Knocking at your door [BL]

…

Or not.

* * * * *

"Mister"

"Hmm. Just five minutes."

"Mister, are you feeling better? You were about to drown, you know? Luckily we got here in time!"

Hearing this, Lennox opened his eyes and sat up, resulting in a terrible headache.

Massaging his forehead, he looked around and saw a beautiful blue sky with a few small clouds, like whipped cream, and the sea, now eerily calm.

He tried to stretch a little but his hand touched something soft and fluffy.

"What th- "

He turned around very slowly, not knowing how to react to the unexpected situation, and realized he was leaning against some kind of enormous dog.

Enormous was an understatement — it was gigantic. And... it wasn't entirely a dog.

Do you remember Falkor, the dragon from The NeverEnding Story? It looked a lot like that, except instead of a beautiful white coat, Lennox found himself face to face with a midnight-blue creature with silvery-gray eyes.

They radiated calm and confidence, all tinged with a thin layer of curiosity.

"What the heck is this... th-this creature?"

"Oh, that's Nebar! He's my adventure companion! He keeps me company and protects me!"

Lennox heard the voice of a little girl again, but as he looked around cautiously—careful not to startle Nebar—he couldn't see anyone nearby.

In front of him, a few meters ahead, he saw some people speaking in hushed tones, their faces marked by worry — but of the little girl, there wasn't the slightest trace.

Suddenly, a soft giggle—and the little girl's head popped up right in front of Lennox.

Not a single sound came out of his mouth, but the fright was written all over his face.

The girl laughed again, pleased with her little prank, and climbed down from Nebar's back, where she had been hiding all along.

Lennox watched her closely. She was wearing a lovely lilac dress, cream-colored shoes, and her white hair was neatly braided into two beautiful plaits, each tied with a dark purple ribbon.

The little girl walked up to Lennox with a beaming smile and, holding out her tiny hand, said:"Hi! Nice to meet you, mister! I'm Talia, but everyone calls me Lia! What's your name?"

Lennox, slowly starting to recover, replied: "Lennox."

"Okay! So, like I was about to say before—good thing we got here in time or you would've drowned! We also saved the other guy, but he was super annoying! He kept whining and whining! Honestly, if he hadn't stopped, I would've had Nebar eat him."

"Are you talking about the boy with red hair?"

"Yep!"

"Do you know where he is now?"

"He's over there with the others," she said, pointing to the group of people.Lennox stood up the moment he spotted Jason. "Thanks, Lia. But now I have to go to them."

"Will you come back?"

"We'll see."

With a pouty, adorably sulky expression, the little girl watched him walk away and climbed back onto Nebar's back.

"Nebar, I like that mister."

* * *

As soon as Lennox approached the group, a man in his fifties came up to him and offered a firm handshake.

"I see you've woken up. I'm David. By the way, are you feeling any better?"

"Still a bit dazed. Oh, and… thank you for saving me."

"Don't mention it."

"If you don't mind me asking—who are you, and how did you get here?"

"Of course. That's exactly what we were explaining to the redhead before you woke up."

As he spoke, they reached the group, and David continued.

"As I was telling Jason earlier, I'm the captain of this rescue team, one of hundreds formed to deal with the crisis we're facing right now. To keep it short—something, and unfortunately we still don't know what, caused a dimensional rift that led to a collapse between two realities, fusing them together."

Lennox, looking increasingly puzzled and alarmed, interrupted him. "Wait, dimensional what?"

"A dimensional rift—between your dimension and ours."

"Hold on. Are you saying there are multiple dimensions? And that two of them have… merged?"

"Exactly. And we also believe that the natural disasters and the monsters are caused by this.Another theory is that the lack of magical energy in your dimension and the excess of it in ours came into conflict—creating serious problems."

"Magic exists? Okay, no. Stop. Where's the hidden camera?"

"Lennox, calm down."

"How do you expect me to calm down, Jason? Do you even realize what kind of mess we're in? And now they're telling us that—"

"Lennox, look." As he spoke, Jason made a small flame appear at the tip of his fingers.

"They're telling the truth. I reacted the same way at first, but look at me—I can use magic now too!I know it all feels surreal, but you have to try to take it in, okay? Do it for the Professor."

"…Okay. Okay. I'll try."

"Good. David, go ahead."

"So," David continued, "this dimensional rift is what caused all this chaos. Our mission is to locate survivors in this area of the planet. You're the first ones we've found, so we stayed here while the others continued the search. I know you're still not fully aware of the situation, but we need to get you to a safe location. We leave in ten minutes."

"Yes, sir," the others replied, while Lennox and Jason were still trying to come to terms with this new reality.

While the team was busy getting ready to leave, Lennox turned to Jason and started bombarding him with questions.

"What the hell was that? How is it even possible that magic exists? What the heck is going on? Why—"

"Slow down! One thing at a time. Yes, magic exists—and no, I don't know how it's possible.What I did earlier was just gathering magical energy in my fingers and giving it a shape. They taught me how to do it."

"Do you think I can do it too?"

"Try. It's the only way to find out. Just imagine moving the energy inside your body into your hands, and once you think it's there, try to give it a form."

"You'd have made a great teacher—if you hadn't studied biology," Lennox said, snickering.

"You—ugh. Never mind. Just do what I told you, because I have zero intention of listening to you whine any longer."

"All right, Professor Jason," Lennox replied, then took off running—just before things turned into a scuffle.

"..."

Lennox made his way back to Lia and Nebar, who seemed to be dozing peacefully under the blue sky.

When Lia saw him coming, she jumped down from Nebar and ran toward him, crashing into him. Luckily, Lennox, who had braced himself, caught her in his arms before she could fall and hurt herself.

"You came back!"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?"

"Grown-ups are boring and they often don't want to play with me."

"Then let's play! The game is… helping me do some magic!"

"But I already know how to do magic!"

"Even better, right?"

"No. But I'll help you because you're nice."

Lennox covered his face with his hands, trying to hide the smile that was steadily spreading across his lips. Then he pulled himself together and tried to do what Jason had told him.

As he tried to draw magical energy into his hands, he felt a strange tingling sensation throughout his body—but nothing actually happened.

"Nothing's happening," he muttered to himself, a little disappointed.

Lia took his hand and said, "Try using my magic to guide yours!"

She infused a small amount of magical energy into him, and Lennox felt a sudden, refreshing wave surge through his body.

Did it smell like lavender?

Lia's energy began to circulate inside him, and he tried once again to direct it, along with his own, into his hands.

And still... nothing.

Lia looked at him with a confused expression.

"Why isn't anything happening?"

"Maybe I'm just terrible at magic."

"But then why do you have so much magical energy inside you?"

"I don't know, Lia. I really don't."

"Maybe you have a different kind of magic."

"Lia, what do you mean by 'different'? Are there different kinds of magic?"

"Everyone's magic is different! For example, one person might have fire magic, and someone else might have water."

"You mean some people are more attuned to certain elements than others?" Lennox asked, finally starting to understand what was wrong.

"Yes! That's why your magic might be different. Some kinds use your mind, others only work on specific things. My magic is that I can talk to Nebar and other animals!"

"Wow..." he said, then thought to himself, I see. So I'll need to experiment to figure out if it's even possible for me.

While Lennox and Lia continued to experiment, the time for departure arrived—and to Lennox's surprise, their means of transportation was none other than Nebar himself.

The creature grew in size thanks to magic, big enough for everyone to climb on its back—Lia first, followed immediately by Lennox.

The takeoff was anything but gentle, and once in the air, if anyone had remained on the boat, they would've seen just a tiny dot weaving its way through the clouds.

Lennox's first flight wasn't on a plane or a helicopter—but on a giant magical creature.