Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Meeting my… WHAT!?!?!?
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We find ourselves in an unknown room. The room and doors to this room are huge, however, the room is barren with exception to the floor, and we are in the middle of what looks like a weird sun. The door opens and the man who opens it says "Who goes there?" I speak up and say "My name is Dawson Sen and this is my beloved Carmen Shawl, kind sir, could you be so kind as to tell us where we are?" The man, ignoring my question while holding a sword, responds with "Did you say your last name is Sen?" I say with a questioning tone, "Yes?" he then replies "Do you know one Sandy Sen?" I then reply with a tone of surprise "That's my mother's name." The man then replies "How old are you?" I reply "16?" He then gestures in a 'come here' fashion and says "follow me, your father will explain everything." I reply "Father, he's with my mom?" and he just says "Just follow, I'll let him explain."
I look at Carmen, she just shrugs, so we follow the man (he looks to be in his late forties early fifties). As we follow him we see many things that would suggest that we are in some sort of castle, many of these things make it seem that it is in use by a wealthy, yet kind and caring, king. While walking, I ask "Kind sir, I never got your name?" He replies "Oh, where are my manners, young prince, my name is…" I don't even hear what he says next, my brain is too caught up on 'young prince'. I ask "What do you mean 'young prince'?" He replies "You'll understand soon enough." I then quietly ask Carmen "What did he say his name was, I was too caught up on the young prince bit and did not hear him." She then replies at the same volume "He said it was Shitsuren." [Author's Note: that's pronounced Shee-tsoo-ren]
We arrive in front of a massive and grand door, this door has a guard on either side. The soldiers ask Shitsuren who we are, he then says "The young prince and his suitor." Carmen blushes and I have half-a-mind to correct him saying we love each other, but then understand he is saying such due to his lack of information on our relationship. The men laugh and say "His Majesty has not lain to bed any women of this world, and you expect us to believe he has a son in this world?" Shitsuren then replies "Let this matter be dealt with by the king, don't take it into your own hands." The guard then says "Fine," then turns to us "If you two will just place your hands on this" taking out a white orb that is perfectly spherical and seems solid "I will let his majesty do the rest." We look at Shitsuren, and he just shakes his head in affirmation. I then do so and the sphere brightens becoming even whiter, same for Carmen when she does the same.
The guards then open the door and say "Shitsuren and company." Now we enter what is obviously the throne room, and we see the one who looks to be the king with a guard on either side. The king then says "Shitsuren, who is this that you've brought?" and Shitsuren replies "Your son and his love." I notice he must have seen my face, so he tried to correct himself even with his lack of information, still showing an inquisitive look I shake my head in affirmation looking at Shitsuren. The king then says looking, between me and Shitsuren, "Is this his claim, or is this your claim Shitsuren." Shitsuren then says "Well, this is my claim based on his claims, he claims to be the 16-year-old son of one Sandy Sen." To that, I respond with a simple nod of affirmation.
"It's been so long since I've seen her, how's she been doing?" he asks. I then reply "Good? If I may be so forward, how do you know my mom?" The king then smiles and says "I am Dawson Ernest Boulders, the first love of Sandy Sen, and the father of her first child, in which I presume to be you?" Then with a shocked expression, I said "I never expected to meet you! And did you just say you were my father?!?" To which he replied, "Yes I did, you said you were sixteen years old?" "Yes," I replied. He follows up with "Just about 17 years ago she was 3 months pregnant with my child and I then would have died by bullet but was saved by a goddess, then I got transported to this world after offering her to come with me and her refusing, so did she never marry, since her last name is still Sen?" I then reply with "She never told me any of that outside of your disappearance and you being her first love, never even spoke of your name, and blamed herself for your disappearance. And the one who raised me, and I refer to as dad, took her last name, so his name is now Darron Sen, and I now know why she named me Dawson." The very last part leaves me with a smile on my face.
[Author's Note: I will call Dawson Ernest Boulders by his middle name, Ernest, and Dawson Sen by his first name, Dawson]
"Of course she would name my child after me," Ernest said, "I hope that you hold nothing against me?" I reply "Of course not, I chose the same didn't I?" With that, he laughs and says "Like father like son." He then asks the name of the young woman standing behind me, I look at Carmen, and she says "My name is Carmen Shawl, pleased to make your acquaintance your majesty." He looks at her and says "there is no need for formalities, you are the woman my son chose, so you can call me Dawson, no, wait, better yet, call me Ernest, it'd probably be confusing if you call me Dawson." Ernest starts and ends that with a smile on his face. Carmen then smiles and nods.
My 'father' then asks "I'm guessing your parents back on earth aren't okay with you two being together?" To which I reply "No, but however did you guess that?" He then smiles and laughs and says "I know your uncle's last name is Shawl, so I guessed that Carmen was his daughter." I reply tightly holding her hand and showing obvious signs of trying to show that I will not give in to anyone on my love to her "That is true?" To which he replies, "In this world, there is only one test, a magic test that needs to be done to allow you to marry someone, blood ties literally matter not." I then ask "What is this test?" and he replies "There is a mirror that is reflective on both sides, however this is no ordinary mirror, in this mirror you will see the one who you have the most abundance of true and romantic love for, and if two are looking at opposite sides of this mirror simultaneously, and love each other in that manner, they will be able to grab each other's hands, and in so doing, will be declared man and wife." I then ask him where would we find such a mirror? He then says, "There is one in this castle, and also one in the castle of each kingdom of this world, so all people must go to the castle to be married as it stands now." I then reply "Well, when we are ready, I will inform you so we can use that mirror if that's alright?" he nods in affirmation then I continue "So what now?"
He replies by telling his guards "Bring a royal family crest and a royal crest." To which they reply "Right away sire." He then tells us "The royal crest shall be given to Carmen to show that she is protected by the royal family and the royal family crest shall be given to Dawson to show that he is a member of the royal family. The difference between these crests is that there is a special crest carved onto the back of the family crest where there is not for the royal crest." Shortly after the explanation is complete the guards bring us the crests accordingly. The royal crest looks like a one-sided platinum coin that has a bird engraved onto it, this bird has the beak of a hummingbird, the build of an eagle, and the feathers of a phoenix. On the other side of the royal family crest, is a picture of earth, like you'd find on the United Nations flag.
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After that, I thank him and then reiterate "So, what now?" He then gets up himself and says "I will personally show my son around the capital city," in a voice that is showing that he is saying that to his guards then walks up to me and says "As long as you will allow me that is." I look at Carmen who with a smile shrugs her shoulders indicating it's up to me. I then say "Sure, I know nothing about this world, so it'd be my pleasure to take you up on your offer."
He then leads us out of the castle and to his coach, which he has us ride in with him, and says "Coachman, around the city please, making my usual stops." In response the coachman says "Yes sire," and from there we set off around the city. This city makes me think Ancient Rome combined with the old west, it has many stone and wooden buildings, as well as a few large open spots that look like coliseums, there are also 4 walls, to which are explained to us. The outermost wall protects those who live in the city. The 2nd outermost wall separates the housing district and shopping district. The 2nd innermost wall separates the Royal District from the common districts, to cross that wall you must have a crest that is recognized by the king. Finally, the innermost wall surrounds the royal palace, to enter it you must have a family crest that is recognized by the king or a royal crest.
The first stop we make is at a clothing store, Ernest says "Get my son and this young woman some clothes that suit their appearances, put it on my tab." They reply "Right away sire, young prince, if you'd please," with a gesture as if guiding me towards the back. I follow and end up in what is obviously a changing room, they ask me to take off my clothes, saying if I have any undergarments it's up to me if I remove those or not, since there are only males, I take off my clothes but not my boxers (they are black). The man then brings me some clothing that is similar to what everyone else is wearing, and says here, try this on. I try putting it on, and the man helps me in any area in which I need help. The design of clothing here reminds me the same as the building structure like they tried to meld a hint of old west into a Roman theme.
When I leave the changing room, I see Carmen standing there in a dress that suits her perfectly. I say to her "You look beautiful," then with a smile and wink, "not to say that you don't normally." To which she blushes and playfully shoves me. Then Ernest says to her "See, I told you that you looked fine," then he looks at me and says, "She thought that you would think that she looked silly." To which I replied, "She was silly for thinking such," with a large smile on my face.
We then got back into the coach and continued on, our next stop being a large mansion. When we were welcomed inside the one who seemed like the head of the house said, "King Dawson, I didn't expect you to visit me today." In reply, Ernest says "I came to introduce my kingdom's hero to my son, Dawson Sen." In response, I say "It's an honor to make your acquaintance." He then replies to me "Likewise young prince," then to my father "You told me that your personal name was Dawson and your surname was Boulders, was I misinformed?" Ernest laughs and says "No, haha, my son took my loves surname, and she named him after me, thus him having the same personal name." The hero laughs and says "Oh, okay, well, back to you young prince, has your father yet told you what my name is?" My reply was "No," so he says "My name is Judas Ai" [Author's Note: Ai is pronounced ah-ee]
We had a long conversation in which he told me how he had saved my father's life when my father first arrived in this world. At first, Judas didn't believe my father had come from another world, but when my (at the time 18-year-old) father was tested to see what his 'God Given Gift' was, it was proven he didn't have one. When this was explained to me I asked: "What is a 'God Given Gift'?" They then explained to me that it was a gift of some random power that each person would receive on their 18th birthday if they were in this world when that happened, and there was never an exception to that rule. I then ask, choosing to test the waters for both me and him by saying father, "Wouldn't your, 'never being in need,' be able to count as a god given gift father?" He replies with a tone that shows that he approves of me calling him father, "I guess you could say that, but in that case, then Carmen would count as yours. Though you aren't even 18 yet, and as said, there are no exceptions, so I won't have one while both of you will." I reply with a nod and then say in a mutter "Wonder what mine will be." Shortly thereafter we leave to go to our next destination.
Our 3rd destination was the School of Magic. I think 'yay, magic'. My father meats with the school head and says: "Please give my son, who has just arrived, a magic aptitude test." She replies, "Yes sire, young prince, please call me Shi, what shall I call you?" [Author's note: Shi is said like she] I reply: "I'm Dawson Sen, please call me Daw." Shi replies, "Understood if you will please follow me young Daw, we shall test you to see what magic aptitude you have as of yet." I then follow her with Carmen following me, Shi looks at Carmen and asks, "Would you like to be tested as well?" Carmen replies "Yes, though, I am in a similar situation to Daw." The woman replies "That won't be a problem."
We arrive in a room that has a crystal ball in the middle of it, Shi says "Daw, please place your hands on the crystal then focus on the path of your blood flow, try to feel it flow through your body, follow it, start to feel the energy surrounding the blood cells, try to focus that energy to the palms of your hands." I follow her instructions to the best of my ability and have my eyes closed.
--Point of view: Carmen Shawl--
No matter how I look, or what he does, he always looks so handsome to me. Anyway, he seems like he is trying his hardest to do as Shi asked. His eyes are closed. The crystal starts to glow, I smile thinking 'he's doing it'. Then Shi says "Yes that's it, keep going, though if you start feeling light-headed stop immediately, okay?" He replies with a brief nod of the head.
After some time, the ball stops glowing, with there being nothing more that had happened. Shi says, "I'm sorry to tell you Daw, but as of yet, you have no affinity for more than basic magic, that is magic that isn't part of one of the 7 elements."
--Point of view: Dawson Sen--
I keep trying until I just barely start feeling light-headed, nothing seems to happen. Shi tells me I could only use basic magic "As of yet." I proceed to ask "what are the elements, and what can I do with basic magic, and why did you say 'as of yet'?" Shi then explains "The elements are Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Light, Dark, and Void. Basic magic is also known as universal magic, any magic tools that don't specify an element are universal magic, and as long as you have at-least some universal magic ability you can use those, as such you have ample amount. And as far as why I said 'as of yet,' that is because sometimes peoples 'God Given Gifts' are given related to magical affinity." Next is Carmen.
--Point of view: Carmen Shawl--
I step up to try it, I try to keep my eyes open while I focus on my circulation and focusing my energy on the palms of my hands. I start to see the crystal glow. I feel warmth, coolness, and peacefulness all simultaneously. I also see a red, blue, and white orb. Shi says "You can stop now," I do then Shi continues "You have an affinity for the elements of fire, water, and light. Fire is the element of destruction and cleansing. Water is the element of life and flow. And light is the element of peace, health, and light. You have a great combination to be the best of healers." Sone looks at me with surprise on his face, [Author's Note: Sone is how Carmen is referring to Dawson, a pet name] he says "Beautiful and blessed, I never thought that you would have such talent." I feel my cheeks get hot and mumbled "Stop it," even though I really was happy.
--Point of view: Dawson Sen--
Responding to my mild teasing, I hear Carmen say something, but I don't know what, so I just continue on to ask if we could get a more detailed description of the elements. Shi said "Yes" and hands us each a paper, with a chart on it depicting the elements.
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We read it then I ask, "So void is just personal magic, does this mean that General and Personal magic's are different?" In reply, Shi says "Yes, personal magics take an affinity, but cannot be taught, they just exist. While General magic can be taught, however, actual spells are almost meaningless due to there being more efficient ways to do anything that you can do with General magic. However, the ability to use General magic tools is a necessity." "Is there a limit to how many affinities one person can have?" I ask. "No," Shi replies, "However, before the Gods Gift, I commonly see around three to five." Shi then gives us a list that shows this: "Chances of each affinity- Fire, Water, Earth, and Air are each 18%; Light and Dark are each 13 %, and Void is 2%." Then it also shows after that: "There is a 10% chance that one has No Affinity, however, if they do not fall into this category, then follow this trend: There are seven slots for affinities in each person, each affinity per slot is determined by these chances '10% No affinity, 16.2% each of the core elements, 11.7% Light and Dark, and 1.8% Void', if two slots have the same element, then the second might as well have no element."
[Author's Note: To have a little fun with this go to https://www.random.org/integers/ and set it up for 8 integers from 1-1000, if the first is 1-100 then ignore the rest, you have no affinity, otherwise, the rest are the 7 affinity slots, 1-100=None, 101-262=Fire, 263-424=Water, 425-586=Earth, 587-748=Air, 749-865=Light, 866-982=Dark, and 983-1000=Void, Or if you have Excel and want to take the easy way out paste this link: https://mega.nz/#!lZBAXRoa!YCnslbePimQIXDR6diasDhrjqnVR1ApM529G-i_x8no ]
To this, I reply "So Void is rare, while Fire, Water, Earth, and Air are common. Also, almost no one has all affinities." Shi confirms then asks, "Is there anything else you'd like to know before you leave?" I look at Carmen, who shakes her head no, then say: "No, thank you for your time." To which Shi, with a smile on her face, says, "No problem, it was my pleasure prince Dawson." Then Shi guides us back to the room King Dawson is waiting in.
Ernest welcomes us back by asking, "So, what were your affinities?" To which Carmen and I reply in turn "I have no affinities other than the basic for General Magic" and " I have an affinity for Light, Water, and Fire." Ernest then looks to Shi with an inquisitive look as if to ask for corrections if there are any errors in what's being said, to which Shi simply nods in affirmation. Then he says "Well, I'm sorry Dawson, however, it's very uncommon for a God's Gift for one who does not have an affinity to not increase their affinities, like less than one percent rare," and then turns to Carmen and says, "Though I'm pleased to see we have the makings of a healer over here," ending that with a big grin on his face.
After all that magic stuff we move on to our next destination, this will be our 4th. So for this destination, we cross the wall separating the Royal District from the Common Shopping District. Ernest then says to us "As far as I'm concerned, the best food in this city is not in the Inner District, it is in the Shopping District. 'Chef Green's Potluck Diner' has some of the best food I've ever tasted. So I thought I'd bring you two there for a sort of welcome dinner." I reply with "That sounds nice, now you aren't trying to butter me up with kindness to get me to welcome you as my dad are you?" while having my face show that I am trying both to tease him while still expecting an answer. He replies, with a somewhat sad-looking face, "I'd never do such a thing, I just want to show my son around my kingdom, and hopefully get to know him because I never had a chance to be there for him." I smile and reply, "Okay, was just checking, and feel free to ask any questions you have about me, as long as I can do the same for you." He replies, "Of course and thanks." He then asks, "Do you remember how you got here?" To which I reply by telling him everything that happened from the time when I woke up this morning to when I met him, and I include some descriptions that I feel are necessary. [Author's Note: Basically read from the beginning of Chapter 1 to where he met the king, he told that story.] So after that, we arrive at the Diner.
Upon our entery in my father says: "Waiter, I will have my Regular." To which the waiter replies "Yes Sire, and will your guests be ordering for themselves or be provided by you?" Then my father says, "To that regard, I'd like to speak with the Chef." The waiter then replies "Yes Sire."
We sit down, then after a bit, a man in a green chef like hat says: "I heard that you asked to speak with me, Dawson?" To which I reply, "There are two Dawsons here, it may be simpler to call us via a title or our surnames." The man then says "My apologies sir, I did not know, can we do introductions before we continue?" My father then interrupts and says "I will do the honors," gesturing to the man he says, "This is Chef August Green," gesturing towards me, "This is my son, Dawson Sen," then towards Carmen, "And his love, Carmen Shawl," and continued, "They just arrived today, and I was hoping that you'd describe your items to them based on the knowledge I gave you." Chef then says "Yes sire," then looks at me and says, "Young prince, please take a look at our menu and tell us what you'd like a description of, and I will give it to you to the best of my ability." To which I reply by taking a look at the menu.
After a while of me asking questions and looking for what sounds good, both Carmen and I make our orders. I order 'Boar roast with a side of Rock-Root mash' which is best described as a pork roast with a side of mashed potatoes, not too wild a name. However, Carmen orders 'Ball Meat Pie' and some 'Bread Fruit topped with Fairy Fruit'. 'Ball Meat Pie' is basically a personal pizza; Bread Fruit is as the name describes, a fruit in which when baked is like bread; Fairy Fruit is a fruit that when used as a spread tastes like garlic butter that has successfully melted. So her order, even though it sounds ridiculous to those from earth, it's basically 'A personal pizza with a side of garlic bread'. I also find out that my father's usual is 'Ball Meat Pie' and some 'Goldenberry Special Tea'. Goldenberry is a berry that is golden and tastes like a grape yet looks the shape of a raspberry, and as far as the Special part is concerned, they ferment the berries before making the tea. After we are done there we thank the chef, my father telling them to put it on his tab, then head back to the castle.
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