Chapter III

"You've always had the power, my dear, you just had to learn it by yourself." The Wizard Of Oz.

It was getting late, the sun went down and the wind whistled louder.

Jimmy didn't know where to go and he was very hungry, he hadn't had the chance to finish his Gelatius because of the pegasus.

He walked for long moments alone in the dark, hoping to find a way back to the elves' mansion, but each time he found himself at the starting square as if something was pushing him to get lost.

He gave up after hours and sat down on a rock, admiring the immensity of the palace before him. Lights were lit in almost every room inside.

Suddenly, the wind hit harder and fog hid the castle.

"Enter the castle." the same woman's voice that had popped up this morning at the faculty said.

Jimmy jumped and looked around. "What do you want again ?!" he exclaimed.

"Enter the castle," the fog dissipated to reveal only the bridge that led to the castle. "Enter the castle." the voice repeated.

"I don't know who you are but…" he thought he might have to follow the voice as he did this morning and ended up in a better world. "Maybe I should follow you."

He walked on the bridge until he arrived in front of a huge portal and surprisingly there were no guards in there. He opened the door and rushed inside to be greeted by a huge garden covered with roses that changed their colours. He had never seen such an artistic landscape, a picture as colourful and alive.

He entered the palace and opened his eyes wide when he realized its greatness. The hall was as wide as the village he had visited with the Duke earlier, there were paintings all over the walls, the majority were portraits of ancient kings and queens of Fantasia. He examined them one by one and noticed they all had a different eye colour; red, yellow, green. Each of them had a different facial expression, one looked angry, the other kind of joyful or there was one who had no expression at all.

His gaze landed on the last painting, a portrait of a young man with black hair and grey eyes like silver. He looked very cold and rough with his eyes that could pierce your heart.

He must have been the one who reigned at the moment.

But despite his scary look, he was very curious about him, because he had nothing strange. No wings, no tail, no pointy ears. He looked very normal, as a human.

"You!" he heard someone scream.

A guard surprised him and ran to him. "What are you doing here ?!"

"Uh...Uhm…" Jimmy was shaking with fear at the giant gnome. "I just... I was lost,"

"GUARDS!" the ugly creature called and four of his companions arrived. "I caught a thief!"

Jimmy widened his eyes. "What? No! I'm not a thief!" he shouted.

"Who dares to steal inside the castle?" another guard grabbed his fragile arm strongly. "Such a beautiful creature." he caressed his face with his sticky hands. "This is why we should never trust appearances."

"I'm not a thief!" the young man tries to escape from his grip but the gnome was stronger.

"We should be able to sell him in the market, he can get us a good price." they all laughed.

"Maybe sell him to the Prince of Rosa! He likes beauty!"

Jimmy screamed with fear and tried to defend himself. "Let me go!"

"Do not think about escaping from us pretty heart."

"What is this noise all about?" a deep voice surged from behind.

"Your Majesty!" the guards suddenly stopped laughing and bowed.

Jimmy gulped when the king's eyes landed on his. He looked better than his portrait, his hair was darker and his skin was paler.

He was wearing a black velvet ceremonial jacket with embroidered golden roses, black silk pants and black leather boots.

He walked slowly towards him, his hands behind his back.

Jimmy's heart beat faster every time he made a new step.

Without a word, the king observed his hair colour. They couldn't see if he was surprised or confused because he stood expressionless. "What are you?" he asked with a deep voice that sent shivers through Jimmy's body.

"What?"

"What kind of creature are you?"

"I don’t know."

"Sir, this creature wanted to steal your painting." the main guard said.

"What?! It's not true!" Jimmy waved his hands.

"He is lying!"

"I'm not!"

"SILENCE!" the king shouted. "You have not answered my question." he looked at Jimmy. "What are you? This hair...I have never seen such a colour before."

"I said that I don’t know." Jimmy shrugged and jumped when he saw his eyes shifting to red.

"You dare shrugging at your king?" the male approached his face to his.

Jimmy didn't know how he felt an act of sudden courage to take over him. "You're not my king," he mumbled quietly.

"Pardon?" the black-haired frowned. "What have you said?"

"You are not my king!"

The guards seemed to be surprised at their master.

The king clenched his fists. "Did you just raise your voice at me?" he asked, his eyes becoming a dark red.

Jimmy did not answer.

"Guards! Lock him up!" the king ordered.

"Yes sir!" they grabbed Jimmy by force.

"No! Let me go!!"

"Shut up you disrespectful shite."

Despite his screams and cries, no one was there to save him.

They walked to the dungeon and threw him on the floor. "Die!" they all screamed before leaving him alone.

It was very dark inside, only a small candle that was about to melt completely and his shiny hair illuminated the dungeon.

Jimmy was lying on the cold floor, his eyes staring at the railings, hoping to see someone approaching, but it had been hours since he was trapped in the castle tower without anyone offering him food. His stomach was gurgling and his throat was dry. Oh, how much he craved what he ate at the Duke's mansion. 

Normally, in this kind of situation he should be thinking about how to escape from the castle or what happened when he landed in this strange world but no, the only thing that couldn't leave his thoughts were his eyes, the King's eyes. 

It was fascinating how they changed colour from one second to the next. Other people will probably be afraid but it was not the case of Jimmy, he thought it was amazing and was curious to know why they changed, he wanted to see them again.

He looked around him, he could only see dirty walls, covered with some bloodstains. He gulped, thinking that there were other prisoners before him and that they had suffered because of the violence.

"Where is he?" the king's deep voice made him jump from surprise.

"Follow me, sir." He heard steps approaching his cell, his heart was beating very fast and he quickly got up and sat on a small wooden chair at the corner.

He saw the king walking towards him and by his side a tall man wearing a long black cape with a hood that covered his entire face. 

"Open the door for him." the king asked the guard. 

The gnome took out his giant keys and opened roughly, making the boy scared. 

"Oh, Lord." the mysterious man mumbled when he saw him. "Such a hair…" he approached him slowly and knelt in front of the chair. 

Jimmy's entire body was shaking with fear, but a part of him was calmer thanks to the smell that emanated from the man, a beautiful smell of orange blossom along with lavender. "Who are you?" he asked. 

The stranger pulled his hood down to uncover his long, straight black hair that descended a little bit below his shoulders. He was a beautiful man with radiant tan skin and gorgeous purple eyes that illuminated his entire face. "I am a wizard." the man said with a comforting smile. "My name is Ruvyn." 

Jimmy just nodded his head, still surprised by the strange colour of his eyes. 

"What is your name?"

"Jimmy."

"Pretty name." Ruvyn rubbed his chin. "Well, Jimmy, I must say that your hair is very beautiful," he added. "May I?" he waited for his permission to touch his diamond locks. 

"Yes."

The wizard smiled and gently passed his long fingers through the magical hair. He breathed slowly and closed his eyes and he seemed to calm down every time he felt it against his skin. "Lord, this is incredible," he mumbled.

He opened his eyes and stared at Jimmy with confusion. 

"So, what is he?" the king asked from behind the grids. 

Ruvyn rubbed his chin and sighed. "I cannot seem to recognize what kind of creature he is, this is very new to me." 

He gently turned Jimmy's face to examine it and checked some parts of his body like his arms and his neck. The younger would flinch every time he touches him. "Oh, am I hurting you?"

"It does not matter if you are hurting him, just check!" the king shouted and Jimmy got surprised when he saw his eyes shift to red again. 

"Your Majesty." Ruvyn smiled. "Go easy on the young man, he did nothing wrong to be treated this way." 

"Nothing wrong?" the king furrowed. "He entered my castle and was about to steal my portrait to sell it in the market."

"What?" Jimmy's eyes grew wider. "I swear I wasn't trying to do such a thing." he shook his hands and stared at Ruvyn, hoping he would believe him. 

"He is not lying." The wizard told the King who immediately calmed down and his eyes returned to their grey colour. 

"Then," he entered the cell to approach them. "Why did you enter my castle?" he asked coldly.

"As I told you earlier, I was lost. I didn't know where I was and where to go and there was a voice who kept telling me to come inside the castle."

"A voice?" both the king and the wizard furrowed. 

The young man nodded. "A woman's voice," he answered. "She kept telling me to enter the castle."

"I do not believe you." the king muttered, clenching his fists.

"Your Majesty, he is telling the truth," Ruvyn said. "You know I have the power to detect the liars and he is surely not one."

The king cleared his throat and kept staring at Jimmy. "Did she tell you something else?" 

"No. She just told me to come here." 

"But I still do not understand. How could someone don’t know what he is?" 

"I am a human, but not a normal one." Jimmy sighed. 

"A human?" both were confused. "What kind of creature is this?"

"It's…it's not from this world. I came from somewhere else."

Ruvyn sat on the floor, cross-legged and rubbed the back of his neck. He seemed very confused. "From where did you come from then?" he asked the boy. 

"From Earth," Jimmy replied shyly, feeling that his answers would seem very ridiculous to them. 

 "You are saying that there is a world other than Fantasia?" the King scoffed. "What a ridiculous joke." 

"But it is true!"

The king furrowed. "Raising your voice again?" he gave him a death glare. 

"I am sorry." Jimmy nervously lowered his head. 

"This young creature looks very lost and confused." Ruvyn sighed. "Your Majesty should maybe give him his freedom. He does not look dangerous." 

"I cannot trust him." the king crossed his arms. "I will not free him easily."

"Please Your Majesty, I won't do anything bad!" Jimmy begged. 

A light green colour blended with the grey of the King's eyes, he looked calm and confused as he watched him kneel before him, but it did not last long. "Getting on your knees will not help you get out of there," he mumbled coldly before heading out the cell. 

"I am very sorry Jimmy." Ruvyn pouted and helped him stand up. "I cannot defy his orders."

"Thank you Ruvyn." the boy quickly wiped a tear. 

"I will come to see you tomorrow." the Wizard smiled and joined the king.

"Your Majesty!" Jimmy called, making the two males stop and turn toward him. 

"What do you want?" The King asked coldly. 

"What is your name?" the boy asked shyly. 

The king's eyes grew wide as they shifted to a shiny blue colour, like sapphire. Ruvyn stared at the king with surprise then smirked and turned to face the strange boy. "His name is Taegen. King Taegen The Second."

Jimmy blushed and slowly bowed to him. "I am pleased to meet you, King Taegen."

Taegen couldn't articulate a word, he just stared at him, the surprise not leaving his face. He couldn't believe how the young creature was being nice to him while he only treated him badly and how he was the first to ask for his name. 

He quickly chased the thoughts from his mind and cleared his throat. "Well, I am not pleased at all to meet you," he muttered before leaving.