Alear lay there. Not restless, but not exactly tried, either. Just a moment ago, she'd been having the most vivid dream. Allies and enemies engaged in a raging battle. She had her closest ally on her finger. An... emblem? Yes, that was it. Together, they had fought off their greatest foe. A dark... dragon? Was that it?
Alear couldn't remember. She was awake now. Memories of her dream were quickly slipping away. She kept her eyelids closed for a time, though. Not wanting to get up just yet. Her body felt like she'd been asleep forever, yet still worn out. It was that kind of feeling for people who weren't accustomed to waking early. In the back of her head, the red-and-blue-haired young woman knew she'd adjust once she got up, but still...
What's wrong with sleeping in for a little longer..?
"W-WAAAGH!!!"
A sudden scream immediately alerted Alear, who had been trying to slowly open her eyes. It was no use now, though. She was so shocked at the sudden noise that her eyelids burst wide open as a result. First thing she saw was that she'd somehow woken up in a place she had never seen before... or maybe it was more accurate to say it was a place she didn't remember?
Either way, the two shocked faces that loomed over her were definitely new to her. Both of them were way too close to her personal space for her liking, and she flinched upon seeing them. Immediately, her fight or flight response was triggered. Alear instinctively wanted to run, but she quickly noticed that these two unknowns were just children. Hardly teenagers, if that. She gasped and, still caught in her previous reaction, looked around frantically.
Meanwhile, the two intruders of Alear's bedroom looked almost as shocked as she was. Their eyes wide, and their mouths effectively dropped. One was a boy wearing green, and the other was a girl wearing pink. They looked quite similar to each other. Surely they had to be related. Twins, perhaps? Not that Alear was trying to guess their familial relationship. She was too preoccupied with how sudden this all was. She wasn't really able to her bearings at all.
"Whoa... tell me you're seeing this!" The boy spoke up first. He sounded... shocked. Downright shocked. If it was possible for his eyes to widen further, they just did. His companion seemed to still be just as shocked.
Alear was quick to piece together that the girl was the one who had screamed. She wasn't quite sure why, though. If these kids were thieves or something, it wouldn't do to shout and wake the person they were trying to steal from. She sat up and looked up at the two of them. Oddly, she felt a sense of vertigo just from looking up at her visitors. She'd just sat up on her bed, and yet it seemed like the two youngsters were higher up still. If she were to describe the feeling, she might say that it was like waking up in a pit and looking up at someone who was staring down at you from above...
"H-Hello there. And you are..?" Alear asked, her tone gentle and as unassuming as possible. She didn't know what was going on, but she didn't want to make accusations of these children. For all she knew, they could just be checking on her. Although, that still wouldn't explain why the girl had felt the need to shout and wake her from her peaceful slumber.
"You're awake!" The girl quickly responded, speaking so fast and leaning in so closer that Alear instinctively recoiled and muttered a surprised gasp. The girl continued, "And you're s-so... so.... so TINY!"
"Wha-" Alear was about to say, but was cut off before she could fully come to grips with what this pink-loving girl just blurted out. She took a quickly glance around and, although she didn't want to fully believe it or completely admit it, her surroundings didn't lie. Everything was strangely huge from her perspective. Not the least of which were the two kids who had woken her up. Was it true? Had she really shrunken in her sleep somehow?
"You're the Divine Dragon!" The boy suddenly chimed in, almost just as quickly as his female companion. He also leaned in which, now that Alear had realized something was amiss, caused the tiny woman's legs to buckle, she collapsed onto them a moment later. Upon seeing this, the boy looming above her seemed to be distressed a little, ".. you are the Divine Dragon... r-right..?"
At this point, Alear shook her head, not sure if she could believe it all. It seemed true, but it also seemed like a dream, even though she'd just woken up. Ignoring the Divine Dragon comment the boy had just made for a moment, the confused young woman could obviously tell how giant everything was compared to her. By her most generous estimate, she was probably about 3 inches tall. Unable to fully process what was going on, she just stared blankly up at the her two guests for a moment.
"No way..." The boy whispered.
"No way..." The girl whispered.
Suddenly, they turned their attention away from the miniaturized Alear and towards each other, drawing their clenched fists in to their chests with growing smiles. In unison, they giddily exclaimed, with fists pumped,
"The Divine Dragon is finally awake!"
Down on her bed, Alear felt staggered. She had gone from having a bad dream to waking up in a pleasant nightmare. Contradictory as that was. Everything was so different. She tried to remember what she'd been doing before she fell asleep, but couldn't. All of her memories seemed even further away than the two comparatively gigantic children celebrating her awakening just a few feet away. Of course, to the diminished Alear, it appeared to be a much greater distance.
"But... she's so small!" The girl stated as her joy turned to a sort of sad confusion. Cupping her chin with her right hand, she glanced back down to Alear and frowned. Pity was written all over her face.
"Yeah, what happened to her?" The boy wondered aloud, matching the girl's expression and tone. Being watched by these two giants made the tiny young woman feel even smaller. In turn, she just stared up at them, looking between both of her visitors with even more confusion than they showed.
"I don't know! You were the last one in her chambers, Clanne!" The girl exclaimed rather loudly and with a rather accusatory glare directed at the boy, who seemed to be named Clanne.
"What?! I didn't do anything! It wasn't me! You saw her yesterday, too, Framme! Come on!" Clanne protested, clearly offended by the girl's not-so-subtle accusation that he might have done something to cause Alear to shrink.
It was something that Alear had not even considered up until this point. Her memories were hazy, but she knew that she wasn't actually supposed to be only a few inches tall. Someone shrinking her down to her current size did seem a good possibility now that she thought about it. For a moment, she wondered how much she could really trust these two. There was just too much she didn't know.
"Hmm... I know! We should go get Vander!" The girl, named Framme apparently, chimed in with an idea.
"Yeah! Good idea!" Clanne smiled and nodded his agreement.
At this, both the boy and the girl giggled and excitedly ran out of Alear's chambers, leaving the miniature Alear alone on her bed. She called out to them, "Hey! Hold on!". But her tiny voice was too soft and quiet for them to hear as they hurried out of the room.
Once the door shut behind them, the room became eerily quiet. Just a gentle breeze remained to remind the stranded tiny girl that time hadn't suddenly stopped. Finally having a moment of peace and quiet allowed Alear to collapse onto her knees and hang her tiny head low as she thought about her situation,
What is... going on here..?
Alear had no idea who this "Vander" character was, but she figured he must be someone important or wise. Perhaps he could help shed some light on the situation. She looked down at herself. Was she really this tiny? How? And what did those children mean when they called her the "Divine Dragon"? Too many questions, and not enough answers.
Left to her own devices, Alear took a deep breath, followed by a long sigh,
What... should I do..? She wondered, looking around the room once more...
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