Tales of Manaburst: Let's start recruiting

by NatGiratina

Seems I'll need help to "save the worlds"... Wish I hadn't been such an idiot with Cynthia... The adventure continues! "Book" two is here!

Tales of Manaburst:

Let's Start Recruiting!

Chapter 1:

Capture

I stepped out of the portal into a clearing. There were trees surrounding the place. In the middle was a tree with shining purple leaves. It caught my attention instantly. I walked towards it, and someone came out from the leaves. It was a woman, with a purple shirt that had leaf-like shapes at the bottom and no sleeves. She wore purple pants and small slippers. Her hair was dark brown and went down to her waist. It was held up slightly in a ponytail. She came closer, and I realized the most astonishing part about her: She had wings. Not like mine, since she was probably not a half-dragon. They looked more like insect wings. She had four of them, thin little fragile looking things. She looked at me, smiled and beckoned me to follow her. I figured nothing bad could come out of following someone, so I followed her. Man, I couldn't have been more wrong. She climbed back into the tree and disappeared in the leaves. I climbed up after her and found a hole in the trunk, hidden by all the leaves. I stepped inside. As soon as I did, the whole world felt like it was spinning. When it stopped, I climbed out. I stepped out of the tree(which seemed a lot bigger than it had seconds ago) and was greeted by spearpoint. I thought of drawing Loga (Loga was my sword) but thought I could reason with the soldiers holding the were all wearing the same purple wood armor, and they all had wings. The woman who had brought me here was standing behind them and she said:

" Thank you, guards. This boy has been following me from the other world. I don't know what he wanted, but I was frightened." Seriously? I guess the sword and daggers I had equipped didn't help. If I drew Loga, that would be surely misunderstood, so I just put my hands up above my head. They put some kind of wooden handcuffs on me, and they took me towards a castle. The handcuffs were really sturdy for wood, and I couldn't break them with my strength. I figured if fairies existed, they must know how to use magic. While we walked through a small town, there was barely activity in the streets. All I saw was people hiding in their homes and staring. I guess it was because I didn't show my wings, where everyone else seemed to have some. I kept mine hidden because it usually attracted trouble to show them. On the way, I saw a huge frog hopping around a pond, and some big ladybugs on some really big leaves. Everything in this world was huge, by the looks of it. Or maybe we were just small. The castle was rather similar to the one in Ellesméra, in that it was built inside of a tree. But instead of a throne room, I was brought to a dungeon. The entire place was built under the tree, and it was dug into the earth itself. I assumed it was cold, but I couldn't feel it, since I warmed the air around me naturally. They put me in a cell at the deepest part of the dungeon. I had noticed that none of the other cells were occupied. I was the only one in here. They took my daggers off me, and they instantly turned into black and red feathers. This confused me: they had never done that before. Then they tried to take Loga, but as soon as they touched it, I heard a sizzling sound and the guard dropped it. I looked at his hand, and it was badly burned. It seemed my weapons refused to be touched by anyone they deemed unworthy. Loga was especially vicious in letting people know, by the looks of it. The second guard tried to take some cloth and pick it up, but the cloth burst into flames and the guard still got burned. When he dropped the sword, the cloth extinguished itself, and it looked as if it had never caught fire in the first place. They finally just told me to stick it in the ground next to the guard that was keeping watch on the dungeon. This guard was a girl that wasn't even clad in armor, just a blue dress with lots of hidden pockets. I could guess because she pulled a leaf-shaped handkerchief out of one of them to wipe her nose. She had long blonde hair, that touched the ground. When I put Loga down next to her, she looked surprised. I saw she had eyes the color of sapphires, and like everyone I had seen here so far, pointy ears. Her wings looked more like clear butterfly wings than the other wings I had noticed up until now. She had blue slippers on her feet. She looked at the sword curiously, and put away the handkerchief, which was dry. I was taken back to the cell. The guards locked the cell and left. I was alone now. Of course, my first reflex was to try and kick down the bars: ow. I heard a crunch and felt excruciating pain in my right foot. I fell on my behind and gave up on that idea. My foot was already swelling. My best idea was to wait for the pain to subside before acting again.

After a couple of hours, I started to get really thirsty. And hungry. With me, both came at the same time. It didn't happen a lot, but it was really unbearable when it did. My throat hurt like crazy and my stomach protested at any action I did. I barely had any energy, but I couldn't sleep. That's about when the girl appeared with a bowl of soup and a glass of water. She opened the cell and put it down in front of me (I was in the corner of the cell). Then she looked at me, sat down and asked:

"That sword... what does it do?" I looked at her. Damn she was beautiful.

"What do you mean?" My throat hurt so bad I could barely speak.

"Well... as soon as you put it down, my nose stopped running and the place felt warmer. I took a look at it, but besides the material, didn't see anything special." My eyes widened.

"Did you touch it?"

"Yes... but why?" I looked at her hands and saw no burns whatsoever.

"It didn't burn you... and you say it's making the area warmer?" She nodded.

"I thought you would have known, since it was yours. I guess not. That's weird. It's a magic sword isn't it?." I nodded

"It's name is Loga" I heard the sword burst into flames. She gasped.

"What was that?"

"Whenever I say it's name, it bursts into flames that way. I don't know why, but that's what happens, and it has been happening since its creation." She looked at me carefully.

"When was it created?" I laughed.

"Yesterday. Right before I landed in this world." I stopped. Right before I had said goodbye to the only person I knew could have helped me out of this place. The girl got up.

"Well, maybe we could talk some more later, but if I get caught talking to a prisoner, I could be executed for plotting against the kingdom. My name's Rani, by the way. What's yours?" I had started to trust this girl, and since Loga trusted her, I didn't see any problem with that. But I didn't want to get her in trouble, so I'd have to be careful.

"I'm Nat. Pleased to meet you. Um... you wouldn't have the pouch I had on me, by any chance?"

"Yeah, they left it with the sword, why?" I couldn't believe it.

"Because I desperately need the object inside. That and a piece of raw meat." She looked confused, but she went to get the pouch. She gave it to me and I took the egg out. I felt better with the egg in my hands. I hid it in the dirt, and gave her the pouch back. "There, so they don't get suspicious." She nodded and took the pouch.

"I'll do my best for the meat, but I can't make any promises." She left, closed the cell and went back to sit down at her spot. Loga was still burning, so I said:

"Loga, that's enough now. Please cool down." It did, so I went back to the soup and water. I drank the water, but the soup was disgusting, so I left it there. Rani came to pick it up later, and she "dropped" a large piece of raw steak on the ground. I saw her wink. I waited until I was sure no one could see, and I devoured it. So much better. This is how it would be until I left? I didn't know if I was going to get executed, or left here to die. And what would happen if the egg hatched? I wouldn't be able to hide the baby dragon for long, if even for a bit. I called out for Rani. She wasted no time. She came in front of the cell.

"What? If you're calling, it must be really important... we can't just talk for no reason..." I nodded. I got closer to the cell door and put my face near hers. So damn beautiful. I looked her in the eyes and said:

"In the pouch, it was an egg. If it hatches here, there is no way I can hide the fact that I had it. For both our sakes, I need to be out of here as soon as possible." She nodded.

"I might have a plan, but it might take a bit for it to come into action..." I narrowed my eyes.

"How long?"

"How old are you?" The question caught me by surprise.

"14, but how is that relevant?" She smiled.

"The plan is simple. We get married." What!?

"But, I'm not even of legal age, I think." She nodded.

"You should be in two years. That's the best I can come up with. No one will be hurt, and before the ceremony, you just have to run off without anyone noticing you." It was a brilliant idea. It was the kind of idea Cynthia would have had. And people say blondes are dumb. The ones I meet are quite the opposite.

"Alright. But how will marriage let me out of the cell?" She smiled again.

"Marriage is extremely important for us fairies. The first kiss of the married couple generates an amazing amount of pixie dust, and that's our main source of energy. We need it for almost everything. Right now, though, Queen Vidia has it all. Just to make sure no one tries to rebel." I understood better now. The queen couldn't say no to marriage if she would get more power from it. Then something crossed my mind...

"What happens to you if I escape?"

"... I don't know, but you've been really nice to me, and I feel that I should do my best to save you, no matter what." This surprised me, and I realized she did know what would happen. If evidence was found against her, she would be executed. I couldn't let that happen. So I had to think of my own plan. I smiled at her and went back to my corner. It would be a long two years, but with Rani there, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

Chapter 2:

Freedom 2.0

Two years later

It was almost time now. My birthday was coming up in three months. I just had to hold on that long. The egg hadn't so much as twitched the entire time I was here. I took that as a good sign, for now. Maybe it had understood that now was a bad time for it to hatch. Rani and I had gotten to know each other a lot better. I had told her exactly what I was, and basically all there was to know about my life, and Rani had done the same towards me, and I learned I wasn't the only one with a hard life since a bit. Rani's parents had been the leaders of her clan of fairies (water talent, they called them) and they had tried to rebel against Vidia when she had executed the queen from back then. They were the next ones to be executed. She had had to live as a prison guard ever since. It wasn't a nice job, since she had to sit here in this apparently cold dungeon all day, but she could live off it. She told me of her best friend and other things, but those aren't relevant right now. I couldn't believe it, but I was falling in love with my jailer. When she was around, I didn't feel like I was in a prison at all. I felt l could be happy anywhere with her. I couldn't bear the sight of seeing her sad, and her smile lit up my days more than a million suns ever could. I hadn't been able to think of a way to save her yet, and I thought even harder now that the wedding was going to be only months from now. I couldn't think fast enough, and the closer we got to that day, the more I despaired. And to make it worst, I had less time than I had thought. Because exactly three months before my day of birth, the dirt where I had buried the egg started making gurgling sounds and moving. I stared in horror. This would have been good anywhere else, but this could mean all our deaths. I dug it up, set it down and stepped back. The dragon that eventually hatched was black and red, and it had two small stubby horns on its forehead. Its wings were like mine: scaly on one side and leathery on the inside. It walked around a bit, tripped and looked at me. It looked like it was pleading for help. I held out my hand, palm up. It was what we did back in Sparta with any dog we met, so I figured it might not be a bad idea to do so with a dragon. It came closer and rubbed itself against my hand. I felt a tingling all over my arm, then eventually all of my body was tingling. I felt tired all of a sudden, so I lay down. The dragon lay next to me and cuddled up in the space between my arm and stomach. I fell asleep instantly. I woke up to the sound of Rani calling out my name. I looked up, and the dragon was still in the same position. Rani was standing at the cell door.

"I-Is that what I think it is?" She was pointing the newborn dragon with a horrified look on her face. I got up.

"Yeah, so this means we're going to have to speed up the plan a bit." She frowned.

"We can't, you have to be at least sixteen, otherwise the marriage won't be accepted."

"Ok... answer two questions. Number one: How old are you. Number two: Will Vidia really reject something that will give her more power?" She thought.

"I'm fourteen now, and no, I don't think she would refuse it. It might get her suspicious though..."

"The important thing is that she doesn't deny the request." This seemed to take her by surprise. She stepped back.

"I'll go announce it, then." And she ran up the stairs. A couple of minutes later, she came back and unlocked the cell door. As soon as I stepped out, she jumped into my arms and kissed me. At first I was surprised, but then I saw the guards and returned it. It felt nice, her lips were a little cold, but I enjoyed the feeling. I didn't want to stop. But I had no choice. She stepped back and flashed a ring I had forged with a bit of magic. I wasn't that good at magic but I had time to practice with the dirt in my cage, and she had brought some silver coins. I had forged rings by melting the coins and reshaping them. Hers had a drop of water motif on it, and mine had a dragon with its wings spread.

I told the baby dragon to stay in the cell and I showed my ring as well. I was taken out of the dungeon into a private room for me to get ready. Before Rani left to get herself in a wedding dress, she whispered to me:

"Now's your chance: run." I could've sworn I saw a tear in her eye when she walked away. It was decision time: leave her to die and save my own ass or save her and risk being stuck in jail for the rest of my life? Then I thought: I'm supposed to fix the problems in worlds. If I can't save one person instead of myself, how would I do that? Then again... I couldn't do that from jail. So I had to decide, quickly. Someone knocked at the door and said:

"When you are ready, come to the front of the castle. Queen Vidia will then call the bride and personally have the ceremony happen."

"Thanks for the info," I answered. Not good. If Vidia was going to attend the ceremony personally, there was no chance we were going to get away with a fake wedding. I had a choice to make, and I had already made it. I headed to the dungeons.

Chapter 3:

Decision is Made

I ran down the stairs to the dungeon. No one was there, probably all standing in front of the castle, waiting for me to come and tell them I was ready. Except for Vidia: I was sure she knew of our plan. So why let it happen? It didn't make sense. I went to Rani's seat. She would never use that again. I picked Loga out of the ground and looked around for my daggers. No sign of them... odd. No time to waste. Then I thought of something. I didn't need Loga for what I was going to do. I'd get it later. I stuck it in the ground again and called the dragon. It came out of the cell. I offered it a piece of raw meat I had stolen from the kitchens and told it to follow me. I ran up to the front of the castle. It looked like every fairy and sparrow(apparently the male term for fairy) from town had come just to watch a wedding. At least I think the appropriate word for it would be town... I wasn't sure. I stepped on the carpet that was rolled out for the occasion and walked up to the altar. It was made of marble, but it wasn't there when I had been brought into the dungeon, so that led me to believe that it was mobile. I stood to the side of the altar and looked at the person behind the altar. It was the fairy who had gotten me arrested when I arrived. I assumed, with her ordering the guards and the fact she was standing behind the altar where the priest would be, that she was Vidia. I saw that she was wearing the feathers my daggers had turned into like a laurel wreath. She looked surprised to see me there, ready for a wedding. I figured she wasn't the only one. Rani would probably be the most surprised, seeing as I made it seem a lot like I was going to run with that last thing I had said to her. When the queen had finally gotten over her surprise, she told a messenger to go get Rani. This would give me time to look around, maybe find a way out of here. I took in the place. We were in front of the castle(obviously) and there were plants growing around everywhere. The plants were huge, with flowers the size of my head. The latter were of every different color: purple, pink, red, blue, orange. You name it and it was there. The guests were sitting on chairs that looked like they were made from living plants, and I found out that was true by looking at the roots that came out of them. All the guests had wings, which made me feel a bit out of place. I noticed a smaller blonde fairy up front, where the friends and family were supposed to be(Rani had explained how the ceremony would take place). I had no family that could possibly come, and as for friends, no one knew I was here. So the spots were all reserved for Rani's friends and family. This girl must be Tinker Bell. She wore a little green dress and had balls on her shoes. Her wings looked a bit different from Rani's, probably because they were meant for aerial movement, not aquatic. Hers were thinner but less transparent. Her hair was tied up in a bun on her head. She looked at me and seemed surprised that I was the groom. I think she was trying to be discrete about it, but she looked at my back to see if I had wings. She was not a subtle person, as Rani had told me. That's when I saw two little fairy girls throwing flower petals on the path the bride was supposed to follow. I looked a little farther and saw Rani in a light blue wedding gown. Apparently veils weren't important in this ceremony because I could see Rani's surprised expression perfectly from where I was. She looked even more surprised than Vidia had. I decided I'd flash her a smile. She returned it after a few seconds, and I could see genuine happiness on her face. I turned and looked at "the queen" and saw she looked rather irritated. When Rani finally made it to the altar(she had to follow a pace), Vidia looked at us and said:

"I don't really know the vows, so just hurry up and kiss," Then I heard her mumble :"so I can get my pixie dust..." I wasn't going to waste any time. I leaned forward and was about to kiss Rani, when I moved a bit to the side and whispered:

" I'm not going to leave you here to die, because I think I love you, but I'm not going to satisfy a power hungry queen wannabe by giving her pixie dust in huge quantities." I moved back a bit to see her crying tears of joy from the revelation I had just made. I grinned, then turned towards the supposed queen. I stopped grinning and looked at her straight in the eyes.

"Your reign of dictatorship is over. It's time for someone just to rule." I held my hand out in front of me, "Loga! Appear!" I had never tried to summon my sword before, but I was rewarded with flames forming the shape of my blade and eventually the sword materializing in my hand. My dragon bared its teeth at Vidia, and everyone around started panicking. Rani stood there, and some guards came into the scene. They all tried to incapacitate me with their spears, but I just deflected the spears and knocked out the guards that were dumb enough to try again. Eventually the guards had retreated and there was a large amount of them scattered across the ground. I looked at Vidia again and said:

"I hope you know how to fight." She laughed.

"Did you think I had eliminated the queen with guards? No! I took her out in an official duel. That is why I am not in prison, but the queen now." She made a sword materialize from air. The weapon was just a normal one handed sword, but It was made of air: This made it hard to see. She struck out, and I blocked with Loga. Her sword was longer than I had thought, because she hadn't taken a step and the tip of it was hitting the flat side of Loga. I made a mental note of the length and pushed back. Vidia stepped backwards once, and I disengaged the blades. I stepped forwards and swung, trying to cut her good hand off. She just made a shield materialize the same way her sword had. I hit the shield, and she swung her sword at me, I tried to dodge, but I still got a nasty cut that went from my left shoulder to my right hip, by going across my chest. It stung, and I could see it bled a lot as well. I realized I would have to fight better if I wanted to survive this duel. I spun my sword around once, to test if I was still fully functional and a bit for show, and stepped forwards again. Vidia attacked me from the left and I blocked. I started running at her and tried to slash her hand again, but instead my blade just met the shield once more. I got frustrated: was I that predictable? If so, it was time to get unpredictable. I slashed again, trying to get her shield this time. She blocked with her shield, and the force I had put into the blow cut the shield in half and the tip of Loga reached her arm and made a bloody streak from her wrist to her elbow. She snarled in frustration and made the shield reform itself. She tried to attack me by piercing me with her sword, but I continued my spin from the slash and caught her sword on its underside and swung upwards. I let go of Loga, and it went flying to the sky, bringing Vidia's sword with it. I didn't waste any time and attempted to knock her out by kicking her head. She guarded with her shield at the last second. I heard a crunch and saw that her forearm was bent at an odd angle. Broken, probably. She winced. Then she said something that really pissed me off:

"You see? Humans are all violent beasts! They want nothing but power! That's why I will lead a crusade to eliminate the world of this disease!" She had planned this from the beginning somehow, and I had fallen right into it. I stepped back a bit. Then I stepped towards her and with the momentum from my step swung at her face. She blocked with both arms, another shield materializing on her right arm. Not enough, seeing as she was sent flying backwards on her back. The shields had disappeared, and I supposed that wherever the swords had gone, hers was gone in the wind. I stepped up to her and held my hand out to the side. Loga landed in it, and I pointed it at Vidia's throat. I was really mad, and I would have pierced her through, but...

"I'd kill you right here and now, but I made a promise two years ago before arriving in this world that under no circumstances, if I had the choice, would I choose to end another person's life," I stuck the sword right next to her face. I turned to the audience, then looked at Rani, "What happens if I win the duel?" She looked at me for a moment and thought. Then she said:

"I think that you gain all of the losers belongings, and you get to do whatever you want with that person." I grinned. I turned back to Vidia.

"That's how you became queen, huh? Well, enough of that. I win, so I'll give the kingdom to someone worthy of it," I turned to Rani, drew Loga and said: " You for example, are worthy of taking this kingdom under your protection. Because that is what a ruler should do: not syphon power from the kingdom, but protect it and give it power. Only some people understand that, and that is why not all are fit for royalty." I stuck Loga in front of her and knelt. "You are now the new ruler of this land. All hail Queen Rani!" All the fairies and sparrows cheered, and I could swear the front row cheered louder than the rest of the place. I looked up at Rani. Still so beautiful, even with that surprised look on her face.

"Please, don't bow... I'm nothing special..." Everyone here was bowing. She blushed until her cheeks were as red as tomatoes. I smiled at her. "Please... stand, Nat. I can't have you bow, especially not you... you've done so much just by showing up here..." I stood. I looked her in the eyes and noticed she was holding back tears. I held out my arms and embraced her. She cried into my shoulder. I spoke:

" I couldn't let this place be dictated by some power-hungry wind fairy, I made it my job to fix all the problems a world had two years ago. How could I do that if I couldn't even save the one I fell in love with?" I heard her laugh. Good, that meant these were tears of joy. I raised her chin so I could see into her eyes. "Your first responsibility as queen will be to separate the pixie dust of the kingdom equally again. And, forgive me, but i'm about to make that job a little harder." I leaned down and kissed her. It felt amazing, and I felt energy explode out of me as soon as our lips touched. I heard the crowd gasp, but I didn't stop. It felt too good. I held Rani close to me, hoping that this would never end. It didn't have a choice to, though. As much as I would have liked, I couldn't stand there kissing her all my life. When it ended, I looked at her. She was smiling. I returned the smile and looked around. What I saw surprised me. The whole place was covered in a fine, golden dust that shined in the afternoon sunlight.

"Is that...?" I asked, not much else I could think of.

"Yes... that's all the pixie dust we generated just now..." Rani answered. I couldn't believe it. Even though she had said a lot was produced, this was an ENORMOUS amount.

"You weren't kidding when you said there was a lot generated at the first kiss," I said.

"I wasn't, but this is a huge amount compared to any wedding I've seen," she said, "maybe because you're not a sparrow..." I thought a bit... I wasn't a sparrow, and instead of letting some kind of spy figure that out, I might as well show the people of this world that its rulers were honest people. I looked at the audience and heard a couple of them whispering amongst themselves. Things like: "You think there's that much dust 'cause he's a human?" or "Who'd've thought a wingless would be able to generate so much?". These comments almost made me burst out laughing, but instead I just grinned. Me, human? Wingless? I was less human than most people here. As for wingless, yeah right. But they didn't know, even if that problem would be fixed soon. So I didn't say anything, and instead attracted looks by removing my shirt. I looked at Rani, who simply nodded, and turned back to the crowd. I spoke:

"Kind people of... wherever this is, I will clear up some confusion immediately. You all seem to believe I am wingless, and even human. I thought I was, up until two years ago, but I am not. Seeing as I am now married to your ruler, I believe I owe it to you to be honest. I am not human, but one of the two last survivors of my race, the half-dragons of Alagaësia..." And with that, I transformed into my draconic form. People were surprised, they always are, and I saw some pointing going on. Even Rani seemed surprised, or so I assumed since I heard a gasp behind me, and I guess that was normal, since I had never had the guts to show her. I turned to Rani and saw her expression hadn't changed from that of utter joy and delight, so where did the gasp come from? Then I remembered: Vidia was still lying on the ground from that beating I had given her. No surprise, with a broken arm and a sword stuck next to her head. She was still wearing my daggers, though, and I didn't intend on letting that go on. Before I took a step, though, she shouted:

"Ha! You pathetic weaklings want to be ruled by a monster? Fine! Be my guests! But remember, you," She pointed at me with her good hand, "I will get my revenge, just you wait!" This sounded really cliché, like something any villain would say. I stepped forwards, and I must've looked pretty pissed, because she flinched and seemed to want to disappear. When I reached her, I looked her in the eyes and said:

"Good luck doing that from the dungeon," I turned to the crowd again, "Whether or not you accept me for who I am is up to you. however, please say so now, so that I decide if I will burden you with my presence." The crowd whispered amongst themselves some more, and eventually the whole place was silent. Then I saw Tinker Bell up front start clapping, and the rest followed. The whole place had accepted to be ruled by such a monstrosity as I, and why I didn't know. I turned to look at Rani, and I saw her run towards me. I didn't have much time to react when I was already on the ground, with her on top of me, her hair falling around my face, her arms around my neck. She was still smiling and crying at the same time.

"I never thought I would ever feel this happy all my life... especially after the last miserable years of my life. That is, before you came. You made my days shine, even in that black hole of a dungeon. I never felt sad around you, and I secretly wanted this moment to happen, even if it meant you being in jail... I know it was selfish of me, but I couldn't help it. That's why I also wanted you to be able to be free. No matter the price... and now I don't have to see you go, or...or..." She started to cry even harder. "I... I was afraid to die, Nat. But not afraid enough to stop you from being happy..." She hid her face in my neck, and I heard her whisper:

"But now, that doesn't have to happen... now you're here, and Vidia isn't queen anymore, so no one else has to die. I never even imagined I would become the ruler of this place..." She raised her head and looked into my eyes, "This is all thanks to you..." She leaned down and kissed me. I closed my eyes and let the feeling take over. Nothing wrong with that, right?

Chapter 4:

Settling in

I opened my eyes again when she pulled back. She was getting up. When she was standing, she held out her hand, and I took ahold. She helped me up and smiled that radiant smile of hers. I smiled back, hoping mine was as nice as hers. Probably not, what with the huge teeth and the scales all over half of my face. Not to mention the horn sticking out of my forehead. I figured I had made my point and could revert back to my human form. So I did. When I put my shirt back on, I looked back to the audience. They were going back to their occupations, but three of them, including Tinker Bell, were coming up the aisle to see us. One of them had long black hair and a dress that seemed to be formed from a blue flower petal. It only had one strap for her right shoulder, and from what I could see, a bit of yellow on the right side. She had wings similar to Rani's, but there were only two of them, unlike Rani's four. The other one had curly brown hair under a leaf hat. She also had a pink dress that actually seemed to be made out of cloth, the only one I had seen since my arrival here. Her wings didn't seem to be any different from most of the other fairies here, at least not to my perspective. She seemed enthusiastic, because she wouldn't sit still when she arrived. Tink was the first to speak:

"Wow! I can't believe you're-"

"The queen? I know! Neither can I!" I was confused... Tinker Bell had started the sentence, but Rani had completed it. This didn't seem to bother anyone, so I didn't say anything. Rani continued as if nothing had happened:

"It's all thanks to him," She motioned to me, "Come on, meet my friends!" and she dragged me towads them. The two I hadn't identified yet were clearly getting a close look at me for the first time. The shorter, cloth dress-wearing one was hovering slightly above the ground, probably to be at the same height as me, going in slow circles around me to see me from all the angles. The other one stood there looking me up and down. Suddenly, the excited one stopped and landed in front of me.

"He doesn't look all that special, except for his hair and weapons. If he had wings like ours, he could have just been a traveller. So what made you catch Rani's attention?" she asked me. I looked at Rani and cocked an eyebrow. The little fairy had an immediate reaction:

"Whoa! I've always wanted to do that! Can you teach me? Please? Please Pleasepleaseplease..." And she kept going like that. Rani simply laughed.

" He can't just teach you. You can either do it or you can't. Its like that." During my two years in jail, she had asked me pretty much the same thing. Only thing is, I didn't know how I was able. Some twist in my DNA or something. It didn't seem to be of any use except for silently asking a question.

Disappointed, the girl stopped pleading and looked at Rani.

"I still don't get it... why him with all the nice sparrows in town?" It made sense. With all the nice sparrows of her clan, probably more than one compatible with her, why had Rani chosen me? I'm not saying you choose who you fall in love with, though. I don't think you do, it just happens. Personally, I think that when it does, its wonderful. But that's my opinion.

Rani thought about the question. When she found an answer, she said:

"Why? I don't know... I can't explain it," She smiled, "Sorry, I can't explain love to you, Prilla."

Prilla seemed disappointed. The other newcomer, however, clapped her hands together lightly.

"Well said, Rani. You can't really say much more about it. So that means that we'll just have to wait until it happens to us. Although..." She looked at Tinker Bell, " It might happen quicker for some of us, right, Tink?" The latter seemed surprised.

"What do you mean?" Tink said while blushing, "I-I don't know what you're talking about..." This made the other fairy (the only one whose name I didn't know yet) laugh.

"You wouldn't have-" she said, but Rani jumped in again:

"Forgotten Terence, would you?" Tink blushed so much, her entire head went red. She looked around, and apparently not seeing this Terrence guy, she whispered:

"Guys... I don't want anyone to know... what if he doesn't feel the same way?" I was more than confused, and I definitely felt a bit left out.

"Who's this Terence guy?" I asked. Rani looked at me and said:

"He's Tink's crush, but no one's supposed to know. He's a dust keeper, and it's their job to ration pixie dust for the whole kingdom, so he's got a pretty important job. He's also really nice, and he loves to help people out."

"Huh, sounds like a great guy. Maybe I could find out for Tink if he does feel that way about her, whaddya say, Tink?" She looked at me, and I could see she really wanted me to. So I looked at Rani and said:

"Rani, he works at the dust keepers office? Got anything I can bring the dust in?" She nodded and pointed to a large wagon of to the side of the castle. I walked up to it and grabbed the handles. Well, I think it would be more of something to tie the animal that pulls the wagon, but handles they are now. I felt something tugging at my leg, and looked down to see the baby dragon.I leaned down and patted its head.

"I think it's about time we gave you a name, no?" I felt approval coming from it. It looked at Loga, whom I had returned to its sheath, and it felt like it was trying to give me a hint. I found this strange.

"You already know your name?" I nodded, " Okay, that makes things easier I guess. But if you have the same name as my sword, wouldn't that make it complicated to differentiate you two?" It lowered its head. It actually seemed to find this ridiculous! I felt a wave of its thoughts wash over me:

"What do you mean, it's obvious? If it's so obvious, why don't you just say it? Oh... right, you can't speak..." I thought a bit. Then it hit me:

"Your name is Loga, (the sword burst into flames inside its sheath) but in common! So... Blaze?" The dragon approved. "Awesome. But, uh... you are a guy, right?" I felt his thoughts again. "Sheesh, I didn't know, you don't have to think those kind of things." I could actually read his mind like he thought words now, but not exactly words. It's complicated to explain, so I'll make it simple. I won't explain.

I grabbed the wagon and walked towards the girls.

"How am I supposed to pick all this dust up?" I asked, grinning.

"We'll help," The black haired fairy said, "that is, if you want our help." She grinned as well.

"Of course he does, but first introductions," Rani said, "This is Tinker Bell, but I think you already figured that out, right?" She winked "This is Prilla," She showed the little excited one, " And this is Silvermist," She showed the black haired fairy. "Now that you know everyone, let's get to work!"

So we did. Turns out they had some kind of vacuum for this, so it was pretty quick. When the wagon was filled and there wasn't a speck of dust in sight, I took off towards the dust keepers' office.

When I arrived, I saw that there was a long line in front of the office. I came towards the line and asked the first person I saw why they were waiting.

"Well, with the new rulers and all, we all came to get the pixie dust we needed," the man answered.

"Okay, but, if I would need to bring a huge wagon full of it to the office, where would I go?" The man looked surprised. He saw the wagon, which was actually pretty big, now that I think about it.

"You have that much dust? Well... if you go by the back, they should pick it up. That's what they usually do if they have a shipping."

I thanked him and pulled the wagon out the back. While I was walking, I got a good look at the office. It was built into a tree, like most buildings here, and it had a sign in front that told us what it was, but it didn't look all that fancy. I walked to the back and saw that there was a door, so I knocked. A young looking sparrow boy answered. He had what looked to be some kind of brown leaf vest on, and pants made of the same material. He also had a shirt under, made of also a leaf, but it was lighter in color. He wore the top of an acorn for a hat and had the same color hair as Tink. His eyes were kind, gentle. And blue.

I wondered if this was Terence.

"Hi, what can I do for you, sir?" He asked. I pointed to the wagon.

"I've got about three tons of dust for you, see what you can do with that." I grinned. He looked behind me at the wagon and seemed a bit surprised, but after I could see he had realized something.

"You must be the new king, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm surprised you're the only one that realized it by now."

"Well, it is kind of obvious. Why are you bringing this personally, sire? Not to question your motives, but you could have sent a servant to do it."

"Huh, I guess I could've, but I'm the king of this place, and I never even seen what it looks like, so I figured I might as well take a walk, maybe meet some people. I don't want to be the kind of king that stays in his castle all day and doesn't talk with his subjects unless in question of some kind of nation-wide crisis. So I figured I would come and speak to people here, even if they don't know it's me." He looked at me with respect.

"Well, sir, I think that's a great way to rule. I can't wait to see the results. But for now, how about I take that dust off your hands?" I laughed.

"Sure thing... what's your name?" He hadn't said it before.

"I'm Terence, your majesty." He smiled. So this was Terence.

"Oh, you're that boy I keep hearing about. Of course I've only been out of the dungeon for a couple of hours, but in that short time, I have heard a lot about you. By the way, please stop calling me "sire" or "sir"... it makes me uncomfortable." He laughed.

"Sorry, I don't know what else to call you. You know my name, but I don't know yours." True, true.

"I'm Nat, pleased to meet you," I said while I held out my hand. He grasped it and let me come inside afterwards.

"As you might have guessed, since the queen before you kept all the dust to herself, the whole kingdom is in a kind of dust shortage. So the dust you're bringing will help a lot with that," he said.

"Yeah, I figured. I don't know how you people distribute this stuff, but I guess with this much dust it should at least last a day." He laughed.

"A day? This much could last us a month if nothing happened to it! That's why people went nuts when a "wingless" generated this much. Not to mention the amount that will be recovered from Vidia's personal stash, we should be good until spring, and that's when the annual dust harvest happens, so we'll be fine."

"Awesome. So, um... completely out of the blue... how do you feel about Tink? Think she's a nice girl?" I tried to be subtle, but I think I might have failed epically. He stopped.

"Yeah... why do you ask?" Aw, crud. Now I have to think about a way to get an answer without telling him why I asked in the first place. I was thinking about it when he asked:

"You wouldn't be asking for her, would you...?" He had figured it out, no reason to keep trying to point in hiding it anymore.

"Why?" He blushed a bit.

"Well, 'cause I'm kinda crushing on her, but I didn't know how she felt about me..." I laughed.

"Wow! That's why I'm here asking you. This is hilarious... so, guess the next time you meet, you'll tell her."

"I guess so, thanks for telling me, and thanks for the dust." I nodded, and left to go back to the castle. When I got there, I saw that Vidia was no longer on the ground, so I picked up Loga. I couldn't see my daggers anywhere, though, but that didn't bother me as much as it had when I could see them. I thought that was weird, but I figured with magic weapons, there must be a reason. With that in mind, I left to search for Rani. I went to the dungeon to see if she was there, but quickly realized she wasn't. I saw that Vidia was in a cell and that she was talking to the guard. I hid behind the wall, wondering what they could be talking about. My time in Alagaësia had made me suspicious of any enemies I had, so I figured I might not want to be seen right now. I was right.

"... tonight, you must sneak into the royal bedroom and slay both of them. Then free me. Also, kill anyone who tries to get in the way." The guard nodded. He then answered:

" All of us who remain loyal to you will be at the task, my queen." He walked towards the exit. I stopped breathing for a moment, hoping he wouldn't see me. Or realize I was there. That wouldn't be good either. I waited until he reached the top of the stairs to move, then waited some more to make it seem as though I hadn't heard the conversation, or the end of it anyway. I stepped out from behind the wall and walked to the cell. Ironic enough, she was locked up in the same cell I was in for three years. I looked at her and saw she wasn't wearing my daggers anymore. Good.

"So, locked up in the exact same cell I was in for three years? Ironic isn't it? Only thing is that you will be in here for life." Or so that was the plan, since she had agents on the inside. That would be troublesome. Nothing I wouldn't be able to deal with, though. It's a good thing I heard them now, otherwise I would be innocently dying tonight. Well, maybe not me, but Rani wouldn't have survived. She doesn't have the tough skin of a dragon or a vampire. It would be my job to make sure she wouldn't get into trouble, since I didn't know who to trust. If things got out of hand, I might have to get rid of the guards, but then I wouldn't have anyone to protect Rani while I wasn't there, that would not be good. This was quite a dilemma... No time to think about it, I had to do something about tonight, and I had a good idea what...

Chapter 5:

An ambush inside an ambush

I ran to Rani, who was in the throne room. I actually ran around the whole castle to find that one room, but at least I knew where everything was now, including the bathroom. That's an important room, even though the technology of this world confused me: instead of a bucket, there was an odd contraption that looked like a seat with a hole in the middle. In the hole was water, and the whole shrunk a bit and went deeper, the rest of it concealed. Behind the seat, attached to it, was an odd box with a lever on the side. When pulled, it would drain the water down the hole and fill it again. The seat itself was made of polished marble. Even more confusing, there was no window to get rid of the waste. Enough of the bathroom, though. When I reached the throne room, I saw there were two thrones, one that was decorated with what seemed to be gold sculptures of aquatic plant life and... bubbles, by the looks of it. The second one had dragon talons at the tip of the armrests and at each leg. The back of the throne was shaped like wings, and it was made of velvet or some other soft material. I don't know, I'm not the one who made it. Everything but the wings was made of gold, and there was a nice red cushion to sit on. Of course the wings had gold rims, otherwise they wouldn't stay up. The other chair was also made of gold, but the material forming the cushion and back was turquoise. The back was round instead of shaped like wings, which told me that chair was Rani's. So I looked at my chair, and couldn't wait to sit in it, but there were more pressing matters. I turned to Rani.

"Do you think we can get into your parents home?" She looked confused.

"Well we might be able to, but why?" I looked around. nobody within sight, so I explained it to her. She nodded and said:

" I'll see, and I'll also try not to arouse suspicions." I nodded back, then turned to my throne and sat on it.

"Comfortable!" She laughed and left the room. I stayed there for a few moments, then got up to go to the bedroom. I told the guard I was hitting the sack and he nodded. I lay down in the bed and thought a bit about what I would do now. I didn't know who I could trust, and there was no way to figure it out. I could just fire all the guards, but then that would open the door wide to anyone who would want to assassinate us or free Vidia. Maybe both. After a while of thinking, I figured the only way was to replace the guards with someone trustworthy. Unfortunately, I didn't know much people, so that would be hard. It looked like this situation would stay this way for quite a bit. Disappointed, I thought back to assembling a team to fix the problems in the worlds. I thought back to Cynthia, and got angry at myself for sending her away to an unknown world. If I would want to recruit her, I would need to find the world again, and even then... would she be able to forgive me? I didn't know, but it might be the only solution for my current problem. With the endless amounts of worlds out there, I would need to start as soon as possible.

Right then I heard voices outside the room:

"They're in there, sleeping by now," The guard outside said.

"Good, let's do this quickly..." I heard the guard move out of the way and the door started opening. Quickly, I jumped up to the ceiling and hung there, upside down. The bad guards entered and seemed surprised that I wasn't there. They turned on the guard in front and one of them shouted:

"What is this trickery!? Can't you see they're not there? You lied to us!" I saw my opportunity and dropped on the closest one, hitting him in the back of the neck. He fell to the ground, knocked out, and I jumped off before he hit the floor, landing on my feet, crouched down. If I had hit harder, he would have been dead, but for some reason something seemed to stop me from using my full strength... strange. One down, three to go. The guards that were facing the entrance of the room turned to see that someone was on the floor, but I'm guessing that in the dark it was hard to see who it was. I stood up straight and looked at them. Two of them had some kind of sharpened leaf swords, while the one by the door still hadn't drawn any weapons. A bit confusing, but I stood my ground.

"So, assassination attempt, huh?" I said, "You guys should really make sure no one hears you planning when you organise weak conspiracies like this."

The one nearest to me seemed to realize I had knocked the other guy out and stepped forward, swinging his sword towards my head in an overhead motion. Easy block. I stepped forward as well, crouching slightly and moving under his arm. By the time he realized he had made a mistake, I had already grabbed his wrist and given his forearm a blow with my elbow, breaking both of its bones. He dropped his sword and fell to his knees, hiding his arm

in his other armpit. Two left. I stood straight again. The one by the entrance still hadn't drawn his weapon. The last armed one, however, didn't waste any time and tried to stab me in the gut. Before he got me, though, he tripped on something on the floor and dropped his sword, the latter landing at my feet. For some reason, he seemed knocked out already. He must have hit his head on something hard, 'cause he didn't get up. I looked at the last guard. He raised his hands over his head.

"I do not mean you harm, sire. I had thought indeed that when her highness the queen did not come to the room that you had a plan, so I let them in to prevent them from causing... unneeded casualties" By this he meant that he would have died for us, me in this case, if required. Pretty loyal guy.

"That explains a bit. So did they get to the dungeon yet?"

"Probably, sire, for they had to act quickly." Great.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go stop them."

"Agreed."

We ran off to the dungeon, but right at the stairs we were intercepted by some guards, probably set up as lookouts. They drew their blades.

"No time to lose..." I said, drawing Loga. I let my instincts take over, and flipped Loga in my hands, holding it backwards. I shouted its name, and it burst into red and black flames. Then I swung it at the soldiers in the way. The flames on Loga flew at them then, and they flew into the wall behind them, and they were knocked out. The flames extinguished themselves, and I sheathed Loga.

"Stay up here and shout if any more of them pop up," I told the good guard. He nodded and turned towards the hallway.

I jumped down into the stairs and ran down to the dungeon. There was only one guard with Vidia, and he had seemingly just unlocked the door, 'cause he was opening it when I came in.

"Stop!" I shouted.

The guard turned and picked up his spear (it had been stuck in the ground next to him). Vidia was still hurt, I could see by the bandage placed around her arms. Yeah, she had gotten a bit of healing aid, since I'm nice. Beat up like that, she probably would offer less of a challenge than earlier today.

The guard charged, and I just stepped on the tip of the spear, sending the other end on his chin. He flipped and fell on his back. I stepped between him and Vidia and turned to her.

"Give up, you're out of soldiers." She laughed.

"What are you laughing about, you crazy-" I felt something hit me hard behind the head, and the world went black.

Chapter 6:

Another World

When I woke up, I saw chunks of a broken boulder next to me, and a pool of blood as well. I got up, and immediately wish I hadn't. The world spun, my head pulsed like crazy, and all I could hear was the pumping of my blood. I sat down and waited for the world to stop spinning. I put my hand to where my pain was coming from (the back of my head) and it came away with blood. A lot of it. Ouch. I got up again, now capable of walking, and leaned against the wall. I was bleeding a lot. The guard from upstairs came down just then. He helped stand properly and brought me to the infirmary of the castle. Yeah, we had that. The people there freaked out when they saw me, and they got me a bed as quick as they could. They laid me down and cleaned my wound. Then they healed it with magic and left me there to rest. I asked to speak to the good guard, and they let him into the room.

"What is it, Sire?" I turned to him slowly.

"I need you to keep this conversation a secret from everyone except my wife. I must have your word," He nodded, " Good, then I will tell you what you will need to know to protect my wife in my absence." He looked shocked. "I will be leaving for quite a bit of time, but I don't know exactly how long. In my absence you will guard the queen at her parents home, given that the castle is too dangerous."

"If I may ask, sire... Why are you leaving?" I smiled.

"I am leaving in order to find allies. They may help us against Vidia... and any other upcoming dangers fate has in store for us. I don't know how long this will take, but I need you to stay here and protect the queen. Can I trust you to do this?" He seemed surprised.

"Of course, sire. I will do my best."

"Good. Now I need you to find the water leaders' home and warn the queen not to leave. I will come tomorrow at dawn to say my farewells. Until then do not leave the house. Understood?"

"Yes, sire. Until then." And he left.

Better get some rest, then, I thought. So I closed my eyes, and moments later, I found myself drifting off and dreaming about what kind of odd allies I would find. I couldn't see clearly, like I was dizzy and everything was whooshing by extremely fast. I remembered a small girl, probably not any older than twelve years old, a strange man with blue skin and glasses so we couldn't see his eyes, although I could've sworn I saw a scar, a young lady with a guilty look on her face, another young lady with what seemed to be tatoos all over her face and arms and purple hair, a different girl with black hair and an uncertain look on her face and a boy with green hair and a scarf with a wing on it. Those were all strange people to see in a dream, yes, but what surprised me the most was two other girls I saw... what seemed to be an older version of both Rosalina and... Cynthia. The Rosalina I saw now was taller, in a teal dress that reached her ankles, revealing her shoes with high heels. The Cynthia in front of me had the same black coat I had given her years before, and had something in her hair. I don't know how to describe it. Her hair had grown to her feet, and she still had it hide her right eye. She was looking at me sadly, like she'd been left behind. It broke my heart. After seeing Cynthia, I woke up, my face a bit wet. Was there a leak in the ceiling? I sat up to see that nothing else was wet. Then what was... then it hit me. Was I crying? That made no sense, I had never cried before, so why now? In Sparta, you don't cry, even if your mortally wounded and it stings like hell. Even babies don't cry, so why would I now? I figured it was sadness, a feeling I wasn't yet familiar with. I wiped my face on my arm and looked out the window. It was dawn, which meant I had to go. I got out of the bed, clipped Loga on my belt and jumped out of the window. When I hit the ground, I started running towards the river, since that was where Rani had said she lived before Vidia had taken that from her. When I got to the river, the guard I had sent was standing on the shore. I walked up to him and asked him where the house was.

"Sire, the water leaders' home is in the middle of the river, of course. In order to enter, you will have to dive."

"IN the river, huh? Pretty strategic, this way only water talents can make it in. Useful in case of an attack."

I looked at the water a bit to try and see where I was trying to go, and I saw large bubbles at the bottom of the river. Really large. I guessed that was where I was going. I started running, and as soon as I got to the edge of the shore, jumped as high as I could, which proved to be pretty high. When I got to the highest point of my jump, I was about halfway past the river, I spread my wings to slow myself down. I stopped in midair, and I dove. Underwater, things seemed much clearer than on the shore. The bubbles seemed larger this way, and in the middle of the bunch was the largest of them all. I figured that was my destination, so I swam in that direction. With wings and a tail for extra propulsion and control, I was swimming pretty fast. In a minute or two, I was already at the bubble. It was a deep river. I was incredibly uncomfortable, and I wished for Lore's water-breathing potion. The ocean was full of it back there. I figured the only way to get in was to go through the bubble, so I swam through. The landscape changed, and I saw the river outside the bubble, but inside I saw a large, fancy house. It almost filled the bubble, which seemed to be pretty large, and it had the same decorations all over it as on Rani's throne. Must have something to do with her clan/tribe or whatever you want to call it. I knocked at the door, and not even a second later Rani was jumping into my arms.

"Nat! The guard told me what had happened, are you okay!?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine."

"Oh good. Are you sure? Let me see your head," She turned me around and checked the back of my head, "They did a really good job..." I turned around again and looked her in the eyes.

"Rani, you know why I'm here.." She nodded, and I could see tears in her eyes.

"You have to go, I know. But promise me you'll come back safely, alright?" Her voice wasn't weakened in the least.

I smiled. "I shouldn't be the one you're worried about. I'm going to recruit people, not to fight. You, on the other hand are here with only one person to protect you and an entire army trying to overthrow you to put a tyrant back on the throne. You're the one with the dangerous job." She smiled as well.

"Yeah... I guess..." She put her hands on my shoulders and got on the tip of her toes. Then she kissed me. When it was over, she let go.

"Promise me you'll come back, and don't do anything stupid."

"I-I promise I'll come back. Now be careful, I don't know what Vidia's planning, but as long as she doesn't know you're here, you should be fine." She nodded, and I turned around. I thought of the first person I had seen in my dream, and I snapped my fingers. A portal opened in front of me. I waved my hand over my shoulder.

"Farewell... Rani."

I stepped through the portal.

Chapter 7:

Cars and Planes, Oh my!

When I stepped out, a metal beast charged me. I jumped out of the way at the last second, and drew my sword. I watched the beast, but it didn't come back. Instead, I saw more of them passing by. The beasts were of different colors, but they all had metal skin and odd glass eyes without pupils or eyelids. Under their eyes, on what seemed to be the mouth or nose, were lights. Identical lights were on the beasts back, or butt. I couldn't tell. The beasts seemed to have eyes around their heads, and apparently their heads opened, because they had handles. They also had wheels made of metal and covered in some black material I couldn't Identify at this distance.

I looked around and saw some homes around, but instead of being build out of stone or wood, they were built of what seemed to be bricks. People with odd clothes walked around, some staring at my sword oddly. Not wanting to attract unwanted attention, I sheathed Loga. No one else seemed to be intimidated by the metal beasts, and I even saw some of them stop, apparently go to sleep (the lights turned off and they stopped making noise) and some people came out. The beasts were used as transport? Well... maybe they weren't beasts... perhaps... machines? But how? There was no ropes, no people pushing them... magic? It would make sense. Drakels from Lore had something like that.

I saw a large building in the distance and I figured since it was the biggest I would check it out. I walked across the street, which seemed to be made of some rocky substance, and some of the beasts- no, machines- produced a loud noise as they almost hit me when passing by. When I made it to the building, a gate blocked my way. I climbed over it and landed and the other side, continuing on my way. When I got to the front door, I attempted to open it. It was locked, so instead I knocked. When no one answered, I drew my knife(which Rani had returned to me in the throne room) and was about to pick the lock when someone interrupted me.

"Why do you want to go in the school so bad?" It sounded like a young girl. I turned and was surprised. It was the young girl from my dream. She had a violet dress that went down to her knees, but the top of the dress was a darker purple. The sleeves went down to her elbows, then became white and tighter. She wore small flat shoes and black socks, the latter going halfway up her shins. In her long, waist length hair were two butterfly hair pins.

Did this mean that I would meet all the people in my dream? Then that would mean I would meet Cynthia again...

"This is a school?" I said, after snapping out of my surprise.

"Well... of course it is, what did you think it was?" Since when did women speak so freely? I wasn't used to it, but it wasn't a bad thing.

"I don't know... it just doesn't look like a school from... where I came from." I wasn't going to say I came from another time period, not to just any stranger.

"And where did you come from?" she asked me.

My mind started racing: what could I say? I didn't know any cities in this world, so how could I know where I would have been born? I had to think of something... I'd have to take a chance.

"Oh, I come from a city called Sparta... It's not from around here..." I hoped I hadn't said too much. She looked thoughtful for a moment, then said:

"What's your name?"

"Um... I'm Nat, what about you?"

"My name is Iris, and I'm a sixth grade student at this school. Before you ask, yes, girls go to school, since in this time we are considered equals to guys..." She winked.

"Oh, that's cool... Wait, how did you know?"

She turned around, and said over her shoulder:

"Sparta is no longer called Sparta, so I guessed. Your reaction confirmed my thoughts: you are somehow from Sparta and came to the future... Be more careful around people here, if you aren't, you might be exposed to problems..." And with that, she left.

I scratched my head... I decidedly needed to learn more about this world than I knew now, otherwise I could put myself in danger. Not to mention what would happen if they found out how to do the same and came to my world...

I decided I would have to get more information out of this girl... Iris? Since she had already left and I didn't have time to memorize her scent( because I had figured out that I could. It was like a part of my subconscious, meaning that I just remembered exactly whose scent it was. But I had to memorize it.), I figured I would have to go to school. She was a student, so odds were I'd see her there. Now I just had to figure out what she meant by sixth grade...

Someone came up behind me and this time I heard them, so I turned around to see a man and a young boy that appeared the same age as... Iris? Have to remember that name, might be useful. The man was rather tall and had brown hair that reached his neck. He had some weird lenses attached to a... frame, I would guess but I couldn't identify the material, in front of his eyes. He wore a tan jacket with yellow outlines on the shoulders and sleeves and in front, where I could see a small metal line going up to the top of his collar. He also wore khaki pants and brown shoes. Looking at his get up, I could tell he was no warrior, and thinking back, I could see that not a lot of the people were warrior-like at all... perhaps they were of no use here, in this time zone.

The boy had a large puffy orange jacket with long white sleeves poking out from the sleeveless sides of it. He also had brown hair, but it was held up over his head by his blue headband, which had a symbol consisting a black circle with a yellow outline and two red half-circles inside it. He wore short black pants with yellow lines on the side, and his shoes were orange.

The man looked at me curiously and said:

"That is a nice weapon... you are aware these are illegal in the streets, correct?"

"Umm... no I didn't, thanks for telling me. I am however not planning on separating from them any time soon."

The boy said then:

"I've never seen weapons like those before, dad." The man seemed very thoughtful.

"Of course you haven't, Lan, this is a sword that was forged based on a design and made of material from a very long time ago... I'd even say thousands and thousands of years... Where do you come from, if I may ask? Don't worry, you can trust us, we've seen more mysterious and more sinister looking people..." This surprised me, but for some reason I didn't feel it would be a bad idea to say anything to these people.

"I come from a city that doesn't exist in your world... not anymore if it had in the past. You are right, this sword was forged based on an ancient material. I don't know about the age of the design, since I have just arrived here, but I haven't seen anything from around here that would say or hint that you still make these. If you desire to learn more, I suggest a private area, where no... indiscrete ears could listen." He nodded and motioned for me to follow him. The boy followed closely behind him, and I walked after them. We went to a house made of what appeared to be bricks of a rock like substance and a wooden door. The roof was made of tiles that looked like... well a smooth version of rocks. Like marble, but not white. I couldn't tell.

We entered and I noticed a woman with a pin in her brown hair and a purple shirt with a long green skirt in what appeared to be the cooking area of the home.

"Oh, home already boys?" she asked, without looking back.

"Darling, I think we should talk about something important..." The man answered. By the looks of it, he was wedded to her. So that must make the boy their son. I'm so deductive.

The woman turned and at first looked surprised by the sight I was giving, but then smile warmly and said:

" Oh, is this a friend of yours, honey?"

"No, we met him at the school, he seemed to want to get in... He admitted to originating from a different era." He looked serious. The woman stopped smiling and nodded.

"Let's go upstairs, then." She motioned to the stairs. The man went first, then followed the woman and the child, who stuck close to his mother. I followed closely, and we ended up in a room with a large...machine on one wall. It looked like a big window whose sill was all around it. It was connected to an odd contraption with two buttons and something with multiple buttons and letters on it.

"What is that?" I asked, and I pointed at the machine.

"A computer... you must come from a long time back if they didn't have those..." The man seemed to be in deep thought, "What was the name of your city?"

"It was called Sparta, and we were feared as the most powerful military force of our time. I'm surprised it's been forgotten. This would mean it was conquered... but by who?..." I trailed off in thought. I was brought back to attention when the machine lit up. I looked at it in awe: it was generating light and showing images of Sparta. I saw the city temples, the meeting areas, everything. There was only one difference: it was all in ruins. I felt sad, but i didn't understand why. I hated the place: my so called father, the stupid government and the discrimination towards anything remotely different. The nine years I had spent there seemed an eternity away, and that wasn't nearly far enough. I tore my eyes off the machine's magic window. The three others in the room were looking oddly at me. The man took up speech:

"It says that Sparta was a military city, and that its citizens were ruthless warriors with barely any emotions."

"It says... You mean it speaks? I did not hear anything like speech..." I must've looked pretty confused, because they burst into laughter.

"It doesn't speak. It's an expression... What was your name?"

"My name is... " I thought about it... My name? I have been Nat of Sparta for 16 years, but now I had learned that I was born on a world I didn't know anything about, other than the fact that only one more member of my race was still alive and hunted. My name was truly Nat Ignis, but it didn't feel like... me. So who was I? Then I remembered that night in the cold cave with Cynthia. That was the first time I'd ever felt like I had a family. Or at least a real one. She had told me I needed a name. One of my own choosing. And as I remembered the name, I realized that it felt more me than any name so far.

"I am Nat Manaburst, Pleased to meet you," I finally answered.

"An interesting name... I am Dr. Hikari, and this is my son Lan and my wife," the one sitting in front of the... computer stood, "I am a scientist working on NetNavi tech."

"NetNavi...?" Another word I'd never heard before. I would have to get used to this...

"Oh, yes. You probably don't know what that is..." Dr Hikari thought a bit," A NetNavi is a... Well it'd probably be simpler to show you than to explain. Lan, would you go to your room and show him Hub?"

The child perked up and nodded furiously. He ran out of the room and I followed him to a nearby one that contained a single bed with green sheets and a lighter green pillow. The floor was made of wood and it had a rug with black and white balls drawn on it. Those were lined up. The window took up a rectangular space on the wall, between two images that seemed drawn on a piece of paper, but I did not recognize the technique. Of course, Sparta was never really artistic, so that didn't help. The image to the left was a dog, and the one on the right was a humanoid figure I couldn't identify. There was a computer of smaller proportions on the far side, and Lan walked up to it. He took something out of his pocket and put an extremity of it into the box next to the computer. He did it in a bit of an exaggerated manner, by holding the object above his head and shouting: "Megaman! Jack in! Execute!" Light flashed out of the computer, and I saw a little man in blue armor appear. He turned to the screen and waved.

" Hi, I'm Megaman, pleased to meet you!" He said.

"Is this what your father meant by the computer saying something?" I asked. Lan laughed.

"No, that's an expression. This is a NetNavi: short for Net Navigator. My dad says they are beings scientists created to help navigate the CyberNet. That's a world on our computers that makes our world function correctly. If something goes wrong in there, our world would probably fall out of control..."

Two worlds that support each other? Unexpected phenomenons were clearly legion in my quest. I had to get used to this!

"So... If I don't have one of those, how do I do important stuff?"

"You... Uh... I don't know... I guess I'll help when you need." He smiled, proud of his idea. The little blue guy in the computer nodded.

"Pleased to be of service, Nat." I nodded back.

"Thanks.. Megaman?" I was unsure. He nodded. Lan removed his machine's connection and Megaman disappeared. Lan then turned to me and said: "Why did you want to go to school? You look a bit too old for that..."

"It was the largest building, so I thought it might be home to the city's most powerful person. Since I came searching for allies, I thought it was a good idea to start there. Now I know it's a school, I'm not sure I should look in a place where they teach kids..."

" Well you never know, some kids have the potential to be pretty powerful later on. Believe me or not, me and Megaman have saved the world five times already." He grinned. "That reminds me... Megaman has a big beast inside him, and we need to stop the bad guys from exploiting it's counterpart. If you still want to get to the school, then you can follow us. I don't think you can do much without a NetNavi anyway."

"Alright then, I'll follow you." He nodded and left the room. We ran back to the school and went around to another door which read: "faculty only" above it. Lan entered anyway, but when I tried to enter, Iris jumped out of nowhere and blocked my entry.

"I don't think you should come here. This is where destiny comes into play. If you meddle, who knows what'll happen."

"What do you mean? He's not putting himself in danger, is he?" She took a bit of time to answer.

"He is, but I can't let you interfere. You're not supposed to be in this world and you might change things in ways they are not supposed to be changed..." I blinked. Destiny? Irreversible change? What is this mumbo-jumbo?

"I can't change anything, I don't even have a NetNavi!" She seemed confused, and I heard her mutter something like: "... Then why did he say..." She looked up at me and I saw that she had decided something important.

"I guess you really can't do anything without a navi... I suppose a navi without an operator is the same thing. I'll let you pass. In fact, i know a shortcut, but I can't let you see, so close your eyes and take my hand." I nodded and complied. The moment our hands touched, I saw the same vision as before I left the castle: the images of people I didn't recognize. The only difference was that when I saw Iris, she was holding my hand and pulling me forward with determination. We stopped and she told me to open my eyes. We were in a dark corridor with something that looked like mechanical snakes whose heads and tails were out of sight. One end disappeared into the darkness behind us, the other in a lit up doorway ahead. I heard voices and saw two very large pairs of legs. I could tell it was two men that spoke, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Oh, Baryl is fighting with Wily again..." Iris seemed relieved.

"Lan isn't here yet?" I asked. She shook her head.

"No, he probably got caught up by the other members of WWW . He should be here soon. "

"What is going on here? A young kid saves the world five times and now he puts himself in danger, and you call it destiny? Please explain while we have time to speak" She hesitated, then spoke:

"Lan told you about the Cyberworld, right?" I nodded," Then you know that if it crashes, it means disaster for everything. Well the old man in the next room has gotten ahold of the most ancient power the Net had known: an ancient Cybeast. The only problem is, there are actually two: the other is inside Megaman. He wants to get ahold of it, so Lan needs to come here. I care a lot about Lan, he's been treating me like a normal person since I met him, and I don't want him to get hurt, but Wily can destroy half the Net with only one beast anyway, so someone needs to stop him. Lan is the only one capable of such a feat, and that's what Wily wants. He doesn't believe Lan to be powerful enough to stop him..."

"So Lan is coming here to stop Wily?" She nodded. "Good, that's all I need to know."

Chapter 8:

Big beasts in little Cyberworld

When Lan arrived, things got more active than just standing and talking. Not that talking didn't help me learn. I learned that Iris had feelings for Lan, but that she didn't think he had some in return. I didn't want to hurt her, but given the fact that he didn't even mention her earlier, I didn't think he felt much for her. That was kind of sad: she was here, risking her life to prevent him from losing his, and he didn't even think of her as an important person. On the walk from his house to school, he spoke of a girl named Mayl a lot. He probably liked her, and I suspect Iris knew this, but she was still here. I didn't know how that felt, love had been easy for me(if you call three years in prison easy). What could I do to help? Nothing, I presumed.

Lan entered the room and the old man spoke to him. I still couldn't make heads or tails of what was being said, but I could hear the words"destroy", "Cybercity" and "Cybeasts". Lan stepped forward and said something along the lines of " you're missing one" and the old guy laughed.

Just then, he yelled "Iris!" And motioned towards us. Iris' eyes turned blank and emotionless, and she came out of hiding. I thought of going after her, but figured it was a bad idea. I got closer to the door and listened.

Iris spoke: " Falzar, come out!"

I heard Megaman yelling in pain and Lan was asking him what was wrong. Then, one of the giant dolls(the pair of legs) turned into a giant red bird. The other one became a huge green wolf.

"Now, Iris, go take control of Gregar. Falzar should follow afterwards," The old man said. So these were the Cybeasts. Pretty big, but why were they in dolls?

Iris walked up to the wolf and suddenly turned into a smaller version of the dolls containing the beasts.

"What the..." I didn't have time to finish before all hell broke loose. The guy that was on the ground (I hadn't noticed him because he wasn't moving), Baryl I suspected, got up and pointed something at the wolf. Lan seemed to snap out of his confusion as well and did the same, but with the bird. The old guy was going hysterical, shouting things like "you can't win" or "they will destroy you". The earth shook something fierce, and adding the shouts and screams the beasts let loose, I could barely hear myself think.

I was wondering where Iris had gone when I heard her voice come from some kind of computer at the bottom of the wolfs left leg. Yes, the wolf had a computer screen in it's leg.

"Lan, you can beat Falzar, I believe in you!" Lan looked just as surprised as I was. Realization kicked in, but Lan spoke first:

"Iris is a NetNavi!?"

How was that possible? She was standing in the real world... Unless... The dolls maybe? Then that would mean the beasts are cybernetic as well. And if a Navi can be in this world, maybe a human could go to theirs? Maybe not a human, but...

I rushed to the wolf. I heard exclamations of surprise behind me and remembered that no one but Iris knew I was here. When I reached the leg, I stepped up to the screen and placed my left hand on it. I thought of where Iris was and decided I wanted to go there. It was a wild idea, but one I would take to save an innocent person in search of acknowledgement.

I snapped my fingers and felt the world spin. Then, lights out.

Chapter 9: Gregar

I was awoken by the sound of roaring. When I opened my eyes, I saw that the sky was purple and had lines of yellow streaking it. I was standing on a black platform and I saw a staircase ahead. Nothing had rims, so anyone could have fallen off easily.

I ran up the stairs and saw the wolf, Gregar I believe, fighting with Iris and a guy with black armor and a green cape. The armored guy had a light sword for a right arm. Iris' hand had been replaced by a mechanical thing with a hole at the end. It seemed to shoot projectiles at a high speed.

The entire fight stopped when a bird's screech was heard. Gregar turned towards the noise and growled, but didn't seem angered. More like it was... happy?

"Iris, Colonel, I got Falzar. It's up to you now!" Lan said.

"Easier said than done, Lan Hikari. This one does not go down without a fight," said the armored guy.

Iris turned to him and nodded. He returned the nod. I heard the old man telling them that if they did what they thought, they would be deleted.

"If it means to save the world... and Lan... then I wouldn't even hesitate!" Iris shouted. Both Navis begun shining and I could see a force pulling them together. I didn't like the sound of deletion... it sounded like elimination, and that was nothing good where I was from.

"NO!" I shouted. I must've shouted really loudly, because the entire world shook and the Navis stopped glowing. Iris looked back and was shocked to see me.

"How...?"she stuttered. I stepped up to them and stood between the two.

"I don't know what deletion is, but I don't like the sound of it, so none of that, alright?"

"But it is the only way to defeat Gregar!" the man said

"Ha! That sorry excuse for a wolf? I'll take care of it if it stops you from doing something stupid," I replied.

I turned to look at the wolf and drew my sword. It growled when it saw Loga, then it leaped. I rolled to the right and tried to cut its leg off, but it wasn't there anymore. I looked around and saw it's head floating in front of me, it's body nowhere to be seen. Confused, I looked around to find it, when all of a sudden my body went numb and I fell to my knees. Large flashes of light were all I saw for a moment, and then my body was stinging all over. I felt something claw my back and I fell forward. My back hurt, my body stung and I felt sluggish. I slowly got up and saw Gregar breathing in a huge amount of air, then he blew something at me. I tried to get out of the way, but I was almost completely paralyzed. Then I got hit.

"Nat!" I heard Iris scream.

Only thing is, it didn't hurt, it felt invigorating. I could see clearly now, and I saw that what was shot my way was fire. The wolf breathed flames. What a world this was. He continued to try to burn me, and I rose to my full height, and Gregar finally stopped attempting to cook me alive. I jumped towards him and slashed his face, getting his left eye. He got burned, because of Loga's intolerance to other people, and he yelped while stepping back quickly. He still seemed determined to destroy me, but more wary. His eye was burnt, but instead of blood I saw little blue particles coming out and dissolving. I stood in the stance I had adapted for myself with a sword, that is hoisting it upon my shoulder, clearing my view and protecting my backside. This looked like it would be a tough fight.

He made the first move, launching his sharp tail at me. It moved at an incredible speed, so I blocked it with my sword and pushed it towards the floor simultaneously. It stuck in the floor, and I dispatched it before it could cause more trouble. Gregar seemed enraged by this and simply charged me. Given his weight, there was no way I could stop him in a full on assault, so I simply sidestepped and slashed at his side, the left one in occurrence. More particles and roaring on his part, he swiped me with his tail. I flew for a bit and landed on my back. He was on top of me in a second and was about to tear my throat out when he suddenly stopped moving. I didn't waste any time and stabbed him in the throat.

He completely dissolved, leaving nothing left. I looked up to see that Iris had an electric whip in her hand. I guessed that was what paralyzed Gregar and thanked the Fates for their mercy towards me.

"Are you okay?" Iris asked. I nodded.

"I feel great, thanks for asking. What about you and... black guy?" I asked. She laughed at my appellation.

"We're okay, thanks to you. If you had let us fuse, we'd be gone by now..." she seemed troubled by the thought.

"Who is that guy?" I asked.

"Oh, I guess you could say he's my brother. His name is Colonel, and he was made from the same original program as I was. Dr. Wily separated us so he could be the best battle Navi, and so I could be a weapons control Navi."

"How does your separation affect his battle efficiency?" I wondered.

"I represent all his emotions, his feelings. Without those, he's left with no mercy for enemies. As for me, I have the power to control machines, but I didn't want to control weapons for bad..." she seemed to remember something scary then, because she stopped talking and rushed me for a hug, "I don't want to hurt people anymore." She was crying. I patted her back

"It's okay... it's okay," I tried to reassure her. She looked up.

"You're going to leave this place, right? You told Lan you need help for something, maybe you could bring me with you? I don't want to stay here anymore, I'll just be used to hurt more people... please, take me with you..." She was begging me. I didn't know how to bring a Navi anywhere, all I could tell was that they needed machines for transport.

"I would love to help you, Iris, but how do I take you anywhere... I don't know the first thing about NetNavis..." She blinked.

"I could come in a copybot? Maybe a cell phone, anything! I just want to leave... I know, I'll stay in the copybot, and then I'll go into anything you find." I nodded, she was desperate enough.

"Wait here, I need to leave this world and go to the real one." She let go of me and I concentrated on the room with the giant dolls. I snapped my fingers and a portal opened in front of me. I stepped in and I was in the room again. A quick look around told me that everyone was gone. I turned to the doll that used to house Gregar and saw that Iris' doll was still standing there.

"Come out, Iris. The coast is clear," I said.

The doll turned back into her form. She smiled at me and we left the school the same way we came in. Once outside, I asked her where I could get a machine to use as her transport.

"You could always ask Dr. Hikari, he's an expert on Navis. You know where he lives. I'll be waiting here, so they don't get suspicious of your powers: I'm pretty sure you would want to keep them secret," she said, winking at her last sentence. I nodded and ran off to Lan's house. I knocked at the door, and soon Ms. Hikari answered.

"Oh, Nat, we were wondering where you were. Lan came back alone and said he'd lost you. Of course with weapons like those, it wasn't really worrisome, but you never worry too much, you know?" She smiled.

"Thank you, Ms. Hikari, but may I speak with your husband? I'd like to ask him something..." She nodded and led me back to the computer room. Dr. Hikari was sitting at the computer desk and when I came in, he stood and faced me.

"Ah, Nat, perfect: I have something for you," he reached into his pocket and handed me a red and black machine, much like Lan's, "This is a PET, it contains everything you need to house a NetNavi. As for Navi generation, I can help you with that, but I believe you might have someone in mind already," He winked at me. I was surprised, how could he have known? He laughed and patted me on the back.

"I won't keep you any longer, you can go back to your friend," He sat back down, and his wife led me back to the door.

"I know he can be confusing, but he is a good man. He knows a lot more than most people think he does, and that's what makes him so good at his job." She waved goodbye and closed the door.

I returned to the school, meeting up with Iris. When she saw the PET she was overjoyed.

"Now we can go! Hooray!" She disappeared, leaving the doll standing there. I saw her appear in the little machine, so I figured I got what I came for: a good ally. Now all that was left was explaining the predicament. I snapped my fingers; that could be done in the comfort of my own home.

The end... For now...

To be continued in:

Tales of Manaburst: A Chaotic Situation