dreamteez-story - Tumblr blog

[dreamteez-story]

Fate Chapter 7 - New Rules

♫ Ray’s Playlist: “Blackpink - Tally” 

♫ Gwyn’s Playlist: “Yellowcard & Chrissy Costanza - A whole new world”

~★~ Gwyn ~★~

Gwyn felt her hands getting moist, as they came closer to a much quieter part of the meadow. Most people were by the buffet tables or dancing on their left, but only a few elves were near the golden pavilion on one side. Here the whole feel was different. With every step she took, she felt more out of place and nervous. What would happen? Why haven’t they seen humans for a long time? She just hoped she wouldn’t be called an enemy. On the other hand, would Prince Soobin be this polite and cover her ears, if she were an enemy because she was a human? Gwyn could feel her body tensing, as they came closer. Three small steps high was the pavilion and on top, in the middle of it, there stood two big thrones and a smaller one, probably for the crown prince because nobody sat there. The two elves on the thrones were as stunningly beautiful as most elves she saw on her way here. All of them had this beauty, that nobody ever could describe. 

The pavilion was mostly white, but the same gold leaves as in Soobin’s crown, covered the pillars and the top. Now in the evening sun, she could also see fireflies appearing to cover this place in a soft light. Everything seemed peaceful. Everything except the Queen.

She looked very serious and looked Gwyn up and down, then to her son and back to her. Hey eyes said everything, she already didn’t like her and now she felt even more uneasy with this whole situation. Soobin must have felt her tense body, because she could feel a hand on her shoulders. For a second she looked at him, saw his smile and tried to smile too, but that probably looked nothing like she wanted. He still nod and she focused on the King and Queen again. 

The Queen had long silverish hair, small but sharp deep brown monolid eyes and a slim figure. She wore a beautiful light green gown with the same stitches like the ones on Soobin's jacket. Compared to the King, who smiled at his son and Gwyn, she seemed to be very serious. The King had grayish-blue hair. He probably had the same hair color as his son once, but it faded. His eyes were a bit rounder and reminded her a lot of Soobin’s. Even his jacket was similar to his son’s. 

“Who is this beautiful young Lady, my son?” He asked and from the way he asked this, Gwyn felt even more like she was in the wrong movie, or dream. He asked, like a father who would ask his son after his girlfriend. Was that, why the Queen looked at her so skeptical? 

“We just met her. Taehyun saw her standing at the edge of the meadow. Her Name ist Gwyneth and she…” Soobin started, paused and looked at her again, Like he would quietly ask her for her approval to say the next part. So she nod and both looked up again. Gwyn said nothing and uncovered one of her ears for a second. Then she stood still again and waited for what would happen. But it became quiet around all of them and the King and Queen just looked at each other, like they could not believe what they just saw.

“Taehyun, could you get Bahiyyih here? She should be with the other guests.” The Queen looked at the prince’s partner and he just nodded, bowed and went into the crowd. It was the King who then spoke to Gwyn directly. “We heard about people from your world coming here, but the last case is long ago and the woman we know about is a dear friend of my wife. I think it will need time to get you back home, but we will find a place for you to stay and Soobin…” He stopped and looked at his son. Soobin’s body tensed a bit, yet she could see him becoming stable really quick. 

“You will help this girl to get along. Next to your duties of course.” Not long after these orders, Soobin counters with an idea he seemed very sure of: “She could stay in the empty novice room at the library. Taehyun would be there at any time during the nights and during the day she would be in the village. With a few limits of course.” He turned to her again: “You should not leave the village and you would need to tell Taehyun or me where you are going.” That was not what Gwyn had been thinking. However she nodded and he smiled at her again. She thought she would be thrown into a cell, or would be limited to a controlled room, but being free to visit the village with a room for herself and people who would try to help her get back? This whole dream felt too damn real. Of course it was way too crazy to be real, but it started to feel real to her. And a part of her already thought about, why she would go back to “her world”. A young blonde girl arrived next to Gwyn. For a moment she was a bit confused, because her eyes reminded her a lot of Kai, the waiter from the cafe, but that was probably only her imagination and the thought of something familiar. Bahiyyih looked asian, but not purely. She wore a pretty lavender dress with little ribbons on the top and leaves. “Your Highness, you called for me?” 

The next part of this conversation flew by and everything Gwyn could keep was, that the young girl should tell her mother to arrive at the castle in the morning and the king agreeing to Soobin’s proposal for staying with Taehyun. Everyone seemed okay with this decision, except for the blush haired. His face was empty of emotions, but he did not dared to talk back to the royals family an accepted to take her in. They would leave now, so nobody would get to curious about her and what was happening here, even Bahiyyih had to leave now.

~★~ Ray ~★~

She followed Beomgyu through the dark, cold corridors of the castle. She heard every step she took on the bare floor and the few servants eyed her suspiciously as they passed. With every door they passed, the lump in her throat grew larger and she felt  increasingly uncomfortable in her clothes. Again and again she pulled them straight or tried to cover her upper body with her arms. 

Beomgyu slowed down until he finally stopped in front of a large, ornamented door. Without hesitation, he knocked thrice and only then looked at Ray. When a muffled sound came from inside, he raised his eyebrows in question and Ray nodded slightly. His hand pressed the handle down and opened the door to the prince's room for her. A dim light shone on the hallway and an unfamiliar scent wafted into her nose. With a last deep breath, she stepped inside. 

The high walls had hardly been worked on and the room, like the castle, seemed as if it had simply been carved out of the huge column. A window provided a view over the city's houses and far into the distance of the kingdom. A few light sources immersed the magnificent room in a dim and mystical atmosphere. On a large table stood a vase with many different fresh flowers that Ray had never seen before. The foreign scent, however, seemed to come from there and drew her gaze to the huge bed with a canopy, which was clearly the center of the room. It stood a little freer and on a small elevation and was covered with silk and soft furs. The canopy's cloths were held by a wooden construction and looked absolutely natural. As her eyes continued to roam the room, they finally stopped at the reason why she was here in the first place...

The young prince leaned back on the couch, casually crossed one leg over the other and propped his arm on the armrest, watching Ray until their eyes met. His hand rested on his chin and his lips were slightly parted. He tilted his head to the side and his eyes inspected the dress on her body, which seemed to fit her like a glove. When Ray noticed his gaze, she tensed and once again wanted to hold her arm in front of her as a shield. As if he had been offended by her reaction, his eyes met hers again and took on a cool expression. A few strands of his hair came loose from his hairstyle and fell into his forehead. A dark cherry red had replaced his previous blue and Ray furrowed his brow briefly.

“Perfect, as expected,” he opened the conversation and put one leg back on the ground. Ray was only slightly pleased by his presumed compliment, which is why she rolled her eyes slightly. Even this reaction from her seemed to amuse him, because with a gallant grin at the corner of his mouth, he got up from the couch and approached her. He was almost two heads taller than Ray and looked down at her from above. “Then you're ready for your first day at work,” he said. To keep calm, Ray took a deep breath and smiled at him. She didn't try very hard to make it look real, though.

"There's nothing I'd rather do, Your Majesty," she replied, indicating a small bow. This also seemed to please him very much and the tip of his tongue slid over his lower lip shortly. He thought for a moment about what task he could give her and looked around his room. 

“Give me a minute.” he said suddenly, pushing Ray out of his room again and closing the door. Perplexed, she stood in the hallway and hadn't been able to say a word. From outside, she heard loud noises coming from the room. Furniture was being moved, things were apparently being knocked over and his footsteps were moving from left to right. As promised, not even a full minute passed before the thick door opened again and a heavy-breathing Yeonjun stood in front of her. His hand stroked the loose strands of hair from his forehead and he stepped aside to invite her back in. 

Ray was literally speechless. The room, which had been so tidy before, now resembled a war zone. The cushions on the couch were scattered all over the floor, as were those on his bed. Clothes were hanging over the chairs, lying on the floor and even on the canopy. The flowers in the vase, which had just been arranged so beautifully, had been knocked over and water was now dripping from the table. She looked open-mouthed and stunned at the crown prince, who, on the other hand, just put his hands on his hips and was proud of his work. 

“Well, let's see how good you are at tidying up,” he said, grabbing one of the few books still on the shelves and throwing himself onto his rumpled bed. He leaned against it, crossed his legs and folded one arm behind his head. When Ray still didn't move, he looked up from the page of his book. “Are you going to stand like that forever? Come on!” he appealed to her more sternly now. He couldn't be serious, Ray thought, struggling to keep her emotions to herself. With a suppressed snort, she finally got moving and started to clear up his mess.

story ©dreamteez_story on wattpad characters and pictures credits to the owners

[dreamteez-story]

Fate Chapter 6 - From Humans, Elves and Drows

♫ Ray’s Playlist: “Itzy - Boys like you” 

♫ Gwyn’s Playlist: “Avril Lavigne - Alice”

~★~ Ray ~★~

"You can't be serious," Ray said, crossing her arms and looking at Yeonjun in disbelief. 

"Why? Our best tailors made this and it would fit perfectly," he explained with conviction, looking at the dress on the bed. Ray was standing on the other side and had just received her new room from him, which was admittedly much more comfortable than her old one. Almost too comfortable. It was almost twice the size and there was a large bed with a canopy in the middle. The walls were made of solid stone as if it had been carved directly out of it. Large windows gave her a view of the city. 

Her gaze fell on the piece of clothing in front of her. She was unsure whether this bit of fabric even deserved to be called a dress. Not because it wasn't beautiful, on the contrary, but it was too transparent for her taste. Thin skin-colored layers of net with black lace adorned the décolleté and covered the breasts. The skirt was made of nude-colored fabric and also had a lot of black lace over it. The transition was made of thicker fabric and would merge into her hips right at her waist. It was figure-hugging and looked more like nightwear than clothing for a servant. 

Ray felt uncomfortable just thinking about wearing it. Although she was no stranger to wearing form-fitting clothes, she preferred a more casual and less provocative style, especially in the presence of the crown prince. 

"I'll never wear that, forget it," she rejected his suggestion and shook her head in agreement. Yeonjun raised his eyebrows in surprise as if he hadn't expected her resistance. When she saw his surprised expression, she grinned ironically. "What? You didn't really expect me to walk around here like your personal courtesan, did you?" but his reaction wasn't what Ray had hoped for. 

"My palace, my rules, pretty thing," he responded, lifting the dress with one hand and throwing it at her. She caught it indignantly. 

"Don't call me that," she hissed in return. 

"Then what should I call you? You never told me your name," he replied gallantly. 

"You never asked," she countered, eliciting a short laugh from him. He seemed to like her stubborn nature. 

"Touché. So what's your name?" he asked, taking a few steps across the large room. 

"Ray," she replied curtly. "Not sweetie, pretty, or anything like that, understand?".

"Well, Ray," he emphasized her name and looked over at her. "Get changed and then I'll be waiting for you in my chambers." He moved towards the door to leave, but Ray stopped him.

"I told you I won't..." but before she could continue, he interrupted her.

"Not for that, gosh, you're not thinking about anything else, are you?" he said, giving her an amused look before leaving her room. 

~★~ Gwyn ~★~

“She was sneaking around the festivities, your highness.”

The blush-haired man, Taehyun like the other said, was the first to speak again. His words were the only reason Gwyn could cut eye contact with the second man. What he said was kind of true, but the way he said it, she needed to say something right now: “I wasn’t sneaking, I just followed the music and…”

But her words were interrupted. Both looked at her, but the first one had raised his hand. She felt under pressure with these four eyes, so she shut her mouth quickly. “Don’t speak without being asked to. You are talking to the elven prince girl.” The one with the green cloak declared and Gwyn lowered her head a few seconds to show respect. What should she do now? Where she was or who they were, she didn’t know, but she got the strong feeling that this was the reason she was in this situation right now.

“Taehyun, Thank you for informing me. However, let me cover this now.” The taller one began and she looked at him again. She expected a strict-looking face, and serious eyes, but he just looked at her and revealed interest in what he saw there. He didn’t seem interested in her body, his eyes were more curious about her. Gwyn realized his eyes were still observing her, yet she didn’t feel uncomfortable. His calm aura transferred to her and she tried to focus on the upcoming conversation. “Who are you?” He asked her in a serene voice. It was a simple question, but she didn’t know what to answer. She thought about it a moment before she finally replied: “Gwyneth. I…I got lost in these woods.” Her voice was weaker than intended, waiting for him to ask more questions. A small nod came from the one Taehyun implied to be the prince, he smiled a bit and Taehyun calmed down beside him. “You need to excuse Taehyun. He is a great partner at my side, but sometimes he is a little stiff and too focused on protecting us. And since…you are human, I can understand his distance towards you. Normally we don’t see your kind here anymore. To put it more precisely, no new humans at least.” This was too much information for her and she must have looked confused because the prince couldn’t hold back a little laugh. What was happening here? What kind of dream was this? “I’m sorry if I interrupted anything or shouldn’t be here. Yet, I’m lost and…”

“You don’t belong here, right?” The light-haired one spoke again and Gwyn looked towards him. He had a thing for interrupting people. It hinted, that he was some kind of consultant for a royal family, but she didn’t know for sure. She shook her head and he looked up to his prince. “I heard about something like that, but the last travelers were before my time at the palace.” Another nod from the blue-haired and his eyes met hers again. “I’m Prince Soobin of the elven folk. We need to take you to my parents now, only they can decide what to do now. You probably want to go back to your life. They might know more than I do.”

She focused on his words, to not lose herself in his eyes again. His Parents, King and Queen. Great, this whole dream is getting stranger by the second. Nevertheless, she followed them, as they turned around and started walking to the meadow, where the festivities were held. On the way through the crowd, she started to notice, that Taehyun never left her side for one second and she realized, that many of the guests stopped dancing and talking, once they saw her. Prince Soobin stopped, as he saw the reaction and came closer to her. “I’m sorry for this, could I?” He asked and pointed at the hairpin, that held half her hair up. She agreed and after he took it out, very softly, she felt her hair falling around her shoulders again and covering her ears. She understood, why he would remove that hairpin. Her ears were the only thing, distancing her from the people here. He didn't want to draw more attention to her than necessary.

~★~ Ray ~★~

"Stupid Yeonjun," she thought as Ray reluctantly changed and slowly began to doubt that this was all a normal dream. She had been here for far too long and it all felt too real. Her mind drifted to her friend Gwyn. She had hardly had a chance to think about her since she had landed here.

If this really wasn't a dream, she would be worried. But was it really real? They had never been apart for so long, at least not in the last few years. Ray suddenly felt guilty for leaving her alone during this difficult time. Even though Gwyn rarely wanted to admit it, she had been very fragile these past few weeks. She had never taken the time to process what had happened and had just been functioning. Ray knew this feeling, she also hid her real feelings from the world and from people, but they both did it in their own way. 

Gwyn always knew what was going on inside. She just had to look at her and knew what was going on, even without Ray having to put it into words. That was probably one of her favorite aspects of their friendship because Ray didn't like to talk about her feelings, not to anyone. Even though Gwyn's bubbly nature was sometimes too much for her, she missed her friend right now. 

A knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts. Before she could answer, it opened a crack and a familiar face appeared. 

It was Beomgyu. He smiled curtly and when Ray nodded to him, he entered fully. She had just straightened the dress on her body and looked into the mirror. She had never seen herself like that before. It was something special, to say the least, and it left little to the imagination. Beomgyu looked at her, respectfully despite her clothes. 

"The prince chose it?" he asked, and Ray nodded. "Yes, it's just the sort of thing he would do." A smile played around his lips. 

"You seem to know him well," she said, hoping to start a conversation with him. 

"Yes, I do," he replied with a sigh, but he didn't seem very enthusiastic about it. "I've known him all my life, he's never been different."

"So he always forces his servants to walk around with a hint of fabric?", Ray asked ironically, and Beomgyu smiled again. 

"Well, they never get their own room and no hand-made clothes. But yes, his taste is special," he replied politely. 

"Great," she replied with a sarcastic tone. 

"Of course, he's not always like that," Beomgyu added, as if to restore his master's reputation. "He's the prince, after all, and likes to have things his own way." Again, Ray heard his words with a hint of dissatisfaction. But she didn't know if she should mention it. 

"You don't seem like that," she said instead, trying to change the subject. He looked at her a little surprised. Ray thought for a moment how to start the next topic of conversation and took a deep breath. "The king said that there were humans here in the past. What happened to them?" she finally asked. Beomgyu seemed to struggle with whether to be honest. 

"Well...," he looked a little uncomfortable. "I don't know much about it, I'm not allowed to, and it was a long time ago, before my time. But people in the deep darkness don't survive for long, if you know what I mean," he replied. Ray nodded slowly, suddenly more grateful than before for her rescue. 

"The Prince is waiting for you, I was sent to bring you to him," he said, opening the large door and letting Ray go first.

story ©dreamteez_story on wattpad characters and pictures credits to the owner

[dreamteez-story]

Fate Chapter 5 - Two Sides

♫ Ray’s Playlist: “YUQI - Not Cinderella ”  ♫ Gwyn’s Playlist: “TxT - Free Falling”

~★~ Gwyn ~★~ Gwyn found herself standing. A sudden soft gust of wind brushed her shoulders and she got so frightened by it, that she stumbled a few steps forward and…fell into something. It scratched her arms and her right leg. She drew in a sharp breath of air and opened her eyes again. In the middle of a rose bush, there she lay. How? She didn’t even know. A few seconds ago she had a breakdown in her bed and now she found herself in a beautiful meadow, so beautiful she instantly thought she had reached a peaceful dream. Not one leaf, not one flower, not even the grass showed any signs of brown. Everything just looked perfect, too perfect to feel real. A perfect dream world to calm her down?

As she looked up at her arm, she saw a small red line where she scratched herself with the dorns of the roses. It was so real, she even felt the little sting as her fingers ran over it. But there was something else that caught her attention.

She wore a long, light pink-colored skirt, and white boots, laced up till over her ankle. And around her upper body, she felt a corset. As her eyes caught it, she was stunned by how beautiful it was. The slightly darker, pink-toned corset was tied with ribbons on her shoulders and probably on the back too. It was not too tight, she still could breathe normally, but her breasts still were pushed up, which gave her a great cleavage. This gown was close to the ones she designed herself, but she couldn’t remember this one.

However, it was her hair, that confused her the most. Gone were her chestnut brown waves. They switched to a beautiful shade of light pink with perfect curls, half up, half down. Pinned with something that felt like a metal hairpin with charms. 

What was up with her mind?

Confused about what dream her head had prepared for her, she checked her leg. The scratch there was deeper and a small line of blood was seen, but nothing deep. So she stood up and smoothed her skirt. All of this looked like it belonged in one of the fantasy books she so much loved to read, something her grandma would tell her stories about, when she was little, or so nervous, she needed to be calmed down. This woman knew how to distract her.

Still confused, she took in the view and compared it to places she had seen before, but this was completely new to her and the late afternoon sun looked like it was covering this place in glittering light. It felt warm on her skin. Warm? How could everything feel so real? Even the smell of the flowers and bushes lingered in her nose. Luckily she didn’t feel that tingle from her allergies.

While this question traveled through her head, she began to hear music, not that far away and found herself drawn to it. The soft melodies of flutes and something close to a piano were so calming, forgotten were the dark thoughts. So she followed the music, not knowing what would await her.

~★~ Ray ~★~

Ray was sweeping the kitchen as usual when she heard footsteps. Since it could have been anyone and no one was talking to her anyway, she didn't react. She kept her eyes on the broomstick and followed her path through the kitchen. However, when she passed the kitchen counter in the middle and saw two legs with knee-high leather boots dangling from the countertop, she paused. 

Her eyes followed the laces, up the legs to the hips, where a long sword hung from a belt. The hands were also wrapped in leather gloves and one of them held a fruit. Ray still couldn't tell the difference between the foods. She was just glad that everything she had been served so far had not been poisoned. 

When the hand with the fruit was raised, she followed it with her gaze but flinched briefly when she saw the crown prince's face. He took a large bite of the fresh piece of food and looked at her as well. Ray sighed and rolled her eyes before returning to her work. He was the last person she wanted to see at the moment. He had gotten her into this whole mess in the first place. Okay, he had also saved her from the spider, but that was no reason to keep her here as a slave now. She turned her back to him but heard his feet touch the ground again and follow her.

"Hey," he greeted, moving in front of Ray to get into her field of vision. However, she punished him with silence, changed direction, and left him standing there. But he didn't think about giving up. He hurried to follow her, and as she walked forward, he walked backward in front of her. "I hope you're enjoying your stay so far?" he asked, taking another bite of his fruit. A piece fell on the floor right in front of Ray, which she demonstratively swept up. She still didn't want to talk to him, and when he stopped in front of her, she groaned in annoyance. 

"What are you doing here? Weren't you on some important mission?" she snapped at him. 

"Yes, I was, and now I'm back and wanted to check on you, after all, you're mine now," he replied without batting an eyelid. Ray chuckled amusedly. 

"That's what you dream about. I don't belong to anyone," she responded coolly, pushed the broom into his hand, and walked out of the kitchen. 

"Yeah i did, and thats why i'm already back. You should be grateful to me, without me you'd be doing a lot more menial work right now. Besides, working for me has its advantages," he said and followed her a little way until she stopped at his words. 

"And what would those be? What advantage would there be for me to roll around in your sheets night after night, apart from satisfying your ego?" she replied.

"Wow, thanks for that great image in my head, but no, that's not what I meant." He moved a little closer to her again, and Ray crossed her arms protectively in front of her chest. "If you work for me, you'll get special treatment. You get a better room, better clothes, and let's call it that, certain bonuses if you do your job well," he enumerated and began to walk in a circle around her. Ray's head followed him, but her body remained on the defensive. "Besides, I'll be the only one telling you what to do, not the rest of the palace staff," he finished, stopping in front of her. 

The guy had some nerve, Ray had to give him that, and if he hadn't been such an asshole, she might have even considered his offer. 

"But I'd put your suggestion on the list if that's what you want," he added, a smile forming around the corners of his mouth as his eyes traveled up and down her body for a moment. 

"Let me think about it..." Ray pretended she was seriously considering his offer. "Fuck you!" she replied, turning her back to him again. 

"What a shame, I was hoping to avoid that ..." Ray hesitated for a second at his words. With an equally quick movement, Yeonjun grabbed her wrist and spun her around so that her back was pressed tight against his body. With his hand, he pushed her arm behind her back and the other slid to her neck. His mouth was right next to her ear and she could feel his breath on her skin. Her pulse quickened immediately and Ray swallowed hard as his voice whispered darkly.

"You have no choice, your life is mine now, and if I want it, I can take it from you." His words gave Ray goosebumps. Slowly, his fingers slid down her neck and he breathed in her scent. "Even though that would be a complete waste." 

"Is that supposed to scare me now?" Ray replied tensely. "Are you the evil guy in this story?" she asked, trying to get some space, but he only tightened his grip. Nevertheless, Ray's words elicited a sinister chuckle from him.

"I like being bad," he replied, his fingers stroking Ray's jawline. A cold shiver ran down her spine, but in a different way than she wanted. It took more self-control than she wanted to admit to keeping her body reactions hidden from him.

He waited a moment before turning Ray around and looking at her. Their faces were still only a few inches apart. Again, it was his deep blue eyes that mesmerized Ray. In a different situation, under different circumstances, she would probably have fallen for him, but not like this. 

"So?" he asked, a victorious smile already forming on his lips. Even if she didn't want to begrudge him this triumph, she had to admit that working here really wasn't pleasant. The bed in her room was also more than uncomfortable and the clothes she was given here were scratchy. Normally she would never give in like this, but at the moment it was the wiser decision. 

"Okay, deal," she pressed out between clenched teeth. "But I'm not sleeping with you," she added, and her counterpart smiled with conviction. 

"Of course not," he confirmed her words and finally let go of her. The ringing in Ray's ears finally subsided and her heartbeat returned to normal. 

"So, what are these tasks?" she asked Yeonjun, who adjusted his clothes and looked at her as if nothing had happened. 

"We'll get to that, but first you need something else to wear," he replied, instructing her to follow him. 

~★~ Gwyn ~★~

The music grew louder, so she was on the right path, yet she wondered, what all of this was. Gwyn couldn’t remember dreaming so clearly, even tho people always told her, her dreams were so vivid, and so detailed when she talked about them. She never had it any other way, so she always thought it was normal. Only this one, she knew something changed, it felt different. Her whole body dreamed that dream with her. What else could it be? And even tho she was sure she was dreaming, she didn’t want to wake up. When was the last time she felt that calm? Sometime before her grandma fell sick. After they came back from the doctor and she left the hospital alone, everything changed. She made sure her grandma wouldn’t feel alone on her last days, so she visited every day. Gwyn even saw her grandma take her last breath. After that she only remembered, that Ray arrived, took her home, and tried to help her with the preparations for the memorial. But she did most of that alone and in such an automatized way, that she didn’t allow the help for this one. She needed to arrange this herself. Nevertheless, she was thankful Ray stayed with her almost all the way.

Now she was here and felt her body calm down. Maybe she needed this breakdown to finally get up again. After this dream, she would wake up and start rebuilding her life, hopefully with Ray back by her side. Gwyn couldn’t even think about a life without her. No, she needed her other half and probably would need her all her life, whatever it would hold for them.

After a while, the now pink-haired began hearing voices. It sounded like a feast or something similar. The people seemed to dance and talk. There was a lot of laughter and giggles, but it still seemed tame, or maybe she was just used to the college parties, something she mostly ignored in her college life. In contrast to those, she liked the energy here and became even more curious. Her steps took her to another meadow and there she saw, what was going on. Around 50 to 70 people danced and talked, most of them with glasses of a light blue drink in their hands. Gwyn stopped between two big trees to observe the situation. All of the guests, female and male, wore evening gowns and suits, but all of them looked like they were out of fairytales. Flowy skirts, corsets, ribbons, ruffels. So many things she loved. 

And then she watched more closely, watched the people themselves. Most of them had colorful or very bright hair, but something else caught her off guard: pointed ears. Now this for sure felt like a fairytale or one of her books. Everything mirrored those.

“And what are you doing here?” Without warning, a calm, but steady voice appeared next to her and she stumbled a few steps backward, almost tripping over her gown. Her left ankle hurt form that, but once she felt safe on her feet again, Gwyn looked up and into dark brown eyes. The man had blush-colored hair and wore a white blouse and trousers with a light green cape over it, that covered a part of his head too. The cape had gold moon and star details and his eyes observed her every move. He didn’t seem cold, but skeptical towards her. He was beautiful, she couldn’t deny that, but she felt so nervous, she couldn’t take in his appearance.

“I…” Gwyn tried but stumbled over her word. 

“Taehyun, what did you see? You shouldn’t…” Another male appeared between the two trees on her left, right behind the man with the blush hair, but he stopped when he saw her.

This man was taller than the one who started talking to her. His hair was in a beautiful light blue and on top of it glistened a crown of gold leaves, that looked like it was woven into his hair. His suit was almost matching with his hair and the golden leaves covered the corners and sleeves of his suit jacket. He looked like a prince or at least a royal. There was also the way he first looked at the other male and talked to him, he could be, was what Gwyn thought. But once her eyes met his deep brown ones, she found herself caught in them, unable to speak and react. story ©dreamteez_story on wattpad characters and pictures credits to the owners

[dreamteez-story]

Fate Chapter 4 - New Worlds ♫ Ray’s Playlist: “Falling in Reverse - Losing my Life”  ♫ Gwyn’s Playlist: “Shawn Mendes - In My Blood”

~★~ Ray ~★~

While Ray was led behind them like a prisoner by the two strangers, she looked around. Where had she ended up? Nothing about her surroundings seemed real. She had never seen these plants before and there seemed to be no sun and no sky. Everything was like a world hidden in a huge cave as if it had sunk like Atlantis. The dim light came from a few mushrooms that illuminated the path like floor lamps. Huge crystals towered upwards and the light refracted through them. Even the grass was different, not green, more turquoise. Sometimes even purple or orange. They followed a seemingly endless path that sometimes led through a valley, then over a bridge. 

After what felt like hours, Ray recognized the outline of a building in the distance. She stopped briefly on the small rise in the path and felt a jolt in her arms when the man on the other side of the chain stopped abruptly. Surprised, Beomgyu turned around, and shortly afterward so did his companion. The blue-haired man huffed a little annoyed and grabbed the chain in Beomgyu's hands to give it a good tug, followed by a "Come on now!"

Ray was pulled forward and when her head lifted again, she gave him a dirty look for this action. 

Gradually, more smaller buildings appeared, some built into the stone. In the middle and towering over everything was a palace. It was carved out of the mighty stone pillar that supported the entire ceiling of the cave and Ray's mouth fell open at the sight of it. Small lanterns on the houses shimmered purple and gave the town a mystical atmosphere. For the first time since she had been here, she saw other people, but were they people at all?

The inhabitants were just as strange as the two men in front of her. Some with horns, others without but with piercing eyes or scaly skin like a lizard. Everyone eyed her critically and started whispering in a language foreign to her as she passed them. As soon as one of the reactions was too conspicuous, one look from the stranger was enough to shut her up. Ray felt the piercing stares at her back as she climbed the many steps to the palace, but tried to hide her rising fear. 

The inside of the palace was dark, even less light came in from the outside and the few sources of light were apparently only decoration. Here, too, she was greeted by curious eyes, but they quickly slid to the side. Without hesitation and with long strides, the men walked with Ray through the long corridors to a huge, empty hall. The ceiling was so high that she had to tilt her head back to see the drawings on it. Pillars of more crystals and pointed stones supported the artwork above her. At the other end, a throne made of the same materials awaited her. A man was sitting on it. 

He seemed to be older than the other two and had his arm leaning on the armrest. His head rested on his fist and his eyes looked up at them with a bored expression. He studied the visitor with slightly furrowed brows, and when they came to a halt in front of him, he lowered his arm and tilted his head. Horns were growing out of his head too, but they were much more impressive than the stranger's. They were adorned with jewelry and precious stones that matched his crown. A long, heavy black cloak was draped over his shoulders and he held a staff in his other hand. 

"Good evening, Father," the blue-haired man greeted him and they both bowed low in front of him. The man on the throne nodded barely as his attention was focused on the guest behind them. He eyed Ray like his son before him, and she noticed the resemblance. 

"I thought you were on a mission, what are you doing here?" he asked roughly, placing the staff in his hand back on the floor. The echo resounded through the hall. 

"We were on our way when we heard screams near the portal," he explained objectively, stretching his back further to stand upright. "A tarantula attacked her and we brought her here, as protocol requires," he continued. The man remained unimpressed. "Besides..." he began again and had Beomgyu hand him the chains. He pulled on them again and Ray was dragged towards him by her arms. He roughly grabbed the cuffs on her wrists, lifted the sleeves of her clothes, and presented her wounds to his father. 

Suddenly his expression changed and he raised himself from his throne. He walked the three steps down to them without taking his eyes off Ray. He glanced briefly at his son, who then handed him the chains. He took a closer look at the injuries, especially the blood. Turning his head, he called out to an older man standing on the sidelines. The older man came immediately, looked at Ray's arms, and whispered something in the king's ear. His eyes fixed on Ray's, and she saw his expression change. 

"Well, well, well..." he murmured. "It's been years since we've had a human with us," he said, smiling slightly. But not in a friendly way, more calculating and disparaging. "How did you get here?" he asked her directly. 

Ray hesitated for a moment. 

"I was just there. I just remember falling asleep in my bed," she answered honestly. 

"A human being? How is that possible?" asked Beomgyu next to her. 

"It was possible once before, but I didn't expect it to happen again," the king replied. "Whatever the reason for her appearance, I don't want the elves to find out. They're already sticking their noses too deeply into our affairs anyway."

Elves? Ray began to doubt her sanity and was sure that everything here could only be a nightmare. 

"What should we do with her, father?" his son asked, his gaze glancing over to her for a moment. 

"Well, she's too valuable to be locked up as an ordinary prisoner..." he mused. "Besides, humans are too weak and fragile to do physical work..." he continued. Ray could barely hide her indignant expression. They were talking about her as if she wasn't there. 

"I have a use for her," the prince interjected. His father, however, gave him a stern look. 

"You have more women than you can satisfy, what do you want with a human?" he replied questioningly. That was enough for Ray, she was not a piece of merchandise you could buy at a bazaar!

"What's all this about? I'm neither your prisoner nor your worker and certainly not your whore!" she replied irritably, glaring at the young throne prince. But instead of being impressed or even intimidated, the king laughed out loud. 

"That's why you want her because she has such a sassy mouth?" He returned to his throne, still laughing slightly. "Fine by me," he agreed to his son's request. "But Yeonjun? " the prince raised his head. "First you will fulfill your mission," he said insistently, and again his son nodded in submission. "Enough now, go!"

With these words, they were led out of the throne room. Ray was still shocked by what had just happened. Against her will, Yeonjun had handed her over to another stranger, but he looked deep into her eyes before leaving the hall with Beomgyu by his side.

~★~ Gwyn ~★~

The day just didn’t want to end. Even in the late evening hours, Gwyn was still restless. Her thoughts went over the same words and even moments for hours now and nothing she did, could help her. Her head already buzzed like crazy and even tho she kept herself busy after leaving Ray’s dorm, she couldn’t do anything to calm down. She couldn’t focus on her favorite show or her sketches. Even listening to music seemed rather challenging. It was after 11 p.m. when she finally felt her body demanding rest, so she went upstairs to her room and cuddled into her bed. Her hand grabbed the big red panda plushie out of the plushie pile on her side and embraced it. It was loved deeply and it showed. From most of the plushies here, it was the one that looked most scrunched. She got it from Ray, a few years back when they visited the zoo together. One last look on her phone, and she felt her body shivering. The tears followed. What was this? Why would Ray leave her like that? Of course, she wrote in her message that she was fine, but her best friend knew her better than she knew herself. This behavior was nothing they ever had, not to the extent that she didn’t even know where she was. What should she do?

Memories of her grandma, the loneliness of this house, and the worry about her best friend, everything came crashing down on her harder than ever. Not once in these last two weeks, had she felt so weak, so useless, not once in her life. This was for sure one of the hardest days in her life. At the same moment, she hated herself for now losing her calm. She wasn’t able to hold it together anymore. Her whole body was out of her control, trembling under her cries. She didn’t even realize, that she left her bed, till it was too late.

~★~ Ray ~★~

Some time had passed since their arrival, probably two or three days. The times of day were blurred down here without direct sunlight. Only the nature of her tasks told her whether it was morning, noon, or evening. After Yeonjun and Beomgyu had left the palace, Ray was taken to a room that would be hers in the future. It was very simply furnished. She had a bed, a small table, and a cupboard for personal belongings that she didn't own. Most of the time she helped in the kitchen, tidying up, sweeping, or taking out the garbage. She was never allowed near the food. 

Conversations with her were also prevented as far as possible. Apart from that, the fact that she was human seemed to put some of the servants off. However, the only one who spoke to her a few times was a girl. Maybe her age. She usually washed the dishes and when Ray would help her and they were alone in the kitchen, Ray would ask her questions. 

Through her, Ray had learned that Yeonjun was the eldest son of the king of the so-called "deep dark". His closest companion was Beomgyu, actually a young healer whose skills were only moderately appreciated. Their relationship was also rather unequal. Yeonjun had a reputation for not being particularly friendly, especially not towards him. His haughtiness, arrogance, and womanizing were also well-known in the palace. He also had a younger sister, but Ray had never met her.

 She was also introduced to the race of Drow living here. They were very similar to elves, and some of them were even said to have been elves in the past. However, they lived far away from light and sun. Living in caves, dark forests, or remote valleys between snow and ice. They had gray, purple, or bluish skin in various shades. Even they could live to be several hundred years old and were endowed with superhuman powers. Some even possessed magic. In addition, they avoided contact with the elves. Hardly anyone spoke about them in this area. They were a hated enemy and even the name of their king was a death sentence here.

story ©dreamteez_story on wattpad characters and pictures credits to the owners

[dreamteez-story]

Fate Chapter 3 - Finding Clues

♫ Ray’s Playlist: “Dreamcatcher - Curse of the Spider” 

♫ Gwyn’s Playlist: “Blackpink - Stay”

~★~ Ray ~★~

Ray barely dared to turn around, but had no other choice as the hissing behind her grew louder, backed up by short cracking sounds, as if whatever was behind her was very angry at her intrusion. 

When her eyes met the two large and six smaller ones, she felt shocked. The claws on its mouth moved restlessly and with its long legs, the huge spider blocked Ray's escape route. She saw the long venomous fangs sticking out menacingly and took a slow step backwards. Again the animal hissed intimidatingly and the long palps stood up. She was ready to fight Ray, even if she had anything but that in mind. 

Ray didn't dare take her eyes off the spider, which was admittedly very difficult. She looked for a way past it but flinched when it moved towards her. 

"God, this can't be happening..." she groaned, but as if the spider had wanted to answer her, it shot a sticky thread at Ray. She barely managed to escape, but fell and was helplessly at the mercy of the huge animal. It shot another thread at Ray and hit her on the leg. Panicked, she tried to tear the thread, but to no avail. The spider seemed to have other plans and began to pull Ray into its web by the thread. 

"Shit!" she cursed loudly and was dragged across the floor into an alcove. "No, no, no! Please don't, HELP!" she now screamed at the top of her lungs and continued to try to free herself. The spider seemed to be slowly losing patience and snapped its claws aggressively again. Ray didn't know whether to be happy or cursed that she had paid attention to the biology of spiders. She would probably cocoon her, which would buy her some time. However, spiders inject their prey with a poison that dissolves them from the inside, after which they suck them dry. Not a very pleasant idea. "Hello! Help, please!" she tried again. "You stupid bastard, get out of here! Leave me alone!"

"Hey, down there!" Ray suddenly heard a strange male voice above the web. She recognized a second person next to him but didn't have time to dwell on it as the spider began to build its cocoon around her. "We're coming!" she heard the voice again. 

"For God's sake, hurry!" she screamed again as the threads were spun tighter and tighter around her body. 

She couldn't see much of her would-be rescuers because the spider was blocking her view. But suddenly the cave was lit up by a reddish glow. Warmth brushed her face and she recognized flames behind the spider. It hissed intimidatingly again and turned to the two men. Now Ray could also see what was happening. One of them had held his torch to the remains of the webs on the cave wall, which immediately burst into flames. 

The spider raised its front legs and hissed. Meanwhile, Ray took advantage of the time and was finally able to tear apart some of the spider's threads. She looked forward again and realized that one of the men was facing the spider with a longsword. He swung it elegantly in an arc and narrowly missed one of its legs. Turning again, he brought it over his head and sliced through one of its palps. The spider let out a sound of pain and backed away a little. The man approached it threateningly, but it seemed to have no interest in continuing the fight. With a final hiss, it retreated and disappeared into the depths of the cave. 

Ray breathed a sigh of relief and slumped down for a moment. When she looked up again, both men were standing in front of the spider's web. 

One of them was slightly shorter than the other, had longer black hair with white streaks, and a warm expression on his face. He wanted to lean over to Ray and help her out of the web but was held back by the other. 

He was putting his sword back into the sheath on his waist belt and looking at Ray intently. His blue eyes traveled up and down her body, inspecting her. He was taller, had broader shoulders, and shorter, shimmering blue hair that was partially styled back. Only a few strands hung down his forehead and played around the horns on his head. They extended back from his hairline in an elegant sweep and also shimmered dark blue in the shallow light. Several pieces of jewelry made of crystals and silver hung from his pointed ears. His skin was pale, just not like hers, more grayish as if his body had adapted to the light conditions in this cave. His clothing resembled black light leather armor with a spider web pattern. The high boots reached above his knees and his whole posture seemed cold and distant. 

An even colder shiver ran through Ray as his eyes met hers. It was as if he could look straight into her soul and Ray could have sworn they were getting bluer and deeper with every second. Time around them seemed to stand still and Ray's mouth opened a little to say something. 

"Thank you," she finally managed to say but remained still. Her opposite, however, narrowed his eyebrows briefly and lifted his chin a little. He looked down at her from above and seemed to be weighing up what he should do with her now. 

"Um, would you mind helping me out of here?" Ray began, looking back and forth between the two of them. 

"That depends on what you give us in return," the taller of them replied, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword. Ray furrowed her brows, was he serious?

"What?" she replied, trying to cover her uncertainty with a short laugh. 

"You understood, do you think I saved you out of pure charity?" he replied, unimpressed.

Ray snorted in disbelief. At that moment, she would rather have chosen the spider.

"I don't know what you have in mind, but do I look like I can offer you something?" she replied, now much more irritated, and gestured across her body. She wasn't carrying anything except her clothes and suddenly a smile formed at the corner of the blue-haired man's mouth. 

"How about you then?" he said gallantly, his eyebrows twitching briefly. 

Ray's jaw dropped. Unfortunately, the guy seemed to be serious about his offer and probably thought he was being generous. 

"So? What now, I haven't got all day, pretty thing" he continued, a little annoyed. 

"Forget it," she replied tightly and began to free herself from the net. 

"What was that?" his tone deepened and Ray could hear from the way his voice began to tremble that he wasn't thrilled with her answer.

"Forget it!" she hissed louder now, her eyes gleaming angrily. Instead of chasing the stranger away with her reply, an amused laugh escaped him. Suddenly his whole aura changed and his eyes took on a slight red glow. 

"Beomgyu," he then said curtly and gestured to Ray with his head. When his companion hesitated briefly, he grabbed his collar and shoved him roughly towards her. 

Apologizing, he put handcuffs on Ray and pulled her out of the net by the attached chain. Ray stumbled towards the men awkwardly and gave the taller one a dark look. However, he grinned and seemed to enjoy her even more. 

~★~ Gwyn ~★~ Gwyn woke up the other morning and looked at her phone to find only one message, but nothing of Ray. She opened the KakaoTalk from a university friend and closed it again because it wasn’t something she wanted to answer right now. Gossip was the last thing she needed right now. So she stood up and went to her walk-in closet. Even this fully packed room felt so empty since her grandma passed. It was only the two of them for the last 5 years since her grandpa died. He left them the Busan Villa and an apartment in Seoul, but since Gwyn felt good living with her grandma they rented out the apartment and stayed here. With her here, it never felt too big, but now this place was like a maze for her. The house was mostly modern, something people might never have suspected from a traditional woman like her grandma. Everything was in the color scheme of white, beige, and the deep brown tones that came from the stairs and accents here. Even the outdoor pool was decorated in these colors. Knowing that she now owned such a big and expensive home, was something different and since her parents passed away in a car accident when she was just 5 years old, she was left as the only heir of this family. The only person who felt like family was Ray, a sisterlike friend. Someone she could never lose.

She paused for a moment, looking into the big mirror. Even tho she fell asleep pretty quickly last night, she just looked so tired and she looked a lot skinnier than normal. Organizing everything for the memorial of her grandma, going through the grief, and working on her designs, was a lot. On the first day, she thought things would get better, everything went downhill for Ray. How cruel life can be sometimes.

She changed into a cozy dark brown sweater and a matching skirt with tights. Then she went into her bathroom and started her skincare, but everything felt so heavy today. Gwyn just hoped she would see her best friend in the lecture, but if not, she would at least bring her something good to eat. Maybe not self-cooked, like normally, because she had no energy for that, but they had some nice to-go restaurants near campus. 

She arrived at her first of two lectures of the day, but still no message from Ray. She began to panic a bit, especially because that was not like her. Never did she ignore Gwyn for so long, not without an update. Even a little ‘I’m not coming today’ or an ‘I’m okay’ would have been enough, but nothing. She thought about not going through the lectures today but tried her best to focus. It was, what her best friend would want. She would hate if Gwyn, who would only stay at home if she was bed sick, left the university for her. 

So she stayed and the moment the professor closed the second lecture, she rose from her chair and left the room. Even friends asked her during the day where her other half was, but she told them she was sick. It was easier and better to lie in a moment like this and would protect Ray. Like she already planned, she got some food and went to the dorm of her best friend. The people who came home at the same time she arrived knew, that she was one of her friends, so nobody hindered her from entering the door code and going in. The room was a damn mess again. Her clothes were all over the place and empty pizza cartons were placed next to them. How many times Gwyn arrived here before Ray and would clean, just because she was kind of a clean control freak when it came to her room?

However, the brown-haired realized pretty quickly, that Ray wasn’t there either and her whole body tensed. Why would she leave without a word? And where? Of course, her friend never needed to tell her what she was doing, but her travel bag was at the usual spot, and even her Doc Martens stood beside the couch. Things she would take with her, all still were at their usual spot. Something was wrong and she couldn’t hold back her own emotions at that moment. She felt the tears coming and hated it. So she plumed down on Ray’s bed and took a moment to let all of these damn feelings out, before unpacking the food she bought for her and storing it in her small fridge.

The sketchbook was still in her backpack as she wanted to leave. So she turned around and almost let it drop to the ground. In the last second, she caught it and found herself mesmerized by the drawings that were opened. She sat down again and remembered a dream a few days ago. So many small details were matching her dreams, but that shouldn’t mean anything, or? It could not, right? Dreams are only dreams, nothing more. They could not be more. 

In a quick reaction, she closed the sketchbook, placed it on her bed, and didn’t care to clean up today. Instead, she left the dorm with a small headache and wrote Ray another message: “It’s in your fridge, eat up. And I brought your sketchbook. See you”

~★~ Ray ~★~

Ray avoided looking at her rescuer but also her kidnapper the whole way. His eyes occasionally slid over to her, but without revealing anything. The leather cuffs around her wrists began to cut into her skin. Whenever the blue-haired Man pulled roughly on the chain to pick up her pace she bit her tongue to hold in the upcoming pain. 

The other young man, Beomgyu, as the other had called him, didn't seem to agree with his decision to take Ray with them. Ray could hear them talking casually and the younger one looked back to her, then again to the Man beside him. 

"We could have just let her go, why all this?" he whispered. 

"Don't make a fool of yourself. I'm not the Goodwill. She'll work off her rescue. After all, I gave her a choice, it's not my problem that she doesn't appreciate it." he waved it off. "Besides, didn't you see the color of her blood?"

Beomgyu faltered briefly and blinked in surprise. But now it struck him. Her arms had been covered in small cuts and a few places were also wet with a reddish liquid. Was that really blood? 

"Elves have blue blood, we Drows have purple blood. So which creature has red?" he asked his master, but he shrugged his shoulders. 

"And that's why we're taking her to my father," he concluded. 

story ©dreamteez_story on wattpad characters and pictures credits to the owners

[dreamteez-story]

Fate Chapter 2 - Feeling Lost

♫ Ray’s Playlist: “Falling in Reverse - I Don’t Mind” 

♫ Gwyn’s Playlist: “Ateez - Turbulence”

~★~ Ray ~★~

Kai's words were pure and Ray knew, he didn´t want to upset her. But before she realized it, the upcoming anger in her stomach answered for her. 

"She is nothing, and not lovely at all." she snorted as she laid her eyes on the picture in her wallet. The woman smiled slightly with a also smiling baby on her arm. She noticed how Kai winced at her rude answer but tried to stay friendly, as always. 

"Sorry, I just thought she's maybe important to you.", he said softly. It didn't matter what he said now at this point. Ray couldn't cover her feelings when it came to this Topic. 

"No, she isn't. She never was and she never will be," her voice shook with anger and the burning in her chest was something she hadn't felt in a long time. "She just left, and now she's nothing more than a fading memory burning in my head," she tried to calm herself down a little, but her jaw clenched as she looked at the photo. A pressure spread through her chest and it was as if she couldn't breathe.

"Oh..." was all Kai said, but he didn't want to stop the conversation at this point. "Maybe she had reasons you could understand if you met her again," he suggested, smiling slightly at Ray. But instead of feeling better, she looked at him with indignation. She felt her hands begin to shake and the pounding of her heart grew louder. She tried to cover up her body's reaction and laughed sarcastically instead. 

"Wow, I don't know who gave you the right to stick your nose into my family affairs, but I'm telling you, that day will never come!" she snapped angrily at Kai as she lifted herself from her seat. "That woman has brought me nothing but pain when she should have been there for me, and I only carry this picture with me to remind me that I'll never need her in my life again!" Ray couldn't keep her emotions under control, but it was too late now, and the words had already left her mouth when she noticed the shocked expressions on Kai and Gwyn's faces. It was fight or flight for her. But she couldn't withstand the feeling inside her any longer or she would have burst into tears on the spot. 

She dug a few bills out of her wallet, tossed them on the table, and reached for her leather jacket hanging on the back of the chair. Without another word, she hurried out of the café, leaving her friend behind.

~★~ Gwyn ~★~

That was not the way she thought the day would go. Starting the day with university lectures, visiting the cafe afterward, and cooking together in the evening, was their plan. This now blew up right in front of her and she couldn’t have done anything different to change the outcome. It was the one thing, that would never be easier for her closest friend. A topic she never dared to speak of. Gwyn needed a moment to process what just had happened. She took deep breaths and tried to calm down her racing heartbeat. Even tho the topic itself never hurt her, she knew it was one of the hardest things to remember in Ray’s life. So that's why her smile was gone. She took notice of Kai’s reaction to all of this a bit later than, maybe even a little too late. She was sure he meant well, but even tho she tried to stop him with little hand gestures, he seemed like he honestly just wanted to know more about that woman. Maybe she reminded him of someone? Or did he try to bond with Ray? This situation was a bit too much for her now, her head became a fuzzy chaotic mess, but she needed to say something to comfort Kai, who looked like he had seen a ghost, pale and a bit scared. “It’s not you. It's just…she never wants to talk about that. Not to anyone, okay? Don’t let this bring you down today.” she mumbled and tried to smile. It that was not worth it. She could not pretend she was okay at all. Not after the last weeks and now knowing her best friend went through one of her worst memories again.

“I just…I thought I knew that woman.” His voice was low. He felt bad, something she hated to see, but couldn’t change that right now. It was like she thought: he was curious because she seemed familiar. Still, he opened a chapter of Ray’s past, that should have never been reopened. A painful chapter that maybe only Gwyn knew more about than others. “It’s okay, but you can not know her, believe me. And Ray, she will get through this. Just…don’t mention that woman again, okay?” Kai nodded after her words and it was silent for a bit.

“And how are you?” 

She lowered her head and took a deep breath. “Better…” she stated: “I guess it just needs time, I need more time to…adjust. And I probably should follow her now. We see each other soon, okay?” Gwyn didn’t plan on following her best friend, but Kai would feel even worse when she let slip, that she was so affected from that moment she ran away from this like Ray did. So she tried it that way and stood up. She looked over the table, just to find Ray’s sketchbook still next to her chair. It probably fell out of her bag, so she snatched it and stored it in her backpack. “Get home safe and tell her I’m sorry.” She nodded and waved him goodbye after he took the money from the table and Gwyn left the cafe. But even tho she would have loved to catch the black-haired, she knew Ray had to come back on her own. So she did the only thing she could, without putting pressure on her: She wrote a small message: I’m okay, don’t worry bout that. Take your time. My phone will stay turned on if you need me.

That was everything. Three small sentences, but at least she tried, right? Again, she took a deep breath and went to her car, which was parked near the cafe. She took the long way home, while listening to music because she just didn’t want to go home yet. Not home to this damn lonely, big place she used to call home. So she made a plan for herself since Ray didn’t answer anything: She would just switch into her pajamas and turn on the next episodes from her comfort show. This day was done for her. ~★~ Ray ~★~

It was already dawn and the city lights illuminated the small alleyways. Ray walked past the stores without a precise destination, just to avoid having to go home. She tried to distract herself, to sort out her feelings, but the brief conversation in the café had upset her. She hadn't been this upset for a long time. Why had Kai had to bring up the subject? It was just a stupid photo in her wallet and yet it had rocked her whole world. 

Inwardly, she felt sorry for snapping at Kai like that and wondered whether he might have been right. But it was so easy to say, her mother had disappeared without a trace when she was just five years old. She hadn't even left a letter behind. She could expect nothing from her father either. His addiction to alcohol and drugs had only gotten worse since her mother's disappearance and from then on she was his outlet for any aggression on his part. The bruises soon didn't bother her anymore, she got used to them and counted the days until she would finally be free, but the internal wounds would never heal completely

She felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket, took it out, and unlocked the display. A message from Gwyn. Damn...even when she said she was okay, Ray knew how important these planned days were to her. Those ordinary days when they could just spend time together and pretend that what had shattered Gwyn's world into a thousand pieces, had never happened. Without reacting to the message, she switched her phone to silent and put it back in her pocket. She could hardly bear to leave her friend hanging like this, but she wouldn't be good company tonight. 

When it got dark, her feet carried her home as if automatically. The tall building near the University of Busan was mostly inhabited by students, just like Ray. When she arrived at her door, she gave a quick nod to two other students who seemed to be coming home as well and then typed in the door code on the combination lock. A short beep let her know that the door had been unlocked and she pressed down the handle. 

Her apartment was dark, with only the lights of the surrounding houses shining in, until she flicked the switch in the living room. There were still empty pizza boxes on the floor, right next to her clothes from the day before. 

She carelessly threw her bag into the corner and peeled off her leather jacket. Her eyes glanced over the drawings on her desk. At that moment, she realized that she had left her sketchbook in the café. A slightly annoyed sigh escaped her lips, but she had no energy to get upset again. Gwyn would have taken it with her and brought it to university tomorrow, Ray thought to herself.

She flopped down on the old, worn couch, took off her heavy Doc Martens boots, and leaned back. She put her arm over her face and reviewed the day in her mind's eye. She hadn't wanted it to end like this and she was especially sorry for Gwyn.

Disappointed in herself, she got up again and changed her clothes. Like the other clothes before, today's ended up on the floor or the couch. She took a can of her favorite energy drink from the fridge in the improvised kitchen, which consisted of a hanging cupboard with a wild jumble of dishes, a microwave, a kettle, and a mobile hotplate, and sat down at her desk. She put on the big headphones, set a playlist on her cell phone, and started drawing as usual. 

Hours passed and as she looked at her new work, she remembered her conversation with Gwyn from the café. It was indeed strange that they had similar dreams. As if the dreams weren't strange enough on their own, sharing them with her best friend seemed too weird to believe in it.

The deep blue eyes on her paper looked at her and Ray remembered the moment she had first seen them. She hadn't been able to get them out of her mind since. The voice sounded in her head again and she took off the headphones. 

"Who are you?" she asked the drawing, but more herself and still hoped for an answer. She glanced at her watch and her eyebrows raised in shock. Almost two o'clock in the morning and she would have to get up early again. Slowly, tiredness spread through her and she went to her bed at the other end of the room. She switched off the light and let herself fall forward into the pillows. Tomorrow will be a better day...

As Ray slowly dozed off, the voice in her head got louder again. Like last night, it seemed to be calling Ray, but something inside her had a bad feeling about it. 

"Dream on..." she heard whispered and she drifted deeper into sleep. Once again she saw her body in front of her and was paralyzed. Everything seemed unreal and as if wrapped in absorbent cotton. "Dream on..." the voice demanded more insistently and she was drawn to her window. The shadowy figure in front of her took on a human form and reached out for her. She saw those blue eyes again and could have drowned in them. She felt weightless, without worries, without anger, and simply allowed the feeling. "Dream on...", then everything around her went pitch black.

Ray gasped for air and jumped up. Her heart was pounding against her chest and her mouth was dry as dust. Again and again, she had to swallow hard and catch her breath as if she had just completed a marathon. Slowly her body calmed down and her eyes blinked a few times in disbelief. The light was different from what she was used to in her apartment. It was greenish, even parts of blue and purple shimmered around her. Her hands touched the uneven ground beneath her and she looked around. Nothing about her surroundings seemed familiar, and even less seemed like her room, more like a cave. As her gaze wandered from the ground over her hands to her arms, she noticed the unusual clothing on her body. She was wearing fingerless gloves that covered her entire forearm. The tight-fitting pants with high-laced boots up to her knee covered her legs. Over this was a simple black top, but with long ones that crossed in front of her chest and were held around her waist by a tight leather belt. On her shoulders, she noticed a slightly protruding trim over which her hair fell, now a dark shade of green. As her gaze slid over the few patches of bare skin, she noticed that her tattoos were missing. She pulled down her arm sleeves and sure enough. Her skin was as pale as usual but without any trace of black ink. She immediately touched her face and the usual metal jewelry in the middle of her lower lip and septum was missing. Only her long black fingernails remained.  

What was going on here? Her heartbeat quickened again as she stood up to look around. 

With every step she took, she had the feeling that she was entering strange territory where she shouldn't have been. She heard a strange noise and recognized its origin in the middle of an old bony tree. It must have been ancient and Ray remembered her drawing. It was the same tree Gwyn had seen in her dream, but much lighter in color. Crystals entwined around the roots, mushrooms with a luminous glow sprouted from the ground and a light mist wafted over the ground. Inside was a colorful swirl, like a portal. Had she come from there? She stretched out her hand, but a hissing flash prevented her from stepping closer. Something didn't seem to want her to approach the portal. 

So she had no choice but to search the other side of the cave for an exit. She had never seen these kinds of plants and yet she felt as if she had been here before. Completely absorbed in her thoughts, she overlooked a brittle spot in the path. The ground immediately gave way under her feet and she slid down a small slope. "Fuck!" she cursed as the rough stones cut her skin even through her gloves. She picked herself up, snorting, and brushed the dirt off her clothes when she heard an ominous hissing behind her.  

story ©dreamteez_story on wattpad characters and pictures credits to the owners

[dreamteez-story]

Fate Chapter 1 - Shared Dreams? ~★~ Ray ~★~

It was like a bittersweet voice calling her..she couldn't tell where it came from but like a Lullaby it made her fall asleep right away.

Ray felt herself leaving her body to drift into Sleep but this time it was different. She saw herself still in her Bed, sleeping. While she was standing next to herself. The Voice was still present and seemed to serenade her to follow her. 

The Lights were dimmed and everything felt like a Filter to her. She wasn't dreaming yet, but also not awake. It was like she could still control herself but didn´t know what she was actually doing. 

Her Window opened by itself and the Voice was getting louder. It sounded like a Male Voice, not very dark but still dominant. As in trance, she was led towards this unknown Presence and she felt the cold Wind of the Night on her Face. With every step closer, she smelled the Scent of Flowers, heard the Words of the Voice clearer and as she reached the opened Window of her Room, she saw a Shadow appearing in front of her. 

At first, it was only a two-dimensional Silhouette but as she squinted her Eyes, the Shadow shifted into Smoke and formed a Human-like Body. 

The figure reached out to her and offered his hand to Ray. Automatically she felt her Arm moving and her Hand willing to grab the Person. With every Zentimeter, the Smoke turned more and more into a real-looking Human. 

She started to see a small Nose, dark Eyebrows, full and rounded Lips, and at least bright blue Eyes with a deep stare. Ray was as if hypnotized by his Features. Never in her life, she saw something as beautiful as him. She felt like drowning in his Eyes. As his Lips parted, she recognized the familiar Voice from before. 

"Dream on...", he whispered and only that seemed to make her float and get pulled outside. "Dream on..", she heard him again and let her Body follow his Words. "Dream on...", one last time the Words echoed in her head and she was ready to lose herself. 

Suddenly the beautiful Face of the young Man changed without any Warning. His Eyes colored blood red and he turned into a horrific Creature. Long Fingers grabbed her Neck and...

Ray jolted up from her sleep and was left breathing heavily. Her chest raised at a high pace and her Eyes were wide open. Just now she realized she was shaking and had shivers all over her Body. She was sitting on her Couch in the Middle of her small Dorm and looked around. It was very dark, only the Lights from the Building on the opposite Street shone through her Curtains. It was still messy around her. A few empty Cans of Energy Drinks and a Pizza Carton with a slice left inside. Clothes were scattered across the floor and she remembered her best Friend Gwyn scolded her for that just a few Hours ago. She offered to help her clean up but as usual, Ray refused. She was uncomfortable accepting help from her, even though she knew Gwyn only wanted to make her feel better. 

Her Hand covered her eyes and she felt her Eyeliner and Mascara still on her Eyelids. Besides her on the Floor, she saw her Sketchbook and her favorite Pencil. As she leaned down to grab it, she saw her last drawing on the opened Page of the Book. It was probably the last one she did before she fell asleep. Two Eyes, very close and with a deep stare looked at her and she knew who they belonged to.

~★~ Gwyn ~★~

“...and with that, we close today's lecture. Don’t forget your exams are close, you need to work on your projects this coming weekend.” Gwyneth looked up from her paper again and stretched her upper body. A drawing of a flowy Ball Gown dress with flowers filled the right side of her lecture notes and Gwyn realized where she saw the dress before: Last night, in her dream. She wore it on a beautiful meadow and then woke up, feeling better than before going to bed. That dream calmed her, but she didn’t remember why. She only remembered that gown. And now she drew it without really focusing on it. But Gwyn still felt stiff from sitting here for 2 hours without a break, luckily it was the last lesson of the day, so she stretched again and then closed the Notebook. Yes, she knew she should have listened better and would need to start her big project for the exams soon, but honestly, she knew she would start way too late and then crunch to finish it. It was always like this, here in university and before that in school too. She worked very chaotic, but that never transferred to her grades. It never did and this wouldn’t be the case now either. She was always on top of the students in school, that's why her grandma allowed her to go to university for art and design. But in the last weeks, she had bigger problems and had to find her way back here. Adapting and getting back on track was getting a bit easier, but she would need to regain her focus soon, to get through finals. “Let’s go to the cafe right now. I don’t want to sit in that stuffy room to sketch today. My brain is fuzzy. And I really need my iced americano.” she said and looked to her right, where her best friend Ray finished packing up her stuff. She started to clean up her desk too. “I knew you would say that.” That and a little smile from her best friend was the only thing she got in return.

But of course, she did, nobody knew Gwyn like Ray did, even though they could not be more different. While her best friend was stunningly beautiful in her eyes, she was way more edgy with her short black hair, eyeliner, and mostly black clothes. Ray had something about her, Gwyn could never catch in words and she saw it all these years ago, when she got to know her. They met as teenagers, but their friendship really became something special at university here in Busan. Nobody and nothing could separate them for long. They were like two sides of a coin, always bound to each other, but very different on each side. Maybe it’s what people like to say: opposites attract. Because when she looked at herself, she understood why some people would argue that they were each other's opposite. Not in a colorful way against Ray's dark style, more like their vibe. With her long chestnut brown hair, earth-toned dresses, and skirts Gwyn seemed tamer against the bold appearance of her best friend, even though she was the chaotic one of the duo. The only thing people would guess right about them was that Gwyn was better at communicating feelings.

She stood up and grinned at Ray: “And I know you can’t resist me and won’t let me go alone, so…Let’s go!” Then she smoothed out her brown, plaid skirt with the white blouse and left the art room, knowing her best friend would follow her. At this moment she felt good and that was everything she needed right now. Living in this moment, being here with friends, and working on being herself again, even though she was changed forever after the things that happened in the last two weeks. But she won’t think about that right now. Going into her favorite Cafe might be nothing special, but going out again was a big step after everything crashed down in her life. That was what she wanted right now. She was back and she won’t allow herself to hide again. ~★~ “Hey, this is…” Confused she looked to her friend's side of the table. They just arrived at their favorite cafe near campus and took out their sketchbooks. They were pretty different, like they themselves. But that was most likely because they had chosen different paths of “art” for their studies. The black-haired one chose to draw and her mostly realistic works sometimes spooked her friends, but even here, she was the perfect opponent to her. Her sketchbook was full of fantasy-like ballgowns, skirts, corsages and even jewelry. But this new drawing she got a glimpse of as Ray had opened the sketchbook, caught her attention very quickly. She knew that pic, even tho she knew she never saw it within Ray’s drawings. It was in her dream, just last night. “You mean this one?” She saw her open the page again. 

It was a big crystal-like figure, tightly woven into a big and old tree. It matched the one in her dream almost perfectly. The same shape, the way it looked like the crystal that looked like a portal, the old feeling matched to it. But there was one big difference between the sketch and the picture she remembered from her dream. In her version, the tree bloomed with green leaves and little pink flowers. It almost matched a cherry blossom tree, but the one Ray drew seemed a bit less lively, darker, and not that welcoming. The leaves dangled down from the branches and they had a deep turquoise color.

“Yes…” She began to say: “Because I kind of saw that too, last night. But the leaves and the whole vibe was a bit…more welcoming.”

“More welcoming?” The dark-haired tilted her head slightly after her words and her finger touched the leaves of her drawing.

“The flowers, they had more vibrant colors.” Was everything Gwyn said, before she went silent again.

Normally she wasn't the type to shut her mouth quickly, not with Ray by her side, but her mind drifted to her memories and she got out of focus. It wasn’t the first time they drew or talked about very similar stuff, that never seemed to be real, but this one…It felt like she had to know this, a deep connection she couldn’t explain to herself. She remembered it so clearly, while the other parts of her dream were lost. Before Ray could ask anything, she snatched the sketchbook and switched to the newer drawings. A few different small things had the same effect on her. Only the last one was something unfamiliar to her. A pair of eyes and she couldn’t say if she liked or hated that look in them. They seemed kind of dark, everything was like that. Ray’s versions were always darker than hers. “This is getting real crazy.” Her words were soft-spoken, more like she talked to herself, something that wasn’t so uncommon for the daydreamer she was. But with Ray Gwyn never had to fear being the “strange one”, they knew each other long enough and deep enough to not judge these little things the other did.

“You saw that last night as well?” This whole conversation shifted from their usual after-lecture talks. Forgotten were the talks about their exams in a few weeks and the annoying Professors. These talks, the ones about their dreams, became more frequent after the death of her grandma, just two weeks ago. She dreamed a lot more since then and maybe it was to deal with the grief and the following loneliness. But why would that affect Ray too? Why would they dream about very similar things, the same dreamworlds, kind of. But before they could say more surrounding that topic, a brown-haired barista joined them: “Sorry Girls, the usual? Iced Americano with vanilla and a caramel latte with whipped cream?”

Her eyes focused on Kai, a student at the same university as them. They talked a lot before everything went upside down for Gwyn. He worked here for a few months now, so they got to know each other pretty well, with the two being here almost daily. He even was one of the few people who knew her grandma passed away. “Of course, but could I get a slice of the homemade cheesecake too?” She looked at Ray and added: “Make two out of that.” 

And for the second time today, she smiled a little brighter. That was probably the reason her best friend didn’t continue the last topic and closed the sketchbook. Ray knew that she was still a bit messed up and needed this normal moment, these little moments of her normal life. Talks about how strange some of the the works of other students looked, how chaotic their exams would be, or what they wanted to do this coming weekend. They lost themselves in these topics and the time just flew by. It was a good day, she thought to herself.

Gwyn raised her arm high as Kai walked by, he gave her a little nod, grabbed his wallet, and came to their table. Since it was Ray’s turn to pay she just watched the two of them, but as Kai’s eyes shifted from his usual sm

ile to a curious gaze, she watched them closely. His eyes seemed to focus on something on Ray’s wallet and the moment she realized what he had focused on, it was to late to stop him. 

“Who is that woman? She seems to be lovely.” His words were innocent, but Gwyn knew this was probably the worst he could have asked. It opened a conversation she knew would not end well. Even she never talked about that, never ever. Not in the last 10 years.

story ©dreamteez_story on wattpad characters and pictures credits to the owners

[dreamteez-story]

What do your dreams really mean? That’s a question Ray and Gwyn asked themselves a lot of times, but the answer is something the best friends wouldn’t have dared to think of. But as Ray disappeared, Gwyn was the only one who could find clues to what could have happened to her. All the things they talked about, the dreams they had, all the things they both drew…The only answer she could find was, that these dreams are much more real than they ever thought. And as soon as she realized that, she found herself in a world that was her own dream, the same dream Ray now lived as well.

Their whole life changes and they need to adapt to the new world, to new people, while trying to find each other. As their search goes on, Gwyn finds herself with people she feels like she should have been with all her life and Ray is forced to challenge her own emotions, because of her stay in this dreamworld and the people she meets there. But how does one wake up from their own dream world?

TxT Fanfiction | OC x Soobin | OC x Yeonjun | Fantasy World

story ©dreamteez_story on wattpad characters and pictures credits to the owners