[Discontinued*] The Darling Princess [A Twisted Wonderland Fanfic]

🥀 Chapter 34

"Y/N."

"Y/N."

It felt like Y/N was floating on the surface of a calm lake. Her hair tickled her neck like tendrils of seaweed, the feather-light touches like the kisses of ghosts. She could feel the sensation of fabric floating around her legs and loosely clinging to her torso with a thin belt around her waist, but it was being swept from side to side as if she was dancing through the sky with only the wind to guide her as she stepped from one gust of wind to the other.

"Y/N."

Y/N's eyes opened suddenly as she gasped. The sensation of floating left her body all at once as she stood, pushed by the wind. It appeared as if she was walking on the clouds that hung over the NRC castle, though these were not the simple snow-white colour that she had become accustomed to. Instead, some were the colour of roses, others a pastel purple, hardly noticeable, and still others shone out in all the colours of the rainbow, creating a serene garden of peace and quiet.

"It's so peaceful here," Y/N whispered to herself. She glanced down at her body and smiled as she noticed the dress that she was wearing. Hundreds of paper-thin layers of the softest (favourite colour) fabric billowed around her legs as she walked, even more hanging from her torso, held in place by two simple silver circular epaulettes. 

"Indeed it is."

Y/N spun around with the speed of a viper, instinctively holding her hand out in front of her as if she was ready to cast a spell. Standing in front of her, was an elderly looking man with a white beard that hung down to about the centre of his chest, and curly white hair falling from his back that was equally as long as his beard. He did not seem unkind, as his warm chestnut eyes sparkled, and the smile that lifted one corner of his beard seemed like the kind of smile that a grandfather might give a grandchild after feeding them cookies.

"Who are you," Y/N asked hesitantly, her hand still raised. Despite his kind appearance, she had endured too many encounters with the man who haunted her dreams. She was not sure that she could truly trust this man quite yet. 

"My name is Amias," the man said. He took a graceful bow, the light blue fabric fluttering against the clouds as he did so. He stood up straight again and smiled at Y/N once more. "I must admit, my dear, I was not expecting to see you here yet."

Y/N frowned. "Do I know you?"

"You may have. In a past life. But for now, we shall leave the answer as no, you do not know me. To you, as you are, I am simply a guide of this strange world that you have come to know."

Y/N lowered her hand. "Are there many others like you?"

Amias shook his head. "No. There are few who are able to walk this world, but I am the only guide." He frowned. "Why do you ask?"

Y/N shrugged nonchalantly. "I have seen people here before." She looked around at the puffy clouds. "Though I have never been brought here before. Sometimes it is a dark room that I am unable to escape until gravity kicks in, and other times, I am free-falling or walking around in what appears to be the night sky. I've never seen these clouds before."

Y/N missed the worried look on the man's face when she mentioned the dark room, for it was quickly replaced by a placid smile when Y/N turned back to face him. 

"Well, then allow me to be the first to welcome you to the Plane of Knowledge." He clapped his hands, and a staff appeared in his hand so suddenly that Y/N thought she would have missed it if she had blinked. It was as tall as he was, taller than Y/N, and at the top of the carved wood, sat a beautiful baby pink gem that seemed to sparkle with energy. 

"Come. We have much to discuss, Miss Artem." Amias led Y/N away from the clouds, his hand hovering over her back as he led her through the softest clouds.