The Girl of Many Worlds | (Story formerly known as "Multiworldcial")

Chapter 38

About a week after the game, Arden got a response from Mercury regarding his declaration of war. He accepted it, along with his terms and conditions.

The playful, flirty Arden was gone as quickly as he appeared. I hardly ever saw him anymore as he engrossed himself more intensely in his preparations.

The last we interacted was when he came to my room the night he found out he was indeed going to war.

I heard a gentle knock as my head hit the pillow with the blanket softly resting over my neck.

"Um... who?"

"It's Arden, Princess."

"Oh!" I met him at the door, opening it with a smile. "Nice to see you. How have you been?"

"Busy. We will not be seeing each other much for the next few months. Mercury has accepted the conditions of the war. I have much to do from here on out."

I tried to mask my disappointment by saying, "Oh, okay. Well, thank you for letting me know."

"Certainly." His cold expression filled me with discomfort. The Arden I was getting to know was long gone. "Please continue your work in the town. Since your simulations are officially discontinued, you will work full-time in the town, and Camilla will get you ready for work every morning."

"Okay," I mumbled.

"Have a good night." He briskly walked away and disappeared down the hallway.

I slammed the door and pressed my forehead into the cold wood. I should've seen this coming. Of course, Arden's focus would be on the war. I wished these feelings sitting in my chest would go away.

Yeah, I had feelings for him. I'll admit it. But I'd soon get over them from not seeing him as much, right?

I didn't see him for a whole month. It would be slightly dramatic to say that it was devastating. But it certainly didn't feel good. I didn't see him in the halls or town, anyway. It was as if he moved away.

Although I lost a relationship with him, I gained two more that I hadn't expected.

Lana and Ichabod.

My two new unlikely companions started joining me for lunch. I sat down in an open meadow where many others sat for lunch. I'd always sit far from people, too uncomfortable to make friends.

"They think you're stuck up, you know?" Ichabod asked. His voice surprised me. I snapped my gaze over to him and was equally surprised to see Lana beside him.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He sat beside me, and Lana followed suit. "They think you're stuck up. Their exact words were, 'She thinks she's too good to sit beside us because she's some pretty princess?'"

I looked over toward Lana, my eyebrows raised. She cracked a smile and added, "He's not lying. Everyone who has seen you sit here thinks that."

I sighed. "I didn't think anyone wanted me around them. Everyone has had such a strong reaction to me being human."

"Don't mind them," Ichabod said. "We think you're cool."

"Really?" I asked. "Even you, Lana?"

She looked down bashfully and said, "Yeah. Back when Arden was about to punish us who were being nasty to you, you didn't give me up to him. I realized then I had read you completely wrong. And I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I'm happy we can put it behind us."

That was the beginning of our trio bond.

Since then, we have become inseparable. It didn't happen overnight, but the more we worked together and ate lunch, the tighter our bond became.

They were very interested in life on Earth.

"We have phones as well, but very limited," Lana said. "We don't have the internet, but we can communicate with those far away. Look." She held out a device that was square with a vibrant touchscreen. She unlocked it for me, and I looked at the apps. There were only three: Contacts, Messages, and Phone.

"Wow," I said. "You may not have many apps, but the screen is gorgeous. Almost makes me feel bad about pulling mine out." I did anyway, and they practically oohed, making me laugh.

Ichabod grabbed it from me and lifted it to the light as if it were a hundred-dollar bill and he was trying to see through it. It brought a smile to my face to see how abundant their fascination and curiosity was. It was a lot different than when I first arrived, especially with Lana, and a lot different than how everyone else around me still treated me.

Even Zaria, whose disposition was at first friendly, was now soured. I'm guessing she hadn't taken too kindly to Arden's attention toward me. It wasn't as if he was giving it to me anymore.

"Can we see the apps?" Ichabod asked. I laughed.

"Of course." Once the phone was open, they scrolled almost frantically through it.

"This is so cool," Ichabod said. "What's Safari?"

"That's the internet," I said.

"Oh, yes, we've heard about that," Lana said, her eyes sparkling. "It causes a lot of chaos back on Earth, doesn't it?"

"Definitely." I nodded. "It brought forth a lot of hate as well. I'm kind of glad it's so limited for you guys. Anything more could turn into a monster of a problem."

Ichabod clicked my messages.

"Look at all of this! How do you have so many people to talk to?"

"In high school, you connect with a lot of people, especially for group projects and such. Most of these messages aren't with people who are my friends, to be honest."

They continued sifting through my phone, its contents more fascinating to them than I'd ever found them to be in all my time of owning a phone. Maybe that's how I used to be back on Earth when I first got a phone.

But that seemed like so long ago. It didn't even feel like I had that life anymore. Was it ever even real? Or was I technically just an imposter living in another world?

No, that was silly. If Dad never left Antika, he wouldn't have met Mom, and I would've never existed. Her mix of human is very much why my powers even lay dormant within me.

No, I was an imposter here and here only. Or maybe I belonged nowhere; it was better to be rid of than be in any of the realms I was forced upon.

My thoughts soon drifted back to Arden. How were his war efforts going? Now that Mercury was indeed on his way, or at least setting preparations to embark on his journey here, Arden would have no choice but to ensure he was ready for whatever was coming. I can't say I blame him either. I just wished I'd stop feeling the ache in my chest now that I knew what was blossoming between us was halted in such an abrupt way.

A month. I can't believe it's been a month!

A loud, blaring sound flooded my thoughts, wrenching me back into reality.