“Please, you don’t have to call me sir, if you don’t want. I know your father and Lumen kids told you about me.”
“Wait. I get it, you, sir, are my conscience wanting to leave me a message.”
“I’m afraid not. My name is Nefarious,” he answered, looking very confused.
“Oh, you said so. Yes, those kids. It was when…”
“When you crossed to the fourth dimension and met Dakota and Zybagron. I should have been there. I didn’t think you were going to show up at the Kingdom. We waited a while for your return, many of us thought it was never going to happen. I apologize for my error. I was trying to investigate why the succulent plants were dying for no apparent reason. That’s when you showed up. Dakota and Zyba told me what happened, I was worried. They told me you looked frightened.”
“It wasn’t my intention to go there. My aunt gave me the necklace and then I was at this place you are talking about.”
“Weren’t you ever curious to go to the Kingdom?”
“Look, Mr. Nefarious, I didn’t even know this all existed until yesterday.”
“But, didn’t Lars tell you?”
“No. The one who told me was my aunt, Eva.”
By Nefarious’s melancholic look, I noticed he was disappointed by my father not telling me anything about Lumen.
“I didn’t expect that, I’m sorry. Well, you are the heiress of Lumen’s Kingdom, I can explain this to you later. Now we have to rescue your father.”
“Rescue from where, from who?”
“He is in Leike’s Land, it is also in another dimension, but it doesn’t belong to Lumen. It is the dark side of the Kingdom where Elof has been gathering more and more followers. His greater target is to destroy Lumen, that’s the reason he kidnapped your father. You have to kill him…”
“Me? Kill someone? You can take this necklace.”
“But aren’t you coming to save your father?”
“Sir, I don’t even kill a ladybug, you can imagine with a man. You can go there and save him for me. I will stay here quietly, waiting. I won’t serve you well anyway.”
“But I can’t do this without you, my dearest. If you think fear is bigger than you, it will be. You must face it! We don’t have time to lose, we have not too much time to rescue your father. I will help you with anything I can!”
A cold shiver went down my spine, I froze like a popsicle only thinking about what he was saying.
“I’m in the middle of a nightmare, that’s it. My father is alright, right?”
“He is unconscious, he needs to be rescued. After reaching an old age, no hybridus can get into the Kingdom awake. He is there, needing you. If you could be so kind to wear the necklace.” I think he was losing his patience.
I couldn’t believe that was happening to me, in these sorts of times I knew it was better not to think too much, or I would break down. I put the necklace on, the weight of danger made it a lot heavier now. It changed color, became purple again.
“This is too weird for me. But I don’t have a choice.”
“We always have choices.”
“You know what I mean.”
My legs were aching, now from nervousness. No option seemed good right now. Let my father die or die trying to save him. I decided for the second one.
“I don’t have a full mirror in my room anymore. How did you come here?”
“There are other ways.”
At this moment, the crystal ball Auntie Eva gave me lit up with such strength that it illuminated my whole room. I got closer and widened my eyes, one of each color. I saw a vivid image of Lumen’s Kingdom inside of it, it was magnificent!
Nefarious held his giant hand for me to take, mine were all sweaty. There was the way to the fourth dimension. And I thought of it as a crappy gift.
“You must concentrate, Lola. Focus.”
“How do I do that?”
“Close your eyes, let the air out by your mouth, and imagine a portal opening up. Everything you can imagine is real!”
I did as I was told. My necklace’s purple color got even more intense, I started to feel my body going numb, I was disintegrating. It was as quick as a snap of a whip.
When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t wet or lying on the ground this time. My eyes weren’t one of each color anymore, I was back to having two blue eyes. By the way, the purple eye only appears when I’m in my world. My legs didn’t hurt anymore, all my bruises and scrapes were gone. We were in a room with cold stone walls, lit by the sun coming through a large window. It was a bedroom, with furniture I think I saw in a museum once before, all decorated by pieces of twisted oak. I looked around, besides the double bed was a white crib, where a blanket embroidered with a lotus blossom grabbed my attention. When I got closer, I saw a doll was there.
“This doll… I think I’ve seen it before,” I felt a weird bit of nostalgia.
“Yes, it was a gift from the north gypsies, when they were still honest. Here was your parents’ room, and this crib was yours. We are at the royal castle. This room wasn’t shaken by the last attack we suffered. You lived here for a few months.”
“This room looks a lot like the ones in the real world, you know?”
“Dearest, ‘real world’ is the wrong term to use. All the worlds are real, including this one. Everything is connected, here and there. We are only in different dimensions, the world where you grew up is in the first dimension and we are in the fourth. What do you think if from now on we call the first dimension by the right name?”
“Okay, first dimension then.” It sounded weird, but I could get used to it.
While Nefarious was telling me more things, a beautiful brown owl with galaxy eyes landed on his shoulder, giving little pecks there and a short peep.
“This is Wiky, my pet owl.”
She stared at me and turned her little head to the side.
“How stunning. Her eyes look like a galaxy.”
“When I got this charming scar in my face, Wiky also got hurt in a battle. A strong lightning bolt blinded her, but her instinct is better than before. She’s been with me ever since I found her in the forest. Your mother, since she was a child, would rescue all the animals there.”
“Who was she? How did she die? You know, my mother,” I felt a little lump in my throat while asking that.
“It was a fight between Elof and your grandfather, King Persus, and she ended up getting in the middle. He wanted to destroy all your family, turned it into a war. Elof killed your grandfather. I tried to stop him but was trapped in the main room. If your mother hadn’t stopped me, I would be dead. She died fighting for us all, throwing her own body into a spell Elof put over Lumen, she saved our lives. I realized afterwards that you and your father ran away because I saw the portal still glowing at the creek. The idea that you, our princess, was alive brought back the hope that we could still be completely happy again someday. I owed it to your mother to take care of you and watch over the Kingdom.”
“Hang in there. I’m no princess, ok? I can barely handle my homework.”
“Everything has its own time.”
“I want to know who she was, what was her name?”
“Her name was Runa. She was the sweetest princess of all dimensions. You have her features, you two look-alike. Later I can tell you all the family history. Now I want to show you the Village and your people. Let’s go for a walk, I want you to meet the masters that will help you in the battle with Elof,” he said.