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[returntothesea]

Upon waking up, she found herself enshrouded in complete darkness.

This wasn't normal. This was nowhere near normal. This wasn't her bedroom, she wasn't in her bed, and she wasn't even close to it. At first, she thought was was dreaming; perhaps this was still a dream?

She realized quickly that it wasn't.

And it was then that she started to panic. So much, in fact, that she managed to accidentally find her way out of her current entrapment; not without a bit of pain, of course.

Polka sat up, rubbing her head (which was now throbbing), and squinting her eyes as they adjusted to what little light there was. As they slowly began to focus, they widened; this was definitely not her home, as she had suspected from the start.

It was then, as she began to push her trembling body to a standing position, that she began to wonder if perhaps the happy ending she had thought she was living before was the dream she had thought this place was beforehand. Perhaps the happy ending hadn't happened at all. Perhaps this place was the desolate, barren wasteland that had been her own world. Perhaps she had to make her sacrifice after all ...

She shook her head. No, the place she had seen before ... she remembered it vividly. It looked much, much different than this place. This only left her more confused, however. If it wasn't that, then ...

"Hello?" She called out, taking a few cautious steps forward.

"Where am I ..?" She called out again, this time in a much softer tone of voice.

Suddenly, she felt more alone than she ever had before.

Comments

[returntothesea]

This is a dream. It has to be. But it doesn't feel like one. Ah ... I wonder if this is how Frederic felt?

Polka obediently followed the man. She knew that she shouldn't have been so ready to follow someone she barely knew, but he didn't seem like he meant to harm her, and ... well, what were the chances that she would find someone else who had at least a few answers to her questions?

"Explore ..?"

Polka was no stranger to exploring. Not after the journey she had taken not too long ago. Still, it seemed ... odd, to have to explore a castle. The castles she had been to back home didn't operate quite like this.

"Who are the King and Queen of this castle? Do you know that?"

And then she made a small sound and looked down, though she continued following him.

"I-I'm sorry, I'm just ... I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of this. I don't mean to ask so many questions ..."

[foolnornovice]

He nods in turn and whether she can see it or not with his hood, he continues on. There is a glance over his shoulder to the question and there is a shake of the head. "I have yet to know--others around me gave few answers, as strange as it sounds." A breath in and this time he pauses to look at her.

"I would do the same, in your situation." And he already had--there was little he got in turn for such a move, but it was enough to go by. There was less frustration at least, now that he had made himself known. "There may be a familiar face for you here, there may not be."

[returntothesea]

That last statement gave her a little bit of hope. Perhaps someone she knew had made it to this place as well? Being in familiar company would be the greatest thing for her at the moment.

Of course, he had also made it fairly clear that chances were also good her companions weren't around. Polka decided it would be best to hope for the best, but expect the worst in this situation.

She breathed in, then let it go. This was all a lot to take in ...

"Is there anything else I should know about this place?"

Instead of asking something specific, perhaps asking for as much as this man knew was a better way of going about it. Less questions from her end, perhaps.

[foolnornovice]

He paused, thought on it. "It is large, not all of it has been touched by those of us that are here. There are rooms for us to stay in," he spoke idly as he led the way out of the area, away from these... coffins, as he judged them. Pushing open the way of another passage, he waited for her to move first before he followed after.

He thought on it more as he matched her pace. "It would.. be best to keep on your toes, in this place. Little is known." With a breath, he looked over to her fully, stopping. "Can you protect yourself?"