Two Worlds (Two Worlds #1)

Startled

Romeo himself had reached the large portal only a few minutes ago. Due to prior events, the young boy was already shamefully familiar with lock picking, which definitely wasn't something he was proud of. During their childhood years, Raven had been quite the rascal and would often bring Romeo with him on his mischievous adventures. Originally, Romeo was actually the ideal son to deal with, it was only Raven who had always been a huge troublemaker. Therefore Romeo had learnt a significant lot from his friend when it came to acts that would, in nine cases of ten, be considered criminal. To think that it would come in handy now really wasn't something he had expected.

When standing in front of the appalling doors, Romeo unwittingly started trembling. When noticing, he quietly laughed a bit, as if to brush it off. But his fingers kept shaking when he sticked the small metal pin into the subtle keyhole. He was one of the few boys who knew how to do this, and if someone found out, it would only mean trouble. When the door eventually clicked with a pleasant sound, Romeo was instantly hit with a great feeling of relief as no one had managed to figure out their little trick yet. Of course, the strong feelings of regret for even doing what he was doing still lingered, but his adrenaline was increasing and so was his curiosity.

The door was heavy, but he managed to open it without any further problems, and it would silently shut as he followed it with both of his hands.

The first thing Romeo noticed was how cold the building was. Even with his warm, velvet foddered coat, Romeo could swear he felt how the cold went right through him. Small, chilly breezes would occasionally blow in through the cheese-resembling crevices in the weathered stonewall, causing the young boy to shudder every time he was hit by one. Not really the most pleasing feeling in the world.

Stone, everything was in stone. The inside of the wall might've just been a labyrinth, as there seemed to be a high number of doors and walls in all directions. From the little Romeo had heard from his politically involved guardian, the center of the Grand Wall was the only place where all representatives for Land of Men and Land of Women met, every month in order to discuss the current standings. Romeo had yet to figure out what they had to discuss since his guardian strictly kept away from telling him anything, but if he was right, the two countries may or may not have a shared economy. It made him wonder if the women race had a hand in the game when it came to the men's Decisions.

"Hello?"

Romeo immediately froze when the echo of an unfamiliar voice resounded between the stone walls. The one thing he had been fearing came true after all.

His heart was beating so fast Romeo had to force his stiffened heart to grab his chest, slowly sinking into panic. The seconds where running away in front of him, yet Romeo couldn't move his body. The voice kept ringing in his ears, slowly imprinting every letter in a neat, italic handwriting similar to his own. He was often praised for that handwriting.

That voice, wasn't it different somehow?

After having stood there for what felt like forty seconds, waiting for someone to push him against the wall, Romeo came to that conclusion. It reminded him of the little boys' voices before reaching their rapid growing period, light and tender. It had been pronounced like a whisper, but it certainly didn't sound like a man his age. However, it didn't sound like a little boy either. Despite the panic that single word had sent down his spine, Romeo found himself taking a liking to that delicate, canorous sound.

For what felt like an eternity, he took a hesitant step forward. To his left was a simple, red door looking back at him with a tempting look. Romeo was just about to enter that room, hide from everything that was after him and never find out who the melodious voice belonged to, but just as he was about to cross the small opening leading to yet another corridor, he almost walked right into something that hadn't been standing there seconds ago.

Romeo could be described as a stiff person. That was what most people thought when they met him.

In truth, Romeo really wasn't as apathetic as one might think when entering his monotone-sounding life, one just has to turn the key a bit more thoroughly in order to reach the secret chamber called his >heart<.

Romeo had dreams, hopes and wishes. He had preferences, things he liked to do, things he liked to see. The sole problem was that no one understood him.

"Oh, so you want to become a politician?" was what the men at the tavern said, encouraging him by patting his back and loudly laughing to themselves with their heads full of mead.

But Romeo wasn't aspiring to become like those despicable swines.

Romeo wanted to change a country.

When the young boy's cerulean eyes met with hers, the world seemed to stop for a slight second. He was startled to the point where he wasn't even able to let out a natural yell of surprise.

That was how they stayed for nearly ten seconds, completely frozen, merely looking at each other while their eyes slowly caught up with them. Within those ten seconds, Romeo managed to record the most eye-catching points in the appearance of that someone who couldn't be anything other than a woman. Her long, wavy hair seemed to have the same color as hot caramel coming directly from the oven, which Romeo had been lucky to have tasted once in his youth. It reached all the way down to her hips, and although it seemed a bit messy, not to mention dark in their current location, he was sure that it normally looked like a cupreous waterfall.

Although her ostensibly smooth skin looked almost ghostly pale in the strange, blue light, it might be a bit sunburnt in its places. He was able to determine such details from the unrealistic ways the shadows formed on her upper body, and realized that it was actually her own skin. It seemed like a fair guess since she was wearing a rather light clothing that didn't cover her legs properly, and neither her shoulders.

Romeo's gaze stopped where it had begun; in her eyes. At first glance, both of them were completely black, but when the lights above them switched places, they took on a dark grey color. The young boy realized that his senses weren't to be trusted in the bad light, and so he lowered his gaze and backed a few steps, feeling how his heart was beating rapidly. Time was moving yet again, and he was starting to realize what kind of situation he was currently in.

"Not like animals, not like men".

Romeo glanced at her shocked appearance through the dark strands of hair that had untidily fallen down in his face. Both of them seemed greatly taken aback, and the boy felt a tad relieved that she probably wasn't a lot more knowledgeable than him. In fact, she might actually be just like him, showing up in this deterrent place.

Romeo swallowed the shock that held him in its tight grip, and slowly parted his lips to form a word.

"Hi."