Elysium: Desired by the Cold-hearted Princess [GL]

Seraphina's POV

I jolted awake, expecting to feel the cold concrete of the bunker under my back and maybe hear Roxana's occasional sleep talking or Penelope snoring lightly somewhere nearby, but instead, I was hit with complete silence.

My fingers brushed against something soft, damp, and oddly warm—grass? I blinked rapidly and sat up, my heart beginning to thud as I looked around.

Where the hell was I?

It looked like a forest, but not any forest I'd ever seen in my life. The trees were tall and glowing faintly, and there were also tiny floating lights, like a swarm of fireflies, drifting lazily through the air. The air was kind of warm, and it also smelled like burning incense and... rain?

I got to my feet slowly, my head whipping side to side as I turned in place, scanning my surroundings.

"Hello?" I called out, my voice shaky. "Is... anyone here?"

No one answered.

I took a careful step forward, but the grass under my feet made no sound, and it was almost like the whole forest was holding its breath. A part of me wanted to panic, scream, maybe, but something told me I needed to stay calm and just breathe.

Was this a dream?

No... it didn't feel like one. Everything felt too real. I looked down at myself, and I was still wearing the same hoodie and leggings I'd worn in the bunker. My hands were still dirty from helping Irina and Roxana make the bed we eventually put Electra on, and speaking of Electra...

"Is this part of... saving her?" I whispered to myself, my heart twisting. "Is this what being her vessel means?"

I didn't know how any of it worked. Solara hadn't exactly left me with a manual. All she said was that when the moment came, I would know. Well, if this wasn't that moment, then I had no idea what was. I rubbed my hands together, trying to shake the chill off even though it wasn't cold.

Another few steps, and I paused again.

"Electra?" I called out, louder this time, just in case.

Still nothing. Just more of those floating lights and the creepy and endless silence.

I took a deep breath and began walking again, this time a little faster. The glowing trees seemed to continue endlessly in every direction, like no matter how far I walked, I wasn't getting any closer to an end.

I couldn't even tell where the light source was coming from, since there was no sun, no moon, and just this...weird looking sky that I couldn't find the words to describe.

I don't know how long I'd been walking, but my legs were beginning to ache in places I didn't even know could ache.

The forest was starting to look even more like something out of a dream, but the longer I walked, the more the dream-like state started to feel like a nightmare. A never-ending maze with no exit.

I tried to stay calm, telling myself that this had to be connected to Electra. It had to be. Maybe this was part of the process Solara talked about, some weird in-between space I had to pass through in order to help Electra.

But what if it wasn't? What if I were stuck here? What if none of this had anything to do with Electra, and I'd just… vanished from my world entirely?

I shook my head, trying to get rid of the thought, but it kept worming its way back in, and the silence wasn't helping either. The deeper I walked into the forest, the more I felt like I was being watched. Not in a creepy horror movie way, but like the trees themselves were aware of my presence, and like they were studying me.

Eventually, my legs gave out, and I stopped walking. I leaned against the nearest tree, wiping sweat from my forehead with the sleeve of my hoodie.

Everything around me was still looking the same, even though I was certain that I had been walking for quite a few minutes, and I had to close my eyes and take a few deep breaths to keep myself from panicking.

"Okay, Seraphina," I whispered, "you're fine. You're fine. This is just… some kind of test. It has to be."

The tree behind me suddenly burned, and a searing heat shot up my back, sharp and painful like a brand, and I stumbled forward with a cry. I turned around and froze.

The bark of the tree was shifting, stretching, and morphing to my utter confusion, and then, before I could even comprehend what I was seeing, a face emerged from the trunk. An actual face. Carved into the wood, with eyes that glowed faintly and a mouth that slowly moved.

"Hello," it said, and without wasting a second, I screamed.

It wasn't a normal scream either. It was one of those guttural, full-body screams that ripped through my throat before I could stop it. My vision blurred, my knees buckled, and the last thing I saw was the tree blinking at me before I fell, and everything went dark.

***

When my eyes fluttered open again, the first thing I felt was disappointment. I had hoped, desperately hoped, that I'd wake up and realize everything was a bad dream.

I was hoping that the strange forest, the talking tree, and the weird pull in my chest that told me something wasn't right would have disappeared, but no. The weird forest was still there, and worse? So was the talking tree.

The tree's eyes blinked slowly as it looked right at me, like it had been waiting for me to come back to consciousness.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," I muttered, dragging a hand down my face. "Of all the magical nonsense that could happen, I get dumped in the woods with a creepy tree that talks."

The tree didn't seem offended. If anything, it looked… amused.

"Ah, you're awake," it said, its voice like wind rustling through dry leaves. "And just as foul-mouthed as I would expect a human to be."

I groaned, sitting up and hugging my knees. "Okay, listen, Tree. To introduce myself, my name is Seraphina, and right now, I don't know where I am, why I'm here, or what kind of joke this is, but I really, really need to not be here right now. I'm supposed to be with Electra, my girlfriend whose life is in danger."

"Electra," the tree repeated, the word coming from its mouth like it held meaning far deeper than I could understand. "Yes, I know of her."

"Great. Then maybe you can tell me how to get back to her."

The tree didn't answer right away, staying silent like it was deep in thought. Then, it said, "You are not meant to return, at least, not yet."

"What do you mean, not yet?" I snapped. "I didn't ask to be here, so what the hell is going on?"

The tree's eyes blinked again, slowly. "You are in between, Seraphina. Between time and between worlds."

I stared at it. "What in the mystical riddle hell does that mean?"

"It means," it said calmly, "that you are a vessel, and until your other half successfully finds you, you remain suspended, waiting for a task to be completed."

I froze, and my heart thudded painfully. "My other half… Electra?"

The tree didn't respond, and it didn't need to because I was pretty certain that it was talking about Electra.

"So, what exactly am I waiting for? What's the plan?"

"Your other half is still searching," the tree said. "And right now, she is being tested. If she passes, you will be found by her."

"And if she fails?"

The tree's leaves rustled softly and almost mournfully. "Then you will remain here. Forever in between."