It was black everywhere. It was so dark that I wasn't even able to see anything. There were many questions in my mind, but only one answer to it- "We'll meet again, Chrysta..." someone whispered.
"Who are you?!" I shouted in my loudest pitch. This time, I wanted to know the answer, but surprisingly the answer that came was- "CHRIST!"
The sound was so loud that it forced me to open my eyes. I found myself sitting on an aurel.
(In simple human language, it's similar to a bench. A bench is mostly made using wood, but an 'Aurel' is made using golden roots from the aquatic tree called 'Aurelius.')
"When did I doze off here?" I murmured in half-sleep.
When I looked upwards, I could see Princess Adriana standing right infront of me, with her arms crossed sternly across her chest. She had a disgusting look on her face as if she hated even having a glimpse of my face.
She indeed hated me a lot! Why? I didn't know the reason, but one thing that I knew for sure was that, this hate wasn't something that could turn into friendship very easily.
"If you're done sleeping, then hurry off to the entrance gate with your luggage," she blurted out.
"Yes, princess," I bowed down and answered. But when I looked infront, she wasn't there.
"The princess- she was just now right infront of me, then..." I wondered while looking all around.
"There she is!" I could see her walking away- from whom you ask? Ofcourse from me.
I remarked "She indeed hates me a lot, doesn't she?"
Not wasting any more time, I shouted "Cora!" It was the name of my best buddy in the whole Kingdom. She was a very rare species of Cordelia.
(In simple human language, it's similar to a dolphin in structure. But the only difference is that Cordelias are mostly violet in colour while normal dolphins are grey in colour.)
'Cora' was a nickname which I had given to her. She was rare because she wasn't violet in colour. Rather she was purple-pinkish in colour with a very beautiful floral design on her spine.
I sat on her along with my luggage and headed off towards entrance gate. I could see a lot of 'Marens' standing with their sons and daughters.
('Maren' is a term which is referred to the people of 'Maren Kingdom'.)
Just when I had stepped down from Cora, someone behind me said "Christ, can we talk for a minute?" I clearly knew this voice. It was the voice of the Queen Sedna. She was the ruler of 'Maren Kingdom' or in simple language, the 'Water Kingdom.'
"Sure, your majesty," I answered while bowing down.
"Please, get up."
I did as she ordered. But what surprised me was, all of a sudden she held both of my hands.
"Your majesty-" before I could even complete my sentence, she cut me off inbetween "Right now, I'm not talking to you as a Queen, I'm talking to you as a mother."
She continued with a concerned face "I know that you'll take good care of Invidia. I have not doubt in it but..."
I grabbed her hands a bit tightly and said with an assuring voice "Don't worry your majesty, I'll surely keep her safe even if it costs me my life."
I was the special knight assigned for Princess Adriana and it indeed was my duty to keep her safe at all costs.
She cried up a bit and with a genuine smile she said "Thank you, Christ."
Before we could even talk a bit more, there came a call "Your majesty, the portal has opened!"
She quickly wiped her tears and said "You should hurry up, Christ." I nodded and she left.
Looking towards Cora I said "I'll miss you," and patted on her head. She just smiled. Ofcourse she couldn't understand what I said, but she could feel my feelings for her. Picking up my luggage, I headed towards the portal.
The portal was deep violet in colour and was indeed quite smaller than the main entrance gate. But it's length was long enough for a person with a maximum of height 10 inch to go inside.
I was just going to step inside the portal, when all of a sudden her majesty called my name "Christ!"
I turned back and saw her with a happy yet sad face "Take care of yourself too." She indeed was a Queen, but to me, she was more like a mother.
With a smile, I replied "I surely will. Thank you, your majesty," and stepped into the portal. I just crossed fast and leapt through the portal, leading to 'A New World of Wonder!'
Everything was black for a certain moment, but just with the blink of an eye, suddenly everything turned bright. Infront of me, stood a lady who looked in her 50s.
She asked "Has everyone from the Maren Kingdom entered?" I, who was the last one to enter the portal answered "Yes, Miss..."
I paused. Ofcourse I didn't know her name. She introduced herself "Alinta. You can call me Miss Alinta."
She pointed her hand towards the portal and said "If everyone from the Maren Kingdom has entered, then I'll be closing this portal. Afterall, this was the last station."
There came a dark violet light from her ring and the portal was closed while she was speaking all of this.
Looking towards all Marens, who had just arrived, she declared "Enjoy yourselves!" and vanished.
I remarked in my mind "She must be a very experienced mage. But I wonder, what kind of magic she specialise in?"
All of a sudden there came a shout "Adriana!" It was female voice, but what surprised me more was Princess Adriana was someone who belonged to the royal family and there was no way that some normal citizen would call her name informally, unless that person was prince or princess, himself or herself.
A lady with dark red hair suddenly hugged Princess Adriana and she didn't seem to hate it. She rather seemed elated. There came a voice behind me "Dracona, there you are and I've been searching you over the whole cruise," It was the voice of a male.
A question disturbed in my mind "Dracona... I think I've heard this name, but where?" Again that same male voice said "Let her atleast breathe."
I turned back to see the face of that person. I know I shouldn't admit it, but he was quite handsome.
There came a voice behind me "Ugh Samuel, you just can't stop yourself from ruining this special moment of besties, can you?"
When I heard this name, I had blanked out. The person standing infront of me was the great Prince Samuel who was the youngest person ever in the 'Irad Kingdom' or 'Dragon Kingdom" to be able to shape-shift himself into the form of a dragon, barely at the age of 10 along with his sister.
The Iradians used to call him the 'God of War.' It was because he was the finest swordsman and horseman of his age. Along with it, he was the fiancé of Princess Adriana. But neither had I met Princess Dracona, nor Prince Samuel before.
('Iradian' is a term which is referred to the people of 'Irad Kingdom'.)
I quickly knelt down on the ground and greeted him "Greetings, your highness, Prince Samuel." There was silence for a few seconds. I wondered what happened.
But it was broken by Princess Dracona who questioned Princess Invidia "Who is this, Invidia?"
"He's a knight of Maren Kingdom," Princess Invidia answered.
"Knight...? Don't tell me that he's that well-know Knight Christ whom Queen Sedna brags a lot about," assumed Princess Dracona.
"...You guessed it right," said Princess Adriana.
"He's quite famous in Irad Kingdom, y'know," complimented Princess Dracona.
"...I see," concluded Princess Adriana.
Suddenly I felt something on my neck. Being a knight for a total of 8 years, I could easily feel at once that it was a sword.
"How dare a filthy knight like you not bow down at once you saw me?!" shouted Prince Samuel.
"I'm done for!" I commented in my mind.