Chapter 7

“What do you call this? It melts on my tongue,” Lia moans, taking another bite into the fluffy pink cotton candy.

“It’s called cotton candy,” I answer her, stealing a handful of cotton candy from hers and stuffing it into my mouth.

“Hey! That’s mine!” She shields the cotton candy from me, making me laugh.

“Yes, but I’m the one who paid it.”

She sticks out her tongue at me whereas I playfully glare at her. We are in a park with only children playing at the playground and mothers talking among each other. Luckily, teenagers are in school so they wouldn’t catch me here with Lia.

“So how do you like 2013?” I ask Lia.

“This is amazing! Can you bring me here again someday?” she asks with puppy eyes which she knows that it is my weakness.

“Someday,” I promise her, leaning against the bench as I stare at a family of three in front of me. A mother, father and their young son are playing kites in the middle of the field.

Lia seems to know what I’m thinking because she says sincerely, “I’m so sorry for what happened to your family, Anthony.”

I blink back the tears that are nearly falling. I shrug casually. “It’s not anyone’s fault. It’s just my father’s fault. If it isn’t for the curse, I wouldn’t have met you. If it isn’t for my father’s selfishness, I wouldn’t have met Chase, Daniel and Zack. That’s just life. Everything happens for a reason.”

I look at her to see her staring at me with pride. “Anthony Weinbach, always looking at the bright side of things,” she says.

Before I can reply her, my phone beeps. There is a text from Gabriella. More like a threat.

I curse and drag Lia to my car.

“Where are we going?” Lia asks, running with me.

“I forgot that we have a gig today. We have to go back to the mansion so I can change. The gig is in thirty minutes time,” I inform her, opening the door for her. She slides in as I close her door and sit on the driver’s seat. I must have drive like a madman to the mansion where Chase greets us in the garage.

“Gab is in Godzilla mode. Use the back way,” Chase warn me.

“Thanks, man,” I tell him, pulling Lia out of the car.

“Dude, what happened to your hand?” Chase asks me suddenly.

I look down to see my hand that is holding Lia’s which has four red parallel lines. Lia instantly lets go of my hand and looks down at the ground with a guilty look. I walk with Lia into the mansion without answering Chase’s question. I did promise Lia that I won’t tell anyone about her curse.

“What is a Godzilla?” Lia asks.

“It is a mythical creature. It’s not true though,” I explain hastily.

“Dragons are mythical creature,” I hear her grumble to herself but I simply ignore her.

We manage to avoid Gab and enter my room safely. I grab my clothes and dash into the bathroom to change. My hair is neat, as always. I wear a white button-up shirt, white pants and red tie. The mirror reflects the outgoing Rebellious’ Lads lead singer.

I come out of the bathroom to see Lia gawk at me.

“Do I look like Sir Anthony Johnson?” I smirk.

Her mouth is wide open that if she doesn’t close it quickly, a fly would enter. “I can hardly recognize you,” she finally says.

 “Meet Anthony Weinbach,” I tell her, grabbing my guitar case.

“Anthony! We have another ten more minutes! Hurry the hell up!” Gabriella yells, sounding extremely pissed.

“Is she always this angry?” Lia asks as we sprint out of the mansion.

“Every time,” I confirm, entering the black van. The bodyguards look at Lia with raised eyebrows. “She’s with me,” I tell them.

The black van is crowded with ten people. We didn’t have the time to chat because we reach Eli Park within minutes. All of us got off the van, greeted by a mob of fan. Lia looks so overwhelmed that she looks as if she is going to faint. I hold her hands while guiding her to the back stage, where it is quieter.

“Are you okay?” I ask Lia in concern.

She nods, still looking disoriented.

“Look, we’re now in backstage. You can watch the show without getting squashed by the fans in the V.I.P seats. You will be sitting next to Gabriella,” I tell her.

She nods again although I’m aware that she doesn’t comprehend my words. Gabriella slowly guides her away from me. Chase, Daniel and Zack are already on stage, waiting for me. I take out my electric guitar and put on my winning smile.

Let’s get this show on the road, I think, walking to the stage to greet the crowd.

“Welcome to Eli Park,” I say on the microphone, my voice echoes. The crowd responds with screams of reply. I can see Lia jump to the loudness of my voice.

“We are Rebellious Lads. Are you ready to rock?” I ask, cupping my ear towards the crowd, indicating that I want an answer. There are yells of yeses. “I can’t hear you! Are you ready to rock?” I ask again, this time the yells are louder than before. Chase starts counting and we play our first song. Lia is smiling every time I steal a glance at her. The crowd has been singing along on the chorus of our hit songs.

At the end of the performance, I tell the crowd, “We are going to end with a song Chase wrote a few days ago. Do you want to hear it?”

The crowd obviously screams ‘Yes’ at me.

“This song is dedicated to a girl named Charissa. It’s called ‘Stranger in the Bistro’.” With that, Chase takes my place in singing for the first time. The crowd has never heard Chase sang before so many have already got their camera in hand to record it.

I notice a girl next to Lia is blushing as Chase sings. Then I realize that she is Charissa. When the song ends, it is silent for a second before the crowd claps in applause. Chase bows at the crowd before I take over the stage.

“Thank you, everyone for coming. We’ll see you soon!” The four of us leave the stage. Lia, Gabriella and Charissa are waiting for us at the backstage. Daniel kisses Gabriella as soon as the two love birds are rejoined. Chase puts his arm around Charissa’s waist and pecks her on her blushing cheek. Lia walks up to me.

“That’s one fun performance,” she comments.

Chase clears his throat, gaining all our attention. “Guys, meet Charissa.”

Charissa smiles at us. “Hello,” she says softly, fidgeting with her fingers in nervousness.

Zack has a huge grin on his face. “So you’re Charissa. The one Chase has been gushing about!” Chase and Charissa blushes so hard that their faces are as red as cherries.

Gabriella, who is still holding Daniel’s, hit Zack at his arm with her other hand. “Zack! Behave!”

Zack scowls at Gabriella. “Gab, I’m not a dog. You don’t need to order me around like one!”

“No, but you’re a child who needs to behave,” Daniel chimes in, defending Gab.

Zack pretends to not hear Daniel, concentrating on Charissa. “We have a lot to talk about! For instance, there is one time . . .”

I guide Lia away from them. Lia looks like she is going to explode with laughter. When we are alone in the van, she burst into laughter. I can’t help but join her.

“Zack is a jester, isn’t he?” Lia finally asks when she recover.

“He can be annoying sometimes. He loves to tease all of us.” I smile at the time Zack joking about Daniel and Gabriella’s future children that Daniel lost his self-control and left a black eye on Zack’s right eye.

“You have nice friends, Anthony. I can’t have any just because I’m a princess. I used to have friends until I found out that they have been boasting about being my friend behind my back. My male friends, however, used the opportunity to get to know me and sooner or later, desire to marry me. That’s why I wasn’t nice to you the first week you tried to converse with me,” she admits, her eyes shows honesty.

I put her small hand into my large ones. “It’s nice to know why you were a spoilt brat.”

She smiles back at me before the smiles die off. “Is everything going to change now? We both have learned each other’s secret . . .”

“I can assure you that everything will be alright,” I tell her, squeezing her hand in comfort.

Before she can say anything, a pair of blushing Chase and Charissa enters the black van. Then, Daniel and Gabriella have an each a poker face as Zack looks smug. I raise an eyebrow at all of them, which causes Chase to shake his head at me. 

The driver enters and drives the van after Gab demands, “Drive.”

The short journey is filled with uncomfortable silence. When we reach home, all of us head to the living room. Chase, Daniel, Zack and I jump on the sofa and sigh at the comfort. Lia, Gabriella and Charissa giggle at us. The girls take a seat the only vacant couch next to the sofa Daniel and I sit on.

“So is it true that you are a time traveler?” Charissa asks in my direction. I glare at Chase who shrugs back at me.

“I have to tell her. I can’t keep secrets from her . . .” he explains, earning glares from everyone except for Charissa and Lia.

“Yes, I am. The person you are sitting next to is Princess Lia,” I tell her. She quickly looks at Lia. Lia smiles back at Charissa.

Charissa has a confused expression on. “You don’t look like Princess Lia in my textbooks or reference books . . .”

Zack leans over towards Charissa and high-5s with her. “That’s what I said! Chase, you pick the right girl for once! If you two get married, can I be the best man?”

I snap my fingers when a thought appears in my head. From the corner of my eyes, I can see Chase is grateful for changing the topic about marriages. “That reminds me. I have to talk to you guys about something!”

“Then just say it. You don’t have to announce it to the whole world,” Zack says. Gabriella glares even harder at Zack. He is becoming more annoying nowadays.

I glare also at Zack before continue saying, “Before I brought Lia to our time, the royal castle is attacked by the Visian army.”

“So? It is meant to be attacked in 1468,” Charissa answers.

I look at her in confusion. “No, it isn’t supposed to be attacked until the 18th century.”

“Anthony, I major in Elopurian history. I am 100 percent sure that the castle is supposed to be attacked in 1468,” Charissa informs.

Chase suddenly says out loud, “Charissa is right. Look.” He hands me his smart phone with Google displayed on the screen. I scroll down to see that Charissa is right. There is supposed to be an attack at that time.

“But . . . Before . . . How?” My head is spinning in circles. I have read about the royal castle on Google so many times that I can recall every word in the article.

“Are you okay, Anthony?” Gabriella asks. Lia is staring at me, waiting for my response.

“Before I left for the past, I am sure that there are no attacks from any neighboring kingdoms until the 18th century. I did many researches.” I refuse to accept the fact that I have forgotten. It is as if you memorize your times table everyday and then numbers are replaced with symbols instead.

“Maybe you have simply dismissed the fact,” Daniel suggests.

Gabriella shakes her head at him. “That’s not possible. Anthony is the type who never forgets nor missed anything.”

“Unless the past changed that forms a new present and future,” Lia speaks up.

All of us stare at her, processing her words.

“That can be true,” Charissa says. “Someone who is in charge of attacking the royal castle must be involved in this mess. I mean, there must be someone who knows how the present looks like. Maybe there’s another time traveler, just like you.”

“This can also mean that our time is in grave danger,” Daniel says. “Anything can happen. I have a feeling that this is not good.”

“Maybe the Kyrians in my time has something to do with this. After all, they know of my curse,” Lia suggests.

Everyone except for Lia and me look lost.

“Your curse?” Zack asks. This is one of the few times Zack is serious about a matter.

“As in you time travel too?” Chase asks.

I raise an eyebrow at Lia, my gesture clearly asks ‘Are you sure you want to tell them?’ She nods at me.

“I’m cursed too, except that I don’t time travel like Anthony,” she replies, fiddling with her fingers.

“Then . . .?” Daniel trails off for Lia to continue.

“Maybe it’s easier to show you than tell you.”

“As you wish, Princess Lia,” Chase says, glancing at her with a smile.

“I need to go and take a shower,” I announce, looking at Lia. She nods at me, telling me that she’ll be alright. I take a longer shower than usual. Taking a shower helps me to think easily.

First, I think of Lia’s and my curse similarity. It started when we were both ten years old. Are there more people like us? Stuck with this curse with no way out? Lia has to keep transforming into a dragon for the rest of her life like I have to travel back and forth which is exhausting.

The big problem in hand, other than our curses is someone messing with the past, which is going to change the present and future. If there are other cursed people, I’m sure one is a time traveler like me who is living either in Elopura or Visis.

Maybe the only one who knows the answer to my question is the newcomer Kyrians. I suspect the lady; Aria has something to do with this. She kept glancing at me which makes me feel uncomfortable. The three brothers did mention that she had visions of a black dragon. The black dragon is obviously Lia.

What if I don’t do anything? And leave everything that’s supposed to happen? Will the present change or stay the same? I know that I’m the only one who is not affected by the change.

I change into my casual clothes: a t-shirt of my favorite rock band and three-quarter pants. When I jog down to the computer room next to the living room, I see Lia watching the computer in fascination as Daniel shows her a Google picture of her.

“Do I look like that later on?” she asks Daniel.

He shrugs. “I don’t know. Someone painted a portrait of you so who knows what he might add in. It states that you have magic . . . well, do you?”

I bark a laugh, causing Daniel and Lia to jump at my sudden presence. The mental of picture of Lia with a wand forms in my head. It looks rather ridiculous.

“We have another half an hour until the sun sets,” I inform them. The two of them follow me to the garage, with the rest strolling behind us.

“What about sun set?” Daniel asks in confusion.

“It’s when my curse reacts,” she says acidly.

Daniel nods in understanding.

All of us enter the black van with Daniel in the driver’s seat. “We have to go to the Tigris Protected Forest,” I tell him.

The short journey is full with chatter. Daniel, Lia and I are the only ones who aren’t saying anything.

By the time we leave the van, Lia lets out an agonizing scream that makes all of us startle at the sound. Her knees buckle and she falls to the ground.

“Step back,” I caution the others, who look like they are going to step towards her.

They give me a baffled look but did as told. They stare in horror at Lia’s transforming body. When Lia is a full dragon, I walk over to where her face lays, her eyes closed. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me.

I pat her scaly cheek. “Lia,” I murmured softly.  

Her yellow eyes slowly open, focusing on my face. Everyone gasp in shock.

“Is that still the princess?” Charissa asks slowly.

“Yes,” I answer without turning.

“Can she understand us?” Chase asks.

To answer his question, Lia unhurriedly got to her four feet and nod at Chase.

“Holy Macaroni, that’s a dragon!” Zack yells in surprise.

Lia whimpers, clearly hurt by Zack’s words. I punch Zack’s arm hard, which might actually leave a bruise. The rest are unresponsive. Lia nudge me with her nose. I pat her head while waiting for someone to say something, excluding Zack who is whining about his bruising arm.

“As you can see, Lia’s curse is shifting into a dragon in nightfall. Something like werewolves,” I explain.

“That’s so cool!” Chase says excitedly.

“Yeah!”

“Totally!”

“Agreed!”

Lia sighs in relief when she hears their acceptance. We sit in a circle with fire in the middle. We start to tell stories as if we are camping.

“You know, Charissa, once Chase and I are the class jokers. We always get in trouble. There is one time I dared Chase to kiss a teacher. In the lips! What was the name of the history teacher again? Miss Valerie? Miss Victoria?” Zack taps on his forehead as he tries to remember.

“It’s Miss Veronica,” Chase answers. A second later, blood drains from his face, leaving him as white as a blank sheet of paper. “Oh no!”

Zack snaps his finger and grins at Chase. “Yes! Miss Veronica. Thank you, Chase!”

Chase does not answer him. Instead, he glares as hard as he can at Zack. If looks kill, Zack will be six feet under before he can blink.

Zack pays no attention to Chase. “Anyway, during History which is a day after I dared him, he kissed twenty-one-year-old Miss Veronica. Miss Veronica slapped him across the face and told him calmly to go back to his seat. Little Chase goes back to his place with his still red cheeks. The poor teacher immediately quit her job stating that she has personal issues except the History class at that period knew,” Zack says, acting out the way the teacher reacted and the slapping scene. All of us are having a good time that night.

Chase, Charissa, Daniel, Gabriella and Zack decides to sleep in the car where as I sleep in the forest with Lia. She tries to push me towards the direction of the car but I refuse to leave her alone in the woods.

My head is on the tip of Lia’s tail, acting as a pillow.

“Good night, Lia,” I say with a yawn and close my eyes.