The Secret Land of Otrâlmondé [1 | The Other Realms Series]

Bonus Chapter

The door swung open as a group of three teenagers entered the room. The first one to enter was a young woman with onyx-black hair and hazel eyes; the second was a young man with jet-black hair and dark brown eyes; the last person to enter was a boy with fair hair and dark blue eyes. Each of them had a book in their hands—the girl's book was bound by brown leather, the brown-eyed boy's book wore a coat of blue cloth, and the blue-eyed boy's book wore a jacket of red velvet.

The blue-eyed boy closed the door behind him before slumping onto one of the sofas. Opposite him, the black-haired boy sat at a desk. The girl sat on an armchair adjacent to the sofa.

"I can't believe we got magical books! I can't wait to find out what mine can do," said the blue-eyed boy.

"Me too. I'll transfer my notes onto it first," said the other boy. He reached for his bag, which was on the desk, and retrieved his journal and pen. He cracked it open and placed it next to the blue book. Before his pen could touch the page, the blue book levitated in front of him.

"Greetings, José," it said, writing on itself. "I am a magical book that can show you all the information you need on other realms, their geography, and the lifeforms inhabiting them."

In an instant, an article full of data appeared on one page while a map of Parafiso was sketched on the other. José's jaw dropped.

"Dios mío! Brandon, did you see that?"

"Yeah," Brandon said, "it's basically a magic encyclopedia."

"I know! That's so cool." José continued to gape at the pages, reading all the things that were being shown to him. Apparently, Parafiso did exist before the creation of the countries Fae and Nox, and its unification was actually a reunification. Brandon opened his book.

"Hi, so, what can you do?" he asked.

"I can teleport people and objects," it replied, its voice eerily similar to its owner's. Brandon raised one eyebrow.

"What do you mean by 'teleport'?"

"Moving something from one place to another instantly."

The book closed itself. In a blink of an eye, Brandon found himself sitting in an armchair next to the girl instead of lounging on the sofa. He widened his eyes, his face bright with amusement, and held the book in front of his face.

"Awesome! I'm so glad I got you instead of José's book!"

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?"

Brandon ignored José and continued to teleport from one place to another. One moment he was laying on his bed, the next moment he was standing on the balcony, and the next moment he was somewhere else. Meanwhile, the girl opened the book and laid it on her lap. Ink materialized out of nowhere and formed two words on one of its pages.

"Hello, Celestine."

"Hello. What can you do?"

"I can show you the past."

The words morphed into a detailed illustration. The first thing that was drawn was a depiction of a woman. She had short, wavy, dark brown hair; bright, sweet, hazel eyes; and a tan, diamond-shaped face. Around her, a bedroom formed. Tucked into the bed was a person that Celestine recognized as a much younger version of herself. The woman caressed the young girl's forehead as she cooed,

"Ninna nanna, ninna oh, questo bimbo a chi lo dò? Se lo dò alla Befana, se lo tiene una settimana. Se lo dò all'uomo nero, se lo tienne un anno intero."

"Ninna nanna, ninna oh, questo bimbo me lo terro," Celestine sang along softly.

A tear escaped her hazel eyes and trickled down her cheek. She had not heard that voice for more than ten years. How she longed to hear her mother again, to see her again, to feel her warmth as her mother wrapped her in a loving embrace! She wiped her tears away using her fingers. Brandon teleported to the armchair next to her, his eyes still focused on his book.