First Day

Water droplets hitting my face roused me. A faint ocean smell and earthy damp air reached me. Footsteps faded in the distance, joined by high-pitched whistling and screams. Animal or human? Both. Chaotic noises. A riot.

I lay there for what seemed an eternity before I fully woke and mustered the courage to assess the situation.

Breathing, check. Pulse, check. Safety… maybe check?

When I felt safe enough, I ran through all five senses, one after another

Sight: negative. Hearing: positive. Touch: positive. Smell: positive. A bit stuffy. Could use fresh air. Taste: mmm… why was my mouth salty?

I silently processed what I could recall.

Somehow, I survived the fall from the balcony. Hopefully uninjured. Got lifted to the skies. Fallen back into what was probably an ocean. Drowned. Now I’m in a new place that wasn’t the hospital. A musky cloth is on me, which meant someone was looking after me. Question is, why am I naked?

I slowly felt my immediate surroundings in the dark. The surface beneath me was squamous and uneven.

Why is it rising up and down slightly? Is it from my breathing? Or the shaking ground from earlier commotion?

My wandering hands did not get far before the surface began to move. Stripped of my clothes in the dark, I had nowhere to go. I hid under the furry blanket and closed my eyes. The thing I lay on moved forward to a breezier location. Once the movement stopped, I waited several minutes before peering out.

Please, not a monster. I had enough misfortune.

I opened my eyes slowly and met a huge pair of blue eyes glowing in the dark, paired with a low hiss.

Of course. OF COURSE. I just had to be.

Speechless, I trembled and teared up in silence. Bundled in the fur, the creature took hold of me around the waist. What I had thought was a bed became shackles. I had never been lifted by an elephant’s trunk, but it felt comparable.

If falling hadn’t killed me, and drowning hadn’t, this surely would. Third time’s the charm.

‘Please don’t hurt me. I don’t know how I got here. Please forgive me,’ I whispered, voice shaking. I had to try to survive despite questioning fate as we descended into further darkness.

Well… If I were food, I would have been eaten before I even woke up, right? It hadn’t eaten me… yet. Is it going to eat me now? I hope it wouldn’t… Had I somehow offended a god?

‘Hey. You’re not actually a bad guy, are you? I asked.

‘Hiss,’

I shuddered at the sound.

But wait a minute, is it talking back to me? Can it understand me? Is there a way for me to understand it too? I want to know what it’s saying.

A saline breeze hit my face. My eyes adjusted to a small light in the distance. Water dripped from the dark, endless ceiling. Lines of unequal moist stone rose from the ground and hung above.

So I was inside a cave after all!

Squinting in the dark, I scanned the shiny, scaly band around me until I saw what seemed to be the massive head of a snake at the other end.

DO NOT SCREAM! Hold it back. 1,2,3, breath in, 1,2,3, breath out. Don’t pass out on me now Ina.

‘W-Where are you taking me?’ I asked, my voice small and choked. That was all the strength I had.

The answer soon showed itself. We stepped out of the cave into a dreamscape that overwhelmed my vision. An endless expanse of sapphire sea lay blanketed by a gentle mist that intertwined with a glittery aquamarine sky. A parade of rocks floated along the distant horizon from northwest to southeast.

Is that how a planetary ring looks like? This is definitely not the Earth... Am I in Saturn?

One moon poured golden light over everything. A smaller crescent moon cast a hint of pink on the right side of the horizon. One diamond shone alone, the last moon within my sight.

Real beauty. A photo of this night should be placed beside the word ‘breathtaking’ in every encyclopedia.

I hadn’t realized the creature had already let me go and placed me softly on the nearest grass. My mouth hung open at the tranquil sight for who knows how long, until I was gently turned around.

Kiss. I was met with a kiss.

…what?

I was so stunned. I was still processing where I was, if I was I in a state of comatose or if I was in purgatory, that my instinct to push away did not kick in.

My first kiss.

I wasn’t able to push away by instinct, but I reacted honestly enough in slapping whoever it was across their face afterwards. For one millisecond, I felt bad that I did not put a cap on the strength. I just let it rip.

*Slap*

My hand landed on a soft face that did not flinch.

‘I apologise for kissing you, Your Highness,’ a man said as he stepped back.

In front of me stood a gorgeous man who matched the scenery. Long, flowing clothes merged with the dark sky. His pale complexion stood out. His long silvery white hair waved in the breeze. His shy blue eyes pleaded and gleamed like stars. There was something about his face and demeanor that could make any judge say ‘found innocent.’ My gut said I could trust him.

What about basic manners?

‘I can exchange and share language by kissing,’ he explained.

How’s that even possible? I mean I did wonder earlier if there was a way for us to understand each other. He just simply gave me the solution before I presented the problem. Can he predict the future?

Panic spilled out of me in words.

‘THAT was my first kiss! Who are you? Where am I? Am I dead? Where’s the huge snake?’ I covered my mouth in self-defence.

His demeanor changed. From strong and dignified to blushing, shy, and taken aback.

‘You haven’t changed, princess,’ He giggled in a manner that would earn him fangirls on any earth, or wherever I had landed.

Did I end up on another hidden place like Atlantis?

‘Where on earth am I? Literally,’ I said, snorting despite myself.

Not the time for puns. You aren’t with the children just now. You’re dead.

‘Where am I? Why did you take me here? Who even are you?’ I demanded.

He looked confused.

‘My name is Celphi. I brought you to safety, Princess Raiona.’ he said, soft and steady. ‘And I am the ‘‘creature’’ you saw.’

What is he talking about? What safety? Being adorable isn’t going to calm me… I mean, well…

‘I am Ina,’ I said, pointing at myself. ‘You got the wrong person.’

‘Is that what you go by now? I would very much like to hear of your adventures, my princess,’ he replied.

‘Do not call me that. I am not a princess. If anything, I’m a pauper,’ I complained.

I was annoyed, but felt oddly free to be blunt.

‘Also, you can’t go around kissing random girls. You’d offend your princess! How dare you!’ I jabbed a finger into his chest.

‘Would your princess be happy that you are out here giving kisses to every damsel in distress? What if she demanded my beheading? I’d do it if I were her,’ I blurted on.

Celphi remained polite, keeping a respectful distance as he waited for me to finish. His eyes glimmered as I spoke.

His lips slowly stretched into a thin line and his silver eyelashes fluttered as he looked down ever so slightly to avert my gaze. I hate to admit that I found this tiny movement very attractive, in addition to the fact the he hung onto my every word.

‘I did not mean to offend. I believe you commanded me to remove you from the “stuffy air” and wished to communicate with me.’ Celphi explained.

So he can read minds?

‘I apologize for assuming.’ Celphi’s blue eyes were pleading.

Cute. Suspect is found innocent, your Honour.

‘And where do you intend to bring this Raiona person anyways? Why do I have to drown just for a case of mistaken identity?’

Celphi tilted his head.

Cute.

‘Did you perhaps lose your memory, princess?’ He asked cautiously.

‘I most certainly did not!’ I scowled, making him giggle. ‘Also, I’m Ina. Just Ina.’

Well… I did lose a huge chunk of my memory from a young age, so he is not wrong there. Though I am very sure I’m no royalty.

‘You would find it acceptable if I addressed you as Ina?’ His light blue eyes with slit-shaped pupils appealed to me.

‘Yes. I prefer that.’ I hesitated before asking, ‘Are you really that huge snake-looking creature?’

Celphi didn’t miss a beat. He changed form before my very eyes. As much as the mist and gentle light coming from him allowed me to see.

Where he had stood, a monstrous white serpent coiled. Pinkish iridescence on scales that shimmered like a rainbow. His body stretched five meters or more, rolled into a neat pile. His cerulean eyes looked curious.

I took a step back and fell. Even in that form he matched the background. Nothing about him felt threatening. Well, maybe his size. But that’s it. If anything, he was inviting, and quite frankly, loveable. He helped me up using his tail.

‘Hiss.’

So cute! He towered over me, yet I felt no fear.

Not when those faultless blue eyes reflected me back.

‘Sorry, Celphi, I was taken aback at how huge you are. Believe me when I say that you are beautiful.’

Moonlight crowned him, turning the monstrous into the angelic. Flawless from snout to tail, pearly white and elegant. His massive reptilian head was bigger than my torso, but his tapering tail carried me gently.

I reached out. ‘May I touch you?’ I asked, eyes fixed on his blue gaze.

A silky snout met my hand. I had braced for a forked tongue, but none came.

‘You are beautiful, Celphi,’ I said, stroking his cool snout and admiring his eyes.

Celphi transformed back. Before my eyes and even in my very hands.