I woke to complete darkness. Everywhere I looked, everything was Black.

Black Above…

Black Below…

…and Black to my sides…

It was utterly different from everything I had accustomed to…

And my first instinct—was to panic.

I screamed.

And flailed from where I lay.

Flinging away the sheets that had wrapped around me.

I only stopped when tumbling from where I had been produced a dull, stupid thud.

It was a very undramatic and disillusioning sound.

‘Owie…’

The pain slowed me down enough to take in more of the environment around me.

And my attention was captured by the small green lights glowing around me.

They were pale lights, moving very timidly in the darkness, and clustering in little groups here and there.

I was reminded of the snowflakes of the Lunar Palace.

Except these were green.

I tried to reach out toward one of them…

But I stopped, when I realized that I had passed through a membrane of some sort.

The tip of my fingers felt wet.

I realized…

…I was inside a bubble.

It had enveloped my entire body, as well as the bed and bedding I could better recognize now that I look back at them…

…and it was in turn enveloped by a great body of water.

I gasped as I let it all sink in.

I had never seen so much water in one place before.

‘...How many tea parties is this even worth?’ I mumbled aloud.

The light from the green glows was very faint, but they were enough to illuminate the outlines of a room and its furniture, once I had given my eyes time to adjust.

I looked back up to the membrane around me.

It was a crystal clear layer that warped the light coming through it, and bent them into blurry splotches of colour.

I recalled…

The White Above of the Lunar Palace had been called a dimensional membrane as well.

I wanted to touch it.

But when I reached out toward it…

I lost my balance, and fell face first to the floor.

Apparently, there had been a platform raising the bed where I slept from the rest of the room.

But as I contemplated the ostentatious redundancy of such a feature…

I realized my face was already outside of the bubble.

It was cool, and pleasant.

Maybe a little ticklish.

Who knew getting past a membrane could be this easy?

I laughed.

Laughed like I hadn’t been able to laugh in a long time.

Not because of the wet, ticklish feeling upon my face. Nor the triumph of surpassing another membrane. Or maybe because of both of that.

I laughed because of a complex of emotions building up within me.

I had thought that I understood everything.

But I realized that I still understood very little indeed.

A small clap resonated in the room.

And the darkness all transformed into a light yellow shine.

And the greenish glows I had seen all transformed into small, spirally things, with slime oozing out of their openings.

A man was standing in front of an opening that looked like a door.

He seemed familiar somehow.

‘I see you’re enjoying yourself!’

My restored vision reminded me of the disorderly state of my person, and I scrambled to straighten myself and my dress.

The man merely smiled at my flustered behaviour, as he approached in steady, regal steps.

‘And I see that you’re able to breath normally as well!’ he said in a clear, bright voice. ‘That is good! I was sure that any person of magic would be able to automatically adjust to the Aqua Realm, but finding you in such a state of depletion, I thought it safer to set up a bubble.’

His golden robes came up before me, as he flashed me a charismatic smile.

‘After all, I have been taught not to take chances, when it comes to matters of life and death.’

In a stroke of recollection, I realized that I had seen this young man before.

Not only was his the voice that had met me before I lost consciousness, but I had seen him standing inside the magic mirror—

Behind Lord Houyi!

‘Taught by whom?’ I asked without properly controlling myself.

I was half-compelled by habit, as it had been a relatively common question to ask people who their masters were, in the Heavenly realms where almost everyone was associated with one another through master-disciple relationships.

The other half, however, was compelled entirely by desire.

The young man flinched at my question, and he grimaced. But then he shook, and quickly regained his composure.

‘More importantly,’ he said and cleared his voice, ‘allow me to introduce myself.’

He flicked his finger, and a rush of people flooded in from the opening where he had entered.

I started a little, and I thought my host was amused with that.

They were people, yet they were different from other people I had seen. Most of them wore sheening metallic armors that seemed to meld into one with their own bodies, with arms that extended into two sharp points, like a scissor, except curving. And there were a few others who looked more human, but with scales all over their bodies, and some sort of webbing between their fingers.

They lined up beside the walls of the chamber, which I realized now was much wider than I had thought in darkness.

All these strange men entered, and bowed behind the young man before me.

The young man smiled confidently. ‘They call me Hebo, Lord of the Rivers, and this is my home, the River Palace.’

He extended a gentle hand before me.

‘May I ask for the name of my honoured guest?’

I hesitated, and stared into his hand.

Memories recalled themselves to me.

But then a fit of impulse drowned them all away.

And I took it, and allowed myself to be pulled up to my feet by his surprising strength.

I had grabbed both my hands onto his in the excitement of the motion, and was now only an arms’ length away from his charismatic smile.

I was fully outside of the bubble then, when it popped with a sudden, dramatic sound.

I was probably as red as a cooked crusty, as I later found out they liked to say here.

‘What is your name,’ repeated Lord Hebo gently, ‘beautiful maiden?’

By then, I had already become too flushed and nervous for the full extent of his compliment to register with me.

But my name? My name?

Melancholy welled up within me.

…I was the white rabbit—but that was as good as nobody.

I was nobody.

Nothing.

Something small and unnoticeable.

‘Lady?’—

‘My name is Xuanzan’, I declared with as much resolution as I could muster in my voice.

That was my name from now on.

I was—

A black pin.

The River God was visibly surprised for a second, but he regained his usual manner of grace.

‘I welcome you’, he said with warmth, ‘Lady Xuanzan, to the Yellow River.’

Then he turned around to his men behind him. ‘Go prepare the services for our guest!’

At which they all nodded, and marched in formation outside of the room.

Lord Hebo looked back to me. ‘First of all, you must be famished!’

I touched my stomach, and realized that he was right. It had been ages since my last rice cake, and my body threatened to groan in immodest protest.

My host laughed. ‘I must invite you to join me for dinner!’

He squeezed my hand more tightly, and I could feel the heat from them transferring to my own.

‘This way, if you please!’

I could only nod.

Lord Hebo led me out to a hallway with large windows, and I was instantly enchanted by the sight before me.

An entire metropolis spread out before my eyes, bustling with life and activity, and rich with architectural detail and grandeur. And on the horizon, which felt finite and tangible, I could see another invisible membrane, barring outside rapid currents of a yellowish liquid.

It was nothing like the peace and quiet and simplicity I had known in the Lunar Palace.

‘This city is my pride’, said Lord Hebo, making me realize I had stalled him to indulge my view of the scenery. ‘At the heart this river—at the heart of this world. I found you on the banks of the Yellow River, you know.’

And I realized again, that my hand was still within his.

‘...It’s beautiful’, I said sheepishly.

He smiled. ‘Not as beautiful as you.’

And I was more composed this time to be rattled by his compliment.

He laughed gently.

‘Shall we go eat?’