The gentle rays of light shone upon Katarina’s face as she exited her mansion. Today was a weekend and thus her schedule was lighter than usual. She was wearing a light summer dress layered with a turquoise flower pattern paired with sunglasses and a boutique hat. In her hand was a handbag which had the labels “KR” on the side. As she opened her phone checking for any new messages she saw an address from a sender by the name of Grishika. Searching for the address on Google Maps she found that it led to an old coffee shop at the edge of town. As she got inside her car she drove to the outskirts of town looking for an aged coffee shop with the image of an owl perched upon a magnificent tree in front of it.

Eventually within all the old houses and run-down apartments she located the coffee shop, parked, then entered. Looking around she noticed that the place was very small and could only fit a maximum of 15 people. There were 3 tables and a small counter by the back of the shop. The counter was filled with jars, pots and a mixture of herbs as if they were thrown together in a mangled pile. The smell of a mixture of herbs and old pine oak permeated the room making one feel as if they’re inside an old forest.

Taking a seat at one of the wooden tables she realized that there were engravings on the side of the table written in the ancient language of “Nystardu”, a language created by the Ancient Tryphants, the same entity that created Katarina and her race. Nystardu was a language of the past because as one begins to read the engravings one would see visions of what the writing was about. Epics about wars would bring the reader right in the middle of the battle, writings about a snowy mountain would make the reader feel the harsh coldness that the mountain offers. Katarina tempted by curiosity touched the engravings and tried to decipher what little she knew. The language of the Ancient Tryphants were often lost in most civilizations as the language was incredibly difficult to learn. Even Katarina who has experienced over a thousand years of age only knew a few words from her memory which will create an incomplete past if she’s lucky.

As she tried to decipher the words on the table she saw that an endless expanse of darkness filled her vision. The deathly silence filled the void and her body felt the release of gravity. As she spun in what seemed like an infinite expanse of pure darkness a small point of light entered her vision. She felt her consciousness moving closer to that point of light which shone a solar system with a magnificent sin the center hundred times larger than the earth’s sun, then the familiar sight of the old coffee shop filled her vision signifying that she couldn’t understand the following words. As she kept tracing her hand deciphering the words her vision was once again filled with the sight of the majestic red giant but this time it was much further away. Looking down she saw an enormous gassy planet as large as earth’s sun with multiple barren moons orbiting it. She noticed a single moon that was unlike the others with a luscious green surface. As she kept trying to decipher the meaning behind the words her consciousness suddenly faded away once more and the familiar coffee shop appeared in her. Katarina kept running her fingers through the wooden engraving attempting to decipher anything but she realized that the writing was becoming more complicated. She noticed that there were subtle nuances in the writing that weren’t apparent in the writing before. She noticed that the writing started to detail sound, touch, taste, smell, time and space, then as she kept running her fingers she realized that the words were beyond mortal comprehension and understanding. Then, a pitch black void devoid of everything filled her vision once more followed by a point of light where she saw the red giant again. Realizing that she went back to the beginning she took her fingers off the table and took a deep breath relishing in the mixture of herbs permeating in the air.

As she looked up she noticed that there was a European boy sitting across her. He was in his teens and he wore an ash grey business suit. Despite his childish looks he bore a serious experienced demeanor. His bright golden hair laid on his devilishly handsome face as his eyes were closed in deep thought. His fingers were passed through the ancient Nystardu texts that Katarina couldn’t decipher, with a hint of nostalgia on his face. As Katarina observed his hand she noticed that he was using a pitch black watch with 12 different hands spinning at different speeds. Katarina waited patiently for the boy until suddenly he opened his eyes revealing pure black pupils and in the middle was an image of what seemed to be a galaxy. His eyes seemed to carry a hint of sadness and nostalgia.

“What did you see?” the Grishika asked

Katarina tried to recall what she saw, “I first saw pure darkness, then a point of light appeared. I felt my consciousness approach that point of light then I saw a large gas planet with 8 barren moons orbiting it but one of the moon’s surfaces was a luscious green. What did I see?”

“History is written by the victors but the past is written by time. When you read Nystardu you will read time” Grishika closed his eyes once again gently caressing the engravings on the side of the table. After a while he opened his eyes once more and green pupils replaced his starry pupils, his face seemed to be more humane. He adjusted his clothing brushing out the wrinkles. As he got up he handed Katarina a white paper bag, “I added a bit of my own personal gift in there, wine aged around a thousand years or so”. Looking inside she saw a bottle of italian grape wine branded with “Sangiovese 2015” with the price tag still attached displaying [$59.99]. Beside it was a box of Belgium chocolates with an assortment of flavours. It seemed like Grishika picked it up from the airport gift shop but Katarina was happy with that because that meant Grishika cared for her. Actually Katarina knew Grishika for a while now but Grishika was always the boss while Katarina was the employee. Knowing that her former boss still cares for her after she retired put a smile on her face.

“Shall we go meet this Ashley?” Grishika asked

“Of course. I already told her that I’ll be bringing a friend” Katarina happily responded, “By the way, do you eat? I really want to cook for you since we haven’t seen each other in such a long time”

“That would be lovely, I can’t wait to taste your culinary skills. But I can only stay for today as using this body for too long will cause irreversible harm in the future”

“That’s fine with me!”

With a nod Grishika entered Katarina’s car and headed to the hospital. As they got out and entered the ward Katarina led Grishika into Ashley’s room where they saw a girl in her mid-teens with black hair and black eyes reading a book.

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[Hospital Ward A-1, Room 15 - Leukemia Treatment]

Ashley was absorbed into the novel she was reading, a novel about a fantasy world. A world where she wouldn’t be confined to her hospital bed and the daily medication. Where her bones would stop hurting and she can put enough strength into her legs to walk. As she was being treated in the hospital reading became one of her greatest joys as it gave an escape from her current predicament. The other biggest thing that brought her joy was her loving and caring big sister. Ever since she was young she never met her parents but she grew up with big sis Katarina. In the eyes of many Katarina was a superstar owning an international fashion brand and an exquisite model. When an economic crisis hit, where other companies would fall hers would prevail. The name of Revivo was a label known to many millennials symbolizing luxury, fashion and style but in Ashley’s eyes Katarina was just her big sis. She’s seen all the sides that Katarina doesn’t show the public. She took care of her big sis when she was drunk and wasted, she was there when her big sis came back from work all tired, she was there when her sister’s project was successful and they partied together. In her times of need her big sis was also there for her, when she got bullied in school her sister taught her how to fight back, when she lost her parents and was shivering in the cold orphanage her big sister’s warm hugs saved her from that desolate place, when her crush rejected her big sis Katarina was a shoulder to cry on. When she was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia her big sis came everyday to the hospital and read her stories or played games with her. Although Ashley called Katarina big sis in her heart, big sis Katarina was her mother.

As the bright sun illuminated the room the creaking of the door opened revealing Katarina in a light summer dress wearing her own brand. Following her was a boy that looked around her age in an ash grey suit fitted to his size. His long golden locks covered parts of his face hiding his devilishly good looks. His green eyes surveyed around the room examining the room before looking straight at Ashley. As Katarina hugged Ashley, Ashley hugged back before asking,

“Sis, is that the friend you were talking about?”

“Yeah, he’s a really good friend of mine. His name is Grishika”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you! My name’s Ashley and Katarina is my sis!”

With a slight nod Grishika responded, “Feeling’s mutual here as well. I’ve heard from Katarina that you’ve been listening to her work. I’m her editor Grishika and I’m need your help to make this book better”

“How can I help?” asked a curious Ashley

“For starters what are your thoughts about the conflict between the Humans and the Elves?”

Ashley’s entire day was usually sitting so being able to help excited Ashley. After a considerable amount of thought Ashley started to form her thoughts into words, “It’s a complicated multifaceted problem that can’t be solved through sheer power or a single political plan. It’s an entirely unique problem that encompasses many fields of power. Overall I love it! It’s complicated but once the author explains each field it becomes something that’s incredibly interesting”

Grishika nodded then pulled out a pencil and paper where he began to take notes.

“So I’m getting that the conflict between the Humans and the Elves is something that is incredibly complicated on multiple levels. What’s the most complicated factor in this conflict?” Grishika would listen to what Ashley said and asked follow-up questions. The questioning between Grishika and Ashley lasted until the sun was ready to set. Katarina had to leave early to attend a meeting leaving Grishika with Ashley alone together. The red orange rays of light shone through the windows illuminating painting the wall with the gentle glow of the sunset. The smell of alcohol and medicine reminded Ashley of her condition, but regardless she enjoyed the time she had with Grishika. Ashley’s impression of Grishika was that he was a serious young adult with an emotionless mask, but behind that mask Ashley felt like there was something more complicated beyond her imagination. Ashley enjoyed the questions that Grishika brought, albeit some of them difficult to answer, nevertheless she wanted her sister’s book to be the best so she answered to the best of her ability. Grishika finally closed his notebook, and stood up.

“Could you please help me with one more question?” He asked

“Sure. Hit me with it”

“What would you do if I was a devil?”

Ashley paused in shock. She swore her ears were deceiving her, “I’m sorry I couldn’t catch that. Could you please repeat it once more?”

Grishika closed his eyes, then once he opened them black eyes with a golden iris replaced his green eyes. Horns appeared out of his head and the sound of skin tearing filled the room as two large wings were exposed from the back. Ashley realized that she couldn’t smell of alcohol and medicine anymore this time with sulfur replacing it. Looking outside she realized that the world has turned grey, the sun stopped and the world seemed to come to a pause. Colour was drained from the world she knew of leaving shades of black and white and in the middle of it were the golden pupils of Grishika. Ashley desperately looked outside for any signs of help and as she did she realized that buildings were being curved, space was being folded and cars were flying everywhere. It was as if someone took the city of Beijing and folded it like it was a piece of origami leaving buildings coming from above the hospital building, from the side and some even intersecting with other buildings. Then Ashley noticed a deathly stillness and silence like the entire world was muted. She began to hear the flow of her blood and the beating of her heart then suddenly the rustling of clothes interupted her focus. Ashley fearfully looked over to the source of the sound to see Grishika fixing the cuffs of his suit. She focused on the only source of colour within this monotone world then she saw his mouth move.

“What would you do if I was the devil?”