“After the failed wedding, war broke out. The ruling
families all stepped down and the world eventually united. Every land has a
king but he is ruled by the people, for the people, and religion is optional to
be expressed by everyone the way they personally want to express it.”
“Kimivo and Leila changed the world for the better,
and now Edward and Ronez are Guardians,” I concluded.
“And now you are as well.”
“If the Erono and Tiamat didn’t take Edward and
Ronez, what would have happened to them?”
“Neffal would most likely have killed them on the
spot or raised them as his own. Don’t get me wrong, even after the war settled,
it took hundreds of years for Duran to find the peace it has now.”
“But war doesn’t bring peace. I cannot believe that
people should fight for peace.”
“I agree, and they weren’t fighting for peace, they
were fighting because they didn’t like how things were. Peace came when they
stopped fighting. In fact, Canjii tried very hard to resist the Reformation and
in the chaos of war, they decided to take over the world and reform it under
strict laws where government and religion was a single unit, which controlled
everyone unconditionally. This attack is known as hanran no Azes. The rebellion
of Azes.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes while I absorbed
and assimilated the new information. “Does the entire world use the same type
of money?” I asked.
She laughed at my change of subject. “Yeah, but how
much it’s worth depends on where you live. For example, the money’s worth
little in Shomodii, but a lot in Anoshii. Go easy on that,” she said, pointing
to my drink.
I had already drunk most of it without realizing it.
“I’m thirsty.”
Divina pulled the card out of the slot and held it out
to me. “Here, you keep this. It makes for a useful souvenir. Mine has run out,
since it only lasts for a year, so I signed us both onto this one. When you buy
something at certain self-service places, hotels and restaurants, they’ll ask
for your card. There will be a place to slip your card and it records what you
owe, which you’ll pay when you leave.”
There were a couple more minutes of silence where I
let my mind wander. “What was Edward like when you met him?” I asked.
She shrugged. “He was friendly… Quite friendly. He
was teaching some little brat who thought she was the best magician since Kemak
Deorda.”
“Who was---”
“Kemak Deorda and his sister, Ydath Sora were the
rulers of two of the strongest armies Duran ever knew. Long before the
Guardians were born, when dragons ruled the skies and every person had the
potential for mastering magic, Ydath tried to crush magic and slaughtered every
practitioner. Kemak gathered his own army, with the help of the dragons, and
destroyed his sister. He believed magic and religion were related, though. What
came of their battles were the two ruling families.”
“Why does Duran have dragons and battles of magic and
Earth has… King Arthur? I feel like we were ripped off.”
She laughed. “Anyway, we were talking about Edward
and the little… Edward was ready to let her go but she had a huge crush on
him,” she grinned evilly, “so I decided to help him out and sent her running.
He had no idea the girl was in love with him, so dense. Also, he was really hot
tempered and even got in a fight with a wizard over some girl. He never said
who she was, but I never saw him with a girl.”
I didn’t mean to laugh, and I definitely didn’t mean
to do it so loud. In the seventy years they were friends, she didn’t figure out
Edward was fighting over her. “Sorry. Continue.” She poured me another glass.
“Thanks.”
“He was always interesting to talk to, not just
because of all the things he’s seen, but how he perceived them. He did seem
just a tiny bit ditzy some times, but after a while it just went away. Kiro was
super smart, too chivalrous, and very wise. Ronez, on the other hand, was fun,
mischievous, and headstrong. He really liked women. The first words out of his
mouth when we met were ‘she yours?’ to Kiro. He said no and Ronez was all over me.
For a holiday gift he got me…” She grinned again. “Never mind.”
I really wanted her to tell me. On the other hand, I
was having too much fun just listening to her sweet voice; I just wanted her to
keep talking. “Did Ronez like Duran?”
“Well, he grew up here, so the gravity only bothered
him when he was gone for a long time. He said that the girls were more fun on
Earth. He also seemed to like the cultures more, but he didn’t like how people
acted. All the wars over religion and money. Intolerance and bullying. He found
them fascinating but I think he thought them all as little children.”
“Compared to Edward and Ronez, they are children.”
“Compared to me, you’re a child,” she said.
“Sorry, but you don’t look a day over seventy.”
She beamed. “Thanks, sweetie. It’s great to talk like
this before you pick up Kiro’s negative, ancient view on life. We can become
better friends when you get used to me.”
“Yeah, it’s been a whole two minutes since I thought,
‘Damn, she’s pretty’…” I blinked and pushed my empty drink away. “I think I’ve
had enough of this.”
Divina laughed but refilled my glass. I realized that
there was no soreness in my muscles. The knock on the door made me jump and
reminded me that we were at a restaurant. This drink was not a good one to have
in such a confined space with a woman as attractive as Divina.
Divina opened the shade again and the waiter handed
us two large platters of food, two regular sized plates with a little bit of
leafy vegetable garnish on them, a large white serving spoon, two white cloths,
and two pairs of wooden chopsticks. I was extremely happy about the chopsticks;
those I could use. The man said something, bowed, and left. Divina closed the
shutter and pushed one of the small plates towards me.
One platter had pieces of meat in a blood-red sauce
with noticeable seasonings, which looked really good, while the other had
strips of fish decoratively surrounded by leafy vegetables and two small wooden
dishes. Each of the dishes had three sections filled with a red sauce, a black
sauce, and a yellow sauce. She handed one of the dishes to me and used her
chopsticks to put some of the fish on my plate and some on hers. I used the
serving spoon to put the red stuff on my plate.
“I assume that the fish is fugan?” I asked.
“Yeah. Try it first alone, then try it with the
sauces to see what you like.”
I used my chopsticks to get a piece of the fish. It
tasted a lot like regular fish, maybe a bit buttery and sweet, with a hint of
something I couldn’t identify. I tried the fish with the black sauce; it was a
lot like a spicy teriyaki and soy sauce. The red sauce was sweet and sour with
a great aftertaste and the white sauce tasted very similar to jasmine and green
tea. I liked the red sauce the most.
The yoksu had a sauce similar to the red stuff, but
it had a much stronger flavor. The meat was like really good, tender beef, and
was even better mixed in with the leafy vegetables.
”You know a bit about the gods, right?” I asked.
Divina looked slightly startled. “A bit, I guess.
Why?”
“If all of the worlds have human-like beings that
originated on their own worlds, what does that do to the theory of evolution?”
“Nothing at all. It takes mutation to sustain it.
Think of it like this. Humans and apes have a common ancestor. A mutated gene
changed one aspect that led to apes, and a better mutated gene led to humans.
Isn’t it amazing how so many subtle mutations can create such perfect beings in
the world?”
“Perfect?”
“The shark. How can they be any more perfect? The
cockroach is another example, even if you don’t like them. And there are many
more still being perfected, though most of them will never make it because they
serve no purpose.”
“So the gods push evolution? What happens if it
doesn’t work right, or a god changes his mind?” I asked.
She shrugged. “They die. What do you think happened
to the dinosaurs?”
“So Tiamat just killed all those creatures because
they didn’t work?”
“More likely, they didn’t work the way she wanted
them to. Maybe she didn’t see a real future for them.”
“That’s so cruel.”
“Is it? If she hadn’t killed them, there would be no
humans,” she said.
I thought about it for a few minutes. It was a harsh
truth, especially seeing as how humans have brought many creatures to
extinction.
“How are you feeling?” Divina asked.
“Good. All my soreness is gone.”
“How is the gravity, your book, and your energy
flow?”
I felt the energy inside me, and it was surprisingly
low. I pulled in energy easily and it felt really good; the energy felt
pleasantly warm. “I forgot all about the gravity, I’m not worried about the
books right now, and the energy feels different.”
“The energy is reflecting your relaxed, happy mood.
Also, when we leave, I need to run an errand.”
That sounded perfectly innocent in my distracted, relaxed
state.
“Okay. What were you like as a child? What was your
childhood like?” I asked. I knew immediately the question was unwelcome.
“Why does my childhood matter? It was a long time ago
and has little to do with now,” she said.
“But your childhood helped shape who you are today. I
take it, it wasn’t a happy time?”
“No, not really. We survived and sometimes wished we
hadn’t. I was the youngest left.”
“I don’t get it. Survived what? Youngest of what?”
“I had many older siblings. We didn’t get along. Back
then I didn’t care about anything and had nothing. I was constantly ridiculed
by the others. Except for my oldest brother. He was kind to me and no one else.
He was the strongest of us, in many ways, but he was different than us.”
The sadness in her voice was different than Edward’s
when he spoke of Ronez, and felt stronger than I could comprehend. It sent
chills down my spine. Her mood-shirt didn’t change, as if it couldn’t grasp her
sorrow either.
“I don’t want to talk about it. It wasn’t a happy childhood
and I made a new life for myself out of the shadows of my siblings.”
We finished our food about half an hour later without
talking. Luckily her mood lightened back up during that time. Divina slid the
card into the slot and a few seconds later, the waiter knocked on the door. She
opened the shutters, said something and handed him one of the black coins. He
handed her back several coins I couldn’t see clearly.
We left after that. “One of the black coins could pay
for that whole meal? It isn’t pocket change, is it?”
She shrugged. “To me it is.”
We walked down the street and the further we went,
the more deserted the markets were. There were empty stalls and spaces where
stalls used to be. The few people we passed by either looked scared, lost, or
like they were up to no good.
“Are there mafias on Duran?” I asked.
Divina patted me on the back. “Of course there are.
Don’t worry; we’re not far from the place,” she said cheerfully.
Yeah,
that
was what I was worried about.
“Also, do you think we can---”
“Keep this between us?” I interrupted.
“You read my mind,” she grinned.
Fortunately for her I was still feeling really good
from the drink and dinner, so I was in a corporative mood. Or perhaps that was
her intention in the first place.
I was not too relaxed to shriek like a girl when a
massive bark startled me. About ten feet away was a huge animal. With short,
pure white fur, it had the lean, long shape of a Great Dane, but was the size
of a horse. “Holy Hell, what is that thing?”
“Shh. Don’t scare him,” Divina said.
“Me scare him?!”
The animal pounced from his ambush spot between two
decaying buildings and halted just a foot from us. Since dogs on Earth had
always had a problem with me, I assumed this dog-shaped beast would, too.
But he wasn’t growling or snarling. While he had the
narrow snout and sharp teeth of a dog, he didn’t appear vicious. His ears were
back slightly, but not all the way flattened against his head like Dorian did
when he was mad. He leaned towards me, as skittish as I was, so I tentatively
reached out. He sniffed my hand before nudging it aside and bumping his head
against my chest. It appeared to be an affectionate action, but it hurt because
he was so big. I rubbed his ears, hoping that was a universal sign of
friendship and would encourage him not to eat me.
“What is it?” I asked. I was further relieved when I
saw the saddle strapped to the animal; I figured that if people rode them, they
couldn’t be that bad.
On the other hand… some people rode bulls.
“A Tokuami. They are a domesticated mammal mostly
confined to Mokii. Rich people who are too lazy to walk or carry their supplies
keep them for trips or even chores. However, they are not entirely domestic;
they only obey those who are truly powerful.”
The animal turned away from me and started sniffing
Divina. I was almost whacked with its long, whip-like tail. Divina laughed and
reached into her bag, then pulled out a clump of dried meat sticks and fed them
to the Tokuami.
“You normally carry dog food in your bag?” I asked.
“I normally carry meat in my bag. If a predator
attacks, nine times out of ten I can dissuade it with food.”
“And for the other one time out of ten?”
She looked at me with more seriousness than I had yet
seen from her. “I kill it.”
We left the Tokuami to his business. Soon, we came to
a large, old Japanese-style house with boarded windows and crumbling wood. As
much as I silently begged that we would pass on by, Divina stopped in front and
turned to me. “You want me to wait outside, don’t you?” I asked.
“Yes. But whatever you do, don’t run off. And don’t
look so depressed, I’m not doing anything wrong.”