The Book Of The Priestess

5

Ayden looked further into the woods and saw a small structure. He began to walk towards it. He stopped once he was close enough to see inside the windows. He looked at the roses that were planted around the building. He looked to the right and saw a flower garden. He scanned the flowers and spotted a few he liked.

"Who knew my flowers would attract a guy my age." Ayden turned to see a guy around his age smiling at him.

"Oh. Hi. Sorry for trespassing. Just a wanderer." Ayden looked at the guys clothes.

"That's quite alright. My name is Philip. What's yours?" He smiled and stuck his hand out.

"Ayden." Ayden took Philip's hand and gave it a shake.

"What part of this land do you come from?" Philip asked.

"What makes you think I don't come from this part of the land?" Ayden asked.

"Well... your clothes pointed me in that direction. Are you a foreigner?" Philip began to water the rose bushes.

"I guess you could say that." Ayden watched him.

"I guess you could also say that I am a foreigner." Philip gave Ayden a lopsided smile.

"That's cool. What interests you about flowers?" Ayden crouched down and pulled on a weed that was beginning to grow.

"Well, when I was in my hometown, my uncle and aunt owned a flower shop. I became enchanted with the way the flowers smelled and looked. It's weird for a guy like me to be interested in flowers more than fighting and other stuff." Philip awkwardly laughed. Ayden knew Philip was hesitant of telling the full story.

"It's not weird for a guy to like flowers. I'm a guy and I like flowers. Go on with the past." Ayden opened his bag and took out a book.

"Okay. All the guys began to hate on me and my hobby of collecting flowers and their seeds. One day... you probably won't believe what I say next." Philip chuckled a bit.

"No. Go on. If it happened, I'll believe it." Ayden began writing in the book.

"Okay. One day, I decided to go to the library. I was there for about a few hours and then I heard something. Something was calling me from the back of the library. I decided to go check out what it was and a book sat on the floor. I picked it up and a light shined from it. When I opened my eyes, I was here. I tried to get help, but then thought that I would just stay over here. I think it would be better not to get involved with the emperor or whoever rules this part of land." Philip put his watering can down.

"Heh." Ayden couldn't stop smiling.

"What? Do you not believe me?" Philip asked.

"It's not that. It's just... the same thing happened to me. Except that, after I got into the book, I ended up in town and a guy took me to the castle and I ended up doing something I didn't really want to do. How long have you been here?" Ayden knew he could trust Philip.

"Wow. Um. I'd say about three years or so. In real time. Not the books."

"What is the books title?" Ayden asked.

"I think it was called The book of the Priestess, or something similar." Philip grabbed his gloves.

"Oh," Ayden said, "do you want something to eat?"

"Sure. What do you got?" Philip looked at Ayden.

"Let's see. Some chips, fruits, candy, and a few other stuff." Ayden pulled out a few different foods from his bag.

"You brought food from out of here?" Philip began to take the food from Ayden's hands.

"Yeah. I thought about if I was to go hungry here." Ayden laughed.

What's your story?" Philip asked.

"Well, when I was younger, I lost both of my parents in a fire that started in the home I lived in. After they died, my aunt took me in for about three or four years. I decided for my own, that it would be best if I moved out on my own. I got into a high school down the road and met people there. Most of them seem boring. A few people talk to me here and there." Ayden took a bite of the apple he decided to eat.

"Oh. Sorry." Philip looked down at the ground.

"No. No. Your good. Anymore questions?" Ayden turned to look at him.

"What's life like out there?" Philip sat on the wood he piled up.

"It's not much. I had a boring life. It seems more interesting down here." Ayden said. They continued to chat for a while, until the sun started to set. "It looks like I might have to go now. I'll come back tomorrow." Ayden waved as he left. Philip felt as if he could trust Ayden even if he didn't know the full story. Philip could leave if he wanted to, but he knew that nothing would happen to him if he went back to the real world. He wasn't sure if he would call Ayden a friend or an acquaintance. He would have to ask tomorrow.

"What's your business with Ayden?" Kyle stepped out from behind a tree.

"How long have you been standing there?" Philip asked.

"Long enough." Kyle said.

"Why are you here?" Philip looked around to find his dagger that had been on the table moments ago.

"I wanted to wish you good luck and good bye." Kyle ran towards Philip with the dagger in his hand...