Outworlder

“The ritual was a success, your highness.” Hutch, the court wizard, bowed to his lord, his hands gesturing to the man who lay face-down on the cobblestone behind him. The king did not respond. He was stunned with silence. While he had known of the ritual since he was a young boy, he never thought he’d see the day where the ritual would not only take place, but work. A man, a young one at that, was just ripped out of another world. Just by the man’s clothes, the king’s imagination would run wild with all sorts of wild theories about what the outsider’s world must have been like. Murmurs filled the chambers as Renji slowly comes to, groaning and forcing himself to his feet, wobbly and weakened though he was.

“Who are you guys??” His head felt like it was thrown into a laundry machine and slapped back on his shoulders. This outrageous dizziness couldn’t have been from the sake alone. Could he be dreaming, or were his worst fears actualized? The magicians in the circle go silent for a moment before Hutch speaks up. “Do not worry, dizziness, grogginess, and nausea are supposed to be common side-effects of the summoning. Welcome, Outworlder, to Aldelthorne, the largest kingdom of the land of Velgrath. I know not the name of the world you come from, but we call our world ‘Aetheros.’ I apologize for calling you here so suddenly, but I appreciate you answering our summons. We are in dire need of your aid.”

“S-summons…? What the…!?” Renji could feel the nausea slowly wearing off. His first instinct was to believe this was a coordinated kidnapping by people very into roleplay, but that thought was swiftly dashed. Something about the air here seemed different, the way these people were dressed was too authentic, and the look in their eyes certainly did not belie the ones that a kidnapper or conspirator would hold. Within their gaze they held such awe, such fear, and perhaps disappointment? It began to click in swiftly. It wasn’t uncommon in the novels he’d read for a hero being summoned to another world to serve some form of purpose, but he couldn’t deign to believe that such a thing would have happened to him. He had to be dreaming or hallucinating, there was simply no way this could be real.

“Ah, right, you asked who we are. I am Hutch, the court magician. It is I that summoned you, but it was my kind king here that gave the order. Please allow me to introduce the powerful and ever magnanimous King Roland of Alderthorne!” Hutch’s introduction of the king was clearly something that he had rehearsed in his mind, and oddly flamboyant for a man that might otherwise seem more reclusive at first glance, though as Renji well knows, appearances can be deceiving. Looking over the King as his vision begins to stabilize, Renji could see that the King was indeed a strong man, perhaps past his prime, but he stands proud like a lion, tall and powerful, but his eyes spoke of a gentleness, even as their gaze met. It wasn’t assessing him like the other eyes, they were practically begging for him to accept their request for aid, despite knowing nothing about him.

A suppressed chuckle could be heard from a knight in armor. His short, dirty-blonde hair was well-kept, but even Renji could tell that this man was of a high rank. “What do you find so amusing, Balam?” Asked the king, his gaze finally averting from Renji. “Forgive me, my lord. I mean not laugh at anyone’s expense. You see, with how big that ritual was, the quake it caused, the way it ripped into the aether, I was half expecting a monster to come out the other side. To see one who looks so ordinary, it just caught me off guard. My apologies.” Balam bows his head, composing himself with a sigh of relief. The tension that was woven tightly into him had gone lax, a small smile resting now upon his face that seemed gentle in contrast to the dungeon walls around them. “Perhaps, my lord, we should escort the Outworlder out of the dungeons? I am sure he is hungry, why not offer him some food or drink while we—”

The door to the ritual chamber slams open, startling everyone. The door bent awkwardly at the handle, one of the hinges had flung off, causing its hulking shape to sag, anchored now to the ground for however long the other hinge will last or until some poor servant repairs it. “Where’s my father!?” Princess Illyandaril Rose didn’t even look at Renji. Once she saw her father, she marched straight up to him, a pleading anger Renji was all too familiar with evident on her face. “How could you!? Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing! Where is he? Where’s the person you summoned?? Who did you dare summon to replace Balam!?”

Her eyes eventually drift over to Renji, following the gazes of the other magicians. Nausea was no longer a concern. This felt all too real to be a dream or a hallucination. Renji is on guard, unsure just what kind of future awaited him, especially since he’s so out of the loop. “Him!? He looks like any other peasant! What’s so special about him!?” Her gestures thrown his way, the utter disgust in her eyes, it sparks an anger in him that he barely contains. Were she a customer, he’d have already chewed her out for her behavior, but given the situation he knows he can’t afford to be so careless with his words. “Just breathe,” he thought. “Speak little, and only when spoken to. We’ll figure this out, I just have to stay calm.”

His resolve was tested when Illya would invade his personal space immediately, marching straight up to him, hands on her hips and a glare that’d turn most men’s blood cold. It was only now that his mind registered the weapon she had on her back. That a girl so short could wield a weapon like this was insane to him. Either she was an idiot, or this was a land where such oddities were normal. Either way, he had a feeling he’d find out soon. For now, he tries to act naturally, to be unwavering despite what’s going on. “I’m Renji Naoki. I can already tell this is a different world. Why have you summoned me?” He had hoped that by being honest—showing that he was clueless—might calm her down. However, it is evident that he has grievously miscalculated. “Father, I cannot accept him! Send him back already!”

Hutch steps forward, holding his hands nervously together in front of him. “I’m sorry, your highness, but we cannot.”

“Why not!? Now everyone knows we’ll have just summoned some useless boy into our world, and we’ll all look like idiots! If you think I’ll let him anywhere near me, you’re both idiots!” Illya’s tone left no room for argument, assuming all that she says will be final.

Hutch’s words passed through his rising anger at the princess and sank into his heart like an ice cold dagger. He can’t go back. His job, his home, his aspirations, all gone. The manager that proclaimed to have high hopes for him, the rookie that he might have found something with, his plans to get a dog, all went up in smoke, and it was by no fault of his own. It took all Renji had to remain standing, he felt like he could collapse at any moment just from the sheer weight of what had just been done to him. Everything. He had just lost everything, and he was already being shouted at despite having done nothing.

“Do not be so hasty, your highness. Surely there is an innate talent within this man that perhaps even he is yet unaware of.” Balam speaks up, the only one among them to walk close to the princess without fear of reprisal. “Let’s just calm down and give him a chance. Look, a spell like this doesn’t just pick at random. There’s a reason the requirements to cast it are so extreme. Besides, think about how he must be feeling. He didn’t ask for this, so why don’t we just calm down and talk it all over some nice hot—”

“No!!” Illya shrieks, throwing her hand back towards Renji. She was too close, she was certainly going to backhand him by accident. The world seemed to slow suddenly as he took in what seemed like would be an accidental, harmless slap as she went to point to him, but every instinct in his body screamed to dodge it, even if it seemed like it wasn’t that much of a threat. Bending back suddenly, he narrowly avoided what would surely have been lethal, given the reactions of everyone in the room when they saw her carelessness. ”I will not accept this man! He’s clearly no warrior, and the look in his eyes tells me he’s no scholar, either! He has nothing to teach me! I will go and defeat the Dark Lord with Balam as we promised, and that is that! Send him home, throw him out, just get rid of him, I don’t care how!”

“What gives you the right!?” Renji snaps, biting his lip. He had gone too far, but since he couldn’t hold back, there was no going back now. “You ripped me from my home, just when my life was finally starting to get good, and now you’d just throw me out onto the streets and say ‘good luck!?’”

“I didn’t say ‘good luck.’ I don’t care what happens to you, just begone.” Turning her back coldly to Renji, ready to move on—until her eyes suddenly widened, having just realized the tone he took with her. Whipping around, she points a finger straight to his chest. “Don’t you dare speak to me that way!!” Illya shouts back, realizing the tone he was taking with her just a little late. Nobody has gotten so confrontational with her like that before.

“No! You don’t get to throw away my life, and then tell me to go kick rocks!” Renji’s gaze sharpened as he looked to the king, a vengeful purpose alight in his eyes. “Why have you summoned me? What is it you wish me to do, your majesty??”

“Father, no! We don’t need him!” Illya turned to her father, hoping to make her father see reason and get rid of this peasant that didn’t know his place.

The King looked between his beloved daughter and the outsider he had wronged. Sighing through his nose, he walked to the chamber’s exit, not looking back to either of them. “Come. We eat and share words first, then we shall decide from there.”

“But—!” Illya started.

“No buts. The deed is done, and the ritual complete. There is no room left to argue, only what we can do from here. We need to learn more about Renji, and decide from there what is best for you. Come, eat, drink. Know that the halls of Alderthorne are now his home for the time being as well. Hutch, please seek out Nemi and please ensure that she informs the servants that he is to be given every courtesy.”

One by one, they trickle out of the dungeons. Renji, given no real choice, follows the crowd. Strangely, he was suddenly hungry. That shouldn’t be, given he ate a bit at the get-together with his coworkers, but perhaps this was simply another consequence of his summoning. It’ll give him plenty of time to calm down as well. At least it didn’t seem like they were going to execute him for the tone he took with Princess Illya, though judging by how red her face is, she was already planning such an execution.