What will the future hold? 

Will I ever find the answers that I need?

What will become of me?

I scanned the room, then moved toward the door, impatient to see what's beyond. When I opened it, sunlight washed over me—warm but gentler than back home, like stepping into a world before climate change. No skyscrapers or traffic here. 

Just a stone path leading to a gate, bordered by gardens bursting with color. A gardener, maybe thirty, worked quietly among the flowers, paying me no mind. The silence felt alive somehow. As I breathed in this peaceful place, Zoey's voice came from behind me.

Zoey came sprinting across the garden like she was being chased by wolves, Nina right behind her with an umbrella clutched like a weapon. 

"My lady!" Zoey gasped, practically diving between me and the sun. 

"Your face! It's being attacked by daylight!"

Nina unfurled the umbrella with such dramatic flair you'd think she was shielding me from acid rain. I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

"I'm quite alright," I said. "No emergency rescue required."

"But my lady," Nina insisted, her expression deadly serious, 

"The sun is the sworn enemy of noble skin. Each ray plots against your complexion!"

These two would probably faint if they saw how I used to sunbathe back home.

"Actually," I said, tilting my face up, 

"Compare to where I come from, this barely qualifies as a nightlight. I'm literally freezing with this temperature."

They exchanged a look of pure horror, like I'd just announced I enjoyed bathing in mud and eating rocks. 

" Well. ..If... my lady insists on this... self-destruction...as long as you are fine and happy"

I scanned the surroundings as I stepped carefully along the cobblestone path. The garden unfolded before me—emerald vined climbing up ancient stone walls, purple wisteria cascading from wooden trellises. A weathered gardener with leathery hands kneels in the soil, his curved pruning knife glinting in the dappled sunlight as he tended to a row of herbs. The air smelt of damp earth and lavender.

This place breathed with history - like stepping into a painting from centuries past. The melancholy beauty of it settled in my chest like a sigh. No harsh engines roaring, no acrid exhaust burning my lungs. Only birdsong, rustling leaves, and the distant murmur of unhurried voices.   

The garden blurred before my eyes as questions swirl in my mind like autumn leaves caught in a whirlwind.

Will I ever understand this place? This life?

I turned back to study the mansion - its limestone towers reaching toward clouds, gargoyles perched on rain gutters, stained glass catching sunlight in fractured rainbows. The architecture spoke of centuries of tradition, of knowledge passed through generations of master craftsmen. In this world of nature and fantasy mansion, I felt both lost and strangely at home.

"I always wonder what' s on your mind, my lady." Nina's voice pulled me from my reverie, her eyes searching mine with familiar concern.

"You always observe everything so carefully, lost in thoughts since childhood."  Her smile carried the weight of memories I didn't possess.

Does she see the difference between me and the real Athene? Or are we truly the same soul in different worlds?

I returned her smile while calculating my next question to ask them. Suddenly, Jung's face materialized in my memory - those unsettling eyes.

"I've been wondering about Jung," I said, keeping my voice light. "What manner of physician has eyes that flash blue like that?"

"Oh, my lady," Zoey replied, as if discussing nothing more remarkable than tomorrow's weather. 

"He's the most renowned healer in the region. His past remains mysterious, but they say his bloodline traces to the immortals of the outer realm. It's why he can heal with... unusual methods."

I nodded thoughtfully, my face a practiced mask of innocent curiosity while my mind reeled with implications.

Immortals. Magic. The impossible suddenly became possible.

What the hell are you talking about? Is this even real?

My head throbbed with confusion, each word they spoke adding to the pounding behind my eyes. Immortal? Outer realm? I got lost deeper in my curiosity, and suddenlt the stone walls of this medieval castle felt like a facade dessolving in the back of my mind.

"Oh, immortal?" I forced my voice to remain steady, though my heart hammered against my ribs. 

"Do you mean he is not the same human as us?"

"Yes, my lady." Zoey's eyes darted nervously to the heavy tapestries hanging on the walls, as if afraid someone might be listening behind them. 

"But we must keep this secret. Please forgive me for not being able to answer you. I think our lord will tell you himself."

Both Zoey and Nina sinked to their knees, their foreheads nearly touching the cold stone floor. The silk of their gowns pools around them like spilled wine.

"But... Why don't you tell me yourself? Is it that dangerous?" My fingers twisted anxiously in the embroidered sleeve of my gown.

"Yes, my lady." Zoey's whisper barely carried across the room. 

"Magic is forbidden here. This realm is only for humans to live. Anything that happens will be considered wrong to the god as well as the heaven mandate."

WHAT? 

The world seemed to spin around me, the garden blurring into swirls of color. As someone who came from a world of smartphones and coding marathons, I felt like I'd fallen through the looking glass into some bizarre fantasy novel....