“Good luck with that.”
That was cold.
“We’re almost finished, but we need to go by and get
your license on the way back.”
“License?”
“Proof of title. That’s why I had to fill out those
papers. I hope you like how you wrote your signature.”
“What else do we need?”
“Only a few more yard supplies and bullets. I was
thinking about something. I eat mainly meat and fruit, and chew on Wigknot
bark. The people of my world are very adaptive. Humans need vegetables, bread,
fruit, meat, and calcium stuff.”
“Yeah, well, I never ate that stuff before. Don’t
worry about my diet, I got fifty percent of my grub from work, and my
home-cooked food consisted of S.O.S. and rock soup.”
“S.O.S?” he asked.
“Shit on a Shingle. It’s toast with ground beef on
top and white gravy poured over it. Anything I eat here would be healthier. Are
fruits sweet or sour?”
“Some are sweet, some are sour, and most are both.
Shomodii and Zendii are the best lands for fruit, but the fruits on Shomodii
are bigger and sweeter. Anyway, I thought you may want variety. Why don’t you
put your new boots on?” he asked as I stumbled.
“I would have to stop and take these off, and get new
socks out.”
After a while without speaking, I let my mind wander
to Vivian. We had met in high school. Honestly, we thought we would be married
by now. Neither of us talked about it except in passing, but we were always
together. I thought I loved her.
Sure, I had to leave her for her own sake, but why
was it so easy? I considered returning to Earth after I was fully trained and,
in my little fantasy, she would welcome me back and forgive me for disappearing
for years. But would she accept my new life? In reality, I knew she would move
on. And then it occurred to me that if I went back to Earth, I wouldn’t see
Divina anymore.
“Edward, did you ever love two women?”
“You mean where one of them is out of your league and
the other, you can’t be with because it’s too dangerous?”
I nodded and thought he understood until he gave me a
look of pity. “Do you always know for sure if you love someone?” I asked.
“I have found there are degrees of love, and even
different types of love. None of them are easy, but some of them are more difficult
than others to get over. Unrequited love is always hard because you never know
what could have been.”
“So what do I do?”
He stopped in the middle of the street and his frown
was discouraging. “I haven’t a clue.” He ruffled my hair. “You need a haircut.”
With that, he turned and walked away. I stared after him for a moment with my
jaw dropped… then I laughed.
We arrived at a busy music store. About four rows of
shelves were filled with what looked like thick CD cases and across the room,
the wall had shelves full of weird little sets. They had the general shape of
small CD players, about three inches in diameter. Some were a solid color, some
were multiple colors, some were clear, and some changed colors. Edward went
over to the sets and I followed.
“Which do you want?”
The ones that slowly
changed colors were awesome, but the clear ones revealed everything inside
them. There were little gears and the whole bottom half was hollow.
I pointed to one of the clear ones and an employee
came as if called. She had short, light brown hair and hazel eyes with tight,
tan shorts and a light green, short-sleeved shirt. Her smile was bright and
cheery as she greeted us. Edward said something and she pulled one of the clear
sets down and handed it to me. The woman didn’t stick around.
It was very light and made of something that seemed
to be between plastic and glass. There were little jell-like buttons on the
edge around it. Edward pushed a large one and the top opened like the top on a
CD player. Instead of a place for a CD, there was a small indent for a chip.
Edward led me to one of the shelves.
“What kind of music do you listen to?”
A little bit of everything, but I mostly listen to
what Vivian calls Pagan rock,
I thought, but couldn’t say. Of course, I
didn’t have to; Edward could hear my thoughts. He wasn’t allowed to do magic in
Anoshii, so he had to be real careful.
As if to prove me right, Edward pulled certain cases
from the shelf without replying to my invaded thoughts. After he picked out a
bunch of the cases, the woman returned. Edward and the woman chatted as he gave
her money. She took a case down from behind the counter and handed it to me.
When we left, I pulled the set out of the bag to look
at it better. “How does it run if there’s no electricity?”
“It runs on water. I’ll show you later. The chip she
gave you in the black case is a writable one. You stick it in the top slot and
the music chip in the bottom, and then you can write a particular song or
several onto the writable chip. That way you can keep all your favorite songs
on one chip.”
Next, we went to another weapons shop and got two
wooden swords, a bow, and some arrows. I had a really bad feeling my combat
training would continue at home.
“Edward? How come I got this?” I asked, indicating the
empty sword holder on my side. “I haven’t got a sword.”
“You need a sword. You don’t have the magic to defend
yourself, so I had planned on giving you Ronez’s sword. He…” Edward went silent
as several people passed us. “Ronez always favored daggers to swords, but he
never went anywhere on Duran without his favorite sword, which was a gift by
another Guardian.”
“How did you two deal with the gravity difference
when you traveled?”
“Well, I never had a problem with Earth’s gravity; it
was the air I disliked. He was born sago, so he was naturally strong. He
adapted well, but still didn’t enjoy Duran; he always missed electricity and
his cars. What do you think of Duran so far?”
“This world feels simple because there’s no
electricity or political stuff that I know of yet, but it’s also complicated
because I’m new to it. I haven’t ever lived in a place where the people’s sole
goal wasn’t to screw everyone else over.”
We arrived at another building, which looked a little
simpler and more elegant than the regular shops. There was no giant window to
display wares or sign boasting a sale, the door wasn’t propped open, and people
were not going in and out of it.
“Now, there are sensors in here. No speaking and
definitely no magic. We should only be in here for a few minutes,” Edward said.
“Can’t I wait outside? I won’t move a step.”
“You have to be there to take your card. Go up to
him, say your name only, and then take your card with both hands. Don’t look
around when we get in there; act as if you’ve been in there a hundred times.”
I nodded and entered. It was easy to resist looking
around because, unlike in the stores, there was no color or furniture that
stood out and demanded attention. Straight ahead of us was a large, old, wooden
desk, piled high with stacks of paper and books. The only light in the room was
made by little floating balls of fires that danced around slowly. Two rotated
over the desk so the man who sat there had light to read by.
The man looked to be in his late forties and there
were frown lines on his forehead. His dark brown hair was speckled with silver.
He only looked up when we stood in front of him and I saw that even his green
eyes were laced with specks of silver and dull with solemnity. He didn’t bother
to smile or stand.
“Yatunus-mal.”
I couldn’t figure out if saying the person’s name was
supposed to be a greeting, or just an acknowledgement. Edward responded with a
mere nod.
“Haso o nai?” he asked me.
“Yatunus-tai Dylan,” I said, praying I didn’t screw
things up. The scowl he gave me did nothing to settle my nerves, so I found
myself with a rare conundrum; where to look. I could lower my eyes to the
floor, which would be suspicious, or continue the tense staring contest with
the stranger.
A door behind the desk, previously hidden in darkness,
slid open. A girl stepped out, holding what looked like a black, glossy folder
with both hands. She was about twenty-five with long, strait, light brown hair
and smooth, youthful skin. She wore a white dress that looked like one of those
from an old, classic, Roman movie and had no shoes on. I couldn’t be positive,
but it looked to me like no women on Duran ever wore, or even needed makeup.
She bowed as she held out the folder. The man turned
to her, took it, and turned back without acknowledging her, and then she
straightened up and backed away. Just before her face disappeared into the
dark, I saw her smile at Edward.
The man shuffled through the folder as the door
slipped shut and pulled out a card. It was about three-by-five, thin,
laminated, and looked like black marble. When he held it out to me, I took it
with both hands like I was told. It was surprisingly heavy, but not like stone;
it was definitely some weird form of plastic. In the center were gold symbols
that were my new name, and in each corner was a small word in light bluish
purple. I turned it over to see a row of simple symbols in white.
Edward left and I followed him, examining my card.
When we got outside, I pointed to the symbol in the right-hand corner. “What’s
this word?” I asked.
“Mogyaba. It means ‘apprentice wizard’. The one
beneath it is the last name of the one who made your file. He’s going to be
your personal lawyer if you ever need one, which means when he dies, you’ll
have to get a new one.”
“Why do I need a lawyer?”
“I’m not saying you do, but it’s his job to help you
with legal problems. Just don’t ever tell your lawyer you want to sue him;
he’ll take you seriously.”
“Is this guy good?”
He checked the name. “His great-grandfather was.” He
took my card and examined it, not bothering to watch where he was going.
“Can I see yours?” I asked. He pulled his out of his
bag and handed it to me. Unlike mine, his name and the letters in the corner
were written in vibrant red. On the back, there was a list of symbols in gold.
I recognized that they were the same as mine except in a different order. “What
are these?” I asked, pointing to them.
“Numbers. They are your personal numbers that law
identifies you with. You should memorize them and never give them out to anyone
but who you have to.” He handed me back my card, took his, and we both put them
away in our bags.
The sun was getting low by the time we reached the
inn. The hotel was very humble and cozy compared to the shops, very delicate
with a flat roof instead of the otherworldly fantasy design of the other
buildings. While it was very large, it was nothing compared to those on Earth,
and it wasn’t towering like the structures around it.
Something about it made me feel a little anxious, but
in a good way.
Edward slid the door open, “Ojimada,” he announced
loudly before stepping in.
I followed quickly, absorbing the home-like aura of
the reception room, which was only about eight-by-eight. The light
bluish-purple walls had a wrap-around mural of small, simple flowers and elegant
streams, which had a calming effect for anyone who didn’t have OCD. The floor
was made of a soft, light wood that seemed to flex just a little under my
weight, and the low, flat ceiling was made of the same wood. The window next to
the door let in a very natural and warm light; however, the heavy wooden
shutters that were pulled open seemed out of place.
The young woman who came in and greeted us had her
black hair tied into a bun and wore a vibrant green dress that almost looked
like robes, with sandals to match. “Loge. Mokate Asano-tai Miyuki,” she said.
Another ‘tai’ title. How do you greet someone at
your own rank?
I didn’t have to worry about it because she went on without
waiting for more introductions.
Edward and the woman spoke while I looked around.
Something was off about the place and I couldn’t figure out what it was. When
they left the room, I hurried after them into the hall. Halfway down the
hallway was a sliding glass door to a courtyard, where there was a small pond
with a waterfall surrounded by exotic, but small plants of various colors.
Sitting on a large rock beside the pond, reading a book, was Mordon.
“Go ahead. Divina will find you later,”
Edward
said.
I hadn’t realized I stopped, but luckily he had. I
put down the two heavy bags I was carrying, slid the door open, and went out.
Mordon looked up and smiled.
I slid the door shut. “Hi,” I said.
“Hi, Dylan,” he said in English.
I sat down by him and pointed to his book. “What are
you reading?”
“Otoga suia kuso betsu to.”
The only word I recognized was “kuso,” which I had
figured out meant “potion.” Then he pulled out the little bottle of sleeping
potion he’d used on his father. I understood; he was reading up on a stronger
sleeping potion.
“Cool. Can I help?”
With a series of hand signals and words, he told me
to come back later when everyone else was asleep.
“Okay.” I indicated that I understood. We sat there
in silence while the sun set, cutting off the light for him to read. He suddenly
glanced up, sniffed around, and even seemed a little panicked.
“Divina,” he said.
“Divina’s coming?” I asked, assuming that he could
somehow smell her perfume. He ignored the question and stared very pointedly at
the pond. The guy could not play innocent well.
A few minutes later, the glass door slid open and
Divina entered. She sat between us, slightly closer to me. “How was your day of
putting up with Kiro?” she asked me.
“Successful, maybe. I think there were some things
that he wanted that no one had. I got a little music player that is supposed to
run on water, but I doubt it works well. I got new clothes, and my card.”