Chapter 3
The Familiar Face
•••
"Wake up," A familiar voice interrupted my dream as I opened my eyes to warm sunshine falling on my face. My headache was completely gone, and I felt entirely rested. I wasn't sure if I liked the idea that my body felt better across the barrier. I wasn't sure what that could mean. "Lord Dryden wants to show you Landria," Chefford informed me as I sat up slowly. Although my head felt better, I didn't want to take any chances by getting up too quickly resulting in the blood rushing faster to my head than it should.
"Chefford?" I muttered as I blinked and rubbed my eyes. I dreamt that I was back in Nortadane with my family, my whole family, only to wake up and see it was all just a dream. I was past the dark wall and sleeping in the Monster's home. I suddenly felt like crying again, but I knew that would make my head feel even worse.
"Sir Chefford," he snapped, "but, yes, it's me. It's also time for you to get ready."
"I don't want to go," I stated.
"I know that you were taken from your home, but this part of Landria is a far cry from the sad Nortadane you're used to. If you tried to enjoy this new land, you would. Now, get up. Lord Dryden won't ask me twice to get you out of bed."
"Why are you the one to wake me? Isn't there a female—"
"Female servant? No. There's only me today. Yay for you," he rolled his eyes sarcastically. "I'm not here to dress you, Oceana, I'm here to wake you. Now, get up. Your bath is ready. The bathroom is directly across the hall, and there are clothes in the wardrobe you can wear. Better and more comfortable clothes."
"I don't want to wear a nightgown out," I muttered.
"There are more clothes in the wardrobe than a nightgown," Chefford huffed before stalking off and slamming the door behind him.
I could tell we were going to be great friends...
I didn't care that Chefford didn't like me, for I didn't like him or Dryden either. I didn't like anything or anyone here, and I wanted to go home. I was tired of my body buzzing from the magic surrounding me, I was tired of the false beauty that I knew couldn't be real, and I was tired of the pain the Monsters constantly put us through. They assumed they were better because our Mother blessed them with magic, but they weren't. They were worse because they used their magic to overcome the humans with different ideas, and the Monsters ate them. They ate them.
The thought of cannibalism caused my stomach to jolt, and I opened the door and ran across the hall to the bathroom. Once again, the turkey from last night pooled out into the toilet. It was better than vomiting on the floor, but I was tired of seeing chopped-up turkey.
After a few moments, all the turkey came up, and I wiped my mouth on some toilet paper. I was feeling weak from having nothing in my stomach, but I didn't want to eat anything. I wanted to take a bath. I wanted to clean off the magic, the vomit, the dirt, and everything else I'd accumulated over the past twenty-four hours. I flushed the toilet and turned to look at the bath. It was an oval tub with various colors of bubbles bubbling under the faucet.
In Nortadane, we had one wooden tub that we had to fill up by going outside and collecting water from the pump. Then we had to boil the water on the stove, so bathing was inconvenient back home. Here, the water steamed from the faucet, and I wondered what else this side of Landria had that Nortadane didn't. Clearly, it had everything we didn't.
I walked back to the bedroom to look through the wardrobe. Inside were about a dozen dresses I hadn't seen the night before when Dryden opened the wardrobe doors. The dresses were colorful, with many of them being pink. I hated pink, though, so I pulled out a royal blue dress with golden flowers along the hem and walked back to the bathroom.
Dryden was right about one thing—corsets weren't comfortable. After having mine on for so long, it was nice to pull off my dress and untie my corset. I could finally breathe again.
Undoing my hair, I let my long auburn hair fall past my shoulders before stepping into the warm water. The sudden warmth shocked me, but I eventually adjusted. As I settled into the colorful bubbles, I turned off the faucet and closed my eyes. I leaned my head against the back of the tub and tried to think of pleasant thoughts. However, it was hard to be positive considering my mother was back home alone, and my father and sister were God knows where.
Sighing, I hunched deeper into the water until—
"You have five minutes," Dryden spoke as he opened the door and came barging into the bathroom.
I shrieked as I slid under the water and bubbles even further.
"Chefford told me you didn't want to go. Don't you want to see the beautiful countryside?" He asked as he walked over and sat on the edge of the tub.
"What I want is for you to get out!" I hissed.
"There's nothing on you that I haven't seen, Oceana, and the bubbles are covering you quite nicely. I'm only here to tell you that Landria is beautiful. You know the old Landria the humans taught you about? That has beautiful country with flowers and trees and technology? That is the Landria of today, but you live in a lie. You need to see that I am not the liar here."
"I don't care about you being a liar, I care about you getting out!"
"Tell me you want to see Landria, and I'll leave," he smirked. His blue eyes shone with delight, but I wasn't amused. He assumed too many things were funny when they weren't, and it showed his insensitivity.
"No."
"Then I won't be leaving," he huffed as he crossed his arms. He wasn't wearing a robe today, but instead was wearing a button-down black blouse and emerald pants. I could almost tell that emerald and gold were his favorite colors from his home and his attire. However, that was beside the point.
"Get. Out."
"I will leave once you tell me you want to see the country. I'm not your enemy, Oceana, I'm here to help you."
I scoffed. He sounded as ridiculous as his red hair looked. "Help me? You can help me by getting out and letting me go back to my mother. All you Monsters think you're something great and can control us humans, but you aren't. You only care about yourselves. I'm not here so you can help me, I'm here because you think I'll conform to your ways and support your ideals. I don't support cannibalism, I don't support murder, I don't support you taking away my father and my sister and not allowing me to—" I stopped mid-sentence as the tears fell. I tried to be strong, but it was useless in a world where I was part of the prey.
I didn't understand why I was here, why I was alive, and why I was chosen to leave my home. I didn't understand anything, and I was tired of trying.
"I'm not asking you to conform to my ways, Miss Howl," he whispered as he stood up and walked toward the door. "If I wanted you to conform, don't you think I have enough power to make you?" He asked as he uncurled his left palm and purple sparks flew from his hand. The constant buzz I felt from the magic around me since entering the other side of the barrier intensified. My body felt on fire being so near to his power. "I'm just asking that you'll open your eyes and see who the real enemies are. We're not your enemies. We want what is best for the world—our world. Look around you, Oceana, whose world is full of light and stability? It sure as hell isn't the one you came from," he snapped before closing his palm and evaporating the flam. Quickly after the sparks dissipated, he left and slammed the bathroom door behind him. "Five minutes!" He yelled through the door before I heard his footsteps down the hall.
"Ugh!" I screamed before submerging myself fully under the water. I wanted to hold my breath, to come close to death since I wasn't going to meet death above the water. I wanted to face the darkness, the real darkness, not this made up aura of magic that was all a lie.
After a few moments, the water began pressing on my chest. I felt the pull of my lungs desiring air, but I wasn't going to give them another breath. I wasn't going to let them expand because I no longer wanted to live. In the past before the war, life was beautiful from what I heard and read. It was free and had meaning and was without fear. Now, my people were fearful wherever they went. They were fearful to walk outside of the stone wall around my town. They were fearful every June 21st thinking it was their time to die, when in reality it was their time to conform.
This life needed to end, and I wouldn't conform. I wouldn't allow the Monsters to invade my mind no matter what. I didn't care if my sister conformed, if my father conformed—I didn't care who conformed. I wasn't ready to give up my life and beliefs for something that destroyed my family.
My lungs kept constricting, and the pain became unbearable. However, I didn't allow myself to emerge. I was going to stop this, I wasn't going to—to—
Suddenly, I felt faint. I felt as if my body was growing lighter and floating on a cloud. There wasn't pain anymore. There was only light up ahead, and I could tell it wasn't light derived from magic. This was real light that portrayed another world beyond our own. Perhaps, it was Heaven. Perhaps, I could reach out and—
"Oceana," I heard, but I didn't open my eyes. I didn't want to hear my name. I wanted to reach the light. I was so close to touching the light, and I didn't want anything to distract me.
"Oceana, wake up," the voice said louder. But I was too weak to listen. I didn't want to listen anyway, for I wanted to reach another life beyond the light.
"Ocean!" I heard before I felt someone tapping my face. Slowly, my eyelids fluttered open only to be met with a pair of piercing blue eyes. It was Dryden, but I couldn't speak. I felt water in the back of my throat, and I began to cough up the burning water. The bath water didn't taste as good as it smelled.
"Here," he whispered as he sat down and lifted my head allowing me to cough out the water properly so I wouldn't swallow it again. "Are you okay? What were you thinking?!" He shouted as his gaze lit me on fire under his burning fury. "Were you trying to die?"
"Death sounds better than being here," I muttered with a raw throat.
"You're an idiot. An idiot! You'd rather die than enjoy what this world has to offer?"
"This world doesn't have anything to offer to someone like me. Someone apparently stuck in my ways," I seethed as I tried to sit up before realizing I was in his arms. Completely naked apart from a towel wrapped around my body...
Suddenly, I felt my face grow very warm.
"This world does have something to offer you, you're just too stubborn to see that. You want to call us names, but you're being selfish," he snapped before roughly standing up and tossing me onto the bed. "Now, get dressed. It's been way more than five minutes, and I wanted to be out in the country by now. Stop being dramatic and put on some clothes. You're going to come with me to see the country whether you like it or not," he grumbled before storming out of the bedroom only to come back seconds later with the blue dress. He threw it on the bed next to me, before slamming the bedroom door.
I could feel my bottom lip trembling as I slowly got off the bed and wrapped the towel tighter around my body. Before I took off my towel, I locked the door and got dressed as quickly as possible in case Dryden decided to burst through with his magic. I knew he could control me, I knew he could make me do whatever he wanted, so why didn't he? Why was it so important that I believe him willingly? The Monsters could have a whole army if they wanted with all the people they took from us, so must they take so much time for us to believe them? And if humans did believe them, where were they? I hadn't seen a single human since I crossed the dark wall.
The idea that none of the humans survived long enough to be here turned my blood. What if death really was the end? It was better than being forced to believe lies. But if the Monsters had killed all of the humans whose names they drew, then the humans really were a dying race. We would all be obliterated too, and my time would be coming soon. Whether or not I wanted to see the country, believe Dryden, or accept the wool pulled over my eyes at the beauty on this side of the barrier—it didn't matter. My end would come soon, but I just didn't understand why Dryden didn't let me drown when it could've all been over then.
He wanted to keep me alive, and I couldn't imagine it was all because he hoped I could help contribute toward this new world. Why did human opinions seem to matter to him so much when the Monsters were full of power and magic? Couldn't they build their own world on their own?
I didn't understand what was going on, but I got dressed quickly and towel-dried my hair the best I could. Eventually, I pinned it into a bun on top of my head before glancing in the mirror. The dress touched the floor and sparkled in the sunlight as the golden flowers reflected the light all around me. The sleeves were capped but covered by a transparent golden cape that flowed behind me. I hadn't noticed the cape when I picked out the dress, and I wondered if Dryden used magic on the dress to make it prettier. Perhaps he needed to keep up appearances around other Monsters to show them he dominated and tamed me. However, it was a beautiful addition.
The neckline plunged into a deep V just passed my breastbone with gold ribbon laced up the middle. I had never seen a dress so elegant, and I wondered if all the women of Landria dressed like this once upon a time. Before the war, before the high elders became Monsters, and before the world fell apart for the humans. I imagined the world before the Monsters ate my people, and it was a world unlike any other. A world where Landria truly looked like it did on this side of the barrier without the discretion of magic.
"Oceana, are you ready?" Chefford asked through the door.
"I am. I just need to find shoes," I responded quietly.
"Lord Dryden had some picked out for you. I have them with me."
I unlocked the door and allowed Chefford to enter. In his hands he held a pair of velvet, royal blue pointed flats. They matched my dress perfectly.
"Put them on quickly. He's losing patience," he informed me before leaving my room swiftly. I didn't care that Dryden was growing impatient, and I didn't care if I upset him. He deserved it. He was a Monster after all.
Nevertheless, I put on the shoes and walked down the hall. Dryden was waiting for me in the dining room.
"You look beautiful," he complimented me, and I instinctively snorted. I didn't want his compliments. "Snarl all you want, it's true." He was annoyed, but he wasn't the only one. "Come, the carriage is waiting."
I followed him out of the house and down the marble steps where a red carriage with a black horse waited. The carriage was covered and had silver embellishments decorating the outside. It was the most outlandish carriage I had ever seen. The carriages in Nortadane were dark brown, stained with dirt and horse droppings. They were never covered, they were small, and they were only used to haul stuff around the town. They weren't used for transportation. A carriage for transportation was a waste, for we always walked to wherever we wanted to go in such a small town.
Dryden opened the carriage door, and I stepped inside. I expected him to step in after me, but he closed the door before I felt the movement of the carriage as he climbed up into the driver's seat.
The carriage was all red velvet on the inside, and it was soft as I rested my body against the seat. I was glad Dryden wasn't in the carriage with me. I didn't want to be next to him anymore than I had to be. Instead, I wanted to be by myself as I thought about how to escape this new world. I didn't want to be here, but I didn't want to risk running through the wall and becoming a mushy pile of bones. There had to be another way to escape. The dark wall couldn't be the only way out of here. However, didn't the darkness surround all of Nortadane? It seemed impossible to get back home without having to push my way through the barrier. Maybe, I could find another place to escape too, but who was I kidding? I wanted to return to my mother. I had to know that she was okay.
As the horse began galloping down the brick road, I turned toward the window and watched as the house disappeared behind us. We were journeying further and further into the forest, but there was something calming about the tall trees, the sun peeking through the leaves, and the various breeds of flowers scattered across the ground. If I hadn't known I went through the barrier, I would have assumed I was in a dream of my own. Perhaps, this could've been Heaven itself if it weren't for the Monster holding me captive.
Although I was out in the forest against my will, there was nothing that was stopping me from enjoying my surroundings. If I had to be here and be fooled by the magic, I might as well enjoy the view.
"How can you still desire to go back to your dirty town when you have this around you?" Dryden asked through the carriage. "This is the real Landria, yet I feel you reject it."
"You don't feel anything. You're incapable of feeling," I muttered before I felt the carriage jolt to a stop. My body lunged forward slightly before I caught myself. Suddenly, the carriage door flew open, and Dryden grabbed my arm.
I felt the familiar buzz of his power as he pulled me out of the carriage and gripped my wrist. He gazed down at me darkly through his blue eyes before lifting his free hand and pushing a loose piece of my hair behind my ear. "You'll soon see I'm not the Monster you fear. Look, Oceana, all around you. We are mighty, we are powerful beings, we are blessed by our Mother, but we would never cast a spell on the earth to enchant it for our own well-being. Do you honestly think that your opinion of me matters so much that I would create this scenery for you? This is the real Landria, Ocean, why can't you see that?" He asked as his grip moved from my wrist to my hand as he tugged me along.
We began walking through the forest, and I realized we had travelled farther in the carriage than I realized. That was the least of my worries though. For Dryden's buzzing grip on my arm caused my whole body to feel electric. This whole place hummed with a sacred and dark power that I was too fearful to ask about. Even if Dryden didn't pull a cloak over my eyes with magic and this was all real, that never changed the fact that he was a Monster. He was one of the high elders that gave into his dark desire for power and allowed the darkness to overcome him. He was transformed into a cannibal that raided our villages and plundered our homes. He ate our people and pillaged our harvest. He was one of the reasons why my family was living in poverty, why we couldn't afford meat, why we were selling wool to get by—so there was nothing he could say that could convince me he was good. He was a beast, and I was his prey. Because of him, I watched my father and sister get dragged off. Because of him, I was beat in the street by the elders of Nortadane and still bore the scars. Because of him, my life was over.
"There's a market up ahead not too far from here. I want to show you the various things Landria has. This part of Landria is Tyrenius. It is my home. They're other towns across the country, but this one is the best. It's not as large as the main city, but it is large enough for those of us who live here. You would enjoy the main city, but you wouldn't believe me if you saw you. I'd expect you to accuse me of using my magic on your sight." He smiled down at me, exposing his sharp teeth and reminding me of who he was. I didn't smile back. There was nothing to smile for.
I pulled my hand from his, and although I expected him to take it once more, he let it go. He didn't try to hold my hand again.
"I know you will not run," he informed me. "You may be full of wild ideas and dreams, but you fear this land more than you fear the loss of your freedom. That's why you tried drowning yourself earlier. You would rather die than live among us Monsters." He said the word monsters with so much venom that it told me he was offended by the term. A term coined perfectly for him and the other elders who destroyed us.
"You can't blame me," I snapped, "you take me away from my home and expect me to believe you've created a paradise. Why were we so fearful to be chosen if this side of the world is so beautiful?"
Suddenly, Dryden stopped walking and turned toward me. "You are fearful because you were taught a lie. You were told that we were the ones you should fear, that we still ate humans, that we were evil—but they're all lies. Your elders in Nortadane are the ones you should fear, not the ones here in Tyrenius."
"And you expect me to believe you all of the sudden when I've been hearing stories about you for nineteen years? Tell me then, Lord Dryden, you have not eaten a single human since the war?" I couldn't fathom why I asked him this, but I had to know. If he wasn't a Monster like he claimed, then he wouldn't still be eating people. However, as I watched his caramel cheeks burn scarlet, I knew I was right.
Hot tears burned my eyes as I quickly turned away from him. How could I possibly handle this information? How could he expect me to be okay with living here when I had to worry about being the next possible meal? He was full of contradictions, and he was a liar. No matter what he said, he was the worst liar among them all, and I hated him.
I knew he could hold me back with his magic. I knew he could force me to stay there in the woods next to him, but I wasn't going to let his power control my actions. I wanted to be away from him, so I began to run toward the market. It was farther away than it looked, but I needed something to cover me. A place I could hide. I didn't want to be around anymore Monsters, but out in the open forest it was harder to hide. If I hid among others, he couldn't see me as easily.
I expected to feel his magic wrap around my body and pull me back toward him. I thought he would treat me the same way the elders of Nortadane treated me with their magic, but no pull came. My body felt free as I continued to run.
I was getting closer to the market, but it was difficult to see past my blurry eyes. The tears continued to fall no matter how hard I tried to stop them. What a monster, what a terrible beast, and what a liar. He made it seem like he hadn't feasted on us since the war, but he had. He had.
I felt like vomiting again, but there was no food left in me. Instead, I slowed down and took a deep breath. I could feel his gaze on me, and I knew he was watching me. As long as he wasn't next to me, I didn't care. I wanted to hide from him, but any distance would do.
Collecting myself, I wiped my eyes and entered the market.
There were dozens of tents set up in various colors. I couldn't decipher if there were any humans amidst the market, or if they were all Monsters. I thought the Monsters would have claws, wings, fangs, gaping holes in their eye sockets, and wear a long tattered sheet for clothes. But I was wrong. Dryden looked human, all these things in the market looked human, and I suddenly wondered if I knew anything at all about my country.
"Would you like to look at our watches, ma'am?" Someone asked me as I passed their tent. The man questioning me was wearing a bright pink suit with purple flowers. He also wore a matching hat with too many flowers on it to count. I assumed he was human until he smiled at me. His canines were sharp like Dryden's, and I began to wonder if that was how I could tell human and Monster apart.
"No, thank you," I told him without a second glance.
"Ma'am! Come see the finest power crystals in all of Landria!" Another man shouted to me. He was short and plump and wore a satin yellow robe with matching pants. I expected to see sharp teeth when he smiled, but his canines resembled mine.
Human.
"Excuse me, sir, I would like to look over these crystals," I informed him as I walked toward his tent and the many cut rocks displayed on the table before him.
"What powers of yours would you like to harness? The yellow crystals harness the light. If you're radiating more power than usual, you can control the brightness of your power by channeling this crystal. If you want to save your power little by little before releasing it all at once in a gust, you'll want the emerald crystals. However, if you—"
"I'm sorry," I interrupted. "I'm not interested in buying anything. I just wanted to ask you a question."
The man's smile faltered, but he nodded his head.
"Are you human?" Although it was such an important question to me, I soon found out it wasn't as important to him.
The short man began laughing as if I were joking, but I wasn't. "I'm serious," I seethed. I felt my face heat up from embarrassment, but I wasn't going to let that overcome my question.
"Of course, I am! Can't you magicians tell?" He laughed. "You're a funny one!"
"Magician?" I questioned. "I'm human too."
"Yeah, I know that. Humans that learn the magic of Landria and of our Mother are called magicians. Didn't you learn that in the academy?" He chuckled.
"I'm sorry," I half-laughed. "I wasn't thinking."
"It's okay," he smiled, "you were just wondering why a magician such as myself was selling crystals?"
"Exactly," I nodded. But it was far from the truth. I just wanted to make sure there were other humans here, and when I finally knew the answer to that—I didn't know what to do.
I began walking away from the jolly man and toward the end of the market. I was trying to process all he told me because it didn't make any sense. Magicians? Humans learned magic here? How could he tell I was a human when I couldn't tell Monsters and humans apart? Dryden had to have put magic over my eyes if I couldn't distinguish between the two. But magicians? Academy? I didn't understand any of the information he told me.
I was nearing the end of the market, and I was glad. I wanted to leave this strange place behind and clear my head. I needed to think over everything I just heard, and I needed to continue with my escape plan. Humans here or not, I didn't want to stay.
The last tent was a bright yellow tent sitting on the left side. I was only a few feet away from passing it and leaving the market when I heard a voice:
"Ocean?" Someone called out. The voice was so soft yet urgent. It was strange yet familiar. It was as if I had heard that voice before, but that was impossible. I didn't know anyone on this side of the barrier...unless...
I turned my head left to see who was under the yellow tent when my heart stopped. Once again, tears clouded my eyes as I stood in the middle of the market path and stared at a face I could never forget.
She was much older than the last time I saw her, and her golden hair was much darker, but I could never forget those green eyes. I could never forget her sharp cheekbones and pointed nose. No matter how many years passed, I could never forget my sister.
"April," I breathed before she walked toward me and embraced me in her arms.
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