Suddenly, at the snap of her fingers, her look changed once again into a young woman in a beige dress, and the sounds outside came back. The ship was already on the sea, and the waves gently lapped against the ship from each side. Then someone began to knock on the door to their room.
“Food service!” A man shouted from behind the door.
The lady in beige stood up and opened the doors. Behind them stood a young man in a shirt and a black vest with a notebook and pen in hand. They greeted each other, and the man asked, “Would you like to order something?”
The man was about to hand the menu, but the woman gave the order before he could even take it out. “We’ll take a strawberry cheesecake, a Beronian salad, and roasted beef with garlic. A green tee would be nice too.”
The worker was surprised, but he wrote the order. “The food will be in half an hour. Wish you a good travel.” Said the man before closing the door, as he moved to the next room, he thought, “Must be a regular customer.”
“What about me…” Asked annoyed Navia, as she felt being left out, ignored.
“What about you?” The lady asked, not understanding Navia’s problem and sudden change in tone.
“Maybe I wanted to order something too?” Navia answered sarcastically, opening her eyes widely toward the lady.
“I did order food for you. Beornian salad has many vegetables with vitamins and healthy acids for you, red meat is a good source of iron, which is especially important with your blood gate in mind. The green tea might refresh your brain and warm your stomach after eating. As Stranded, you don’t have to eat to live, but you do need supplements to function properly.” The lady lectured Navia about diet as if she were her coach, preparing for some kind of tournament.
Navia was stunned by the answer, feeling awkward that she scolded the woman. “Thank you…” She awkwardly whispered. “Wait. I don’t need to eat? I mean to survive.” Quickly corrected Navia.
“You are Stranded, stranded in a world of the living. To put it in other words, it's like your body is dead, but it continues to function. You were brought back from the dead, your soul came back to your body, but the body only regenerated itself to the original state.” Even though Navia’s face went pale after hearing what she was, the lady continued to explain, unbothered by Navia’s rapidly changing emotions. “Over time, I noticed a few changes in your appearance, but I am not entirely sure what might have caused them. Have you seen yourself in the mirror lately?” The lady reached for a small mirror placed on a shelf and showed it to Navia.
Navia slowly took the mirror and looked at herself from each side she could see. Her face didn’t change at all, not a sign of starvation. Over time, she was cut, burned, and punched all over her body, yet it remained in a perfect and unscathed state. The only thing that changed over time was her hair. From straw blond it changed into a grey color, in some places they were almost pure white.
“I do have some theories. Stress can be the reason for that change, and the things your body had to endure over the fights and other things you experienced. Unfortunately, I don’t have any strong arguments to confirm that theory…” The lady sounded a bit disappointed by the fact she couldn’t figure out the truth, leaving only theories which made her a bit sad for some reason.
“Since we have an opportunity to talk… I need to ask you something.” Navia placed the mirror down and faced the observer.
“What would you like to know?” The woman curiously asked, glad to show her knowledge to Navia.
“Out of all people… Why did you choose me? There was someone far stronger among the fallen. You could have resurrected my husband…” Navia asked, but lost the trail of the question as she tried to remember his name.
“Taizen Silckthron, Captain of squad ten. Possible candidate for the next leader of the order… I know he was there. There were three reasons why I didn’t choose him. First.” The lady raised her finger. “His body was in shambles; resurrecting a person in that state would be risky. Second.” She lifted another finger, getting more serious with her tone. “The monster that killed him wandered around the city. Especially somewhere around him. Third.” The lady raised the third finger. Navia awaited the third reason. In that moment of silence, she could hear her own heart racing. “You had all the assets I wanted, like combat experience and gates. And I wanted to try if something different would happen if I resurrected a woman.”
Once Navia heard the third reason, it sounded as if the woman acted for those two reasons, and the third was the true one of them all. As I wanted to say something back, suddenly someone knocked on the door. “Your order is ready, miss.”
The lady in beige opened the door and let the man in with traces of food. He placed them on the table, poured tea into two cups, and left with a bow. “Poor woman, to be so sick, it's unfortunate.” The man thought as he saw Navia’s sour face, thinking it was because of the sickness that Lady in beige lied about.
“Now… Dig in.” The lady said as she pushed the salad and beef toward Navia. While she took the strawberry cheesecake. Navia took a bite of the beef, which melted in her mouth. Seeing the food, she almost forgot to argue back to the lady, but she forgot once again as she saw the lady smile with each bite, enjoying a simple cake like a child. It was an honest, joyful smile compared to the previous ones she had made. “You wanted to say something?” The lady asked, joy even audible in her voice.
“No… Just… Enjoy your meal…” Navia answered with a full mouth of food, almost choking as she answered. She quickly took a large sip of the green tea to wash down the uncomfortable feeling in her throat.
Once both of them finished eating, they silently drank the green tea. Navia was eager to ask some questions, but she was certain the woman wouldn’t answer. “She told me everything she wanted to. To know the rest, I have to wait… But there is one question she will certainly answer.” Navia placed down the cup and looked the woman straight in the eyes. Before asking, she took a deep breath. “You called yourself an observer. Is there a name I can use while speaking with you?”
“I can't reveal my name yet… But to make things easier, you may call me Sie.” The lady calmly answered before taking another sip. Navia was glad that she had given her an answer; possibly a single letter could give her a clue to her true identity.
Suddenly, Sye froze with a lightly opened mouth. Navia didn’t say anything as she observed and waited, unsure what was happening. The woman who stood up, the lightly opened mouth closed, and turned into a wicked smile. It seemed like she stared into a wall, but she could see something. “I have to apologize, but something suddenly came up. There is another interesting individual who picked my interest.” Sye rushed out of the room without looking back and closed the door.
Navia got curious and wanted to run after her, but as she opened the door to the corridor, the woman was nowhere to be seen. The adrenaline quickly wore off, and Navia felt the strain of standing on her own two legs, but she was able to walk at the very least.
“Might as well enjoy the sea breeze…” Whispered, disappointed Navia, slowly heading down the corridor to the double doors at the end, which would take her to the outside.
She hit the wall as the ship wavered on the sea. “Must’ve been a big wave,” Navia grunted in annoyance. As she was about to take another step forward, she stumbled to the side into the door, breaking it and falling into the room as the ship was shaken once again. The two women inside screamed as Navia fell into the room.
It was hard for her to stand back up as she felt weak, exhausted. Like trying to move after not sleeping for a whole day. Before she could even straighten her leg, the ship shook once again, throwing her onto the bed and the two women to the wall.
“What is happening?!” Shouted the older lady, rubbing the back of her head where she had hit the wall. She then looked toward her daughter, and her eyes went wide. “Isabell! You’re bleeding!” She pointed as the woman beside her hit the counter of a shelf, leaving a bleeding wound on the back of her head.
“I’m fine, mother… It’s just stings… Auch…” The woman tried to rub the pain off, but the wound burned as she touched it. “Excuse me, are you alright?” The young lady asked as she looked with concern at Navia.
“Let me check it-” As the older lady was about to check her daughter, the ship was jerked violently, throwing all three of them against the wall on the other side, then back to the floor.
They screamed, but the sound of smashing waves was much louder. Something cracked not far away from them, and then they were thrown against the ceiling, pressing them harder and harder against it. They knew this feeling very well, yet only Navia experienced something as harsh as this. They were falling.