innocence.
As Luca stood frozen, analyzing her, the young woman shot him an angry gaze
"You're late."
Luca's chest tightened at the disappointed tone in her voice.
"Do you know how long we have had to wait here for you?"
She continued, as if to vent out her frustration.
"None of us even know where we are; we have been held up here for two days all because we had to wait for you!"
As she yelled out, she knew that it was wrong.
She knew that he had only come to this world today.
That there was no reason for him to be at fault.
Nevertheless, she could not stop.
She continued until the weight she had felt during those two days, the one that had been getting heavier and heavier, started to lift off, leaving her unrestrained
"Who are you to make us wait?"
He didn't.
"Why did you not come earlier?"
He couldn't.
"Why did you send us here?"
Her face, which bore signs of anger, was now showing cracks of something else
Eyes, before aimed with determination, started to waver.
Then shake
Then leak
Tears started to flow down her face, hitting the carpet below, making marks which only Luca seemed to notice
Before long, she started hitting him
She didn't realize it herself—only that it was happening.
It was as if her body had decided for her.
Each motion felt distant, her mind heavy as she became a watcher of her life rather than the one who lived it.
Her punches were slow, yet so emotional that Luca felt as if he could not move.
He started to feel as if he might have taken this whole thing to lightly
Being forcefully moved to another world
Called a criminal
Threatened with torture to do another's bidding
In a moment of realization, Luca spread out his arms and hugged the crying woman
Then another moment of realization came as she kicked him
"What the fuck are you doing?" The crying had completely stopped. Her voice became clear and filled of anger
"I..." Luca's words got stuck in his throat
"I understand; it's fine." The young woman said quickly, "Just never do it again."
She wiped her eyes dry as she composed herself.
The only remnant of the crying woman was a couple watermarks on the carpet, almost invisible unless one was aware of their existence.
And the slightly red undertone on the corners of her eyes.
"Let us just go the others," she said, wanting to move on from what had just happened
"Ah... yes." Luca's struggle to brush past what he had just seen was prominent in his voice. "What is your name?" He asked, trying to break the tension between them
"Right, you haven't been through the introduction course yet, so you probably don't know who or what anyone is yet."
Luca's face stiffened as he heard her answer
Who or what?
Right then, the young woman's voice stopped his thoughts from continuing to escalate, giving an answer to his original question, one he had already forgotten
"My name is Kaia Solen." She then gave him a smile
This smile could not be compared to the one given by the old man
Yet, it held something different
Acceptance
They left the main palace and walked across to one of the smaller buildings of the estate
The building was as impressive as the one he had just step out of
It was surrounded by a lake, and appeared as a small, standalone island
Before the bridge there was a sign
"This is one of the territories under the order of light. Do not attempt to corrupt it."
Luca shook his head. "Corrupt it."
Kaia answered as she too appeared to find the phrasing odd, "Yeah, we don't really know either. I guess it's like, Do not try to trespass… or something."
The knight who had followed them out bowed his head as to take his leave before saying a warning
"Remember what I said and behave accordingly."
He left without another word, leaving Kaia and Luca alone before the wooden bridge.
"What was that about?" Her words sounded more annoyed than curious.
"I think he's just like that. Weren't you escorted by him too? You should know."
"No, we were transported onto this territory at the beginning. We weren't originally allowed to leave. I only left as I heard you finally made your way here."
Of course you were
Not all sins are equal
"Yeah, I guess mine where just fucked up then…. Fine."
"What?" Kaia asked, perplexed by his answer
"Wait, I said that out loud. Sorry." Luca bowed his head slightly as he continued
"It's just the guide woman is talking to me at the same time, which is kind of messing with my head." He touched his head, as by instinct and rubbed it slightly
"The who?" Kaia's eyes widened, staring at him intently.
"You know, the guide. The one who talks in your head and tells you what to do." His tone started to show signs of agitation—it is not something one simply forgets
"We don't have that." Her answer was firm, almost defensive, before she added, "Are you one of those mentally ill people?"
"One of the what?"
"The mentally ill, or like the mentally challenged"
"Why would you think that?"
"You are the one talking about hearing a voice that tells you what to do, and that you have to do it."
"It's the guide; I just said so."
"Did… did you use to stay at, like, an institution or something?"
"What?"
Finally a third voice broke through
"Kaia, stop messing with him; we have all been briefed on his relationship with the guide. Now get inside; Thalara want to speak with him."
"Fine, annoying little brat. Let's get inside."
"I will remember this, you know."
"Yeah, yeah."