A massive hall lined with tall pillars dotted along its length with a skylight running the whole length and giving a grand view of the sky while also allowing in plenty of that red light, making everything look it’s bathed in blood. It was more than enough to send a chill up your spin, and the twin rows of the guards standing beside the pillars didn’t help matters much either. That panda didn’t spare a glance for any of that, seemingly too used to being in here before. Instead she continued sweeping up the length of the chamber, leading you towards the far end. You, on the other hand, had your head on a swivel, looking back and forth, taking in as much as you could on the trip. The room was obviously made to hold a massive number of people, and it was just as obviously made to show off wealth even more so than the rest of the place that you had seen. The pillars were intricately carved, there’s banners hanging from each of the pillars, plenty more of the “art” along the walls, and the floor was polished to such a sheen that it almost as if you were walking on a giant mirror.
Yet again, you were so lost in ogling your surroundings that you didn’t notice the panda coming to a stop, and this time you really did run into her. This knocked her forward a step, before she turned around and glared with a growl in her throat.
A loud throat clearing caused the panda to freeze, before a new voice called out, “Sarah?”
The panda spun around quickly, but you managed to see a look of utter embarrassment tinged with fear. “Apologies, my lady, it won’t happen again. And as you requested, the newcomer has undergone cleansing.” She bowed low, her long hair falling about her face like a curtain.
You next turned your eyes to the one she was speaking to, and felt your mouth drop in shock. Several short steps combined to form a dais, and atop the platform was an enormous dragoness. She looked to be about eight feet tall, maybe a bit more, though it was hard to be sure since she was seated on a veritable pile of cushions. Being nearly as wide as she was tall, she formed a great blubbery mountain overlooking the room. She was “clothed” much like the panda, but with far more ornamentation, though her size also meant that far more of her body was left exposed. Atop her head was a jeweled circlet, though it was almost entirely hidden among the curls of her hair.
Plunging her hand into a bowl beside her, she brought out several things that looked a bit like apple sized blueberries and briefly played with them between her fingers. You weren’t even sure what they were, but the look of them was enough to cause your stomach to let out a small hungry grumble. She then deftly tossed them into the air and caught each of them in her razor lined maw. It was slightly unnerving how she performed this little show without taking her violet eyes off of you.
“So you are Vanessa Lawson, yes?” the dragoness said after staring at you for a rather uncomfortable stretch of time. Her voice had a similar accent to the panda, but was much more melodious in tone.
You managed to stammer out confirmation, still a bit stunned from everything that had happened recently. The dragoness gave a small hum before raising one of her massive flabby arms. Passing a hand over a jeweled bracelet encircling her vast wrist, a floating rectangle appeared before her, looking every bit like a computer screen without the computer or the screen. The dragoness continued to ask questions of you – confirming that your father died years ago and your mother much more recently, that you had no siblings or any other close relatives, that you had no significant other, and so on – confirming that you were indeed the correct Vanessa Lawson. Partway through the questioning, you realized that she must have been using your social media profiles and internet activities to check if it was you. You managed to find a break to ask about this, and the dragoness said that it was true, before muttering about how archaic human information systems where. Throughout everything, the panda – Sarah apparently – remained before you, standing still like a statue.
At the end of the interrogation, the dragoness smiled wide into her flabby cheeks as the floating screen vanished. “You did well, Sarah. She is indeed the one that I was seeking.” The panda responded to this praise by bowing low again and giving numerous thanks to the massive dragoness, with a wide smile of her own across her face, as well as an expression that was unmistakably relief.
Clearing your throat, you then tried to keep your voice steady and were even mostly successful, much to your own surprise. “May I ask why you have been ‘seeking’ me in particular?”
She smiled again, and there was something about that smile that sent another chill through your spine. “Yes, you may, and the answer is…”
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