Axis bowed respectfully to the queen street approaching her with Ayda, managing to keep a hold of all his fabrics. "My name is Axis, your majesty…" He replied. "I'm a human, and not of your world. I was transported here via a magical ring that I happened upon. I'm not sure how it got to my world considering that we have no magic. I'd like to find a way to return back to my home."
The queen nodded as she listened, asking calmly, "You're human?" She glanced at Ayda after her question, nodding towards the doors again, "Go to the great library and ask for a writing of the dragonring prophesy. If Axis here is human, that will help you. Then report to me tomorrow."
Ayda nodded, accepting the directions without question and bowing to her, "Thank you, Queen Senailia. I will be back here tomorrow morning with Axis." She glanced at Axis as she finished speaking, standing back upright and nodding towards the door with a hint of a smile.
"A prophecy?" Axis seemed a bit confused and glanced over to Ayda, only mildly reassured that the woman seemed to know what the queen was talking about. "Er… thank you, your majesty." He bowed respectfully again and followed Ayda back out the door. "What in the world is she talking about?" He asked once they had left the room.
"A long time ago, there was this elf named, Sungarwn…he was insane in my opinion," Ayda started as they left the room, heading down the hallway as she seemed to know exactly where to go, "But kooky or not, he was always talking about these 'prophecies'. Things he swore were going to happen one day. And several of his prophecies referenced humans like you. So the Queen is sending us to go read through one of his human prophecies that haven't been true yet." She glanced over at Axis, a tiny smile on her face even though she knew the prophecy wouldn't be fun. At least it wasn't one of the ones talking about the destruction of the elven realm.
Axis nodded a bit. "Ah, alright… I take it this isn't the first time that a human has accidentally come to this realm, then?" He asked. "I mean, if you've got prophecies about us and stuff, that means you at least knew that humans existed."
She nodded, explaining as they walked, "The first human came across our realm about two hundred years ago. Until that, we didn't know what he was talking about or what to expect from 'humans'. There's only been a few that have come through since then."
"Mm… do they usually pop up the same way I did?" Axis asked. "Through magical rings and such? Or have they come in different ways?" He hummed a bit as he walked along at Ayda's side. "Seems like we're a bit rare in these parts…"
Ayda shook her head, turning down another hallway and ignoring the looks of slight confusion that came from the guards as Axis walked with her, "No, they all appeared in different ways. One appeared in a river and we were told they had 'drown' on Earth and appeared here, another came through a portal…it's always different."
Axis nodded a bit. "Can… can people not drown here?" He asked, confused. "It's relatively common on earth. Well… at least amongst people who don't know how to swim or are doing it intentionally. It's not exactly a good way to go."
"They can drown here," She replied, "I meant they had thought they drown on your world..Earth..but when they opened their eyes, they said they were here instead." Ayda shrugged, calmly turning down another hallway, "At least that's what they explained it as."
"Strange… I wonder how that can happen in the first place, though." Axis hummed thoughtfully to himself as he followed Ayda. "Since my world doesn't have any magic, like I mentioned, it's interesting that traces of it can break through and bring humans here."
She nodded, thinking carefully before replying, "There have been cases of elves appearing in your world too, so maybe the magic is more like a portal." Ayda slowed to a stop at an open set of doors looking on in a large library, stacked head to toe with books of all sizes. She walked in without question, looking around to find the elf the queen had told her to find.
"Mm, maybe… I haven't heard of any elves popping up in our realm, but I suppose you'd know more about it than I would." Axis shrugged a bit and glanced around curiously at the books. "What language are these written in?" He asked.
"It's about as rare as a human occurrence here, and they find ways to blend in," She replied, pausing to pull a book out from one of the shelves and show it to Axis. "Most are in Elvish, some in Old Tounge, and a few prized books are written in…English? Is that a human language? One human was grateful enough to write a book in her language for us, as a way for other humans to know more about this place." Ayda closed the book as she spoke, tucking it back carefully onto the shelf.
"Yeah… I speak English." Axis nodded a bit and examined the book curiously. "I can understand you, whatever you're speaking." He shrugged and broke away from Ayda to go look at the rest of the large library.
Ayda nodded, watching him walk away before continuing on her own path, finding one of the elves that worked in the library. Before long she was holding writing of the prophecy and was pouring over it at one of the few tables scattered through the library.
Axis soon returned to Ayda's side after finding that he couldn't read any of the books. "Did you find the right book?" He asked softly. "The one with the prophecy in it?" He sat beside her and curiously looked at the book she was reading.
She nodded, glancing up at him and pushing the book towards him, well aware that he wouldn't be able to read the language. "I did. And this may hold the ring that will get you back home." Ayda didn't know how in-depth he wanted her to explain the prophecy, so she simply left it at, "If this is right, the ring you need to get home does exist, and we can help get it."
"Sounds good, um… what does the prophecy say?" He asked, looking over the foreign words with a bewildered expression. "I'm not familiar with this language, so I can't read whatever it is that it says…"
"Do you want me to read it word for word, or the basic of what it says?" She asked, tracing some of the words with a gentle finger. It was strange to her that they could understand each other's spoken language, but not the written languages of each other. Or at least Axis couldn't understand Elvish. She could read some English, but not well.
"Whichever you prefer, I suppose. I don't need to know every detail, but if you think it would help, then feel free." Axis shrugged, turning his gaze up to Ayda and away from the book. "What's it all about? Hopefully nothing deadly or requiring me to save the realm or whatever?"
Ayda nodded, a gentle smile on her face, "Well, you won't have to do any saving of the world, but danger is a very good possibility." She pulled the book slightly closer to her, then started explaining what it was saying, "In the most basic terms, your ring is, not surprisingly, in the realm of dragons. It doesn't list specifically where, but we can make a good guess. The ring is only good for one use and one person. Whoever touches it with a bare hand will be brought back to your world, wether it's you or some other creature." She looked up at him, looking almost nervous as she continued to speak, "The bad part of this is that we can't just rush straight into the realm of the dragons from here. It would be considered an act of war. The good news is that there are other ways we can get in."
"Great…" Axis sighed softly and rested his chin on his knuckles. "And you said dragons aren't as bad as humans make them out to be, but… I'm sure they're still dangerous, and we wouldn't want to go to war with them. How do we get in without pissing them off?" He asked.
"We sneak in," Ayda said, this time a bit of an excited smile twitching onto her face, "Not through this realm, but around the back of their territory. They share a border with the faeries, and I have a way to make sure we're not spotted as we loop through their realm and pop up along the back of the dragon's territory."
"Ah… alright. Wouldn't they be pretty angry if they found us, though?" Axis asked. "I don't normally do things that are so… you know… I'm a pretty law abiding citizen most of the time. I just make and sell clothes."
She paused, then nodded, "They would be angry, but if we don't get into their realm then you won't be able to go home." Ayda glanced between him and the book, trying to think of some other options for getting them into the realm that maybe Axis would be more alright with.
"I mean, I'm alright with it, I just… don't really want to be killed by a dragon, you know? Or start a war between you guys and the dragons before I just disappear off to my own realm." Axis laughed weakly.
Ayda smiled, shaking her head as she continued, "I won't let you be killed by a dragon, and war is unlikely if we don't just barge in through our land. It's more important to get you to your world if you don't like it here."
"Well, this place seems plenty nice, but I do have a life back in my own world." Axis laughed softly. "I've got a steady job and such… not a ton of friends, but that doesn't bother me. I don't generally go out and talk to people, so…"
"We'll get you back there, it sounds like you like your world," Ayda replied, nodding as she studied the book once more, "Do you want to go back as soon as you can? If so I can start arranging things tomorrow."