Welcome

My weary eyes fell on the lady with the red cloak. She was standing unscathed, staring at me. There was a hint of amusement in her emerald eyes. My eyebrows rose when I saw what she was holding in her hands.

"Food," I exclaimed.

"Are you okay?" she asked, suppressing laughter as she guided me to stand. Unlike before, the carpet's speed was slow, almost like the equivalent of walking.

I heaved a lifetime of air as I fisted my hands. "If you were like me, an orphan, accustomed to normal things, and suddenly you were lost in this world because of a debt you didn't owe in the first place. And you saw scary faces of various monsters. Someone with four arms, with horns, with hooves, with wings. And then you were forced to take a bath and imprisoned in a dungeon with nothing else to do or talk to. And then you felt hopeless and just wanted to die. And then you got some hope and tried to escape and jumped out of the window, only to fall down and hit someone. And then when you thought you were finally free, you were caught again by a bird, and you fell, and you were captured again, and bathed, and then sold for ten thousand diamonds. And then later, you found yourself being aimed at by daggers. And then pushed into a portal..."

"Then you were transported to an unknown place, alone, surrounded by corn. Almost eaten by a giant centipede, and then saved by a stranger, and flew with the clouds. And then you realized a whirlwind was chasing you, and you rose and fell into a carpet. Fuck, tell me then, do you think I am okay? I don't think I'll ever be."

I was boiling in fury, my heart and lungs functioning at their peak to sustain my life. I was sweating excessively. But after everything I had poured out to her, she did nothing but burst into laughter. 

"You know what," she said between laughter, "I like you." She stared squarely at me. "You are interesting." There was a cautious pause, then she flashed a genuine smile. "And strong," she added. "You should be proud of yourself."

I was taken aback by her words. I didn't feel insulted. Instead, I felt validated and appreciated. As I looked back on my memories, I sobbed in silence, letting tears of happiness fill me.

"I am," I said softly.

She nodded wholeheartedly at me. I wasn't aware that we had already halted. She stepped off the carpet and stood before a stairway. As usual, she walked ahead and I just followed her careful pace. She was eating bread. Suddenly, my stomach growled as I caught the lovely smell of food. 

"Here," she said, tossing a piece to me.

I caught it with both hands and without hesitation, devoured it in one bite. I heard her chuckle softly before she resumed her walk. 

"Soon, hunger will be the least of your worries," she added.

I looked around, surrounded by towering walls that seemed as high as mountains. Darkness, silence, and an eerie chill filled the air, casting a grim atmosphere over the place. Ghostly spirits and otherworldly creatures wandered aimlessly nearby, their presence sending shivers down my spine. They seemed harmless, indifferent...

"Are you just going to stay there and die?" The voice startled me, pulling me out of my reverie. I looked up to see her already at the top of the stone stairs, impatiently waiting for me to follow.

I looked around once more, weighing my options. If I escaped now, I wasn't sure if I would survive. According to my observations, these were not just monsters but beings with incredible powers. As I looked up at her once more, she appeared almost normal, but looks could be deceiving. She could be a witch, capable of poisoning me or conjuring something out of thin air to kill me instantly if I fought back.

She seemed to sense my discomfort and offered a reassuring smile. "You don't need to be afraid, human."

For a moment, I was silent. "I know all the reasons to be afraid, nonhuman," I replied. 

Her gaze pierced deeper, urging me to ascend, and she didn't speak again. With a resigned sigh, I followed her lead. After all, I had come this far already.

I just needed to behave and follow orders, that's all, for me to last in this world. If I ran now, where would I go? And more importantly, how could I protect myself against them, against all of them?

It had been a while, but our muted walk seemed to lead us nowhere. As we crossed the dark passage, the torches mounted on the walls lit up like fireworks. However, as soon as we passed them, they returned back into the oblivion of endless waiting.

"What's your name?" she asked from the front, breaking the surrounding silence. She was, after everything, still eating. Why was she always eating? When would she be full? When I failed to reply, she stopped her walk and glanced at me. She was sincerely waiting for an answer. Curiosity rose in those enticing eyes of hers.

I told myself. "Don't trust her, Louise. She might look like a human, but you know all too well that she is not."

I cleared my throat. "Louise," I simply said.

"Luwes," she repeated.

"Louise," I corrected, "as in, Lewis."

"I hear," she acknowledged, then nodded appreciatively. There was a momentary pause. "I'm Alexa, by the way."

"Alexa," I said.

She hummed and nodded once more, then resumed her walk across the watery ground. "Do you know where you are right now?" she asked a moment later.

I shook my head, realizing I hadn't memorized the directions as we crossed, nor the strange symbols carved on the walls. Signs, after all, I argued, were a universal language of the eyes. I saw trees, distinguishable animals like birds, as well as some scenery such as the sun, the mountain, and the sea.

"Do you have any idea how you ended up here?"

"I don't," I answered honestly.

She seemed somewhat annoyed, letting out a subtle sigh. "What do you remember before you found yourself in our world?"

I hesitated, unsure whether to trust her. Since she looked almost human in physical attributes, my fear of her wasn't as strong as it was with the monsters. Still, she was far from ordinary, like all of them. I, on the other hand, was different.

Taking a moment to collect myself, I began to speak as we walked slowly. "My family was deep in debt. When we couldn't pay, they demanded my aunt as payment. I volunteered in her place. Her daughter, battling a terminal illness, needed her more than me anyway. A group of men arrived at our doorstep. There was a commotion. Before I knew it, something struck my neck, and everything went dark. When I woke up, I found myself surrounded by monsters. That's all I can recall."

As I reminisced, she nodded respectfully. "Do you know who your family owed the debt to?" she asked a while after. I shrugged. "Not even the names?"

Somehow, it made me think. "According to what I've heard from those who guarded me in my prison cell, I was a captive from Percival's cohort."

Suddenly, Alexa stopped her walk. She even dropped her bread from her hand, and a sense of terror erupted on her face.

"Percival's cohort," I repeated, thinking she had not heard me from our distance. My eyes narrowed. Was she aware of something I was not? Did she know them? "Who are they?" I asked her.

She tried to assure me with a wide smile, but I knew it was forced. This was the first time I saw her afraid. She let the silence linger for a moment. 

"Someone you should never mess with," she said in a cautious tone.

In no time, she resumed her stride, deeper this time. I followed suit behind. She ate anew, munching loudly this time as she was lost deep in thought. This time, though, she was eating a fruit akin to an apple but in blue color. Her forehead creased, and her emerald eyes blinked slowly.

She sensed me staring inquisitively at her. "I know you've experienced a lot of very weird things from your first day here up to today," she said, swallowing. "I won't lie and say everything will be okay from now on. No, it won't."

She was staring at me, gauging my face and my reaction. "But what I can assure you though, is that you'll have a memorable stay here." She neared me and smiled warmly. "I present to you the humble home of our kingdom. Welcome to Fortunalia."