Norbert just stared outside the window, not moving a single breath, the darkness staring back at him, thinking if there was something familiar about it. In the distance, he saw something move towards him. Stepping back nervous at whatever he saw; with a calming breath, Norbert moved back to the window, nothing to be seen, just the constant black. Shivering and unnerved turning around, Norbert saw the room he was in for the first time.
All alone in a white marble room, two chairs and a coffee table sitting between them, on the side was a cart filled with drinks and nibblies, none of which Norbert could recognise. Looking around the room, Norbert saw the single, double doors, the only exit other than the window at his back. Walking to the double doors, the dark wood with the black metal joints holding the door together. The dark of the door clashed with the room's white, making Norbert's eye constantly drawn towards it.
Pushing against it, Norbert tried to budge it open, the doors not moving an inch. Rolling his shoulders and swishing his hands to warm his body up, Norbert pushed as hard as he could against the door, nothing coming from the result.
Feeling his muscles strain with the effort, resulting only in his feet sliding back from the door and the sound of the leather squeaking against the floor, Norbert stopped with a heave, turning around and resting his back on the door as he looked out at the room.
Staring back at Norbert was the window. Not wanting to see whatever was lurking out the window Norbert moved his eyes to the walls around him. The lack of pattern on any of them shows nothing to be uncovered. Standing up with a groan Norbert started walking around the room's perimeter, hand going over the wall. After walking to the first corner of the room, his hand was not moving at all, even though his eyes told him there should have been a crease or a crack where the two stones met, but he felt nothing only the smooth continuation of the wall. Shivering at the unnerving, Norbert walked around the rest of the room.
Finding no hidden latch, secret entrance or trap door, Norbert moved back to the centre of the room with the table and chairs. Walking towards the chairs, they were just simple shapes, only straight pieces making up the frame; rapping one with his knuckles, Norbert heard a solid tang, feeling cold.
The seat is woven of the same material; realising it was either metal painted white or white by nature, Norbert had no clue. Wanting to find out the answer Norbert brought out his knife, reversed it and started ramming the butt of the handle against the chair. After several attempts, no scuff or dent was seen on the chair. Bewildered Norbert sat down on one, Norbert looked from the perspective of the door; looking out, Norbert saw the room before him, no change about it from before.
Sitting in the other chair, Norbert looked out and saw the window, still the same inky blackness as before, shivering at the feeling he was being watched by whatever was out there. Norbert sat in silence and waited.
And waited
And waited
"AHHHHH! Just something has happened already!" Norbert shouted out, hearing the sound echo around the room. Standing up in frustration, Norbert looked around in his backpack, Obsius still sleeping inside.
Being careful not to disturb the bird, Norbert looked over and pulled out the talisman and the book he was given. Fiddling with the talisman between his fingers, Norbert watched the purple pulse within it, still as strong as the day he received it.
Flicking it with his fingers, making it spin, Norbert opened the book and started looking through the creatures in it. Knowing that he would spend an unknown amount of time here might as well be productive.
At first, he was hunting for creatures he knew about, finding the normal animals he would typically expect to see on Earth, like bunnies, wolves and bears and others he had already seen, but also seeing some mythical ones like slime and the fabled dragon Lily had mentioned.
Norbert continued to be in the chair, waiting for whatever was to happen or go to wherever he was waiting from.
As Norbert turned the page, the sound was the only thing filling the room; the door silently opened behind Norbert. His back to the black door, Norbert continued reading his book, hearing the tapping of feet on the floor his mind registering something was happening but dismissing it as he continued to read through the book.
The other person headed towards the cart, plucking two cups out and pouring a drink into both before placing it all on the table and sitting in the other chair. Norbert, still spinning the talisman between his fingers, flicking through the pages, not reacting to his guest.
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
As the other person sat down in the chair, Norbert looked up slightly, taking his eyes away from the book. Before him was someone he easily pass on the street—a woman of smaller than normal height wearing a hoodie and jeans, hands engulfed within the hoodie. She was wearing no shoes on her feet, having them resting on the chair as well. Her hoodie a deep red, the blue of the jeans, and her blonde hair waved down her back, spilling off the sides of the chair.
Staring at her eyes, Norbert felt a shiver go down his back, the ordinary façade he had felt of the girl next door broken, for he was staring back at flames within her eyes. Feeling them draw himself in, Norbert could not move his eyes off them no matter what he tried. His consciousness slipped, falling into the abyss that were her eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Norbert; I guess I have that effect on some people." She said, moving her hand across her eyes; like a charm being broken, Norbert could move again; looking around and tapping his feet, Norbert confirmed his body was once his own again. Looking back to the woman opposite him, Norbert stared at her button nose, not wanting to fall into those eyes again.
"How do you know my name?" Norbert asked, deadpan face with no emotion in his voice. The lady responded with a trilling laugh, "Oh dearie me, of course, I know who you are. I don't pick anyone at random, though now that I think of it, sometimes I do." She said, tapping the side of her chin in thought as she finished.
"But this isn't about the great and wonderful me; it's about you and being in the situation you are in." leaning forward in her chair, she took one of the cups off the table, touching it to her lips and took a sip, sighing in relief she continued "With the introductions for the play done, the audience now knows all of the cast it is time to start Act 1 Scene 1, and that's were you come in," she said pointing to Norbert with her finger holding the cup.
"The world you were taken off from will see changes; the powers that have held for so long are shaking, changing whether we like it or not, and at this usual time, it is up to us to make that change, that change being you."
Standing up, she spun around until she was leaning over the back of her chair. "Plans have formed around you, and wagers have been placed; now all that needs to be determined is what you will do next."
Norbert looked at her in confusion. "Im sorry, but who are you, and secondly WHAT?"
The twittering laughter came back once more; raising a hand to her mouth to cover it, she said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I completely forgot, how rude of me. You may call me hmmm…. that's it Luck", she finished, a beam on her face of how good she was.
"Well, are you going to be such a rude guest? Go and take a sip of your drink." She waved her hand at the cup. Norbert, unsure of what to do, slowly and carefully reached down, and smelt it, a faint hint of raspberries coming from it. Tipping it to his lip, Norbert felt a drop hit his tongue, feeling the burst of flavours hit him, the memories of apple pies, lollies, toffee apples and cherry tomatoes.
All of the flavours going down his mouth at once, Norbert gulped the rest of the cup, remembering the last time he tasted something like this was when he had an elixir. Looking up at her, Norbert is already putting his items into his backpack. He heard her say
"That should give you enough strength for your journey. Well, that's enough of an introduction for now; if you ever need me, just come to one of my temples, and I'm sure you could get an audience. With that toodaloo," She finished, waving at Norbert.
Looking down, Norbert saw the circle appear once more; shoving his items into his backpack, Norbert opened his mouth, shouting, "Then what am I supposed to do?"
Smiling, Luck whispered back, so quiet that Norbert doubted he heard her correctly. "Whatever you choose, my …."
The blinding flash consumed him once more; opening his eyes, Norbert looked around, rubbing the stars out of them. Finally, when his vision cleared, Norbert looked around, back on the planes he was running on, looking for something to find.
Unable to hold it in anymore, Norbert threw up everything he had before; feeling his stomach gurgle, he felt it was coming up, splattering the ground with his puke. Finally finishing him, the need for sleep washed over him; he barely took a step to avoid sleeping in his mess even before Norbert hit the ground; he was fast asleep.
***
Staring up at the night sky, Norbert saw the moon nearly finished, realising time had not stopped, and it was soon going to be dawn Norbert placed the backpack on and sprinted off towards the direction of the river, not wanting to be awake with the flame-insectoids again.
Looking behind himself as he ran, Norbert saw no specks of light following after him; at least, that wouldn't be a constant thing. As he ran, Norbert thought about the "conversation", if he could call it with Luck. Wondering what he should do with it.
Thinking back on her words, Norbert realised it didn't change anything, more of an announcement that something or someone was watching him than anything else. The only bit of information Norbert gleaned from it was that some changes would be happening soon; well, for Norbert, changes were already happening. Typically someone wouldn't be going from one world to the next and back again, seeing magic and gaining superhuman powers.
Shaking his head, Norbert stood before his arch nemesis, the river.
Grumbling to himself, Norbert took Obsius out of his backpack, waking the bird up. Now able to move freely, he jumped into the river again, swimming to the other side.
Not even bothering with drying off, Norbert returned to the camp, wanting the day to be over and able to sleep in his bed again.