Continuing the Story

It all started with Ringo.

My name is Darcy Reagan and I’m an inventor, sorceress, and engineer. When I was twelve I laid out the plans for the Gryphon Travel Companion, a creation I have been working on ever since. My prototype, which I had affectionately named Ringo, is a mechanical lion with wings, an advanced navigation system, artificial intelligence, and high-beams for eyes. My invention could bring a person anywhere they want to go, morph into a cuddly-cub version of itself, and be kept as a pet. It could even protect its owner from harm. I had been working on Ringo for five years and was nearly finished. All that needed to be done was test Ringo’s navigation capabilities in a dark region.

In addition to an inventor, I also happen to be minor, under the watch of two excellent guardians, Dr. Nerva and Mr. Sage. They had been my teachers since I was four and have had charge of me since I was eleven. They had been supportive and encouraging in my work with Ringo. What they were not so supportive of was me venturing into a dark region.

“Absolutely not,” Dr. Nerva answered not a second after I gave the request one day before sleeping hours when the two of them usually read in the parlor. Her green eyes flashed with worry. “That is far too dangerous. I cannot believe you would even ask.”

“It’s your own fault,” Mr. Sage said to Dr. Nerva, sitting in his favorite blue armchair. Most of the furniture in our house on MotherPearl Lake was either green, blue, brown or white. It was perfectly suited for the forest and lake setting. “You let her test Ringo’s fighting skills with real Fighter Droids and now she thinks she can do anything for that thing.”

Dr. Nerva gaped at Mr. Sage. I didn’t blame her considering it was actually him that gave the go-ahead on that one (he couldn’t say no to me when I cried).

I looked down at Ringo, who as usual was by my side. Ringo looked up at me. I had debated for three years whether I wanted my invention to talk, but had decided against it. I hated robotic voices. At that moment though, I was regretting my decision. Another voice for my side would have been nice.

“But the electromagnetic waves in dark regions are different than those in light regions! How can I be sure that the navigation system will work there if I don’t test it?”

“I don’t know, but I do know you’re not going to Noxos. Do you know how dangerous dark regions are? What would your mother think?” Mr. Sage said.

I winced. I hated it whenever they mentioned my mother, my siblings, my father, or anything related to my family or life in Capis. My mother was Queen of Asterra, our entire world. I made a lousy princess, and I was always miserable when I visited my family back in Capis. I had been a constant disappointment to my mother from day one. Doing something like going into a dark region would appall her. Just like doing something like getting covered in grease working on the mechanics of a robotic beast appalled her. And staying up during sleeping hours to pour over schematics of said mechanical beast appalled her. And wearing black and navy appalled her. And being overweight and eating brownies appalled her. And everything else I did that appalled her. I think part of the reason she let me escape the life of royal scrutiny was so she wouldn’t have to be appalled every second of every day. I think one of the reasons I wanted to leave so badly was so that I didn’t feel like I was disappointing her with everything I did.

“She doesn’t have to think anything. She doesn’t have to know. Just like how she doesn’t know about the Fighter Droids. Or the fact that I wear faux suede.”

“Absolutely not.” Dr. Nerva said. “And don’t even try to argue with us. Because if you try anything, and that includes trying to take advantage of Mr. Sage’s weakness when he sees you cry, I will take serious action.”

I could tell from the look on her face that she totally would. She would do something serious if I whined. Like making me clean the toilets every day for a week. Or worse, telling my Mom about the faux suede.

“Okay,” all I could do was squeak in the face of such a glare. “I’m going to go to bed now.”

I backed out of the room and went downstairs to my bedroom, Ringo following close behind.

As freaked out as I was by that look Dr. Nerva gave me, I wasn’t going to let the two of them stop me. I waited until they both went to bed and ventured out with Ringo.

Luckily, Ringo could fly the both of us across Phyllis, so we were at Noxos inside an hour. Once we were there, I made her land so that we could leave tracks in the sand in case her system didn’t work and we needed to get home. I turned on her high-beam eyes and began traveling.

I had her practice navigating in a few directions for a while, keeping track of her movements by compass and pulling my green wool coat tighter and tighter around me as I did. Dark regions were notoriously cold, Noxos especially.

We were there about an hour, thankfully free from contact with Nightmares until we encountered something strange: lights.

If I had been smarter, I would have avoided the lights and left immediately. After all, it could have been a den of criminals. But I wasn’t too smart that night, so I urged Ringo toward it. And as we came closer, we saw that it was a car with a Nightmare stalking towards it.

Feeling gutsy, we charged toward it, me riding on Ringo’s back like a knight on his trusty steed. The thing took one look at us, saw that Ringo was twice its size, and ran off.

It was then I realized someone was in the car. A young man was staring at us, looking petrified.

He could have been a criminal, but something about his face told me he wasn’t. Call it a developing women’s intuition. I approached the car carefully, aware of how scared he must be of seeing Ringo. I could understand that. If you weren’t used to seeing her, she was quite a shock.

“It’s okay,” I said. “We’re not going to hurt you.”

“W-What the Hell is that thing?” He demanded, which I thought was rather rude. After all, we did just save his life.

“That’s just my gryphon, Ringo. It’s okay, she’s mechanical and can’t hurt anyone unless they try to hurt me.”

“Wh-Who are you?”

“My name is Darcy Reagan.”

It struck me then that something was different about him: there was no look of recognition on his face when he heard my name. I could understand him not recognizing me, sure. It was dark and at my last public appearance I was a lot shorter and fatter. But not knowing the name of your own princess? That was weird.

“I’m not a criminal,” I added quickly. “You’re not either, right?”

He shook his head and lowered the window. “My name is Adam Connors. My car swerved into the woods when I was driving on Maple Road. But—“ He looked around at everything the lights from his car and Ringo’s eyes touched. “This doesn’t look like Oakley Woods. Can you tell me where I am?”

“You’re in Noxos, of course,” I said, feeling even more weirded out by this kid. “Are Oakley Woods part of Magnus?”

“Magnus? What? What are you talking about?”

“Well, this dark region is bordered by Phylliss, the Light Region where I live, and another light region, Magnus. Which are you from?”

“Um, neither. I’m from Farmstead, Virginia.”

I actually scratched my head at that one. “Where’s Virginia?”

He looked at me like I had just asked him if he’d like to book a three night stay in a hotel inside my foot. “What do you mean, ‘Where’s Virginia?’? Virginia. As in the state.”

“Look man, there are four states in all Asterra. There Magnus, Viola, Neos and Phylliss. Now which one of those are you from?”

He rolled up the window and turned the key in the ignition. It wouldn’t start. He looked at me, terrified. And then it dawned on me.

Asterra was a very special place. It was littered with gateways to other worlds. It was the only world to have more than one portal. We were the bridge between dimensions. This guy had to be from one of the other dimensions.

“Are you a Visitor?” I asked.

He didn’t answer me. He just started pinching himself.

I spoke louder. “ARE YOU A VISITOR?”

“DON’T COME NEAR ME!” He shouted back.

I had never seen anyone look so distraught. And then I had another revelation. There could only be one reason why this guy was acting like this: he didn’t know about Asterra. He had come from an undiscovered world.

I stared at him. “Oh crap.”