Our Mirrored World

Chapter Thirteen - Try

“So how are you going to get here?” Zarina curiously asked while her arms were crossed against her chest.

She already finished taking a bath and now she’s entertaining Luther while he plans on trying to get to her apartment and plans to teleport Zarina in his place.

“I’m still studying about it, so stay put over there and be pretty,” Luther replied while focusing his gaze on the book.

Zarina furiously glared at him as she sat right in front of her bathroom. She had already placed a sofa over there and she thought about buying something that wouldn’t eat too much space in the hall of her bathroom towards the living room.

“Don’t waste my time, I still have work to do--oh that’s right, I don’t have work tomorrow,” She then remembered what she read on her phone a while ago.

“Really? Then let’s try something all day for us to find out if we could get to each other’s world!” Luther excitedly suggested, but Zarina shook her head.

“I’m going to head out that day maybe at noon, to meet with the company workers for a meal and drink,” Zarina bit her lower lip, so Luther stopped reading before gazing at her.

“You mean, they’re going out tomorrow and you’re coming?” Luther was too surprised that his sky blue eyes were widened.

Zarina just rolled her eyes at his reactions, “I have to come because I was forced to,” she remembered Kirstin knowing about what happened to her and she insisted on her coming or she would tell them.

“Forced to? If you don’t really want to, you wouldn't go,” Luther claimed, so Zarina just sighed while scratching the back of her head.

“It wouldn’t take me a while, I’m not fond of drinking,” Zarina admitted, so Luther sighed in relief.

“You better not drink especially if you’re with a lot of men tomorrow,” Luther firmly said, so Zarina furrowed her eyebrows at him.

“Why? Is it that bad to drink with other men?” Zarina raised her eyebrows, so he harshly closed the book that he was reading.

“Yes, it is bad, especially if you don’t know those men personally, they would take advantage of your weakness and you wouldn't want that,” Luther sounded a little pissed at the topic, so Zarina just decided to change it.

“Of course I know about that, I'm not stupid you know?” Zarina just shook her head, “So, what are your plans now? I still have to sleep early,” She informed while deciding to get some snacks.

Luther was distracted with what Zarina just informed him that he decided to look at her intently. He doesn't get why he’s bothered about her going out for tomorrow.

“Forget about that for now, I’ll try studying about it tomorrow, let’s just talk about some other stuff,” Luther suggested, so Zarina furrowed her eyebrows at him.

“Some other stuff? Like what?” She was confused why Luther decided to change his mind when he was thrilled about finding out a while ago that there’s a possibility that they could go to each other’s world.

“I want to get to know you better, like what are your likes, dislikes, you know the basics of getting to know some other people or creatures?” Luther used his levitation to sit midair.

Zarina scrunched her face in confusion, “Why would you want to get to know me?” She inquired, making Luther flinch.

He also wanted to ask that question to himself, he’s still confused at why he’s feeling this anxious and he wanted to relax by talking with Zarina.

“Y-You’re going out tomorrow right? People will try to talk to you, do you think you’ll be able to start a normal conversation with your current...hm, personality?” Luther claimed, so Zarina stopped for a moment.

He’s right, she doesn’t know a single thing about interacting with other people aside from her parents. Zarina thought.

“And you think you could be able to help me with that? You don’t have friends like me,” Zarina wanted to laugh, so Luther just sniggered at what she just said.

“Oi! You shouldn’t just underestimate me, human, I am a handsome wizard who could easily charm or win a woman over,” Luther proudly said while massaging his chin, so Zarina’s mood changed.

“So you mean, you’re going to teach me how to flirt?” She raised her eyebrows, so Luther gasped while shaking his head.

He’s getting too stressed out about this conversation, “No! Ugh! Why is it so hard to talk to you? See! This is what I mean! If I’m a normal human being, I would’ve left you alone because you’re rude,” Luther pouted.

“Then that’s good, I always wanted for them to do that,” Zarina rolled her eyebrows, so Luther just massaged his temples. 

“You see, that’s the main reason why people call you an ice queen,” Luther claimed, so Zarina glared at him.

“How did you know about that?” She furiously asked while crossing her legs against each other.

“I overheard you talking on the phone before, you mentioned about stop calling me ice queen,” Luther just sighed, “They aren’t wrong though, look at how you just talk to me! I could freeze right here!”

She just sighed, “I’m sorry...this is just how I normally talk to others, I don’t know what else to talk about aside from work,” Zarina admitted.

“For the record, you're the only one I could talk to this long, you should feel lucky,” Zarina bit her lower lip while avoiding his gaze.

Luther just smiled, he couldn’t understand why he felt delighted with Zarina mentioning those statements, “Then you could practice more with me, let’s start with this,”

“Hi, I’m Luther Albus Sanford, a handsome and powerful wizard from Wizardia, I couldn’t help but notice your breathtaking appearance, may I ask for your name?” Luther asked while handing out his hand.

“I hate people that are windy, but I’m Zarina Kaye Taylor, nice to meet you, you may leave,” Zarina immediately replied without any emotions plastered on her face, so Luther just shook his head before pouting.

“No, you aren’t supposed to reply like that!” He massaged his head before sighing, “Why are you asking them to leave?” 

“Because I already answered what you or they asked,” Zarina casually replied and from there on, Luther found out that Zarina was hopeless.

“Then that means you’re already killing a conversation, how are you going to get to know someone and be their friend?” Luther scolded, so Zarina squinted her eyes for a moment.

“Oh, I see, does that mean I have to wait if he/she has something to say next?” Zarina curiously asked, so Luther just laughed before nodding at her.

“My, you poor child, you have a lot of things to learn, could you extend your time for these lessons?” Luther requested, so Zarina has no other choice but to abide.

“Well then, let’s go with the basics, how old are you?” Luther curiously asked while summoning some pen, paper, and book.

“I’m 22 years old,” Zarina answered, so it was silent for a moment.

“Human, of course, you have to ask me back what my age was to continue the conversation,” Luther stated the obvious.

Zarina just scratched the back of her head, “How about you?” She gazed at Luther who looked like he’s delighted with her question.

“I’m a hundred years old--wait a minute, did you just say you were 22 years old?!” Luther exclaimed as Zarina’s eyes widened at his answer.

“You’re a hundred-year-old wizard?!” Zarina shakingly pointed her fingers at Luther, so they both just shook their heads and proceeded to talk about something else.

The rest of their time was spent on how to interact with other people. Luther couldn't believe that he has a difficult time teaching Zarina due to her life perspectives. How can someone be so much colder than the glaziers from the cold part of Wizardia? Luther thought.

“And would you smile? Can’t you smile normally?” Luther inquired while tapping his fingers on the book that he was holding.

It’s a book about how to interact with someone, “What do you mean? I always smile,” Zarina timidly replied, so Luther glared at her.

“And when did that exactly happen? You only smiled once,” Luther rolled his eyes this time before sighing, “I think we should rest, for now, it’s getting too late,”

Zarina then glanced at her windows and wall clock. It's almost 10 in the evening and it’s way past the time that she’s sleeping.

“I just can’t believe that you didn’t actually have a conversation with someone, you’ve been living for like what? 22 years? You said you were 22 years old right?” Luther summoned a chair to float with him midair since he felt like he was getting back pain from the lesson he taught to Zarina.

“Yes I am 22 years old, how many times do I have to repeat it for you to get it?” Zarina bit her lower lip since it’s the nth time Luther asked her that.

“Right, right, I don't have any friends, but people interact with me, mostly women, of course, who wouldn’t want to talk to a handsome man like me?” Luther gloated, so Zarina just glared at him.

“I also just can’t believe that you’re way too young for me,” Luther met her eyes again, so Zarina averted her gaze at him.

“I also just can’t believe that you’re way too old compared to me, how can you look like that even if you’re a hundred years old?” Zarina sighed, she was too surprised when she found it a while ago.

“Are you using your magic to make it look like you’re young?” She raised her eyebrows, so Luther whined like he was offended.

“Excuse me? My handsomeness stayed like this for like when I was 50 years old, we aged differently from you humans because we are--”

“Mythical creatures, yeah, I get it,” Zarina stood up before stretching her joints, it was the first time someone talked to her for so long. She even feels her butt numbing.

“I think you’ll be fine tomorrow, just, lay off the coldness, people might even dare to approach you,” Luther reminded her, so she just nodded at him.

It was silent for a moment as Zarina decided to clean up her things on the dining table and in the living room.

Zarina noticed a book fell from the shelves, so she decided to pick it up and noticed it was a book about parallel worlds. She used to love this book before because she keeps on imagining what if there’s a world out there that she doesn’t know? It would be cool and very interesting, she thought.

She then remembered all of the stories she had read about teleportation and parallel words, “By the way, Luther, do you think it’s dangerous if you tried to transport a living creature from your world over here?” Zarina remarked while walking towards the bathroom.

Luther furrowed his eyebrows as he noticed Zarina leaning on the space between the door while holding a book in her hands.

“I haven’t thought about that, I can teleport fine myself,” Luther played with his wand while he’s creating snacks from his magic.

“I’m a proofreader manager, right? I read books about parallel worlds, teleportation, and magic,” Zarina paused before continuing, “I also read that it takes a lot of magic to teleport a living creature,”

“There are also instances that you might not be able to fully teleport someone because things might happen, you might lose something like your soul, or some parts of your body,” Zarina informed, so Luther laughed at her statement.

“That will never happen! I always teleport here from far places,” Luther claimed, so Zarina shook her head.

“But you can’t use it often, right? There must be limits,” Zarina insisted, so Luther stopped before nodding at her.

“Yes, I have to wait 10 minutes so that I can teleport again, but that doesn’t happen to non-living things here,” Luther thoroughly explained, so Zarina just smirked.

“Exactly, see? There are limitations, I'm not from your world Luther, there might be complications if we tried it,” Zarina informed, so Luther gazed at her intently.

“So are you saying that I should try other living things first, like animals?” Luther raised his eyebrows, so she just nodded at him.

“Yes, let’s try that on them, first,” Zarina suggested, so Luther just nodded like he’s accepting her request.

“Alright, I’ll take that into consideration,” He happily beamed, so Zarina just met his gaze before biting her lower lip.

“A-And thank you for trying to teach me tonight,” Zarina doesn’t understand why she feels nervous when all that she has to say was thank you.

Luther was stunned at what she said as he chuckled, “My pleasure, human being,” 

The stars and moon were shining brightly outside of that small apartment and on the other side where Luther was staying, they didn't realize the friendship that they created was starting to grow into something deeper.

To be continued...