Empress of Otherverse

I asked the priestess again, “I won’t… ask you again if it’s really possible to see my memories, but I want to know… After seeing my memories, will you be able to find out how I can return?”

“I can’t be sure.”

“…”

I was disappointed and angry.

If it was Lucretius or even the dowager empress, I would have shown my anger. However, I couldn’t do that now. Not in front of this woman.

She was the mysterious priestess, and on top of that, I couldn’t tell the extent of her power and abilities.

If the priestess herself said it was not possible, then I didn’t even know what to do next.

This meant that everything depended on her answer.

One thing I found odd was how checking my memories could help me return home.

If there was even a small chance, I had no problem showing her my memories. However, without any guarantees… Who would ever want to open your mind to a stranger?

I picked my words carefully. I didn’t want to make her upset and angry at me. She was my last hope after all.

“Then how would seeing my memories help you? Are you saying you can’t be sure, but it may still be possible to help me?”

She nodded. “I guess I should explain better. I realize that showing your memories to a stranger would be… unpleasant. The reason why I want to do this is that I might be able to see the exact process of how you got to our world from yours.”

“Process?”

“Yes. Your highness told me of a different world because you would like to go back. Am I correct?”

I nodded.

“Are you by chance aware of what the priests at the temple do? Do you know who and what Aos does?”

I tried to think of what I heard before.

“Aos represents memory, record, and history.”

“That’s right. We, those who serve Aos, travel the world and record what we see and experience. Before we die, we present our records to the temple of Aos. The priests at the temple protect and maintains these records. I am the principal individual who is responsible for all these. The extent of the records is so great that it is not humanly possible to read and know all of them, but as I said before, I have the ‘sight’ that allows me to see things others can’t. For example, I can see into people’s memories.”

“So… what have those records got to do with me?”

The priestess smiled. “If I can see your own world, I may be able to confirm if similar things have happened to others from the records. If there are, perhaps I can find out how others returned.”

I finally understood. I could see why she couldn’t give me a definite answer, but only a possibility.

I believed there still was hope for me. With all the records of everything that had happened in this world, there was a very good chance something useful might appear.

I prayed for it.

She took her eyepiece off and offered me her beautiful pale hands.

“Now, will you… give me your hands?”

I did without hesitation.

She slowly opened her eyes. In her eyes, a deep dark pool appeared.

Suddenly, everything turned black, and I lost consciousness.

***

Beep, beep…

A loud alarm bell rang.

The person in the bed didn’t wake up. Still wrapped in a thick blanket, the person continued to sleep.

Outside the window, darkness still remained. It was only 6 am on one November day. It was going to be a while till the sun rose. From the room, familiar noises could be heard from the kitchen. It was an important day for the girl, so her mother was preparing a special breakfast and a lunch box for her.

The girl was so nervous last night she fell asleep around 3 in the morning. This meant she only had three hours of sleep.

The girl pushed the snooze button, but in only five minutes, the alarm started to ring again. This time it was even louder.

She had to wake up. It was time. If she didn’t, her older sister and her mother would barge in to wake her up themselves.

She was still very sleepy, but today was a very important day.

She opened her eyes wide and stood up.

First name Bina, last name Sa.

She was an average high school student on her day of SAT.

“Are you okay?”

Her mother sounded worried, and it was no wonder. Today was the day that would determine Bina’s future. Usually, she only ate a piece of toast for breakfast, but today, it was different. Her mother woke up two hours earlier than usual to prepare her breakfast.

Bina shook her head sadly. She looked very tired.

“No. Gosh… I’m doomed. I didn’t get any sleep at all… What should I do…?” Bina sounded distressed.

“Oh no…”

When her mother exclaimed nervously, Bina’s older sister suddenly appeared and smacked her back loudly.

“Why are you acting so weak already!”

“Arrg! It hurts, sis!”

Biin was two years older than Bina and currently attended a university in Seoul. Biin took the SAT two years ago, so she tried to pass on important wisdom based on her experience.

“Everyone sleeps poorly the night before the exam. I did the same two years ago.”

“Really? You did too?” Biin grinned evilly.

“Yup, and I bombed it!”

“Grrrr!”

While Bina screamed, Biin smirked.

Their mother reprimanded her oldest daughter, “Why would you say something like that? Come on, just set the table!”

“Alright~!”

Biin continued to giggle as she helped her mother. She might have sounded mean, but there was no reason for her to wake up this early, other than in an attempt to help Bina. Biin was probably just as nervous for her and wanted to make Bina relax as much as possible.

Her mother also took great care to make the best breakfast she could. She prepared food that was easy on the stomach, and also prepared a lunch for her to take.

None of the side dishes included ingredients such as eggs, seaweeds, and rice soup. There was a superstition that these food could make a person do poorly on an exam.

Bina could see that her mother did her best with the food. She felt truly loved.

Suddenly, her cellphone beeped.

It was a text message from her father, who was away for work. He felt sorry for not driving her to the SAT office this morning, but Bina let him know she would take the subway anyway. During the rush hour, the subway was the surest way to get to places on time. She had heard some horror stories of how some students got stuck in traffic and couldn’t make it to the exam room on time.

Subway was no doubt the best way as long as there wasn’t any unexpected accident.

Her father still felt apologetic and didn’t forget to send a message on the morning of SAT.

Bina smiled brightly.

“Good luck, daughter!”

It was a short message with a silly emoticon, which she taught him how to use a few months ago. Bina laughed and texted back.

“You too, dad! Love you!”

She didn’t usually show affection, but today, she did.

Her mother asked, “What time will the exam end?”

Biin answered instead, “3 or 4 pm? Right?”

“Yeah, around 4 pm.”

Their mother placed three bowls of rice on the table and said to Bina, “Then I will pick you up around that time.”

“Hmm? What about your work?”

Their mother worked at a small design office and was very busy with a huge project nowadays. She often worked late, so Bina’s eyes widened in surprise.

Her mother smiled gently. “Don’t worry, I can use my vacation hours.”

Biin whistled enviously. “Wow! I’m jealous!”

Their mother asked Bina, “It’s an important day, so we should go out for dinner to celebrate! What do you want to eat?”

Celebrating depended on how she did on the SAT today. Bina felt nervous because she didn’t get good sleep, but she still decided to think positively.

She gave her a big smile and replied, “Kimchi stew! I want mom’s kimchi stew!”