BLACK APPLE

"That woman is crazy. There is no way we could have slipped through time!" Mr. Peru's muffled voice rang out of Sany's backpack. Sany didn't reply. She just kept walking forward while the conversation she had with that woman a few minutes ago spooled through her mind.

"This is 1796," the woman had said. She no longer sounded cautious. Instead, Sany felt like the woman now was curious.

"N-No way," Sany said, backing away from the door. "I didn't travel back in time." She looked behind her at the forest. "Did that barrier really send me back in time?"

"Lady? Why do you keep saying back in time?"

Sany looked back at the wooden door. She knew that the woman was standing right behind it. If Sany wanted she could have easily sliced that door up.

"Nothing--there is no way such powerful magic could exist that could send me back in time."

"Magic?" The excitement in woman's voice was not hard to miss. "I don't know what happened to you, but you look like a lost soul?"

"I'm actually a trapped soul," Sany said and walked closer to the door.

"Trapped?"

"Yeah. Inside that barrier."

"Barrier?"

"Eh..." Sany raked her mind to come up with some better word. "I mean that invisible wall around the forest."

"Oh, you mean the shield?"

Sany's heart put on speed. This woman knows about the barrier. "Yes. Yes. I'm talking about it. Do you know how I can get past it?"

"You can't. The wizards put it up to protect our kingdom from Gorgon's attacks."

Sany asked her about what did she mean by wizards?

"Wizards," the woman said, "they have magical powers. Our king brought them into our kingdom to avail to their services. There are two wizards in our kingdom. Their names are Jan and Dev."

Wizards? Invisible barriers? Magic? How could all this be possible? Magic and Surge didn't exist during the 18th century. They only came after the revered tree landed on Earth. This woman is mistaken--

Or maybe she is not, Sany thought; what if those two wizards are from my timeline. What if one of them ate a black-apple which gave him or her an ability to travel through time?

That seemed like a plausible idea. At least in her mind.

"Where can I find these wizards?" Sany asked.

"In the capital," the woman said.

And that's how Sany ended up on this path that led to the capital of this old kingdom. As she walked, a dark steeple of a huge palace rose into view, cutting the blue sky into two halves.

"That must be the capital," Sany muttered.

"Are you really going there?" Mr. Peru's muffled voice asked.

"Yes. I need to find those wizards. We'll have to get back to Kon. I wonder if he is looking for us?"

"I don't think he'll be looking for us..." Mr. Peru said in his squeaky voice.

"Why not?"

"It's time for his punishment."

"Eh?" Sany stopped dead in her track. "What do you mean by that?"

"He broke a promise he had made to his grandma a long time ago. He punishes himself every day for that."

A wind came rolling down from the north and stirred Sany's short, black hair and her dark-blue skirt. "What promise?"

"You want to know? I will tell you if you'll let me out of this bag."

"Huh? No way! I'm not letting you out that easily!" Sany again resumed her march.

Cluttered with narrow, cobbled roads and small, bricked houses, the capital town didn't seem that big. It looked like, she was walking on the main street of the town as the road ran fairly straight before her and ended at the front gate of the palace the steeple of which she had been seeing for a while now.

She spotted a little girl in a white frock playing with stones and walked over to her. "Hello."

The girl looked up at her and smiled. "Hellow, miss." She started staring at Sany's shirt.

Sany beamed in return. "I'm not from this kingdom."

The smile on little girl's lips vanished away as quickly as it had appeared.

Sany caught the unease in her eyes. "Don't worry. I'm not from Gorgon either." Should she tell her the truth? Maybe she should. These people understand the concept of magic. They would probably believe her. "Eh... I'm from a different land. I was magically transported to this place. I'm looking for the two wizards who could help me to get back to my own world."

The girl's eyes went wide. "Different world... Where did you come from?"

"I uh... Actually, I came from the future."

"What? Mother!" The little girl started calling for her mother and when her mother came, she started telling her about Sany's story. The little girl's mother looked at Sany as if she were a unicorn, and the news of her being from the future spread like wildfire, and before Sany knew it, she was surrounded by people of this old town. Sany suddenly felt overwhelmed.

Someone grabbed her hand and started pulling her away from the crowd. "Let her breath. Let her breath." It was a girl about Sany's age.

"Are you looking for the wizards? I can take you to them. I'm Becki Tella," the girl said.

"You can take me to them?"

The girl named Becki nodded. "Yes. Just walk with me. And you people, leave her alone. She is our king's guest. You don't want to anger him, do you?"

The mob started grumbling, but no one followed them.

"Thank you for saving me," Sany said as they walked toward the palace's gate.

"You are a stupid woman," Becki said.

"Huh?" Sany's lips faltered a bit. "What do you--"

"You need to get away from this place. You need to bring help. I can't live like this," Becki said in a hushed voice. "Only you can help us."

"What--"

"Idiot. Can't you tell?" Becki said sharply. "Ahh! Okay, I'll expl--shit. They are walking toward us. Someone must have told them."

Sany looked ahead her and saw four soldiers walking in her direction. A person with his face hidden underneath a purple hood was walking between these four soldiers.

"Listen," Becki said lowering her voice so much that Sany could hardly hear her. "No matter what happens, don't look directly in our king's eyes."

"What?" Sany felt like something was wrong with this girl. "What do you mean by that?"

But Becki did not reply. She just walked away.