Chapter One

"Serge! Wake up! Wake up sleepy head!"

Serge awoke to the sound of his mother's voice calling out from the kitchen. He groaned as he pulled his covers further up over his head, covering his short blue hair. He really did not want to get up. It had been such a nice dream. Sadly, the dream about his friends from the other world had fled him and he could no longer return to the dream world. He through off his covers, swung his legs over the bed, started dressing.

The seventeen-year-old boy pulled on a pair of baggy blue shorts, followed by a black T-shirt. He then pulled on his silvery vest and then tied a large black belt around his waist. He put some socks and boots on, followed by a red bandana with golden sunburst patterns that he covered his short, blue hair with. Pulling on some brown gloves, Serge surveyed himself in his mirror for a second before turning and heading down to breakfast.

Sitting at the table, his mother brought him some hot porridge. However, Serge barely touched it, and just stirred it around and around with his spoon. He wasn't really interested in his food at the moment. That dream had made him depressed. If the princess was to be believed, there was no way for him to return to that other world and see his friends, especially...

"Serge, you need to eat something. These past few weeks you've been acting very strangely," his mother said sadly. "Is it because of that dream again?"

"Mom," Serge said as he looked up from his food. "I told you, it wasn't a dream!"

Serge suddenly felt a hand pressed against his forehead.

"Hmm..." his mother said. "It doesn't feel like you have a fever, and the doctor said that you were just fine."

"Mom," Serge said as he pulled way from his mother, "I'm not sick. Why won't you or anyone believe me?"

"Well, Serge, I'd like to believe you, but think about it. An alternate world? It's just very hard to accept as true."

Serge sighed. He knew how ridiculous his story sounded. If he had not been the one to go through with it all, he probably wouldn't have believed it either.

"Anyway," she said, "Leena is waiting for you on the pier. You really shouldn't keep a girl waiting, you know."

Serge sighed. "Yes, mother," he said. He really hadn't been looking forward to spending time with Leena again. Maybe once he had feelings for her, but that was before he had gone to the other world and met her…

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Serge dug into this porridge. It was useless now to think of such things anyway. The princess had told him that the gateway to the other world was shut and that was that. Then again, she had also told him that he would not remember any of the events that had occurred, and that certainly was false. He remembered every detail of his adventure as clearly as if he had just experienced it. That alone was enough to convince him that he didn't just dream it all up.

No one from this world remembers anything, he thought. I wonder if anyone from the other world remembers me, or have they all forgotten like the people here? Why am I the only one who can remember?

He hadn't told many people about his adventure, only his mother, Leena, and a few others in the village. Though when telling the story, he had left out what he had found about what had happened to his father. It still wasn't something that he wanted to believe. He also never told anyone what happened to Miguel, Leena's father, and he especially kept it a secret from Leena. If she ever found out that he had to kill her father, even though the world would have been destroyed if he had not done so, she would never forgive him. Looking down and finding that his bowl was empty, he cleared his place at the table, and then went out the door to look for Leena.

As he stepped out side, he was nearly blinded by the sunlight, and had to hold up his hand to block it. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the sunlight outdoors, he walked down the steps that led up to his house. Like all the other buildings in Arni, it was made of a bamboo-like wood and was suspended some distance off the ground. Stepping onto solid ground, Serge turned left and started walking towards the pier.

"Hey Sergey!" a small voice said.

Serge turned and saw Una, Leena's little sister.

"Hello, Una," he said.

"Leena's at the pier, Sergey!" she said. "Are you going to to tell her more stories?"

Serge looked down at Una. "Yes," he said. "Why?"

"She tells me your stories when I go to sleep at night. Everyone seta that it just a dream, but I believe you Serge!" Una explained before looking at Serge with wide eyes. "Did you really turn into a cat man?"

Serge smiled and ruffled Una's hair. He squatted down so that his face was level with hers. "Yes," he said to her, "I really did turn into a cat man."

"And you saw a different me? And a different Leena? And the dragons? And--"

She was cut off as Serge said, "Yes, I really saw all of that." He stood up and looked down into the girls face. "Thanks for believing me, Una," he said. "You're the only one." He ruffled her hair again. "I really didn't think that you of all people would believe me. But now I'd better go and see your sister or she'll be a little angry with me. See you later!" He turned and started to walk down towards the pier.

"Bye, Sergey!" she said, and then suddenly realized that she was acting like a little kid. She tried to sound adult. "You still need to break Leena in!" she said as she waved to him.

Serge turned and waved back before turning towards the pier and breaking into a light run.

Soon a young girl with reddish brown hair came to view. She was sitting on the edge of the pier, looking out at the children swimming in the water. She frequently was stuck with the job of babysitting the children of the village, much to her dismay. It wasn't that she didn't like the children, on the contrary, she loved them, but they can get annoying after a while and it cut down on her free time.

"Serge," she said slowly as he approached. "Did you sleep in again?" She turned and looked at him as he sat down beside her.

"Ah, well, I was having such a nice dream," he said.

"Of your other world again?" she asked as she absent-mindedly threw a pebble into the water.

Serge sighed. "Yes," he said a bit sadly.

"You should stop dreaming about that imaginary place and start thinking about what is important! Like komodo scale necklaces, for instance," Leena said innocently.

"It was real," Serge said as he looked into the water.

"Serge," Leena sighed, "think about it. There is no way it could be real. All that stuff that happened to you is just impossible." Leena didn't particularly like Serges dream. It wasn't that she didn't think it was interesting, but more in that Serge seemed to have change since then. She felt like he was farther from her than every before, and it was all because of that stupid dream.

Serge suddenly noticed that Leena was holding something in her hand. He tried to see what it way. "What's that you've got there?" he asked her, pointing to the object she was holding.

Leena looked down at her hand, and then lifted it into the air. "What, this?" she asked as she opened her hand, revealing an intricate piece of metal shaped like an egg filled with holes and twin metal ribbons spiraling around it. Serge's eyes went wide when he saw it. "It's just something I found on the beach," Leena told him as she cupped the egg in her hand. "It's pretty, don't you think?" She turned to look at Serge, to find that he was staring so intently at the egg that he was oblivious to everyone around him. "Serge?"

Leena's voice brought Serge out of his momentary shock. "It can't be..." he said as he continued to stare at the egg.

Leena frowned at Serge. "Are you alright, Serge?"

"It can't be... I don't believe it," Serge said as he slowly stood up, still staring intently at the egg in her hand.

Leena had her finger hooked though one of the ribbons on the time egg and was swinging it it a circle. She looked up at him. "Serge?"

"I can't believe it was just lying on the beach..." he murmured to himself. He really was amazed. He'd been to Opasa Beach time and time again, looking for the wormhole to the other world. He must have been concentrating on looking for the wormhole so hard that he passed right over the egg.

"What are you talking about?"

"The Time Egg!" he shouted at her as he pointed to the object she was holding. "That's the Time Egg!"

Leena's eyes went wide, and stopped swinging the Egg around her finger. She looked down at the piece of metal. "You mean this is..." Finally the full force of this revelation hit her. "No," she said, refusing the concept. "It's not possible."

"I told you!" Serge shouted, ready to dance now that he had proof that he wasn't just making up the story, and maybe, just maybe, the Egg might be able to send him back to the other world.

Leena took a deep breath and rationalized with herself. There really was no way that Serges story could have been true. She was with him on the beach that entire time, and he was only out for a few seconds. It has to be one big coincidence.

"Serge," she said. "You just suddenly fell unconscious on the beach. You were out for less than a minute; I was with you the entire time. You had probably seen this on the beach and your mind put it into your dream."

"Leena," Serge said to her. "I know it's hard to believe, but if you had been there, if you had gone through everything like I did, you would know that it wasn't a dream."

Leena shook her head. She could only think of one way to convince Serge that he was dreaming. She remembered him saying that he used the Time Egg to transport to the place he fought the Time Devourer. If they just went to the Opasa and she let Serge try and use the Egg, he would see that it was all a dream, and he would be able to pay attention to her again, instead of thinking of his other world.

"Alright, Serge. You said that this Egg had some powers to bring you somewhere, right?" she asked him, throwing the Egg up in the air and then catching it when it came back down, convinced that it was just an ordinary scrap of metal.

"Yes," Serge said, nodding, eyes bobbing up and down with the Egg. "It took me to the Darkness Beyond Time, or at least that's what the prophet said it was called.

"Let's go to the beach, and if the Egg doesn't do anything, then will you admit that this was all a dream?" She fixed Serge with her eyes.

Serge thought about it for a while. He had no guarantee that the Egg would work, but he thought, and hoped, that it would. However, if it didn't work, there was no point in continuing to dwell on his other world, since he would never be able to return there. He would never forget that world, or the things that happened there. He could tell that his obsession with the world was bothering some people in the village.

Serge sighed. "I'll never be able to believe that it was all a dream, Leena," he said. She opened her mouth to say something, but he held up a hand to stop her. "However, if the Egg doesn't work, I'll try to put it from my mind and concentrate on here and now."

Leena knew that that was the best she could get out of Serge. In truth, she was a bit worried about him. He had been her friend since childhood, and he meant more to her than just a friend, though she was pretty sure that he didn't know that. She was also a bit jealous that his attention was focused more on his dream world that her. Besides, she felt they weren't as close lately. It was all because of his stupid dream world.

After thinking about it for a while, she sighed, and nodded. "All right, Serge," she said, clutching the Time Egg in her hand. "Let's go."

Serge nodded at her. Then he turned and led the way off the pier, with Leena trailing behind him.

Before they even reached the beach, Leena was beginning to have doubts as to whether or not Serge had really been dreaming. As they made their way down to Opasa Beach, Serge was fighting off the beach creatures with more skill than he had ever had before. Leena used to watch him train with the other boys in the village, but he had never been this good. He might even be able to best Chief Radius with the skill he was using now. She knew that he wasn't this good before he had that dream.

He was quicker on his feet, and struck the creatures before they had a chance to strike at him. Not only that, but it seemed that one blow was enough to send the creatures running for their lives. The only way his skill could have increased to this extent would be if he had been training for months…

No, it was impossible. She had been with him the entire time he was passed out on the beach. It was simply impossible. He must have done some extremely rigorous training in the past week since he woke up, she concluded. Reassured, she continued following Serge through the stretch of land that led to Opasa Beach.

From time to time, Serge looked at his sea swallow, a weapon similar to a double ended ax or sword, and sighed. He was remembering the Mastermune, the swallow created by the once-tainted, legendary sword, the Masamune. The three beings that formed his swallow had always been by his side since they chose him as their master. Though they rarely spoke to him, they had also been his friends, lost when he returned to his world.

But it wasn't time to worry about that now, Serge thought as he parted a bush in front of him and stepped onto the beach. He turned and let Leena through behind him.

"Well, we're here," Serge said after Leena had stepped through. He walked into the center of the beach, where the portal to the other world led. He didn't particularly want to go back to the Darkness of Time at the moment. He stretched out his hand to Leena. "Leena."

Leena looked at him hesitantly. Despite thinking that she had convinced herself that it had only been Serge's dream, she was afraid that she might be wrong, that he might be taken away from her. If she was wrong… no. She wasn't wrong, so there was no reason to hesitate giving Serge the Egg. But then why did she have this strong sense of foreboding?

"Leena," Serge said again with his hand stretched out. "The Egg."

Leena sighed and then walked over to Serge, and then she dropped the Egg into his hand. It was only a dream, it was only a dream…

Serge closed his hand around the Egg. "Thank you." Then he knelt down to where the portal to the other world had been, and then placed the Egg down in the center.

For the first few minutes, Leena felt butterflies in her stomach, and a strong sense of worry, but as time went on, the feeling started recede. Five minutes, ten minutes, a half-hour; the time kept passing and nothing happened. Finally Leena approached Serge with a sigh of relief.

"Serge," she said as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Nothing is happening."

Serge was quiet for a second. All his hopes of seeing his friends again were gone. The Egg didn't work. Did it really all happen? Or were Leena and his mother right? He stood up. "All right," he told Leena, then looked out at the sea. For a while, he just stood there, staring out at the blue expanse, his dark blue hair fluttering in the sea breeze.

Leena watched him for a moment. She could see the sadness in his face, but she knew that it was all for the better. Leena nodded and bent down to pick up the Egg. As she did so, something caught her eye. "Oh? What's that?" she said.

"Hmm?" Serge said, still a bit depressed. "What's what?"

"There is something red out there," she said, standing up and pushing Serge out of the way. She shielded her eyes against the sun and squinted, trying to make out what the red thing floating in the water was. She pointed out to see. "See, Serge? Over there."Serge saw what she was pointing to, but he couldn't make it out either. The both of them just stood there, looking at the red object that was slowly drifting towards them.

"I see some blue too." Leena said as she looked at the object. "Is it some kind of fish?"

"I don't think so, Michael hasn't ever said anything about a fish like that," Serge replied, still trying to make out what the thing was. Michael was one of the best fishermen in the village, and he had caught all kinds of fish. He used to entertain Serge with his fishing stories, but Serge was certain he never said anything about a brilliantly red and blue fish.

Leena squinted even harder, her curiosity aroused by this odd object she and Serge were observing. Slowly, the object came into focus, and as soon as she saw what it was, her eyes went wide, causing it to return to being just an object in the sea.

"Serge!" Leena yelled as soon as she had recovered from the shock of realizing what it was. "It's a person!"

Serge squinted his eyes tighter, causing the image out in the sea to focus, and sure enough, there was the outline of a person lying in the water.

Serge heard a splashing sound, and saw Leena running out into the water; however, her dress was inhibiting her ability to swim. There was no way that she was going to be able to swim out into the ocean and rescue that person. Serge ran up to the shoreline and into the water.

"Leena!" he said. "You stay here! I'll go!"

Leena looked at Serge. "Alright. Go!"

Serge nodded and then dived into the water, swimming as fast as he could out towards the figure.

The closer Serge got, the more worried he became. It looked like the figure was floating face down in the water. Serge swam faster, hoping that he wasn't too late.

Fortunately he then spied a large piece of driftwood that the figure was clutching onto. That meant there was still a chance that the person was still alive. Serge swam faster towards the person.

Suddenly, the person's hold on the driftwood slackened, and Serge saw the figure sink under the water. Feeling panicked, Serge hurriedly dived down underwater, franticly looking left and right for the person.

Light flickered beneath the surface of the water, making patterns on the sandy bottom. Serge kept looking, and his eyes finally found what they sought floating about eight feet bellow the water. Swimming up behind the person, Serge hooked his arms beneath the persons armpits and started swimming towards the surface.

When Leena saw Serge break the surface with the figure, she felt relieved. She ran up to the shoreline as Serge started swimming back towards the beach, dragging the person behind him.

As Serge dragged the figure up onto shore, Leena was there to meet him. She grabbed hold and pulled the person up onto the beach while Serge collapsed, gasping for breath.

Flipping the person over, Leena noticed that it was girl, and a strangely dressed one at that. However, there was no time for that now. She examined the girl and found that her chest was slowly rising up and down. Leena sighed with relief, now that she knew the girl was still alive.

"She's alive!" she shouted to Serge. When she got no reply, she turned around and looked at him. Serge had rising from his resting point on the ground and was standing five feet away, his eyes wide and body rigid, as he stared at the girl on the ground. "Serge! Help me!"

"But that—" Serge tried to say, still wide eyed.

"But what? Serge, she needs help! Now get over here and carry her back to the village."

Serge finally snapped out of his original shock, and went over to the girl. "I can't believe it," he said, but Leena didn't hear him. He had been so panicked that the person might have drowned, that he didn't recognize her as he swam back to the beach.

"Serge! Pick her up! We need to bring her back to the village!" Leena yelled at him.

Serge, having fully recovered from his initial shock, put one arm beneath the girl's knees, and the other beneath her back and lifted her up. Leena came over and looked down at the girls face.

"She sure is dressed strangely," she said. "Come on, Serge. Let's get back to the Arni."

Serge nodded, and was about to start walking, when he felt the girl shift, soon followed by a small groan. Leena turned around at the sound. "I think she's waking up," she said.

Sure enough, the girl's eyes slowly fluttered open, and Serge gazed down into red eyes.

"Bonjour, mon Serge. It'z been a long while, non?" Harle weakly said.