Mia’s body landed heavily on the ground. Even before she opened her eyes, a strange sensation came over her. First, she was alive. Then, the atmosphere had completely changed. During the few seconds when adrenaline completely numbed her body, she skeptically realized that things were taking a rather odd turn.

She could feel grass tickling her cheeks and feet, sunlight caressing her face, and the pure air of nature entering her nostrils. There was no trace of the acidic pollution that city dwellers had become so accustomed to. This wasn’t exactly what she expected from falling off a rooftop in the middle of the city. Was she dead? Perhaps she had ended up in Heaven...

After the initial shock, her sore limbs began to slowly awaken. Her face twisted in a grimace of pain, and her muscles contracted as her injuries made themselves known. Instinctively, she curled up in a fetal position, her arms encircling her midsection where the pain was sharpest. The movement made her almost want to scream as pain shot through her.

When her eyes opened, little black dots danced above her head. Her pulse pounded in her skull. Any attempt to move felt like slow agony. She closed her eyes again, feeling her consciousness gradually fade.

“Lily, do you see what I see?” she could hear amidst the ringing in her ears.

“Who is she? Do you recognize her?” asked the second voice.

“No idea. Oz, do you sense anything?”

Mia didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. Her mind slipped into unconsciousness, exhausted by the pain.

When she finally came to hours later, the first thing she noticed was that she was lying in a small, comfortable bed, and she no longer felt any pain. It had completely vanished, replaced by heavy fatigue and the sensation of having not slept for days.

Her eyelids lifted slowly, struggling to stay closed. A thin, blurry film on her retinas made her vision hazy. She felt like she had suddenly become nearsighted during her sleep.

She tried to sit up automatically to raise herself into a seated position, but she was abruptly stopped as a hand gently pressed her shoulder against the soft mattress. Even without seeing the person to whom the hand belonged, Mia could tell it was a female hand by how gentle and delicate the fingers felt.

“Take it easy. Your body still needs to recover. You were in quite a state, you know. Nothing we can’t heal, of course, but your body underwent a serious trauma,” spoke the familiar female voice from the clearing even before Mia could observe her face.

As her eyeballs adjusted to her awakened state and the ambient light, she had to blink several times to take in what was in front of her.

That was it, she was dead and gone. That was the only plausible explanation her mind could find. The young woman appeared to be entirely human at first glance. Brown hair, brown eyes, a delicate face, a slender figure, a feminine presence. Normal.

Except for an enormous pair of wings that shimmered as fine as silk, swaying behind her back, framing her petite figure. They reminded her of butterflies with iridescent wings that reflected all the colors of the rainbow depending on the angle you looked at them. Except, they were human-sized, not insect-sized.

“What the hell is going on? Is this what afterlife looks like?” she muttered, her mouth dry.

“Oh, sorry, here.”

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The supernatural woman handed her patient a glass of water that Mia clumsily grasped with her two tired arms, raising herself just enough to drink properly. The cold liquid flowing down her parched throat brought a sense of relief that eased her somewhat. Once empty, the butterfly-woman took it back to place it on the nightstand next to the bed.

“Alright. You should rest, but I’m guessing you have a lot of questions. I’ll explain a few things, then you’ll go back to sleep. First things first, I’m Lily, and no, you’re not dead,” she said with a smile, probably finding the train of Mia’s thoughts amusing.

Now that her thirst was quenched, Mia could focus on her thoughts again. She absorbed the clarifications from her interlocutor, thinking silently for a few seconds, her brain running at full speed. Her only logical explanation had just been refuted. A disguise, then? She sighed, too exhausted to start formulating alternative theories. She might as well listen to what Lily had to say.

“I’m not quite sure how you ended up in that state. Your injuries looked like a bad fall. From several meters, I’d say. Honestly, if we hadn’t found you a few moments later, you’d probably be dead by now. It’s fortunate we happened to be passing by to collect some herbs, and Oz sensed something unusual... Anyway, that’s not important.”

Mia clearly wasn’t drained enough to keep her eyes from rolling. Lily seemed like one of those people who could spew an incredible amount of words in mere seconds, punctuating her narrative with numerous hand gestures to illustrate her points.

She was going to give Mia a headache with her boundless energy. The young woman reminded her a lot of Eva. That thought brought a fond smile to her lips, her mind drifting towards memories with her friend. Unperturbed, Lily continued her monologue, ignoring the blonde’s musings.

“Several broken bones and ribs, some internal bleeding, a nasty head trauma, and as a bonus, a hangover,” she laughed, winking at Mia.

To say she wanted to hide under the covers right now was an understatement. Dealing with a massive hangover wasn’t already an easy task, but ending up in the hospital, or at least what she logically assumed to be one, due to alcohol... Mia wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh at herself or disappear out of embarrassment. She usually ended up choosing the first option, but that didn’t stop her from doubting.

That feeling quickly shifted as something occurred to her, defying all logic now that the obvious hit her. How could she feel no pain when, according to what Lily was saying, she hadn’t missed herself? If she had come so close to death, she should be struggling to hold onto life right now, not casually discussing her misadventures.

“It’s... how is this possible?” she asked.

“Hm? How is what possible?” Lily replied, a bit puzzled.

“Morphine? Am I drugged up on painkillers? Is that why I’m super tired and seeing... hallucinations?”

It was like a lightbulb turned on in her brain. Of course! Everything made sense now. No pain, wings, the complete trip... The experience was strongly reminiscent of the time Maxime had brought back some hallucinogenic mushrooms to a party for the group of friends to try together. Mia had a very good memory of it, even though one time was enough for her.

Lily burst into laughter at her questions. Mia swallowed hard, doubt about the validity of her theory creeping into her mind.

“Oh, sure, you’ve never seen a fairy on the job, my apologies! We haven’t used painkillers for... well, we’ve never used them, actually. That’s a human thing,” she explained, her voice trembling with her past mirth.

Blonde’s eyes widened, and her eyebrows rose with disbelief halfway up her forehead, the woman’s explanations being so bizarre. Had she ended up in a psychiatric ward? She had the strange feeling that each thought the other was a wildly delusional lunatic. Or perhaps this was just a hidden camera show. Either way, it was best to play along.

“Excuse me? Where are we, exactly?”

“At the Arena. It’s... we’ll explain more later. Listen, all you need to know for now is that you’re safe and sound, and this isn’t your original world. I know it must sound completely crazy, but Vassili will come to explain everything to you when you’ve regained your strength. In the meantime, try not to overthink and get some rest.”

The fairy smiled at her and got up to leave the room. Mia didn’t take her eyes off her, fixated on her wings moving in sync with her steps, cutting through the air. The details of the structure were so incredible that she completely forgot about her questions. It was just hard to believe that a costume could look so... real, even with today’s technology.

When she was finally alone, the blonde fell heavily onto the mattress and closed her eyes, deciding to follow Lily’s advice and give up any attempt to rationalize what was happening to her in the immediate moment.

“I’m clearly in the middle of a delusion,” she whispered to herself.

Clearing her mind, she quickly succumbed to a deep sleep devoid of dreams.