The Young and The Beautiful

My eyes shot open, a sharp pain surging through my chest as I felt a mysterious object pierce my flesh. As I struggled to regain my bearings, I found myself sprawled on the floor of a circular room, the blazing orange and golden clouds floating above me met my eyes as the clouds slightly wandered above the circular room. "Look at her. She's already awake now. Thank me!" His voice dripped with arrogance… What a way to wake me up.

With gritted teeth, I finally managed to muster up the courage to sit up. I carefully sat down properly on the floor where I found myself awoken. I pulled the arrow from my chest. As blood trickled down my once pristine white sleeves, it reminded me of the perilous situation I found myself in.

The voices of unseen beings filled the room, discussing the unconventional method to awaken me. "What a weird way to inject her to wake up!"

"It's better than the snake one." Shaking off the residual discomfort, I shuffled to my feet and turned to face the large screens that dominated the chamber. The screen displayed different spectrums of colors. Some of the colors have tone-like textures, and others are just rays like one of those windows in religious churches. The sight triggered a flicker of recognition within me, reminding me of a film called "Carra" that my friends Carra, Viz, and I had watched during a rare moment of leisure. Carra, Viz, and I watched inside a cinema when we got out one time and watched inside a cinema when we were just out on breaks. It was some death game situation where they became all representatives of their place.

This might not be the situation. Or could be.

"What do you need? You even used that human-created Hermes just to summon me. I need to go back to the domain where I came from." I mustered my courage, not wanting to stutter. As I turned away from the screens, a warmthI felt a large warm object hold my shoulder which made me feel like my heart was beating too fast. As I looked over my shoulder it was a big nail and a skin. A big finger just tapped on my shoulders, aiming to grab me by full. As soon as I almost saw his full palm, the hand immediately retreated, vanishing into dust when it retracted back to the screen. I face back to the screen trying to catch who owns it.

"Please first hear us out before we send you back." a voice echoed from the green screen. The screen began to illuminate, revealing the silhouette of a woman with long, flowing hair in the center of it. There was an urgency in the voice, which compelled me to pause and listen.

"Why do I need to hear you out? I am awoken by an arrow on my chest and talking to a screen right now. A major red flag right here and I don't know where I am. I'm gonna go." I walked towards the door as I reached for the handle and opened it a scary monster, a little dog with three heads barked at me. As I stepped just below the door it became larger hitting the ceiling and dropping some rubbles below. Despite having seen this normally like every day inside the domains it already grew on me that this guy would probably eat me without hesitation so I carefully shut the door.

These guys don't want me to go out.

"Ha! This guy… He's much sharper than you. Told you he'll hate it." "I do not hate dogs- I'm used to seeing creatures like that. I just don't want to get ripped apart. It's a waste of time. Now straight to the point… what do you need?" I sat down on the floor, legs folded as I stared at the screens.

"We need you to go on an adventure." the red one lights up.

I shook my head, growing tired of their requests. "I don't want that. I'll stay in the domain and play some open-world games back on Earth."

"But don't you want to experience it yourself?" The hand stretched out towards me.

"The scenarios inside these dungeons are already enough for me. If you're thinking of spicing it up, gods… that is… if you're gods, you can give the switch of the domain, tower, and dungeon assignments more constantly. So that you will not be bored, but I won't be doing extra stuff." My eyes can only inspect my dirty crow-colored boots aiming to avoid their gaze despite knowing they're still watching me. These giants of the fates already exist and they're just right in front of me and this surging trembling feeling within me. Has this feeling ever existed to me before? Since when did I feel scared? The screens flickered chaotically as if they were having their conversation. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but the surging trembling feeling within me intensified. Fear crept into my veins, a feeling I hadn't experienced before.

"You are a very strange fellow and even stranger is your appearance." The green one spoke, its voice was deep and low.

"She's a cleaner in the domains."

"Oh? Really?"

"You're not paying attention, aren't you?"

I sighed and shook my head. "The domains don't clean themselves, you know. Someone has to maintain order and keep things running smoothly for the players. That someone is me."

The screens fell silent for a moment as if contemplating my words. Then, the voice from the green screen spoke again, this time with a hint of understanding. "You have a point. The domains do need someone like you to ensure everything runs smoothly. But there is a greater purpose awaiting you, a destiny you must embrace."

I raised an eyebrow, skeptical of their claims. "Destiny? What are you talking about?"

"There are tales about them, the director of your domain knows about them, there are three sisters, one of the past, the one in the present, and the other is the future they weave a cloth that signifies your life. And unfortunately for you, they're already done with they're weaving."

"I've never heard of such a thing."

"The leader of your domain-"

"-We don't have a leader"

"Then what do you call Vis? Vis is your leader, he makes a lot of decisions inside your domain."

"Your sir, have these scripts right? Those are the things they follow. He said it was a dream to you or was inspired from. He never told you the truth."

"What is it then for me? It doesn't seem to concern me at all."

"He already knew from the start you'll be out here and do the adventure you don't want to do. He let you go just like that. That break. It wasn't a break. It was meant to happen and he became the actor." It was never my right to question him, and it was a thank you for taking care of everything inside the domain ever since we started it.

"I want to go back now, please." I walked away towards the door ready to push it. "I do not desire to do adventures, goodbye." still carefully pushing the door,

"Do you not desire to seek where you came from?" my feet slightly stepping between the outdoors and the floor indoors. I hesitated to answer. That question I never asked myself. I've always recognized we're by-products of the human imagination.

"I do not." That one hit, if I was a human, "Everyone knows where we came from. Please let me back."

"As you wish." As I stepped out the door, my ears heard glass shattering, I looked back and saw their screen shattered and turned into sand. It's none of my business anyway. I just need to talk to Vis about it when I go back and ask for help from Carra to get rid of the clothes they did. As the door closed, I heard another shattering but this time it was coming from the right side of the hallway and before I could even react, the glass broke, shattering as a man and a dog came out, even breaking the small aquarium spilling all the water and the goldfishes.

I walked over and picked up the fish that were wriggling on the floor and looked for just at least a water glass where I could place them and fill them with water. Luckily I found the one at the former office table just on the side of the other room. And I filled it with water from a sink that the office has. I placed them on it.

If there's something in this world I mind when getting killed it's the animals. Although some animals are meant to die for consumption, at least it's honoring the dead. I took hold of the glass as I went back.

The man in a navy blue uniform pushed down his weight on the upper snout of the gargantuan dog and snapped it shut. A loud creak was the thing I heard before I saw the dog being slammed through the glass and the walls before turning into a small pup. I went back and looked at his mess.

"Toshiyuki Fujimoto from the military" I looked at him from the white baby collars down to the pleats of his blue jumper skirt and brushed off some dust on her shoulders. He lent his hand out aiming to shake hands and I held out mine out of respect as he gave a firm shake. "Pasensya na sa asong to. Galing pa tong nilalang na to sa ibang bansa, kulang pa siya sa training at kulang pa masasanay din to." (Sorry about this dog. This creature came from a foreign country and needed more training and still needs to get used to it.) I stared at him blankly at what language he was speaking.

Am I still?

I'm still in the Philippines?