The ocean sounded much nicer than he normally noticed. Maybe it was the fact that he was experiencing it with someone. Or maybe because his viewpoint was being affected by optimism? Either way, it was serene and peaceful as he walked along the bridge to Ordinary. And then his brain stopped automatically tuning out Watson's ramblings about the history of Ordinary Island. He didn't understand most of it but got the gist that Ordinary Island was named because of its founder, Unarius. M. Ordinary, who mysteriously disappeared after founding the island. There was also the thing about the leaders of Ordinary being picked via The Pit?

Vinlo shrugged this off as just one of those acronyms for important tests like the SAT or BAR exam. He really hoped that he really wouldn't have to take any tests in Ordinary for some citizenship process. He couldn't ask Watson this question because of the third point he collected from Watson's speech. Something about the first rule of Ordinary being "Don't question things. Not everything has an answer". Why was he not supposed to question things too much? He was already questioning everything.

Vinlo didn't have much more time for just questioning things cause the Notaec had awoken and was now chewing on Vinlo's shirt. Vinlo looked down at it and finally got a good look at it. It kinda looked like a yellow ferret with 2 large green eyes. It looked a little cute even. He fished through his pockets for the gumball Watson gave him and tried to stop the Notaec from chewing on his shirt. After a good minute or two of a struggle, he managed to get the Notaec to stop chewing his shirt and chew the gumball. The Notaec was now just chewing the gumball making a cute lil nyomnyomnyom. Vinlo looked at the creature and smiled.

"You're actually kinda cute. Well, I suppose if we're gonna be stuck then I gotta give you a name.. hmmm how does Tack sound?"

The Notaec just kept chewing, but it seemed it wasn't against the name.

"Tack it is then"

Vinlo looked back up to the island which was now just a few feet away and stared in awe. The Island looked so much stranger the closer he got and the more he noticed. All the buildings seemed to float on the small pieces of land they were built on. The underside of the island actually had what seemed to be a town situated right next to it. And there were all sorts of plant life and noises that just took Vinlo by surprise. As a city guy Vinlo never really got to hear those organic nature noises in person. And he wished that he had sooner because these were beautiful. As he kept looking around the island he also notices that the lighthouse was so much taller than he had imagined and seemed much bigger than a regular lighthouse. Though Vinlo hadn't seen many lighthouses

"It's great, isn't it? And the looks aren't the best thing about it. Wait until you meet the people"

Vinlo just nodded and kept looking on as Watson started running in the general direction of the town.

"Come on! We haven't got all day for this tour"

"Oh my. He's so childish"

Vinlo gave off a light chuckle and started running after Watson.

As they ran past the threshold Vinlo felt like he had just run into a large bubble and popped it. It felt weird, but not weird enough to warrant a stop.

When Watson finally stopped they were in what seemed to Vinlo to be a medieval trading post. It was a long street which was filled with all sorts of old-age style shops which you would expect to see in medieval times. It was a nice scenery change for Vinlo.

"So Vinlo, this is the commercial district. If you ever need to buy something this is the place. Someone probably sells what you're looking for, for a price"

Watson kept walking along and seemed to be looking for something. Vinlo stayed quiet so he could just absorb this whole experience. And then Watson found the where that he was looking for.

It was a quaint stall where an old lady with gardening gloves and a soft look was selling fruits, veggies, gardening supplies, and dirtbags. Vinlo kept this in mind in case he ever wanted to start a garden. Because Vinlo clearly has a green thumb if you haven't realized.

"Hiya Ms. Green. I'll take two apples"

"Alright, Watson. You know the price. Put it in the pan"

The old lady's voice was surprisingly clear. Vinlo expected the standard scratchy old grandma voice, but this lady had a voice smooth enough to be an opera singer.

To Vinlo's surprise, Watson pulled out some money and dropped it into the pan. Ok, that wasn't surprising, but what happened next is. Because a small vine tendril reached out from somewhere under the table and grabbed the money before quickly retreating back under the table

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The two didn't react much to this, but Vinlo was freaking out in the background. Excuse me WHAT. Vinlo then remembered rule 1 and chalked it up to some gimmick from the store owner.

"I assume that Lando is feeling better now?"

Watson spoke that with a tone Vinlo hadn't heard before. It was endearing but kinda.

Vinlo assumed that Lando was the old lady's husband.

"Yes. The rot wasn't something some rest and plant food couldn't fix"

Firstly, excuse me lady what are you feeding your husband. And secondly, why is he rotting. Humans shouldn't be doing that.

During this internal monologue the vine came back with 2 apples entangled in its tendrils

Watson took the apples and thanked the vine.

"Thanks, Lando, you're a big help! Alright Ms. G I'll get going now. Take care!"

Ms. G just nodded and petted Lando as Watson ran back towards Vinlo who was just slightly surprised by what just happened. When Vinlo could speak again from the shock he stammered making half words and just trying to process everything, but before he could make a clear sentence Watson interjects

"You'll get used to it. I was the same on my first visit "

You're supposed to say you'll get used to it when a system that you have no idea how it works is being taught to you. Not when a godamn vine acts as the cash register. though Vinlo is in no place to argue about Watson's word choice. So he continued to follow Watson to what seemed to be an antique shop built in the style of a shop in New York. It was a very big change from the other shops next to it. It says Watson Family Antiques

"This is my family's antique shop. My brother is the one who runs it, but he's off on an errand right now. I'll introduce you two later"

Vinlo had read the name of the shop and his 3 brain cells were working overtime to connect the dots.

"Wait... It says Watson family antiques... am I to believe your name is Watson Watson?"

"Yes you are correct"

Watson heads into the antique shop without elaborating further and holds the door open for Vinlo. As Vinlo walks in he keeps in mind he's got to get Watson's life story. And as takes a breath he's hit by the old building smell. It smelled nice. He looks around and was absolutely shocked. Every wall was made into a shelf that was stocked to the brim with all the items you'd expect to be in an antique shop and then some. He could see flasks filled with all sorts of strange items. There was a tophat in almost pristine condition, a crown that seemed to be made of strange serrated teeth, and a set of nesting dolls.

Watson proceeds to explain that his brother lives on the second floor while he and his sister live at the house out on the sub-island. He also goes into detail on how the shop was founded.

"So my great great grandfather started this with the artifacts Unarius always brought back from his expedi..."

Watson's talking became background noise for Vinlo whose eyes were fixated on the Nesting Dolls. He could swear they were staring back at him. He moved from side to side and lo and behold the eyes moved along with him. Oh, it's probably an optical illusion. Cool produc- OH AND ITS MOUTH MOVED. You can't convince me that it didn't just curse out my whole family in a split second.

"Can we continue the tour now? The nesting dolls are freaking me out"

"Just don't think about them and they'll leave you alone. If you want extra insurance give them an offering"

"That's fucking ominous"

"That's Ordinary. Now come on. We have much more to tour"

Watson then took Vinlo on the rest of the tour highlighting the city hall, the residential district, the only 3 restaurants in town, and finally the lighthouse

And Vinlo saw that the lighthouse's bottom was just as magnificent as the top with it branching and diverging into the cavern roof. He saw all the different segments of the lighthouse interlocking and the lighthouse gently swaying. The door was large and made of some strange and beautiful wood. The knob seemed to be engraved with what looked like a snake with a dragon head. It reminded him of the stories that his grandfather told him about the Great Wyrm in the Void. Who knew that his grandfather would add that to his lighthouse. Vinlo's reminiscing was cut short by Watson who seemed a touch too excited for this.

"Alright, this is the Lighthouse. If Old Man Simon really left the Lighthouse to you then you should be able to open the door"

What even is that supposed to mean. Aren't I supposed to have a key or something? Wait. Rule 1.

Watson steps back and waits in anticipation.

Vinlo reluctantly walked to the door and reached for the knob. He hesitated for a second and thought about what would happen if it didn't open. Would he be kicked out of this place? Or would something worse happen? He retracted his hand back and stared at the door with a subtle fear. He then felt Tack purring and it gave him some comfort. Even if he didn't get to stay here he'd still have Tack so that was a plus. Well you only live once so he reached out and grasped the knob

What happened next was one of few things that stuck with Vinlo forever. He felt his hand instinctively adjusting around the knob as it started to lightly glow. He felt something flowing from inside him and into the knob and felt lighter. His clothes and hair ruffled, but he didn't feel the wind. He could see the carvings from within the door starting to flow with what seemed to be yellow glowing energy. As it spiraled through the door and finally got to the edges circling the whole door. He felt himself returning back to normal and the ruffling stopping. The energy all started spiraling back in the knob and Vinlo noticed an engraving appearing on the back of his hand as the energy finally dissipated and a click was heard from the inside of the door.

Vinlo looked down at his hand and noticed a yellow wyrm tattoo appearing along the back of his right hand.

He looked back to Watson who had just fallen over from his disbelief at what happened

Vinlo took some deep breaths in and out and looked at Watson.

"What..."

That was all Vinlo managed to say before he collapsed to his knees. His arm started to burn and the tattoo glowed lightly. Watson ran towards Vinlo and tried to help by adjusting his posture.

"Augh- Ack-"

Then the burning stopped and it felt cool. He looked up to the door by instinct or maybe a force. And noticed that the door had opened.

And at that moment Vinlo genuinely smiled and stood up. Watson stood up behind him.

"Well. It looks like the lighthouse is yours. I'll leave you to get comfortable and we can meet tomorrow at the commercial district so I can introduce you to your other neighbors?"

"Yeah. That would be great"

Vinlo held up his hand to push the door and winced a little bit from the pain and pushed open the door.

This was the start of a new chapter in his life (figuratively and literally)