She woke up on land. Her golden hair wet and dishevelled, her clothes looked as if they had changed colours. The golden-brown wear was turned almost dark brown.
Her throat was dry. So dry it felt itchy. She scratched her neck, but not just her neck. Her hands, feet and entire body felt like it would scrap off.
She coughed, then it hurt even more. She did not have any memory of what had happened after she had jumped, and the reason for that was also hazy. Just a single emotion that she would recall.
"I didn't die" She said, clenching both her arms. The most obvious suicide had failed her. Just like them. This was betrayal.
"..."
...
It was warm. No rather. It was hot. She was not shivering even after coming out of the ocean.
With the same expressionless face, she got up, looking around the seashore another time. Though this one was different. It was sunny, she couldn't tell the exact time but maybe it was almost noon. The hot yellow light made her look away from the water.
Upfront, there was a forest. Greener than previous. The wind was still the same. A soft, gentle one shaking the petals and the branches.
She walked ahead; a sudden pain shot in her feet.
"Ughh!"
She quickly bent down to look, lifting her soles a little bit. She had lost her slipper in those waves. So, of course, the rough ground would hurt her. It was not a big injury, but it hurt enough.
Yet, she still walked forward. Because if she didn't, it would have been the same as before. As she entered the dense forests of huge trees, she noticed something very special. To her, at the very least. Fruits.
The ones she had eaten in the previous forest were either bitter or tasteless. But these looked different. The shiny red coloured fruit hanging just above her, the irregular yet round shape kept on attracting her.
Apples. Those were apples. And she wanted them.
She jumped. But couldn't catch it.
She tried again.
Another failure.
It's wasn't really too high.
"But only if I had my slippers.' She thought that, but the real reason was painfully obvious.
She was too short.
Giving up on brute force, she picked up a broken branch from the ground.
Thuk!!
It hit! The apple fell just next to her feet. Her eyes widened in excitement. Throwing away the branch that helped her earlier, she swiftly grabbed the apple.
She looked at it. Stared at it, to be exact. As tasty as it looked, there was still a chance of it being bitter, or maybe being a completely different fruit.
"Thank you for the food" She muttered, before biting right into the apple. It was a small bite, but enough to tell her everything.
Her face flushed in happiness.
"Sweet!.." She took another bite, this time a big one.
The crunchy yet juicy apple was like a wave of relaxation from all the events that happened before. Comparably, it was just a fraction. But, that's usually the case.
She finished the Malus domestica in no time.
She looked for another one. Ate it.
Another. Down.
Another. Down.
Another. Down.
Then she stopped. As much as she liked eating, eating those apples.
She wasn't naive enough to overeat. Now after eating so many apples, she felt thirsty again.
"No doubt, as juicy as it is. Apples aren't for hydration. Maybe watermelons... " She shook her head, "ugh!! I should be grateful enough!"
"Let's find water" She gave herself a quick mission.
Turned to the ocean, then turned back.
Ocean water isn't drinkable. She must find a lake or a pond. A river could work too.
She travelled more, and as she did, she noticed that this forest was also empty. Empty of any beasts to be exact. There were still chirping of the tiny birds, and a few squirrels on the way.
"Cute.." She sat down next to one of the squirrels, slowly bringing her finger close to its miniature head. The squirrel backed away immediately, but after a few moments of her being completely still with her gleaming golden eyes, the squirrel easily gave in.
She petted its head slowly, completely forgetting about her need to find water. The squirrels also enjoyed the action.
After a few minutes of repeating the same action, the call for thirst inevitably came. She got up, patting away the dust from her clothes and giving out a long sigh.
"I wonder where I really am." She chose a random direction and walked off. Occasionally eating fruits on her way, until she heard a familiar sound from the distance.
The sound of water loudly flowing, she rushed towards the place where the sound was coming from. A river was flowing from a low hill, covered with tall grasses as if to be protected by them, with crystal clear flowing messily.
She took slow steps to reach the edge, gently putting her hands into the water and letting the flow of the water naturally enter her curved palms.
She picked it up and drank it, giving a sigh of relief right after.
But that was interrupted by someone. She didn't hear any footsteps until a hand was placed right on her shoulder. She jumped, almost falling into the water before turning right away to fall on the ground. She looked up at the culprit angrily before that anger was immediately replaced by shock.
In front of her was a demon, a tall demon (actually, she was just short) with sharp facial features and two long horns protruding from his forehead. He also had a tail, and long red tail, for some reason it felt as if the demon was unnecessarily proud of his tail, and that wasn't a simple guess. He actually had a smirk every time he wagged his tail.
"Excuse me miss," He coughed, before pulling out a very long red scroll which almost reached the ground. Before clearing his throat once again and beginning his speech.
"I would like to bring you attention to this very incredible offer by the most gracious king in the whole of Eryndale, we are searching for the most talented and extraordinary individuals to serve our magnanimous lord. You should be honoured to be the few chosen ones to be able to serve the Demon king of Sloth!!"
After finishing the very long and loud speech, the demon, well, obviously Bob, pulled out a contract and a pen from his long blazer and held it out.
"ahm-"
Before Marianne could understand what was going on, Bob once again interrupted her.
"Sign right here. Here." He kept on tapping at the word "signature" very aggressively.
Although shocked and confused, she paused for a moment to think. She might be short, but she's not dumb.
Swiftly, she got up and looked at the paper. "A servant for a king? I could work with that, I can't keep on living like this. The conditions seem favoura…"
"Wait, what did you say was the name of the king?"
"The demon king of sloth, Magnus caffeine." Bob answered with no hesitation. Because the one facing the hesitation was Marianne.
"The Demon King?! What is this individual talking about. Insane guy! Weirdo!"
She was about to retreat back but halted. What would happen if she ran away? At first, she thought it was the beast realm, but now, it's even worse. She was in the demon realm. It was certain that she would die if left alone.
"But seriously? A nun working for the king of the demons? That's ridiculous!"
"umm, I like the contract but.. well… I am a nun, so I was wondering if it's still eligible"
Bob didn't reply immediately, which just caused her to think it was it was over. But that negative thought was instantly trampled over after Bob gave a thump up right to her face.
"Of course it is eligible, ma'am! Please sign riiiight here!!"