deeply wounded my grandmother. After—after Aiko’s disappearance, my grandmother doted on my father—giving him everything he wanted. Unfortunately, it was never enough and it was not always good for him.”
Nali leaned over and laid her hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry your father could not appreciate what he had in front of him,” she said.
He shook his head. “My father was a weak and selfish man, but he did one thing right. He took me to my grandmother. She died when I was seven—the same day that Aiko returned. Within a week, I lost both my grandmother and father, and gained a grandfather. Aiko—was a kind man, gentle and wise. I can’t imagine what it must have been like when he first arrived in your world. I, at least, had the benefit of his knowledge to guide me, while he… while he found himself in a strange world without his wife or young son,” he murmured.
“Did he ever tell you how he came to be here?” she curiously asked.
With a slight smile, he said, “Yes. The best way to share it is to tell the story as he told it to me. It all began a little over seventy years ago. My grandparents owned a small restaurant outside of Yachats. One morning, he set off before sunrise in his fishing trawler, hoping to catch enough to support the coming week’s menu. Aiko said the ocean was as calm as a lake, not a ripple marred the surface. He had thrown the last line out when the water beneath the boat swirled with color. He said the ocean opened up, and before he knew what was happening, he and the trawler were sliding through a dark hole. Aiko clung to the trawler, terrified at first, then fascinated as the trawler slid through a funnel of water. All around him, he could see the marine life going about their business as if nothing was amiss. But the water began to change the farther he went until…”
“Until… what?” Nali demanded, leaning forward in her seat.
“Until his trawler popped out the other end of the funnel like a bobber at the end of a fishing line, and he found himself near a cove in another world,” he said with a smile.
Nali smiled too and waited to hear what happened next.
“Aiko said he waited three days and three nights, hoping the funnel would return. He was afraid to leave his trawler, worried it would disappear,” he explained.
“What did he do after the three days?” she asked.
“On the fourth day, driven by thirst, he anchored the trawler, dove over the side, and swam to shore. As he emerged from the surf, a beautiful young witch stepped out of the woods. Her name was LaDonna Fae, and she was looking for a way to sneak off the Isle. She promised she would help my grandfather if he would help her,” he said.
“Why would LaDonna need help?” Nali asked with a frown.
Asahi chuckled. “I asked my grandfather that same question. He said she was betrothed to a much older wizard and wanted to live a little before she settled down. So they set sail that very evening—traveling far and wide for years across the Seven Kingdoms,” he said.
“This must have been centuries before the Great War and the aliens,” Nali reflected. “Did he tell you about their adventures?”
“Yes. He wrote them down in his journal,” he replied.
Asahi retrieved his grandfather’s journal from his bag. Over the next hour, he shared the adventures of Aiko and LaDonna. With her dinner pouch empty and her stomach full, she placed the dinner accoutrements aside and listened with rapt attention. Several times, Nali wiped away a few tears that escaped from her eyes.
By the end, she was crying for the little boy and her heart was breaking for the old man plunged into an era he didn’t understand. Yet, she was thankful for the turn of events that had allowed Aiko to return to his own world so he could be there for Asahi. Listening to Asahi’s story made her think of Ashure’s magic mirror—the engraving on the back of it—and her own life.
“I buried him next to my Baba and father. That day, I promised him I would find a way to the Seven Kingdoms no matter how long it took,” he finished.
“And you kept your promise,” she said with a smile.
He gave her a small smile in return. Then his expression shifted to show his resolve. “I’ve decided I