‘’The Capital Lamia’’

´Hngh!’ I stretch my body out long, as I wake up from my semi-comfortable bed (which is basically a sleeping bag). A carriage is so much better than walking though, so I shouldn’t be complaining about semi-comfortable beds. Evander is discussing something with the driver who picked us up from our disastrous peril we were facing a few days ago. It makes me realize how fast time goes by. Either way, I stick my head out of the window, I notice that we stopped in front of a huge wooden gate.

'Brandr, we're here,’ Evander says looking overjoyed, but calm, as we exit the carriage and stand in front of the gate. ‘Sir, thank you so much for bringing us. We don’t know what would’ve happened if you didn’t pick up us in the wilderness.’

I quickly turn my head towards the kind, blond driver that carried us here. ‘Thank you so much, sir. I hope we’ll be able to pay you back one day for this kind gesture.’ He looks a little bit uncomfortable, as he waves the ‘’thank you’’ away.

‘It’s okay, really. Don’t mind it too much. I’m just glad I was able to help you guys out. Well, I have some business that I have to attend to, so until we meet again I shall say,’ he finishes, as he takes his carriage inside through the gates. I quickly head towards Evander, who is smiling slightly, as he looks at the huge, wooden gate that give entrance to the white walls that rise all the way to the skies. It’s so big, it almost feels intimidating, but beyond that I get the feeling of safety and pride.

'Well then...let's go!' I shout and run to the open gates.

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'Welcome to the capital of Illuminia, Lamia.' Evander takes me through the gates as I look astonished throughout the city.

'Wow! The city is at least twice the size of Edelweiss!' The streets extend lengthy towards the distance, with the various amounts of buildings next to the streets, which are filled to the brim with people. You would not even know where all these people live. Inns, stores with food, candy and everything else, with the roofs colored in various bright colors. The sun shines brightly onto the streets and buildings, making you think that no rain ever falls on this city. It feels like a completely different city than the gray Edelweiss, which is tormented with bad weather for some reason, and its dull atmosphere. It’s genuinely the complete opposite.

‘It’s amazing! This place is huge,’ I almost shout out as I walk through the streets. It tingles my adventurous spirit in my heart even more. I can see the hundreds of people roam through the streets, accomplishing their own daily tasks. We slowly walk through the streets that are structurally made, to prevent collision of a tenfold people at the same time.

'That's good to hear. I'm proud of the city myself. With all the renovation and rebuilding, you couldn’t even see that the fact that it’s hundreds of years old,' Evander says, stroking his brown-gray beard.

'Hundreds?!

'I think it is almost 900 years old already.' My mouth falls open.

'9-9-900 years?!' I'm not impressed anymore. I'm astonished.

'I wonder if Edelweiss can remain that long...' I hope so at least. I look up, at the big keep high above the city, with a tower shining a radiant, aurora light.

'The name of the city, Lamia, means radiant. Quite fitting for our kingdom. That light can drive away the darkness of Abyss, so it's very important to all of us.' Evander gives me a brief explanation about the tower. I wonder how on earth a big torch can drive the darkness away, but I keep the question for myself, since I don’t want to pry too much. My mind is set on returning home to my own world. I have already spent too much time here.

'That's where the royalties rest, right? Our destination?'

He starts laughing. 'Don't rush it. We still need a place to rest.'

'No, we do not, you do. I need to go back to my home world as soon as possible. I can't afford to wait any longer.’ I hand him my bags and the sword he gave me. 'These were yours to begin with. So, take them.' He looks like he wants to struggle, but he accepts my bags and sword.

'It was a pleasure, Brandr.'

'Likewise, Evander. Live a long life, will you?' I shake his hand and take off. I wave once last time before I disappear out of his sight. It was fun hanging around with him this last month, and I’m sure I won’t forget him for a long time, but this is a friendship that was destined to be broken. I come to a standstill, looking back one last time. I find myself smiling slightly, before I turn back and head forward.

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I rush as fast as I can to the keep. It takes a few curves, but at one part, it's straight up. I don't see a real difference in level or class. Both wealthy and less wealthy walk on the same streets, all near the keep. I say, "less wealthy", because I haven’t seen anyone that looked poor the entire time that I have walked around this city. I hope Edelweiss can change into this. I can clearly remember the streets of Edelweiss when I walked around. People were struggling on the ground, dirty, hungry. Everyone was trying to work hard, but the difference in class was so big. If the king didn’t try so hard to equal things between royals and citizens, I’d be sure they rioted even more than they already do. But that never really interested me. It was all just so dull and gray, like a monochrome world of eventless moments. That’s why I want to change my country. I want to bring the color to my city, and start thinking ahead to a future where Edelweiss will outgrow us all. Even if I’m only just a son of a duke, I must do my best to realize my goals.

‘Jeez, why am I thinking so much about this suddenly. I need to go home. Sooner than later…’ I start walking up, since I got tired of running. While I walk towards the keep, I realize something. 'I can't just walk into the keep like a royal...' You wouldn't be able to do that in Edelweiss, so the security here must be tight as well. I need a plan to get in. I look for the nearest guards to ask for direction. 'Uhm, sir. Can you point me to the library?' He gives me a long, and hard to follow explanation. I decide to ask a local later. The only reason I’m going to a library is because I need to think in silence.

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‘Maybe I should've stayed with Evander...,’ I say to myself when I finally realize that I'm lost. I already asked ten other people for directions, but I still end up getting lost. 'Don't tell me...I'm bad with directions?!' A sudden realization. I was pretty good with directions in Edelweiss. 'Probably because this city is too big, and that there are too many people walking around.’ I walk and walk in random directions, until I suddenly stumble on a certain building. Thanks to Evander's spell, I can also read their language. A board above the building says with big letters: LIBRARY. 'I've made it!' I shout through the streets, grabbing everyone's attention. I don't feel embarrassment, only happiness.

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I've been reading at least 15 books about other dimensions, but they're all but theories, fantasies and other useless things. People are giving me weird looks with the stash of books next to me. ‘Dah! I can’t take this anymore!’ I shout out in frustration. The woman behind the counter shushes me, and points to a sign above her that says: ‘’Please keep quiet.’’

‘I’m sorry…’ I can only apologize. I decide to give up on this place. I haven’t gotten any further since coming here. I grab all the books that I had and place the books back one by one. When I turn around the corner to put away the last book, I accidentally bump into another person. I can hear her yelp as she falls to the ground. I quickly drop the book I was holding and catch her in her fall. I support her light body with one hand, and when her cowl falls off with reveals her face, I feel captivated. She’s beautiful… Her face, her blue, clear eyes, her whitish hair that goes to her shoulders, the slender figure that lies in my arms. I wonder if all women in Illuminia are so beautiful. I doubt it. Since no one really drew my attention. No…this girl is special. I can understand that she wanted to hide her face, or she’ll be bothered by pretty much everyone. That’s how beautiful she is. ‘Ah…’ I fail to say anything. She looks me in the eyes, and blushes slightly.

‘T-Thank you very much.’ I don’t respond since I’m still entranced by her. It takes me a few seconds to get back to my senses.

‘N-No, it’s nothing really. Are you hurt somewhere?’ She shakes her head. I pick up my book and see that she also dropped one. I pick it up and hand it to her, but she looks hesitant at it. I don’t really understand.

‘Uhm, I can’t reach the top. Could you…put it back for me?’ She has such an angelic voice that my body nearly freezes the moment she opens her mouth. I’m quickly getting aware that I’m observing her every movement. I quickly put myself out of trance.

‘Ah, of course. I quickly put it back, together with mine. I take another look at the title of her book: ‘’The Two Worlds’’. ‘You’re interested in other worlds as well?’ I try to ask her, even though she doesn’t look like she wants to talk.

‘Uhm…yes. I was curious if others actually do exist, but after coming here, I start to think that they do not.’ She quietly turns away from me. ‘Excuse me.’ She walks past me, but before she gets past, I whisper her one last thing:

‘They do exist. Trust me.’ She turns around for a moment, and then walks away. I doubt I’ll ever see her again, which saddens me. She truly was a pretty girl, but once I get back to my own world, I’ll have to forget her.

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I leave the library and walk towards the keep again. The search in the library was a complete waste. Well no entirely. ‘Now that I think about it, I never got to ask her name.’ It’s a shame really since I probably won’t forget her for a long time now. I clearly remember her light blue eyes, her light white hair, and a face so beautiful that’ll shame everyone. ‘Damnit get it together.’ I slap my cheeks and change to a power-walk. I feel myself walking faster and faster. At one point I started running. I run as fast as I can. My body feels tired, but I don’t care. I don’t feel in control of my body at all. I just feel like I need to rush as fast as I can to the keep. I bump a few times against some people, and at one point, I almost fall, but I quickly get up and start running again. Everyone is looking in my direction now, wondering why I am in such a hurry. Before I know it, I stand in front of the keep. Two guards are standing at the gate. I need a moment to cool off and catch my breath, since I ran non-stop. I wipe my sweat off with my shirt, and head towards the gate. One of the guards stops me.

‘Halt, where do you think you’re going?’ I completely forgot that they wouldn’t just let me in.

‘Listen, I don’t have time for this, but I’ll tell you. My name is Brandr, and I’m not from this world. I come from Edelweiss, in another dimension. I want to speak to the royal family, since they might now something about this. Evander said that the royals could help me.’ The guard points his spear to my throat.

‘I don’t know if you’re drunk or mad, but I won’t allow you to take a step through this door.’ He pressed, and a little bit of blood flows out. He looks at the blood at my neck and petrifies. ‘A-ah…’ He steps back. The other guard approaches as well.

‘Aaron, what are you flapping about?’ The first guard named Aaron points at my neck. The second guard takes a close look, and steps back in fear as well. I quickly clean it up.

‘I hope you’ll stay quiet about this…’ I close my eyes as I say that to them. ‘Can you let me through now?’ Aaron points his spear up to me again.

‘That cannot be true. That surely is witchcraft!’ Aaron almost shouts out, making me worry if people are staring at this occurring scene.

‘Well, well. Looks like you didn’t get that far after all. I guess it’s time for my appearance once again. I thought you wouldn’t be able to get in without my help, so I waited for you to come back to me, but you never came. Where were you all this time?’ I turn around, and see Evander stand tall behind me.

‘Evander! How did you…I mean, I was at the library, but I didn’t find anything, so I thought I should come here, but they’re not allowing me in, and…’

‘Shhh…I get it. Don’t worry. Let me handle this. Guards, I would like to speak with the Queen and Princess with this young man. Tell them…that ‘’the’’ Evander wants to speak with them.’ The guard looks at Evander and bows to him.

‘Excuse me for holding you up, o great Evander the Wise. I will tell her Majesty immediately.’ He rushes through the gate, and talks to someone, who runs up the hill to the keep.

‘Say o’ great Evander the Wise…are you by chance a really important person?’ He laughs and nods at me. Crap, I’ve been eating the stock out of his house and acted rude towards him. ‘P-P-Please forgive me, Evander.’ I quickly beg him.

‘Hahaha, don’t worry about it. Now look up, we’ve got a meeting to attend.’ He throws me a bag. ‘Put your clothes in there when the guards give you new ones. I’ll have them washed, but we need you to look clean in front of her Majesty and her daughter. The gate opens in front of us, revealing the beauty of the inside keep…