Yuma walked for what felt like hours; it made no sense why it felt so long, but deep down, he knew why.
He was terrified.
Every step was an opportunity to turn back, find a way out. Run as far away as possible and go back home. But the closer he got to the table, the stronger his confidence grew.
Like the woman sat there was tempting him.
"What the hell am I doing?" he scoffed. His mind wasn't syncing with his body.
Whatever… whoever… this woman was.
She had him.
She had his body listening to her call despite not a sound being heard, aside from the conflicting cold and hot winds hitting his exposed skin, rustling the grass. Hours shifted to minutes as his pace sped up. His cautious steps turned into a paced jog. His mind screamed escape, but his body yearned to reach this mysterious woman, and just like that, he was close enough to make out a familiar figure.
Her hair, curling softly at the ends, was dark red, fading seamlessly into deep blue. It was just like that woman from his dreams.
'Is that her?' Yuma thought.
However, just as quickly as that thought appeared, it changed to 'I'm imagining it'.
His logic was too strong to trust his gut anyway.
Stepping closer to the woman, the veil was visible, and a soft smile was shown to Yuma through it. Once Yuma was close enough, she lifted her veil. Following that, she lifted her teacup from the small plate on the table, taking a sip.
While she took her sip, Yuma took in her appearance. This was exactly the woman from his dreams, and now he was face to face with the faceless woman.
Her eyes were like large gems. They were a ruby red blending into a sapphire blue closer to her dilated pupils. Her skin was smooth and clear, like pure ice in a glacier. Her hair was just like his dream, dark red fading into deep blue. Her smile was framed by her full lips, her teeth perfectly aligned with a blinding white shine. For a moment, he kept his gaze on her face before his eyes dropped downward. There, his heart spiked; her dress, although mostly modest, hugged her frame, accentuating her body. Yuma couldn't look any more nervous before returning his eyes to hers.
The woman's soft smile turned into a smirk. She was clearly amused by Yuma's flustered state.
"Like what you see?" she teased.
Yuma couldn't help but stammer a bit before replying in confusion.
"W-what?"
"I asked if you enjoyed what you see, is this to your liking?" she softly purred out.
Yuma stood there for a moment as if his consciousness was returning before he straightened out what exactly he wanted to say. However, he found that incredibly difficult, given how beautiful he found this woman to be. In more ways than one, she managed to captivate his attention. He shook his head a little to concentrate on the woman.
"What do you mean, 'is this to my liking'; is it really relevant when I have no clue who you are or where I am?" He stated, pointing out the real issues he had, more than whether he considered her beautiful or not.
That only stirred whatever interest she had from the start. Taking a little breath, she stood up, her frame suddenly rising above Yuma, putting him at her shoulder. Yuma couldn't believe it; his head craned upwards to maintain his eye contact.
"Oops…" the woman whispered to herself before giggling softly. Her frame was shrinking enough to restore the leveled eye contact.
"I suppose this is better?" She smiled, her voice ending with an upward cadence.
The woman had tried to be as kind and gentle, to give him space to adjust, but the horrified look on his face told her enough. Rightfully so, Yuma was horrified. He just witnessed a woman go from something of a basketball athlete to his height all in the span of seconds. Not to mention, she was most likely the reason why he ended up here. This wasn't a normal woman; this had to be a devil in a beautiful woman's body.
"I can see you're terrified, and rightfully so… but believe me, I won't hurt you." She reassured, calmly sitting down as she gestured for him to sit as well.
"Sit." She softly spoke.
Yuma, given not much else to do, sat down across from her. She picked up her tea and took a sip before carrying on.
"Kanzukuri is your family's name, correct?"
Yuma nodded, slightly creeped out; she knew his last name. Didn't take him long to process that she most definitely knew his first.
"My name is Serpheria, but you may call me Sera if that's easier. I am an Ikon."
Yuma's face scrunched in confusion. He had no clue what an Ikon was.
"Icon? Like a celebrity?" He carefully questioned.
Serpheria's eyes widened in amusement before breaking into a soft laugh. Even her laugh matched her silky voice. Still, what confused him was why his question was so humorous to her. Weirdly, it hurt his ego.