Chapter 1: Sea of Velvet
Monday, April 16th
The strap on her bag floated gently with the sea breeze as it lay on the bench. Her feet were clasped together as she stared out into the open ocean. She kept her neck buried into her scarf and her eyes were starting to turn red from the sea salt. It was almost time for the train to arrive and take her to her new residence. She looked at her watch and sighed as she looked back out towards the sea. The small park consisted of a few wooden benches, a small playground, and a sidewalk that turned into a running route. It stretched from the train station all the way to the woods outside the city. Soon enough, the sun rose from its slumber and with it so too would the fishers and merchants. As she took another long look at the ocean, she grabbed her bag but then she saw something odd. A small blue butterfly flew gently past her face, and she let it rest on her finger. She looked at it with soft, loving eyes. After the butterfly left, she suddenly felt dizzy and closed her eyes just for a few seconds…
She awoke from the sounds of the ocean gently brushing against something, and the smell of the ocean was no longer present to her. Her eyes slowly opened and she found herself looking at a man with an elongated nose, with another young man next to him sitting quietly in his blue uniform. She looked at them, confused and startled.
She took a moment to take in her surroundings. There were windows on either side of her and outside of them, there appeared to be a large endless ocean with the night's moonlight reflecting on the surface of the water. It just occurred to her that she was sitting on a yacht in the middle of the ocean. The cabin itself could be nothing short of high-class. Blue velvet leather couches on three of the four sides with a miniature cocktail and soda bar to her right. After taking in her surroundings, she quickly returned her thoughts to the situation.
Surely she couldn't have fallen asleep at the park for that long; though the sea is close enough to the park for her to have been dragged here. The fact she managed to get here in the middle of the ocean by night time despite clearly remembering falling asleep on a park bench in the morning? Who are these men? How did she get here? Thinking hard about these questions only managed to further frighten her. Before she could ask the question, the long-nosed man in front of her gestured his hand toward her and began to speak.
"Welcome, to the Velvet Room. My name is Igor. Do not be afraid, your startled behavior is nothing unusual. There is no need to be alarmed. You're safe and sound in your world right where you are." The girl opened her mouth but failed to articulate any words. She instead listened as the man continued on.
"This Velvet Room transcends both Mind and Matter, Dream and Reality. A place where all opportunities and eventualities within our plane of existence are detached. You have nothing to fear." He assured in a calm voice. His attendant with his eyes closed nodded in agreement and looked at her.
"As my master has introduced himself, it's only fair that I do so as well. My name is Alphonse. A pleasure to meet you." His eyes opened just for the briefest of moments until he closed them once again.
The girl's jaw hung open as she looked down away from their eyes and nodded. The two men in front of her despite fearing them initially seemed reasonable, their greetings so sincere she felt simply inadequate in their presence.
"It is quite alright, I suspect given the circumstance and the suddenness of this meeting that you are a bit overwhelmed," Igor assured.
"Perhaps at the very least then, can we just hear your name?" Alphonse asked kindly.
The girl continued to look away from their gaze finally managed to break her silence and uttered:
"Miku... Miku Yuzuki." Hesitation emanated from her voice. Despite not looking up, Miku could hear from Alphonse's direction that he had written her name down.
"A beautiful name…. With that said, the contract has been sealed. You will most definitely be unique compared to others before you. In time, you shall come to understand the nature of this place. My dear assistant will also provide whatever you wish here to make your stay here comfortable. For now, we will leave you, but know that your next visit will be at our discretion." Igor said as Miku slowly looked back up again, his hands clasped below his chin.
Their discretion? What does that mean? What do they mean next visit? Igor smiled as Alphonse stood up and stared in Miku's direction with an open tome in his left hand.
"Fate can often be cruel, especially for one so young. However, within the sea of realities, probabilities are calculated to allow uniquely defined eventualities to exist outside your scope of cognition. Such realities are normally beyond our control, only one such as yourself can learn unique opportunities to control fate and all the untimely events life dares throw at you." Alphonse closed the tome as what appeared to be a spinning tarot card hovered over his right hand.
"The fortune arcana associates with individuals who seize their own destiny in spite of fate. The choices you make will affect others around you. Keeping your distance won't change that." As he finished saying the last word, he crushed the tarot card with his fist as it exploded into dust, then sat back down presumably to give Igor the final word.
"To close our session today, I will leave you with one more piece of advice as an addendum. In the coming years, maintaining your present course will only lead to stagnation. From now on, you must be able to open yourself up to change. Only then shall new and potentially exciting opportunities open for you in your mundane reality."
Upon hearing Igor's final word, Miku closed her mouth shut, unable to respond to all that jargon spouted at her. Alphonse snapped his fingers as if prepared for this moment, Miku's heart suddenly surged with vigor. After blinking her eyes several times, she found herself sitting once more on that park bench. The moonlit sea of velvet was nowhere in sight. This was the cool and sunny morning she previously thought had eluded her.
She looked out towards the sea and it appeared as if time hadn't moved. As soon as she came back to her senses, she quickly checked her watch to see the time.
"T-that can't be right…" She whispered.
The time was exactly the same as when she last checked her watch. She knew she had to be on that yacht longer than a few minutes, yet it seems as if time hadn't even moved! She started to panic slightly as she looked around for that same yacht. After a few minutes of looking, she decided to give up the search.
"That was probably just some bad dream…. There's no way I was on that yacht. I should probably get more sleep." she confided to herself. She grabbed her bag, saddled it on her shoulder, and began her walk to the train station to take her to her new place of residence.