I walked — no, stumbled — toward a small pool of water. What I saw there froze my breath.
Just… a reflection.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
It was instinct — I had to see.
"What, your face scare you that bad?"
"M-My face!!"
"What about it?"
"It's like…"
"Hmm?"
"It's like it's not mine!"
Those eyes, that face, those long black curls marked with strange symbols — why did it feel like this body wasn't mine? Was it memory loss? Madness? I didn't know. It was unbearable to think that this was me. And those markings… they looked back at me. Watching. I hated it.
I couldn't stop touching my face, hoping to wake up, to find something familiar.
Then I heard him whistle — breaking my thoughts cleanly in half.
"Amnesia, huh? Must suck, being scared of your own face. You're not great, but you're not the worst either. Plenty here would kill to forget everything — but after seeing you, I bet they'd change their minds."
He said it so casually it was almost insulting.
"Don't worry. Around here, we've got eccentrics of every flavor. You're far from the weirdest. So stop shaking like a leaf — you've just got flashy hair and an insomniac's face."
"Yeah…" Wait, what?!
"You're actually kinda good-looking, now that I look closer. Bit of a fixer-upper, sure, but trust me."
"Uh… thanks?"
"I just call it like I see it."
"But I… I'm really lost here…"
"Yeah, I figured. For now, you're just amnesiac." He paused. "Or a really convincing liar."
"I don't get a word you're saying."
"Sure about that? Being scared of your reflection's not that strange."
"Uh… well…"
Something felt off.
"But what's weird," he continued, "is you didn't react at all to this place. Didn't even flinch."
"What—"
"Usually, people like you freak out. 'What is this place?! Why are there giant walls with glowing symbols?! Oh wow, it's beautiful!' But you? Nothing. You just focused on yourself."
"…"
"Yeah, you might really be one of them. Did that sink in yet?"
I clenched my fist. God, he was annoying.
What was he even talking about? All I wanted was to get away from his smug tone. Sure, the place looked unusual, but why should I be shocked?
"The lost ones?Walls? What are you even—"
"Oh yeah? You've got eyes, right? Then look."
"Wha—"
I lifted my head.
And froze.
No reaction. No breath.
The sight before me — far beyond anything I'd missed before — left me utterly speechless.
—Just a few seconds later…—
ㅤ
"Th-th-th-this is impos-s-s-sible!!!"
I shouted, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Well, finally! Took you long enough to notice."
"Wha—WHERE EVEN ARE WE?!"
Maybe I was still dazed from the brutal awakening, maybe I hadn't yet adjusted to my own body… but—was this real? How had I not seen it before?!
"This… can't be real."
Nothing made sense — none of it matched the lingering fragments of memory in my mind.
"Finally!" he said, standing up and spreading his arms like some kind of tour guide. "Allow me to more or less welcome you to my land!"
"Th-thank—"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I was caught off guard too, I'll admit it. But since I'm the one who found you, tradition says it's my job to give you a rough idea of where you've landed. Pretty nice of me, huh?"
"…"
I wasn't listening anymore. My mind was entirely consumed by the sight before me.
All around us stretched patches of rich earth, vibrant greenery, trees and stones resting at different heights — each on its own floating platform, suspended by some mystical force. From where I stood, I could clearly see every corner of this vast, surreal expanse — as if it all somehow fit within a single chamber.
A setting like this… inside a room? How absurd.
How could all of this exist in one enclosed space?It felt unwelcoming, alien — and yet, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was standing inside a fragment of that place I'd always longed to reach…That place — whatever it was — resonated with this hall of carved stories, where even the walls and ceiling were covered in strange symbols and ancient scenes, giving everything an air of timeless myth.
It felt like I had wandered into a world made of legends — thousands, maybe millions of years old.
As I gazed further, I saw it — even from afar, unmistakable: a massive gate, towering and monumental, perhaps leading outside. It was so immense that, compared to it, I was no more than an insect. And yet, just as he'd said, none of it filled me with fear. Quite the opposite — I was smiling.
"Hello? Earth to you?"
"Oh, uh—what?"
"Can't even listen when someone's talking to you. Unreal."
"Uh…"
"Reaction time: zero out of twenty. Guess I hit the jackpot," he said, pretending to jot notes on an invisible clipboard. "You really enjoy being completely lost, huh?"
He's infuriating.
"Could you stop repeating the same thing and actually do your guide job, Mister Know-It-All?!"
"Tssh-t."
He had this annoying habit of acting emotional one second, then going back to smug the next — it was whiplash-inducing.
"Wait, wait! One thing before anything else!"
"What now?"
"What's your name?"
"My… what?"
"Your name."
"My name?"
"If you don't remember it, then we're really starting from scratch."
Was he mocking me?
"Well…"
"Yeah, go on?"
ㅤ
My name…?
I—it was right there, on the tip of my tongue, like…
ㅤ
No.
ㅤ
Actually… I know it. It's maybe the one thing I've always known.
"Yes…! I remember. I remember my name."
It wanted to come out — the word I hadn't spoken in so long.
"And?" he asked again, eyes gleaming with curiosity.
"Yes. It's… I think it's—no, I'm sure of it. My name is…"
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ
"My name is Mär."