A Distant Reverie

Chapter 86

Marine opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.

Where am I?!

The question resounded in her head as she stood up while trying to make sense of her surroundings. White, sterile walls boxed her in from all sides. The enclosure was claustrophobic. She ripped off the blankets covering her body and jumped onto her feet. The floors were smooth and carpeted—very much unlike the cold stony grounds of Fort Nyak.

And neither was all of the strange furniture littered about and the endless array of black surfaces mounted atop of the walls. Marine shook her head, growing increasingly confused. She was supposed to be in Fort Nyak to defend the castle against wretched Duke Calon and his vast army.

Did I get captured by the enemy?

Panic rose to her throat. Her eyes landed on the blinds concealing the windows to the left side of the room. Without another thought, she rushed over and ripped open the opaque covers.

Marine froze.

The dark night skies were illuminated by a crimson glow. The celestial body that should have been the moon stood in full bloom, casting down its dark scarlet gaze. Against the blanket of white covering the ground, the red light bounced and refracted off the snowy surfaces, creating a vague vestige of mirage in the skies. The sight was haunting. Ethereal.

Otherworldly.

It snapped her out of her confusion.

Marine dropped to her knees.

Right, I'm in a new world.

As her rationality returned, she could hear her ragged breathing and hoarse grasps for air echoing in her ears. Her lungs were burning. Sweat drenched her neck and arms. The scars that should have been across her body from the defense of Fort Nyak were gone—healed by Lady Ouro prior to their arrival in this new world.

Instead, new ones were etched into her ugly heart.

"Murderer!"

The word thundered in her head.

Like a curse, it echoed over and over again.

***

Marine stepped out of her room.

The whispers in her head refused to leave her alone. Restless and unable to fall back asleep, she decided to take the inopportune moment to explore the premise of the compound. Anything was better than meaninglessly meandering in bed while being tormented by vestiges of the dead.

The corridors of the dormitories were eerily silent. The uncanny ambiance was not helped by the scarlet moonlight glaring down. Apparently, that was normal in this world. Rather than the pale ethereal glow that she was used to, the moon here radiated red instead. As if the futuristic technologies here wasn't already enough to make her head spin.

Marine's footsteps thudded softly down the long hallways. Vesper and Suisei seemed to be sound asleep in their rooms. The two had collapsed after trying to make sense of all the logics, intricacies, and sciences of this world—at least enough that so they wouldn't stand out or seem too suspicious when interacting with the other members of this compound. Amelia was the only one who knew about their circumstances. To the rest of the ladies here, their sudden arrival might spark uncertainty.

They seemed friendly enough.

Out of all the natives that they had encountered so far on their adventures, this group was the least hostile and most welcoming. Noel had been suspicious of them from the beginning, while Reine and Kobo had been forced to rely on them out of desperation due to their predicament with Eden. Of course, the fact that Amelia was informed of their circumstances by Lady Ouro herself probably did a lot to smoothen their contact.