DIVINITY ♛ LEE JENO

TWELVE

"if a dream is the sun, my mind is like the earth
all day revolving around the sun"

♛

Meilin was back in the same grassy meadow. The field was bright as ever, the sun shining on the greenery. It was all the same. The breeze that blew in her hair—which was still completely white. The water that sparkled like diamonds.

Wait, where is the river?

She looked around to her left and right. North and South. There was no sign of the body of water. All of a sudden, the grass beneath her grew warm. Too warm. She jumped up in a flinch, blowing out a puff of air at the touch. It was burning the soles of her feet. Quickly, she made a run for it.

She couldn't tell where she was running, or if she was even running in the right direction. Overhead, the sun was beating down on her skin, making the porcelain grow red. The wind was throwing her body around during her sprint. She felt like she hadn't even made it a hundred feet past where she started. The grass was beginning to grow. Tall. She watched as the sprouts began climbing up her legs, reaching her calves, then her knees.

"No, no, no." she whimpered. Her white hair was blowing far past her back and she could feel her face contorting into not-so-flattering expressions against the wind. Just her luck, the cold breeze didn't even soothe the burning on her back- which was definitely going to leave a red mark. The leaves beneath her began to tickle as they swirled around her limbs. It was like nature was plotting betrayal on her for some unexplainable reason. She closed her eyes harshly, hoping to wake up from this dream that turned into a nightmare.

Then, she was underwater.

It didn't process at first, but when she opened her eyes to blue all around her, her arms flailed in attempt to swim up to the surface. The water was warm and not harsh. It cooled down her back which was on the verge of burning off of her bones. She felt like she could finally breathe, oddly enough.

So she let out a breath, watching bubbles fall out of her nostrils. Then, she reached her palms out. They glowed in the sparkling sea, not a scratch on them in the slightest. It was calm in there. Nothing but water surrounded her. If she could float away like this for the rest of her life, she would. Though, she felt a touch on her shoulder, a sizzling hot one, and it was as if she were yanked back into reality.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" an angry voice seethed.

Meilin winced at the sound, clutching the railing she didn't know was there. It took all her might not to drop to her knees that were now jelly. She was back in the real world, but she could still hear the sounds of water flowing. It took her a second, but when she opened her eyes, she still saw blue.

"Where am I?" she gasped, standing up straight in panic. The only other person awake in the dead of night sighed loudly, annoyed. "What do you mean? You're the one who wandered off in the middle of the night." he groaned, his hands clutching the railing next to her. Meilin paused, looking at her current surroundings.

"What?" she whispered.

She didn't exactly recognize where she was, though she could make out that she was at the river. She'd seen it multiple times driving through the Republic. But that didn't quite answer any of the million questions in her head. "I-I don't understand. I don't know how I got here." she looked up at the man's pissed off expression. Jeno's jaw clenched at her confusion.