Chapter the Third: To wear or not to wear underwear?


Throughout the world, there are many different versions and distinctions for what the definition of a prince charming is. For us who grew up with Disney and such classic fairytales, we believe in the princes who rescue the damsels with a perfect set of teeth, abs, and bob of hair. He'll swoop in when the poor, troubled girl is in need and wipe all her troubles away. But then why was there this tight-wearing maniac threatening to cut me through with a sword?

I watched with wide eyes as the mystery man wiggled his sword threateningly above me while shouting words in Old and New English.

"Villainous witch! Cast spells unto my flesh, have you?" The man continued to shout. "I shall strike through the wickedness that—"

"Oh,come on. I know what this is, I'm dreaming. That's what's happening. I had too much at the restaurant before coming home and now I'm having a wacky dream!" I cried as I tapped on my head in realization. "But what a strange dream this is. Instead of some handsome man coming to sweep me off my feet, I have this guy who wants to kill me. I must really have forgotten what romance is like."

"Witch, what nonsense you spew!" The man shouted with an edge of agitation. He moved out from the shadows and stepped a mere foot away from me. I couldn't see him very clearly before, but now I could see his whole figure. And boy, was he gorgeous. He had thick night black hair that had certain sheen even under the artificial light from my lamp. I had to restrain my hand from automatically reaching to brush through it; his hair looked awfully soft. His skin was a pale color with a slight bronze lightly spread on his face, his cheeks pink from frustration. The only obstruction was the soot that covered him from head to toe, but it didn't hinder his attractiveness. Not even in the slightest. Not this guy.

And then, I started to feel a little conscious of my attributes (or lack of). I probably looked like a hurricane had hit me after I fell through a crack in the Earth because of an earthquake. My hair was stringy and bunched at the nape of my neck in an attempt to stop the spread of frizz. My eyes were most likely bloodshot with sizable bags accompanying each eye. My clothes were baggy (work at home clothes) and scrunched in awkward places to make it look like I was twice the size I actually was. Also, not that it could be seen from a normal standpoint, there was a sizable hole on the crotch of my sweat pants. All in all, not a pretty sight.

That got me to wondering. Was this really a dream? In what kind of dream would I be a horrid mess with a seemingly demi-god standing before me? Either this is a nightmare or there really was some crazy hot guy who is going to kill me. Of course, I hoped it was the first choice, but the latter seemed more realistic. At least for me it seemed more realistic. I never had good luck with anything.

The mystery man was staring at me. More of pondering, really. A ponder like he was trying to decipher if I was a human or not. I felt offended; I might look bad, but not like an alien or monster. "You done?" I snapped. He looked up into my eyes and I melted a little. Okay, a lot. But you would have done the same if this guy just pierces into your very being, your very existence with a single locked stare. "Eh…heh…"

"Where am I?" The man demanded.

I scratched my head. Maybe he was delusional or a newly escapee from the mental hospital. "You're in…New York."

"What's that…New…York?"

Man, this guy must have really got some loose screws in his head. "It's…um…in the United States…of America…east coast…over there…"

I frantically waved my arms to demonstrate the border and ocean.

"I do not know of this place…this New…York," He finally said. He started to pace the room, forgetting those minutes ago he had been calling me a witch and promising to hurt me with his sword.

"So…where are you from?" I asked. The room was tense and awkward, with him pacing thoughtfully and unaware of my obvious confusion.

"Wanderlands."

"Wanderlands?" That sounds so familiar… "So where's this 'Wanderlands'"?" I asked.

"On the North Continent."

"You mean the Americas?"

"Nay, the continent that is to the west of the Middle Continent with the Raging Oceans between the two. Wanderlands is the main kingdom of North Continent, and the entire planet."

I stared at him incredulously. "I don't know what planet you're from, but here there are no Norths, Middles, or Wanderlands continents. There's North and South America, Europe, Asia, and …well...the other ones. The place you're talking about doesn't exist."

He seemed hurt by what I said and towered over me with a scowl. He tried to explain further. "This is the year 2900 of the lunar phase. What do you speak of?"

"Year…of the lunar..phase?" Now I was very, very certain that this man had to be missing a few essential pieces of his thinking cap. Even I knew that being incredibly attractive didn't make anyone less crazy. Just more appealing.

"What say you?"

"Well…2007 CE, or Common Era. Well…this Wanderlands, it is in Earth, right?"

"I assure you that these lands exist solely on the planet Earth."

That made me feel slightly better. At least he wasn't totally crazy. Maybe he lived in some place in Europe tucked behind mountains, unseen from the rest of the world—

"I know this as I am the prince of Earth," the man declared proudly. And my jaw dropped. As sorry I am to admit it, I was hoping there may have been some hope of sanity in this poor, lost man.

"And what is your name, oh Prince of Earth?" I asked mockingly. There's no harm in playing along, right?

"Darien Adonis Shields III," He said and bowed. His eyes returned to my face with a twinkle. "And what would be your name, miss?"

Sure is a charmer, that man is. I really would need to keep myself in better condition: I couldn't be swooning every moment the nutty yet handsome man said anything. Darien, I mean. Ah, what a nice name…Darien…

"My name is Darien—I mean, Serena Whales," I blurted out. Of course, there was no way that I was going to make a fool of myself, but I sure was going on a roll here. And then, the first practical thought since I met this man, this Darien. "Wait a moment, I need to check the time." I cautiously walked into the kitchen, taking looks back every few moments to make sure he wouldn't disappear and that he wouldn't decide to start poking his sword anywhere near me again. I couldn't be too open, he was, after all, seemingly crazy or with an extreme case of amnesia. The clock on the cabinet above the stove was one of the cat clocks with the leering eyes and the tail that sways from side to side. Rei didn't like the clock and would always try to throw it away when I wasn't looking, but I had always been rather fond of it…

"It's FIVE-THIRTY?!" I shouted in anguish. I looked around the room in a daze. Maybe, maybe if I whipped on a few clothes and went straight out…there was still a little time…but I haven't eaten or slept all night. I inwardly moaned; having to work when you feel like shit is NEVER a good thing. There was no way I'd be able to be on par with Ms. Slutty Secretary when she 'greeted' me either…

"What! What happened!" A voice yelled as it neared. Then all of a sudden, a pair of tight-wearing legs came into the kitchen, set with a nice body and attractive head. And I had forgotten all about him.

"You know, you picked a really indecent time to appear out of thin air," I complained as I deliberated on whether or not I should skip work and fake sick.

Darien leaned opposite of me and replied, "I didn't come from thin air…I may have…but the last thing I remember is going through a stroll in the woods outside the palace and I reached a very peculiar place where there were only stumps and dead branches sprayed across the floor. I continued walking until I suddenly fell. It was like I was swallowed by something sinister, but it almost didn't feel like it. It felt calm…"

I stared at him in disbelief. "So what do you think happened?"

He stared back, unfazed by my disbelieving face. "I think I went through a portal of some sort and reached this world. From what you've said, this seems to be another world." He thought again. "Is there any windows in this place?"

"Yeah, there's only one in each of our rooms, Rei's and mine…" I was about to reach for his hand, but stopped midway and awkwardly gestured forward. He followed and we reached my room. I opened the door and slammed it again with all my force.

"What's wrong?!" Darien exclaimed.

I had forgotten to clean up my dirty laundry, in particular, my dirtyunderwear. I smiled at him. "I need to ah…fix up a few things. I'll be out in a moment." I quickly slipped inside and stuffed my bras and panties that were scattered around my room under the comforter of my bed. I'd clean it up later, surely. "Okay, come in," I shouted.

He cautiously entered, saw there was no harm, and relaxed his body. Before he could ask again, I ushered him to the window. There was no moon, but it was a very clear night.

He seemed in shock for a moment, but recovered. "That settles it, this definitely isn't my Earth."

I turned to look at him. Everything looked normal in my opinion. "How do you figure?"

"Well, my Earth always has a moon. During the daytime, both the sun and the moon appear in the sky. And the stars are a pale blue, not these shiny sparkly dots. And all these monuments…they're so tall. And look! There are moving machines with windows. Imagine that! People inside moving things with nothing pulling them!"

He was genuinely happy, his face shining with boyish curiosity. It was so utterly adorable to watch the man being fascinated with the things I only saw as ordinary and common. My heart fluttered slightly as he asked me various things on how they worked or why the ladies had such high heels and thick coats of hair (which I knew as mink). He knew absolutely nothing of this world. As far as I was concerned, this man seemed logical and sane enough. Maybe he really was from another world. Another Earth, maybe even another alternate universe or dimension…

"Well this settles it," I declared, pounding my fist into my other hand. "I'm going to have to skip work today and take you out to see the wonders of New York City."

He broke out into a large, blinding smile with dazzling teeth. Mentally, I checked that off my list for criteria of a prince charming. I mean, it's possible.

I showed him the rest of the apartment and explained some of the appliances in the kitchen and how the bathroom worked and so on. Afterwards, he immediately went to the door. "Shall we leave?"

"Aren't you worried at all though? That this might not be your Earth or your home?" I questioned. Of course, I wanted to spend more time with him and watch his excitement with modern technology, but there was the factor that we may live in different worlds of different times.

He started slowly, "I do…but I don't want this to end either. I want to see more of this place and learn more about you. Even if there was some way to go back, I wouldn't want to go yet."

Against my better judgement, my cheeks flushed with happiness. "…Okay, then." I looked at his garment again. "..But you need to have some better clothes."

"But I don't have any."

I skimmed the recesses of my mind to remember if Rei may have left some of Jay's clothes lying around and then I remembered the clothes I bought for Molly. There were some clothes I had bought for one of Molly's male relatives. "Let me get some clothes from the closet," I answered back to him while I searched the closet for the shopping bag. I reached in and fished out a pair of beige slacks and a plain black shirt. And then I took out the lip-smudged boxers. There wasn't anything else and I wasn't going to have him walk outside in commando. It was pretty sure he wasn't going to be comfortable that way with those certain pair of pants. I returned to Darien and placed the clothes in his hands.

"I don't know if you use these things in your world, but there are pants, a shirt, and boxers, which you put under your pants to…make things more …comfortable I think."

Darien looked at them questionably. "Boxers, huh? What strange things they make in this world."

I stared at him and unconsciously lowered my gaze down his body. If he didn't use boxers, then what did men in that other Earth use as underwear?


Medium-sized chapter. Please review your opinions on how you think the story is progressing or if parts of it need improvement or better creative devices. REVIEW and thanks for reading!