Seeing the lady he had abandoned, Leonard had a strange feeling. He felt some guilt for leaving her to a fate he didn't want to know, but at the same time, he felt that there was nothing he could have done. Even if he had attempted to fight them off, he would have lost due to their advantage in numbers.
On closer inspection, the lady was still wearing the same dress, only now it was covered in dirt marks and her body had visible bruises. She was like a delicate flower left to rot in hell.
Leonard soon took his glance off her. He looked around the area; almost every place to sit was taken. The majority of the people were sitting on the floor.
"Thief!" A loud shout was heard from a nearby crowd. The voice was that of a man. Despite shouting "thief," he didn't know who had stolen from him. The people around didn't even bother looking in his direction.
Leonard looked around the room once more. This time, in a certain corner, he saw two people standing. They were wearing white trench coats; one was male while the other was female.
If these people weren't there, there would have been blood flowing and all sorts of crimes. Stealing wasn't forbidden; even if you were caught, they would most likely just give a punishment. The common people were simply not worth the extra attention to them; it was like a lion concerning itself with the activities of ants.
Leonard walked to a crowded area and stood straight. He didn't want to sit on the dirty floor. He put his hands in his pockets and looked around.
Boom!
A loud sound was heard. Most people in the room let out a gasp; some cursed, while others, like Leonard, just kept quiet. He seemed unbothered but felt his bones shake.
'It's taking long.'
After close to an hour of waiting, Leonard started to grow impatient. He looked around; the people were also starting to lose their patience.
'A sun?'
Leonard soon noticed a bright orange light illuminate the room. The light was too bright, so he closed his eyes slightly. This didn't last long, as he soon opened them. Once he did, he noticed that the light was still around.
This wasn't the weirdest thing he saw. Around him, the people were all... still. None of them were moving; they were still like statues. Some had saliva dropping from their mouths; some were licking their lips; some were grabbing women's assets.
Everything was still, as if time were frozen. Dust particles, saliva that came from the people talking, the people themselves—everything was frozen still.
Leonard lifted his hand. He could clearly move without issue. Turning his head to look at the people in the white trench coats, he noticed that they were also still.
"Huh?"
At the corner of his eye, he noticed a figure move. When he turned his head in that direction, he saw a beautiful woman staring at him.
"It's her!" Leonard muttered to himself. The woman was someone he had only seen twice, but she had left an impression on him.
The lady just looked at him. Her eyes held a strange, dark light in them which made Leonard feel extremely uncomfortable, as if death were his neighbor.
"Welcome to my world," the lady said in a calm tone. Her voice held extreme confidence and a hint of—despair?
"You may call me Lady Maria, the Queen of Space," she added with a short, elegant bow. Her clothes changed to a long black dress reaching her legs; the dress was black with gold, which made it look exquisite.
'Queen of Space? My world? Leonard staggered slightly upon hearing this, Leonard had plenty of questions regarding the lady and his situation, but he felt as if the words were stuck in his throat. After a few seconds, he mustered up the confidence and asked, "Where am I?"
"My world," she replied, her eyes fixated on Leonard.
"What do you mean by your world? And how has time stopped?" Leonard asked while looking at his surroundings. The loud sound outside had strangely come to an end.
"For now, only this is important. As the Queen of Space, I bestow upon you the Power of the King," she said. Her voice held enthusiasm.
"Power of the King?" Leonard muttered loud enough for her to hear.
"I lack the time to explain, but we'll meet in the future," she said. "The Power of the King will fulfill your wishes, but the more you use it, the more it uses you."
With those being her last words, she disappeared like the wind, leaving behind a beautiful color of gold specks of dust.
Like golden glass breaking, the light shattered as if it were a solid and faded away as if it were a gas. Movement from the people returned as if nothing had happened. The people in trench coats were oblivious to what happened as well.
The moment Leonard noticed the change, he looked around, but the lady had disappeared. He looked around repeatedly but didn't see a sign of her; it was as if she had never existed.
Unbeknownst to him, some of his memories were being erased and replaced by scenes that never happened—like water being taken from a well and replaced with different water. His recent encounter was erased; the memory of meeting the lady was gone. All he had left were two sentences:
'Power of the King.'
'Queen of Space, Maria.'