Reagan

I wake up to the bright light of the sun beaming on my face. I lie there for a while, just trying to process the day I've been through. 

"I've really done it, and I really am here." 

Gwen comes out from the woods and says 

"We have a problem." 

Oh damn, I've been here less than a day, and already things are going south. 

"What is it?" 

She goes to one of the trees near our camp area and brings out two people. 

Nothing could have prepared me for the shock I was about to get.

 It was Simon and William, but how? 

They couldn't have been able to follow me, and they shouldn't have. My face gets hot, and a sudden panic comes over me.

Gwen realizing that something's happening and rushes to my aid. 

"Everything's ok I'll take care of this if you want."  

She whispers into my ear, which surprisingly calms me down. And then I realized what she meant.

"NO!"

I catch my breath, and I turn

"How did you guys get here?"

"Why did you follow me?"

Simon goes on to tell me what I'd already figured. When I left the school, they followed after me to make sure I was ok, and when they saw I was headed out with Gwen, they followed me here. 

"You know these boys?" Gwen asks.

 "Yes, this is Simon and William, my best friends."

They smile at me, and I then untie them, and we embrace each other in a very long group hug. 

"We're sorry that we said all that stuff." 

"We didn't mean it."

 I smile and embrace them one last time. But something has Gwen thinking.

"Gwen, is everything okay?" 

"No, this doesn't make sense."

"When the Elders cast the spell to bring you to that world, it was meant to be broken as soon as you came back, cutting all ties with the other world severing all memory of it. And not only did your friends follow you here, but they remember."

I didn't know this was going to be such a big problem. 

What could this mean for the other world?

Gwen continues to say, "this could mean that your lives, as well as Reagan's, have been erased, but why would the gate let two outlanders in?" 

Simon and William look at each other in understandable confusion. They don't really understand what's going on. Neither do I, but I know the basics.

"We have a lot to talk about," I say to them. 

Gwen calls to us 

"We need to move; all can be worked out and explained when we get to our destination." 

I pack up my bag, and Simon, William, and I follow after Gwen. 

As we walk, we encounter many beautiful sights, plants, flowers, trees, and even animals that I've never seen before. 

This land is magical, and it doesn't make sense to me that it's mine to rule.

"Ray, why did you leave without saying anything," Simon says. 

"I couldn't. I didn't know what to say; what could I say?" I reply. 

He looks at me and says, "no matter what happens here, we'll always be with you." 

I'm happy they followed me; now I don't feel like I'm alone in this, and I can do this with the people I trust the most.

"What is this place?" William asks confusingly. 

"Amber falls, it's my home, the place I was born, and now the place I need to save and rule." 

"Rule?" Says Simon. 

"Yes, according to Gwen, I am the rightful heir to the throne here, and I need to help save my people from the evil that stole my family's legacy."

With those words, a great smile makes its way onto their faces.

"I always knew you were something special, Ray." He says as he pats my back.

We continue walking until we get to this house. A woman stands outside waiting. Gwen runs to her and shouts, "Mother." 

She gets to her with longing arms and embraces her with hugs. We walk to her, and Diane greets me, but she looks back at Gwen with confusion when she realized it wasn't only me.

"We have a lot to figure out," Gwen says. 

Diane turns and gives us a nervous chuckle, and she gives me a humbles bow of the head walks away from us. 

Now that I'm meeting her in person, she's much different than in whatever dream world I had a visit to.

We walk after her and into the house. We get in, and they sit us at a table while Gwen and her mother go to talk. 

"So...would you be a princess or a prince," William asks me awkwardly. 

"I haven't thought about it much, and I don't really know the norms of this place, so I can't say." 

Simon gives me a mischievous chuckle and says, 

"Reagan, you are the norm."

"You are who you tell them you are. From all the fantasy books I've read, I think they'll accept you as you are."

He always did know how to cheer me up. Always knew what to say when to say it. He was my greatest advisor; he still is. 

"Prince,"

 I smile, and for the rest of the time, we sit in silence, enjoying the company of each other.

As we sit, Gwen comes back, but Diane doesn't. Instead, another girl comes; she must be Gwen's sister. 

She is beautiful. I mean, Gwen is a sight, but her sister is angelic. 

They come into the room, and she bows before me. Quickly I get up and give her my hand. "You don't have to do that," I say to her. She smiles as I help her up.

"This is my sister Madeline. She'll be traveling with us to the outpost tomorrow." 

I shake my head in compiling, but my eyes don't leave Madeline's. Diane comes into the room, and our attention is averted back to reality.

I sit back in my seat, and Gwen and her sister go to stand at the opening of the round table where Diane stands. The room goes quiet, and we observe each other. 

Diane starts to speak. She introduces herself and has everyone do the same. But she doesn't allow me to introduce myself. She does that for me, she says 

"And the honor is mine to introduce and welcome Princess Reagan."

Simon immediately corrects her 

"Prince, it's Prince."

I'm kind of shock by his tone and the fact that he took it so seriously. It seemed to have scared Diane as well, seeing as her facial expression was one of utter shock. 

"I'm sorry...I wasn't aware," she says to me. I can't really gather much to say, so I stay quiet.

This whole thing is starting to show itself. I'm a quiet kid, reserved and to myself, and now I have this mission. 

To save a kingdom and not only that but to become its leader.

Diane starts talking again, this time properly introducing me as Prince, and then she continues to speak. 

"We are in the Edenwoode. The outpost is in the Golwoode forest. There are bandits, goblins, ogres, and much more. We will try our best to get you there safely, but there is a problem."

Great, another one. 

"We only counted on the appearance of one person, but three of you showed up. That's a problem,"

 "why?" 

She tells us of the spell that brought me out of this world in the first place. 

Gwen told us of this and the effect and what should have happened once I crossed over, but it didn't. 

"The outlanders entered our world, which is impossible unless the gate wanted you to. But for what reason?" Gwen spoke.

Things are getting complicated now. How much worse is it going to get? It is the question that stays on my mind. 

Simon and William are silent during this whole thing. 

I don't blame them; I would have done the same. But I need to show the others that they aren't a problem.

"They are not a problem. They are my friends, and you'll protect them as much as you'll do me," the words come out bold and passionate. 

Simon looks at me with a smile on his face. Diane, on the other hand, doesn't have an expression I can read.

If I am going to do this, I need to do it right. I must adapt to this life. As Gwen said, the sooner I accept it, the easier it will get.

"I need them as much as you need me so that you will protect them as well."

While we sit talking, loud boom quakes in the distance. Gwen and Madeline run outside. The rest stay inside but on high alert.

 They come back inside Madeline's face flushed like she'd seen a ghost. 

"We're under attack!" she shouts.

 Diane looks at them both and says, "By what?" 

They look at each other in concern, and Gwen says fearfully 

"Demons..."