Well, what can I say? I'm in prison. Yeah, you heard that right, I'm currently locked up in a dungeon! A damp, dark place with a smell that could knock out a troll. Why am I here, you ask? Oh, the reason is simple... I ended up in the king's castle uninvited and unannounced. What you might call a "surprise visit." And, well, you know how they are in castles: they don't exactly greet unexpected visitors with tea and cookies.
But is it my fault? Not at all! The real culprit here is the queen of the elves. That woman decided to teleport me to human territory, and not just anywhere, no... she dropped me right in the king's castle! What was she thinking? Did she want me to be beheaded or something? Or is that how she has fun in her free time? Between you and me, I think she just wanted to see me get into trouble for her own amusement.
Anyway, here I am, trapped in the dungeon for a few hours now, and I'm starving. I haven't eaten since the night before, and I can already feel my stomach about to eat itself. I'm even starting to eye my boot like it's a delicious meal!
If someone up there hears me, please, at least a dry piece of bread and some water! Or at least let me escape before I'm tempted to gnaw on the bars.
It seems like the guard in front of my cell has returned. This guy has this habit of disappearing for a while and then coming back. Is he watching me? I don't know, but I guess so, because, well, I'm in prison, so that must be part of the job.
"Hey, kid, looks like you have a visitor," says the guard with a grin that gives me a bad vibe. A visitor? Has the Grim Reaper decided to come get me? I mean, it's not like she's very busy lately, but... a visitor?
To my surprise, the person who stands in front of me isn't the Grim Reaper, but a blonde guy with blue eyes, dressed so extravagantly that it looks like luxury gives him an allergy to dungeons. His expression is serious, and he immediately says:
"Zephyr, where the hell have you been? You disappear for a few days, and now I find you locked up in the king's castle. Care to explain?"
Explain? Who does this guy think he is, coming here to ask me for an explanation?
And right at that moment, I hear a voice in my head.
[System]: Host, this person is your older brother. His name is Alistair.
Ohh, so this guy is the older brother of the owner of this body? Alright, system, enlighten me a bit: how do these two get along?
[System]: They're not very close, but Alistair doesn't hate you. In fact, he's a little worried about you.
Well, at least I have a brother who cares about me. Small wins. Now, how am I supposed to answer this guy without him finding out?
"Well, Alistair... I don't remember much. I just know that I woke up in the middle of the night, in a dangerous forest."
Alistair looks at me for a few seconds, like he's trying to read my mind.
"I thought as much," he says with a dramatic sigh that sounds like it came from a play. I just tilt my head like I have any idea what's going on.
"Zephyr, during your trip to Argemir, we received a report that you mysteriously disappeared. At first, I thought you just ran away from your responsibilities. But now it looks like you were actually kidnapped and left in the middle of the Dead Forest."
Kidnapped? Sure, because everything has to sound like an epic adventure. If I tell him the truth—that I was teleported by accident like a lost suitcase—will he laugh in my face or call an exorcist?
"Aha... the Dead Forest, sure, sure..." I say, nodding like everything makes perfect sense.
Alistair gives me a skeptical look. I think he's starting to suspect something's off. Or maybe that I'm more off than usual, at least.
"Well, seems like you know more than I do, so why are you asking me?" I say, shrugging. Honestly, I didn't expect this much information from this blonde guy I barely know.
"I just wanted to see if you were lying, but the king already filled me in, and I'm here to pick you up," Alistair says with a smile that could be a little more relaxed if it weren't for the seriousness on his face.
"Pick me up? Does that mean they're not going to chop off my head? At least that's something good!" I say, relieved. It's not like I'm super excited about the idea of being decapitated.
"What did the king say?" I ask, suddenly curious. I figured there was something weird going on behind all this.
"Well, right after they locked you up in the dungeon, the king got a call from the queen of the elves, explaining that she was the one who teleported you here," he says, almost like it's no big deal.
Wow! Well, at least it looks like I'm going to live a little longer. Thanks, queen of the elves! I think, exaggerating a bow, as if it were some kind of honor. At this point, I think the queen of the elves is just giving me a few more days of life... or maybe taking them away, since, to be honest, she's the one who put me in this mess in the first place.
"Thank goodness, I just want to go home, I'm starving," I complain as the guard starts opening the bars. Honestly, I don't even care that they're taking me out, all I want is a nice feast.
"But who would have thought you'd end up in elf territory? The Dark Forest isn't that close to that place," Alistair says as we walk down the castle hallways.
"Really?" I reply, raising an eyebrow. "Then how the hell did I end up there? Is it normal for humans to end up in such... uncomfortable places?"
"Looks like things are getting a bit more complicated than I thought," Alistair says with a touch of irony, and I can't help but laugh nervously. Somehow, all this is starting to sound like one of those fantasy stories that no one believes, but here I am, living it.
Finally, the guard opens the last door, and just when I thought we were out, Alistair stops me in front of some huge golden doors, made of a metal I can't even pronounce.
"Zephyr, the king wants to talk to you for a moment," Alistair says, with a seriousness I don't like at all.
Immediately, my body goes tense, like those golden doors are a portal straight to the end of my days. Alistair notices and, with his older brother attitude (which I'm not totally buying), tries to calm me down.
"Don't worry, it's not for anything bad, it's just a short chat," he says, patting me on the back so hard I almost lose my breath.
"Sure! A short chat... with a king," I reply, with a nervous smile. Yeah, because kings always have short, friendly chats with prisoners they've just rescued.
I nod, though honestly, I don't have much of a choice. I'm not stupid, I'm not going to disobey a king's request... especially if that king has the power to turn you into a marble statue overnight.
Alistair gives me a gentle shove, and the huge doors open before us, revealing the throne room, so grand and filled with gold that I almost feel like I've walked into a jewelry store instead of a castle. And there he is, the king, sitting on his throne, looking at me like I'm the main course of a fancy dinner.
"Welcome, Zephyr," says the king, with a smile that gives me chills. "It seems you've had quite an adventure."
"Well, I didn't know my escapades were so popular," I reply, trying to make my voice sound more confident than I really feel.
The king watches me for a moment, as if deciding whether to serve me as an appetizer or as entertainment. Meanwhile, Alistair stays in a corner, watching the scene as if he were watching a show.
"So, Zephyr," the king begins, "tell me about your journey. And how did you end up in such a... dangerous forest so far away?"
"Well... you see," I start, "I was taking a night stroll and... ended up in a forest. Pretty normal, right?"
The king gives me a look that could be interpreted as confused, curious, or simply astonished by my ability to give such... senseless answers.
My luck is at its peak, I think ironically as I glance at Alistair, who looks more serious than ever. The truth is, I don't want to be in front of the king for much longer, just in case I slip out an inappropriate comment. I can already imagine it—something like, "Don't you think your kingdom has a pretty poor security policy if a guy like me can sneak into the castle so easily?" Of course, that would be such a charming detail that I'd probably earn myself an execution in less than a second.
But the worst part is, I'm actually starting to get attached to this life. To think I was about to die in that horrible dungeon, my stomach growling louder than my future, and now... now a king wants to talk to me! Maybe they'll offer me coffee or a philosophical chat about life, but inside, I'm already preparing myself for them to rip my head off for saying something out of line.
"Well, I guess Eryndoriel almost had you executed... haha," the king says, his tone almost mocking as he watches me. Eryndoriel... what a name. I guess he's referring to the queen of the elves, right? The one who, with such... atypical teleportation, sent me straight to the heart of the castle, almost like a welcome gift.
My nerves are starting to reach their limit, and my brain makes a monumental effort not to start sweating. So now what? Are you going to laugh at me too? With everything that has happened, being in front of a king with such a sarcastic sense of humor doesn't give me much confidence. But, well, at least he seems... relaxed. Is he used to this kind of situation? Because honestly, I'm still processing the fact that I almost became a piece of meat for the royal feast.
The king watches me for a few seconds, leans back in his throne, and his lips curl into a slight smile. He seems to be sizing me up, like a cat watching a mouse too nervous to escape. In the end, it seems he decides to get to the point.
"Well, enough of playing guessing games," the king says, switching to a more direct tone. "Zephyr, I've been thinking about your situation, and I have a proposal for you." He leans a little forward, his eyes gleaming with a touch of interest. "What would you think about joining the academy?"
My eyes widen. Academy? Now the king wants me to become just another student in his facilities? I have no idea what kind of academy he's talking about, but the mere fact that he's offering me something like that means maybe not everything is lost... Or maybe he's looking for another way to torture me, like some kind of "intensive course for those who disappear without warning."
The king gives me a look that says more than a thousand words. At that moment, he realizes that I'm completely shocked, not knowing how to react.
Academy? What are we talking about here?
My mind goes around in circles, but in the end, I can only let out a faint sigh. I guess this could be the beginning of something interesting... or the start of another big disaster.