Chapter Text
Everything is dark. It feels like I'm floating in a sea of darkness with no sign of people or any life around me. It feels calming and gentle like someone wrapped a warm blanket around me.
As I floated in the endless darkness, I started seeing light. It got brighter and brighter, and then I opened my eyes, and everything was blurry for a few minutes. I couldn't see anything clearly; maybe I just woke up from a dream.
The dream felt so calming and warm. I finally realized that I was resting my head on a table with my arms crossed and my head between my arms. Why am I resting my head on a table? My vision finally cleared as I took a look at my surroundings. It looked like flowers and green scenery surrounded me; it was like being in a garden. I looked down and saw a tea cup not far from me. Am I in a Suzhou garden?
'Why am I here? I don't remember anything.' I tried thinking about why I was here and what happened, but all I got in return was a headache. I went to rub my temples, only to realize something shocking.
My right arm was the only thing I seemed to raise when rubbing my temple. What happened to my left arm? I can't feel it at all. I looked down to where my left arm should be, and my eyes widened. I don't have a left arm. Now that I'm looking down, I'm wearing a hanfu dress that seems to have the colors of light blue, almost turquoise; the belt around my waist is a darker shade of blue, and the bottom half of the hanfu dress is a dark gray, almost looking black.
What am I wearing? Where's my arm? What happened to me? I don't remember anything at all! It's all so fuzzy. I stood up and left the tea cup alone on the table. I began walking around the garden and walked over a small bridge that was over a small pond. I put my hand on the rail, looked down at the water, and widened my eyes.
I have pale blue eyes, long, messy black hair that seems to be in a messy braid, a severe and cold expression, pale pink plum blossom flowers on parts of the hanfu I'm wearing, and I am missing a left arm. I went to grab the left sleeve where my arm was supposed to be, and all I did was grip the sleeve tight in my grasp, not feeling an arm at all. I look so different. I want to say no human has blue eyes, but then I would lie.
This isn't me. I don't look like this. Every time I was shocked, the severe and cold expression on this girl's face didn't change a bit. Wait, how did I look before? I can't remember at all. But I do know for a fact that I always had two arms.
"My lady!" I heard a young girl's voice call out, and at first, I ignored it, thinking she was yelling for someone else since it felt like she was calling out for someone important. "My lady," the girl's voice said once more, but this time, she was next to me, and I instinctively turned my head and looked at her as she looked at me. 'Oh, so she was calling out to me,' I thought as I stayed silent. "I didn't realize you were in the garden, my lady. You usually don't go to the garden unless you want some time alone to think." Her voice sounded soft, gentle, and familiar like we had been together for a long time.
"Your father has instructed me to get you," she said with a smile. She turned around and began walking while I stayed in place. She realized I wasn't following her along since she turned around and looked at me. "Is something wrong, my lady? If you still don't want to see the sect leader, I can tell him that you aren't feeling well," she said in a slightly worried tone. How kind.
"Coming," I finally said as I started walking after her. She gave me a small smile before turning around and walking with me, not far behind. 'Sect leader?' I thought to myself as we continued walking. It seemed like I was so deep in thought that I didn't realize that we were no longer in the Suzhou garden and were now standing in front of the stairs. There are monumental stairs that I know will tire me once I reach the top.
The cement and the stairs are white with a hint of blue. I stood up on the stairs and even saw that the place the stairs led to was huge. I saw the young girl beginning to walk up the stairs, and I followed right after her. You can only hear our feet touching the ground and our clothes ruffling as we walk.
We finally made it up to the top, and I am desperately trying my best not to gasp for air like a dying fish on land. There, we stood in front of two large doors with a giant plum blossom symbol on the two doors. The girl clapped her hands and put them against the doors, the plum blossom symbol lighting up in a pink hue, and the doors slowly opened for us. A gush of wind hit us the second the doors opened.
"Follow me, my lady," the girl said as she walked inside, and I followed right after her. The doors behind me slowly shut themselves, creating a loud echo as they shut. I quickly looked behind me, seeing two closed doors with the same plum blossom flower symbol. I turned my attention away from the closed doors and walked forward. This place is vast.
This place looks like it was made out of white jade with a tint of light blue. On the ceiling were three flags, each on the left and right sides of the roof, with the plum blossom symbol in the center of the light turquoise-colored flags.
Our footsteps echoed with each step we took while walking in this place, the sun shining through the windows. I even realized that the windows didn't have glass at all. I was so lost in the scenery before me that I didn't know the girl in front of me had stopped walking since I directly impacted her back. She looked back at me and asked, "Are you okay, my lady?" She asked me as I quickly nodded and apologized for bumping into her. She smiled at me. "It's okay," she said in a small whisper.
'Why is she whispering now?' I thought to myself as I looked past her and saw someone standing before us. I couldn't tell who it was since their back was facing us, their hair was in a bun that was sitting on top of their head with a pin going through the bun, and their hair was entirely white, so I can only assume that they are older than me and the girl.
The person finally turned around, and then I realized it was an older man. He has a long white beard and mustache; he has very few wrinkles on his face but looks sharp. 'Is this man my father?' I asked myself as I continued staring at him until the girl interrupted my thoughts as she spoke to the man. "Sect leader, I brought the young lady here just as you requested of me," she says as she puts her hands together and bows to him.
The man raised his hand to her, and his white hanfu sleeve moved along with his movements. "Thank you, Min. You may go now; I would like to speak to my daughter alone," he tells the girl, whose name I just found out is Min. She stood straight, nodded, turned around, and walked away. I heard the doors open once more and then close. I looked up at my father, and my palm became slightly sweaty as I became nervous and my heart pounded. 'What am I feeling right now?' I wondered as this man, my father, put his arms behind his back and gave me a closed-eye smile. "Now, shall we have a nice father and daughter time and talk?" he says.
He will tell me something important that has something to do with me. Gods above, please let this all be a dream, and let me wake up now!