Tears of Fantasy - Chapter 1

Leonard Armstrong, Leo as his friends and family call him, woke up. He found himself in a strange place, different than the world he was used to.

He was sitting in some kind of grass plain, not far from a forest full of strange trees. Those trees, maybe because of the breeze, seemed to dance, as if they were enjoying some good moment. 

With a buzzing sound, a large insect was flying around, and seemed upset when he had to dodge Leo.  The insect stopped in a large and colorful flower, and started doing his work.

Not far, there was a river. Even before seeing it, he could already hear the sound of the water flowing through the rocks.

He remembered what the girl said, that he might not want to go back after seeing that world, and he thought it could be true. That also made him remember he still hadn't seen anyone. He was wondering, more than anything, if that girl was still blue and transparent. With that question in his head, he walked to the river to clean up his still sleepy face.

While he was getting water from the river, he noticed a shadow approaching from behind. Scared, as he hadn't heard anything, he turned around fast. He saw a big animal, somewhat similar to a dog, but as big as a cow. Surprised, specially because that big animal didn't do any sound, Leo fell back into the river.

The water was a bit cold. Fresh enough to be good to drink, but cold enough to reduce the size of your lower parts to that of a mere pea. That feeling reached Leo's head fast, and from his mouth came out a silent scream, while his head was deciding if it should react to the pain of the freezed peas, or the surprise of seeing that big, while apparently friendly, animal.

While his brain was still undecided, he heard a laugh from behind that big animal. Suddenly, all those things became non important, as he problem of his unanswered question went back to the first priority. Would that be the girl that brought him there?

The girl then walked out from behind the animal, resolving all his doubts, for while the thought of a blue girl was still interesting, what he actually saw was a lot better.

The girl was the same Liien he remembered, but instead of blue, she seemed golden. She had blonde hair, that together with the sunlight gave a golden shine. Her eyes were big and green, that combined with her small nose and red lips, made what Leo thought of the cutest face he had ever seen. And while not so apparent, he could not help but notice the rest of her body wasn't any less.

At that moment, he really felt lucky to be in cold water.

When his brain recovered from the sight, he could not help but get really ashamed of the way things were: he was still sitting in the river with that big animal looking at him with what an expression he could only describe as enjoyment, and the girl looking at him with a smiling face.

He got up from the river, and with a sigh, rembembered he didn't take any clean clothes with him.

- Sorry, she scared you, but she seems to like you.

- She?

Ly pointed to the big animal with her hand.

- Yes, she... this is a female rhuun. We call her Kirh. - She looked at Leo's clothes - Hm, you are all wet now... and those clothes really don't match this world anyway. We will have to go get something for you at my house. Follow me.

Leo followed Ly, partly wondering if all that was right, but accepting it as he couldn't do anything else. While they didn't walk too much, the extra weight from the water made Leo get tired, and hungry.

The house was small, but comfortable. In the lower floor, there was a single room with a fire at the center,  and the stairs to go to the upper floor in the opposite side from the door. The upper floor was divided in four rooms, three bigger ones with beds, and a smaller one with the bathroom. Leo was surprised to find all the doors open, so different from what it was in his place.

Liien was telling Leo about the house.

- This one is my parent's room, and the one in there is mine. This one used to be for my brother, but no one uses it anymore.

- Your brother? Where is he now?

Right after saying that, leo regretted saying it... he hoped her brother wasn't dead or something like that.

- He... - said Ly with a sad face, then suddenly changing it to a smile - He married. A few years ago. We never had any use for his room, so it's still the way he left it.

- Oh... - said Leo, while thinking "thank god".

Leo felt relieved, but still he couldn't help but think "Some people would think that's worse than death".

Ly walked into his brother's room.

- Come in. I'll find something for you to wear. My brother's clothes should fit you fine.

- Okay...

Leo followed Ly into the room, and he saw a really tidy room, a room that hadn't been used in a while.

Ly walked to the closet, and opened the drawers inside it, one by one, searching for something.

- Where is it now?... Ah! There you are! - said Ly while taking something out from the drawer - Hold this. I'll also have to find you some pants.

Leo unfolded the clothing and saw it was like a long shirt. It was made from a kind of brown fabric that while it didn't look too comfortable, it was actually really soft.

- I know it's not the type of robe you are used to, but this is what normal boys wear round here, and it's the best thing I could find in here, so until we go to the town, this will have to do... ah, these pants will do too - Ly handed Leo the pants -. I'll go get a towel from the bathroom.

Ly walked out of the room and returned with a white towel, handed it to Leo and walked out again, closing the door on her way. Leo undressed, dried his body, and put the clothes Ly gave him. He grabbed his wet clothes and went out of the room.

- I'm done. Do you have any mirror?

- Yes. In the bathroom, there. Give me those clothes, I'll put them to dry.

Leo walked into the bathroom and found it surprisingly similar to the bathrooms he was used to. The mirror was, as he expected, on top of the sink. Leo thought that was just the practical way.

He looked at himself into the mirror, and he thought he didn't look so bad, given the kind of clothes he was wearing, and the clothes were also comfortable, so he decided he could get used to them.

- You look good.

- Thanks... For the clothes.

- Let's go eat something. You must be hungry right now. I heard sending your body to a different world uses a lot of enery.

- You... heard?

- I never traveled between worlds with my whole body. As you might have noticed I only sent my spirit to your world.

- Why?

- Because it's really hard to travel back without a point of reference. Because the soul, the link between your spirit and your body, is the strongest link known, so it becomes a really good path to follow when going back.

- I'm kinda lost there...

- Don't worry, my father is a teacher, you will learn a lot when he comes back tomorrow. For now, let's go eat.

Liien and Leo walked down the stairs to the lower floor.

- Now that I think of it... you have never seen magic yet, right? I mean, other than the teleportation.

- Nope.

- Look - Ly pointed to the fireplace in the center of the living room -. Daar.

With that single word, the fireplace burst into flames.

- Wow.

Liien smiled at Leo.

- It means 'burn' in the ancient language. It's one of the most basic spells. You could probably use it already, but please don't. I wouldn't want you to burn the house by mistake. It's hard to control magic at the beginning, and I'm not good enough at summoning water to stop it.

- Okay...

Liien walked to a closet in the side of the room, and when she opened it Leo could feel a cold air coming out of it. Then he saw a small icy ball inside.

- You see this? This world doesn't have too much technology, but we can do most things with magic instead. This is what they call a 'cold closet' (the inventor didn't stick out for his naming skills). It has the same function as a fridge in your world.

Ly started to cook, while Leo watched her, absorted in the thoughts of what he just learned. 

When she was done cooking, she prepared the table, and invited Leo to sit in front of her.

Leo happily accepted, and they started to eat.