Gwyn groaned as he emerged from his slumber. He rubbed one hand over his eyes as he tried to reach for his phone with his other. His hand found nothing but air, and he kept searching for the nightstand where his phone sat. It took him a few more moments before he remembered what had happened on the highway. He sat up in a flash and looked around.

He was sitting in a small room on a bed. The room appeared to be more elliptical. An array of equipment took up much of the floor space to his left, and to his right were several chairs. Someone blue was sitting in one of the chairs, apparently reading on what looked like a stone tablet. A light could be seen radiating off the top, similar to the tablets Gwyn himself was familiar with on closer inspection.

Gwyn turned away. Thoughts swirled around in his head like a hurricane. His best guess was that he was in some sort of hospital room. Thinking back, he had remembered that he was driving when something happened. A portal of sorts, but to where? He shook his head. He would have to think about that later. Taking a deep breath, he looked back to the chairs that sat on his right.

The creature or person was still sitting while focused on the flat tablet. She had not taken notice of the fact that Gwyn was awake. Her face showed a somewhat dissatisfied look. That gave him more time to think.

The person sitting in front of him was blue; that was the most obvious thing. The shade was a light blue, close to the sky more than anything if Gwyn was to make a comparison. The light bounced off it like a gemstone and seemed to sparkle even if she made a slight movement. Her hair flowed down to her shoulders with a sheen that looked like it could be silk. The purple irises in her eyes seemed more prominent than a human's. If she had whites in her eyes, Gwyn could not tell. Other than that, the form was mostly similar to that of a human.

She wore clothing that almost seemed like a costume. It was very sci-fi in feeling, with a form-fitting white suit with some shiny-looking space-age black fabric material forming a skirt over the top. Smooth yellow boots went up to her knees, and a matching short-cut jacket hung over her shoulders. The jacket had no right sleeve to cover her arm, and her blue skin showed from her right shoulder down to her hand.

Gwyn considered what he should say. He didn't know if this person or creature would even understand him in the first place.

"Um," was all Gwyn managed to get out. The blue person tapped the front of what she read and looked at Gwyn.

"Oh, you're up?" she said in a tone that was neither surprised nor interested. "Do you understand me?" The person, after a long moment of silence from Gwyn, asked in a slow voice."

"Yes, yes, I do." Gwyn realized he had been lost in thought and shook his head. "What happened?"

"That's what I'd like to ask you? You suddenly burst into a meeting and almost ran... someone over with your strange vehakul."

"Oh... are they okay?"

"Who?"

"The person I almost hit...."

"Don't worry about it," she said with a sigh.

They fell into silence again after that. Gwyn pondered his next question. He most wanted to ask what she was, but he couldn't come up with how he ought to phrase it.

"Tell me, Netzian, what is your name?" The girl asked.

"What?" The unexpected word in the question threw off Gwyn.

"Your name, the thing that people call you by," she answered with a serious tone.

"I understood... never mind," Gwyn stopped a moment to formulate his subsequent response, "Isn't it customary to give your name first when you ask a question!" Gwyn smiled to himself as he figured he might throw her off with his retort.

"Fiona Whitlock," she answered sharply and with no concern.

"Gwyn Black," he sighed his reply.

Fiona tapped on her tablet and made a couple of swipes. Her eyes moved back and forth as she read what was on the screen. After a moment of silence, she put her tablet down and ran one hand through her silky hair. It fell behind a blue ear that was slightly pointed with two peaks.

"Tell me, Gwyn, where do you come from?"

Gwyn considered giving a sarcastic answer like 'my mother,' but he decided to hold his tongue. He was in an unfamiliar place and was sure he did not fully grasp the situation at hand.

"Come from, in what sense?"

"Hmm," Fiona pressed a finger to her chin for a moment before answering, "what do you call your home world?"

"Earth?" Gwyn answered though it was in a questioning tone. He was starting to suspect why she was asking such a question. It was apparent, but he was still trying to deny it somewhat.

"You're not on earth anymore," she said in a slow and gentle tone. She was trying not to break the news too hard.

"Isekai!" Gwyn said rather enthusiastically. His denial immediately melted away, and his lips began to curve in a goofy smile as realization began to hit him. His sudden outburst surprised Fiona. She jumped slightly in her seat as he shouted.

"You're... taking this rather well? I figured you would have never seen an Aqueenian before. Shouldn't you be more surprised?"

"Uh-queen-ian?" Gwyn said in a confused voice. Fiona pointed at herself. "Ah, I see...." Gwyn said as he thought back to all the fantasy and sci-fi stories he had read in the past. Would all he learned in those stories finally pay off?

Gwyn jumped to his feet from the bed. He stumbled a bit as his legs were a little wobbly.

"Don't get up," Fiona jumped to her feet, "you just had a collision!"

"I didn't notice it before." Gwyn was surprised as he took a step forward.

"You've been out for a day, and your face was burned. You can't be in the best condition. Even with medical treatment, you should at least wait a few hours before trying to move around again."

"My face? Gwyn began looking around the room for a reflective surface. He managed to find one in the frame of the bed and took a look at his face. "It looks fine, though?"

Fiona shook her head.

"We treated it. Now, lay back down already!"

She said matter-of-factly, but Gwyn was shocked by what he saw. As far as he could tell, he saw no physical signs of an accident. Either the crash wasn't as bad as he had assumed, or the medical technology was more advanced in this world. He pressed his hands against his face and smushed it together. There was no unusual pain that indicated the treatment was only cosmetic.

Fiona sighed and looked at her tablet. There was a list of questions on it that she was supposed to ask. She shrugged and threw the device aside. It wasn't like her father would read her report anyway.

"You know what, why don't we step out?"

*****

"Why did you come to our world anyway?" Fiona asked as she and Gwyn stepped out of his room. The door automatically slid with a soft hiss as it shut. Gwyn began to look all around as he walked alongside her.

"Wasn't trying to... Hey, what's that?" Gwyn pointed to an illuminating object sitting on the floor. It had a spiral shape as it rose from the floor and ended in a point.

"A lamp."

"A bit oddly shaped, isn't it?"

"Maybe to you... getting back on topic, you have no idea how you came here?"

"I think I recall some substance; it seemed to encase my car... and the next thing I remember was waking up in the bed. Hey, what's that?"

"Never mind that...."

They turned a corner and began down a new hallway.

"Say, where are we going anyway?" Gwyn asked as they walked past some Aqueenians dressed in what he assumed were doctor's clothes. They waved to Fiona and Gwyn but began muttering about them as soon as the duo had walked past.

"I was just walking randomly; do you want to go somewhere?"

Gwyn thought to himself for a moment while he walked.

"I don't know," he finally replied, "What is there to see?"

"Well, not too much in the hospital, to be honest. However, we have plenty to see all over the city. There's a marketplace not too far from here, you could go on an art tour, and we have the best coliseum on all of Resh!" she said with unmistakable pride.

"So is Resh the name of the city?"

"No, this city is called Quenth; Resh is the whole world," Fiona answered.

Gwyn nodded as he understood. He was piecing things together but still had several more questions.

From what he had put together, Aqueenian was the name of the species that Fiona was. He had thought they were all blue aliens, but during the walk, he had passed several green Aqueenians as well as some turquoise ones.

They were the species that lived in this area of the planet called Resh, but there were at least one more human-like species. Gwyn tried to recall the name, but he couldn't come up with it. He figured it would come back to him later.

"So, what do you guys do for fun around her anyway?" Gwyn said after looking around the hallway; they walked down some more. The shapes of the rooms and hallways seemed to favor curved and intricate shapes, but the overall décor was lacking. They passed a couple of lamps with odd shapes, and any benches had legs that resembled ribbons flowing in the wind, but Gwyn saw no pictures hanging on the glossy, white walls.

"This is a hospital; I'm not sure what you mean by fun."

"I meant more generally, on this planet...."

"Oh, well, it depends on the person."

"I see," Gwyn answered, "So, can we go somewhere out of the hospital?"

"We probably shouldn't; it might cause havoc... actually, yes. We certainly can!" Fiona answered with a devious smile.

"Could you repeat that first part?" Gwyn asked, but Fiona was already happily running ahead and leading the way while waving for him to follow.

She peered around a corner while crouched down as Gwyn caught up.

"I don't see anyone; once I give the signal... we make a break for it!"

"What exactly are we making a break for?"

"The front door. If you take this hallway straight down, you wind up in the central staircase. There are two winding staircases and a large window that goes from the ground floor to the ceiling of the fifth. We run and charge down the stairs and make a break for the front."

"And what purpose will that serve?"

"It will piss off a lot of people, especially my old man," Fiona said while giving Gwyn a thumbs up. Gwyn groaned. He was going to get in trouble as soon as possible in this alien world.

"Is your father some big shot?"

"He's something like that...."

"Is it wise to use me to annoy him?

"You might get beheaded."

"Beheaded?" It took Gwyn a minute to process, but he ended up shouting rather loudly in shock.

"Yeah, it's when they sever your head from your body."

"I like my head on my body!"

"Would you rather lose another part then? I can probably convince them to take off an arm instead. Maybe the left?"

Gwyn took a step back and shook his head.

"How about we don't do anything that would cause me harm."

"Hmm, then we should probably sit you back in the hospital bed. I'm just joking, by the way."

Gwyn sighed, and then he chuckled. He didn't know what else to do.

Fiona stood up from the corner but continued to peer around it.

"Are you two planning to go anywhere," a deep voice asked them from behind in a hushed whisper.

"We are planning to run, but I keep seeing nurses and doctors pass from time to time," Fiona answered.

"This is a hospital; you're going to run into nurses and doctors," the voice answered.

Gwyn turned to see who was speaking to them.

A giant Aqueenian stood behind him. Not only was he tall, but he looked like he could wrestle an ox to the ground with one arm. Gwyn took a step away from this giant figure, mainly as a defensive measure. The Aqueenian smiled at him with bright, yellow eyes.

"Hello, you must be our otherworldly traveler," he said in a deep, booming voice.

The voice caught Fiona's attention, and she turned to look at the newcomer.

"Yes, I am... I think..." Gwyn stuttered.

Gwyn's back faced Fiona, so he could not see her waving her hands at the newcomer as she tried to indicate the massive Aqueenian should leave.

"Nice to meet you; I'm Donn, the crown prince and Fiona's older brother!" Donn put out his large left hand in front of Gwyn. Gwyn stared blankly at the hulk of an Aqueenian. "Oh, don't you do handshakes on your world?" Donn asked quizzically.

Gwyn, meanwhile, was putting some dots together based on what Donn had said. He blurted out his conclusion, though it came out more scrambled than he might have wanted it:

"Crown prince... That means... Fiona... and her father... the king?" He turned to Fiona, who was looking away and whistling.

"You didn't tell him, Fiona?" Donn said without withdrawing his hand, "Hmm; I guess there was no need... Anyway, my friend, are you going to leave me hanging here!" he boomed, though there was no malice in his voice.

Gwyn slowly greeted Donn with a handshake. It was awkward as Gwyn was already not left-handed, and Donn's grip might have well as crushed it. Gwyn resisted wincing in pain as they finished their greeting.

"Brother, would you mind telling me what you are doing here? Surely you are busy with the conference preparations!" Fiona interjected as Gwyn turned away from Donn and shook his hand rather dramatically.

Donn just laughed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interfere with your information gathering. Our father already got wind of our friend waking up and asked me to bring him to the throne room."

"He could have just sent me a message...." Fiona said without a hint of care in her voice.

Donn sighed.

"You know how our father is... why don't we just get going."

Gwyn was awkwardly looking back between the two as they spoke. They turned and waved that he should follow. Fiona took the lead in leading where they should go, and Donn walked next to Gwyn.

"So, is there something between her and the king?" Gwyn whispered to Donn without thinking. He regretted it immediately, and he figured he should not get too involved in their family matters. Surprisingly, Donn answered anyway.

"Our father considers her to be a little different from the rest... but she should tell you on her own. So, tell me, what kind of training have you had?"

"I'm just an ordinary human...."

"Don't be so modest; you came from another world! I suspect you might be a great warrior!"

Gwyn spent the rest of the walk trying to convince Donn he was not someone with extraordinary powers. He failed.

The trio weaved through an underground passage. Gwyn had not even realized they had reached the castle until he arrived in front of the two large ornate doors that marked the throne room entrance. They slowly opened automatically as Fiona and Donn walked forward. Gwyn slowly followed behind while looking at all the details.

Across the room, the king sat on his raised throne. He drummed on the arm of his throne while the queen next to him was slowly lowering her head. She suddenly shot back upright but only started to slowly droop again in a repetition of the pattern.

A mechanical bird suddenly flew around Gwyn's head and screeched at him. He jumped back as it got close to his face, and he instinctively tried to swat it away. The bird retreated and flew across the room to its resting place on the king's shoulder.

"You're late," The king boomed across the room as the large doors began to shut behind them. Gwyn looked back as the doors sealed shut.

"Forgive me, father; we took an unexpected detour," Fiona said as she kneeled in front of the throne. Donn followed suit.

Gwyn looked at the two and then at the king. He shrugged and kneeled in the same manner as the other two.

The king let out a heavy sigh.

"No matter, I summoned you here to tell you what I have decided to do with our unexpected Netzian visitor."

Fiona and Donn both quickly stood to their feet.

"Father, I haven't even given you a report yet," Fiona protested.

"Father, I humbly ask you don't do anything rash."

Gwyn also stood to his feet and looked to the king. He took a step back and looked around the room for a place to run should the need arise. The doors were the only manner to run, and he wasn't sure how to open them.

I guess I'll just see how this plays out, he thought to himself.

"I have decided the intruder shall be executed," the king continued as if no one in front of him had said anything.

Fiona and Donn were silent. They knew once he set his mind to something, the Aqueenian king was unlikely to change it.

"Wait, dear," the queen suddenly seemed to break from her cycle of almost falling asleep and waking up as she spoke to him. The king turned to her to listen. "From another world or not, it might look bad simply executing him before the conference."

"You make a good point; what do you recommend, my dear," the king said as he rubbed a small white goatee on his chin.

"Are they going to talk like we aren't here?" Gwyn whispered to the other two.

The bird cried out and flew from the king's shoulder. It quickly dove onto Gwyn's head and repeatedly pecked him. He struggled to shake it off.

"Instead of execution, why not a spectacle!" the queen suggested while excitedly smacking her hands together in a single clap. She had a smile painted on her blue face.

Gwyn managed to push the bird off of him. It hovered in the air and made an unexpected hissing sound before flying back to the shoulder of the king. The king turned back to his audience of three.

"I have changed my mind," he said with a wicked grin, "I will respect your wishes, my children; our visitor will be slated into a match at the coliseum tomorrow. Should he win, I will grant him citizenship."

The siblings didn't bother protesting; they knew there was no way to convince him otherwise at this point. Fiona simply sighed as she gave up, and Donn's eyes darted around the room as he tried to think of some retort.

The doors behind them began to open slowly. Gwyn thought he might be able to take the opportunity to run, but when he turned around, he quickly realized it wouldn't be that easy.

An Aqueenian, who was a knight, walked into the throne room. He wore a suit of armor, though it appeared to be made out of plastic than metal. The suit was different from one's Gwyn would be familiar with, having odd details molded into the armor's surface, but it was still clearly a suit of armor. The figure had a large sword strapped to his back. He lifted the cover on his helmet to reveal a primarily perfect emerald green face, save for a scar on the right side and clear blue eyes.

"You called, your majesty?"

"Ah, Colton, please escort this Netzian to the arena."

Colton looked at Gwyn with a puzzled expression but simply replied with a:

"Yes, my lord."

"Father, I must protest," Donn spoke up. He began to say something else. Though his lips moved, no sound came out of them. Donn's face made a frustrated glare at his father, but the king ignored it with a wave of a metal-covered hand. Gwyn couldn't help but notice that the bird had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Colton waved for Gwyn to follow. Gwyn looked around the room at the other faces. Fiona and Donn had sorrowful expressions; the king seemed excited, the queen seemed bored, and Colton seemed confused.

Gwyn gave in and followed Colton out of the room. It wasn't until the massive throne room doors closed that the soldier spoke up.

"Sorry about all this; I can't go against the king's orders, though."

"Honestly, I'm not a hundred percent I know what's going on. I get the feeling it's not good?" Gwyn asked as he kept pace with the soldier.

"Hmm, well, we have a coliseum here in Quenth. We usually schedule lots of fights; I expect the king will have you fight against a criminal with both your freedom on the line."

Gwyn didn't bother saying anything in reply as they kept walking. He just sighed and gave in; his adventure was about to end rather abruptly.