The Light Rises on This New World

-Gray-

I dreamt of a ceiling painted like a night sky.

I dreamt of a bed fluffy like a cloud, long since losing its appeal.

I dreamt of the steady hum of machines, the beeping signalling that I was still alive.

I dreamt of the tubes sticking out of my body, more seemed to be added every year.

I dreamt of the sounds of wheezing that eventually overtook my voice.

I dreamt of my mother, hands running through my hair as she tells me far-fetched stories of her home.

I dreamt of my father, pulling silly magic tricks to entertain me.

I dreamt of the fake smile I wore all the time, painted on to hide the pain, the evergrowing dread of my existence.

I dreamt of a life that could not be called such.

After all, I didn’t deserve such things.

When I woke up, I went through the same reflexive process as before, reacting to sensations that never came.

But when I remembered that I wasn’t sick in bed, but instead in a whole different world?! I might as well have flown out of bed, rushing to the closest balcony to observe the beautiful morning and sunrise.

Even my disdain of sleeping could not hold up compared to this sight. A glowing sun shining over the fields and trees. Reflecting off of water, catching on the crops, bouncing on rooftops. It was like the goddess of light was blessing this town with such a morning.

And yet the morning sky didn’t even compare to the sky last night, when I looked up from this very balcony at stars so unfamiliar, I couldn’t help but stand agape for an hour. Stars were so rare to see back home, that I cried a little at the majesty of the universe.

With my mood soaring high, I decided to get changed into the clothes provided. The people of the town were kind enough to donate some simple clothes. A sturdy beige working shirt, and some green pants. They were clearly made for someone of a stockier and shorter build than my toothpick body, but they’d do better than my torn pajamas.

With clothing sorting, my next goal was to look around the house for some food. Despite all I ate last night, I was famished.

Yeah, magic will do that to you.

The house I was staying at belonged to the headman of Chartreuse Town, and was the largest house in town. Apparently, the princess and her entourage would normally sleep in rooms at the church, but the church was full to bursting with all those now without homes.

Luckily, the people were generous enough to offer their homes to their neighbors, and the headman offered the princess, and her entourage (which is now just me, I guess?), rooms at his place.

“Ah, Sir Gray-” Hearing the headman call me that pleases me more than I could admit. “I was just about to rouse her Highness.”

He was an older man, balding, graying, but with a kindly chubbiness to him. He looked like the kind of guy who gives out full sized candy-bars on Halloween.

I decided to wait and watch, as he knocked politely on the door to her room. And then knocked again a minute later. And again two minutes later. We put our ears to the door, and couldn’t hear anything but loud snoring.

“I… um… I suppose I’ll just… go in and wake her up…” The headman coughed nervously, adjusting his collar as he reached for the doorknob.

“Hold it.” I said, grabbing his wrist.

“Is there a problem, Sir Gray? She did request to be woken up by this time, did she not?

I had no idea what the time was. Just that it was too early to wake up someone who drank a dozen mugs of whatever last night. “Oh, just looking out for you. I’m sure you don’t want to risk getting on the princess’ bad side, do you?”

The man scoffed. “Her highness has no bad side. She’s as pure and kind as the sun itself!”

“Really? And I’m sure she’s just as kind when she’s nursing a migraine from drinking everyone under the table last night. But fine, be my guest.” I moved my hands from him, and took a step back, washing my hands of this.

The headman suddenly seemed rather nervous and doubtful. He removed his hand from the doorknob, and began wringing his hands. “I suppose you’re right, Sir Gray. After all she did yesterday, I believe even the princess deserves to sleep in just once.” He reluctantly began turning away. “Oh, and I have a table set for breakfast downstairs, if you wish to join me.”

It took all my willpower to hide the grin that was forming. “Oh, do you think you could bring a few glasses of water here? I’m sure she’ll appreciate it when she wakes up.”

This new idea of helping the princess seemed to cheer up the headman, and he nodded and rushed off. Leaving me all alone with the door.

The door was locked anyways, he wouldn’t have been able to enter without a key. Or magic. I tapped a hand glowing orange to the doorknob, and the spell I put on the door last night unraveled.

I had to carry her drunk butt all the way across town last night just to get her to bed, and like hell was I going to allow someone to attack her while she was vulnerable. And do you know how heavy her armor is?! Okay, maybe not as heavy as one would think, but I'm not exactly bursting with muscle right now.

The room was identical to mine, a basic wooden guest room with a bed, a nightstand, a bookshelf, and a chest for belongings. There were no windows here, unlike in my room, though I got the feeling she would have pressured me into switching rooms if she had the opportunity.

Well too bad. Maybe she should have stayed awake last night to choose her room?

I stood over her sleeping form, admiring how she could somehow look both radiant, and ridiculous, sleeping how you’d expect someone to sleep after a dozen beers. She looked like a mess, a sticky, drool-covered mess, yet with her golden hair splayed out behind her, she still somehow seemed to reflect the scant light coming in from the hallway.

I had tossed her armor in the chest at the foot of the bed, leaving her in just the purple cloth she wore under it, looking more like a priest than a crusader at this point. Her staff, I had laid gently against a nightstand, within arm's reach.

Lifting my right hand, I gathered some blue-colored magic in it, and held it above her head, dropping the ball of water right on her face with a splash, and getting her to shoot up, flopping in bed like a fish.

Hearing me chuckle might have brought her out of it, as she finally stopped thrashing, and looked at me with bloodshot eyes. “W-what… Gray? Why am I… Did you-” She stopped in the middle of speaking to grab her head. “Ugh, it hurts. What happened last night?” Her melodious voice sounded about as dry as sandpaper.

“You drank your body weight in alcohol and couldn’t even walk anymore. I carried you to a room in the headman’s house.” I took a step back to allow her to sit on the edge of the bed, nursing her headache.

Which is about when she realized she was drenched. “You… You dunked water on me?” It didn’t sound like she was irate, but more completely befuddled and unsure how to process this information.

Hiding my grin, I responded. “Well, you were so asleep we couldn’t wake you up. It was actually the headman’s idea.” I pointed to the headman who was standing agape at the doorway, holding a metal tray with two full glasses of water on it.

When he sputtered and tried to defend himself, all I could do was give him a toothy grin before calming my face again as I faced the princess, my right hand glowing green. “Besides, it’s just water. It goes away as quickly as it comes.” I slapped her shoulder with my glowing hand, and the green glow suffused over her, not just drying her, but cleaning her up too.

Water, grease, saliva, sweat, spilt drinks, eye crust, and just about anything else faded from her body and clothes, as if she just took a shower.

She definitely seemed surprised by that simple spell, running a hand through her clean hair as if she expected it to feel tangled up from the water. “That’s about as good as I can get it. You’ll have to deal with the tangles on your own.” I slapped the bed next, cleaning it up too, erasing the evidence of my childish prank.

I always wanted to play a prank on someone. I’ll be grinning all day.