A New World

"I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar room. It looked like a hospital: white sheets, plain white walls, and a smell that was a mixture of illness, death, and cleaning supplies. My body didn't hurt, but it was stiff; how long had I been lying here? I took a second to sit up and look around. There was no IV, no vital monitors, but most importantly, no restraints. The last thing I remember was an explosion. I should be dead, but I also shouldn't be in a strange hospital bed. Just as I decide to try to sneak out of bed and figure out where I am, a young woman in a plain white dress comes around the corner.

"Oh my goodness," she says, "Doctor Cyrus! He's awake!"

A man in a white robe with a red heart patch over his left breast walks over. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, but what worried me was how plain and boring this nurse and doctor's outfits were. They looked like cheap costumes.

"Hello, young man; we were worried you would never wake up. You had some severe head trauma. Do you know where you are?"

Their accents weren't foreign sounding, and they looked like they could be from my home country, but with the nature of the device and the explosion, I couldn't be sure that this wasn't a poorly designed trick. Do I disguise my voice? Do I lie and say I knew what was going on? Unfortunately, if they found me, they found my ID as well. There's no way I could convince them I was someone else. Just as I open my mouth to speak, Cyrus raises his hand to stop me.

"I can see the question caused you a lot of strain; I didn't expect you to understand. You are in the 5th Knight Legion's training camp outside of Lamaria."

This time, I spoke. "Lamaria? I'm sorry, I don't understand." That was the truth. Knights? Lamaria? Was that a city or a country? Is this some weird fantasy live-action role-play?

The nurse and Cyrus look at each other with a concerned look. Cyrus spoke first.

"I was worried that the trauma would cause amnesia, but I wasn't expecting you not to remember the capital city."

Well, at least I knew it was a city name. The nurse spoke next.

"I found you just outside the gates in our herb garden. I worried we would never wake you up, especially since I didn't recognize you as one of our knights."

Cyrus continued, "Thus, we didn't know your name and haven't been able to reach any family to let them know you were safe."

"Oh, um, I think my name is Alex. That name sounds familiar to me." I wouldn't reveal my last name, but I might have been too honest. I should have devised a different name, but remembering lies is tricky. The fewer I can afford to tell, the better.

"Alex? Well, that will do for now. As you probably heard, I am Cyrus, the head doctor here. My assistant here is Bryanna."

"Nice to officially meet you," Bryanna said with a slight curtsy. Very fantasy role-play. They seemed nice enough. I could usually determine ill intent or at least self-evident lies. They both were just very into their characters. My next concern was where my belongings were. Regardless of whether I was still in my country, I couldn't have my confidential information floating around.

"Did I have anything I could use to restore my memory?"

The young girl started blushing and turned away. Cyrus was the one to answer. "Well, you were naked."

Now, it was my turn to blush. Even if this was some elaborate role-playing, I wasn't sure what this beautiful young nurse would have been thinking when I was naked in her garden.

"Oh, uh, well, I'm sorry if I ruined any of your plants. I wish I could remember why I was there."

The girl composed herself and replied. "No, no, don't worry about that. We are just glad that you are okay."

Cyrus came over and sat down next to the bed. "Can you lay back and let me examine you?" I wasn't sure about having this "doctor" examine me. Still, I needed to get out of here and determine the extent of the experiments and the explosion. Would they have heard about it? Maybe, but I didn't want to reveal I wasn't amnesic yet. A green light came out of Cyrus' hands. I looked for a light source, but I didn't find one. I could feel an energy moving through my body. This was a very elaborate scheme, or I was way over my head.

"Magic healing can be a little uncomfortable if you aren't used to it. The exam is almost finished."

I try to control my breathing and settle the nausea creeping up. This was no role-play, and the device I created must have worked, but maybe too well. All of a sudden, I remembered the seconds before the explosion.

"SASHA!"

Cyrus jumped back, and the nurse looked very concerned. "I- I'm sorry. I just remembered that I was with a girl named Sasha right before, uh... well, during my last memory. I don't suppose you have come across any other people recently."

The two hospital attendants look at each other. Cyrus replied. "I am sorry, but no. There hasn't been anyone else." He took a deep breath. He looked like he would say more, but the nurse gave him a cold look. What could that mean?

"Oh, okay. Well, hopefully, she's still wherever I came from." And still alive.

"Right, I am sure she's fine. Bryanna will be here overnight if you need anything, but for now, you should get some rest."

When I woke up, I hadn't noticed if the sun was up or not, but it was setting now. All I knew for now was that I was hungry in an extraordinary land.

"Was there anything I can get you now?" Bryanna asked.

"Um, well, could I get something to eat? And maybe some water. Although it isn't urgent, I have already taken much of your time."

She smiles, and I notice her beauty for the first time. "You are my only patient today, so don't worry about me. Just continue to rest."

She walks away, and I close my eyes. What do I do now? I need to figure out what this world is. Am I still in the same galaxy? Is this another dimension? Or am I in Heaven... or Hell? First, I want to learn about the world I am in. Maybe I could ask for a history book or a newspaper or whatever they use here for local news, assuming that the language is something I can read. I hold that thought for a second. If this is a different world, how do they speak English? I haven't had any issues communicating.

"Are you asleep?" I open my eyes to Bryanna carrying a tray of food. It looked like rice with some sort of meat gravy. Honestly, it met my expectations for both hospital and military food.

"Thank you." I take the tray and take a couple of bites.

"Let me know if there's more I can do."

"Oh, uh, can I talk to you for a while? If you aren't busy, I'd like to learn more about this place to see if it triggers any memories."

Bryanna sits on the bed and smiles that sweet smile.

"Well, I will start from the beginning. This is the land of Remistora, named after our first King, Arnold Remistora. The capital city of Lamaria was named after the first Queen. That is where we are. This training facility is one of the oldest in the country and the Northern Continent."

I chuckle. Although these fantasy worlds have unique names for lands, cities, and people, the names of land masses are always dull.

Bryanna lifts her eyebrow; she's even cute doing that. "Are you okay?"

I clear my throat. "Oh yes, I'm sorry. Just eating too fast. Please continue."

She continues to give me a suspicious look. "Although we still train knights, we have been in a state of peace for many years. The Elven nations have kept to the treaty, and most monsters stay in their dens. There haven't been any monster sightings in over a year near the major cities."

I politely nod as she continues to explain a short history of the kingdom and the wars between the human nations and the elves. It all seemed pretty straightforward, but if I was stuck in a world with magic and monsters, I would have liked to have become a world-saving hero.

"And that's about it. You don't look like anything sparked any memories, though."

"No, I'm sorry. Thank you for your descriptions, though. Even if I don't remember anything from before I woke up here, I appreciate you explaining what happened. But I would like to know more about you. How did you come to be here? Hopefully, in a less spectacular way than I did." I smile, hoping to come off slightly flirtatious.

She gently rolls her eyes, but I also see a slight blush. "No, no, I came here the normal way. I trained as a healing mage at the Lamaria Institute before having my field training on the northern border. Thankfully, I arrived years after the treaty was signed, so it was uneventful, but learning from the nation's strongest healers was a good experience."

I wanted to ask how old she was, but my limited experience with women told me that was a bad idea. "I see, that does sound interesting. Working towards peace is something I have always tried to work towards." I held my breath; that was too casual. Did I reveal that I didn't have amnesia? Bryanna didn't look phased but still gave me a bright smile.

"Well, I am glad I could help you remember something. Let me bring you some water, and then you should get some sleep."

Crisis averted, but I couldn't let a pretty face distract me from my situation. I needed to learn more about this world and integrate myself. Then, if possible, I could discover a way to return to my world.