A light groan emerged from the bed. I stood by the kitchen counter, slicing an apple into somewhat even pieces. Even though I had ample knife training, my fruit–cutting skills needed work.

The hazel-eyed man sat upright, rubbing his face. He silently observed his surroundings. My apartment had nothing special: a dinner table with two seats that were never used at once, cream-colored walls with no decor, and a clean kitchen with no plate in the sink. The apartment had no rooms other than a full bathroom. The bed and the kitchen were a handful of steps away.

I didn’t blame him for looking around. After all, I would do the same.

I finished chopping the apple and threw a slice in my mouth. The moment that apple touched my tongue, my lips curled inside my mouth. I grabbed a nearby cup of water and drank it to completion.

Goddamn, it was a sour apple.

I shook off the taste and pulled a chair beside the hazel-eyed man. His gaze was fixated on me the entire time. I only knew because he stared at me every time I glanced over. Not that I cared.

“You okay,” I asked while taking a seat.

“Ye—Yeah. My head hurts slightly, but I think I’ll be fine.”

“Well, that’s good. I would offer you an apple, but the one I sliced was pretty sour.”

He gave a friendly chuckle. “Don’t sweat it. I’m not hungry, I promise.” His eyes wandered around the boring apartment. “Is this your place?”

“Ya.”

“It’s pretty empty. For a woman, I thought you would have, you know, more vibrant things. But this is pretty empty.”

Seriously? I provided hospitality, and is this what I got in return? Criticism of my home?

His remark got me to roll my eyes. “I mean, I don’t see the need to spend money on pointless decoration.”

“Having decorations will make the place more… comfy, you know? I wouldn’t call it pointless.”

“To each their own, I guess.”

“Yea, to each their—wait a minute! What happened to those three men? Someone must’ve come and saved you, right?”

“No, well, I—”

“You poor thing. Having three men coming up and bothering you while you’re on the streets. No one in sight to help. It must’ve been tough when I got trounced. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure that mistake doesn’t happen again. I’ll protect anyone who needs saving until the enemy scurries away. God, I wonder how you got out of that. If you see the person who protected you, give them my thanks.”

What is this man talking about?

He just kept going on and on. I honestly thought there would be no end to his words. He spoke so fast as well. Almost opposite of the wannabe bandits.

And who do I give his thanks to? Myself?

“Uh, no one came to help. I resolved the issue alone.”

His mouth opened wide enough for a dragonfly to dive in.

“You’re lying.”

“Am not.”

“How—How did—did you take on three guys twice your size? Bigger, even!”

“I dabbled in some fighting lessons here and there. Nothing much.”

His eyes sparkled like tiny stars. “Teach me.”

“Eh?”

He scooted closer, clasping his hands together in a prayer. “Please teach me. I want to learn to protect myself. Please teach whatever knowledge you have.”

This was going too fast for my liking. I mean, I didn’t even know his name or anything.

I lowered his hand. “Let’s put that on hold. So, what’s your name?”

“Owen. Yours?”

“Jill. Nice to meet you, Owen.”

He returned an identical greeting.

“So, Owen, are you from Lyghtenberg?”

“Nope. I live on my own in the woods in a nice cabin house about two or three hours from here.”

Alone? Strange.

“Why is that?” I asked in genuine curiosity.

He looked away, unable to keep eye contact. “It’s something silly. You would probably laugh.”

“I won’t. In fact, after your story, I’ll tell my story. Deal?”

He responded nonchalantly. “What exactly do you want to know?”

I wasn’t sure why curiosity spiked within. Maybe it was because this man came out of nowhere and got thrown into trash bins. His confidence was admirable, though it wasn’t enough for me to question him.

Maybe it was because he appeared out of thin air. I had no idea, but I was intrigued.

“A few things. Let’s start with something small. Why do you live alone away from town?”

“Eh, it’s kind of a selfish reason…”

He went on to tell his story. His father owned thirteen restaurants across six different towns, two of which were Walisburg and Clueknicks. His mother owned multiple clothing businesses, stretching from numerous cities. According to Owen, his family was one of the richest in the outside world. They could spend money like it was worthless.

It got me thinking. What if I was born into a wealthy family? How different would I turn out?

Anyways…

How he described his parents made it seem like he was loved unconditionally. He got and did everything he wanted. His parents hardly refused his wishes. Everything he asked was granted.

He was pretty spoiled, but he did state that he was an only child, so maybe that’s why his parents spoiled him more. Being filthy rich also helped.

He turned 18 six months ago and wished for one thing for his birthday. Freedom.

Owen’s parents loved him, and he loved his parents. There was no denying that. One thing that put a rift in their relationship was Owen’s future. His father wanted Owen to take over the restaurant business when he stepped down. Owen refused. He wanted to do something else.

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He wanted to live with friends. But he didn’t have any.

Friendships were difficult for him to gain. His parents disallowed him to befriend peasants because they were ‘filthy.’ They surrounded him with people of elegance, though it was challenging to make friends with them because they were high-class individuals. Owen never cared about status. He just wanted friends like him.

But they weren’t similar. Everyone his parents introduced to him was way too elegant. It was a constant act. He hated it. He wanted normality.

He begged for a life outside the riches. He despised the phoniness and act everyone put up. All he desired was genuine friends with genuine personalities.

After weeks of begging, his parents finally granted him his wish. They built a cabin home for him around six hours away from Walisburg. It’s a multiple–bedroom house, perfect for friends to stay at.

Owen has been living there for two months now. He could return to his parents' house anytime, but he never did. He desired all the rooms booked with friends who would live there forever.

“That’s sweet,” I said.

He smiled. “You really think so? I feel bad leaving my parents. I sometimes wonder if the choice I made was the correct one. Leaving home and living with the friends I gain. It’s kind of scary, but it’ll be fun.”

Currently, he lives alone. I guess he hadn’t made a friend yet.

“I’m sure it’ll be scary. How do you live without an income?”

“Oh, my father gave me a hundred thousand golden outis coins. That should last a few years.”

“What??!! A hundred thousand golden outis coins? A few years? That’ll last a generation or two!”

I didn’t even know there were that many outis coins in circulation. A hundred thousand? He doesn’t have to work a day in his life.

“Really? A generation or two? I thought maybe five years max. Yet again, the value of money is ruined for me.”

“Ya, I can tell. Heh, that’s insane.”

He agreed to my agreement.

“So,” he said, “You said you have your own thing to talk of?”

“Oh, ya, my own story.”

I told him lies within truths. I didn’t speak of my time in the cells or my time in the Bariac cult. My story started in Lyghtenberg. I lived here my whole life. It was nothing special at all.

He didn’t like my story, scrunching his face. I assumed he was displeased by my lack of enthusiasm.

“That’s it?” He asked, surprised. “Your life consisted of living in Lyghtenberg alone?”

“Basically. Nothing crazy happened in my life.”

That was a lie and a half, but he didn’t need to know.

“C’mon, there has to be something. Like a crazy dream or something. Something has to make you interesting.”

Was I not interesting? Not that I cared. I could tell him everything, though I won’t. He didn’t need to know.

But… there was one thing I could speak upon.

“There is this dream I have.”

“Oh, and what’s that?”

“People laugh when I say it. They deem me crazy. I don’t care, though. It’s a dream I've lived for as long as I can remember. Wouldn’t it be cool if outsiders and Ionians could coexist? A world where we can willingly enter and exit the walls. A world where we can thrive alongside each other. My dream is to create that ideal world. I know it sounds insane, and I’ve been told I am, but I don't care.”

Unable to look at him, fearing his reaction, I spilled the beans. I couldn’t look up. Was he laughing? Snickering, even? Maybe. I couldn’t hear him laughing. He was pretty silent.

That’s it. I had to look up.

Here goes nothing.

That’s when I saw that look.

Owen’s eyes sparkled in a way that rivaled the stars. They were wide, and his lips slightly parted. Every moment, a sense of amazement sprouted, from the slightest crease on his forehead to the tiniest hair on his chin.

“Wha—What?”

“Nothing. I’m just amazed at how crazy your dream is.”

“Oh, I knew it. And here I thought—”

“No. It’s ridiculous in a perfect way. I’m all for your dream.”

I repeated those words internally.

“Meaning?”

“It’s an awesome dream. The people laughing are just in disbelief. Sure, it is a dream that is probably impossible to accomplish, but just thinking about it makes me smile—coexisting with Ionians and thriving in the City of Ionia. Y’know, they say the city is a place better than Heaven. I wonder if coexisting will solve the problems we have today.”

I stood up, almost knocking the chair back. I couldn’t contain my happiness. This was the first time someone had not mocked my dream. What was the ideal way to act? I didn’t have a clue. I treaded on foreign territory.

“You don’t think my dream is silly?”

“Pfffhhh, no. Not at all. It’s a little unrealistic, but I wouldn’t call it silly. There’s probably a way to make it happen, but we don’t have the capabilities or the knowledge.”

He was half wrong. I admit I didn’t have the capability or knowledge to see its possibilities. However, there was a way to learn how it could be done.

A place where any answer can be found.

A place where two new beginnings occurred.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” I said. “We don’t know now, but I know where to find it.”

“Where?”

Right before answering, I stopped myself. I had to step back a bit before rambling. Telling him about the House with Answers was harmless. I could spill everything I knew about it.

The back of my head told me not to. Every time I spoke about it, something happened to that person. I’m not too big on superstition, but this was different. I couldn’t talk about it in great detail.

Forget details; I wouldn’t speak about them at all.

I finally answered his question. “That I cannot say. It’s a secret.”

“Tsk. Are you seriously gatekeeping knowledge?”

“I’m sorry. I just don’t want to speak on it.”

He shrugged. “I won’t force you.”

I coughed as though I had cleared a frog in my throat. There was no frog or flem, but I didn’t want to drift into awkward silence, so I changed the topic.

“What are you doing in Lyghtenberg?”

“I’m just passing by. I was heading to Walisburg for the event to see if I could make some friends.”

“I see. So you don’t even care for the event. You just want to make friends.”

“Eh… ya, you can say that.”

The poor guy just wanted to live with the new friends he made—a tough ask. I couldn’t see anyone accepting his offer. Who in the right mind would live with a borderline stranger?

“What do you bring to the table,” I asked.

“I don’t understand.”

“What are you good at?”

His lips curled inward as his eyes dazed off. “I’m good at artsy type things. I can cook, carve designs, and decorate pretty well. Umm… I can fish… and…”

He listed a plethora of art-related and food-related skills. I didn’t care for the arts, but his skill set in cooking piqued my interest.

I never learned to cook. For the past four years, I have eaten store-bought food. The only time I ate a homemade meal was whenever I went to Mia’s. She made this beautiful chicken breast topped with gooey cheese and some seasoning. I’d never had anything like that before.

Mia won’t be around forever. Every day, she inched closer and closer to her dream. I admired her persistence, considering she’d been tackling it for so long. She never gave up. She continued to smile through doubtfulness.

I couldn’t do the same. I nearly abandoned my dream, questioning if it was even worth it. I wasted these four years doing nothing—sitting around and working at a cafe.

I’m better than this. I shouldn’t be working at a cafe when my dreams stretched beyond the horizon.

The wall. A big gray wall that stood meters and meters tall, sheltering everything within the City of Ionia. The city where humans on the other side live an ideal life. No crime, no poverty, no killing. From the stories, it sounded like a fairy tale. It sounded unbelievable, but it was true. Our ancestors passed the stories of the city for generations. Everyone had their own story, but they all described the city the same way:

A place better than Heaven.

I wanted a world where outsiders could experience Heaven. A place we can all bloom like beautiful flowers in the meadowland.

The House with Answers. I had to go back there, whether it’s five, ten, or twenty years from now.

The hazel-eyed man wanted to learn how to fight, and I didn’t know how to cook. In my books, it’s a fair trade.

“Owen,” I said. “You want to learn how to fight, right?”

“Ya. There were times when bandits beat me besides today. The helplessness is pretty frustrating.”

“I have a proposal for you. I will become your friend and live in your cabin away from here. I will teach you how to fight on one condition. You have to cook three, maybe four meals a day for me. That’s all I want.”

His eyes glimmered brighter than the sun. But instead of being a brutal heat, it was warm and gentle. He covered his mouth with his palm and squealed in excitement.

From the look on his face, I couldn’t tell if he was happy or going to cry. He probably didn’t expect my offer—shock factor.

He finally got the words out of his chest.

“You’ll be my friend…?”

“Only if you cook for me.”

“Deal! Deal, deal, deal!”