Chapter 6
Half a day earlier...
Prince was so excited to go back to Lady Ethernia's house. He spent so much time here as a kid playing with other children.
That was just a usual occurance in Ethernia's home. It was as if she was holding a daycare there. Children could freely come and go through secret magical passways she made so that only they could access.
He made his friend, Ryat, come along as company. After all, everything is more fun with others.
Prince was one of the few people who knew the way to Ethernia's house. Once, he was forbidden to go, and thus, he couldn't access the magical pathway. He ended up going into the forest on his own. He got lost, then found by a friend who took him back to the house, showing him the way there.
Walking through the forest, Prince let out a cheerful chuckle listening to Ryat's complaints. He knew his friend didn't mean any harm, he was just worried.
As they approached the river, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure. Rushing forward without thinking, he tried to catch up with her.
Robin!
He called out. Wait for me!
He attempted following the girl, jumping from rock to rock confidently, but he was too careless and slipped. His mind went blank as he fell and then, he heard a crashing sound and everything went black.
Black. That was all he could see. All black. And, a door. A door wrapped in chains and locks. He kept trying to force it open but he couldn't.
He was sitting in this seemingly infinite field of dark and nothingness, unable to escape. He didn't know where he was or why, but he remembered falling, and Robin, and oh...
He slowly realized what might have happened. He realized he must have hit his head and lost consciousness. He remembered his head hurting but the pain is now gone. Weird.
As he kept sitting in the darkness, out of the nothingness, a small light appeared. He perked up at the sight.
Approaching the light, he finally realized. It was Robin.
Why are you here?
He asked, surprised.
Do you know where this is?
It's... in my head... I think?
Seeing the boy's confused expression, Robin decided to explain.
That's right, we're in your head. I came here with a spell. I presume you've already seen the door-
A spell? Wait- You're a fairy?! Are you here to become the guardian fai-
No. I'm not. I've just come to pay my respects to Ethernia and look around.
Oh... Sorry... Please continue
Robin noticed the sad expression that crossed the cheerful boy's face. She decided to ignore it for now and finish the explanation.
If you leave through that door, normally, you'd wake up in the real world and forget about this whole place.
But the door... it's locked... Will I never be able to wake up?
Don't worry, I can fix it. The river you fell into has a nasty spell on it, making you unable to wake up once you consume its water.
But I didn't-
You fell into the river, remember? You must have swallowed some of it back then.
Oh... you're right...
The fairy approached the door.
When you wake up, you won't forget about this place, since I interfered. Don't worry much about it.
She said, summoning a spell, breaking the chains on the door with it.
Go on. See you when you wake up.
She gave him a friendly smile as she disappeared.
After a moment of hesitation, Prince took the doorhandle and stepped into the light.
As he came to, he was laying down, in a nostalgic bed. It was Ethernia's. Still drowsy, he looked around, expecting to see Robin but finding an infuriated Ryat instead. He reached out to grab his arm.
What... happened?