Chapter 3: The Encounter
Leticia opened her eyes.
But this was not ordinary silence. It pressed down on her, suffocating, as if the air itself had lost all life. No sounds, no landmarks, no sense of time.
She expected to see fire, darkness, the scaffold, the executioner… anything but this.
Thick white mist swirled around her, creeping along the ground like a living entity. No walls, no sky, no horizon. Only emptiness.
Leticia frowned. Her body felt strange—light yet unnaturally stiff. She tried to take a step—the mist parted gently but pressed against her skin as if it had weight.
Somewhere in the distance, a muffled sound echoed, like footsteps reverberating through infinity. Leticia's heart began to beat faster, not from fear, but from the instinctive anticipation of the unknown.
"Am I alive?"
Memories struck her like a sudden blow. The execution, the axe, the sunlight. She was supposed to be dead. But this… this didn't feel like death. Leticia froze, then heard someone breathing. It was steady, yet unnervingly clear, tearing through the silence. She turned sharply.
A girl stood before her. They stared at each other in silence.
The girl looked strange—golden hair, unfamiliar clothing. What kind of fabric is that? Too light, too free-flowing.
Leticia narrowed her eyes. Nothing like that existed in her world.
Aya, too, was studying her, unable to look away. Leticia's clothes looked as if they had been worn for years—the fabric was frayed, the edges unevenly cut, and dark stains marked the hem. Her long black hair was tangled, and her ruby-red eyes were cold, as if evaluating her.
But while Aya's gaze held astonishment and unease, Leticia showed neither surprise nor fear. She did not panic, did not let emotions rule her. This world might be strange, but she knew all too well what death, fear, and inevitability felt like. She had been taught since childhood to hide weakness, to restrain emotions, to endure. No matter what happened, she had to stay in control.
Somewhere in the distance, deep within the mist, a sound echoed—a faint whisper. Aya felt her palms grow slick with sweat. Her heart pounded against her ribs.
"Is this a joke? A cosplay? Or…?"
Aya took a step back.
— "Who… are you?" — she asked nervously, glancing around.
Leticia narrowed her eyes slightly. This girl's speech was… wrong.
The pronunciation, the rhythm—something foreign, as if from another world. Yet she understood the words. Her way of speaking was slightly archaic, like something out of an old book or a theatrical performance, but the meaning was clear.
— "I could ask you the same," — Leticia responded cautiously, studying her. — "My name is Leticia."
A distant sound came again—a quiet but piercing echo of unseen footsteps.
"She has an accent?" Aya thought, surprised.
— "And yours? What is your name?"
— "Aya," — she answered, still not looking away.
— "Where are we?" — Leticia asked.
— "I… I don't know," — Aya swallowed nervously. — "The last thing I remember… I…" She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening in horror. — "I died."
They both froze. The words carried weight, slicing through reality like a cold blade, sinking into their consciousness. Aya clutched her head, her breathing growing erratic. Her heart clenched, panic spreading through her chest. Every fiber of her being screamed that this was impossible, but her body trembled with the undeniable truth.
— "No, no, this is madness! This has to be a dream!" — her voice cracked. — "Or a nightmare? Or…"
— "You died too?" — Leticia asked suddenly, her tone eerily calm.
Aya's head snapped up, her brows furrowing. Chaos swirled in her gaze. She couldn't make sense of it. Her thoughts bounced between trying to rationalize the situation and the terror of the unknown.
— "'Too'?!"
Leticia nodded slowly.
— "I was executed."
Aya turned pale. Her mind refused to accept this as reality, but something cold clenched at her heart.
— "Executed…" — she repeated in a trembling voice.
The word felt like it belonged to another era. Aya looked at Leticia more closely—her clothing, her manner of speech. This… this couldn't be a coincidence. Aya blinked, still unwilling to believe what was happening. Her gaze flicked over Leticia, noting more and more details that didn't fit her understanding.
This… couldn't be a coincidence. Aya blinked again.
The fabric of Leticia's dress looked thick, heavy, clearly not synthetic. Even her hair seemed slightly different—thicker, rougher in texture than an ordinary person's. And her nails? They were slightly longer than usual but neatly trimmed.
"Could she really be from another time?"
Leticia, in turn, examined Aya's strange outfit. The fabric was too smooth, too elastic, and none of the seams appeared handmade. Such garments were unheard of in the Valshart Empire.
— "What is this clothing?" — Leticia finally asked, resisting the urge to touch the odd material.
— "It's… just a leather jacket and a school skirt with a white blouse," — Aya mumbled, breaking the heavy silence.
— "Jacket? School skirt?" — Leticia repeated the words as if they were foreign.
"Isn't it too short and bold by Valshart's standards?"
Aya bit her lip. "Oh god, how do I explain to a medieval person what a jacket is?"
— "Where are you from?" — Aya asked cautiously.
Leticia tilted her head slightly.
— "The Valshart Empire."
Aya froze.
— "The… what?"
She had never heard of such a place. Then it hit her.
They were from different worlds.
The mist began to shift. It swirled, as if reacting to their realization. Leticia tensed.
She took a few steps, carefully watching the mist around them. Its movements felt too deliberate, as if controlled by an unseen force. Leticia reached out, and the smoky tendrils recoiled from her fingers but did not dissipate. She slowly ran her palm through the air, trying to grasp something tangible.
Nothing. Only cold, empty air.
— "This place… is watching us."
Aya spun around.
— "W-watching? What?"
Leticia clenched her fists.
— "It's… waiting."
At that moment, the air trembled.
A whisper. Faint, distant, foreign.
Both girls went still.
— "Did you hear that?" — Aya whispered.
Leticia nodded slowly. The mist around them began to move faster. And they both felt it—
A presence.
But not each other's.
— "We… we need to get out of here," — Aya exhaled shakily.
— "Where? Everything looks the same…" — Aya glanced around in frustration.
— "Anywhere—just away from this place," — Leticia answered quietly.
They didn't know where they were.
But one thought had already taken root in their minds:
They were not alone. And it was coming for them.