Chapter 53: Chapter 53

VERGIL

Burn's Bar, New York City

Vergil fell flat on his face on the concrete once the portal finally chucked him out of its endless vortex of doom.

Once he got bearings of his surroundings, he slowly stood up, his knees shaking from his journey in that cursed portal. As soon as he took a step, he stumbled into a bush and threw up the contents of his stomach.

"Gah!" Vergil wiped his mouth clean from his vomit. "Drat. How could Colter survive that thing? It's a product of torture."

It took a while for Vergil to follow Colter on Earth and the magical rabbit was to blame. He had been camped in the forest for a couple of days since the King gave out the order of bringing Colter back. For days, there was no sign of the magical bunny. He thought the King was yanking on his chainmail when he said that Colter followed one and led him to the portal. But after patiently waiting, it did indeed appear. It led him to the portal and now he was on Earth.

Vergil took a look around him. He seemed to have landed in a dumpster of some sort. The sky was still bright and the sun seemed to be still high up in the sky. One other important thing he noticed was that he was alone. That was a good thing. After all, he needed to be discreet as possible.

"Alright, Colter. Where might you be?" Vergil muttered to himself as he set his pack on the ground and pulled out some spare clothes, something other than his Royal Guard uniform. He ducked behind the neighboring bush where he vomited and changed his clothes.

Once he had safely tucked all his belongings back into his pack, he hoisted it up on his shoulders and began to search for the missing prince.

Every second on Earth is precious and therefore time should not be wasted. The search area was huge and one could easily get lost in it, so Vergil knew it would take days to locate Colter.

As a seasoned traveller, he immediately asked around where he could get a map of the area.

"A map? You buy one at the convenience store."

"You can just look it up on the internet, man."

"I'm sorry, I can't help you."

First and foremost, Vergil did not know what a convenience store was. Second, one mentioned that he needed to buy one. Vergil did not bring any coins with him. He doubted that these people accepted golden Ecanus coins. And third, what on Howard is the internet?

After walking around for sometime, he was feeling kind of hopeless. He resorted to his extrasensory perception to know if a fellow Ecanus was nearby. He did not want to utilize his powers on Earth since it may give him away, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Despite using his talent, he could not sense Colter at all.

"Colter, where are you?" Vergil muttered as he continued to search the entire day. As he roamed the streets of Earth, he had been picking tiny details about how this realm operates.

Apparently, humans use a currency called 'dollars.' They use the dollars to purchase whatever they need in a thing called 'mall.' Vergil had never heard of a mall but it was like a town market or plaza where they had moving staircases and a lot of shops to see.

Humans also had the habit of talking to someone in a flat, rectangular device. It was wonderful. Vergil could not imagine having that kind of technology in Howard. During his trip to this 'mall,' he noticed that humans rarely talk to one another in person. It was odd. Don't they know one another?

Vergil could also not believe the power and might of the steel carriages. They were everywhere. It even had a variety of colors too, but the glaring color of yellow was predominant over the rest. There seemed to be no steed to pull them about but he could hear a faint hum of a machine in each passing cart. It must be magic.

Overall, Vergil thought his first day on Earth was fine. He was able to blend in well despite the sword hiding in between his back and pack. He also even got a chance to taste the infamous 'latte' as one lady gave it to him, mistaking him for a 'hobo.' Whatever that may be.

The sun had started to set, giving an orange and pink glow to the sky. It reminded Vergil of the sky back in Howard whenever it was a good day. How he wished that he could say it was a good day here on Earth as well.

The day had passed with no leads as to where Colter was. Since the night would be upon him, he decided to go back to where he first landed.

"I should make a plan," Vergil said to himself. "As soon as I return to my starting point, I should plot my next steps."

Vergil had not realized how the Earth was a huge place. He had never sensed any traces of the prince in any of the places he'd been to.

After some time of walking, he had come full circle and had reached the dumpster where he started. He sat down on the low wall and rested.

A realization hit Vergil as he stared into the distance. If he did not sense Colter here, then he must be in the wrong place.

"Bugger!" Vergil yelled, a couple of birds flew away, startled by his loud voice. "Cursed that stupid bunny! Who in their right mind would think of following a fluffy rodent into some inter-realm dimension? You owe me big time for this, Your Royal Airhead!"

"Holy cow, mother and earth!" A voice suddenly interrupted his musings. "Are you Colter's father, uncle and brother?!"

Vergil looked up to see two women looking down on him.

Wel, well, well. Blessed be by Deity Flora. It seemed that he had found his ticket to Colter after all.

Vergil was kind of sad they were not magic rabbits, but he guessed they would do. Better than nothing.