Driven by a sudden surge of terror and instinct, I squeezed my eyes shut and threw my hands forward as a shield, screaming. My heart was pounding in my throat—each beat echoing in my ears, blending into a dull roar as I heard the intense rush of air swirling around us. Beneath my feet, the dead sand trembled violently, tightening as if the world itself were in pain. The creature's rotten breath whispered that these were our final seconds.
With trembling lashes, I slowly forced my eyes open.
The first thing that entered my vision was a girl with shimmering silver hair—the same graceful Elf warrior who had fought the first monster moments ago. On my right stood a large, muscular man with the same hair color but darker skin, his expression frozen with tension. On the other side was another male—short black hair, sharp pointed ears, and glowing violet eyes—clearly younger than the first. A few steps behind them, two more men were lowering their swords back into their sheaths.
Their strange, piercing gazes were all fixed on me; mine, however, were locked onto the dead creature lying motionless inside the deep circular pit the dead sands had opened beneath it. The second monster had slammed straight into the hole as if it had collided with an invisible force.
"Is… that thing dead?" Harper voiced the question in my head as she stepped forward beside the silver-haired girl.
"It's dead," the girl said flatly. Not once did her eyes leave me. She stared at the spot where the emerald-green creature had fallen. "Who are you?"
"Depends on who's asking," I replied, slipping my usual mask over my face. I had learned very young how to adapt to every terrible thing life threw at me and keep that I'm fine mask in place. So shaking off the terror took only seconds. My heart was still racing, but my voice was steady. "Who are you?"
"I," she said, walking toward me as gracefully as if she were on a runway. As she approached, I couldn't help but look her up and down. Between the strands of her hair rested an intricately crafted silver circlet—clearly Elven. High cheekbones, a small cute chin, heart-shaped pink lips, blue eyes, long curled lashes, and the kind of button nose people in our world would pay a fortune for. A beautiful, adorable face paired with a flawless body; she was the living form of an anime character.
"Olympia, Crown Princess of the Eleadora Kingdom," she declared, her expression completely void of emotion. I involuntarily swallowed as I felt the cold steel of her sword press under my chin. "Now tell me—who are you to be able to bend the earth beneath your feet?"
"My name," I said, pinching the dull edge of her sword between my thumb and index finger as I pushed it away, "is Jessica. And yes, I can bend the earth with a scream. You can try it too, if you want, princess."
I gave her one of my signature annoying smirks and winked. The princess blinked in surprise—clearly not expecting that kind of attitude.
"Seriously? The only thing you're curious about is how a stupid hole formed?!" Harper barked suddenly as she stepped between us. I rolled my eyes. "Look at us! Do we look like we belong here?"
At Harper's outburst, the white-haired man standing just behind the princess—he had to be Virion—swiftly drew his sword and raised it to eye level with Harper. She leaned her upper body back toward me, staring wide-eyed at the sharp blade hovering dangerously close to her nose.
"Put that thing down, dude!" she said, grinning awkwardly as she glanced into the man's bright sea-green eyes. "If she's a princess of her kingdom, then I'm a princess of my kingdom too!"
Oh, for the love of—Really? The Fae Kingdom?
"Virion," Princess Olympia said sharply. The man lowered his sword after sweeping his cold gaze over us once more.
Harper let out a loud breath of relief. Virion stepped aside as Olympia gave Harper a brief, judgmental once-over—from her paint-splattered face to the stains on her overalls.
"I would like to know which kingdom you are princess of… Princess?"
"Harper," she said brightly, offering her hand with a huge smile. "My name is Harper. Princess Harper of the Fae Kingdom."
"Princess Olympia," the silver-haired girl replied, shaking Harper's hand with an expression of deep suspicion. "I have never heard of such a kingdom in Orinlafec."
"It's natural you haven't heard of it," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "Who names a kingdom after their own surname anyway?"
My sarcastic grin lingered until the princess nodded at Harper and said, "Your surname is Eleadora, isn't it, Princess Olympia?"
Wait.How in the world did this blonde menace know her surname?!
"She's a slave," Harper added, pointing at me casually as if this explained everything. "Don't mind her too much, Princess Olympia."
For a moment, I genuinely wanted to strangle her.
At that moment, the younger man with short black hair and glowing violet eyes stepped forward.
"Enough pointless chatter," he said, his voice sharp as a blade. "I don't care who you claim to be. How did you get here, stranger? The Mist has surrounded this battlefield for a thousand years at this density. No one but Element Users can enter it. And those who do… never come out alive."His violet eyes widened with dread. "Especially not powerful Element Users like you. That crater your scream created is far beyond what an ordinary Earth User could manage."
Earth… user?Me?
"And you," he added, pointing at Harper. "You manipulated the air currents within the Mist. Only a highly advanced Air User could do that."
Element Users?Us?
His words hit me like ice water.The green-eyed man we had seen in the visions had called us exiled, cursed.Powerful Element Users?It sounded absurd.
I was just about to question everything—reject all of it—when the ground beneath our feet shifted again.The trembling was stronger this time, as if our souls were being ripped away. Princess Olympia's questioning expression twisted into horror. Virion reached for his sword again.
But it was too late.
The metallic scent of the Mist filling my throat suddenly dissolved into the stale smell of paint and distant traffic. Olympia's cold blade under my chin, her sharp voice, the monster's corpse—all of it blurred into memory.
Our souls had snapped back into our bodies.