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

Chapter 9

Arden walked ahead as Zander and I kept pace together.

"I really wanted to show you The Town," Zander said. "It's truly fantastic. My wonderful wife is down there. Her name is Maya. She's a tigress—my tigress! I've been so blessed."

His bubbliness was contagious and I couldn't help but smile at the warmth in his voice. He spoke like a man madly in love.

"I can't wait to meet her," I said sincerely.

Zander grinned. "She'll love you. In fact, everyone in The Town will love you."

"What's the town like?" I asked.

"It's a gorgeous place underneath the castle. There's sunlight and moonlight on the ceiling of the sky. It's warm down there with a vast meadow, lots of houses, businesses, and other establishments. There's plenty of amazing people for you to meet. You'll feel at home."

"Will you take me?" I glanced at Arden's back, before continuing. "When I'm allowed to go, of course."

"Definitely," Zander said. He looked at Arden as well. "Arden, my king."

"Yes, Zander?" Arden didn't look back and continued his steady pace.

"Zaria has asked about you again. She wants to know if those herbs she provided helped with your headache."

"You may inform her that they did, and thank her for her time."

"And that's it? Nothing else I should let her know?"

"That is it, Zander."

Zander made a tsk noise with his mouth. "Arden has a lot of suitors in the town. He's to marry soon according to tradition. Zaria and him have been friends for a long time. I see them as the best fit."

Part of me felt disappointed, being that I had the slightest crush on him. But Arden was now cold and distant. I knew we wouldn't even be able to have a friendship together, let alone the romance I hoped for back on Earth. Granted, it was a silly hope, but he so easily was able to draw me in with his looks and charms.

Not anymore. He was charmless... foreboding. Distant.

"Good luck to whoever marries him," I said under my breath.

Zander chuckled and my cheeks flushed in embarrassment—I was much louder than intended. "Give him some time to warm up to you. He's a very pleasant person to be around."

We came across a door some area in the back of the castle. It was a dark black formidable looking door. Arden pushed it open, leading us into a stone room—stone tile, stone walls, and a stone ceiling, all of it a bland gray color. Arden walked over to a machine whose exterior was stone, but the screen was touchscreen and large. He tapped on it, lighting it up. It looked like something we'd have back on Earth. The colors, however little of them there was to see on the screen, were rich and contrasted nicely with one another. It was definitely more advanced than OLED or QLED. 

The machine sat on the bottom half of the wall, while the top half was a glass window that revealed the room below. Next to the machine and window was a door in the corner that opened up to the room. I could see through the window that a ramp led down from the door to the floor where the "simulations", whatever those might be, took place.

Arden gave the screen a few more taps, pulling up something that said in cursive writing "From Memory." He pressed on it to confirm and then the door opened. He walked through and then glanced back at me. "Let's go."

I followed and heard a hum as the door shut and clicked behind us. Once we got to the center of the room, the scene shifted.

It was a weird sensation to be in a slightly dark room and then thrust into a new environment. The room I was now in was unfamiliar—but definitely still in the castle—judging by the furniture. Arden wasn't beside me anymore as I took in my surroundings. My eyes landed on a canopy bed with a crib besides it. Two human covered lumps laid still underneath a velvety blue quilt of the bed. A smaller lump lay in the crib.

Cautiously I approached the bed. A light skinned man with dark brown hair and a stubbly goatee lay next to Arden's mom. Seeing her in real life was shocking. Her breaths were full and deep as she rested peacefully. Her hair was wrapped up in a bonnet and her face was calm. Content.

Then her eyes opened. I leaped back, shocked, their sudden golden color startling me. She looked at me and I waved. She didn't wave back. She kept looking and then mumbled, "What was that?"

She moved the covers from off her feet and stood. I was about to say "sorry I didn't mean to bother you" but she briskly walked through me. I gasped and spun around. She walked to the door of their room and slowly opened it. It was dark in the hallway she peered into. I approached the door behind her.

"Dahlia, my darling," a taunting voice said through the darkness.

"Mercury?" she asked. Her neck craned as she strained to see through the darkness. "What are you doing here?"

The hallway light flipped on, revealing a younger looking Mercury. His cheekbones were less pronounced and his persona lacked the usual confidence it exudes.

"Dahlia." He grabbed both her wrists and pinned them above her head. She looked at him, shocked.

"Mercury, what are you doing?"

His nervous expression changed as his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes darkened. "You should've married me."

She frowned. "You need to get off of me. We've discussed this already, a very long time ago. It's time you move on."

"I don't have to. You will marry me." The blue light came out of his hands. It left her pinned, wrapping around her wrist and waist while disappearing into the wall. "I'll just take care of your Connections, real quick."

"Mercury!" she shouted. She thrashed against her restraints while he gave her a smug smile. "You stay away from my husband."

"Not just your husband, my darling," he said. He walked into the room, leaving her wide-eyed.

"He's going to kill my baby," she whispered. Letting out a startling scream, she tore herself free, the blue light evaporating into smoke.

Mercury was already over the bed, holding his signature dagger in hand. She wasted not a second, forming the blue light into a lasso. She flicked and it wrapped around his waist, throwing him across the other side of the room.