It hasn’t been long since I’ve arrived, but it felt like a year had gone by right before my eyes. And unfortunately, I did not enjoy the lack of control I had over it.

But if there was one I wished to say to the forces controlling my fate and the fates of others intertwined with mine, it was how glad I am the judge came to be my English teacher and not my chemistry teacher.

Not that it made things any less stressful having a teacher mark my right to live instead of a test paper.

I swallowed my saliva, my throat beginning to itch uncomfortably. Still standing in front of her, I knew this was the time to start asking questions. But what I also knew was that I was currently struggling to form even a single coherent sentence.

“So? What did you think of my presentation?”

The words were so on point for her.

“I was going to use a chair to spin around, y’know, for extra effect. But they didn’t have those and said it would arrive in a week at the earliest,” she continued before letting out a sigh. “I’d like to think I still did a pretty good job though, right?” She grinned and walked closer, waving her hand in front of me. “I mean, you do look stunned for words… isn’t that right, Cindy?”

Hearing her utter my name again snapped me out of my daze. “I, uh…”

“Was I right? No? Well anyways, no worries, we can always just sit here for a bit and stare at each other if you’d prefer,” the woman walked over to her desk, her steps accompanied with a flair that let you know she was enjoying herself.. She pushed the folders aside and pulled herself up, using her desk as a temporary chair instead.

If I had a silver of doubt before, then all of it would’ve vanished within the span of this encounter. Her mannerisms and behaviour, even her passive tone, was just like her. It was her.

“… Mrs. Juniper.” I finally confirm, despite my statement coming out in disbelief. The situation was just too bizarre to accept wholeheartedly no matter the obvious truth that was standing physically in front of me.

“Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve been called that.” The edge of her lips curved to a smile as she stared down at me, “this might sound surprising to you, but I also wasn’t expecting to see you here—and as a criminal with multiple charges over their head, no less…”

“Yeah, that…” Still unable to engage properly in a conversation, I bit my tongue and looked away. I would’ve made a joke about it by now, but the reality was that I was going to start crying soon. And as if on cue, my already weary eyes began to swell.

Mrs. Juniper seemed to sense it right away because I could hear her step back on the floor and walk towards me, her movements less dynamic than earlier. She stood in front of me, the silence allowing for my heavy breathing to become prominent.

“Cindy.”

I really missed my name.

“Oh, dear…” before I could try to explain myself, I was pulled into a hug. I tensed at first by the unanticipated action, contemplating whether or not I should just let it happen and hope it doesn’t become awkward. But slowly my shoulders began to relax under the tight grip, finding temporary comfort from the only person connected to my real life.

Luckily, I managed to hold back my tears, saving myself the embarrassment that would follow me later. I returned the embrace.

Not in a hundred years would I have seen myself reacting this way towards a teacher.

Yet here I was, doing exactly just that.

A couple minutes must’ve passed because she only allowed herself to pull away after I seemed to calm down. I wipe a stray tear off my eye, trying to play it cool while hoping I didn’t look like a frail stick on the verge of a breakdown.

“Mrs. Juniper, I have a lot of questions,” with a proper sentence finally leaving my mouth, the woman in front of me smiled, her gaze accompanied with unusual amusement.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

To be frank, I didn’t see anything amusing about this.

“I’m sure you do. Here, let’s first take a seat and then we can…” she trailed off as she turned around, realizing again that she didn’t have any chairs in sight. “…Or we could just stand. I’m sure you’ve had a lot of time to sit.”

I laugh awkwardly. “Isn’t that still a bit weird? I mean, you can’t possibly have no chairs available in an office.”

“That’s because I just moved in,” her grin never faltered from her face as she spoke. “Want to hear a secret, Cindy? I was actually just an attorney, until recently after finishing my interviews and passing the selection process that—“

“Mrs. Juniper-- sorry,” I quickly interrupted, my hand holding tightly to the hem of my shirt. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you but we’re on a tight schedule, right…?” I knew well enough I was going to spend an entire period listening to her jump from one unhelpful topic to another if this continued.

Not that I mind in class. But I wasn’t keen on wasting time in these circumstances.

“Yes, yes, you’re right,” fortunately she didn’t seem to take offense to my interruption, but the ghost of a smile on her face did not feel assuring.

She paused. “So you said you had questions?”

“A lot,” I quickly replied. “My first question is, do you know where we are?”

I knew exactly where we were and more, including a couple of details about the ‘arcs’ and characters I was encountering (aside from Mrs. Juniper’s character that looked eerily like herself). But from a ‘normal’ perspective, I wanted to see what she thought about it and if she had any ideas.

“Now that’s a difficult question, and one that I’m still unsure of to this day,” she answered confidently despite the uncertainty of her words. “But you could almost consider it an alternate universe, no?”

With a shrug, she crossed her arms in a pondering stance. “That’s the only explanation.”

It was a logical answer. Although there was a medieval theme to it, some of the décor and technology I encountered in my short period outside of jail did not scream ancient times.

But that only made it seem more story-like, with its odd fusion of convenient aspects that would appeal to the audience.

She then looked up to meet my eyes. “What about you, Cindy? Any ideas?”

“Like you.” It was not like she was going to believe me if I told her we were living in a story anyway. And even if she did, it wouldn’t be useful to her either way since she didn’t read the story.

Although the possibility of her having read, “The Ritual of the Sapphire Swordsmaster”, did sound funny that I couldn’t help but grin slightly.

She raised an eyebrow. “Really? So nothing that comes to mind?”

“I didn’t have much time to think about other possibilities, with being locked up and all...” I answer honestly, turning slightly bitter at the end. Now that I was temporarily free, I could begin brainstorming ways to get back to my own world that didn’t involve taking drastic actions. But as of now, I was completely clueless.

A thought suddenly came to mind. “Wait, did you look like that when you first showed up, Mrs. Juniper?”

“If we’re talking about appearance, absolutely,” with a broad smile, she did a small twirl as if to show off a new outfit she was trying out. “The gold certainly is a look though, I thought I was hallucinating at first.”

“You think? I thought I was hallucinating when I saw my English teacher appear in gold as the judge in charge of my case!” That earned a laugh from her, causing my lips to curl up in a small smile.

“Oh you should’ve seen your face Cindy. It was priceless,” she shook her head in amusement, like she was imagining it again. She opened her mouth to say something else but then stopped, making it seem that she was suddenly reminded of an important topic.

“However, you on the other hand look like a completely different person.”

I felt my mood begin to sour again but I tried not to linger on it. “I might as well be a completely different person. Not even my belongings were transported here, it’s like the only piece of me remaining in this place is my soul!”

“Your soul? That’s an interesting way of looking at it,” her previous amusement was then replaced by a mixed expression of interest and worry, a contrast to her nonchalant behaviour earlier. “In that case, our circumstances of how we ended up here must differ.”

I nod in agreement. “Definitely. For starters, there’s a difference in the order of timing. I came here a few days ago, but you were missing for a week, or maybe two now. By the way, I hope you give me an extension for that assignment that you…”

I trail off as I see her seem to freeze at some point in the rant, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

“…Or we could talk about that some other time, the assignment can always wait.”

I pause, waiting for her to reply but get none. I sigh, realizing that maybe this wasn’t about me postponing the assignment. “Mrs. Juniper? Did you remember something?” I then ask, thinking that maybe my words triggered a relevant memory.

Her eyes snapped back up to meet mine. She stepped closer. “How long did you say I went missing for exactly?”

“Uh, a week? Two weeks? For sure not more than that, so you don’t need to worry abo—"

This time I was interrupted by a humourless laugh, the sound drinking up the silence of the ambient room and rendering me confused. I wait for her to finish before I could ask what’s wrong, but I was answered before I had the chance to open my mouth.

“Oh I can assure you, I’ve been here far longer than a few weeks.”

I frown. “No way, I tallied the days I spent in that dungeon and it didn’t even reach ten yet!”

The look of doubt did not leave the judge’s face as I said that, and for a moment, I dreaded having to hear what she was going to tell me next.

“Cindy… I’ve been here for a year.”