005: The eve before The Day of the Lord

I have a dream last night.

I was home, in my pink, polka dot pajamas, and my fluffy bunny slippers as I tinker with the series of code in front of the monitor.

'Damn hacker! You ruined my beautiful Friday!'

A blue screen popped in front of me, it looks like a message from the hacker.

GIVE UP. THERE IS NO USE IN INTERFERING WITH THE FORCE GREATER THAN YOU.

INVASION 49% COMPLETE

'What greater force? This is my system! I know this system like the back of my hand!'

I start ramming the keyboard harder with a series of codes, too drunk to realize what I actually typed. Another tab suddenly opened, it was the simulation game prototype that I recently got my hands on. I haven't got the time to look thoroughly at the entire data yet.

THE CHERRY BLOSSOM VILLAGE – The Little Fox and her Fairy Friends

It's a very girly game designed especially for young teenagers who like fluffy anime characters and kawaii stuff.

'Hmmm… Let's make a kawaii character.'

I created a character, a girl with a pair of fox ears and nine tails, and superhuman strength but totally oblivious to her surroundings. I was temporarily immersed in the simulation that I forgot that I need to fix the hacker's problems.

'Hahaha… Stupid character. Did she almost got eaten by a wolf?'

My phone starts beeping non-stop with annoying tones.

Beep, beep, beep.

Beep, beep, beep.

"Shut up! Let me finish my first quest!"

I ram my head hard in annoyance against the keyboard for a couple of times and passed out. When I wake up, I was already back in the cabin in the unknown forest far, far away.

***

I wake up in the morning with a heavy, throbbing head. It's the same sensation I feel when I wake up a few days ago in that field of grass.

'Must be the rain last night. I hope I didn't catch a fever.'

I sit down on the bed, thinking about the dream I had. In the silence of the dawn, I can hear Griff and Luisea talking outside.

"How is the preparation for the Day of The Lord, my wife?"

"Everything is ready, my husband. We just need to wait for the Offering Ritual to begin."

"How about Lumi?"

"Everything is ready for her too. She's looking forward to tonight."

"Hmmm… That's good."

I silently walk out from the room, trying to be discreet as possible. I need to go and search for the lamp I dropped last night before someone else found it. The floor creaked as I walk, both Griff and Luisea were startled when they saw me walking out from the room stealthily like a prey hiding from its hunter.

"Lumi, you're awake. Did you have a good sleep?" Luisea smiled at me.

"Ah… Yes. Err… I'm going out first. I need to relieve myself."

"Ah… I see. Alright."

The first sunlight has just come out from the horizon, rays of golden lights shine and illuminate the dark, foggy morning in the village of Dacian. I hurried and walk as fast as possible to the bush where I dropped the lamp last night.

'Did someone buried the bones and fixed the cemetery last night?'

I look at the pit that is now neatly piled with dirt as if last night never happened. I start looking on the ground for the lamp, but after looking for a while, I still couldn't find it.

'Oh well, I guess I just have to explain to Griff and Luisea that I lost the lamp. Hopefully, they won't get mad.'

I went back to the cabin after practicing my lines of apologies.

'Eh… That lamp looks familiar. Isn't that's the lamp that I dropped last night? Did they found it? Oppss…'

Griff and Luisea were already sitting at the dining table, eating their breakfast.

'Is it plain porridge again? I really miss drinking coffee in the morning.'

"Lumi, come and have breakfast too." She pointed at the bowl of porridge on the small round dining table.

"Sure. By the way, that lamp…" I point at the lamp on the table.

"I found it outside. Someone must have dropped it…" Luisea laughed with a sarcastic tone.

"Hahaha... That was me, I'm sorry. I dropped it last night, the fire turned off, I couldn't find it. So I went back again to find it as soon as the sun rise. Luckily, someone found it."

"Ahh, I see. So that's why you're squatting and crawling on the ground last night." Griff smiled at me.

***

The Day of The Lord is a day where the villagers take a rest from farming and hunting and stay at home to prepare for the big feast.

Later that evening, Luisea hands over a new set of dresses to me. It's a long, navy blue dress with long sleeves. The standard medieval style kind of dress. Its made from good quality material and much more comfortable from the one I currently have.

'People in this village really like medieval fashions. Sigh… I miss my short pants and t-shirt.'

"On the Day of the Lord, everyone wears a new set of clothes," She said as she hands over the dress.

The villagers go down to the river to take a bath in the evening, with the men on the upper stream, meanwhile women and young kids on the lower stream. After the bath, I put on the dress. Luisea helped me to comb my hair while chanting some words I couldn't understand.

"What are you murmuring about?" I asked her out of curiosity.

"It's a prayer to thanks The Lord. As we prepare ourselves, we will praise and thanks the Lord for His generosity." She finished combing my silver-white hairs and fluffy ears and proceed to take a pile of what seems to be dry leaves and blow the smoke all over my face.

'Cough cough… What a complicated ritual. Oh well, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.'

I nodded and lower my head as a sign of respect to whatever Deity they're praying to.

"Drink this herbal tea." She hands me a cup of who-knows-what—inside.

'Smells terrible.'

I drink the tea in one gulp, and the next thing I know is, everything turns dark.