"it's that damn dream again"
Lyra wake up soaked with her sweat. There's tears in her tearduck.
She didn't feel anything when she wake up.
No fear inside her. Just that annoying feeling, buried somewhere inside her.
Like there's something she desperately need to remember.
"Getting bothered by a dream?"
"Why am i even wasting energy on something that doesn't even make sense?"
Before she could think of something again, her phone rang. She looked at her phone to see an incoming call from an unknown number.
Lyra answered it without thinking.
"Who is this?" Her voice was rough from sleep.
"Curiosity is like a poison. So you as well should forget about it" She heared a man's voice.. A voice that's about to cry.
Her eyebrow furrowing and she immediately hang up the call.
"Now that's really creeping me out! What the hell is that?! Who the hell is pulling a prank at this hour"
She stared at her phone for a moment before tossing it aside. She thought to herself that it's probably just a weird prank and there's nothing to think about.
Except she kept thinking about it.
She got into her school without bathing, eating her breakfast or even closing her eyes for a minute which is a new experience for her. She can't stop thinking about the call last night.
Why even worry about it when it's just some weird pranks? Why does it feel like it's telling her something?
At school, something was wrong.
Not the kind of wrong anyone would notice though. The sky didn't fall, there's no zombies and the walls didn't crack open but something was there buzzing under her skin.
Normally during lunch Lyra would joke around with her friends, but now she sat in her table quietly, tapping her pen against her notebook.
Her friend Natan noticed something is wrong about her.
"Something going on, Ly? You're acting different today"
"Yeah, you look like you fought a racoon and lost" Another added, tossing a fry at her.
Natan was about to hold Lyra's shoulder but she stand up before Natan attempt.
Lyra rolled her eyes but didn't push the conversation further. What was the point? They clearly didn't feel it. The tension tightening around her.
"I just didn't get enough sleep" Lyra stand up and pick up her bag.
She heard her friends murmuring.
Natan was about to go after her but he heard their friends talking about her behind her back. Natan often finds himself envious of Lyra, who effortlessly fits in without needing anyone or pretending to be someone she's not. Unlike Natan, who can't even manage to stand on his own.
"Why is she acting so weird?"
"She is always weird" They were laughing.
They did it on purpose, knowing Lyra would hear. Lyra knew her so-called friends hated her, but she didn't bother confronting them. She figured if she remained cool about the situation, it wouldn't matter. After all, she doesn't really need all the validation.
Lyra brushed past Evan, barely sparing him a glance. They had been schoolmates since elementary, and over the years, they had perfected the art of arguing with each other. It was practically a tradition.
Normally he would have made a smartmass comment just to get under her skin. But today? Today, he didn't say a word.
Instead, he just... looked at her.
It was a long, slow gaze that lingered longer than it should have. It wasn't the usual mocking look she was used to. There was something different this time.. something almost apologetic in his eyes.
She shook her head, trying to dismiss the strange feeling creeping up her spine. Weird, she thought. There was no way it was that simple.
Sleep didn't come easily that night. She scrolled through her phone trying to distract herself, but her mind kept drifting. She sat by the window, phone in hand, waiting for her favorite dish that she ordered to arrive.
And then, just as she checked the time again, it hit her.
Out of nowhere.. A memory hit her.
A flash so sharp and painful she almost dropped her phone.
Its that Dream! The dream she keeps forgetting!
It came back in pieces — burning images, broken voices — and then it was gone again.
"What the hell is that" Her head throbbed. She stumbled from the chair, clutching the wall but the world tilted, spinning away from her.
She heard voices..
"You shouldn't come back here"
"You're not supposed to be here"
Before she could curse again, she lost her consciousness.
When she woke up again, the room is weird.
The air was heavy with the smell of old stone and wax. A shadow flickered along the high ceiling.
"You? What are you doing here? You should have known already that a God from east is going to visit here in Thalora" A young girl around her age who is dressed on a maiden clothes carrying a freshly washed dry clothes. Her voice is soft and the weather.. it's cold..
Lyra blinked rapidly, her mind struggling to catch up. She glanced down—and froze.
She had no clothes on, only a thin sheet draped over her.
"What the hell?! Where am i?" She shouted.
The maiden woman was left looking flustered by the words of Lyra.
Cursing is considered as one of the big sin a person could commit in Thalora. Seems like Lyra wouldn't survive a day without uttering a curse word once a day.
"H-He.. I can't even get the word out. Listen, be glad it was me who heard you! others wouldn't have been so kind!"
Lyra sat there, stunned, her mind scrambling to make sense of it all.
It had to be a dream—
But no dream ever felt this real.
"You've got to be kidding me... This has to be a dream," Lyra muttered, hastily wrapping her arms around herself.
There'd been a rumor going around Thalora lately.. something about a crazy maiden wandering about.
The maiden looked at Lyra, a flicker of pity crossing her face.
Maybe this was her, she thought. Poor thing.
Without a word, the maiden tossed Lyra a set of servant's clothes.
Lyra stared at the maiden, still dazed and confused.. She doesn't want to accept the clothes but, she doesn't have any choice because she needed to get out of here.
The maid turned to leave, but just before she stepped out, Lyra spoke up.
"What's your name?" she asked, her tome is cold but her hands is shaking.
The maid paused, thinking for a moment. She assumed Lyra was simply grateful and, without hesitation, she gave her name.
"Zira" The maiden said with a smile in her face.
"How about you?"
Lyra didn't ask for the maid's name out of gratitude.
She wasn't that gullible.
She asked just in case something went wrong.
Lyra didn't answer Zira's question.
"My own name speaks of being chosen by fate. That we meet here cannot be mere chance. It is fate's hand that guides us." Zira said as she headed for the door.
After dressing, Lyra stepped out, her mind still racing with confusion.
As she walked down the unfamiliar hall, the maid's words from earlier echoed in her thoughts.
A god? Was this part of whatever twisted reality she had landed in?