When she fell asleep, Talia found herself in a place so dark no light could have penetrated through this place. Yet, her eyes could strangely see clearly even without light. There was no one with her there. The only sound that seemed to enter her ears were the ruffling sound of her dress as well as the strange noises she made as her feet shifted. Then, she realised that the floor was wet as though she was stepping on a low water riverbank.
She didn't know where she was or where that place was. She remembered sleeping in the room that the maid called Matilda had put her into. Then… then, she fell asleep.
Not knowing where she was, Talia marched around the place, trying to explore it as much as possible and find a door that could possibly return her to where the room she was in earlier. Though as impossible as it was since the place literally didn't have anything but darkness, Talia didn't stop.
She couldn't even tell if this place was inside her room because it felt real. So real that she even mistakenly thought that she had woken up in the middle of night where all sounds and lights ceased to exist around her.
Talia, however, didn't give up. Dream or not, she wanted out of this place because it was giving an eerie feeling that bothered her very much. As she continued to walk around the total darkness around her, a thick fog that did not allow her to see clearly filled her eyes.
She almost tripped on her skirt when she could no longer see. As she walked on, the fog thickened even more, and for a moment, she thought she would be consumed by it.
Yet, as the fear of being devoured by the thick fog and complete darkness started to take place within her, a light that seemed to be out of place suddenly appeared before her. As if Talia found her only hope in the bitter darkness, she ran towards it.
Then she halted on her tracks.
Rather than seeing it first, she felt it. There was something right before her.
It was a coil of black, darker and more solid than anything else around her. It was rearing its head up as if staring at her in curiosity and wonder. A pair of eyes that glowed in the dark made her realise that the light from before came from this creature. It was huge; its height coming to stop just right above her waist and a long tail swished back and forth in the air.
Talia had never seen such a creature before. As soon as her eyes settled on it, her heart picked up and a scream almost tore out of her lips. But before a sound could come out of her mouth, the creature suddenly turned into a curling smoke flying up into the air and fast into somewhere else.
She didn't know what was happening and she didn't want to even get close to it. However, the curling smoke stopped and turned back to her before moving forward again. Its intentions were clear. It had wanted her to come with it.
But where? Talia wanted to know.
As if urging her to follow her but also waiting for her to get on her feet and decide for herself whether to follow it or not, the coiling smoke just hovered in mid-air.
"Alright. Alright." Talia huffed. "I…I'll follow you."
The coiling smoke didn't speak nor move, it only waited for her to stand beside it. When it was certain that she chose to follow it rather than ran back to where she came from, it finally moved forward.
Talia, though still afraid of it and wherever it wanted her to go, didn't dally any longer and silently stepped forward.
Time ticked by and as her patience was growing thinner and her desire to run back, the creature finally stopped before flying so quickly that Talia didn't know it could fly like that!
Although it was still dark around her, there was light visible ahead of her where she could see hazy silhouette of a man standing before a flowing fountain where the bluish light had come from.
From where she stood, Talia could see a dark long haired man in a long black robe the same colour as the creature that suddenly disappeared from her side. The man dipped his hands on the water from the fountain, letting the water slip through the gaps of his fingers.
The man didn't seem to notice her presence being there just several steps behind him. And Talia noticed that the curling smoke of the creature from earlier trailed towards the man before landing on his shoulder. It disappeared behind the man's hair before transforming back to what it looked like when it first appeared before her, but slightly smaller in size. It poked its head from behind the man's ear.
From this angle, Talia would think that the feline-like creature, the size of two thumbs, was docile and tame.
Suddenly, the man raised his hand to touch the feline-like creature on his shoulder, but before he could touch it, it climbed down from his arms and down to his feet, weaving around him with curling tendrils of smoke trailing behind it, bouncing as if it was imitating a puppy asking for a praise from its master.
It was almost ridiculous and laughable that she thought it was like a puppy when its original form was absolutely monstrous and dangerous.
"Hello?" Talia called out to the man.
The man by the fountain turned around to look at her.
As he turned, the darkness seemed to be even darker, but it only made the light coming from the fountain even more luminescent that all the light coming from it fell on the man's face.
And for the first time, Talia's mouth experienced a sudden and incomprehensibly lack of saliva.