I yanked my hands away from the woman in disbelief. I couldn't believe it was true.

"NO, please no! Tell me there’s a way back to my place, to my country. Are there any planes that travel above here or boats on the horizon that you’ve noticed? Maybe they can help me go back home!" I said, looking at her in desperation, hoping and wishing that she knew another way to help me. But it seemed to me that whoever that Altua person was, they had a strong hold on her and probably the other members of this society.

"Planes and boats, huh," she said, chuckling. " I haven’t heard those words since the last time Sky People arrived."

"There are others like me here, right? I heard that there were others," I said, leaning in closer, hoping to know more.

"Yes, you will see their children soon enough," she said, staring at me for my reaction. She dug down in her satchel and pulled up another leather pouch.

"Children? What do you mean?" I said, allowing her to rub orange leaves onto my wrists.

"Sky people are rare. You are the seventh full-blooded sky person Altua has gifted us. My mother was just born when the last sky person came. When I was old enough to see him, he was an old, bitter man," she said, letting go of my wrists and packing her herbs in her satchel.

"Is he still alive? Maybe he remembers how he got here as well."

"He is no longer with us. I assume sky people have the same concept of death as we do," she said, slowly lifting herself up away from me and repositioning her satchel. "He is with Altua now."

"No, please ma'am," I said, my eyes stinging as I fought back tears, " I don’t want to be the only one. Please don't tell me that I’m alone,"

"There are half-bloods, but they have been raised with our people. Sorry. Those who know about your world have come and gone. It is Altua’s will," she said, turning away to leave the hut. As she shuffles out of sight, two guards are seen on both sides of the entrance, stiff as statues, each holding a spear.

As I watched the sun set, I shrank to the edge of the hut and instantly began wailing. I couldn't help it; the tears were flowing out of my eyes like a broken faucet. I am broken. Something that I clearly couldn't see that made me trapped in this hell far away from home. Everything felt too real to be a dream—the bars, the pain, the ointment on my knees and wrists. Could I ever go back home? Back to my time? Where I have technology and comforts that this place lacked. To my family and friends, who are wondering where I am? Are they searching for me? How many days have passed since I left? If I were in another time in a different world, how would they find me? They couldn't. All because of that stupid mansion. Because of this person, or deity, called Altua. How dare they take my life from me!

"Hey!" I screamed at the guards, desperate for attention. No one else would talk to me other than the healer. "Let me go! Please, I’m not a threat," I squeezed my face in between the bars. "I don’t belong here, so please let me go!" but they remained motionless, though I continued anyway. "Look, whatever that Altua guy said I'm here for isn’t true, so if you please." One of the guards stormed into the hut before I could finish my sentence, opened the gate and towered over me. The other guard watched the interaction cautiously by the entrance.

"Do not soil Altua’s name," he said, lifting me up by my arm and thrusting me to the other side of the jail. I could feel the walls shake unsettlingly behind me as I made contact. I was still dazed when he approached me again. This time, his spear was drawn toward my neck. I cowered in fear as I saw death laughing in my face as he growled. "That is punishable by death."