They found me, but Hunter said it's okay, right? Oh, I must be going crazy as well. To think that cats can understand what I was saying, let alone trust it.
Thoughts kept swirling around as he walked. Lyor had decided not to struggle as he could not run anymore with his hurting leg.
Now that he wasn't running away, he noticed that some of the fauna was different. Some bushes had almost pinkish leaves, unnatural shapes for leaves that shimmered under the filtered rays of sun.
He brushed it off as he had rarely seen many plants except some coconut trees, roses, marigold and grass on the way to work and back home.
When he reached the clearing again, Sol and Teebu were already there. Next to Sol stood the tall, overly excited person. The moment Lyor stepped into view, the man seemed ready to bounce forward. Mira kept on saying that he had nothing to worry about, but he was ready for punishment, as it wasn't anything new to him.
His heart was still racing from Elowen's sudden approach, which turned out to be not hitting him but an inspection. His cheeks still felt warm from being squished. Beneath the lingering fear, something unfamiliar flickered.
He couldn't help but laugh at the misinterpretation of the word Honey. But they didn't yell at him for laughing.
Lyor's fingers slowly loosened from his mouth.
They were loud.
They were strange.
But no one had tightened a grip on him to keep him from moving. No one had barked an order.
They were asking.
No one asked him what he wanted. And that confused him more than anything else.
So he followed along back to the place where he got treated.
The architecture alone was weird; it looked nothing like anything he had seen before. The walls curved instead of standing stiff and straight, the windows were wide and oddly shaped, and soft vines climbed along parts of the building as if they had been meant to grow there.
People passed by and smiled.
Some even greeted him.
Him.
Not a single glare.
The unfamiliar kindness made him glance around more than once.
They were inside again. Elowen was quick to join Ceera, making something that looked like tea.
"Do you like sweet drinks or spicy drinks?" He yelled over his shoulder.
People drink spicy things? Is he asking me?
He didn't respond and kept looking over for confirmation. As if getting no response, Elowen turned back and tilted his head in question, looking only at him.
"Oh... Anything easier to make." Couldn't afford to bother them, and he did not even know how much he owed for the food and water he had earlier. Nothing was free, and he had learnt it the hard way, as always.
Elowen lifted two small glass vials, both filled with liquids that looked exactly the same.
"Both are easy," he said cheerfully.
Lyor stared at the vials, briefly wondering how anyone was supposed to tell them apart.
"S-sweet then."
They busied themselves making the drinks and returned in four minutes.
"For you, Lyor."
Ceera handed him a light blue clay bowl decorated with delicate floral patterns. Inside swirled a dark green liquid that released a soft, herbal smell.
"To help you calm down," she said gently, "and for the pain for now."
She gestured toward his leg. Lyor stiffened slightly.
How did she know?
"I'll take a better look later," she added with a warm smile. Dimples appeared on her cheeks.
By then, everyone had settled into a circle of chairs.
Mira to his close right, Sol next, Teebu facing him directly, Elowen next to him, ending the circle with Ceera to his close left.
He waited. Only after he noticed the others drinking did he carefully take a small sip.
The reaction around the room was immediate.
"Oh, that's good."
"You finally got the balance right."
"Ceera, this one is actually perfect."
Their compliments overlapped, casual and genuine. The drink itself was surprisingly good. Sweet at first, with a slight bitterness underneath that lingered on his tongue. The smell reminded him of crushed **Wel Penela, mixed with something softer and floral.
The taste tugged at a memory.
His mother used to make him drink herbal soups like this all the time. She always insisted it was good for his health, or his hair, or his skin.
Back then, he had complained about the bitterness.
Now the warmth spreading through his chest felt comforting.
True to her words, he felt the jitters fade away, and his running mind settled down a bit. Sol spoke first, much to his surprise.
"Teebu and Mira will be talking the most. I just wanted to tell you that there- hey, it's okay to look at me. I won't yell at you or anything."
His head snapped up, grip tightening around the bowl.
Sol rubbed his forehead. "I just told you... Urgh. Listen, you might not believe me right away, but none of us would ever, EVER hurt you or yell at you. I'm telling this because from the moment you woke up, it was as if you were so scared of us. I could sense your fear every single time, and man, that's a lot."
"Sense?" He wondered if he was that obvious. Usually, people never notice.
"And that's a lot of words coming out of you, Sol. How come you don't speak that much at home?" Elowen whined, and Sol threw an angry glance at him. Yet, Elowen didn't seem to be scared. He must be having a higher position than Sol.
"Yes, sense. I have abilities, every one of us does. Part of mine is sensing intense emotions."
His eyebrows scrunched.
"It means, when you are very angry, scared, or even happy, I can feel the same. This idiot over here can make stuff to change how people look. Like he could turn you completely green or turn you into a wildbee."
"What?" To say he was confused would be an understatement. This wasn't Hogwarts.
"You might not believe it. And I'm assuming that in the place you came from, people couldn't do things like this?" Teebu asked.
He shook his head.
"I am going to tell you once more. You are not on Earth anymore Lyor. This world is Glowmere, and this village is Nemeteia. And here, people can do things like this."
In front of Lyor, he extended his arm towards Elowen; a greenish glow emanated from his palm, and he disappeared from his chair. Lyor almost dropped his bowl.
"You can do magic?"
Teebu chuckled. "Not sure what magic is. This is my ability. To send people to a location and summon them. Wayfinding, we call it. And Sol's are enhanced physical traits. Ceera's is healing. She can fix broken bones in minutes. Mira here has the ability to make flowers bloom."
Lyor's gaze dropped to his hands. Mira's ability sounded useless. At the company, she would have been paid less and assigned to the tasks no one wanted. The thought was automatic, trained into him by years of calculating worth. So people here had abilities, and he was in another world. Not that his father sold him?
"I - So-" Lyor paused. Should he ask that question?
"It's okay, sweetie. Ask away." Mira encouraged.
"So my father can't come here looking for m- me?" His heart skipped a beat in anticipation that he could not deny.
"Unfortunately, no. And I am really sorry about that. I'm sure that you miss your family. But there is no way to go back." Mira responded.
"That's not unfortunate." Sol huffed. It's a new start. Just forget everything and start over."
"Sol, that's rude! How can he forget his family?" Mira interfered.
"No. It's okay. I- umm... I understand." Lyor still decided not to express the relief.