Chapter 62 - PEA-SIZED BRAIN

  sciousness returned like a tide, slow and inexorable. My eyelids, heavy as lead, fluttered open, revealing a world blurred and indistinct. A dull ache pulsed behind my temples, a lingering echo of the void from which I'd just emerged. I found myself sprawled ily across a cold, unyielding surface, my limbs leaden and unresponsive. Each breath was a scious effort, shallow aive, as I struggled to orient myself in this unfamiliar space.

  With agonizing slowness, I pushed myself up onto my elbows, muscles protesting every movement. As my vision cleared, I found myself in a corridor of impossible opules very existence a paradox that sent a shiver of unease down my spine.

  The walls gleamed with an otherworldly sheen, adorned with intricate golden patterns that seemed to writhe and shift in the dim light. These gilded surfaces hemmed me in, creating a narrow passageway that felt both luxurious and suffog. My fiips brushed against the cool, polished stoh me, its smooth texture a stark trast to my current state of dishevelment.

  The air hung heavy, thick with the st of aged wood and a cloying sweetness remi of lilies on the verge of decay. It was a heady mixture that whispered of carefully guarded secrets and hidden dangers. Before me stood three doors, identical panels of polished mahogany that gleamed uhe soft, sourceless illumination that filled the space.

  The doors to my left and right remaiubbornly silent, their polished surfaces distorted refles of my bewildered tenance. My hair was a tangled mess, pstered to my forehead with sweat, and my clothes g to my skin, damp and rumpled. But it was the door directly ahead that anded my attention, seeming to vibrate with a low, almost imperceptible hum. I could feel it through the soles of my feet, a subtle resohat echoed deep within my bones.

  From behind this tral door, a voice suddenly emerged – a child's voice, at on and ulingly knowing. It sang a rhyme that sent chills rag down my spine:

  "A little child, and A little kid.Gosspel. Gosspel.Little does she know.Little Little Little.Golden BckObsidian BckBck Gold."

  The nonsensical words hung in the air like shards of gss, prig at the edges of my memory. I sat frozen, listening to the lingering echoes, trying desperately to make sense of the senseless. An inexplicable pulsion seized me, an irresistible urge to uand, to ect with the source of that haunting voice.

  With shaky, uain legs, I pushed myself to my feet. My hand, moving as if possessed by a will of its own, reached for the cool, smooth metal of the doorknob. Just as my fingers made tact, I heard the soft click of a lock disengaging from within. The heavy door swung inward with silent, almost theatrical grace.

  In the doorway stood a boy, impossibly young, with a shock of coral hair that seemed to defy gravity itself. He wore a simple ensemble – a crisp white shirt and bck shorts, his small bare feet peeking out from beh the hem. The child stood perfectly still, one hand still g the doorknob. His eyes, a startling shade of magenta, locked onto mih an iy that was deeply uling, as if he could peer directly into the depths of my soul. I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly parched.

  Drawn by some invisible thread, I took a hesitant step forward, a question f on my lips. But before I could give voiy thoughts, fate intervened. My foot slipped on an unseen patoisture, and I felt my bance desert me. Arms filing wildly, I tried in vain tain my footing. The world tilted and blurred around me as I tumbled forward, reality itself seeming to unravel in that moment.

  *THWAAK*

  Pain exploded behind my eyes, a searing, white-hot agony that threateo e me entirely. "Oww..." I gasped, the sound muffled against the hard surface I'd collided with. For a moment, I y there, stunned and disoriented, my head throbbing in perfect synicity with my rag heart. Slowly, painfully, I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees, my vision swimming in and out of focus.

  The opulent corridor had vanished. In its pce was a dimly lit room, a space that felt both alien and strangely familiar. A bed stood beside me, draped with a dark navy bhat spilled onto the floor in artful disarray. The air was thick with the st of vender, u by something else – somethiallid uling. Disoriented and nauseous, I reached out, grasping the bed frame for support, desperate to anyself to something tangible and real.

  But as I straightened my legs, a wave of dizziness crashed over me. The room spun wildly, as if I were trapped in some mad carousel. My legs, suddenly boneless, gave way beh me. I colpsed back against the wall, gasping for breath, feeling the rough texture of pster against my cheek and the chill of stone seeping into my skin.

  And then, without warning, they came – the memories. Not my own, I knew with a certainty that defied all logic, but belonging to Helios. Images flooded my mind, a chaotic maelstrom of sights, sounds, aions. Moments of intense joy, crushing sorrow, fierce love, aating loss surged through me, overwhelming my sense of self. The torrent culminated in a vivid, almost visceral recolle of a night festival – a celebration pulsing with a significe I couldn't prehend, at once alluring and profoundly dangerous.

  I could taste the sweet wine on my tongue, feel the warmth of crag bonfires on my skihe musid ughter of the reveling crowd. These sensations, so real a impossible, threateo sweep me away on a tide of borrowed experiences.

  Each memory seared itself into my sciousness like a brand, a painful intrusion that threateo shatter my sanity. My head throbbed with an unbearable pressure, as if my skull was about to crack open, releasing the pent-up chaos within. The memories, a maelstrom of sensation, began to recede, leaving me gasping for purchase on solid ground. Sanity, a fragile butterfly, tentatively unfolded its wings within the fines of my mind. My breathing, once a desperate struggle, found its rhythm once more. But even as the chaos subsided, a disquieting realization bloomed within me: I was inplete. My fingers, ag on instinct, flew to my throat, seeking the reassuri of my neckce. Finding oy space, a sharp, unwele spike of anger pierced through the lingering fog. That viperous Duchess of Valentine, I thought, my jaw g tight enough to crack a mor. She likely seized the opportunity to relieve me of my neckce while I was indisposed. The mere image of that woman's grasping hands on my treasured possession ignited a slow-burning rage within me. With a visible effort, I posed myself and pushed to my feet. My refle, catg my eye, offered a momentary distra. "Well," I murmured to the gss, a flicker of wry amusement tugging at my lips. At the very least, I was still swathed in the magnifit red and bck gown pilfered from the dipidated churust be grateful for small mercies. Such fleeting vanities, however, could not loain me. More pressing matters cmored for attention. I closed my eyes, tilting my face towards the unseen ceiling, and drew a slow, deliberate breath. The air, thick with the st of dust and unspokes, filled my lungs. "Life is a fleeti," I murmured, exhaling slowly. "It behooves oo seize leasure one ." "EXACTLY~" The familiar, mischievous ce of Cillian's voice shattered the fragile stillness. My eyes snapped open, instantly log onto his. Ever the provocateur, he leaned against the doorframe, a predatory smirk pying across his lips. "That's why, your sweet little psycho hubby brought you here!" he announced, his tone a carefully calibrated blend of teasing and thinly veiled menabsp;I offered him only a measured stare, betraying none of the turbuleions simmerih the surfabsp;As if owo figures materialized from the shadows behind Cillian, their arrival adding another yer of intrigue to the already charged atmosphere. First came Kryll, Cillian's inseparable shadow, a striking figure with hair the color of a shadowed forest and eyes that shimmered with vibrant amethyst. Kryll, with his lean frame and air of effortless cool, was a mirror image of Cillian's dangerous charisma. Following close behind was a young woman of almost uling sweetness, her features radiating a disarming innoce. A riot of vivid pink hair cascaded down her ba pyful pigtails, framing a fainated by wide, equally pink eyes. The trio presented a united front, sleek, form-fitting bck attire that whispered of destine operations. Despite their coordinated appearance, my face remained an impassive mask, cealing the turmoil within. Hmm, I mused internally, my gaze sweeping over the assembled newers before pointedly shifting away. That must be Kryll's...panion. "WHAT?" Cillian inquired, his voice suddenly ced with a dangerous edge. He took a deliberate step forward, his expression shifting from amusement to something far more calg. I responded with an equally deliberate retreat, my shoulders brushing against the cool, textured surface of the wall. The gesture, subtle yet pointed, was a clear decration of my displeasure. In that instant, I witnessed yet another mercurial shift in his demeanor, a transformation that never failed to set my teeth on edge. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" he roared, his voice suddenly a thundercp that echoed through the room. He seized my shoulders, shoving me back against the wall with brutal force. "DID YOU HOLY BELIEVE YOU COULD SURVIVE WITH THAT PEA-SIZED BRAIN OF YOURS IN A GAME WHERE YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW THE RULES?" His anger alpable thing, a suffog wave that washed over me. I could see the aquamarine of his eyes darken, morphing into the crimson hue I'd witnessed during the barbarian massacre. Kyrll, with a grimace, smmed the door shut, effectively sealing us within the fines of the room. I remained silent, my gaze dropping to the floor. It was a carefully calcuted act of submission, desigo deflect his immediate rage. "Hey," Cillian hissed, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. He lowered his head, bringing his face mere inches from mine, his breath hot against my skin. "Let's make a deal." The menag smile that stretched across his lips sent a shiver down my spine. "How about I destroy you in the most exquisite way imaginable, and iurn, you simply fade away? Like a butterfly that never even bothered to emerge from its chrysalis." My eyes widened, despite my best efforts at trol. He was suggesting...death? Ao the game before it had even begun? The audacity of his propositio me momentarily speechless. His friends, for their part, remained silent, their expressions carefully bnk. As if this dispy of barely-trolled rage, this casual flirtation with murder, erfectly normal. "You know what?" I tered, pushing him away with a force that surprised even me. A smile, sharp and brittle as shattered gss, tugged at the ers of my lips. My hands moved behind my back, g together as I adopted a pose of studied nonce. "If I were truly i on ending my owence, I would simply climb to the summit of yo ao your IQ." My smile widened, blindingly bright. The three of them recoiled as if strubsp;"Is that a threat?" Cillian spat, his tone ced with venom, his expression a mask of resentful fury. "Does it sound like a pliment?" I retorted, my voice cool and smooth as polished ice. The smile remained fixed on my face, a defiant challenge. "Don't fuck my feelings because you're unsure of your own." "Bitch," Cillian snarled, his trol finally snapping. "I'll sp you so hard, not even Google will be able to find you. Go take a look in the mirror. You're so fake, you make Barbie look real." He spat the words out like poison before whirling around and stalking towards the door, smming it shut behind him with a force that rattled the very foundations of the room. As the echoes of his departure faded, a strange sense of calm desded. With a deliberate, almost theatrical gesture, I lowered myself into a graceful curtsy, my haing delicately upon my chest. I rose slowly, my eyes sweeping over the remaining octs of the room with an air al posure. "Pardon my egregious failure to extend the courtesies befitting your esteemed presence," I began, my voice a melodious instrument of diplomacy. "Permit me to present myself as Luxana, Princess of Domino. It is a profound honor to make your acquaintance." My gaze lingered on Kryll, assessing his rea to my ued dispy of formality. His eyes widened in undisguised astonishment. "I am Kryll De Carsian Minar Elmir, son of the esteemed Duke of Carsian," he stammered, visibly flustered by the sudden shift in tone. "Yhness, it is a privilege beyond words to find myself in your presence. I must, however, implore you to disregard the preg...unpleasantness. No apology is necessary on your part. Indeed, it is I who am hoo be in your pany." Before I could respond, the pink-haired girl unched herself at me with the force of a ballistic missile. "Hehehe!" she squealed, ing her small arms around my waist in a fierce embrace. "I'm REMIIIIIIII!!! Kryll's wifeeeee!" She buried her fa my dress, giggling with urained glee. "You're such a cool big sis! Remi really likes Lulu." She tilted her head back, her pink eyes sparkling with genuine affe. Huh? I thought, taken pletely by surprise. She...she was impossibly adorable. Up close, her sweetness was almost overwhelming. On impulse, I reached out, cupping her high cheekbones in my hands and pulling her face towards mine in a pyful, if somewhat undignified, hug. Kryll, recovered from his initial shock, smirked at our childish dispy. "MHM! Kryll's right! Cillian is a bad boy!" Remi decred, seizing my hands iiny fists. Her cute, ear face icture of as she assured me that I mustn't worry. But even as I returned her hug, a disquieting premonitioled over me. Beh the surface sweetness, beh the childish exuberance, somethi…wrong. A discordant note in the symphony of this bizarre enter. I stood there, my mind reeling from the whirlwind of information that had just been thrown at me. The warmth of Remi's hug still lingered, but her cheerful question about a mission I knew nothing about left me cold and fused.To be tinued...