EXPEDITION: An Unmatched Fanfiction

Chapter Five: Bewilderment

King Arthur opened his eyes.

He immediately recognized that he was no longer floating in the air, but it took him a couple minutes to completely regain his senses and take in his new environment. He was laying on a hard yet uneven surface. He could not tell for sure what it was, but it felt like some sort of brick or wood interlaced with vegetative growth in between the hard surfaces. It was certainly a type of surface he had never felt before.

He slowly smelled the air, and new sensations flooded his nose. Of course, there was an unmistakable scent of human and animal waste, more so than he had ever smelt in England, but this was nothing new to Arthur. However, it was also mixed in with a smattering of other odors. Fish, meat, spices, and cut grass were all swirling together to create an olfactory concoction he had never experienced before.

Arthur placed his hands on the sensory-rich ground and pushed up. His arms were weaker than usual, which he assumed was from the smoky form of travel he just endured. He did not know how or where he was transported to, but he knew it could not have been great on his body.

Once he finally managed to get on his feet, he observed his surroundings. The more he looked, the more he became confused and distraught. It looked like he had been transported into an entirely different world.

King Arthur was used to the occasionally tall and properly constructed building, as he himself lived in a castle. Now, he lay his eyes upon entirely foreign structures. Buildings were lined up tightly together, wall touching wall, and shot up at least three or four stories into the sky. They were formed from tight layers of brick, and many contained sets of glass windows that jutted from the buildings. Arthur had seen some of these characteristics on the finest buildings back in England, but it seemed like these features were standard for every building here.

As he looked at these constructed dwellings, he realized they were all neatly lining the same pathway he stood on like some sort of parade. Most of the pathways Arthur had seen in his life were just dug up from the organic ground, maybe laid with some sort of crude material if it was a main path, but this one seemed to be paved and placed deliberately with brick-like blocks that formed a well-defined trail, something he had not witnessed before.

Arthur breathed quietly but heavily, shocked by his surroundings. Every direction he looked, he saw something he had never seen before, like he had been transported to another universe. Is this even the same planet I once inhabited? Arthur thought to himself.

"Ay!" Arthur was interrupted. Startled, he jumped and turned around to see a horse-drawn carriage standing behind him. He was surprised he had not noticed this before, but with all the other new sights he was taking in, it was easy to be distracted. Arthur did take particular notice to the man steering the carriage. He wore a strange form of dress he had never seen before. The man adorned dark black pants and shiny black shoes, with some form of lightweight, collared coat to match. Under this coat was a bright white shirt lined with rows of buttons that went from his neck down to his waist, and the very top of the collar was dressed in some thin form of cloth that formed a neat bow around his neck. Atop the man's head was a black hat that matched his coat with a circular brim and flat top. As with almost everything else Arthur had seen in this unusual setting, he was flabbergasted at the man's attire, having never seen a person dressed in such trappings before.

"If you're just going to stand there, get off the road!" the uniquely dressed man chastised.

Arthur shook his head and regained his bearings. "I apologize, good sir. I--"

"Move!" The man whipped the reins on his horse, prompting the animal to continue walking. Arthur jumped out of the way to the side of the road, nearly being trampled in the process. He roughly hit the ground with a loud thud, knocking the wind out of him. He gasped for breath for a few seconds and turned back, seeing the carriage was already several meters ahead.

"That is no way to treat a king!" Arthur yelled, waving a fist in the air. When he began to get up once more, he saw a little boy and his mother walking on the other side of the street. They, too, were embellished in apparel his eyes were new to.

The boy pointed in Arthur's direction with a cheeky grin on his face. "Look, mum! Look at that man's funny costume!"

"Come along, boy," the mother berated, nervously pushing her child along the road. "No need to point and stare. He might be crazed!"

King Arthur became lightheaded again, feeling dizzy on his own two feet. There was so much happening around him he had no idea how to interpret it all. Tall buildings, paved roads, alien clothing. He did not know where he was, but it knew it was unlike anywhere he had ever travelled previously.

Before he could faint again, he was interrupted by another voice. "Excuse me, sir."

Arthur snapped out of his wooziness. He found himself in front of a tall, distinguished man in a long, white coat. He was the first person in this new place so far to look at Arthur as if he was not a nuisance or lunatic. "Can I help you? You look lost."

Arthur stumbled over his words, unsure of how to address the situation. Would anyone believe that he was transported here in a mystical cloud of black smoke? He would hardly believe it himself if it had not just happened to him. Finally, Arthur found a way to get some information without coming off as suspicious "Ah...I do seem to have lost my way. Can you inform me of where I am?"

"I can help, I would love to do so! Where are you trying to get to?" Arthur fell silent, completely unsure of what to say. "You do know we're in London, right?" the man asked with a subtle hint of sarcasm.

Arthur's eyes widened. "London? London, England, you mean to say? No, this is not London. I know England, I have ruled over it with solidarity for many moons. I have vast knowledge of what London looks like, and this is not it!"

The man's face contorted in bewilderment, and he placed the back of his hand on Arthur's forehead. "You must be feverish. I insist you allow me to take you back to my abode. I am a doctor, and although human medicine is not my specialty, I can give you a place to rest and find someone who can suit your needs."

Arthur was not too keen on the idea of following a random man he did not know to their private residence, but at this point, he had no idea how to operate in this new version of England he had been thrown into. Plus, he needed to get back on pace to finding the source, and this man appeared to know a lot, so Arthur thought he could use him to his advantage. "Yes, I would present you all my gratitude. I do feel a bit, um, queasy."

"Anything to help and be of service," the man said with a smile. "Come along this way." Before he took a step, he looked back at Arthur. "Oh, but how rude of me. I never introduced myself. It would most likely make you feel more comfortable entering my home. My name is Dr. Henry Jekyll."