Kalila had no idea what came over her... She normally wouldn't have argued. She normally would have done what was expected of her without question. She normally would have obeyed. Her many attempts of learning magic proved fruitless, while her brother, Zayan, and her sister, Leila, excelled in the arcane studies. She carried the shame of being the stupid sibling for years, despite the fact that she kept on trying in her studies. When her parents informed her of the arranged marriage, and their reasoning behind it, she thought that she would finally redeem herself. But...reality showed otherwise. Bartholomew was worse than she had imagined. She saw how the cruel and entitled nobleman held no care or concern for the people of the Kingdom unless he can benefit from them. His way of addressing those beneath his status of noble even sickened her. Bartholomew himself wasn't even the worst part of the disastrous meeting: He told her a horrific truth about her mother's work! Just thinking of that truth made her feel ill. At that moment the words escaped Bartholomew's mouth, and his lips curled into that disgusting, sneering smirk, something snapped in Kalila's heart and mind. Before she even realized it, she snuck out of the party, and ran home to confront her mother... The whole event is a blur...! That argument wasn't a mere argument anymore; It felt like she was fighting for her life, trying to wrestle it out of quicksand. It's just as well, the suffocating walls of the estate had drowned out her voice for so long. Tears streamed down her face during the argument as the voices rise. The argument still echoes in her mind. Kalila isn't sure why, but her own wishes kept making themselves the most prominent voices instead of her mother's answers... [I]"Mom, Why?! I wish you would just be honest with me!" "I could actually help find her if you would just let me! I wish I was out there searching for Leila!" "Bartholomew is a horrid man! I refuse to marry him! I wish I am far [i]far[/i] away from him! And you right now! How could you be so cold?!"[/I] She didn't even know what her mother's answer was, let alone her reaction, because after saying all of that, everything had gone dark. .... .... She gasps as she sharply takes a breath of air and pushes herself up from the ground. She rapidly catches her breath, like she had been drowning. Upon noticing the state of her dress, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at the dirtied attire and she sarcastically thought to herself in deadpan, "[I]Oh no. Not the dress. What a shame,[/I]" She gives a cursory patting about the dress to try and get the dirt and rumples off. There's nothing she can do about the stains on the hems. ...It might as well be her funerary dress now instead of an engagement dress. Her mother is going to kill her... [hider=Dress][img]https://i.pinimg.com/236x/7c/13/53/7c13530b3856de62a91c16e0bd714033.jpg[/img][/hider] At that thought, she immediately realizes that she has no idea what happened during the argument, let alone where she was. She looks around at her surroundings to find that she is definitely not in Valerith anymore! The architecture is completely different! From what little she can see in the darkness, they almost look softer and much more welcoming than the buildings back home! Kalila came to realize that she had woken up an alleyway much to her confusion. Despite regaining some of her bearings, the question still stands, and she couldn't help but ask it out loud to no one, "...Where [I]am[/I] I?!" The only thing that answers her question is an unusual series of sounds. Music! She freezes, expecting to hear screams and the marching of guards towards the sounds. But those sounds never came. Instead, much to her confusion, the sounds that follow the music is the sound of clinking glasses and voices that hold an emotion she hadn't seen or heard in a long time: Pure, unadulterated [i]joy[/i]! Before the confusion could truly set in, something else caught her attention, something within. She recognized the sensation of magic from her studies. But at the time, those sensations were faint and fleeting, like water in cupped hands. This time however...she can feel magic coursing through her veins! The fact that it feels like it's eagerly waiting to be unleashed frightens Kalila. Upon noticing this magic, she mumbles in surprise and confusion, "What is this?! How...?!" Then a different cause of concern arises, and with a gasp, she reaches for her neck. She lets out a sigh of relief to find that her grandmother's pendant was still around her neck. She remembered how her mother gave her the pendant after days of pestering her for it as a child. She had beamed happily when her mother pointed out that she was as stubborn as Gam-Gam. With that reassurance, she is able to focus back on her current surroundings and her situation. Her heart pounds in anxiety and fear at the sound of the music swelling again. The humidity of this area certainly didn't help. It wasn't humid back in Valerith! The air was dry there...but it didn’t smell as sweet… Despite her rapidly beating heart, she reasons to herself quietly, heading to the entrance of the alleyway, "Staying here is just a good way of getting mugged. At least I'm in a city instead of in the middle of the wilderness. I need to find an inn..." At this time of night, she needed to find shelter for rest, and she could learn about where she is exactly from the innkeeper. From there, she can figure out buying a different pair of clothes and how to get back to Valerith. But...a part of her was curious about the music and merry-making despite the preschool lessons about music being evil rearing its ugly head to the forefront of her mind. Standing at the arching entrance of the alleyway, she mutters to herself nervously, "....It wouldn't hurt to just see what the hullabaloo is about, right? As long as I don't participate, I should be golden. Yeah...Plus, I can get more information from people while they're happy. I'll need to know where to find an inn after all..." With that, she steps forth out of the alleyway, and into the city proper. She heads towards the sound of music playing. There is one upside to this situation. At least her boots are comfortable, she wasn't going to get blisters anytime soon. If she had been wearing stilettos, she wouldn't have been able to run home to begin with...