"In the limited time available, I don't think there's much more I can do for you. I doubt you'll be able to develop any enchanting techniques. The only thing you can do is try to concentrate your fantasia in a certain part of your body to strengthen yourself physically."
"How exactly do you do that?" Asked Danaël.
"You think of the place you want to infuse with fantasia and bam!"
"Hmm, so far, your instructions have been pretty clear, but this is total gibberish", Danaël remarked.
"Yeah, tell us if you're feeling lazy, Princess", added Dod.
Evangeline giggled. It was the first time Danaël had seen her smile, really smile. At the same time, who could blame her, given the situation the two boys had gotten her into.
Her radiant smile made Danaël's heart skip a beat, and he was surprised by his own reaction. He looked away, embarrassed, and hid his blushing face, hoping the girl hadn't noticed him, let alone Dod.
"I'm in the middle of a learning process myself, and I'm far from being a good teacher for you. It would have been simpler to give you a demonstration, but given my condition, I'd rather save my strength. You should do the same."
The two boys nodded before deactivating their fantastic mist. Evangeline, her legs still feverish, sat down, slowly, still facing both of them.
"So, tell me, why were you so anxious to leave Goliath? Stealing a royal cart is no mean feat. Why take so much risk?"
"In our situation, it was worth it, Princess", replied Danaël. "We can't afford to be stuck in Goliath for that long."
"Because you're not from Goliath?"
"Nope, we're originally from Nogadath", intervened Dod.
"People live in Nogadath?!" Exclaimed the princess. "I thought this place had been abandoned ages ago!"
"People don't live in Nogadath; they wander", said Dod wearily.
Danaël nodded in agreement.
"So that's where your wanderlust comes from? Yes?"
"Yes and no", replied Danaël.
The latter put his hand behind his neck, reflexively wanting to scratch the back of his neck, but he thought better of it, trying not to provoke his impulse.
"Of course, staying in Nogadath for the rest of our lives was out of the question, but the real reason we decided to travel was this feeling Dod and I have."
"What exactly is it?" Asked an intrigued Evangeline.
"We think", continued Dod. "We're from another continent."
Evangeline burst out laughing. She looked at young Dod Allentown up and down. Was there no one with dark skin in Nogadath?
Because where she came from, boys like Dod were to be found on every street corner. The Ordinal Continent was a land of great ethnic diversity.
The symbiotic era had driven the human species to mutual aid, and fighting between communities was now a thing of the past.
Humanity fought as one united body against all other races, as well as against fantastic monsters.
"Excuse me, excuse me", begged Evangeline, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "But I really can't believe you."
"Dod, I think you can show her", said Danaël, turning to his friend.
Dod sighed, looking puzzled, and glanced at Princess Evangeline before finally conceding. The boy pulled up the sleeve of his jacket, his left forearm covered in a white shroud.
Well, white was his original color; the garment had turned a decrepit brown.
Dod carefully removed the bandage, unwrapping it from around his arm. Evangeline, intrigued, leaned towards Dod, dipping and pressing her hands into the marshy ground.
Dod had only half removed the shroud, but that was enough for the princess. She gasped, the look of fright on her face indescribable.
An unpleasant shiver ran down her spine. She tried to hide the look of disgust on her face. Her attitude was not worthy of a princess; she knew that, yet what she had before her eyes surpassed anything she had ever seen.
Dod didn't dare meet the girl's gaze. He already knew the music(common Ordinal expression); he was used to this feeling, astonishment, fear, horror, and finally disgust.
Everyone reacted the same way to the sight of his arm, which is why he hid it desperately.
Not out of shame, he thought he was doing people a favor by not showing it off.
"Is that enough for you?" Dod asked the princess in a whisper.
The princess tried to correct the expression on her face, but Dod and Danaël could still make out the pervasive unease on her face.
"I'm...I'm...I'm sorry", she resumed shakily (desperately trying to regain her princess tone faster than she could). "I beg you to excuse my discourteous behavior."
"Don't apologize", continued Dod, shaking his head. "You had the reaction of a normal person. And don't be so formal with me, your royal mannerisms annoy me more than anything else."
Evangeline smiled imperceptibly.
"Noted. I authorize you both to do the same."
The princess allowed herself another glance at Dod Allentown's forearm. On the back of his left forearm, three holes held one eye each.
The pupils seemed frozen, only the eyelids opening and closing, the globes themselves not moving one iota. The crystalline lens of each eye was like an endless labyrinth, the veins intertwining tirelessly around the iris.
The shape of the latter resembled that of a reptile, a thin oval that elongated laterally. The first eye, starting from Dod's hand, had a gray iris and a black pupil, the second had a pupil of the same color and a red iris; and finally, the last eye was composed of a pupil and a completely black iris.
"If you don't mind me asking", stepped forward Evangeline. "How long have you had that on your arm?"
"Always, I think."
"How so?"
"Well", resumed Dod, scratching the back of his head. "My memories are hazy. I met Danaël in Nogadath when I was only 5. How I came to be here is still a mystery to me. The only thing I could remember was my first and last name and my age; in other words, either I've lost my memory, or someone has deliberately erased it. One thing's for sure, as you can see from my arm, I'm certainly not from the Ordinal Continent."
"Wow", continued the impressed princess, before turning to Danaël. "And you, why do you think you're not from here?"
"Well, I don't have as many clues as Dod, unfortunately. I've always lived in Nogadath, so I guess the only thing that sets me apart from the others would be what's on my hand."
Evangeline now leaned towards Danaël and wrapped his right hand between the palms of her two hands to examine it better.
Danaël was somewhat surprised by this gesture, but did not withdraw his hand. The water on the ground was icy cold, yet Evangeline's hands, which had been in the water for some time, felt indescribably warm.
The first thing that caught the princess's eye was the wooden ring Danaël wore around his index finger. The girl had never seen wood of such workmanship, and of such a color, a white sliced by reddish lines.
Evangeline could feel the fantasia emanating from the ring: "Is he unknowingly in possession of an artifact?" she thought. This time she did her best not to let her surprise show, and glancing at Danaël, she felt she'd succeeded in fooling him - well, maybe.
"This ring," began the princess. "Where did you find it?"
"I was found in a cradle by a group of Nogadath hooligans, raised by them, then Dod joined us. From what they told me, this ring has always been with me, and then there's this."
Danaël rotated his hand, which was still in the hollow of Evangeline's palms, and the latter noticed that in the middle of the young boy's palm, a rectangular chip was inlaid.
The chip was basic, of a uniform blue color and a line of numerical code indecipherable to the princess.
"I've never seen anything like it either! You two are really something special."
Danaël smiled, looking embarrassed. In the time they had left, they talked about everything and anything. The moment seemed surreal to Danaël; he'd never imagined conversing with the princess of the Ordinal kingdom in such a homely way.
He learned that she had two siblings: Roland de Résevi, the kingdom's first and only prince, and Jeanne de Résevi, the kingdom's first princess. Contrary to popular belief, the order of succession was not based on the age of the children.
Roland was the eldest, followed by Evangeline and then the youngest, Jeanne. Evangeline was classified as the second princess of the kingdom, while Jeanne was the first.
"Why is that?" Asked Danaël.
"My little sister is a genius; she's the same age as you. She's succeeded where I've failed, taming a fantastic sword. Fierbois the bramble sword. Fantastic skills are more prized than age, so she went ahead of me in the order of succession."
Evangeline spoke with a smile on her face, but her eyes were unmistakable, and Danaël could see the sadness in them.
She then added that she had to teach herself the arts of fantasia all by herself, as the king felt there was no need to waste time on her.
Her one failure had made her a recluse with her family, and she was not allowed to join the Albus Academy, as she would disgrace the family.
"You know what, fuck them!" Interjected Dod, who was now lying with his arms crossed behind his head.
"Thank you, Dod," giggled Evangeline.
***