UNSURE OF REALITY
Harry was walking alongside Reggalis and his horse. There was a silence in the air that bothered Harry, but Reggalis didn't seem to notice.
"So, um...," Harry began, unsure of what to say, "How long have you been King?"
Reggalis chuckled and said simply, "Forever." Harry looked at him disbelievingly.
"Um, please excuse me if I sound rude, but what's your age?"
Reggalis quirked an eyebrow at Harry. "Age? What's that, my boy? Exactly how much did you drink? First you don't recognize your very own King, then you speak of some continent, and now you're asking what my age is. Whatever that is... Why don't you explain to me what this age is."
Harry gave Reggalis an odd look. "Well, age is how old you are. You know, how long you've been around."
Reggalis chuckled again. "Well, my boy, I've been around-"
"Lemme guess," Harry cut in, "forever?"
Reggalis nodded happily and answered, "Yep."
There was another silence while Harry tried to sort out his thoughts and failed miserably while Reggalis hummed a tune. Well, he wasn't really humming a tune, just a bunch of jumbled up notes. Harry glanced at King Reggalis Levon just happily bouncing along, humming to himself. It seemed that he didn't have a care in the world... and he didn't. All he knew of was the routine of life in Intermeddius, the way it's been (you guessed it) forever.
"What's your name, my boy?" Reggalis had asked.
"Huh?" Harry mumbled, so lost in thought that he hadn't heard the King.
"Your name. What's your name? Can't keep calling you 'my boy' for eternity, can I?" Harry smiled slightly at Reggalis' use of "eternity".
"My name's Har-... Har-...," Just then Harry realized that he couldn't remember his own name! How can I not remember? This is insane! Harry thought hard. "Is it Harvey? No. Harold? No, that's not it either."
"Hershey, Hartley, Hansle?" Reggalis supplied, "Harry, Hermione, Har-"
"That's it!" Harry said suddenly, "That's my name!"
"Hermione?" Reggalis asked, quirking his eyebrow once again, "I was just naming names off the top of my head. Isn't Hermione a girl's name?"
"No," Harry said, almost laughing, "My name's Harry."
"Ah," Reggalis said with a smile, "Good strong name, it is. I believe Harry means 'ruler of the home'."
Harry didn't have a reply, so they were once again in silence. Well, almost, Reggalis was humming to himself again, but Harry barely noticed, for he had slipped back into his world of thoughts. Hermione, Hermione... Where have I heard that name before?
Reggalis's cheerful humming and Harry's disturbed thoughts were cut short when they came to the gates of a town. Reggalis smiled at the guards who bowed in reply before turning to open the gate.
"Let's go to Gillian's for a drink," Reggalis stopped to chuckle, "But no alcohol for you, Harry. Stick to gimmet for now."
Harry looked up at Reggalis, confused, "Gimmet?"
But Reggalis didn't hear him over the screeching of the opening gates. As Harry saw what lie behind them, all questions of gimmet went to the back of his mind. The town amazed him. Everything was perfect, too perfect. The houses looked exactly alike, all painted white with red tiled roofs; everyone dressed alike, the women wearing long brown skirts with a white blouse tucked in neatly, and the men wearing jeans and a blouse very much like the women's; even the clouds in the sky looked alike. Harry had never seen something so... orderly.
"Are all the towns here... like this one?" Harry asked Reggalis, his eyes still on the town.
"Pretty much," the King answered. But then he paused before leaning in and adding in a quiet voice, "Except for a faraway place we call Verustine. Completely abandoned. It's west of here, but I advise that you don't go there, Harry. Most people that do never come back." Reggalis then unbent himself and smiled and waved at bowing people, as if he had said nothing.
The two found themselves in a sort of shopping center. Of course, the shops were uniform, white paint, red tiles, but each had a sign above the door. Harry saw many shops selling brown skirts, jeans, and white blouses. The clothes stores never sold anything else. All restaurants were standardized as well; they all sold rop, trad, fidaline, glik, and gimmet, all of which Harry had no idea was.
Reggalis stopped his horse in front of a restaurant with a wooden sign that read: GILLIAN'S. Underneath in slightly smaller letters was added: Best fidaline, glik, and gimmet in the land
Ever so gracefully, Reggalis slid off his horse and in one swift motion tied the reigns to a pole. He did these things as if he'd practiced until perfection or had done the task a thousand times, which he probably had. There was quite a contrast between the poised King and Harry, who stumbled and fell over a rather large rock near the pole Reggalis's horse had been tied to. Reggalis smiled and helped him up before turning and leading the way into the restaurant.
The two pushed their way through the wood doors and were greeted by a bowing man.
"Why, hello, Your Majesty. Would you like your usual table? And what would you like today, perhaps some fidaline?"
"Yes, Jamie, we'll take that table. But no alcohol today, me and Harry, here, will both have a mug o' gimmet," Reggalis replied. Jamie nodded and walked off, bowing more. Reggalis chuckled his little chuckle again.
"Come, Harry," Reggalis commanded with a wave of his hand. Harry followed him to a flight of stairs which they headed up. Upstairs were more people and tables to weave through until finally they reached a table by the window where they both sat. After a minute or so, Jamie showed up with the gimmet.
"Cheers," Reggalis said, lifting his mug, before downing most of it. Harry observed the liquid in the mug. It smelt of pickles and he could feel it was warm. He was hesitant to drink the stuff, and the fact that it was a shimmery green didn't exactly help, either. Tentatively, he took a sip and let the gimmet sit on his tongue. The drink was very odd; at first it tasted salty, then very sour, and finally sweet, but not too sweet. Harry smiled his first real smile since he entered Intermeddius and took another sip.
"Hello, James, and hello, Flora," Harry heard Reggalis say. He looked up and saw two people, a woman and a man, standing before them. One of them had jet black hair that was quite messy, like Harry's own. The man looked very much like Harry, except for his eyes, which were hazel. The woman next to him had flaming red hair and porcelain skin, but the most prominent thing about her was her bright green eyes. They were the same bright green eyes behind Harry's round glasses. The three people were aware of these similarities and were very much confused.
"I... I think I must know you from somewhere," the woman Reggalis called Flora said to Harry.
"Yes," Harry replied, "I believe I know both of you from somewhere. What were your names again?"
"I'm James," said the man. "And I'm Flora," added the woman.
James, Harry thought, Now that sounds awfully familiar. I don't know a Flora, But James... That name is way too familiar. I think I could even swear-
"That's it," Harry said suddenly. He felt quite stupid doing so, but couldn't help it. "James is my middle name, now I remember. Oh, I'm Harry, by the way. Harry James... Something."
James chuckled. "Well, hello, Harry James Something, delighted to make your acquaintance."
"This here James is my right hand man, and Flora is his missus. James and Flora are leaving for Verustine tomorrow because they're bloody thick," Reggalis put in.
"No matter what you say, Reggalis, I'm still going to Verustine," James said. You could tell that he meant it.
"That goes for me, too," Flora interjected.
"Can I come?" Harry asked. The question surprised even him. He wasn't sure what it was that made him do it, but he just felt that he had to go to this Verustine.
"You know, you're all bloody thick," Reggalis commented before tapping on the table and calling for a waiter.
"Well, can I?" Harry asked, ignoring Reggalis's remark.
James shrugged. "Fine by me."
"You can stay at our place," Flora offered. Harry nodded, downed the last of his gimmet, and handed the empty mug to the waiter.
James faced Flora and Harry.
"Tomorrow we leave for Verustine, the abandoned city."
A/N: Whoa, totally and completely hate how this chapter is written and its... shortness. Well, maybe I'll re-write it someday when I have the time. I know that right now this story's a little predictable, but I'll try to change that. Well, review and tell me what you think!