"Christa! Chill! It's me!"
"Huh?" I blinked at the familiar voice. "Anna?"
I blinked as the curtains were drawn to let the light in and blinded me. Adjusting to the brightness, I looked to see my best friend?! I stared at her, not believing what I was seeing. My best friend was completely transformed.
Anna was wearing a beautiful white gown that reached her feet. The fabric was flowing around her body like waves and a lavender ribbon wrapped around her waist and her shoulders with a white rose in the center of the ribbon's bow. At the end of the sparkling white gown was a matching purple edge. Her hair was actually down and slightly curled with a silver tiara shining on her beautiful locks. Seeing her like this made me remember how much she inherited from her mother. It was no wonder I thought she was a ghost when she was hidden in the shadows.
"Happy birthday, Screams-A-Lot!" Anna cheered, waking me up from her beauty. "How was your birthday date with my right-hand man?"
"Huh? Birthday? Date?" I blinked, forgetting everything I learned. I only remembered one thing. "My parents! They must be worried! I've been gone for almost a day now!"
Anna simply shrugged. "Don't worry about it. I got it covered." Despite her appearance, she was still my tomboy best friend.
Before I could ask her for details, the door reopened to reveal Jason who was out of breath. He looked worried at first, but he saw Anna and his face changed to annoyance. "She's the reason why you screamed? Please don't scream like that again. I thought an intruder broke in." He sighed as he shook his head.
"You thought the same as me," I told him, giggling a bit.
"Come on, Jason." Anna laughed as she went up to the boy, placing her elbow on his shoulder. It was kind of funny for her to do so when he was a few inches taller than her. "You love me and my rebelliousness."
"Don't be so sure of that, Your Highness. Your actions always involve dangerous encounters that can be life-threatening or will get us scalded by your father and my uncle."
The tomboy friend of mine simply looked at me while pointing at Jason. "I love this guy. The way he talks makes me want to sleep. Perfect for bedtime."
"Your Highness, please behave yourself in front of your guest." Jason scowled as they looked at each other. I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from laughing at their expressions. Anna had a cute smile while Jason was frowning at her.
"Stop with the 'Your Highness' thing already, Jason," Anna smirked. "Christa knows how I act and she still loves me. Right, my best friend forever loves to behave in front of others when I do not?"
"Yes, my best tomboy friend that can beat a boy at basketball." I giggled as I remembered the day she beat five boys at a game with another friend of ours. I looked at Jason with a begging smile. "Please let her be herself around me. I would really appreciate it."
Anna came to me and hugged me. "See? She's the polite one that has manners."
I had to keep myself from laughing at his face. "Is that so? Well, what happened to you?" He asked, making me realize how mean he is.
Anna let me go and grinned. "I was spoiled by my grandparents, mother, and then my father." She did the victory sign as Jason looked away, defeated.
Laughing at the two almost made me not realize my best friend's words. "Oh yeah. Anna, you have a father here. He's the king which is why everyone here calls you by a title meaning royalty."
Anna crossed her arms over her chest, smiling at me with pride. "You're not an honors student for nothing. You have gotten everything figured out."
"When did you meet him?" I asked her as I sat at my bedside.
"I was about nine when I met my dad. It was about five months after I met you." Anna started as she sat next to me. "You went out of town with your parents while I wandered into the forest behind my grandparents' house. I was chasing a rabbit that lead me to a cave."
"Did you turn into Alice from Wonderland?" I joked.
"Yeah, except I lost that stupid rabbit for good." She pouted, making me laugh. She shook out of it for the rest of the story. "Anyway, when I finally got out of the cave, I ended up in the village. I was little and didn't really know anything, so I asked for directions so I could go home. They freaked about my eyes and I freaked out with theirs. Soon, I was taken to the castle to meet the king. It was weird meeting him and when I found out he was my dad, I was disappointed."
That made me stare at my friend with concern. I would have been shocked but not disappointed if I realized my father was a king from another world. I just had to ask her. "Why were you disappointed?"
"I thought my dad was a hitman or a secret agent."
I kept the laughter in control and I continued to stare at her. "Why did you think that?" I asked her, hoping for a good answer.
"Mom said that he couldn't live with us because he had bad people after him." She shrugged as she explained. "So after I saw a movie about secret spies and the mafia with Grandpa, I thought that that was what my dad did for a living. I seriously pointed at one of the characters and told my grandpa that that man was my dad. They didn't tell me that I was wrong so I seriously believed it."
"You so would." I could only laugh at my friend while Jason shook his head. After I could breathe again, I asked. "How did you know that the king was your dad?"
"I didn't until I met Excalibur," Anna told me as she played with the rose on her dress. "I call him Calibur for short."
"Wait, are you talking about that wolf?" I asked, remembering the animal turning into the sword that sent shivers down my spine. "Excalibur, the legendary sword of King Arthur who is your ancestor, is a wolf? I thought that the wolf was a real illusion."
"Haha, sorry but he's not." Anna smiled at me. "Anyway, the wolf came up to me right when I walked into the doors and Dad knew I was his long-lost daughter after seeing that the wolf was so protective of me."
"Woah." I managed to say. "That wolf was protective of you? Why?"
"That wolf is loyal to the royal blood and it possesses the power of Excalibur," Anna told me as she lay on my bed. "Dad told me the story about the wolf that processes the energy from the sword that he created with his powers."
"Possessing the power of Excalibur? Excalibur is a Real Illusion?" I asked.
"Yes, Arthur's first Real Illusion was created with the help of two other people who helped him with the ideas," Anna explained. "Excalibur was a Real Illusion that became so powerful that only those with Arthur's blood can use it. The creation of the sword is passed down to every royal member and I could tell you, but it's a royal secret and I'll get in trouble. Sorry."
"I see." If it's a royal secret, then she can't tell me everything. However, I was curious about the wolf. "What's the story about the wolf? Can you tell me that?"
"A really good one that I have been wanting to tell you for years now!" Anna squealed as she faced me. "Long ago, King Artus, a descendant of King Arthur like me, saved an injured gray wolf from a bear that was going to kill it. The king brought the wolf back with him and the wolf made a complete recovery. Artus found out that the wolf was a lone wolf and invited it to stay with the royal family at the castle. It lived here for many years and it protected the king and his family. However, a group of ill-mannered Tytolari came to the castle and almost killed the baby prince in his sleep. The wolf protected the baby until the guards came, but it was badly injured. Artus panicked and took the creature to the Lady of the Lake when all hope was lost."
"The Lady of the Lake?" I asked, interested in the story.
"Ah…" Anna blinked and Jason only stared at her, disappointed. "Well, in the human world, it's known that Merlin made the sword and the Lady of the Lake hid the sword after the war, so keep that in mind, okay? Let's keep the human version of the story is the true story here as well, so you won't get confused."
"Okay, okay. I knew that. I was surprised that she was referenced here as well." I giggled as Jason shook his head. "What happened to the wolf?"
"The Lady of the Lake told Artus to let the wolf go in the water. Hesitating, he slowly sank the wolf in the water and started to cry, thinking that the wolf passed away. However, he looked up to see the wolf walking out of the water with a new silver coat with purple Tytolari eyes. The Lady of the Lake told Artus him how she gave the loyal wolf the energy of the holy sword, Excalibur." Anna nodded. "That's the best bedtime story ever."
"It really is," I told her, amazed by the story. When I saw her smile, I realized something that had been on my mind when I discovered Anna's double life. "Why did you bring me here? If you found out when you were nine, then kept it a secret for so long, why ruin all your hard work of hiding this life by bringing me here?"
Both Tytolari were quiet in the room until Anna finally broke the silence after three minutes. She didn't even look at me, looking at her feet. "You really do get the big picture and look for details. Christa doesn't miss a beat."
"Anna, she needs to know." Jason's voice made me look at him, but he kept his eyes on my best friend. "She's already involved."
"I know." Anna sighed as she finally looked at me. "The reason why you're here is that you're being hunted down by my enemies."
I froze, not believing her words. Fear crawled up my spine, making me shiver as I repeated the words. "I'm being hunted down by your enemies?"
Anna looked at her feet again when she nodded her head. Jason was leaning against the door, watching us with emotionless eyes. Questions came to my head as they stayed silent, so I continued.
"Why? I'm new to this world! Why are they after me? Who's after me? Who are your enemies?" I wasn't angry at all, just scared for Anna. What kind of people hate Anna?
"I'm sorry. It's because you know me, that you're important to me." Anna was still not looking at me, but I could hear tears in her voice.
"Who's your enemy?" I asked again, ignoring her words. I wanted to know who hated my best friend.
"The Shadow Tytolari."
I looked over at the balcony doorway to see a girl. She had long white hair with golden streaks that reached behind her knees. Her dress was like mine, long at the back and short in the front, except it was a golden brown with yellow lilies at the trim of the dress. A brown ribbon pulled her hair back into a ponytail, revealing a yellow symbol behind her ear. Her eye's amazed me the most as they sparkled a crystal yellow. I had to admit that this girl was beautiful.
"Who are you?" I asked after I got over her beauty.
The albino sighed as she walked over to stand beside Anna. "I am one of the Squires of the Spirit, the Air Tytolari, Lillian."
"The Air Tytolari? One of the Squires of the Spirit?" I looked at Jason, who looked bored with the conversation. "Like Jason?"
Anna looked up at Jason. "Thank you for telling her about this world in my absence, Jason. You're awesome."
Jason didn't move when he answered. "It was your order. Do you regret it?"
"No, I don't." Anna smiled, shaking her head as Lillian walked over to Jason.
"So did you have fun playing with the full-fledged human, Jason?" She leaned against the wall, beside him, and laid her head on his shoulder. For some reason, I got mad when he didn't shake her off.
Then I realized what she asked. Wait. Did she just ask him if he had fun?
"She was acceptable, but she asked too many annoying questions. It was exhausting. Humans are more curious than us." He sighed as I felt a stab in my stomach.
"That's why you shouldn't volunteer, Jason." Lillian smiled. "I wonder why you're so fascinated by her."
"I did learn a few things from her though." Jason smirked as he looked over at me. That made Lillian's head shoot up and made me smile.
"Like what?" She asked as she, too, examined me.
"I would tell you, but it looks like our princess wishes to speak." Jason nodded his head towards a certain brunette, giving her the spotlight.
I looked to see that Anna's eyes were the same crystal purple from the time I saw her at my house. They glistened with the help of the light in the room, making me stare at her.
"Thank you, Jason." Her voice surprised me again by sounding like a boss of a gang or mafia. "I want you two to gather up all my knights in the dining hall. Christa needs to meet them and they need to meet her. I want everyone there. I want all of them to meet her so they can protect her and make sure she's safe when I'm not around. Understood?"
"Yes." Both Knights agreed before they both walked out of my room, leaving Anna and me alone. Now I have a chance to talk to my best friend, the princess of this kingdom. All alone.