Round 7: Two in a crowded room while others fade away (2/3)

[olymficsmod]

Soon enough, they arrive at the castle. Jia can see the palace beyond the gate, but she can't make it out quite clearly; it seems sort of fuzzy, like the rest of her memories.

"Well?" says Min, holding her hand out to her to guide them through. "What are you waiting for?"

"We're kind of..." Jia indicates both of their bodies, emphasizing their smallness in comparison to the large walls looming in front of them.

"Oh right, I forgot," says Min, grinning. "You'd think I'd get used to it by now."

She rummages through her dress pockets before a little vial slips out, but catches it before it lands. With astonishingly quick and delicate movements, she pops open the cork, drops a bit of whatever liquid is inside into her mouth, and then hands it to Jia. "Drink up."

Jia takes the bottle and examines it in her hands. A small purple label is on the glass, reading "drink me". Feeling wary but undeterred-after all, everything Min had given her so far today had been safe-she mimics Min's motions and suddenly finds herself shooting straight up.

When she glances around, she sees that Min is looking at her, amused. They're both now at a normal height for the gate, although it's still rather tall and beyond their reach.

"That always gives me the strangest feelings," Min says thoughtfully. She takes the glass vial from Jia and puts it back in her dress pocket, and then walks toward the castle gates.

"Why didn't we take that earlier?" Jia asks, running to catch up with her. "You know, after we had gotten small."

"Well, you wouldn't be full, would you?" Min sends her a contemptuous look, and pushes the black gates aside. "Come on. There are people I want you to meet."

They step down the gravel pathway leading up to the large wooden doors of the palace. To the side, Jia can see rose bushes on the bright green grass, looking dry and untouched. The roses are red, all up to a group of men who are standing on the side with metal buckets in one hand, red-coated paint in the other. Jia glances ahead, and realizes that the remaining flowers are all white. She's not sure whether she wants to join them or laugh at them.

Min seems to have noticed as well when she glances to the side. She scowls. "Goddammit. Not again." Grabbing Jia's hand, she marches down the stone pathway to the castle doors, with Jia still marveling at everything she can lay her eyes upon.

The castle is much bigger in person, as Jia realizes when she casts her gaze up high. The shortest red tower seems to be thousands of meters above her, and the highest tower, a million. They're made of a whitish grey stone, although the tower roofs are all a scarlet red. They remind Jia of Min's lips.

Jia shakes this silly thought out of her mind.

When they approach the door, Jia expects Min to knock; instead, Min shoves the door aside like it weighs nothing and stomps on ahead. Jia's rather reluctant to go inside-after all, she's never been here before-but she doesn't dare to pull herself out of Min's grip, so she allows herself to be dragged inside.

And inside is a large, intimidating room. The grey walls are cold and hard, deflecting all heat and making Jia shiver, a little. The floor is of the same stone and shade. However, a long red carpet starting from the door entrance slithers all the way to the end of the room, where it pools and holds a large golden throne, along with several smaller thrones and a tiny golden table.

Jia stares at the woman on the largest throne. The woman is wearing a regal red and black dress, although it seems rather baggy on her; she looks tired, old, much too weak to be a queen of any sort. Yet the large golden crown on her head does not lie, and the red heart in the middle looks like a drop of blood.

The Queen looks up as soon as she hears the two girls enter the hall. Her face brightens up by a fraction.

"Mother," Min says, unceremoniously dropping Jia's hand and glowering at the Queen-her mother, Jia realizes with a start. "The men are painting the roses red again."

Unlike Min, the Queen doesn't seem bothered at all. She sighs, looking more tired than ever, and shuffling a deck of cards in her hand (they're all hearts, Jia notices), she says, "Again? Don't they know it'll contaminate them?"

"Who cares if it'll contaminate, you know that they were supposed to have bought the red roses!" Min sneers. "God, Mother, if you don't care, I might as well be Queen already."

"You know you're not of age yet." The Queen sighs again. Then her eyes slowly drift to Min's side, landing on Jia. "Who's this?"

"What? Oh." Min glances at Jia. "My friend."

"What's her name?" the Queen asks interestedly, leaning in so close to Jia's face that Jia shifts around uncomfortably.

"Jia," says Min. She grabs her hand and squeezes it. Cocoons explode inside of Jia's stomach.

The Queen stares at her for a few moments, and then looks back at Min. At first, Jia's afraid that the Queen will say something rude-but then the Queen sighs for a third time and rests back in her throne, eyes drooping in the slightest.

"I used to have friends," she says wistfully. "And your father... I wish he would come back..."

The Queen slumps even further down in her throne. Her crown topples slightly.

Min rolls her eyes. "Don't be such a drama queen, Mother," she says. "Is there anything we can eat?"

The Queen waves her hand to the small gold table at the side. Not saying anything further to her mother, Min goes over to the table, with Jia following along. Jia sees that there are several biscuits sitting on a golden tray, and her stomach rumbles slightly.

"Here. I know you're hungry," says Min, handing Jia a biscuit before getting one herself. "And don't listen to what my mom says. She's never had a friend."

"Oh." Jia takes a bite out of her biscuit, suddenly no longer hungry.

"Ugh, that damned knave probably stole the tarts again," says Min, glaring at the biscuit tray and then eyeing her own food. "The tarts are so much better."

"What happened with your father?" Jia can't help asking as she watches Min settle on the carpet. She sits down next to her..

Chewing noisily, Min shrugs and crosses her legs. "Left her. My mother, that is. He was sort of sick of all her... violence."

"Violence?" repeats Jia. She glances to the Queen again, who is still lazily sitting in her throne, position unchanging.

"Yeah. Well, she wasn't like that before my father left," says Min, waving her hand in her mother's direction. "After he left, she completely just fell apart. Totally immature, in my opinion." She scoffs and bites into her biscuit, and then talks while still chewing. "She used to be a total bitch, but at least she was respectable. Now she's just pathetic. I still think I'm more of a queen than she is. I should take over now."

"What does she mean you're not of age?" asks Jia interestedly. "I thought children and adults have the same rights."

To her surprise, Min flushes a bright red. "Not in hierarchy, though," she says, pointedly avoiding Jia's gaze and looking away. "I still have a few years to go. But then I'll be the best damn queen this town has ever had."

"Why... Why won't your father come back?" Jia holds her breath, afraid that this question may be going too far.

But Min doesn't seem to care.

"Violence. I told you, remember?" she says. "Yes, the Queen's usually violent by nature... but now she's stopped with all of her executions. Doesn't have the heart for it, she claims." Min looks at Jia and rolls her eyes. "But I think she's only trying to get my father back, and that's never going to happen. I'd say that a bit of beheading would do her good right now."

Jia's eyes widen in horror. "Beheading?" she squeaks.

But Min merely ignores her and finishes her food, and then grabs Jia's hand and leads them out of the hall, the red carpet still dusted with their crumbs.

***

They walk through the dark corridors of the castle, hands still clasped together. Jia feels compelled to be scared, and she is; but only a little.

She glances at Min, who seems to know where they're going. "Do you spend a lot of time in the castle?" she asks her.

Min looks at her through the darkness. "I guess," she says. "I mean, not like there's much to do around here. Sure, there are a lot of rooms," and she indicates the red doors on the sides, "but after having an adventure over and over again, it all just gets boring, you know?"

"Yeah," says Jia even though she has no idea what she's talking about.

They continue on in silence. Light flickers down at them from a glass window above, but then Min pulls them into another dark hall.

"That's the Buttery," says Min. "And the Bottlery." She points to a few more doors in the shadows. "I can show you my room, if you'd like."

"I'd love-"

"And who's this?" says a voice.

Min spins around, Jia swiveling with her, and they both turn to see a man approaching them from a lightened hallway. His figure isn't easy to make out, though Jia imagines that he'd be rectangle-shaped. In the dark, she can make out the number 10 on the left breast of his white, heart-decorated suit.

"I'm Jia," she says without hesitation, sticking out her hand. "How do you do?"

"Jia!" Min hisses, but the man merely ignores Min and shakes Jia's hand, smiling broadly.

"Pleasure to meet you, my lady," the man greets, and then bends down and sweeps his lips over Jia's hand. Min positively growls. Jia notices that his lips aren't as smooth as Min's.

"Nice to meet you too," she says cheerfully, attempting to seem oblivious to Min fuming beside her.

"And you, Mistress Min?" the man says, turning to her and offering his palm out, as if to take her hand and kiss it as well.

Min ignores the gesture, and merely glowers up at the ceiling. "I'm great," she says dismissively. "Jia, let's go-"

"You two ladies shouldn't be dressed in such drab clothes," the man continues on as they turn to leave. Jia stops, making Min reluctantly stay behind as well.

The man eyes them both up and down, unfazed by this change of heart. "Especially you," he adds to Jia, gaze fixated on a large stain at the front of her blue dress. "Your clothes are horrendous."

"I know," Jia says, blushing.

A snarl suddenly sounds in the back of Min's throat. "We don't need new clothes," she says, seething. "We're perfectly fine the way we are. Come on, Jia."

She jerks her head to the side, indicating that they should go. Jia looks torn. She has always wanted to be a princess...

"Do you have dresses?" she can't help but hastily ask the man.

The man beams. "Of course! Hundreds and hundreds of dresses, more than you could ever imagine!"

Excited, Jia turns to Min-but her face falls when she sees that Min now has her arms crossed and her eyes are silently blazing in anger.

"Oh, I'm sorry Min," she says hurriedly, running over to her. "I mean-I guess, we don't have to, if you don't want to-"

"No, we can," Min says shortly.

Jia, if possible, looks even more crestfallen. "But- But you don't seem like you want to do it at all, and-and, well, if dresses aren't really your thing and I don't want to pressure you into doing anythingyou don't want to do-"

"You're not pressuring me into doing anything."

"But-" Jia bites her lip and looks at Min. "Are you sure?"

Min nods.

"I don't want to annoy you," Jia says quietly.

Min's expression softens, and then suddenly she smiles. "You're not annoying me," she says to Jia, unfolding her arms and taking one of Jia's hands. Her palm feels more real than ever. "Really. You know how I feel." She brushes aside a stray blond hair and kisses Jia on the cheek, and Jia giggles. "We can go try on the dresses. I'm sure you'll look stunning in yours."

And with this, she leads them down through the dark halls, the man slithering behind them like an invisible voyeur.

***

Min is beautiful. The white walls of the room are dull in comparison as her skin shines bright, short black hair tucked behind small ears, red lips bold like blood. Jia shivers unconsciously as she watches Min drift into her room and flop onto the large, satin-curtained bed.

"Ah. Feels like home, doesn't it?" she says, grinning and looking at Jia through her eyelashes.

Jia blushes as she feels Min's eyes scan her up and down. "Yeah," she breathes, trying not to watch Min's every movement.

Instead, she glances around at her surroundings, finally taking in what Min had called home. It's oddly neat and tidy: nothing like Min. The bed sheets are a dark, dull sort of red, matching the crimson hangings and curtain at the large open window. Jia glances outside; it's still bright, making Jia wonder if she's been here for only a day. Her gaze sweeps to the far wall, which is covered by a large, single mirror.

Jia walks over and looks into it, mouth turning downward at her reflection. The red fabric on her body simply hangs there, like a bag, trying to find her nonexistent curves and widening her hips too much. A thin sleeve slides off her shoulder; she doesn't bother fixing it. Jia sees that her face is pasty and her hair is like straw and her dark eyes speak nothing but shameful fear.

She sees Min get up from the bed and come over to her, winding her arms around Jia's torso. Jia tenses, but moves no further. Min smirks and releases her, shifting a little until she's standing at her side. Their arms brush slightly. Her fingers absentmindedly fix Jia's dress strap.

"You look gorgeous," Jia murmurs, because Min does.

Min's black eyes glitter in approval as she cocks her head to the side, examining her tight red-and-black dress, hugging her in all the right places. Her lip curls.

"Thanks," she says, looking to Jia again. "You do too."

Jia looks at herself again.

"I don't see it," she whispers.

She hadn't meant for Min to hear. She hadn't meant for anyone to hear at all. The walls could have had eyes and wouldn't have seen her moving lips. The furniture could have had ears and wouldn't have heard her tiny voice. Even the mirror, standing mere centimeters away from her mouth, couldn't have felt her breath against its face.

But Min hears. And Min turns to her. And Min wraps her arms around her once more and presses her forehead against hers and her eyes grow dark with clouds and she says, "Let me help you with that." And then, and then all of a sudden her mouth is on Jia's and her hands are on either side of her face and she's kissing her, sucking all the life out of her. And Jia kisses her back and her lips fall open and their tongues entangle and their teeth clash and their come together, come together as one.

Min breaks apart to breathe and grins at Jia; Jia grins back. She catches a glimpse of someone in the mirror. A brilliant blond stranger in a cherry red dress is smirking back at her, cheeks flushed pink in pleasure. Jia beams back. The stranger's smirk, if possible, gets bigger.

"Come on," Min giggles, pulling her towards the bed.

Jia giggles as well, and the two fall onto the mattress in a heap of breaths and kisses.

***

This isn't her bed.

Jia doesn't want to get up, though. The bed is large and cozy, albeit a tad too cold for comfort. She opens her eyes to a slight darkness, and wriggles her body beneath the blankets, wondering whose bed this is-when suddenly her bare arm brushes against another's.

She becomes aware of the fact that she's completely naked, and so is the body next to her.

Jia rolls over.

A familiar face stares back.

"Hi," whispers Min.

Jia has urge to shout in surprise; but strangely, a peace overcomes her and she allows herself to stay beneath the sheets.

"Hi," she whispers back.

Min's mouth curves, a little. She leans in to kiss Jia on the nose. Jia can feel her skin tingling afterwards.

"You know what I love?" says Min in a hushed voice.

Jia shakes her head.

"Blood."

The word hangs still in the air, before slowly drifting away in front of them, crumbling to dust. Neither of them move or speak; they lay there in the silence, staring at each other, through the dusky blues flitting into the room. There isn't even a slight breeze or a single movement from outside or anywhere else. Nothing changes and the world is still, and their gazes are locked into each other, refusing company from the rest of the universe. Even such things as small as their breathing goes quiet, almost until they disappear. Time freezes in the one silent moment they have together.

Then Min gets up from the bed.

She gracefully slides off the mattress and starts walking around the room, ignoring the pile of dresses on the floor. "Come on," she says, not turning around to Jia who is watching her bare form. "We should get dressed."

Jia nods numbly, staring at Min's body, at all her skin and very little hairs. She suddenly feels exposed in the bed, and is aware of the heat between her thighs.

Once Min has a new dress on-a silky red pouf-she walks over to Jia and tugs her away from the bed and to her wardrobe. "I'll find something for you to wear," she says, sending her a reassuring glance. She drops her hand and Jia feels alone as Min browses through her clothes, searching for another dress.

It doesn't take Min long and soon Jia finds herself donned in a pale red dress, which Min remarks, "Looks fucking fantastic on you." Jia isn't sure about this: it feels too tight and there are places where it hurts, a little. But she trusts Min's judgment so she passes this off without a word, and decides that it's probably only because it's Min's dress and they're not exactly the same size.

They walk out of the room, out of the halls, out of the castle. Once they're outside, Jia's astonished to see that the sky is dark; it must have turned night when they had been sleeping. Altering her sense of time, she tries to make out of she's only been here for one day, or many, many sunlit days. How long had they been asleep? How long had they been awake? How long have they been out of the castle? And why does the moon look like it's smiling at her?

"Min," she says as they walk along the now grassy path-they're suddenly back in the forest again, and Jia doesn't quite recall getting here.

"Yeah?" says Min, stepping over a bramble and turning her head.

"How... How long had we slept?" says Jia, asking the first question on her mind. Then she would know how long the day had been. Maybe. Unless it had changed from day to night while they were sleeping. Jia doesn't even recall being tremendously tired when she and Min had flopped onto the bed shortly after they were finished-she blushes at the memory.

Min raises her eyebrows. "All day, probably," she says. "Maybe a few."

"A few days?" Panic rises in Jia's chest. "How long is a day, then? It feels so much shorter. Or longer." She glances at Min, a fearful look in her eye. "I-I don't understand."

"Oh, calm down Jia," says Min, patting her on the back. "A day is just as long as any other day. Though, in the summers we tend to take our days longer here, and the nights are shorter."

Hearing Min's confident tone makes Jia feel a little better, although she's baffled at this explanation. "Well, so do we," she says almost defiantly. "In my world, I mean. The nights are shorter for a longer time, and the sun usually doesn't set until eight o'clock-"

"That doesn't make any sense," Min interrupts, carelessly waving her hand in Jia's face. "I mean, we have a few nights at a time, and then several days. In winter it's the opposite, and in March, sometimes we have two nights and other times we have two days."

"Like now?" asks Jia.

Min laughs. "Well it's not March now, is it?"

Jia doesn't know what to make of this statement, but she doesn't have much time to think; Min suddenly grabs her hand and jumps over a log, before turning around and grinning.

"Let's go," she says.

They make their way deeper into the wood, and while Jia tries to make sense of her surroundings, Min leads them along, making a way through the bushes and trees. Deeper and deeper they go, until it's all dark and Jia can no longer see the sky, and finds herself trying to make sense of the figures in the shadows. Faintly, she can make out Min's face.

"Here," Min says, stopping all of a sudden into a small clearing. A small pool of moonlight spills out between a few leaves, illuminating a small cottage Jia hadn't noticed before.

"Here?" she says to Min, looking at her confusedly.

Min nods, and then heads towards the cottage's front door. Still bemused, and more lost than ever, Jia follows her. The cottage looks like any old cottage, with a small wisp of smoke coming from a chimney made of bricks and stone. Jia wonders what she and Min are doing here.

Without even bothering to knock, Min opens the cottage door and steps inside. Rather stunned and wondering if this is like the other house they had been in before, Jia peers through the doorway. But it looks like any other house, with a few shelves against the walls, and a kitchen far inside. Jia shifts from foot to foot near the doorstep, not going inside.

Min seems to have noticed this. She turns around and gives Jia a look. "Well? Come on then."

"But." Jia moves around uncomfortably. "This isn't ours, is it." It's not a question. "And shouldn't you have knocked?"

Min scoffs. "Why would I knock on the door of an empty house when I know no one's going to answer? Come in."

Her feet obey these words even though Jia's still reluctant to join her. But she can't help but look around a bit more, anyways. It seems as though they've stepped in the dining room; there's a long, cherry red wooden table in the middle of the room, standing on a large navy blue carpet. A few shelves and cabinets hold trophies and delicate pieces of china. The house seems comfortable enough, but Jia's still wondering what they're doing, and why Min had decided to bring them here. She wonders who this house belongs to.

She enters the kitchen, where Min is looking around at the shelves, picking up various bottles of liquid. Min glances at Jia as she comes in, and then beckons her over.

"What are you doing?" Jia asks, walking over to her and noticing the glass vial in her hands. It reads "drink me", although it's not the same one that Min had given her the previous day. This one is blue.

"Looking around." Min puts the blue bottle back on the shelf and grabs another one. This time, it's orange. Min turns it over and examines the potion inside, and then hands it to Jia.

"Here. Drink this."

"W-What?" says Jia. "Why? I don't-I don't even know what it is!"

"Because I said so," says Min patiently. "And I know what it is. Don't worry. It won't hurt you."

Jia eyes the bottle carefully. "But-how do you know that?"

"I just know," says Min. "Don't be such a pussy. You trust me, don't you?"

Her words come out with a bit more force than Jia's prepared for; Min stares at her and Jia feels scrutinized, like a little bug. But Jia does trust her-she trusts Min more than anything. So she takes the bottle from her hand and, popping the cork out, starts drinking the orange liquid.

It doesn't taste as all as she had expected. It's warm and sweet and slippery, running down her throat without hesitation. Eagerly, Jia tips her bottle back even further so that more and more of the liquid spills out into her mouth, and she feels it splash along her tongue and the roof of her mouth and it tastes like honey. Closing her eyes, she enjoys as much of the taste as she can.

And when Min notices her over-enthusiasm for the drink, her eyes widen and she shouts, "Slow down!" and Jia doesn't even notice. She doesn't stop drinking until she suddenly feels a pair of hands on hers and Min is pulling the bottle away from her, and Jia feels a bit dazed.

"Well," says Min, looking through the glass at the empty bottle. "That certainly might have been too much. How do you feel?" She glances at Jia.

"Fine," says Jia, shrugging. Then she lets out a large burp. Giggling, she claps a hand over her mouth in embarrassment. "Oops, sorry-"

She stops talking when she suddenly feels a tingling sensation at the soles of her feet. Her feet tingle and tingle, until the feeling rises from her toes to her knees and her legs. And then to her hips and her chest and her neck and her head, and then it's all over her body and she's not quite sure what's going on.

And then she looks down.

The ground seems to be pushing beneath her; either that or her entire face is being lifted up. Strangely, though, she doesn't feel like she's moving-although, that might be because her feet are still firm on the ground. But her feet and her dress and her everything is growing, and she's growing and growing until suddenly her head bursts through the roof-I should have ducked, Jia thinks-and the floorboards nearly give way to her now giant weight. She gets taller and taller as the world gets smaller and smaller until her head is high up in the clouds.

When she's sure she's finally stopped, she gets the sense to look up. The moon seems so much closer now. The stars, too. Though, when she lifts her arm up, she still can't quite touch the sky.

Jia looks down again, to see Min beaming at her, teeth glinting in the moonlight. "Well," says Min's voice, oddly clear in her ear even though she's about fifty feet away from her. "That's certainly not what I had in mind. But there's no such thing as too big, right?"

Jia nods faintly, and Min's grin grows wider. "Come on, pick me up," she instructs.

Jia frowns, a bit hesitant. "What-"

A rattling noise comes from the front door.

She stops and they both freeze in their spots, not knowing what to do. From up high, Jia can see a small, lizard-shaped figure, fumbling with the doorknob and then walking in, muttering to himself and completely oblivious to the wreckage around him. He walks through the front hall and the dining room, throwing things aside and not paying attention to the fact that the table he had just flung his keys on had collapsed under the additional weight, and that the glass window on his left side is completely shattered. It's only when he walks into the kitchen and sees Jia's big, black, buckled shoe, that he finally looks up.

And his eyes nearly bulge out of his eye sockets.

"GIANT!" he shrieks. "GIANT! THERE'S A GIANT IN MY HOUSE AND- GIAAAANTTTT!"

His voice isn't actually that loud, Jia figures as she watches the little slimy reptile hop up and down next to her foot. She resists the urge to squish it.

The lizard darts around and spots Min.

"AND YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THIS GIANT AND WHY ARE YOU IN MY HOUSE? WHY ARE YOU IN MY HOUSE AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH IT, WHAT BUSINESS DO YOU HAVE BEING IN MY LIVING SPACE AND WRECKING MY THINGS, AND-"

"Run! Jia, run!" Min yells at Jia, her voice still louder than the lizard's.

Jia, still shocked in her place, merely blinks down at the both of them. "What?"

"Why are you just standing there, Jia? Pick me up and run! RUN!"

Almost instinctively, Jia bends down and scoops Min up in her palm, and then starts sprinting away from the house, her large long legs carrying her across the forest. In the distance, she can hear the lizard's voice slowly get fainter; but she doesn't stop running. Her elbows skim the tops of trees and her hips crash into the trunks and she runs and runs and runs to the edge of the sky, with Min's laughter ringing in her too-large ears.

Jia finally comes to a stop when she runs out of breath, and then pauses in the middle of the neverending forest, still panting slightly. She looks down in her palm where Min is sitting, grinning against the night.

"Brilliant," says Min. "I think we lost him. That was fun, wasn't it?"

Jia's pretty sure they lost him a while ago, but she nods and pants a little bit more. It had been fun, running with nothing pushing against her, feeling the breeze ruffle her eyelashes. All of a sudden, Jia feels free. Jia is invincible.

"Come on, we better find a clearer place to sit before you scare all the birds out of their nests." Min chuckles and gazes into the distance, among the vast seas of green. "Do you see a field anywhere nearby?"

Jia looks around too. It's fascinating to see everything from up high, like her eyes are the stars in the sky. She can see everything in the land beyond; in the distance, she's pretty sure she can make out the castle. She glances to the other side, and spots a small patch of yellow.

"There," she says confidently, pointing in the direction. "I'm pretty sure that's one."

"Great," Min says enthusiastically, and settles on Jia's palm as Jia strides over to the field. Min seems to be enjoying this as much as Jia is, and this makes Jia happy.

They stop among the yellow grass and Jia sets Min down, before sitting down herself, the grass crumpling under her weight. She looks over and sees that Min is grinning, though Jia can't be sure if she's grinning at her, or herself.

"I love living here," says Min, looking up to the moon. "This world, everything is so perfect. You never know if you're going to get in trouble or have an adventure the next second. Or maybe both."

Jia's breath hitches in her throat. "Yeah."

Min settles down a little and looks at her. "I like being with you," she says. The words ring in her ears. "I like you, Jia. You know that, right?"

"O-Of course."

It sounds different, though. Hearing Min say it. Jia isn't sure if she likes it.

"Yes." Min sighs. "Of course you know. Do you like me too, Jia?"

Jia nods vigorously. "Yes!" she says. What a ludicrous question to ask. Of course she likes Min.

Min glances at her hand. "Pick me up again, Jia?" she says.

Jia picks her up.

"Now bring me close to your face," says Min. Slowly, Jia brings her palm to her face until her own fingers are nearly cupping her cheeks. She looks down and sees in the corner of her eye that Min is kneeling, her face only centimeters from hers.

"Closer... closer..." Min moves herself onto Jia's fingers until she's nearly touching Jia herself, and then she is Her small fingers brush against the skin of Jia's cheek, and Jia almost blushes. She can feel a faint wetness linger on her cheek, and then suddenly Min's voice is saying, "Okay, you can bring me down now."

Jia brings her down. Min speaks nothing of the matter, so Jia doesn't either, even though questions are already clouding in her mind. Min settles back onto the grass, her arms around her knees and her gaze cast up, back to the diamonds in the sky.

Jia watches as the moonlight illuminates every sharp angle on Min's body. Her heart stutters. She wonders if she's allowed to sit here all day, staring at the way Min contrasts with the night, looking more beautiful than the sky itself. This certainly wouldn't be a bad way to spend a lifetime, even here. So as long as she has Min.

"Hey," says Jia suddenly, a thought overwhelming her. "Since you love this place so much... do you know everything that goes around? Like, everything?"

Min turns to her and laughs. "Everything? Not even close. But I'm used to this world." She sighs and stretches out her legs, settling back on her hands. "It's a wonderful place, really. I just take whatever happens and make it up as I go along. That's really how you're supposed to live, anyways." She chuckles.

"But I just... I can't imagine really living here," Jia replies honestly. "It's just-it's hard."

"But you already are. Living here, I mean." Min's eyes glow in amusement. "Don't worry, Jia. There aren't any rules here. And you have me."

"Yeah," says Jia, relaying on her previous thought.

"Hey." Min turns to Jia, looking her straight in the eye. "You'll stay here forever, right? With me?"

Jia stops breathing for a moment and glances back up at the night sky. The moon seems to be mocking her, twinkling and saying, Well, aren't you going to answer? In her peripheral vision, she can see Min watching her, waiting for her expected response. So Jia gives it to her.

"Yes," she says; and Min looks at the moon as well, smiling.

"Good."

***

After what feels like forever, something prickles at the side of Jia's foot. She glances down to see Min standing at the base of her ankle, holding a large stick.

"Let's go," she says.

"Okay." Jia waits for Min to jump off before she stands up, brushing the dirt and grass from her dress.

"Here. You'll probably want to come back down to size, too." Min pulls out two small pieces of what appears to be mushroom heads, and hands them to Jia. "I found these in the lizard guy's house. Knew you'd probably need them sooner or later."

Jia takes the stolen mushrooms from Min's tiny palms and puts them in her mouth, swallowing them instantly. Almost immediately afterward, she finds herself shrinking as the trees get taller and taller and her feet get smaller and smaller. Once she stops, she looks back up to see Min grinning.

"Well let's go, if you're done," says Min, leaning in. Her mouth brushes the spot where it had been before, almost in a possessive manner. Then she takes Jia's hand, fingers grasped nimble and tight, cool and familiar. Jia allows herself to be pulled away by the strong hold fastened around her palm, and wonders how long this moment will last.

"Where are we going now?" she asks, wondering if they even have a final destination-not that they've ever had one before.

Min turns around to her, laughter in her eyes.

"The Jabberwocky! We're going to see the Jabberwocky!" she says. Her voice echoes in the shadows between the trees.

"Th-The Jabberwocky?"

A chill runs up Jia's spine, but quickly goes away when her eyes catch sight of the dark wood around them. She swears she'd just seen-but it can't be, because it's dark. You can't see anything in the dark, can you? And even though she can barely make out Min's figure, it certainly isn't very bright.

But then Jia sees the flash of teeth again, and feels every obligation to stop. Min hadn't seemed to notice, though, so Jia doesn't bother. But she glances around again, eyes searching for the thing she had seen before, the brief flash of light she knows she hadn't imagined.

A crescent smile is on her left; then on her right, she hears a voice whisper, "You don't belong here." Startled, she turns to her other side. A bright purple cat is perched on her shoulder.

"You!" Jia breathes. "You, what are you doing here-"

"Jia?" Min's voice asks concernedly, and Jia snaps. She turns to see that Min is looking back to her. Jia glances to her shoulder again. The Cat is gone.

"I-I'm fine," says Jia, a little shaken.

Min's eyebrows furrow in worry. "You sure?"

Nonplussed but finding her voice again, Jia nods a bit more defiantly. "Yeah. I'm sure. Don't worry about me."

"All right," says Min, and then they continue on through the wood.

It isn't long before Jia finds herself blinking at the sudden appearance of light. When she looks up, she sees that a faint ball is glowing in the sky-the sun, maybe, although she doesn't quite recall it being there before. Dark grey clouds barely cover it up, though Jia can see everything around her clearly.

"Look!" Min says gleefully, indicating the land before them. "We're here!"

Jia looks around. They're standing on a large, black and white tiled floor-sort of like a chess board, Jia thinks to herself as she gazes around. The tiles are cracked and dusty, as if no one's been here for ages. In the distance, she's pretty sure she can make out a palace, though whether or not it's the Red Castle she can't be quite sure. The air around them is still and silent. Jia suddenly feels cold.

"Isn't it awesome?" Min's voice breaks her out of her spell. Jia suddenly finds that she wants to get out of here as fast as she can, and that they need to leave. Now.

"I..." she starts, but stops when she sees Min step out in front of her, observing the skies thoughtfully. Another smile drifts across her face, and she turns to Jia, index finger in front of her own lips.

"Shh," says Min, grinning. "Wait for it."

Jia doesn't know what they're waiting for; she doesn't even know if she wants to see it. But Min turns back to the grey clouds barely covering up the faint bright sun, and Jia can't just leave her. She can't. Even if she wants to.

But she doesn't have too long to think, when suddenly a screech pierces the air. Jia's eyes go straight up to where Min is watching. A faint shadow is among the clouds, even darker against the dirty grey, moving around, like a large bird. But something about this shadow tells Jia that it's not a bird, that it's something much bigger, much faster, much worse. Ever part of her body wants to get out of there as quick as possible, but she finds herself rooted to the spot, unable to move.

The shriek sounds again, shattering against the quiet. Jia looks back down to Min. Min has moved to the center of the board, among the dustiest and dirtiest black and white tiles, directly below the creature's flight. Jia wants to yell out to her to move, to get out of the way, to go!-but her breath gets caught in her throat and for the first time, she loses all will to fight.

Then something snaps inside of her. Min has glanced away and turned around. She's staring at her, and there's something unreadable in her eyes, something that Jia is afraid of. And as she continues watching her, the screeches from the creature above get louder and louder, and suddenly they're both in a whirlwind of dirt and dust.

The wind is strangely silent, though when Min opens her mouth to say something, Jia can't hear a thing. "What?" Jia yells, straining her voice and hoping that Min will hear her.

"Isn't this amazing?" Min shouts back. She laughs and grasps onto Jia as they stand their way through the tornado.

Jia doesn't answer. Instead, she points up and says loudly, "What is that?"

Min's eyes sparkle even more and her face breaks out into a wide grin, as she says, "The Jabberwocky, of course!" There's something about the way that she says the creature's name that sends shivers all over Jia's body, even though she's cold already.

"I-Is it-"

"Look!" Min shouts, cutting her off again. Jia lifts her gaze up, to where the clouds are getting darker and darker, and then suddenly the clouds part and she can see what it is.

Hovering above them, about fifty meters off the ground, is a large scaly dragon, with a long serpentine neck and almost bulging eyes. Its wings are wide and leathery, but its face is ugly and skull-like, scarred with years and years of grime. It's looking down at them, down at Min and Jia, circling around them and flying faster toward the ground with its mouth wide open and teeth bared, and-

Before the creature can do so much as to snatch them up, Jia grabs Min's hand and tears her out of the tornado. She runs, runs as fast as she can, pulling Min along with her and fleeing back into the forest.

***

"Are you insane?!"

Jia throws Min's hand down and turns on her, fear and anger raging in her eyes.

"We could have gotten killed!" she shrieks. "We could have died, we could have gotten eaten-What were you thinking, leading us there? Staying there!"

To her furious surprise, Min just laughs. She laughs and laughs-although she stops when she sees the look on Jia's face.

"Oh come on," she says, still chuckling a bit. "Live a little, you know? Wasn't that fun?"

"Fun? Fun? You think it's fun, almost being eaten alive, being torn apart limb from limb-"

"Oh, don't be such a drama queen." Min waves her hand at her. "The Jabberwocky's harmless."

"Harmless? You think it looked harmless when it looked at us like we were its afternoon snack? snaps Jia. "We-You got us into this mess! We nearly died because of you!"

"So it's my fault now," says Min, the twitch in her lip gone. She glares at Jia.

Jia glares back.

"Yes, it is! Because you're the one who wanted us to go there, and if it wasn't for me, we would be inside that-that thing's stomach right now, but instead we're actually alive and not dead!"

Min stares at her for a long time. Then she sighs, and reaches out for Jia's hand. Jia pulls back.

"Okay, okay, I get it," says Min, looking at her long and hard. "I just didn't think that you'd be that scared, you know-I mean, I would never-"

"Of course I was scared," says Jia furiously, feeling the anger bubble inside of her again. "When you-when we're both put in danger like that, of course I'd be scared!"

"I told you, I get it," Min says patiently. She even cracks a small smile when she reaches for Jia's hand again. This time, Jia doesn't protest. Min strokes the top of her palm, running her small fingers along her skin.

Jia stiffens, but does nothing more.

"Oh, come here," says Min, and her grip fastens around Jia's wrist and she pulls her towards her. Her lips meet Jia's and Jia does her best to protest, but when a tongue sweeps over her bottom lip, she can't help but give in. They stand there, kissing, for a few heavenly minutes.

Min pulls away. "I told you, I get it," she says softly. "I'd never put you in danger like that. Trust me, okay?"

"Y-Yeah," Jia manages to stutter out. Her teeth fall together. "Okay."

Min smiles. "Good. Now come; we have places to be."

***

They end up in a tree. Jia can feel the roughness of the branch beneath her, and shifts slightly. Min is on the other side, back against the tree, legs stretched out in front of her. Occasionally she'll grab an acorn from the branch above them, toss it around in her hand, and then chuck it at the ground. Jia watches her, mesmerized.

Min sighs again after throwing another acorn, and rests her head against the tree trunk behind her. Jia's eyes go from Min's torso, down to her legs as white as sheet, and then to her feet. It's then for the first time when Jia realizes that Min is not wearing any shoes.

"It's nice here, don't you think?" says Min, breaking her out of her thoughts. "I like climbing trees. You can see the sunrise from here."

"Can you?" says Jia, and peers through some leaves on the tree next to them. A faint ray of light shines through the branches.

"Yeah," says Min. "And it's quiet, too. Peaceful. Away from all the noise, all the world."

Jia is silent as she tries to absorb Min's words. It's sort of like when they had been in bed. Except now, Jia can hear something crumbling away and she doesn't know what it is.

Min turns to face her. "Come here," she says.

Hesitantly, Jia moves a bit on the tree branch.

Min brings her hand up, and her fingers trace the details on Jia's face. They run down her thin nose, stroke along her jaw, grip around her chin-then her mouth moves forward and she's kissing Jia, steadily. Jia shivers a little; but the pleasure is only momentary, because then Min moves away, a satisfied smile on.

"We're going to have so much fun later," she says, leaning back against the tree. "Maybe one day I'll show you the mountains."

"Th-The mountains?" says Jia, touching her lips absently.

"Yeah. The mountains." A dream look passes over Min's face. "Where there are dragons... wyverns... the fiercest animals in the world. Greatest creatures you can ever imagine."

Jia watches her every movement.

"What... What else will you show me, one day?" she asks. A knot tightens in her stomach.

"Oh, everything," says Min. "From dragons, to swordfish, to tap dancing."

"Tap dancing?"

"Yes, tap dancing," Min says in all seriousness.

Jia stares at her, not sure if it'd be appropriate if she laughed.

Min rolls her head to the side, scraping the tree bark slightly. She closes her eyes.

"We'll do everything together," she murmurs. "We'll do anything and everything. We'll have all the time in the world."

"All the time?" whispers Jia.

Min opens an eye and smiles.

"All of it."

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