"Help me! Please, somebody help me!" the man's voice cracked, echoing against the rumble of thunder. Sharp streaks of lightning split the dark sky, offering quick, scary looks at the big eagle holding him in its sharp claws.
"No! please!" he cried, the eagle's grip getting tighter, making his skin bleed a little. Up and up they flew, the wind hitting his face hard, until they reached a lonely, sandy wilderness.
Down below, many people cheered loudly around a strange throne where water poured down.
The eagle came down and put him gently on the throne, then flew away. The happy shouts of the crowd went all around him.
He suddenly woke up in his bed.
"Ugh! Late!," I'm late" he gasped,
He scrambled out of bed, a Rush of motion as he splashed water on his face and threw on his clothes.
He glanced at his watch. "Wait a minute" He had plenty of time.
A slow smile spread across his face.
"Always so dramatic," he muttered to himself.
Wait, the eagle, the throne, he thought, a flicker of the vivid dream returning. Was that a dream, or what? He curiously looked at his shoulders, examining his skin. He saw a faint reddish marks there.
"I am tired of this kind of always repeated dreams." He shouted.
A little bit scared, he quickly dismissed it and moved on.
He paused before the mirror, a flicker of amusement in his eyes.
"This new suit fit me perfectly, like it was made for me." He smoothed it. "Looking good," he mumbled, grabbing his bag. "Time to go!"
A wide grin bloomed on his face. "Finally," he whispered, excitement bubbling in his voice. "First real day at work!"
Thirty minutes later, he stood at the bus stop, the cool morning air a refreshing change. The rumble of the bus grew louder as it approached, the doors hissing open. "Here we go," he muttered, stepping onto the bus.
The city was just beginning to wake up, the first rays of sunlight painting the buildings in soft colors. He gazed out the window. "It's really nice out here," he commented softly.
A beautiful woman sat in his usual seat. He approached her carefully, a polite smile on his face. "Excuse me," he began gently. "I think this might be my regular seat, but please, don't let me bother you if you're comfortable there." He gestured for her to stay seated.
The woman didn't answer. Her gaze stayed on the passing scenery. A small feeling of unease went through him. He tried again, a little louder. "Hello? My name is Leon." he paused, "I'm new around here,"
he offered, extending a hand.
"What's your name?"
She didn't even turn her head. He slowly pulled his hand back, a wave of confusion washing over him. "What's wrong with her?" he wondered, his brow.
He found another seat.
The journey continued, the silent woman a strange feeling. As the bus pulled into a rest stop, an idea popped into his head. "Maybe she's not feeling well, " he thought. "Or maybe she's just hungry. I should get her something to eat." He got up to leave the bus but then paused. "Actually," he said to himself, "better make that quick call I needed to first." He changed direction and headed towards the restroom.
He pushed open the door and stopped short, surprised. The same woman from the bus was standing inside. In the men's room.
She stood before the mirror, like it was normal. Slowly, she turned, her eyes looking right at him. They were strong, almost sharp.
"Are you a" he started to ask, but before he could finish, a thin bit of smoke, light and see through, came from her lips.
"You talk too much," she whispered, her voice low and strange.
Then, everything went dark. He fainted, falling onto the floor.
Sometime later, he woke up to the sound of birds and bugs. Not the bus. His head hurt bad. His neck felt stiff. "Ugh where am I?" he groaned, trying to sit up.
He looked around, confused. He was in the middle of trees, with sunlight coming through. "What am I doing here?" A scared feeling started to grow inside him.
He saw people moving far away. "Hey!" he called out, his voice weak. "Who's there? Can anyone hear me? Help!" No one answered. They just kept moving, like he wasn't even there.
A feeling of being lost started to come over him. "I'm lost, " he thought sadly. "Alone. Hurt. And there's no one to help me."
Just as he was about to give up, two beautiful women came towards him. They moved so nicely, their faces calm and respectful. They came closer and then bowed down low. "Welcome, our Emperor," they said together, their voices soft and quiet.
He looked at them, really confused. "Emperor?" The word went around in his head. Lost, hurt, and now this? "Am I hearing right? Am I going crazy? How did this happen? When did I become an emperor?" He couldn't understand it.
"Maybe they think I'm someone else, " he thought, feeling a little hope. "Someone who looks like me." A quick idea came to him. "I'll act like I know what's going on. It's got to be my only way out of here."
He stood up straighter, trying to look like he was in charge, even though he wasn't. "Thank you," he replied, trying to keep his voice steady. "Tell me where exactly am I?" he began.
He was still very confused about being called Emperor and tried hard to stay calm. "If I say I don't know where I am, they'll know I'm fake, " he thought quickly. He needed a better question. He tried to sound important. "Tell me," he said, trying to sound like a ruler, "where are we going? You know I have many important things to do."
The two women didn't say anything. They just bowed their heads even lower and started to walk. He, completely lost but with no other plan, followed them.
They walked without talking through the trees. "Why are we going this way?" he wondered, seeing they were going towards a big area of water. "The ocean? But how can we walk into the ocean?" He got more and more confused.
They reached the edge of the water and stopped. The two women turned to him, bowed down low again, and said together, "Welcome, our Emperor."
"Welcome to the ocean? What is happening?" His head was spinning. Then, a strange memory came to him a quick picture from a bad dream he once had. He saw a young boy, standing right on this same beach, looking out at the never ending ocean. "Wait that was me. When I was little."
"What does this mean?" he said quietly to himself, feeling more and more worried. "Does this mean that dream wasn't just a dream? Was it something that was going to happen?"
What he had dreamt was now real.
Suddenly nothing. Dark. Quiet. Then the ocean was gone. One second it was there, going all the way to the end, and the next it had vanished.
"Wow," Leon breathed out, his eyes wide. "What is this place?"
The two women beside him stayed silent, their heads still bowed low.
Leon shook his head, trying to make sense of it all. This is unbelievable. It's so beautiful. These people they must have mistaken me for someone else. I don't know this place at all. But maybe I should just go along with it for now. See what happens.
But deep down, he had a sinking feeling. They knew. They definitely knew he wasn't who they thought he was. He was just trying to buy himself some time, hoping to figure out this impossible situation.
Just then, five more women walked towards them. They were as stunning as the first two. "Welcome, our Emperor!" they said together, their heads bowed in respect.
"Thank you," Leon replied, his voice barely a whisper.
They led him through this unbelievable world. The colors were so bright, the plants and animals were like nothing he'd ever seen, and the buildings they were just impossible.
As they walked, the women told him stories. Stories about old emperors, empress and huge battles. Their words painted a picture of a long and rich history. They talked about strange and wonderful traditions, a world where magic seemed as real as the ground beneath his feet.
"That's really amazing," Leon said, trying to sound like he understood. He listened carefully, trying to catch every detail, every little hint that might explain who he was and why he was here.
The idea of being an Emperor started to feel heavy, like a cloak he wasn't sure he could wear. It was a huge responsibility, one he didn't understand. But somehow, he knew he couldn't just walk away.
The five women stopped and moved to the side. Their respectful faces changed to something even more reverent as the silent woman from the bus walked towards Leon.
She was even more beautiful here. She seemed to glow with power and grace. Her eyes were sharp and intelligent.
"Welcome, our Princess! Long live our Princess Lena!" the five women called out, their heads bowed again.
Whispers moved through the air around Leon. "Princess Lena," he murmured. The name felt important.
Lena, he thought. So, it was her. She was the one who brought me here. She somehow changed me, inside and out, into this.
Princess Lena looked straight at Leon. Her eyes, which had been so hard to read on the bus, now seemed to hold so much knowledge. There was something else there too, something Leon couldn't quite understand. She wasn't the quiet passenger anymore. She felt powerful.
Her expression told Leon everything. She was the one.
My life, my future it's in her hands, Leon realized. He knew it in his gut.
Princess Lena, the firstborn of the royal family, had two younger sisters, Lucy and Lily. The reason Lena had appeared in the human world and brought Leon here went back ten years, to when he was twenty. For a whole decade, the three sisters had been trying to bring him to their kingdom.
Ten years ago,
King Zander sat on his grand throne. A picture of Leon hung on the wall. His daughters, Lena, Lucy, and Lily, stood before him.
King Zander began, "This is our Emperor. He is twenty years old now. It is time to bring him to our kingdom so he can become our next ruler."
"All of us share the responsibility of bringing him here. But as you know, we have strong traditions we cannot ignore," King Zander continued. "You, as princesses of the royal bloodline, have a great duty to bring him here, as our traditions command."
King Zander paused, then went on, "I, your King, give you, my princesses, a challenge. Whichever of you can bring Leon to our kingdom will be granted the title of High Princess. Furthermore, she will marry Emperor Leon and become the Empress of all our kingdoms. Even I, King Zander, will be under his rule, as I am the king of this kingdom alone."
"Leon and his wife will be the rulers of all our kingdoms," he declared firmly.
"And a crucial secret about Leon will be revealed only on the wedding day." King Zander promised, his voice echoing in the throne room.