Chapter 3

| Chapter 3: “The Dream that was Not”

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The wind blew and hushed the birds of the air. The river water flowed along its compass, beaming in sparkles against the radiance of the sunlight beneath the wide canopy of blue heavens. It sang a melody of tranquil wilderness, as though whispering secrets too ancient for mortal tongues to recall.

And there, upon the dry ground of its banks, stood the girl—lost, both in spirit and in thought. Her figure was slender and trembling under the gentle kiss of the wind, her eyes tracing the ripples of the stream as though they might somehow offer answers to the confusion haunting her. Her mind wandered endlessly across the realms of logic and mythology, and her spirit sunk deeper into the void between reason and faith.

There’s no way I actually died. That can’t be the case, she told herself, her voice a fragile whisper beneath the murmur of flowing water. Maybe I just bumped my head or stumbled when I was walking through that rose-arch pathway.

She let out a weak laugh, trying to comfort herself. Yeah~ that can be it! This is just a dream… just a dream!

“Only a dream~,” she muttered again.

But her senses betrayed her.

The faint rustle of the leaves overhead, the rhythmic hum of water against rock, the smell of the river—fresh and earthen—were all too vivid. Too real. Her skin tingled as the cool air brushed against her arms, and her heartbeat drummed a steady rhythm in her chest. No dream had ever felt this solid, this alive.

Her eyes blinked open once more, and there before her stood the little creature she had rescued—not a few moments ago, or was it an eternity already? It was hard to tell.

The pup, small yet striking in its grace, stood before her. Its fur shimmered in hues of white, gray, and silver, and its eyes—deep sapphires that mirrored her own confusion—watched her with an intelligence that seemed far beyond that of any ordinary animal.

For a moment, neither moved. Their silence became a fragile bridge of mutual wonder, broken only by the distant chirping of unseen creatures and the soft rhythm of the flowing stream.

Then, a sudden crack—the snapping of a stick somewhere in the bushes. Alleia’s heart jumped. Her eyes darted toward the sound.

“Must be… a rabbit? Or maybe a frog?” she murmured, trying to convince herself that this world still followed familiar rules.

And then—

“Uhm~ Excuse me—Wait. Maybe I just misheard you, right?”

Her words trembled in the air, uncertain. The pup blinked once. Then again.

And then, as if it had always known how to speak, it replied again.

“Thank you for saving me. And please don’t sell me!”

Its tiny voice carried both gratitude and panic.

Alleia froze, mouth agape. Before she could respond, the pup bolted. In a blur of silver and white, it dashed into the thicket, its tail tucked between its legs, vanishing like lightning through the green.

“Wait—! I wasn’t going to—”

But it was too late.

Only the sound of the river answered her now.

Alleia stood in silence, the air thick with disbelief. The words hung in her ears like the lingering echo of a dream she couldn’t wake from.

Did that really just happen? A talking pup? So he could really talk and I didn't misheard it?

Her heart pounded with confusion, disbelief, and… a strange pang of regret.

“Of all things… a talking pup,” she muttered, rubbing her temples. “And I let it run away—ugh, nice going, Alleia.”

She sighed, shoulders slumping, her thoughts spiraling. The encounter had left her shaken. She wanted—no, needed—to talk to that little creature again. Maybe it knew something. Maybe it could explain where she was, or why everything around her felt so hauntingly alive.

But now, she was alone once more.

Only the gentle river and the glimmering fish beneath its surface remained to keep her company.

“Ah~ Should I have just… tried to be calmer?” she groaned, clutching her head. “I could’ve asked for help, or—ugh—at least gotten directions! And there I was, thinking maybe I could keep it as a pet or something! It was so cute! But nooo, my anxious brain had to ruin it—wahhh!”

Frustrated, Alleia smacked her cheeks with both hands, hoping to wake herself from this nightmare—or dream, whichever it was.

The sharp sting burned across her skin. She winced.

“...Ow!”

The warmth of pain flushed her cheeks, and her heart sank. The sensation was too real, too sharp.

This was no dream.

The realization hit her like a slow tide, creeping and undeniable.

Suddenly, a splash echoed from the river, jolting her upright. Her eyes darted toward the source, pulse quickening—only to see a frog staring back at her, its round golden eyes unblinking.

Its throat puffed and deflated rhythmically.

“Oh, don’t tell me you talk too,” Alleia whispered nervously, taking a cautious step back.

The frog tilted its head, croaked twice—“rr-bbt, rr-bbt”—and leapt into the water, vanishing beneath the surface.

She let out a long breath of relief. “Okay… normal frog. Thank goodness.”

Turning her gaze toward the river, Alleia finally allowed herself to truly look around.

The world surrounding her was breathtaking. The trees rose high like ancient guardians, their branches weaving into a dome of green and gold. The sunlight filtered through in fragmented rays, painting the earth in shifting patches of light. Wildflowers—tiny bursts of color—bloomed along the riverbanks, their petals swaying with the breeze.

The air was clean, crisp, and carried a faint sweetness that reminded her of spring mornings back home.

She felt her heartbeat slow. For the first time since awakening here, a calmness washed over her.

“Maybe it’s not… all that bad,” she whispered, sitting down beside the spot where she had left her jacket and shoes. The ground was soft beneath her, warm from the sunlight.

Her thoughts began to drift.

That rose-arch pathway.

That voice she had heard twice in her head.

That mystical garden—the Guardian, the soldiers, the animals… and the pup.

Each fragment of memory danced before her eyes like shattered reflections of a dream.

“If only I hadn’t hesitated…” she murmured. “I could’ve talked to that pup. I could’ve known where I am, or at least why I’m here. I should’ve just asked.”

But the truth was simple—she had hesitated. And now, she was alone.

Her gaze lowered to the dirt. “Always hesitating,” she whispered. “That’s so… me.”

Her breath trembled.

Then, like a quiet wave, the memories of her sisters began to surface.

Cami’s laughter as she spun in the kitchen and back to the table to slice the cake with Rhyme accompanying her with the plates. Clime’s mischievous grin as she throws confetti at her birthday. The warmth of home, the chatter, the smell of sweet bread baking in the oven. Yajna was there on one chair sitting with a birthday cap on her head while Emery was already popping the balloons. And Marina giving her a warm embrace with repeating whispers of her greetings and love.

Her heart ached.

“I just turned fifteen…” she said softly. “And now I’m—where? Lost in some fairy-tale forest? Without them?”

A lump formed in her throat. The image of her six sisters shimmered in her mind—each one a piece of her world, her reason, her light.

She hugged her knees close, the silence pressing against her chest.

It wasn’t the annoyance of waking late for school.

It wasn’t the thrill of biking through the streets to meet with her friends.

It wasn’t even the joy of being celebrated.

It was the absence—the echoing hollow of home that truly hurt.

Her tears came quietly, falling like whispers into the soil.

Yet somewhere deep inside, something stirred.

A faint memory—no, a pull—from beyond the walls of reason.

An ancient whisper she could not name.

Her unspoken past—the one her family never told her, the one buried deep in the folds of time—was calling.

She could not yet understand it, nor could she resist it. But that unseen thread, glimmering faintly in the depths of her being, tied her to this strange new world.

Perhaps, unknowingly, she had been brought home.

The breeze seemed to shift—as if the forest itself exhaled her name

But Alleia did not know that yet. All she knew, as she looked at the rippling water and the vast sky beyond the trees, was a truth that sent both awe and fear through her heart.

“This…” she whispered, her voice fragile yet resolute.

“This might not really be a dream after all.”

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...~•AerixielDaiminse•~...

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