Those first bounced around and chatted with Annie for a full hour. Then she went to the captain's private bathroom and enjoyed a nice soak in Annie's big bathtub. Once she was all clean and smelling sweet, Li Boli settled down on the big sofa in Annie's captain's quarters and slept soundly.
She'd originally planned to sneak into the bedroom in the captain's office and share Annie's much more comfortable big bed. It was huge, after all, and easily large enough for both of them.
But then...
She'd barely poked her head in when the other girl planted a foot on her cheek and kicked her right back out, before she could even explain why she was there.
In the end, she had no choice but to stick to what they'd agreed on and sleep on the sofa in the little office lounge. Exhaustion soon claimed her, and she drifted off.
She had no idea how long she'd been asleep...
"..."
In a daze, she sensed something was wrong and suddenly opened her eyes.
A cold sweat instantly soaked her back.
Because...
The place before her wasn't the captain's office she knew, nor was it the room she shared with Seilah. Instead, she was in a vast, towering arena so strange that it made her feel a little suffocated.
Yes, it was an arena, built of stone—and in an ancient style!
Everywhere she looked, high, mottled, crumbling stone walls rose around her, just like those of an ancient arena.
Her sharp eyes even caught dark-red stains between the floor tiles, as though they were dried blood.
Then she looked up. The sky above the arena was a murky, dark purple. There was no sun, moon, blue sky, white clouds, or stars—only clouds that churned and rolled like Jupiter's atmosphere.
"??"