Spirit World

"Hi, Meraki. Welcome."

Laying on the ground, I stared up at the woman who was looking at me. Her long white hair behaving like a curtain as all I could see is her face.

She looks young, maybe in her late teens but her eyes. Just like Aurora, they didn't look human. Her pupils were like slits and her iris took up most of her eyeballs, but damn do they look pretty.

Like whole other world exists just in those eyes, with all the greens and blues swirling there. I wouldn't mind diving into that world.

"Meraki~ Get up~" She stuck out her tongue as she said my name.

Should I be concerned with how long and snake-like her tongue is?

"Who are you?" I asked, staring into her eyes. They are so mesmerizing.

Maybe I died and this person is here to pick me up?

"You're so mean, Meraki. I can't believe you forgot me." She pouted.

"I doubt I ever saw you before coz I'm don't think I'll forget meeting you."

"Awww~ Is Meraki complementing me? I do feel bad that you forgot who I am. Maybe this will help you remember. Come." She reached out her hand and I saw scales all along her arms.

Looking carefully enough I saw scales on her face too. Iridescent scales, shining in the light.

I grabbed her hand, trying not to flinch from the bumps I felt and she pulled me up. Drops of water trickled from my hair into the shallow waters below.

Vast red sky, decorated with pure white clouds as far as the eye can see. A lone, bare tree stands proud in the centre of it all. Crystals hang off its branches. The ground is an inch deep in water, reflecting the sky to the ground.

"What do you think? Beautiful right?"

I turned to answer but the words died in my throat when I saw the woman again.

She looked normal from the waist up but, from the waist below, she has a very, very long … tail?

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" She laughed swishing her tail around, splashing water everywhere.

"Who are you?" I was instantly on the defense as she moved towards the tree.

She climbed the tree with ease, resting her body on the branches of the tree. She is so long, all of her couldn't fit no matter how much she coiled around the tree and its branches. The remainder of her tail remained sprawling on the ground.

"It really hurts that you don't remember me. What am I going to do? And I even took the time to bond with you too." She shooked her head in disapproval and dramatically leaned her head against the branch. Her eyes had a playful tinge to it as she watched me wreck my brain to what she had just said.

"Wait. Kefi?"

"Ding. Ding. Bingo! Meraki got it! Congratulations!" She twisted around the tree and, while supporting herself by tightening her hold on the tree's branch, hung from it to only be five inches from my face.

"Want a fruit?" She asked, plucking something off the tree with the end of her tail and handing it to me.

A crystalized … apple?

"Don't look at it like that. It's all I could give you from this place as you can see." She pulled herself back to the tree and rested there again.

Yeah, there is nothing but the tree and us here.

"Where is this place exactly?" I asked, shoving the 'fruit' into the pocket of my jacket.

"It's my humble abode. Welcome!" She stretched her hand out, a wide grin on her face.

"Ah!"

"Ah?"

"That's why I didn't recognize you." I said, pointing to her. "When I first saw you in the mirror, you had this malicious grin. It looked like you were going to kill anyone that even breathed incorrectly. But when I saw you just before, you had this normal looking, non-malicious face. So I didn't make the connecting right away."

"… You know what? I'm just going to be satisfied that you even remembered me."

"So, why am I here?" I approached the tree, water seeping into my shoes.

"Beats me. When we fell asleep I opened my eyes and saw you laying on the ground there. I just approached you and woke you up. I do wonder why you are here though."

"Do all the people you bond with appear here?" I sat beneath the tree. My pants is already wet so it didn't matter anymore.

"Not really. In fact, no one has appeared here even once." She slid down the tree and sat beside me.

"So, I'm the first person here? Does that mean I'm special or something?" I grabbed my chin, thinking.

"What makes you think that?" Kefi laughed.

"I don't know. By the way, how did you bond with me?"

"Hmmm… If I remember correctly. I was deep in slumber and suddenly felt an intense urge for blood. The rage was so strong it flung me awake and I basked in it. That bloodlust is also why my place looks like this now.

"The sky turned red and hasn't gone back since. So I decided to go meet the person responsible for the state of my place. When I first saw you, you were on the ground covered in blood, head bashed in. Holding onto the last thread of life. Talk about first impressions."

"So you bonded with me then?"

"Nope. I wasn't about to bond with a dying human. There was no point to it. That did bum me out though but there was nothing I could do. But did you know what you did?" Kefi's signature grin came on her face as she recalled this memory. Now she looked like the person I saw in the mirror that day.

Kefi wore a simple long white robe with embellishments on it. She grabbed the edge of the robe and held it to me.

"You grabbed onto my robe like this, with your blood soaked hands. Fingers raw from clawing at something. 'You. You're a spirit right? Bond with me.' That's what you said to me. I felt chills seeing the look on your face. It frightened me and I got so excited. Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?" I averted my gaze.

"You are judging me, aren't you? Look, it's not my fault. So far the people I met gave up once things don't work out. No one tries to claw their way up so I got bored. But seeing you that day, I knew I had to bond with you. But, you were dying already. So I said, 'I can't. You're dying'."

"You, I don't know how you had so much strength being like that, but you were able to grab me by my neck and slam me to the ground. 'Look, I need a human to be alive.' I told you that and I just love your answer. 'Ok. Bond with me.' Like you had no care in the world.

"'But you're dying.'

"'I am still alive and I will continue to be alive until I get revenge. Bond with me.'

"You fainted at that moment and I managed to catch you before you hit the ground. Hmm … I should keep tabs on that. So far, I've saved you from falling three times." She wrote on her skin with her long nails, in an incoherent language.

"There. Now I'll remember it. So what happened was that, I really didn't want to let you go, not with the person you showed yourself to be. It would be too much of a waste.

"I took on the form of a human and ran to get help. The rest was up to you. If you lived, I will bond with you. I wanted to see how far your resolution was so I watched and against all odds, you woke up. Amazingly, you woke up." Kefi laughed, running her hands through her hair. Her tail swished around in glee.

But something doesn't add up.

"Wait, so you didn't bond with me before I fainted?"

"What? No. Ohhhhh~ Maybe that's why you are here. Oops. Let's bond now. Take off your shirt." She held her hand out, smoke emerging from her fingertips.

"Excuse me? How were you able to communicate this much with me then?" I crawled away from her but she grabbed my arms and pulled me closer. Her tail surrounded us, blocking my chance of escape.

She's so strong. Why do I feel weaker?

"Well, I just cast a spell to bond us temporarily."

"Why couldn't you do that now too?" I tried to pull my arms from her grip but she wasn't letting go.

"It's a weak spell. Though, since I casted it, it is much stronger than it should have been. But it is still a weak spell. That's why it's taking so long for us to control what the other could. Normally it would take three days at the most. Ahhhhh~ Can't believe that completely slipped my mind."

Her tail wrapped around me, holding me in place. It wouldn't matter how much I struggled, I wouldn't be able to get out.

"What if I don't want to bond with you anymore?"

"It's too late. You already got me invested. I have to see this to the end. You're surprisingly still."

"Whatever. Just get it over with before you suffocate me to death. Don't you have any type of anesthetics? How long is this going to take?"

"Now, now. It's not going to hurt. Much. Oh, who am I kidding? It's going to hurt a lot. So shout to your heart's content. I have yet to see you in pain. This is going to be so fun. And I am going to take as long as I need to, after all creating a bond with someone requires delicate precision."

"How do you bond with someone anyway?"

"You'll see." Kefi approached me and though I didn't feel any malicious intent I didn't feel entirely relaxed either.

I discovered what it means to be 'on the edge' in that moment.