“What do you mean? It's a long, noisy light worm,” I replied with a smile.
“There's always something else,” she said, quickening her pace.
So far, Moscow had seemed very interesting to me. But my cousin's ecstasy over metro Line 5 was strange. She was usually calm and thoughtful. I didn't understand her sudden excitement.
It was my first time going down to a Moscow metro station, and it was true, it looked like an underground palace. We were at Novoslobodskaya station.
Vibrant with its colorful stained glass windows, the station also gave the impression of being the only cathedral awaiting an underground light worm, as I used to call it.
“Viktor, you better put your camera away and hold this,” my cousin suggested as she pulled out a ticket that shone like gold.
"You're not taking me to one of those places, are you? I'm still underage," I replied, somewhat nervously.
She burst out laughing, said something unintelligible in Russian, and took me by the hand to run to the ticket machine.
My stomach felt like an earthquake, my hands were sweating profusely, and my mind was a thick fog that prevented me from anticipating future details.
“Hurry up, insert the ticket!” Oksana shouted.
Being clumsy, I almost put the ticket in the wrong place, but my dear companion helped me again, and as soon as the machine swallowed the tickets, I felt my body was as light as a feather.
“What's all this, Oksana? I need an explanation,” I demanded.
But she didn't answer. Instead, her chest swelled with excitement as she watched the light worm approach. It was metallic, but not entirely. Its external side was richly adorned with precious stones and fluorescent curved lines. It was a jungle worm.
I ran after my cousin, and soon I noticed one of the subway doors opening, sort of releasing a multicolored dust.
I went in with her and didn't know what to say. The interior was finished in fine wood. Each seat resembled a cloud, and the windows had frames like emerald vines.
She dragged me to one of those clouds and looked at me several times, searching for some reaction.
“Hey, Oksana, this is really out of the blue. I don't understand anything,” I barely murmured.
“I bet it's the best birthday present of your life,” she said after laughing sweetly.
I looked around to see who else was taking that thing, but I could only make out three other people, very far apart from each other.
The trip was getting long, and Oksana took out a small food container with pelmeni. At first, I was embarrassed to eat, but she insisted. I almost left her without any food. I would have never imagined her to be so kind, so I just looked at her in admiration.
Suddenly, she became serious, adjusted her glasses, and crossed her long legs.
“I know your life hasn't been easy, Viktor. You had trouble walking, you were orphaned three years ago, and your old village no longer exists,” she said in a regretful tone.
“Believe it or not,” she continued, “I feel that your mother has entrusted me with the task of cheering you up. That's why I insisted on bringing you here.”
“To Russia or Narnia?” I asked with a weak smile.
“Both. Stop complaining about your best birthday present!” she replied, mixing Russian and English accents.
I remained silent, but not for long. My cousin's figure began to fade, and I closed my eyes out of fear. After an unrecognizable amount of time, I felt everything stop.
“Viktor, we're here! Open your eyes. Don't be afraid,” echoed in my dizzy head.
“Oksana, I think I'm going to throw up,” I muttered as I saw the new world we had arrived in.
She didn't seem to care, and leaving our seats behind, she pulled me out of the metro with a big smile. My cousin opened her arms, as if showing me that place.
It was certainly special. It was a vast white plain where humans and magical creatures—unicorns, bipedal bears, and golems—roamed alike. There were a few dachas around, but the most striking feature was undoubtedly an ice castle that glowed along several hills.
“Welcome to Nvogotow, Moscow's magical counterpart!” exclaimed Oksana.
“How is all this possible?” I asked, stunned.
“Not everything is what it seems,” replied my cousin with a shrug.
I wanted to ask her more questions, but she gestured for me to be quiet.
“Every major city in the world has a magical B-side,” she said.
“New York, Tokyo, London... each one hides its magical side from those who are bored with the monotony of the human world,” she added.
“And how do you know this?” I asked, very confused.
“My grandfather Vladimir told me about it in his library long ago, and then he took me to visit each one on my vacations,” she replied, looking up at the sky.
My cousin seemed like she was about to tell me something else, but a giant hand grabbed her out of nowhere. When I looked closely, I saw that it was a grumpy golem.
Oksana tried to break free immediately, but the hungry icy monster tightened its grip around her.
I watched anxiously as it carried her away, and no one did anything. We were all afraid that the golem would crush us like ants.
I couldn't believe my birthday was being ruined in such a way. I felt a very intense feeling in my chest. It was the courage to rescue the one who was making my life happy after so long.
So, I decided to ride one of those ice spear unicorns I had seen and asked it to follow the golem. Its pace was so fast that we caught up with the monster without too much effort.
My heroic companion kept up the pace, but I didn't know how to take down the frozen giant. I had already improvised too much for one day, and I felt like I would fail in my attempt.
“Do what you feel with the ticket!” I heard my cousin shout across the wide plain.
Her desperate voice gave me the will to keep trying, but I simply didn't know what she meant by the that. I took it out of my pocket and looked at it impatiently, waiting for something to happen.
The earlier shout alerted the golem, it quickened its pace and, with a heavy stomp on the ground, shaked it in such a way that I fell off the unicorn.
Seeing how everything was unfolding, I began to cry. My soul was breaking over yet another unusual departure in my life, until a strange noise stopped my pain.
I saw the golden ticket shine brighter than ever, and in a matter of seconds it stretched out as long as a sword. It was a fantastic weapon that I could carry, despite its size.
Then I didn't hesitate any longer, and vehemently threw my arms in the direction where the monster was escaping. The blade of the sword extended in sync. It cut off one of its legs, and the creature fell, crumbling like an avalanche on the plain. The sword also broke apart.
With my last bit of strength, I ran toward where the snow had accumulated. I feared Oksana might have been there. However, she was trying to free herself from the snow that covered her.
“Cousin, I'm here, you're not alone,” I shouted, trying to dig as hard as I could.
And finally I saw her blonde hair contrasting with the snow and the blue of her eyes. She seemed hopeless, but she managed to murmur in Russian.
Suddenly, I heard footsteps behind us. Many footsteps. It was all the beings of Nvogotow who had come to see what had happened. They seemed to be talking among themselves, but since I didn't understand Russian, I didn't know what they were saying.
“Tsar, tsar, tsar!” the beings began to chant.
I was speechless. I saw them happily approaching me, but I didn't know why.
I felt a hand on my left wrist, and I was amazed to see that it was Oksana, recovered and standing.
“Dear Viktor, now you will be Tsar of Nvogotow,” she smiled at me with tears in her sapphire eyes.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“Like every place, Nvogotow also has laws. One of them says that when someone defeats a golem, the people can elect him as Tsar,” my cousin explained.
Right after she said that, everyone came up to me and threw me up in the air several times in celebration. I had become Tsar of an unknown land.
“No one who keeps the golden ticket can stay here,” she explained.
“Then let's burn yours!” I suggested.
“Bad idea, cousin. I still have a job and a sick mother to take care of in Moscow,” she confessed.
“But then...”
"Don't worry. I brought you to Nvogotow on vacation, and you've found your new home. Besides, you're a Tsar!" She hugged me, holding back tears.
“This is your home, too,” I nodded.
“I'll come visit you every Summer,” she confessed.
We hugged one last time, and I watched her leave the ice castle to Line 5, Novoslobodskaya station.
