Decision

Archer opened his eyes. His and Natalia's eyes met, and they both with a sudden movement, as if caught in something indecent, removed their touching hands.

"Thank you," he said, and sat up, lowering his legs and getting ready to stand up.

"Hugoarno!" Zack ran up to him

"Your Highness!" after a second the old man appeared.

Natalia blinked her eyes. What did the old man call Archer? 'Your Highness'?

"Zackocuki, take Natalia safely to her house." Hugoarno ordered.

"But…"

"Do what I say."

Archer's voice was calm but demanding. He sounded used to giving orders. Was this man really 'his majesty'?

She could have had just that impression from looking at him. There was a nobility in his features and demeanor that you don't see every day. If Natalia were to imagine a prince charming, he would look exactly like Archer. Okay, she corrected herself, the prince in an oriental fairy tale.

Zack looked as if he didn't want to obey an order, as if he wanted to discuss more. However, he resigned and, lowering his head, turned to the girl.

"Natalia, let's go."

How should she say goodbye?

"Goodbye then," she nodded. "It was an interesting ... experience," she admitted and followed Zack, who was leading her towards the door.

She would be free from this bizarre situation at last, she felt relieved. She will return to her world, to her own problems ...

Natalia felt an unpleasant pressure in her stomach. Does she really have to deal with the people who have judged and sentenced her on the basis of rumors again?

She noticed that not only she had a bad mood. Zack, who led her down a winding corridor with metal walls, had his head bowed and exuded an aura of anxiety and rebellion around him.

If Natalia was the subject of a joke, either someone had gone to great lengths to make a laughingstock of her, or Archer had a real health problem and Zach genuinely worried about him.

"Zack, what's wrong with your friend? Is this asthma? " she asked.

"No," he sighed. "It's a genetic disease."

He led her to the elevator and they went downstairs. They were driving a long time. During this time, Natalia could clearly see that Zack wanted to tell her something, or ask or ask, but clearly didn't dare. Maybe he wants to apologize for the kidnapping and all that stupid joke, but he couldn't summon the courage?

No, that wasn't really the reason. In previous meetings, Zack made Natalia appear to be bold and cheerful. His current behavior looked as if he was feeling real unease. Maybe he just needed to share his concern for Archer with someone?

"You're very worried about him, aren't you?" she risked the question. "I don't want to be nosy, but is this something serious?"

"Our world is in many ways like yours. Our DNA is almost identical too. However, since we live in different dimensions, we are affected by different radiation. Our worlds are normally completely isolated. Only a select few may go through the portal briefly for research purposes. Thousands of years ago, one researcher gave birth to a child that combined the genes of two worlds. Every few generations in her family a child is born whose genetic profile is not adapted to the radiation in our world. Hugoarno has the natural ability to open portals and move between worlds, but these journeys, and the increasing presence of gaps in our dimensions in general, make his organism ever weaker. "

"Can he ... live in our world?" Natalia suggested.

"I'm afraid that is impossible."

The girl wanted to ask why, but suddenly the door in front of them opened and she saw the most surprising sight in the world. The Chinese Wall stretched beneath her feet, wandered by people dressed as if out of their c-drama costume, except for their hair, which was of all colors. The wall itself, also upon closer inspection, was not genuine, because it was made of white sandstone and along it, instead of small watchtowers, tall towers stretched. The most amazing thing, however, was that there was a real sky in front of Natalia, and at the foot of the wall there was an endless meadow dotted with colorful flowers. Even the air smelled sweet with flowers and herbs.

Everything she saw, however unreal, so amazing, seemed one hundred percent real. She heard human speech, smelled flowers and felt a touch of gentle wind on her cheek.

"We just left the landing platform," Zack informed her. "Portals are opened in the neighboring building."

"Oh ok"

Walking along the white Chinese Wall, Natalia had a strange feeling with each step that it was all too advanced for a joke and too realistic for a dream. For the first time, she wondered if she had actually been transferred to a completely different reality. But since it's all real ...

"What happened when I touched Hugoarno?" she asked. "You and that Master of the Knife have been so excited."

Zack thought for a moment, then decided to answer her.

"Hugoarno ... Our medicine knows no cure for him. On a daily basis, the energy that flows through his body remains in relative equilibrium, but sometimes one of these energies becomes dominant and his body cannot stand it. When you had physical contact with him, the energy in his body reached a balance he had never had in his life. "

Natalia instinctively looked at her hand. "Is it because I'm from another world?" she thought in her mind.

"These attacks are painful, aren't they?" she asked.

"As if fire were tearing him apart."

She imagined a firefighter in a burning building without an oxygen mask. The hot air burned his lungs, taking his breath away. This is exactly what Hugoarno looked like when he got a relapse.

It must be terrible to live with the knowledge that at any moment a painful attack can come and take its air. And if the lungs don't have air, the brain won't have air, so it can cause unconsciousness and even… death. Does Archer live day after day, from an early age, in the awareness that his life is more fragile than that of any other person? It must be horrible!

Did the touch of her hand really bring him relief? Natalia looked at her hand again. If the radiation or the energy of her world is different from the energy of his world, and he carries both, isn't that like ying and yang? If this world's energy represents ying, its world energy is yang - or vice versa. It was too complicated for her, but she instinctively felt that because of his ancestors, Hugoarno needed more of her world energy. Maybe if he could actually live in her world ...? But Zack said it was impossible.

What Natalia felt about Hugoarno now was not pity. It was sympathy and empathy. For some reason, she liked Archer from the very first moment, even if he was pointing his bow at her. You just couldn't dislike him. Therefore, the thought that he was struggling with such suffering every day was especially hard for Natalia.

"Well, here we are," Zack smiled at her and invited her to the large, round empty hall. He nodded to someone behind the glass wall on the second floor level, and the wall parted to reveal two men in white robes. The men simultaneously made a combination of complex gestures and the air in the center of the hall began to tremble. Natalia recognized these symptoms very well and knew the park that appeared before her eyes.

"Let's go," Zack ordered, and they both started toward the portal. But Natalia's steps were for some reason slower and heavier.

She was coming home to her world. She should be happy. But in that world of her own, people hated her. People despised her, challenged her, made her heart tear to shreds every time she reached for her phone, every time she went to college, when she met a familiar face. If she returns, she will have to face not one enemy, but hundreds of faceless enemies. The burden of pain and fear was so strong that she was getting out of breath.

Then she thought of Hugoarno. If this world really exists, if there is someone in this world for whom her powerless hands can really help ...

"Stop or you will die!" Natalia heard a sudden threat. She turned to see the blade of the sword pointed at her. "I will not let you leave this place! Not if you are the only drug ... "

"Shut up!" Zack yelled.

"No!" The sword was held by a woman with a firm, menacing expression. No one would dare to say that she was joking.

"Lower the sword," Natalia ordered gently. As the woman clenched her teeth, Natalia renewed the order, her voice stronger now. "Lower the sword!"

The blade slowly turned to the ground, anger mingled with desperation on the woman's face. It was the face of a woman who loves and fears for her lover.

Natalia felt something strange, something beautiful and sad at the same time. She smiled faintly and announced:

"I'm staying."