Fantastopia: The New Life (Part 1)

Another Kendra to deal with

After Aria fixed my cuts, I was given some simple elven clothes that would help me blend in better. Now I’m not gonna lie, these were actually pretty comfortable, I literally felt like a true elf, and boy did I look good in them. And throughout this past, I don’t know how many minutes or hours, I had forgotten about going home, and it’s a good thing I didn’t leave because this place was actually pretty cool. I admired my new look for a few more seconds before stepping out of the changing room.

“Wow” Aria smiled at me with amusement “You look good.”

“You’re damn right I do” I grinned as she gave a small laugh.

“Excellent choice of clothing, Aria” we turned to see Lindel and Oswind walking towards us.

“He’s already blending in” the hobgoblin observed.

“You can keep those by the way,” she told me, “You’re gonna need them whenever you come here.”

“Oh,” I replied amusedly “Thanks. So um, what do I do now?”

“I think it’s time to begin your training” Lindel answered which made my heart stop.

“We’re still doing that?” I whined as my legs began to wobble.

“Hold on there Lindel” Aria spoke up, “Jesse still needs to pick out his weapons.”

“Oh boy” I groaned nervously.

Now I kinda wished I was back home, I’m still not used to this whole ‘chosen hero’ thing, and it keeps making my legs wobble.

“You know what?” Aria suddenly declared “Let’s put his training to the side, I think we should let him settle in first, get to know the place.”

“She’s got a point,” Oswind said to Lindel “His legs are still wobbling.”

They are not- oh wait, they still are. Keep still! There we go.

“What do you suggest then?” Lindel asked the elf princess.

“I suggest I show Jesse around, have him meet my friends, and we’ll see from there.”

Lindel turned his head towards me as I just stood there, not knowing what to say. Maybe even flashing a nervous smile.

“Very well,” he responded as he turned to Aria “But just so you know, once he gets settled in he’s gonna have to begin his training, we can’t let time go to waste.”

“I know” she assured with a nod as she turned to me “So, you want a tour?”

“If it prevents me from training, I’m in.”

I watched as Lindel rolled his eyes. Sorry man, I mean, hobgoblin, but I’m just not ready for this.

“This way,” Aria motioned me to follow her as we began down the hall.

I felt their eyes on me as we went around the corner and down another hallway.

“Sorry about Lindel,” Aria said to me, “He’s just very serious about this.”

“I can tell” I agreed, “So is it like his job to do this or what?”

“No, he and Oswind are just helpers, they’re like the sidekicks for the chosen hero. So in this case, they’re your sidekick.”

Sidekicks huh? That doesn’t sound so bad.

“Huh,” I tilted my head, “A though ogre and a hobgoblin with an attitude, I can go with that.”

“You’ll get used to them” she patted my shoulder which sent chills down my back.

Seriously, Jesse, you need to stop this.

But anyway, just like she said, Aria showed me around the castle and the rooms that it contained. There were some I were allowed to go in, and some I wasn’t, mainly because a lot of the rooms were either servant rooms, or just rooms only made for girls, which I completely understood. And every room matched the theme of the castle, it seriously felt like I was in Middle Earth.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” I asked as we strolled down a hall “Now I’m only curious when I ask this but, do you always dress like this?”

I had to ask, cause she seriously looks like some kind of warrior princess who doesn’t consider herself a damsel in distress.

“Not all the time” she answered, “I only wear my dresses whenever we’re having a social gathering or something like that.”

“And your father lets you do that?”

“He lets me do a lot of things” she smirked, “But yes, he’s happy to let me be myself.”

“Wow” I replied amused “From every story I’ve ever heard a king was always strict when it comes to his daughter, always telling her to act like a proper princess, dress like one, and who to marry. But your father’s pretty cool for letting you do that, he’s a good man.”

“He is isn’t he?” she agreed in a small smile “I mean there are times when I do have to be a proper princess, but that’s just because it’s my job.”

“I job that you don’t get paid for am I right?”

“I don’t need to get paid, I’m a princess, I’m naturally rich.”

“Oh yeah?” I smirked, “Then where’s your tiara?”

She snickered, “In my room.”

“Can I see it?”

“My room or my tiara?”

“Well, I’m guessing I can’t see your room so-”

“Maybe later,” she cut in, “In the meantime, let me show you the training arena.”

Training arena huh? More like the place I’ll die on the first day of training. Anyway, the arena was a building right next to the castle that was connected by a stone hallway with a glass roof. When we went inside, I was amazed by how big it was. It felt like I was back in the time during the gladiators, the dirt ground was hard, there were weapons, targets, dummies, and other items used for training in combat. Not only that, but there were also bleachers up and surrounding the arena, I guess people can come and watch the trainers fight, sweat, and perhaps even die.

“This is where all of the training happens” Aria introduced, “Although be careful where you step, there could be blood.”

Blood?! I looked down, I didn’t see any blood thank goodness.

“People have been hurt before?” I questioned, already feeling uneasy.

“Well it’s against the rules to purposely hurt someone while training, but sometimes accidents happen.”

“Has anyone ever died by training?”

“Well, there was this one guy who died of food poisoning while sword fighting, he ended up barfing on his opponent and just died right there.”

... Okay, I’m starting to feel sick to my stomach now.

“So now no one eats before training” she concluded.

“I’ll keep that in mind” I nodded just as something caught our attention.

Coming out from one of the entries was an elf girl dressed similar to Aria, except she was wearing a purple tunic instead of a blouse. Her black hair was tied behind her in a fishtail braid, and in her hands, she held two curved knives that were really freaking me out by how long they were.

“Oh here’s one of my friends” Aria pointed out with a smile “Come on.”

Staying close behind her, I followed Aria as we walked up to the elf girl who had stopped on her tracks to turn to us.

“Hey Hazel,” Aria greeted, “You got a minute?”

Wait, did she just call her Hazel? As in the Hazel the King warned me not to anger? Oh boy...

“Does it have to do with me meeting the guy behind you?” she asked while eyeballing me with her bright green eyes.

Whoa, I have to admit, her eyes were the most beautiful green eyes I’ve ever seen, like a forest green color, they went perfectly with her dark hair and pale face. She also appeared a bit younger than Aria, perhaps younger by a couple of years. But no matter how pretty she was, she still gave me the creeps.

“Yes, it does” Aria replied to her question, “This is Jesse, the new owner of the ring.”

Hazel turned to me with those eyes as I gave a small smile, hoping I didn’t appear nervous.

“New owner huh?” she observed with a hand on her hip, “Tall, handsome, athletic body, ever used a sword before?”

I gulped “No.”

“Ever used any kind of weapon?”

“Does using a toy bat against my sister count?”

She turned to Aria with a dull look. Oh boy, here’s come the most likely rude comment.

“Oh he’s a keeper,” she remarked with sarcasm, yep there it is.

“Hey be nice” Aria ordered under her breath “It’s his first time here, just give him a chance.”

Hazel turned back to me while narrowing her eyebrows. I tried not to look her in my eyes, mainly because I couldn’t take my eyes off her knives, they looked so deadly and ready to attack. They each looked identical with their red handles with the same vine-like designs, even the blades had some gold details.

“You seem pretty intimidated by me” she sneered.

“Yeah uh-” I gulped, “You just give off the impression that you wanna murder everyone you look at.”

She snickered “I get that a lot. And yes, even though I do wanna murder mostly everyone I look at, I never do it, don’t worry.”

I gave a small smile in relief.

“Yeah, no one plans their murder out loud.”

My eyes widen as my heart dropped. And the next thing I knew, I heard something that sounded like an object had fallen over, but before I could even turn to see what it was, Hazel swiftly threw one of her knives to the side which caused me to jump back in fright. When I was able to turn my head, I saw that she had thrown her knife at a wooden target that had fallen off its stand, and it went right into the center.

Holy cow, I can see why no one should anger her, my heart’s already feeling like it wants to run out of my chest

“Got him” she tittered.

“Hazel...” Aria warned while gritting her teeth.

“What? I was just messing with him.”

Oh just messing with me huh? You’re already starting to remind me of my sister, and that’s scary.

“Now let me tell you a little something, handsome” she suddenly told me “In this land, it’s either die trying or die crying, which one are you?”

And with that, she gave my shoulder a hard pat before walking past me to retrieve her knife from the target. Jeez, I definitely need to stay away from her, I could feel goosebumps coating my skin.

“Well, she was friendly” I muttered while rubbing my shoulder, she’s also really strong.

“Sorry about her,” Aria apologized, “She’s always been one of the tough ones. She can also be stubborn, judging, and intimidating. But she is super loyal to those she cares about.”

“She’s already reminding me of my sister” I commented with a fake smile “And that scares me.”

“She just has to give you a chance, then she’ll see.”

See what? What a big failure I’ll be?

“By the way,” she added, “Piece of advice, don’t eat hazelnuts when you’re around her, she’s actually allergic to those.”

“Seriously?” I remarked astonished.

“Ironic isn’t it?” she smirked.

“I’ll say” I snickered, “See this is why parents should never name their kids after food.”

“Exactly. So don’t even eat hazelnuts when you’re near her unless you wanna get shoved.”

I nodded, though I bet this chic will do a lot more than shove someone.