Welcome to Lyndell!

“Where did you go, Theo?”

“AHHHH!!”

Just a dream. Thank God. Apparently I also dream in an imaginary world.

I blinked, feeling my heart thudding, and tried to place that voice: I saw a woman with long brown hair, and that one sentence that keeps hunging in my head like a half-remembered song. The rest was all fog.

Who was it?

I was lying on the carriage floor. We’d all dozed off during the journey, from the looks of it we’d been traveling about an hour. I don’t think we’re halfway there.

I miss cars and my phone. A carriage rocks you to sleep in the worst way and there’s no way to kill time. The ride is slower, bumpier, and somehow lonelier.

I peeked through the curtain at the driver, he stood by two horses, holding both reins in one hand, perfectly effortless. Seriously cool. I love horses, always wanted to be a cowboy. I think every man would like to be like Clint Eastwood or Arthur Morgan. Maybe when this world ends, I'll ask Brain to transfer me to an old westone.

I almost wanted to ask if I could hold one but then realized I’d probably be more in the way than any help.

So I guess I'm just going to have to stare at this wall for the rest of the trip...
AND THE THREE OF THEM WON'T STOP SNORING! ALL THREE OF THEM!!

Something soft thumped onto my leg.

“Clinch-clinch.” I felt a tiny weight. I looked down.

Oh, it's Atum, Mochiko’s hamster. He was curled against my knee, peeking out of Mochiko’s hat. The little thing blinked at me like it owned the carriage. I hadn’t expected her to bring him on the trip to be honest.

I wish I had a pet back then...

Uh, I saw in a video that hamsters can "liquefy" themselves, and literally look like liquid.
I need to try that!

Okay, here goes my right index finger, Atum, I'm just going to put a little weight on your back to-

“GYAHHHHH!! THAT SON OF A BITCH BIT ME!!” I yelped, jerking my hand back. Atum looked happy. I did not.

We arrived in Lyndell , what a beuatiful city: white stone and gold filigree reflecting a huge, perfect sun. Massive rectangular buildings made of the purest quartz from the Nether or something like it, with golden edges. The streets were small, but way busier than Holtmark: carriages, horses, guards, uniformed servants, people in fine clothes. The whole city smelled like polished stone and warm bread.

The temperature? Undoubtedly perfect. Around twenty degrees, and not a single cloud in the sky.

One avenue stood out: wider, traighter, leading toward an enormous building that had to be the palace.

Ruma bared her teeth in a grin.

“THAT’S WHERE THE KING LIVES!! That bastard Sebastião…” she said, like she’d been waiting years to insult royalty. ...Maybe that's a crime.

Gota yawned. “How sleepy... what time is it?”

"Almost 15 you useless tomboy!" Ruma answered "Stop basing your entire personality on that!"

"Useless tomboy?... That's a new one." Gota muttered, not interested in the banter.

We were on the palace grounds, a green expanse in the heart of Lyndell. Walking here felt like walking under Mona Lisa, everyone else had seen it before. The girls reacted differently: Ruma fizzed with excitement and didn’t try to hide it; Mochiko kept wide-eyed and twitchy, and Gota was the same half-asleep silhouette she always was.

What a shame, walking among three girls, everyone will look at me... I-I SHOULD FEEL LUCKY, ACTUALLY!

I jumped when something moved under Mochiko’s hat. “Uh? Theo, why do you look so scared?” she asked, as if she’d caught me staring at a ghost.

“N-nothing,” I mumbled.

“Hah! you are jealous of my Atum? My two-year-and-four-months fluffball?” she crowed, pride all over her face.

"N-No, not really... J-Just wondering how you managed to bring him here." I said

"Oh..."

With that, she took of her hat and showed me it's inside. There, there was a gray thing lying down comfortably.It blinked at us like a small gray emperor.
A mixture of pride and pure happiness resided in her gaze.

"I trained him myself... Isn't cute this pichichichi-"

Ruma interrupted "Did you train him to... Not come out of the hat?"

"I-IT’S NOT EASY AS IT SEEMS!!"

Then Ruma tried to convince her to lend the hamster for a week, but ochiko snapped, “GET OUT!!” The rest of the walk promised to be long.

“HEY OVER THERE!!” Ruma yelled suddenly, pointing up at the rooftops.

Two men were sparring on a tiled roof, swaying and moving with light steps. One swinging a heavy iron sword, the other dodging everything with eerie calm. The man with the sword tried to make every attack he could, even trying to combine it with his fist, but wasn't able to land a single blow. The man who dodged literally didn't moved his feet, and his hands hardly shifted. Then, with a single soft touch to the enemy’s neck, he made the man collapse.

“IT’S ANFANG!! THAT’S HIM!!” Ruma screamed, practically vibrating with pride. A crowd down there cheered, Anfang jumped down and handed the fallen man to a passing royal guard like it was no effort at all.

As Anfang was cheered by the entire population of Lyndell, Ruma shouted:

"THAT'S MY CAPTAIN!! THAT'S MY BOSS!!!"

With her yells Anfang saw us and waved. He came over chuckling, as casual and composed as always.

“Anfang! You’d make a better king than that idiot!” Ruma blurted.

“Me? Haha, no, not my goal,” he said, smiling.

Mochiko piped up, “That's right! Your goal must be to defeat me one day!”

“...I already did that, more than once,” Anfang said, half serious, half teasing.

They circled him like puppies. Anfang’s charisma was obvious, even Gota looked momentarily interested.

While the other girls were doing a lot of questions to him, Gota sidled up next to me, whispering close to my ear, “Don’t you know where his power comes from?”

“Uh, lucky magic?” I offered. Idiot.

“Seriously? Not even what a Lygi is?” Her tone was mocking and a little incredulous. Lygi? I’d never heard the term before. Apparently this world came with its own power system besides magic.

Suddenly Anfang called down to us. “Oh hi Theo, how are you doing?”

“O-Oh, fine,” I said, heart thumping so hard I could barely speak.

He smiled easy. “Good. Are you getting along with them?”

“Yes, it’s fine,” I lied. My throat tightened. No, surely not fine.

Ruma reached out and pinched Anfang’s cheek comically. “How could you lose to him? Explain!”

Mochiko also tried to pull Anfang's cheek, but she didn't reached so she just pulled his arm.

"Yeah! You always glazed about being invicinble in those things!!"

"I-I-Ihh, c-calm down..."

I know he lost on purpose... I'm sure of it.

“Why did you call us here then?” Ruma asked.

“I actually invited everyone,” Anfang said, his expression going back to that calm smirk. “I wanted to spend some time with you. Princis might be late, though. But, I just wanted to spend some time with you.”

Ruma’s face fell a little. “I thought we had a mission.”

“Oh, come on,” Mochiko mumbled, but you could tell she liked the change of pace. “It’s been months since I did anything fun.”

Gota leaned in and murmured to me, just loud enough for my ear, “Isn’t he great?”

They liked him. A lot. They were comfortable around him in the way people are comfortable around someone who makes danger look like a joke.

“Ah, the other two just arrived,” Anfang said, and I looked up, feeling both small and oddly glad to be there.