Chapter 9

Ariel did her homework until Jade called her down for dinner. When's the last time I ate a home cooked meal? She sat in front of a beautifully plated chicken dish with a side of vegetables.

"Is something wrong? It's not poisoned, I assure you," Jade said as he ate his own meal. "I did my best, but I'm not used to all of these ingredients. I tasted as I went to make sure the taste was palatable."

"That thought never crossed my mind. I was admiring it."

"Food isn't for admiring; it's for eating."

"Then why make it pretty?"

"So you'll want to eat it? And it's a habit from cooking for His Highness." Jade paused, thinking about Orsted, and wondering if he was okay. Last he knew, he was facing off with the witch.

Ariel took a bite, and her eyes widened. A rich herby flavour on the juicy chicken. I guess it can be better than microwaved food if you actually know how to cook. "This is amazing, Jade. Thank you. Jade? Are you okay?"

"Hmm?"

"You froze. Something on your mind?"

"Just thinking about my world, wondering what happened after I vanished, but there's no way for me to know." He continued eating, though his mind stayed elsewhere, and he didn't taste his food.

I need to distract him somehow. "So, what did you do while I was at school?"

"Surveyed the area, sold some of my gold, perused the nearby market, and bought some groceries that are now in the fridge."

I wondered where he got the ingredients. There wasn't much fresh food in there last I saw. "You've been busy."

"I have to keep busy, or my mind will keep drifting back to my home world. I wanted to get used to living around here with all your unusual devices, but I'm also in a hurry to get home. I'm so... lost. I don't know what to do or where to look. As far as I can tell, magic isn't normal in your world, but technology is. Does that mean I have to look for tech to send me home, or is there a chance there's a magical portal somewhere? I'm hoping a visit to the library might be fruitful, one way or another."

"You can search the internet from home, but you have to make sure not to click on anything weird—"

"Click?"

"I imagine you've seen TVs, and you've seen smartphones and computers, but you haven't had a chance to use any of them. There's a computer in my study room. I can teach you how to use it, and you can search for information on your world or portals. You'd have to be careful about fake information; there's a lot of that out there, so take everything with a grain of salt."

"Maybe I should stick to books? They're known to be reliable."

"Mostly, but the internet gives you access to more information than any person could ever hope to absorb. And a lot of crap that isn't needed or is misleading." I'm not helping my point.

"Quite conflicting. Fine, I can learn to use this computer you speak of, but I also plan to visit the nearby library tomorrow. I don't know if I'll find anything, but I can't sit still while my country is at war."

"War?" Ariel swallowed hard. I guess he is a soldier, but I still didn't expect him to be at war.

"I am a royal guard to His Highness, Orsted. We were defending our land when the witch, Emerald, attacked our camp. Orsted was preparing an attack with his runed sword when she attempted to blast him, and I jumped in the way."

"Wait, so she wanted to send Orsted here? Why?"

"So our country would be without its prince and fall into disarray. As much as I didn't want to be sent here, I'm glad it was me rather than him, but that still leaves me to worry about what happened after. Does time pass in the same way here?"

He's been comforting me so much; I should do the same for him. But how?

"I can't help but worry, and yet I know I am powerless to do anything right now."

Ariel reached her shaking hand over to grip his. "I know I can't do anything to help in your world, and I can't promise you'll ever get back there, but I can help you search for a way back. And if you seem to be stuck here, I'll still be here for you." That sounded odd, didn't it? That sounded like something more than a friend!

Jade gripped her hand before she could pull it away. "Thank you for everything. You've already helped so much. I have to ask, though; what are you going to do about the bullies? I'm sure you've been thinking about it."

Ariel froze, the sound of the wall clock ticking louder than ever. "Avoid them?"

"I don't want to see you hurt again, and if a bully is determined enough, there will be no avoiding them."

If history has told me anything, it's bound to happen again.

"What if you talk to a teacher?"

"You can't throw around accusations without suffering the consequences. I don't have witnesses that aren't on her side, and wounds aren't enough as evidence, so that'd only make it worse. I'd probably end up with more people antagonizing me." Tears pricked her eyes. Oh, geez, don't cry. That won't help anything; it's useless.

"Ariel," he whispered her name.

Vroom.

Ariel's eyes widened. "Oh, no."

"What is it?" Jade looked out the kitchen window to see where the noise came from.

"It's my brother."

"Oh."

She pulled her hand away. "Go, hide." She rushed to put the empty plates in the sink and tossed a bottle of water to him. "I should really leave a whole set of water bottles in your room or something, but this will have to hold you for now."

"Thank you."

"Go, go." Ariel gently nudged him towards the stairs before the front door opened.

"Ariel," Conner called out to her. "I'm home. And what smells so good?"

Oh, crap. He knows I can't cook much. How do I explain this? "Conner." She rushed to the entrance, where her brother stood in his camo uniform with his buzz cut. "You're home?"

"For tonight, at least." He opened his arms wide. "Where's my hug?"

"I'm not a little kid anymore; I'm not going to jump into your arms."

"Psh, that's no fun, and since when are hugs only for kids?" He pulled her in for a hug.

Ow. She winced, pain spiking in her ribs. "Fine, you can still get a hug."

He sighed and patted her head. "I know I'm not home enough, so I end up leaving you here all alone... Why are my loafers sitting out?"

Crap. I should've told him to leave them in the closet when they're not in use. "I was cleaning out part of the closet and forgot to put them back."

He hug-walked her into the kitchen and spotted the pots on the stove. "You cook now? How long was I gone?"

"I was just... trying to follow a recipe."

"And it's edible?"

Ariel punched him in the arm. "It's delicious."

"Enough for me, too?"

"You eat so much it could never be enough for you."

"Hey! I burn a lot of calories."

"Never said you didn't, but you still eat a lot." I'll never know where he puts it all. "There should still be enough in there for a normal meal, but I guess there won't be any leftovers with you around." Sorry, Jade.

"Oh, geez, nice to know you like having me around."

"Of course, I like having you around, but it's hard to feed you with how much you eat!"

"I thought that's why we have a big chest freezer full of frozen food? Easy to throw in the microwave. Unless you're running low? We can do a freezer run if you want. I'll check what's on sale." Conner pulled out his phone. "I'll be back at work tomorrow, but I have the morning off, so we can do a store run. Anything else you need?" Conner scrolled through the store flyers on his phone.

"Not that I can think of right now."

Conner served himself up food and sat down. "Thanks for the food." He dug in. "So, when are you going to tell me what happened to your head?" He glanced at the bandage.

"Oh!" She touched where the wound used to be. "I fell."

"So bad that you had to go to the nurse's office?"

She raised an eyebrow. Guess she found out my name.

"Yes, they called me; I'm your legal guardian. So, are you going to tell me what really happened?"

Why is everyone so insistent?

"It's happening again, isn't it?"