Paraeia (2)

In my dream, the black rose is everywhere. It was a garden at midnight, and I was in the middle of it. Then, like tentacles, the thorns of the rose came writhing towards me. I couldn't move at all. It's like I was being glued to the surface. The thorns continued to crawl in my body until finally, the rose started to wither and die. The black rose garden perished.

I woke up. But it's not clear whether I was awake or not. Because all I could see was darkness, fortunately, I can feel my hands, my legs, my entire body lying down on some surface—it feels like a marble floor.

I try to move, and finally, I see some light. It's from the surface I'm on. A large room with neon-like lights that come from the floor. The floor feels warm, and I detect a flow of energy coming from it. I try to walk, and a ripple is formed every time I do that.

'Where am I?' I thought. I remember I was in the cafe, cleaning the room with a broom and mop. After that…. What happened?

Suddenly I hear a voice.

*Screech*

Then a shadow-like monster came. It has a big physique with a pair of arms and legs crawling on the floor. A pair of red eyes stare at me. It has a big mouth with sharp teeth.

Instinctively, I step back. I am supposed to feel any fear, but in reality, I didn't feel it. Instead of fear, I am furious.

"Aaaaaa… liiiviing… beiiinnnggg"

The monster continues to walk. But all of a sudden the monster charges and tries to reach me with its long arms. Before the monster successfully reached me, someone came and slashed the monster horizontally with a sword.

Upon a clear look, the figure wears a blue cape and a strange symbol behind him.

"Are you ok?" The figure says with a calm voice. The slashed monster slowly melts into the darkness. "I'm sorry. It's my fault to not guard you here."

Guard me? Does it mean that this girl brought me here?

"Did you… bring me here to this place?"

I still feel angry. The anger I felt before did not go away, in fact, the feeling strengthened.

The girl looked at me. Before she could say anything, my anger took over and I snapped.

"How could you? I was happily living my life and why did you suddenly take me away? Did you not have any conscience? You kidnapper."

The girl is stunned. Maybe she does not expect my response. After a few moments, the girl replies, "I-I'm sorry it was not my intention to—"

"Take me back. Now."

"I can't."

I am enraged.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T?!"

I scream and the tears start falling. I suddenly end up here, in an unknown place and surrounded by monsters. So, naturally, I feel angry and anxious.

Before she could reply to my tantrum, a screeching voice took me off guard. She holds her sword and goes into a ready stance.

"Ssst. They came."

After seeing her try to guard me with all her might, I thought, maybe she wasn't a bad person. I feel guilty for letting my anger take over.

"What are they?" I wonder.

"They are Skia, the forgotten ones. They usually docile, but when the negative energy is too high, they can attack every living being."

"Negative… energy?"

"Yes. An energy that was formed by negative emotions. Your anger there attracts them."

Does that mean I lured them here?

"I'm sorry. I say mean things to you." I apologize to her.

"It's ok. I predicted that was gonna happen. A defenseless person can easily fall into their trap- they emit negative energy that can amplify your negative emotions."

"So uh, what are we gonna do now?"

She starts to prepare the attack with a stance. She is right-handed, so she held her sword with her right hand. Incredible footwork is seen when she charges and attacks the monster, or Skia. She's like dancing with the shadows every time she fights them. 'Dance of death' will be the title fitting her techniques.

*Swish*

The skias on the front were cut in half, the shadowy figures reduced into nothingness.

"I'll beat them up to dust."

Some skias emerged on the side. Then she quickly charged and slashed them. The skias position is out of her eye range, but she still knows their position. It's like she can detect their presence. But the number of skias did not decrease at all, instead, the number seems to increase.

Soon, she began to feel overwhelmed. Even then, I feel impressed with how she can manage such a big number of skias.

"This will not do." The girl seems to have a hard time catching her breath. "There are too many of them. We'll have to find a way to get out of this situation."

"How?" I try to prepare an attack stance but as expected, my body is too sloppy to do that. I lose my balance and fall over. "Ok, maybe I should not do that."

The girl then tries to find an opening.

"This way."

She slashes a small number of skias and then grabs my hand. But before we could escape, all of the sudden some skia emerged from the darkness. We try again to find a way out, but no avail. We have been surrounded. Exhausted, the girl then prepares her attack stance again. But she stopped.

"OUT OF THE WAY!"

The girl grabs my body, and we fall. Then, like a flamethrower, a fire comes and burns all of the skias. The number of skias is significantly reduced. I stand up and go to see who's doing it. In the dark, a man came. He has spiky red hair, and his outfit is like a martial artist. He also looks handsome, and any woman will fall in love with his buffy body.

"Ava, I'm glad I came here quickly. You signaled at the right time." said the man to the girl, presumably named Ava.

"Y-yes, thank you, Kai…." Ava tries to stand but apparently, she has no strength left. She has a pale complexion. Kai holds her body and talks to her face to face.

"This is dangerous. Why did you push yourself so hard? What if something happens to you when I'm gone?"

"But I have to do it. The fate… rests in our hands."

"I knew it. We shouldn't have taken this route. But, unfortunately, Paraeia reduced our strength over time." he caresses Ava's cheek. "I have plenty of energy left. I'll give it to you some."

The event after that may be one of the most romantic things I ever saw. Kai kisses Ava's forehead, and suddenly a blue and red aura envelopes them. Ava's complexion came back. Seeing my face-palmed face, Ava blushed and apologized.

"Ah, sorry. I must've shown you my weakness right now."

"Ava, is she your-" Kai tries to speak but Ava interrupts.

"Let me say it myself. After all, I forgot to introduce myself."

Ava takes a breath and continues.

"Hi Krisan. My name is Avaire Kyrstiva."

She takes her cape off. She has black short hair and a blue braid on the side.

Then I see a familiar face.

No, it's exactly my face.

"I'm you, from another world."