"What do you mean?" He didn't answer, and I didn't understand anything that had happened. Fear crept into me after what had transpired. I stood out of the water towards the door. "I'm done with this," I said. He replied as I walked out, "I don't think so, and I won't wait for you to change your mind." I opened the door to find her standing there. She was back, soaking wet, and looked just as I had seen her in the dream. I looked at her hand and saw it was injured. We both looked at each other in silence. She asked me, "Were you really there?" I think her words struck me like lightning again, and I fainted.
It wasn't long before she woke up, and the girl's face was different. I think he had said something to her while I was unconscious. I woke up to find them talking by the fountain, whispering words I couldn't hear. She approached. "Are you alright now?" He looked at her. Her gaze was different; it was sharper, as if she knew something.
Thomas couldn't bear it any longer and, overcome with longing, asked, "Is that girl Babylin?" She didn't answer him, remaining silent for a moment.
"Do you remember when I told you about seeing her when I fainted?" He looked at her silently, nodding in affirmation.
She looked at her hand and extended it to Thomas. "I think it wasn't a coincidence. I think this vision has become a part of me." He took Thomas's hand, feeling his eyes grow heavy. He began to hear a sound from afar, and his vision returned. "What's happening?" he asked. "Don't resist. Just look closely..." His eyes began to see blurry, indistinct images of moving things. It wasn't long before his vision became clearer, and voices began to emanate from these figures he saw. It was a voice he recognized. He called out, "Is that you, Babylon?" The voice didn't answer. The mermaid replied, "You see things in the past. No one will hear you."
Thomas was beginning to understand the place he was seeing. It was the place she had described earlier. He looked at the fountain and moved towards it, gazing into the water for his reflection, but he didn't find his own. He heard the mermaid's voice from afar: "You're not in one of my memories." You are in the past, so you can move wherever you want.
"Where is Babylon?" he asked, then fell silent for a moment without a reply.
He headed towards the door, which had been left open, and a dwarf entered the room.
He had seen someone before when he was in the Emir's castle. He knew some of them were rich, or so he thought when he was in the castle on a mission to guard someone while he made a deal.
The dwarf stopped at someone calling from outside and looked to his left. "Yes, Mr. Amed?" Thomas came out of the room and turned to a man approaching, looking angry. "I don't recall ever seeing this door open," he said, grasping the door, looking left and right, and then closing it. "Do you need something, Mr. Patterson?" The dwarf looked up, realizing he was in the wrong place. "I was looking for you after you were late for our appointment." Amed looked at him and composed himself. "Well, I'm here now." He smiled, took a key from his pocket, and locked the door securely. "Now I'm yours." They walked down the corridor to the end and up the stairs.
The dwarf and Amed Thomas was thinking of following them when he heard a sound from inside the room. He put his ear to the door and heard someone moving inside. He fell through the door. Thomas looked at the door and realized they had managed to pass through it. His thoughts were interrupted by the voice he had just heard: "It's the mermaid." She looked at the closed door and approached it, trying to open it, only to find it locked from the outside. "Damn it!" She took a deep breath and went back to the fountain. She pressed on the floor, causing it to split open and reveal a pool of water. She jumped into the water and submerged for a few moments before emerging with the key. She ran to the sofa, grabbed some clothes, and put them on over her own. She stood in front of the mirror, put on silk gloves, and slipped on shoes that concealed her feet. She passed by Thomas, reached the door, opened it, and hurried to the end of the corridor, climbing upstairs. Thomas followed her, passing through the places she had described earlier, until they reached the well-prepared hall. They stopped at two pillars marked with symbols he knew well—symbols that followed The Southern Kingdom was about to stand before a man holding masks. She took one, put it on, and hurried inside to the front row. He didn't quite understand what was happening and looked around at the place, which was surrounded by private guards known as the Travelers. They weren't affiliated with the kingdoms; they were more like mercenaries. He noticed they were wearing Southern soldiers' masks to instill a sense of security in those present. And indeed, the magic had worked at the last auction. Silence began to fall over the place, and the lights dimmed, all the while focused on the stage where the auctioneer had emerged.