Cold rain poured down upon the city, blanketing it in a sheet of gloomy skies and cold winds. Katalina walked through this rain, her worn shoes barely protecting her as her feet soaked through with time, the rags she called clothes providing little protection as she trudged through the rain. Her thoughts were filled with concern over where to sleep tonight. Her usual cardboard box had been taken over by another looking for someplace to sleep.
As she wandered deeply in thought, her eyes scanning her surroundings for somewhere out of the rain, she stopped. To her left, she saw in big letters Jillian Valley Library. She was never a fan of books but had little choice and resolved herself to go inside.
Pushing open the glass doors, the inside was lonely, the only sound being that of her footsteps as she walked. She wandered down the isles of old dusty shelves, her fingertips brushing over the spines, and glazing over titles as she wandered as far back as possible. Soon, the tall shelves make their way to a small corner of the building, a shelf for old history to her left, and a window with a simple table to sit, at her front.
She approached the table, wringing out her hair and clothes as much as she could before pulling out a chair and sitting down with a sigh as she leaned her head onto her arms.
"Maybe the librarian is out for lunch, I'm sure they won't mind me taking a little nap here." She was cold, hungry, and so very tired, her eyes barely kept open as she gazed out the big window, watching the rain fall. She yawned, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
She slept peacefully until the sound of jingling chimes stirred her awake; her groggy eyes opened slowly as she looked around, seeing no one nearby. She rubbed her eyes and sat straight, mumbling under her breath, before noticing that something was different. She looked in front of her to see that there was a simple, pure white leather-bound book accented in gold. Her eyes glanced around once more, scanning for anyone nearby, but spotting no one. Her gaze turned back to the book before her as she hesitantly reached out to lift it up.
The book had no title or description; it was just a simple book with only an etching of butterfly wings on the front cover. She didn't really like reading, but perhaps she should at least do something to not get kicked out as a loiterer. Her free hand gently traced the butterfly etching before taking in a deep breath.
She shut her eyes tightly as she opened the book quickly, bracing herself for something. Moments passed before she slowly opened her eyes, realizing that nothing had happened, no bright light, no magic circles, or spooky words; it was just the chapter title.
She could not help but feel a bit disappointed, with how mysterious this book was and the fact that she hadn't placed it here. She figured that it would have at least been some sort of magic spellbook or door to an alternate dimension, but it was merely a book. "So much for little 'ol me getting anything interesting."
Starting on this page, she figured that she might give this mystery book a shot. The title read 'Chapter 1: Rainbow Butterfly.' As she was the only one here, no one could stop her from reading aloud.
"In a world lost to time, star flowers bloomed and the ocean of dreams flowed. Within these lands lay a power that could grant any wish a heart desired, the guardian of these lands resting in a field of flowers, the rainbow butterflies...flying...in?"
As she spoke these last words, a butterfly landed on the page, and its wings shimmed with a rainbow light as it walked across the page. Katalina's face was filled with confusion, it was pouring rain outside, how did this butterfly get in dry? Surely, she would have noticed a rainbow butterfly flying around if it came in with her.
She gently set the book down on the table, carefully bringing her hand closer to the butterfly, the tip of her finger barely brushing against it before it burst out in a flash of light.
Her ears were ringing as she slowly opened her eyes, squinting at bright light as she tried to focus her vision. Soon things came into better view, and her mind slowly realized that the bright light she was squinting at was in fact the sun. She whipped her head around and looked at everything around her, she was sitting in a field of what looked to be poppies, but she had never seen ones that were blue with speckled dots before, and she realized she was on the ground as well, the grass caressing her like a soft bed made of the finest materials.
"Where am I...?" She wondered aloud, not believing in what she was seeing. She was inside the library just moments ago, but now she was in a field that looked as if it went on forever.
"You're in Luminara stranger." Katalina's head snapped towards who spoke to her, standing before her was a bit of a lanky man wearing a simple button-up shirt with a brown vest that had too many pins on it, but his most notable features were his eyes that seemed to hold the rainbow inside of it, his short white hair that looked as soft as a cloud, and a pair of pixie wings that shimmered with the same rainbow hue as the butterfly she had seen earlier.
"Etheri-huh?" She was still in shock from the situation, and now this stranger was standing in front of her, he seemed to be speaking but she just couldn't hear the words right now, it took a few attempts but she finally snapped back to attention "Wuh?"
The stranger then smiled. "I said that you don't look like you're from here, and that's okay, My name is Aiden! and I'll give you a tour of this place." She didn't see a reason to deny him this, nor did he give much of a chance for her to speak before she saw him walking off. She scrambled her feet to rush after him, nearly tripping over her own two feet as he merely strode across the field, clutched in her hands still was the storybook she was reading in the first place.
"So welcome to Luminara, this is the Star Field. I will be showing you here and on the way to the capital; now I have never really met a human before, but you look really interesting! do all humans look like you?"
Katalina was trying to think, either she was dreaming and this was just a very vivid dream, or this was real and she was taking the place of the main heroine of this story, who she assumed was also a human girl.
"Oh uh, I mean not all humans look like me, there's maybe people who look close to it..." She trailed off trying to convince herself that this was just a dream. Aiden seemed to notice her distressed expression and slowed down, walking beside her with a concerned look.
"Are you okay human? I mean you don't look very happy, did something bad happen?" He questioned gently but merely got a forced smile and a dismissal wave of her hand.
"Oh, don't worry about it, I'm just realizing that this is all a dream!" She laughed awkwardly, feeling a gloved hand rest on her shoulder and stopping her in her tracks.
"Okay Human, I want you to touch the grass" She looked at him in confusion before he gestured to the ground. "Do it please?" She stared for a moment before slowly crouching down and touching the grass below her. "Okay, now tell me how it feels."
"It feels... Soft, silky-" She plucked a piece up to rub between her fingers- "Very soothing to the touch." He nodded, at her words, a smile on his face before he spoke.
"Then wouldn't that mean that this isn't a dream? how would you know what it feels like so vividly if it was?" He had a point: how would she know how the grass felt if it was just a dream? With this new revelation, merely left the fact that she was sucked into this book, unable to get back home.
Aiden watched her pace back and forth, gripping her head as she was panicking, her mind racing with what to do. How would she survive here? She is just a human, a human who cannot survive in her own home world, let alone some fantasy land. How would she even get home?
Then, it hits her. home.
She doesn't have a home, her home is whatever cardboard box she can find and makes a livable space in a pinch. She looked at Aiden and her thoughts finally came together. 'Why am I so worried about leaving? I don't have a house; I don't even have dinner for the night. People always talk about escaping reality in books so, maybe I should just let myself get lost in a book for once.'
She walked over to Aiden, a determined look on her face "Okay Aiden, show me this capital!" He grinned widely, excited by her enthusiasm.
"Follow me then human!" He gestured for her to follow as he trotted off his wings, making the gentle sound of a chime as he hurried off. The sound made her briefly wonder if this sound was related to when she woke up but decided to push it to the back burner as she ran after him.
During the trip towards the capital, Aiden kept asking all sorts of questions, mostly about what being human was like.
"So you're telling me, humans have to go into a room to get rid of the food they just ate?" He made a disgusted face at the idea that humans have to use the bathroom, Katalina laughing at his expression.
"Yeah, I know it's so gross, so pixies-" she paused briefly- "or uh, fairies? I'm still unsure of what you are, but if you guys don't have to do that, do you guys still shower?"
He nodded. "We do have showers, but I enjoy cleaning off my wings at the ocean of dreams." Katalina tilted her head, listening to him speak as if this was common knowledge.
"What's the Ocean of dreams? Actually, scratch that, it's an ocean of dreams, it's self-explanatory." He chuckled at her response."It's not just an ocean of dreams, it's the ocean of dreams!"
She stared blankly back at him.
"Yeah, because that totally makes sense..." That got another snort out of him as her gaze shifted elsewhere."So Aiden, How come you're the only fae around here? I thought you guys were all about nature and plant stuff."
"Well, we are! It's just that this-" he gestured in a sweeping motion- "is the Starflower Field, I just happened to be taking a nap earlier here, but the others are either near the capital or in the capital."
Katalina tapped her chin in thought. "So, how far is this capital?" He gave a cheerful grin "About five days from here!" The statement made Katalina trip, face-planting into the ground before quickly scrambling to her knees, staring at him in disbelief.
"F-Five days?! My legs won't last that long!" He didn't seem bothered by this information, just merely shrugging.
"Oh don't worry, there's a shortcut portal not too far from here, I came this way with a friend of mine since she wanted to pick up some flowers for her kids today." Kids? He must be friends with a mother.
"Okay, so we meet up with this friend, and then you show me around the capital?" He nodded in confirmation. "Well, that's all good, but where am I gonna live? I'm not from here and I don't know where I'd even go."
He rubbed his chin in thought, his face scrunching up as if he was trying to turn old rusted gears back on in his head. "Oh! we'll just ask Chime if she has a spare room!" Katalinka blinked at him for a moment.
"...Who?" He then realized he didn't explain and just playfully tapped the top of his head with his knuckles, sticking out his tongue.
"Right, you're not from here. Chime is the friend I mentioned, She should be right up ahead." He hopped over a small river that cut through the field, his wings fluttering to help make the jump, Katalina shortly following after him once she got a running start to jump over, nearly falling right in before balancing herself out.
"Ugh, how come I couldn't have been teleported into another world with something cool, like magic, or wings, or even just some improved strength! I feel jipped out of my cool fantasy hero powers." She grumbled some more before her ears picked up the sound of a windchime. She knew that Aiden sounded like a chime when his wings moved around, but this one sounded different, more gentle as if it was a wooden chime instead of metallic. Out from a thick brush of flowers popped out a pair of wings, before the body it was attached to. Out came a bit of a pudgier woman with soft brown hair and a sundress that went to her ankles. She was carrying a basket of flowers as she looked at Aiden.
"Aiden, there you are! I was worried about you when I couldn't see you" He merely shrugged.
"Ah c'mon chime, I was only taking a nap!" The woman that Katalina now knows is Chime raised an eyebrow at him.
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"You know the last time you took a nap, a skycarp nearly scooped you up as its next dinner." he laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.
"W-well, besides where I like to sleep, I brought something cool, a human!" He gestured to Katalina, Chime's attention now on the new girl. She moved closer to examine her, before licking her thumb and wiping away a stain on her cheek
"You're covered in dirt, and your clothes look like they're gonna fall off at any moment, where are your parents?" Katalina awkwardly looked aside, grinding her teeth together briefly.
"I... Don't have those." An awkward silence fell over the three of them before Chime coughed a bit. "W-well, you still shouldn't be in these, your clothes look soaked too, you're probably cold." Surprisingly she didn't feel all that cold, but then again the sun felt so warm and comforting here, Though her clothes did feel uncomfortable against her skin.
"Come with me, we can go back to my place and get you something warm to wear" Chime gently grabbed Katalina's hand, gripping loosely so if she felt uncomfortable she could pull away at any time. "And please don't go running off Aiden, I don't wanna have to go looking for you." He laughed awkwardly but didn't protest as Chime led them both towards a pair of trees.
These trees were large and tall, with a thick trunk and many very healthy leaves on the branches, a few branches twisting together to make an almost arch-like shape between them. Katalina stared at these large trees in wonder, before being tugged gently through the arch. Once she crossed over, the landscape of almost endless flowers shifted to a thick forest. Trees and flora populated the area, leaving only a thin path forward as the only clearing.
Chime held onto Katalina's hand as they walked down the path, Aiden nearly skipping in his step as he followed behind. "So, what's being a human like? I mean, I've heard a bit about humans, and how they steal the names of people foolish enough to give them up." Katalina chuckled and shook her head
"No, that's not humans." He made a curious face.
"Oh, okay well what about hiding under bridges and not letting you pass without riddles?" That made her laugh harder at how absurd that sounded.
"No, that's trolls, humans are actually pretty boring. We don't fly, do magic, or breathe fire. Frankly, humans are pretty boring compared to you." Aiden's wings fluttered, his head tilting to the side.
"But Humans are far more interesting, in every book I've read, you guys are super tough and resilient, you go through some of the worst and harshest things and yet always somehow come out on top." Katalina smiled, it was true that humans were pretty determined. "You're like the world's greatest cockroaches!" Never mind, she didn't really like being compared to cockroaches. Before she could give a response, Chime piped up.
"We're here!" She gently tugged Katalina through another archway, the sun briefly blinding her as her vision slowly came to. her eyes shot open wide at the sight before her. Towering spires adorned with vibrant flowers and sparkling crystals reached toward the sky, creating a multi-tiered city that seemed to defy gravity. Pixies flitted about, while fairies with iridescent wings soared gracefully through the air.
The streets, woven with luminescent cobblestones, buzzed with activity as magical creatures of all shapes and sizes conducted their daily lives. Vibrant marketplaces filled with stalls adorned in exotic blooms and shimmering fabrics that draped over the marketplace cast the area in a rainbow-hued glow.
As she was guided through the busy streets of the capital city, she observed the residents and surroundings, watching as bridges made of living vines moved to let folks walk to different levels of the capital city. Glancing off the edge of the tier she stood on, she saw many more tiers below her, with the last tier having a wall that wrapped around the entire capital. She then turned her gaze upwards.
At the peak of this city was a castle, with spires that almost pierced the clouds in height, with banners that flowed freely in the wind. at the top of the main building of the castle was a large clear crystal that seemed to reflect the sunlight with a cascade of rainbow colors, creating spotlights of color randomly throughout the city. She was so amazed by the sights of the city that she hardly noticed that Chime and Aiden were speaking to her until she felt a hand poke her cheek.
She jumped with a start, staring into Chime's worried face. "Are you okay? I know the city can be kinda overwhelming, but we brought you someplace to get you some new clothes" Chime gestured towards the building they stood in front of. on the sign, it said 'Imaginique boutique', looking through the windows, it looked like any normal clothing store, but at the back of the store there were a few person-sized tubes with handles on them.
Chime guided Katalina inside, bringing her over to the tubes and grabbing the handle, opening it up, and gesturing her to go inside. "Go on, you just go inside, close it up, and think about what you'd want to wear and it will replace your clothes with whatever you're thinking about with a perfect fit." Katalina looked at the tube suspiciously, but slowly walked inside, the door closing behind her and leaving her alone for now with her thoughts.
She tried racking her brain over something, anything that she'd want to wear, but her mind was coming up blank. However, just before giving up, the brief flash of a dress comes across her thoughts, just long enough for this thing to work its magic. A puff of some kind of smoke appeared, making her cough before the door slid open.
Katalina, no longer in her raggedy clothes, was wearing a beautiful ball gown, embroidered with stars and flowers with a lace trim. Once the smoke fully cleared, her face flushed red at the outfit she was wearing, hardly believing this thing actually worked.
"What a beautiful dress! though probably not the best for exploring the city in" Katalina nods fervently before slamming the door back shut. Her face felt like it was on fire as she leaned her back against the door. This dress was on her mind just for a moment because she remembered an old princess story that was always at the orphanage, and how beautiful the princess looked in her wonderful ballgown.
She gently slapped her cheeks, clearing her mind so she could focus properly now that she knew how this machine thing worked. She started cycling through outfits, going through at least twelve before she settled on a simple black crop top hoodie and matching black bell-bottom pants with simple boots. Chime clapped, a grin on her face at the outfit presented to her.
"You look lovely dear~ but are you sure you won't get cold with your tummy showing like that?" Katalinta merely hugged herself in response with a gentle smile as Chime gestured to her exposed stomach. "Oh I'm not worried about that, this is much warmer compared to those wet rags I was wearing earlier, it's also so much more comfortable!" as if to emphasize her point, she twirled around. "And these boots, they feel so comfortable I feel like I could walk for hours and not get tired!" likely just her mind excited over new things, but she didn't bother thinking too hard about it.
Aiden peeked his head out from behind Chime, whistling at Katalina's new look. "Lookin good human!" He gave a thumbs up before striding over, gesturing towards the door with an exaggerated bow. "Now that lady chime's job is done, may I have the pleasure of escorting you around my fair lady?" He spoke in such a posh accent that she couldn't help but giggle at this. "Of course monsieur~ how could I ever deny such a humble and kind request from a fine gentleman such as yourself?" She tried her best to keep a straight face before both burst into a fit of laughter, chime even chuckling at the sight.
Aiden straightened up, turning to chime. "I'll take it from here, you can head on home and get ready for the kids I know are gonna get dropped on you" Chime did not look bothered at all at the idea of it, if anything she looked excited. "Of course, you be gentle on the human okay?"
Aiden rolled his eyes, "Okay Mom."
Like a burst of lightning, he was zipping out the door, not waiting on Katalina much until he was already a bit up the street. She sighed, thanking Chime for her help before trotting out the door, jogging to at least try and keep some sort of sight of him.
He was a fast man, his long strides aided by his wings fluttering whenever he hopped to give him more distance as Katalina struggled to keep up. He only stopped every so often to show off a building or landmark, she hardly had much time to even process the information till he was running off yet again.
It was nearing sundown when he finally stopped properly, Katalina wobbling as she followed after, taking a shaky few steps before just collapsing onto the ground from exhaustion. He stood over her, nudging her body with his foot.
"Are you dead human...? Human?" He kept poking till he got a begrudging groan from her, rolling onto her back to stare up at him.
"I don't know how someone can have that much energy, this is the most running I've done since... well ever." She was still trying to catch her breath, her lungs burning as her legs ached terribly from the physical activity. He didn't seem too concerned over it as he kept poking.
"C'mon, I'm sure you have enough energy for one more spot, I promise it'll be worth your while~!" She briefly considered just letting herself die right here right now, but he stared at her with such big puppy dog eyes, that she couldn't help but sigh. "Fine, but no more running!" He nodded enthusiastically before taking out a strip of black fabric, he dropped it onto her face before taking a step back.
"Put that on, the spot I'm gonna show you is a surprise, so no peeking." She rolled her eyes but stood up slowly, covering her eyes with the blindfold nice and tight. Once the blindfold was on, she felt him grab her sleeve and start gently tugging her along. She tried to question him about where he was taking her, but she merely got 'It's a surprise!' in response every single time, so she eventually gave up and let him lead her.
After briefly tripping over rocks, and hearing what sounded like her boots hitting water, she felt him stop and let go of her sleeve, moving behind her to undo the blindfold. She squinted at the sudden light, her eyes aching a bit as she slowly adjusted back to the new sight.
The sky was a gorgeous gradient of lavender to a lovely peach color, the sun reflecting off the surface of the large ocean before her. The ocean had what looked to be stars floating all throughout the water, thick bundles of clouds that seemed to glitter in the setting sun floated just above the water, gently moving across the surface. Katalina stepped forward, wanting to see this beauty even closer, but stopped as she realized that they were on a cliff.
She took a peek just over the edge, estimating that this drop had to be at least three thousand feet if not more. But while she was distracted, she didn't notice Aiden approach behind her until she felt a shoe at her lower back as she was kicked off the edge. The wind whipped past her as she was plummeting to her doom, there was no way she could survive this drop into the water, and even if she did she would have taken so much damage that she couldn't hope to swim away. She looked above her as she saw Aiden at the cliff's edge, a grin on his face as tears welled in her eyes.
“So much for trusting people…” Of course, being brought into a new world would just lead to her death, she should have known. But complaining would get her nowhere, there is nothing left for her to do but just accept this. She closed her eyes and let herself fall, tears falling from her eyes.
Her eyes snapped back open when she heard something else. In front of her eyes was Aiden, also plummeting down. "W-what are you doing?!" she exclaimed, confused why he was falling with her as her tears blurred her vision, but he didn't respond, he just pointed down. She looked down below her and felt herself hit something soft. it seemed to almost squish down before launching her back up. After a few bounces both of them stopped as she looked disoriented and confused, barely registering what happened as she pats whatever it is that she landed on.
Looking down at it, both of them were on one of the clouds she saw floating over the surface of the water. It was so much softer than she could have ever imagined, enough to briefly make her forget how she even was able to survive that kind of fall onto a cloud. She looked at Aiden who seemed to be laughing, and something about that just made her angry. Her hand plunged into the water before taking out one of the stars, she then spiked it onto Aiden's head, stopping his laugh abruptly.
"Ow! Hey what was that for?" He looked pouty for a moment before his face became a look of surprise. Tears streamed down her enraged face as she hiccuped. "What's it for? it's for making me think you were killing me! shoving me off a cliff like that, that's how people die in my world!"
She started furiously rubbing away the tears that kept falling, Aiden's wings drooping as he saw her cry. He moved closer, his hands reaching to touch her but stopping short before pulling them back towards himself.
"Hey, I... I didn't think you'd react like that, I figured you'd like the rush and being close to the water, I'm sorry I...I forgot that you can't fly." The air was tense between them now, she was sniffling as her tears were slowly calming down, opting to just look away from him and lean against the edge of the cloud, her fingers touching the water. “Whatever.”
Now that she was closer, the water had this almost shimmer to it as her fingers lazily moved through it, the stars in the water being the only light down there in the deep dark sea, it was as if the night sky was right below her. She wasn't going to forgive him, but she could at least understand that he didn't know how humans worked, it didn't excuse what he did, but she would at least be understanding of it.
Since she was turned away, she couldn't see how Aiden was gently hitting his own head with his fist, regretting the impulsive move of kicking her off the cliff. He could have at least explained what was going to happen before doing it.
He sighed, looking back at her as she stared out at the sea, a tired look on her face. He may not know anything about humans, but he could tell that she looked so exhausted from today. "Hey uh...So human, since you're not from here, do you... Want to go back home?" He spoke gently, not wanting to upset her more than he already did.
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, staying silent before speaking up. "A little, This isn't my home so of course I'd miss it, but there's nothing for me in my home world. I don't have friends there, or family. I don't even have a stable home to sleep at, so maybe this world is better for me." He furrowed his brows at her words, nudging her with his foot.
"Even though you're mad, I want you to know that I'll be your friend. This world is nice and there are lots of kind people, so even if you could go home, know that you'll have a home here too!" She turned her head to look at him properly, trying her best to keep the upset look on her face, but it just melted away when she gazed into those swirling rainbow eyes of his.
"Thanks." She murmured as she leaned her head back on the cloud, watching in silence now as they floated slowly over the water, her body losing the last bit of energy she had from the anger she held earlier, replaced only with exhaustion as her eyes were slowly closing.
"Hey, Aiden?" She spoke weakly.
"Yeah?"
"My name is Katalina, so don't call me just Human." She heard him laugh as her eyes finally shut, hearing his voice one last time before she drifted off to sleep.
"Goodnight, Katalina..."
She sat up with a start, snorting as she looked around. She was back in the library, the rain had stopped, and a hand on her shoulder was gently shaking her.
"Excuse me, the Library is closing soon, so please be ready to leave within the next ten minutes" Katalina just nodded as the librarian walked off, leaving her alone again.
She rubbed her head confused, was all of that just a dream? If so then that was the most vivid dream she'd ever experienced. She looked down at the book, there was a spot of drool on there, but besides that, she noticed that the page she was on was different. The page read 'Chapter 2: The Dewdrop Kids'.
When did she even turn the pages? probably some prank by someone who came in while she was dozing off. But even with that possibility, she couldn't help but feel a bit hurt, even if she would miss Earth, she kinda wished this other world was real, that Aiden and Chime were real. She resigned herself to the fact that they were nothing more than some weird dream when a scrap of cloth fell from her head onto the page. She reached out to grip the cloth before looking down at herself properly, she was still wearing the outfit from the dream.
Her eyes widened as she realized If she was still wearing this, then that meant that Aiden were real, that Luminara was real! Her eyes drifted to the mysterious book, her hand reaching out to trace the page before she heard the librarian call out to her, reminding her they were closing up soon. She closed the book up and hid it behind one of the shelves, making sure it was in a spot where only she could find it before leaving the library.
Stepping outside into the crisp air, she looked up at the clouds that were parting to let in the warm sun. Katalina felt determined to go back there, to see them again, to see that world again.
Because like Aiden said, that world was now her home as well.