Chapter 2: A Bumpy Road

Oh wow, what a dream. I felt the sheets around me… hmm… something felt off. The sheets felt much coarser and cheaper than the sheets I had bought months before. I rubbed my eyes as I glanced around at my surroundings.

This was definitely not my room. It appeared as though I had been tossed into a role-playing game set in the medieval period. A small lamp glimmered beside me barely projecting enough light to make the room visible. The bed I was in was a tad smaller than a twin and was adorned with gold on each bed post. The sheets appeared to be a greenish brown and were made from something that resembled tweed. The walls were pale and had aged considerably with small cracks forming near the base.

I jumped out of the bed. What the hell was going on? I was just at the Deli Mart, and I ended up here somehow. I made my way towards the door and opened it enough to peek through the crack. A pair of eyes met mine.

“Ahhhhh!!! He’s awake! He’s awake! Call the Grand Transmasculator!” The pair of eyes vanished in an instant as the individual on the other side of the door sprinted somewhere else in the building.

A bit confused and scared, I made my way to the window to see if there was a way to escape my current prison. The window did open, but this success was short lived as the window had a prison like bar frame securing the entire area of the window. I pounded on the bars to no avail.

Admitting defeat, I made my way back to the bed. Did this have something to do with that odd sphere outside of the Deli Mart? Just as I began to get lost in my thoughts, I heard a faint knock at my door.

“Umm.. s-sir, c-can I come in?” A girl with dark blue hair peeked around the corner of the door. She was dressed in a green gown with light blue frills tracing the seams. She appeared to be about 16 or 17 years old and had sharp purple eyes that pierced through me. Her appearance startled me slightly as she was quite beautiful.

“Ugh.. sure, but if I can ask, where am I? I’m a bit disoriented because I have no idea where I am. Am I your prisoner?” I decided to take the diplomatic approach and attempt to gain information in a way that negated the need for confrontation. Plus, I really didn’t have much of an option at the moment.

“Oh my goodness!!! No you are not a prisoner here… I know it seems that way with all of our precautions, but this is a first for us as well. We weren’t sure how you would react to your new surroundings.” I peered over her shoulder and noticed two men glancing at me in a curious, but cautious fashion.

“So are the two men behind you my welcoming party? Or do they have something else in mind?”

“Oh! No No! These two are members of the Parincia Guard that were sent here to protect you!”

“Protect me? From who? I’m not exactly a threat.”

“Well… many in the world may see you as a threat to their sovereignty or to life as we know it, but you are the only hope we really have anymore.” She glanced down at the floor, a sad expression moved across her face. She quickly recovered and noticed me watching her intently.

“But that isn’t for me to discuss with you, we must take you to the Empress at once.”

“But I…”

Before I had a chance to say anything else, my “protection” moved to either side of me, and we began our descent to the bottom landing where a carriage was awaiting us. As I exited the building to enter the carriage a crowd gathered and began examining me intently. I wish that I could say that I was flattered, but the glares weren’t welcoming. The older women and men of the town glared at me with ferocity and the children cautiously stood behind their parents. I simply kept my head down as the guards pushed me up into the carriage and the girl entered behind me.

“I never got your name by the way. Who are you?”

“Oh my! I apologize. My name is Felicia von Bettinger. I’m the daughter of the late Slain von Bettinger. I do research on behalf of the Royal Court into Transmaculation.”

“Trans… what? I’m sorry but I’m not familiar with the term.”

“You’ve never heard of Transmaculation? Hmm…” She cocked her head to one side and looked at me with a puzzled expression on her face.

“Should I know what that is?”

“Well, it’s a bit disconcerting that you are unfamiliar with the term as it is apart of daily life here. Think of it as a way of conforming the world to your will. Like creating water and other substances or attacking creatures with elements.”

Hmm… it sounds a bit like magic. Maybe I can get her to show me an example of some.

“You wouldn’t mind showing me some of your Transmaculation would you?”

“Of course not, here, give me that cup setting beside you.”

I placed the cup in Felicia’s hand. She pulled out what looked like a gemstone and placed it into a cylindrical object that was hollowed through the center for the hand to grasp. She closed her eyes and recited, “Mocare le sane!” Suddenly, the cup filled up with water as if it had been placed under a tap.

“Wow! Incredible!” I gawked at the cup now full of water.

“Can you drink this?”

“Sure, it’s fine to drink.” Felicia handed the cup to me and just as I reached out to grab it, the carriage hit a pothole in the road.

“Woah!” I flung forward and pushed the cup into Felicia’s lap. The water splashed onto her gown and drenched her waist.

“Felicia, I’m so sorry about that! Let me help you!” I began to unbutton my shirt to help clean the mess off of her lap. She smiled softly.

“It’s fine. I promise I’ll live. There is no need for you to do that.”

I blushed slightly. There was something about her calm and collected demeanor that seemed to put me at ease.

“I just realized I never introduced myself to you. My name is Elijah Arrington, but you can just call me Eli, everyone does.”

“It’s nice to meet you Eli.” Felicia smiled warmly in my direction.

The carriage abruptly came to a halt, and I could hear discussions occurring outside.

“…. Yes… we have Grand Transmaculator Felicia riding with…. Yes, it is urgent.”

That was all I could really make out. I was expecting them to search the carriage, but Felicia poked her head outside.

“I’m sorry ma’am! I didn’t mean to keep you!”

“It’s quite alright. Would you mind escorting us to the Empress so we won’t have these delays along the way.”

“Y-yes ma’am, please follow me.”

The guard seemed extremely nervous around Felicia and his interactions were robot like in their formality. She must be important here. As we passed through the outward gate, I looked out the window to see a beautiful site. The walls of the outer gate were constructed with white-washed bricks that were topped with guard posts on either side. The wall seemed to continue for miles and likely enveloped the city we were entering. Felicia noticed me admiring the walls.

“It’s quite impressive isn’t it! The Empress spared no expense to use the toughest form of building material we had available.”

“Which is what?”

“Whilstle Stone”

“How strong is it?”

“Well, let’s just say, as strong as we need it to be.” She grinned at my question.

As strong as they need it to be? What does that even mean? Well, regardless, I guess it didn’t really matter. There were a ton of things in this world that I needed to learn if I was going to make it back to my home.

The carriage continued its journey on the cobblestone road until we arrived at the palace. The palace itself was magnificent. It had a main dome in the center adorned with gold leaf and two towers on each side of the dome that were topped in gold. The bricks used in the construction of the palace appeared to be of the same material as that at the front gate but of a much higher quality. The edges were cut with precision and were refined to a point which made it difficult to make out individual bricks.

We ascended the grand staircase in front of the palace and were greeted by more extravagantly armored guards as we crossed the threshold into the main sitting room. Several butlers and maids made there way to Felicia and presented her with tea and asked if she needed anything else. She politely declined and motioned for me to join her. Not wanting to be a rude guest I quickly joined her side.

“Welcome to the Palace of the Empire of Parincia! We will shortly go to meet the Empress, but we should probably get you cleaned up before meeting her. She is a tad busy at the moment anyway.”

Felicia looked over at two of the maids and motioned them over. The two maids quickly scrambled over to where we were standing.

“Be sure to accompany our guest to his room. Clean his clothes and remove any wrinkles from his clothing. Specifically, his shirt. Also, shine and polish his shoes. We need this done quickly so do not hesitate.”

Before I could comprehend what was happening, the maids grabbed my arms and carried me up the stairs to a large guest room in the far-left corner of the castle.

“Please undress and lay your clothes on the bed. We will reenter your room once you have entered the bath to clean yourself.”

“S-sure… thanks, I guess?”

The maids hurried out of the room and closed the door behind them. I looked around the room. The bed appeared to be at least a queen size and had dark red sheets with gold trimmings running along the sides. Two bed stands stood on either side of the bed and a large chandelier made from crystals hung overhead. I guess I should do as they say. It’s not like I have much of a choice. I removed my clothing and placed them on the bed. I then made my way over to the bath to wash my face and try to refocus my mind. So much has been happening and I still don’t really understand what is gong on. Is this a lucid dream? It feels awfully real though.

I started the bath. It appeared to have something similar to a shower head connected above the main faucet. If I was correct, I just needed to attach the tube to the faucet and then place the other end inside the container above. It seemed to be working fine, so I hopped in.

After about 10 minutes, I got out of the bath and peeked out to see if the maids had returned my clothes. Surprisingly, it appeared they had already been cleaned and dried. Maybe they used some transmaculation on them? Either way, I needed to get changed and find some answers from this “Empress.”