The princess allowed herself another glance at Dod Allentown's forearm. On the back of his left forearm, three holes held one eye each.
The pupils seemed frozen, only the eyelids opening and closing, the globes themselves not moving one iota. The crystalline lens of each eye was like an endless labyrinth, the veins intertwining tirelessly around the iris.
The shape of the latter resembled that of a reptile, a thin oval that elongated laterally. The first eye, starting from Dod's hand, had a gray iris and a black pupil, the second had a pupil of the same color and a red iris; and finally, the last eye was composed of a pupil and a completely black iris.
"If you don't mind me asking", stepped forward Evangeline. "How long have you had that on your arm?"
"Always, I think."
"How so?"
"Well", resumed Dod, scratching the back of his head. "My memories are hazy. I met Danaël in Nogadath when I was only 5. How I came to be here is still a mystery to me. The only thing I could remember was my first and last name and my age; in other words, either I've lost my memory, or someone has deliberately erased it. One thing's for sure, as you can see from my arm, I'm certainly not from the Ordinal Continent."
"Wow", continued the impressed princess, before turning to Danaël. "And you, why do you think you're not from here?"
"Well, I don't have as many clues as Dod, unfortunately. I've always lived in Nogadath, so I guess the only thing that sets me apart from the others would be what's on my hand."
Evangeline now leaned towards Danaël and wrapped his right hand between the palms of her two hands to examine it better.
Danaël was somewhat surprised by this gesture, but did not withdraw his hand. The water on the ground was icy cold, yet Evangeline's hands, which had been in the water for some time, felt indescribably warm.
The first thing that caught the princess's eye was the wooden ring Danaël wore around his index finger. The girl had never seen wood of such workmanship, and of such a color, a white sliced by reddish lines.
Evangeline could feel the fantasia emanating from the ring: "Is he unknowingly in possession of an artifact?" she thought. This time she did her best not to let her surprise show, and glancing at Danaël, she felt she'd succeeded in fooling him - well, maybe.
"This ring," began the princess. "Where did you find it?"
"I was found in a cradle by a group of Nogadath hooligans, raised by them, then Dod joined us. From what they told me, this ring has always been with me, and then there's this."
Danaël rotated his hand, which was still in the hollow of Evangeline's palms, and the latter noticed that in the middle of the young boy's palm, a rectangular chip was inlaid.
The chip was basic, of a uniform blue color and a line of numerical code indecipherable to the princess.