I woke up with two things: my name—Kari—and the slightly cold air around my skin. It must’ve taken an hour for me to pull my eyes open. There was a sense of desparation—like if I didn't wake up then and there, I might fall back asleep and miss the next three centuries of time.

 

The cold ground feels up my back and legs and the rest of my nude skin. It feels clean. It feels pure. I see stained glass above me, but my vision is still too blurry to make out what it depicts. I just see colorful sparkles. The ceiling reaches high and carries a cold blue tint to it.

 

I can't quite make out how I really know my name is Kari. I don’t have any memories tied to it, but it feels like it’s the only thing it could be. I don’t remember anything at all. There is nothing at all; just the quiet lull of sleep. The room is silent. My memory is silent.

 

I hear footsteps now. I see two faces above me now. Two people: they both have silver hair with streaks of blonde. One has long hair draping over me, the other’s hair couldn't reach me if it tried. They have soft faces with a little red blush on their cheeks and the tips of their noses. I see white bras and I see white underwear. They put their hands behind my back and lift me up.

 

Around me looks like worship. It looks like tall walls and high ceilings. It looks like empty and me in the center.

 

They carry and lie me down in a small room off to the side. The one with the long hair takes my hands in hers whilst the other one pulls out a rod of red-hot iron. It feels familiar. It feels like ritual, and it burned, but not as much as it should’ve. They start to carry me to the opposite side of the room. I see the pattern burned into my skin on my tummy. It's pretty and I feel special.

 

At the other side of the room they clothe me in a similar way to their own. They then lead me back to room I woke up in, and continue further to the end of it.  The wall gives out and opens up to a balcony. One gestures towards the ground and we sit. And I wish I knew who I was. And I feel I'm not allowed to ask. And I feel this heavy weight in my throat when I even think about it. And we sit and listen to nothing.

 

And I think of nothing until I get up to look over the balcony. There’s no railing, so I carefully sit down near it and slowly scoot my way up to the edge: there’s the blue sky all around us with no ground in sight. I sit and look at nothing.

 

My drowsy eyes sit there and look.

 

One of them comes up and sits next to me, and I realize now how pretty she is. Her skin looks angelically soft. Cold and pure.

 

The silence is uncomfortable and my vocal folds are aching for movement. I look back to the sky when I feel a hand grab mine. The short haired one leads me to the center of the balcony, and I forget about speaking. I feel sleepy again with the sun blanketing my skin. My eyes become heavy again and I cover a yawn with my hand. I forget where my body is as she lies me down on my back and straddles my stomach. I close my eyes and I feel hands in mine. I feel a breath on my face and I drop my face to the side. I feel a tongue on the side of my face and softness all over my chest and stomach. And I smell cold and pure fresh mint.

 

I squirm under her, and she flips me onto my chest and straddles the back of my leg.  And I feel a wet softness sliding. And I let out a breath and reach my hand into my underwear. And I forget what I was doing with my hand. I fall asleep.

 

A giggle opens my eyes: I’m on my back now and see the short hair girl between my legs and I see the other on my side starting to reach her leg over me. She’s riding my face now and it’s dark. I feel a tongue instead of my underwear. I taste sweetness instead of the air. My tongue is aching for movement, and I fall asleep.

 

I open my eyes again: I’m on my side now. I feel someone spooning me, and I see an arm wrapped around my torso, with someone else’s hand wrapped around theirs. I see the silent blue sky meeting the edge of the balcony in front of me. I don’t remember anyone finishing, so we sit there and wait.

 

I want to know who I am.

 

I form the letter ‘s’ with my tongue, but I feel a pit in my throat.

 

“Hush,” they speak in unison.

 

“Why?”

 

They both pause for a bit, and then a coarse voice spoke.

 

“Words are prayers, and it’s disrespectful to disturb her.”

 

“But. . .”

 

"You weren't made for speaking, bitch."

 

They both get up, pick me up, and lead me back inside. On the other side of the room is a giant wooden door. They stop ten feet in front of it, let go of my hands, and walk back to the balcony. I wait where they had left me.

 

The entire door in front of me was carved into: depictions of leaves and flowers and the lines that framed them. The closer you looked the more detail there was, and past the detail was the beauty of the wood grains themselves. Suddenly everything started shifting to the left and I realized the door was opening and new person was standing in front of me.

 

She walked very close to me and I had to crane my neck upwards to see her face. An aroma of flowers and honey hit me, and I had to kneel to keep my balance. She took my chin and tilted it upwards to her.

 

"Well, you turned out well."

 

"Huh?"  I blinked my eyes back open.

 

She picked my arm up and inspected my skin closely.

 

"The other two needed someone ‘less-so’ that they could have fun with without much complaint. I thought it'd be cute to have an eternally drowsy specimen around, so I created you."

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yes, Kari. That’s all you are. My name is Ayla by the way, and your 'friends' over there are Rosa and Rosee. Rosee has the long hair. Rosa has the short hair. They help me do deity things that you shouldn’t care about. Go sleepies.”

 

She picked me up and set me aside as she walked towards the other girls. As she walked away my head hung lower and lower until it layed on the ground.  I sleep.