It was a familiar pounding sensation in her head, a sensation that Sayi could never get used to. One of the many banes of every living being.
A migraine.
“Fucking…”
She clutched her head, a frown etched on her forehead as she continued cursing softly to herself. Among the crowd of blue-haired and blue-skinned people who lived on this planet, her long, wavy fiery red hair stood out. With her constant cursing and outstanding appearance, people gave her a confused glance.
Even her outfit would be considered outlandish. It consisted of a grey hooded cloak and a plain white shirt with long black pants on the inside, and well-maintained black leather boots.
One of them even approached her with a concerned stare.
“Fol’sn stidsh noi?”
“What?”
“Vji’dsh ka’ah.”
“Just fuck off, I don’t have time for you blue-skinned humans–”
She reached her hand out to shove the person away, pausing when she remembered an incident. The last time she shoved a caring soul away, it turned out to be a member of royalty on that planet.
I’d rather not be charged for harming a royalty’s body again.
Sayi sighed, running her hands through her hair as she glared at the blue-skinned man, gesturing for him to continue speaking. Just as she did so, her scarlet irises glowed in a peculiar manner.
“Beautiful outsider lady, are you in need of aid?”
Sayi rolled her eyes, she knew she was extremely beautiful in the eyes of many. Their compliments meant nothing to her.
“No.”
“Are you perhaps feeling unwell? We have some–”
“No.”
“Or is it love troubles–”
“No.”
“A problem that can’t be said? Don’t worry, we have–”
The resolution to not get into trouble for the hundredth time flew out the window, and Sayi gritted her teeth, grabbing the blue-skinned man by the collar of his exquisite-looking clothes.
“I used my Dragon’s Tongue for an imbecile like you? I’ll rip your eyes out!”
“Eeek! I-I apologise!”
The crowd around her dispersed quickly as they shouted in panic, making her head throb as she winced, clutching her head. At that moment, a distinctive scent wafted past her and she paused, sniffing at the air.
Her scarlet eyes glowed in anticipation, and she smirked at the blue-skinned man trembling in her hands.
“What’s in that direction?”
The blue-skinned man paled. “Th-that is…”
A dangerous air lingered around Sayi, making the blue-skinned man spit out the truth instantly.
“Bl-black market! It’s the black market!”
“So you have a brain after all.” Sayi released him, making him cry out in pain as his butt hit the cold, hard ground. She disappeared in a blink of an eye.
The blue-skinned man trembled even more, scrambling up to his feet. He wiped the sweat on his forehead, running away.
“It’s always the pretty ones! Boss, this is why I said the pretty ones are scary! Especially the outsiders!”
❅❅❅
Just like every black market out there in the universe, the goods sold here were contraband or harmful to an individual. However, there was a particular stall that stood out.
“Outsider, what is this? I have been here numerous times, but I have never seen your stall.”
The porcelain-skinned owner of that tiny stall with a simple wooden table to display her products lit up. Her bright lavender ponytail with blue highlights swayed to her movement as she grasped the hands of the blue-skinned woman.
“A customer!”
“...?!”
“N-no wait, don’t look so scared! I am not selling anything harmful or dangerous, trust me!”
“...in the black market?”
The owner of the stall grasped the hands of her potential customer even tighter, nodding her head eagerly. Her doe-like amethyst orbs sparkled in delight.
There were two distinctive black stars tattooed under her right eye.
“Yes, yes! In the black market!”
The blue-skinned woman was baffled yet intrigued. She glanced down at the products displayed on the small wooden table. It was an exquisite teapot set with dainty teacups with intricate floral designs.
“What…is that?”
“A teapot set!”
“Teapot? What’s that? I never heard of that word before.”
“It’s something that you can drink from!”
“You said you weren’t selling harmful or dangerous products. How can I trust you?”
“My name is Pamela Laifecois.”
The blue-skinned woman nodded in approval. “Even as an outsider, you clearly know the rules here. Since you have given me your name, let me give it a try.”
Pamela beamed at her customer, and she inhaled deeply as if composing herself. She brought out a metal jug and lifted the cap of the teapot. The steam drifted by as she poured out the water from the metal jug into the teapot in a circular motion.
The blue-skinned woman was surprised at the change in her demeanour. Pamela’s movements have become methodical and elegant, the animated behaviour from earlier was nowhere to be seen.
A faint, pleasant fragrance came from the teapot, drifting in the air and making the nose of the blue-skinned woman itch as she sniffed. The fragrance filled her with a sense of serenity, and she closed her eyes.
“What is that…delectable smell?”
Pamela gestured to the teapot, her rosy lips curving into a servile smile. “The sweet and fragrant smell comes from the dried goji berries or wolfberries from my world.”
“This is something drinkable?”
Pamela nodded, and she continued explaining about the origins of the tea in her world. Within a few minutes of speaking, she gracefully poured the tea into the teacup as she easily brought the conversation to an end.
“Here you go.”
The blue-skinned woman leaned in with excitement, taking a look at the teacup and she gasped loudly.
“This…this…!”
“No, wait—”
“This is flavoured water! How outrageous! How blasphemous!”
Pamela winced, her delicate features twisting with apprehension. She knew exactly where this conversation was going.
“Nothing harmful and dangerous?! You liar! Flavoured water is the worst of them all!”
“It’s not flavoured water! It’s tea, tea! It is dried ingredients steeped in hot–”
“How can you think of flavouring water! You have destroyed its purity! No wonder there aren’t any customers around your stall, you have committed the worst crime!”
The blue-skinned woman harrumphed and stormed away. Pamela deflated in an instant, slamming her head onto the wooden table. Her purple-coloured jacket slid off her left shoulder, revealing a sleeveless black top underneath it.
“This stupid world and its stupid water. Everything is about water!” Pamela grumbled, looking at the advertisement inside the stall opposite her. “Even a drop of lemon into water is considered poison here!”
The neon lights on the advertisement stand shined brightly as if mocking her.
PUREST WATER MADE BY WATER HANDS IN WATER KINGDOM DEVELOPED IN WATER SOIL! ONLY AT 999.99 NOVAS! LIMITED STOCKS!
“Why…” Pamela straightened herself, narrowing her eyes at the three moons in the sky as she stretched her arms out. “Why is it of all places you have AIT-ed me to?!”
A mysterious and rare phenomenon that occurred without warning. Sometimes, a crack would appear within the universe and cause some poor unfortunate souls to be “accidentally interdimensional travelled” across space and time. Thus, the phenomenon was known as AIT.
“That outsider is at it again.”
“I’m telling you, it’s the flavoured water causing her to grow delusional!”
“Thank Novas, it is no wonder flavoured water is banned across the entire continent.”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Pamela collapsed onto the table, drowning in her own puddle of tears. “I want my tea, I want my coffee, I want my wine, I want my beer! I want my fruit juice! I want flavoured water!”
A passer-by heard her random mutterings, and the last few words made them faint out of horror. They collapsed near Pamela’s booth, but she paid them no heed.
Just then, someone stepped past the unconscious blue-skinned stranger, stopping right in front of Pamela’s booth. Sayi stared at the teapot set and the teacup still filled with hot, steaming tea.
“I have never seen trinkets like that.”
“...what?”
Pamela sniffled, wiping her tears away as she lifted her head up.
Pamela was greeted by the sight of a beautiful svelte woman with fierce features. There was intimidating air around her. Her long, wavy fiery-red hair cascaded down her back and her scarlet irises held a look of impatience in them. Her luscious lips curled up into a faint smirk. Pamela admired her sculpted features and olive-coloured skin, but as Sayi leaned in, Pamela noticed an odd tattoo around Sayi’s neck. Indecipherable runes were etched across her entire neck and its shape resembled a choker.
What’s that? A branding?
Pamela blinked rapidly in puzzlement.
“Human from Earth, name your price.”
“Price? For what?”
“This.”
Sayi pointed towards Pamela’s gorgeous teapot set. In an instant, Pamela gaped in horror and hugged the teapot set to herself.
“No way! It’s mine! Get your own!”
Sayi shrugged. “It’s still mine anyway.”
All of a sudden, time started to slow down around Pamela and she found her own body frozen in time. Pamela watched as Sayi moved her body without any constraint, and to Pamela’s surprise, Sayi started sniffing at her.
“The pleasant smell was from you, or maybe this teapot?”
I can’t speak or move! What is she talking about?
Sayi took the filled teacup from Pamela’s hands, observing it curiously and she sniffed at it as well.
“No. It’s from this teacup.”
Without any hesitation, Sayi gulped down the goji berries tea. The warm tea slid down her and she widened her eyes in amazement as she cursed.
“Nez’gahl.”
The constant migraine she was suffering from was starting to fade away. The pain wasn’t as prominent as before. She immediately swivelled her head to Pamela, snapping her fingers together and Pamela inhaled sharply, leaning back and flailing her arms around.
“Woah! Wo-woah! I can finally move! What was that? What were you speaking? And did you just stop time around us? What are you?”
“Did you–”
“Oh, but you drank it! You drank the tea! You actually drank it! How was it? How did it taste? Ah, but it wasn’t at its most optimal temperature so the taste might have been somewhat affected. Also, steeping it the first time might taste different from steeping it the second or third time, but with the quality of the goji berries, I’m sure–”
Sayi snapped her fingers again. This time, Pamela’s mouth was sealed up and she blinked in surprise.
“Did you make this?”
Pamela nodded eagerly, her amethyst eyes twinkling in excitement.
“I’ll take everything here, including you.”
At that moment, time started to resume again and Sayi appeared right beside Pamela. She tapped her finger on the table and the teapot set, making them dissipate one by one. However, Sayi felt something strange and stared at her hands, frowning deeply before looking at Pamela.
“What are you–my table! My teapot! I said it was mine–oh, they are back in my invisible bag! Thank god this came along with me when I was AIT-ed!”
“Tch, to think you'll have an interdimensional bag with you. The constellations must have liked you and felt pity for you.”
Without any warning, Sayi carried Pamela over her shoulder like a haversack. Her purple jacket and black pants started to shift from the rough movements.
“Are you kidnapping me?” Pamela asked in excitement.
“I’ll be adding you to my collection.”
“So, it means taking me away from this hellhole! Oh thank god, I have been stuck here for years! You have no idea how long I have been waiting for this day, I think I’m gonna cry.”
Sayi ignored the rambling Pamela and the bewildered blue-skinned people, walking forward.
“Miss Red Riding Hood–”
“I am Sayinaral Qayag Akiudo. Don’t you dare call me by that awful nickname.”
“I’ll call you Sayi then!” Pamela exclaimed, turning her head back and giving Sayi a thumbs-up. “Thank you for kidnapping me! It's everything I could have asked for.”
“What a weird human.”
Pamela inhaled deeply, cupping her hands around her mouth. “Screw you guys! Take your stupid purest of water and shove it up your ass! Flavoured water is superior!”
Sayi grimaced, picking up her pace.
One by one, the blue-skinned people started fainting out of pure horror.
“Blasphemous!”
“Outrageous!”
“Th-that outsider! She is causing mass hysteria around us!”
Pamela stuck her tongue out, shoving a middle finger towards the crowd. Even before she could bask in her triumphant moment, Sayi took a step forward and Pamela found herself being transported through space and time.
❅❅❅
“Pu-put me down, I’m gonna—ergh!”
“So weak.”
Sayi tossed Pamela onto the ground and she collapsed on all fours, spewing out the contents in her stomach. Pamela was shocked to see her vomit disappear in a flash, and she glanced around, noticing that they were in a bizarre vacuum. There were a myriad of colours flitting past her eyes, making Pamela queasy once more.
“Wh-where are we?”
“Travelling through dimensions.” Sayi said casually, walking on without caring for Pamela.
“...huh.” Pamela breathed out in amazement, standing up as she stared into space. “It’s my first time to be able to comprehend in the void like this. I’m surprised I can even retain my five senses. I remembered being thrown through dimensions the first time, it wasn’t fun.”
Pamela stretched her hand out, and all of a sudden, various hygiene products appeared in her hands.
“Anything is possible with me,” Sayi smirked, lifting her head high. “I am an elder dragon.”
“Mhmm. Okay, so that’s why you could stop time.” Pamela answered in a perfunctory manner.
A stench that Sayi had never smelt before drifted past Sayi’s nose, making her grimace as she glanced back. She saw Pamela cleaning her hands meticulously with a damp cloth before cleaning her mouth.
“Why are you carrying so many odd trinkets around just to wipe your hands?”
“I need to keep my hands clean, at all times.”
“That keeps your hands clean?”
She tossed that cloth back into her interdimensional bag before taking out another object, squeezing out some cream from it.
“And it dries my hands up too, and that’s why I need to take good care of it. The first thing a customer notices about their bartender is their appearance, and for a barista, it’s their hands, and for–”
Sayi grabbed Pamela by the collar of her shirt, picking her up with one hand. Pamela halted her rambling, blinking curiously at Sayi.
“Shut up. Ugh, because of your talking, my migraine is back.”
“Migraine?” Pamela repeated, her eyes growing wide in realisation. “Ah, so that explains your reaction to my tea back then. Hm, okay, so that’s what it was.”
“I said stop talking.”
Pamela nodded, looking straight at Sayi. “Let go of me then.”
“What?”
“Let go.”
“You dare tell an elder dragon what to do?”
“I can help with your headache though?” Pamela tilted her head, her cheery disposition fading and there was an earnest look in her eyes.
Seeing such a change in her, Sayi raised an eyebrow and released her grip on Pamela’s collar.
Pamela took a few steps forward and glanced at Sayi, her words calm. “Since you are an elder dragon, can you make a table appear in front of me?”
“You want me to waste my magic on making a table for you?”
“Any table would do. I always make it work.” Pamela flashed her a blinding smile, making Sayi squint her eyes.
“Fine.”
A small wooden table plopped right in front of Pamela, and she moved quickly, bringing out a couple of objects onto the table. There was a small ceramic mug, unsweetened cocoa powder, two kinds of milk, vanilla extract, marshmallows and a tiny bar of dark chocolate. Even a portable stove and a small saucepan.
“What are you…” Sayi trailed off as she watched Pamela working in silence, a determined look on her face. The table remained immaculate from her diligent movements.
It was as if she couldn’t make any mistakes in her actions, from the way she poured out the hot milk from the saucepan as she mixed in the ingredients. From the way she diced the tiny bar of dark chocolate into tiny pieces, placing it on top of the drink as if it was a prized trophy.
Sayi couldn’t understand why making a drink for anyone required such concentration.
“What’s that white stuff you are holding?”
“Marshmallows.” Pamela answered simply and she brought out a cork coaster, placing it in front of Sayi.
“...?” Sayi frowned in confusion.
Just then, Pamela finished the drink in her hands. It was a classic hot chocolate with marshmallows, but Sayi had never seen a drink like this. She was curious, approaching the table and leaning in to observe the unknown drink.
Pamela smiled, placing the drink on the coaster with impeccable mannerisms.
“For you, a hot chocolate.”
After serving the drink, Pamela looked away and cleared the table, placing her equipment back into the interdimensional bag.
Sayi picked up the ceramic mug in her hands, observing it cautiously. She looked back at Pamela, and it seemed like Pamela wasn’t interested in her reaction.
I don’t detect any malicious intent from her.
Sayi took a sip of the hot chocolate, and her eyes widened at the rich and creamy taste of the drink. A tingling warmth spread throughout her body, and she was curious to know the taste of the marshmallows next.
“Ah, sorry, forgot about this. It just feels great making drinks for someone again.” Pamela smiled, offering Sayi a small spotless teaspoon. She continued cleaning the table, ensuring that it was in pristine condition.
Sayi scooped out the marshmallows, enjoying its fluffy texture and sweet flavour. Before she knew it, she had finished the entire drink in one go. The migraine she felt earlier had eased up, just like before.
“I am surprised that an elder dragon like you suffers from constant migraines. It must be extremely unpleasant, nevertheless.”
The drink relaxed Sayi’s mind, and without knowing, she started to speak about her troubles.
“Interdimensonal travelling frequently has its setbacks.”
“Isn’t it troublesome for you? You could just put a stop so you won’t suffer.”
“Hmm.” Sayi hummed to herself before she blinked rapidly, realising where they were and what she was doing. “Why am I talking about this to you? In this void?”
Sayi clicked her tongue, keeping the table and Pamela took a step back. There was a knowing smile on Pamela’s face, as if this wasn’t the first time this had happened to the people around her who drank her drinks.
“Hei’nah kal fez’ka dan.”
Pamela widened her eyes. “Wh-what? Who was that? I don’t think it was either of us speaking.”
“That language…” Sayi pondered for a moment before she sighed, scratching her head. “Why are you showing up again, you busybody–”
“Gun’te yesl’tah van!”
Pamela tilted her head in puzzlement, listening to the otherworldly voice that was speaking all around her in an unknown language. They did not sound malicious or wrathful, instead, their tone reflected their curiosity.
Just then, Pamela was struck by an unseen spell and fainted.
❅❅❅
The next second, Pamela bolted awake and she found herself in a new environment. She was in a cosy cottage with artificial plants decorating the walls as sunlight poured in through the windows. The interior was furnished with multiple wooden chairs and tables, along with a sleek bar counter. There was a wooden stairway leading to the second floor of this cottage.
With each observation Pamela made, this cottage felt more like a cafe.
She was resting by the bay window and she slowly sat up, seeing a soft pillow below where her head was.
“...!”
There was a loud banging noise right beside Pamela, startling her.
“Wh-what is–”
She quickly searched for the source of the noise, and right beside her, she saw someone squishing their face against the glass pane.
❅❅❅
Featured Drinks:
- Goji(wolfberries) Berries Tea
image [https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1149018337/photo/goji-berry-infused-tea.jpg?s=2048x2048&w=is&k=20&c=eUVzJr9lou0vW9K5NUsJbKeErEXyAY-AjT5PefFfEMg=]
- Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows
image [https://media.istockphoto.com/id/459161857/photo/gourmet-hot-chocolate-milk.jpg?s=2048x2048&w=is&k=20&c=CHZyyXpT5PCV0pKPaEz36pH7MhFuUycwp99v0Uf5BGM=]
Tea Trivia of the Day:
When it comes to making matcha drinks, the Japanese matcha whisk, also known as chasen, is generally preferred over a metal whisk. Due to how the chasen is made, it separates the matcha powder without clumping and helps create froth for the matcha drink.