First Light of a New Age

Chapter 73: Great and Terrible News

"It's okay my sweet baby girl, your father will be with you in the city while your mother will be back from work. I promise."

"Well be safe soon. Just stay close to me."

"They are inside!"

"Let me go!"

"AHHHHHH!!"

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Daddy won't be able to find you. From now on, please protect yourself."

Upon hearing those words from a middle-aged man, the eyes of a young girl were seen slowly opening, feeling weak and tired.

She felt herself lying down on a comfortable surface which was unlike the rough and painful wooden beds she had known while trapped with those terrible men. As her gaze focused, she saw a smooth, white ceiling, flawless and unbroken. Slowly, she turned her head to take in her surroundings.

Her dream from the storm, the monsters, the burning city, gone. Instead, she found herself in a small, sterile white room. Ahead of her, a large mirror reflected her confused expression. The stillness in the room was unsettling, the silence almost unnatural. She blinked, disoriented, as her head swiveled around. That's when she noticed the white blanket wrapped snugly around her, cocooning her in the softest bed she had ever known.

The bed's fabric was something she had felt a long time ago, soft, inviting, the whiteness was pleasing to her eyes, though the air in the room was cold. Slowly, she freed her hands from the blanket, only to recoil in surprise.

Thin tubes and strange strips of paper were attached to her wrists, though there was no pain. She hesitated, then followed the tubes with her eyes to a silver stand beside the bed, holding bags of clear liquid water.

"Am I in heaven?" she wondered, her innocent mind grasping for answers to how she had ended up here, and what had happened to her.

"What is this place?" she thought, her curiosity now competing with the unexpected comfort of the bed and blanket.

To her right, a white door with a silver handle stood closed.

Suddenly, a thought hit her like a jolt.

"Daddy!" Panic flared as she realized her father was not there. The rapid beeping of a monitor mirrored her racing heartbeat.

"Calm down, young one." A soft, unfamiliar voice echoed through the room, soothing yet strange.

She froze in place, fear replaced any other reaction she had. She held onto her blanket tightly, looking around the walls to see where the voice was coming from.

"You don't have to fear anything. You are safe where you are," The voice said, assuring the little girl who was quick to trust the strange person talking to her. She was still shivering, a chill went down her spine causing her to flinch slightly.

That is until her eyes landed on someone else in the corner of the room.

It was a beautiful woman with long, flowing blonde hair and pointed ears sitting calmly in a chair, watching her with kind yet serious eyes. Her presence felt almost otherworldly, and the girl's breath caught in her throat. The woman's elegance was undeniable, but her ears, sharp and unlike any human's, made her appear strange, almost ethereal.

"You're awake," the woman said softly.

The girl shrank back, feeling her heart pounding with confusion and fear. "W-Where am I? Who are you?"

The woman offered a gentle smile. "My name is Floria Melian Shelberry. I'm here to help. Don't be afraid, little one." She stood gracefully and moved to the side of the bed with a comforting yet mysterious presence as she stood near the IV stand.