When Gun Gun awoke, he had to roll to his side, as his eyes were aching as it was met by bright rays of sunlight, but when he laid flat on his back again, there was no more surface to support him, and so he came tumbling down a long flight of stairs.

Gun Gun dared not voice his pain. He was his mother's son. This pain was nothing compared to what he should endure in the future. Furthermore, he was here to find his Enchantress Mother.

'Such a small injury should not bother me,' he harrumphed, getting up and dusting his clothes, ignoring the protest of his joints and his injured areas.

To be honest, Gun Gun never experienced tripping or falling over or falling down the stairs or any of the likes - not that he could remember - since his Enchantress Mother enchanted their castle to protect him. The floors were never slippy. No matter how shiny they were, you need not fear slipping. If you tripped down the stairs, you need not worry. The stairs will transform into slides for you to suffer no harm and then a cushioning enchantment down at the end.

Those were just a few of the safety measures his Enchantress Mother had made to ensure his well being.

Okay, back to his main purpose.

In such a big place, where should he start finding his Enchantress Mother?

Gun Gun prepared his magic to inscribe runes in the air. This was one of the few magic spells that his Enchantress Mother's student, Prince Loki had taught him. It was a location tracking magic which used one's blood. It was a complicated spell, but he would not be worthy to be called his Enchantress Mother's son if he could not do this magic.

He wrote the first stroke...

'What in Odin's name-'

But Gun Gun was appalled when no writing appeared in the air. He tried a few times, but could still not produce a stroke. 'What if I cannot use magic here?' he realized, but calmed himself down. 'Calm down. Maybe I'm weak on magical essence since I just arrived. Let's try using a weaker spell.'

He reviewed his memories for weaker spells. 'Water-dousing, telekinesis... How about my familiar?' He surveyed the place where he was again. It was very vast, and just looking at the vastness made his legs ache. He would need his mount to be able to survey the whole place.

Gun Gun, however, was once again flabbergasted. No magic circle appeared. He could not use his magic. 'I must've been so pampered that Heavens finally decided to give me hardship,' he summarized, allowing himself to take a seat on the steps, resting his cheek on his palm. 'Enchantress Mother, you better be here, or all of my hardwork will go to waste,' he sighed.

Such a day. He didn't even bring a pony or food with him. Celeste was not here with him either. He was also without a servant or a knight.

Was he on Midgard?

Gun Gun shook his head. 'Mother's taken me to Midgard a lot of times, and I will not be convinced that this is Midgard any time soon,' he looked around the area once more, pouting. The place looks very surreal and fantasy like, kind of what Alfheim would be like if it had less buildings.

The area looked like a populated area, what with the cement and the statues surrounding him. 'I should try looking for someone.'

His Enchantress Mother was so beautiful. It would be impossible for anyone not to remember her.

As his luck would have it, someone appeared in swirls of mists. They were dressed in armor - ? - to which Gun Gun prevented his lips from curling downwards. Why did their armors look like leather? Surely, they were not running out of metal? He'd seen enough fights to know that leather cannot block a sword, lest it was enchanted, but these uncles' armors did not look enchanted.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" a knight asked, going near him. Gun Gun stayed rooted to his place, waiting for the knight to be close enough to him. "Who are you?"

"Good day to you," Gun Gun pleasantly greeted. "Uncle, why is it that you can use magic, but I cannot?"

The knight scratched his beard as he looked at him. "Is this your first time here in the Nine Heavens?"

'Nine Heavens?' Gun Gun was confused. Did he mean the 'Nine Realms' and not the 'Nine Heavens'?

"The Nine Realms?" he asked.

The knight shook his head. "No kid, the Nine Heavens," so it wasn't the 'Nine Realms'.

'But there wasn't a place called the Nine Heavens in Mother's maps,' he thought, but since he needed information, he nodded. "No one goes here kid. That right there," he pointed to the platform behind him. It was the place where Gun Gun fell. "-is Zhuxian Terrace. It's bad omen for the immortals here. Most immortals can't use their magic powers in this place."

Now Gun Gun was just more confused. 'Immortals? Zhuxian Terrace? I should ask Mother for another teacher when we get back. I don't know any of those terms.'

"What are you doing here, kid? You shouldn't even be here," the uncle asked him. "Where are your parents? Did you come here with your father?"

Gun Gun shook his head. "I'm looking for my mother," in many of her travels, his Enchantress Mother would often be hiding her forehead mark, so many people do not recognize her, so it would be possible that no one from this place would know of her arrival.

"Then what does your mother look like?" asked the uncle. "How tall is she? Does she have any mark somewhere visible that would be able to let you tell that she is your mother? Oh, and by the way, your clothing looks unusual."

Gun Gun thought about it, ignoring the last comment. His Enchantress Mother has another birthmark aside from her plumed cockscomb, located on her tailbone, but his Enchantress Mother had always told him that touching someone without their permission is very rude, much more, lifting someone's clothes.

So he settled for the most obvious answer.

"My Mother is the most beautiful woman in the world!"

The guard, who was a newly reinstated immortal, raised his head in thought, scratching his beard and wracked his brains for an answer. 'Most beautiful woman in the world? Then that would be...'

He patted Gun Gun's shoulders, smiling to reassure him.

"I didn't know it was Your Highness," he told him, bowing. "I will guide Your Highness to Xiwu Palace."

Gun Gun nodded, following the knight, taking no notice of the way he addressed him.

He, after all, was a prince, so what was wrong with addressing him as one?

Gun Gun forgot that no one knew he was a prince in this strange new place.

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Oh, so after rereading this chapter, I realized that the recap I put in the previous chapter is the one for the next chapter.

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Happy Reading!!!

~_star_shine_2004_~