Marcus stood frozen in the moonlit clearing.

His mouth twitched into a small, polite smile.

It was the kind of smile a person wore when their brain had simply decided to stop working.

He blinked slowly. Once. Twice.

"Pardon?" Marcus asked. His voice was steady, but it sounded thin to his own ears.

He chuckled lightly. It was a nervous, airy sound.

"I think I misheard you," Marcus said. "It sounded like you said three to four hours."

He leaned forward slightly.

"But that is impossible," he reasoned. "We are on the southern part of the kingdom. The estate is in the northeast. That is hundreds of miles."

"Did you mean three to four days?" he asked hopefully. "Because even that would be a miracle."

Ventessa shifted on top of his head. The fluffball vibrated as she spoke.

"I said hours," Ventessa repeated. Her voice was flat and bored. "Three. Maybe four if the wind is against us."

Marcus kept the smile plastered on his face.

He didn't move a muscle. He looked calm. He looked composed.

But inside his head, a nuclear bomb had just detonated.

'Three hours?' his mind screamed.

'Three. Hours?'

A carriage took weeks. A horse took ten days of hard riding.

And she was talking about crossing the entire kingdom in the time it took to watch a long movie.

'What kind of speed is that?' Marcus thought frantically. 'Are we breaking the sound barrier? Will my skin peel off?'

He imagined himself arriving at the estate.

He imagined the Viscount's face.

'Sorry I'm late, Father. I caught the supersonic wind express.'

It was absurd. It was insanity.

'Wait,' Marcus realized. 'If we go that fast, won't the G-force kill me?'

He looked at the dragon girl. She was small. She was frail.

'She will turn into jelly,' Marcus thought. 'We will arrive as a bag of soup.'

But he didn't say any of this.

He just kept smiling that brittle, frozen smile.

"Right," Marcus said aloud. "Hours. Of course."

He cleared his throat.

"And how, exactly, are we achieving this velocity?" he asked. "Without dying?"

Ventessa didn't answer immediately.

She let out a small squeak. It sounded like she was stretching.

The air in front of them began to shimmer.

Wind gathered. It swirled in a tight vortex.

Leaves and dust were sucked into the center.

Then, the wind solidified.

It began to weave itself together. Threads of condensed air interlocked and formed a shape.

It was rectangular. It was large.

It hovered about a foot off the ground.

It wasn't just air anymore.

It had substance. It looked like woven fabric made of starlight and breeze.

A large, ornate rug floated before them.

It bobbed gently in the air. Like a boat on a calm lake.

Marcus stared at it.

His eyes went wide. His jaw unhinged.

The stress vanished. The fear vanished.

The logical questions about physics vanished.

Only pure, childish wonder remained.

He pointed a shaking finger at the floating rug.

"NO WAY," Marcus shouted.

He looked at Ventessa. He looked at the bear.

"ALADDIN!" Marcus yelled.

His voice echoed through the dark forest. It scared a crow from a nearby tree.

"It is the carpet!" Marcus cried. "It is the Magic Carpet from Aladdin!"

He ran up to it. He touched the edge. It felt cool and solid.

"I don't believe it," Marcus breathed. "This is classic. This is iconic."

He looked up at the fluffball on his head. His eyes sparkled.

"Ala-what?" Ventessa asked.

She sounded genuinely confused.

Marcus ignored her. He was too excited.

He looked at the bear.

"Did you see this?" Marcus asked. "We are going to ride a magic carpet!"

He laughed.

"A whole new world!" Marcus sang off-key. "A dazzling place I never knew!"

He looked back at Ventessa. A sudden thought struck him.

His eyes widened even further.

"Wait," Marcus said. His voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper.

He pointed at her.

"Are you a Genie?" he asked.

Ventessa tilted her fluffy body. "A what?"

"A Genie!" Marcus insisted. "You know! Phenomenal cosmic power! Itty bitty living space!"

He gestured wildly with his hands.

"Do you live in a lamp?" he asked eagerly. "Do I get three wishes?"

"Wait, is that why you are a fluffball?" he deduced. "Is this your smoke form?"

He looked around the clearing.

"Where is the lamp?" Marcus demanded. "I need to rub the lamp!"

Silence followed his outburst.

The forest was quiet.

Ventessa stared at him. Or at least, the fluffball seemed to stare.

"Jin-what?" she asked slowly. "What are you talking about?"

She sounded concerned. Not for the situation, but for his mental health.

"Are you broken?" she asked. "Did Elowen hit your head harder than I thought?"

The bear looked at him with his one button eye.

The bear slowly shook his head.

"Mate," the bear said. His squeaky voice was filled with pity. "Are you alright there?"

He tapped his fuzzy temple.

"You are speaking gibberish," the bear said. "Maybe you need to sit down."

Marcus froze.

The excitement drained out of him.

He looked at their confused faces.

'Right,' Marcus thought. 'Different world. Different stories.'

'Disney does not exist here.'

He felt a pang of profound disappointment.

He wasn't going to get three wishes.

He cleared his throat. He straightened his jacket.

He tried to regain his dignity.

"Nothing," Marcus said quickly. "Just... a story from my hometown."

He waved his hand dismissively.

"Forget it. Just... nice carpet."

"It is not a carpet," Ventessa corrected. "It is a solidified wind construct designed for aerodynamic stability."

"Right," Marcus said. "Magic carpet. Got it."

He stepped onto the floating rug.

It dipped slightly under his weight, then stabilized.

It felt firm. Like standing on a very expensive mattress.

"Come on," Marcus said to the dragon girl.

He reached down and lifted her up. She weighed nothing.

He set her down on the carpet.

She looked terrified. She dug her claws into the woven wind.

"It is safe," Marcus promised. "Just hold on tight."

The bear scrambled up next. He flopped down beside the girl.

"Cozy, right?" the bear said to the dragon girl. "Better than walking."

The dragon girl nodded slightly.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.