Desser opened his eyes to a slight breeze coming from the window. He saw the double moon more clearly today than ever before. The mood was dyed in a purplish hue as the stars glittered around it.
For some reason, the moons brought Desser's mind the most clarity. He felt calm and could feel Magic flowing into him more than before.
Suddenly a small bird blew into the window. Although it looked cute with its delicate wings and white puffy head, its eyes seemed like a replica of the night sky he admired. The feeling reminded him of Isla:
"Is that you, great chicken?"
"I AM AN AGUILA! HUMANS KNOW NO RESPECT!"
Desser smiled and asked, "why have you come, Isla?"
"I wasn't worried or anything… Just wanted to see if I've been freed from the burden of teaching you."
Desser sighed, "I'd love you more if you were deep-fried."
Isla looked at Desser confused. They hadn't invented deep frying and had no idea what it was.
Isla flew onto the prince's chest, "I can sense that your core has improved since that last battle. It was quite the show you put on." The Aguila lifted its head as if Desser's achievement made it proud.
"You were watching…the whole time? Were you there when I almost drowned?"
"I saw it all! Lots of fun! You are quite the fast thinker."
Desser swatted the bird away. "Thanks for all the help!"
"Do I help the young that fall out of the nest? You must survive and fight to do so. That's the truth of my domain. I treat you no differently."
Desser massaged his temples as he tried to calm himself. Trying to reason with a beast will get him nowhere. And he could see that this world was a savage place but was it any worse than Earth?
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! Someone knocked on the door as if they were the FBI.
"MY PRINCE! Are you alive?" Cornelius yelled through the door crack.
"I thought you were going to ask, 'do you wanna build a snowman?'" Desser replied.
"What? Have you hit your head, your highness? And can I come in?"
"Me too! I have your bath and some food for later." Sonia spoke in a low voice that was barely heard over Cornelius's shouts.
"Make it a party. I've already got an uninvited guest; why not more?" Desser mentioned carelessly.
Vince and Cornelius busted the door open. The doorknob broke in Vince's hand as he threw it at the bird the moment he saw it.
"An intruder? Who dares come into the prince's room without permission?!" Vince began lunging at the bird.
The Aguila cawed while using its nails to scratch at Vince's face.
Vince pulled out his sword and turned it on its side. He used it as a fly swatter or a bat to hit the flying beast.
"Take this, vermin!"
Desser yelled at Vince, "Enough! That is Isla…even if it's an annoying chicken, just put up with her. Also, I got too much to do for these games."
Vince lightly scratched his cheek and laughed embarrassingly, "sorry, your highness."
"NOT – A – CHICK – EN!!!" Isla cawed each syllable as it hit Desser over and over again.
"Okay! Okay, sorry! But I seriously need time to practice after a bath and food." Desser explained before looking at Cornelius. "Bring me the best engineer and blacksmith in this area. I need something made as soon as possible."
Cornelius's curiosity was peaked, but he did what he was told first. He hurried away in hopes of hearing what his prince's plan would be.
After a bath and cleaning up the room of its mess, two men arrived. Cornelius introduced them:
"These are the engineer and blacksmith you requested. What is your command?"
"Thank you, Magi Cornelius." Desser tried to remember to greet Cornelius with his title in front of other people. It seemed like the princely thing to do…but he wasn't sure since he was never educated in such etiquette.
If only he could access his body's memories, then things would be more straightforward. He would understand more about this world and its politics. Not only that, but Desser was sure his body's previous memories would also have combat and magic-related topics he could use now.
Desser looked at the men and started drawing a detailed sketch of a wheelchair. He practiced drawing a lot because he would be bored at home without video games or friends—not including his brief friendship with Nathan.
The engineer looked at it with excitement because he had never seen such a strange contraption, while the blacksmith looked at the paper with disgust.
The blacksmith grumbled, "who would want this? Wheels on a chair? What's next: putting wings on a carriage?"
Desser smiled at the old grump, "you don't have the smarts or tech to create an airplane."
The blacksmith was angry, but he didn't know why. Unsure of what an airplane is…regardless, the challenging tone Desser used made the blacksmith want to prove him wrong.
Neither knew who they were talking to because Cornelius forgot to use an honorific like 'your highness.' The Magi was too excited to know what Desser was planning that he had forgotten to explain who they were visiting.
"SILENCE, YOU FOOL! You are speaking to his highness, Prince Desser Mogar!" Cornelius reprimanded him.
The blacksmith fell to his knees and yelled, "I have sinned! I have disrespected Brutreq's messenger and our future king!"
Desser shook his head, "it's fine. I appreciate honesty without the BS."
He then continued speaking to them, "I need you to create this contraption so I can fight and move around with more ease."
Everyone in the room looked at Desser like he was a mad man…
The engineer then asked:
"So…is this…your warhorse?"