Worlds Apart

Chapter 4

When I finally had awoken, I sat straight up.
Great, now I'm even more confused than before. Where am I? And what happened?
I recall having the weirdest dream, where I met some kind of cute boy in a strange fairytale land.
Suddenly, I looked all around me and realized that it wasn't a dream.
I attempted to stand up, but I felt a little shaky as I shuffled over to the large window. I peered outside, and what I saw made me gasp.
I was inside the castle I saw yesterday! There was a courtyard of the most luscious green grass, and a massive fountain in the middle. Flower bushes and an unorthodox types of trees were also there. The sky, a crystal clear blue with not a single cloud, was the most amazing colour.
"The only place that's actually this nice on earth is probably Hawaii, and it pales in comparison," I muttered under my breath. I spotted the bed I had waken up on, and so I scrambled back inside the covers.
Okay, so, I'm in some kind of fantasy world and I have no idea what's going on. Gradually, in patches the memories came back to me. I was in my bedroom, mad at the world, and suddenly I showed up in some dark room, found a light source, and was transported here.
I sound like I'm crazy, I thought.
The doors opened, and two people walked through the door.
An older looking man, and the boy from last night, strode toward me.
I bit my lip - would I be in trouble? I didn't do anything!
"Miss, state your name," The old dude ordered.
"Ava," I squeaked out.
"How did you get here?"
"I think that I should ask the next question."
He raised his eyebrow at me. "As you wish, lady Ava."
What the-? "Where is this place?"
"Athosia, my kingdom."
"Your kingdom?!"
"Yes, I'm the king of Athosia."
"My apologies, your majesty!" I blushed beat red.
He chuckled. "My turn. Where are you from?"
"Earth."
"This is what my son has told me. But, if I may ask, what is Earth?"
I stared at the boy beside the king - the prince?! His long eyelashes, his chocolatey brown eyes, that smile that makes my heart flutter... "It's my turn to ask a question, Sir." I turned to face the boy. "What's your name?"
He shot me a lopsided smile. "Jason."
"So, what is Earth? Are you a Virvania spy?"
"No, because I have no idea what that is." I felt my eyelids drooping, my energy weakening. "I think I need some more sleep. Can you come back a little later? I need some real answers." Struggling to keep my eyes open, I drifted off into another deep sleep...

I woke up about an hour later.
"Ava, come with me. I want to show you the beauty of Athosia."
My eyes fluttered open, and I found myself staring into Jason's face.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me up. "If you want to change, there's some clothes in that closet." he nodded toward the closet to his right. "I'll wait for you outside your door."
As soon as he closed the door, I opened the closet. There must have been hundreds of clothing to choose from! Gowns, skirts, jeans and shorts even. I grabbed a pair of shorts and a tank top, quickly changed, and slipped on a pair of flip flops. It felt good not to throw on a light jacket to go outside.
I opened my door, and there was Jason, leaning up against the wall. "Not many people wear shorts here," he remarked, eyeing my outfit.
I shrugged. "Where I live, the temperature isn't anywhere near as nice. Well, I guess it's because winter is on the verge of coming." I suddenly noticed that he was carrying a tiny backpack.
"Winter?"
I sighed. "Do you people know anything about Earth?"
"Well... We might have one thing. But we shouldn't talk about this right now. I'm interested in you."
I reddened. "Well, I love to sing. I have one sister and obnoxious parents. I have two best friends. I'm a really simple person, you know. nothing extraordinary, like you."
"Like me? I'm just a prince. My dad never has much time for me." Jason stared into space for several moments. "Well, what do you want to see first?"
"Hmm... Just give me the grand tour, from inside to out."
We started walking around the castle, and Jason talked about how Virvania was a nearby part of the region, where his father's enemies live.
"Wait - so Athosia is kind of like a country? Then Virvania is another country? Then what's the name of the region?"
"Desridore. I guess it's like a... Continent?"
"Yeah. Do you have little cities inside Athosia?"
"One village. It's really close, if you'd like to visit it?"
I nodded excitedly. "But after that, can we go swimming somewhere?"
Jason smiled. "I know just the place. C'mon, lets go meet some townsfolk!" Jason broke into a jog.
Giggling, I followed along with him.
We went down a pathway that lead to the village.
Athosia is such a beautiful place, I thought, awestruck in wonder.
We neared the town, and we headed in through the gate.
It was like something out of a book, honestly. The people were smiling and going to the little markets.
A young girl, with her blonde hair in two braids, ran up to Jason. Wide-eyed, she stared up at him "Aren't you the prince?"
Jason laughed. "No, you must be confused."
We walked away from the girl, and I shot him a confused look.
"My dad doesn't want me to make a big deal out of it," he explained in a whisper. "There's someone I want you to meet."
When we reached a cute little cottage just outside of the village, Jason knocked on the door.
"Peter, it's me, Jason," he called.
"Jason!" The door flung open, and a man in his estimated early twenties beamed at us.
"Ava, this is my brother, Peter."
Shocked, I gaped at him. "If you're Jason's brother, why do you live in a cottage?"
"I'm not up for the prince life. I don't like fighting dragons, or slaying monsters. I'm an artist. Come inside, you two." Peter beckoned us into the cottage, and we went inside.
A woman who looked around the same age as Peter was sitting on the couch.
"That's my wife, Lucy," Peter acknowledged, grinning at her.
"Hey, Jason, who's your friend." Lucy raised an eyebrow at him, then faced me. "What's your name?"
"Ava."
"That's beautiful," she commented.
"Thanks." I stood beside Jason awkwardly.
"So, Peter, you remember that book of..." He glanced at me. "That book that we used only in emergencies? I need it."
"Why?"
Jason hesitated. "Can we talk later? I'll come by tomorrow to pick it up. But for now, me and Ava each need a horse."
"Where are you two lovebirds going?"
"No, um, we're not-"
"We only met yesterday, due to strange circumstances." Jason had an honest expression in his eyes, and he stared straight at me as he said, "and it was the best thing that could have happened to me."
I blushed. Did he mean that he... liked me? But that's crazy, we only met yesterday. He probably meant that it was cool because I'm from Earth.
I decided to just brush it off.
"So can we have the horses or not?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. See you, Jason. Bye, Ava."
"Bye." I waved goodbye. Then me and Jason went outside and I followed him until we reached a couple horses behind the cottage.
"You can have the white horse, mine's the brown one."
"Okay," I agreed. Thankfully I knew how to ride a horse without a saddle - I'm madly skilled when it comes to horses.
I hopped on easily, and we got ready to go.
"So, do you like riding horses?" I asked as my horse trotted alongside Jason's.
"It's decent, I guess. Sometimes when I want to escape the pressures of life I take this horse out to my special spot.
"Are you taking me there today?"
He shot me a smile, his eyes twinkling. "We'll see."
I've never seen anything so beautiful as Athosia. Never have, never will.
"We're here," Jason announced softly. "Just past these trees."
A waterfall. A striking, gorgeous waterfall and a pool of crystal clear water. The trees and mountain tops were blocking most of the sky, so it was slightly darker than other parts of the forest.
"I carved a small hole into the mountain right here, behind the waterfall."
I gazed at the secret hideout in awe.
"And I brought a swimsuit for each of us. I had a feeling you'd want to go swimming in Athosia." Jason handed me a purple one-piece bathing suit. "You can change in the little cave, I'll change out here."
So five minutes later, there I was. Relaxing in a fairytale land called Athosia, swimming in warm water surrounded by trees and mountains, talking to a prince.
It was the perfect ending to the perfect day.
"Wait, Ava, there's one last thing I want you to see."
Bewildered, I clambered to my feet and I followed Jason up a mountain trail. When we reached a certain spot, Jason commanded me to stop. "Close your eyes."
"Closing my eyes on top of a mountain?! Are you crazy? Where I'm from, that's usually a great excuse to murder someone."
Jason's eyes danced with laughter. "Just trust me."
As he said those two words, 'trust me', a shiver was sent down my back. I felt like believing him, that I could trust him.
I smiled, closed my eyes, and said, "I trust you."
He lead me somewhere a little farther, and said, "you can open now."
My eyes flew open, and I found myself staring at the sky. Orange, pink, purple, darkish blue... A series of beautiful colours laid before me eyes. "This is breathtaking," I breathed.
Jason nodded. "Dazzling."
We locked eyes.
"Thank you," I said. "This has been... magical."
Suddenly, his fingers intertwined with mine.
My heart stopped beating, and he smiled at me.
I smiled back.