The last thing Noa expected was to manage to fill a church in just a day. He briefly inflated his ego by telling himself he’d have made a damn fine missionary, then immediately squashed it back down to the abyss of his soul where it belonged by reminding himself that he’d essentially bribed all these people. Well, and as it turned out, Black Panther had quite the reputation among the other servants. Conagan The Blond━not to be confused with Blondie the Barbarian━mentioned that Zahur pummeled Waroc once after the brute had assaulted one of the female workers. Even that story gave Noa new respect for the man and further reinforced the superhero name he’d internally bestowed upon him.
“So...” Elvethor elongated the word, looking out over the crowd in front of them. While they fit comfortably in the church, it was still a lot more people than either of them were ready for. “We’re supposed to heal all these people?”
“For information,” Noa added.
“Do you have any idea how much aether this is going to take? I don’t have enough aether stones for this!” Elvethor said.
“We’ll work on whoever has the bad injuries first, or whatever, and have the rest come back tomorrow.”
“I can’t make aether stones that fast! I’ll only have five heals tomorrow, and you’ll only have four. We’d need to buy aether stones off of Olwen to support this kind of crowd. What were you thinking!” Elvethor asked, running his hands through his hair.
“That I needed to start building relationships. I got us a bigger party, didn’t I?” Noa said. “And besides, I need them here for another reason.”
“This ‘strike’ you keep talking about?” Eliaz asked, furrowing his brow. “Noa, you’re the kingpin of such a movement, what happens if you do this, and they just come and kill you?”
“I give them a reason not to. I need to build my reputation first so that I become too much of a martyr if they kill me. Zahur is in on it, as are the others in the party. If the people here grow to really like me, then killing me would guarantee a riot━in other words, they couldn’t get control of everyone here again,” Noa explained.
“Or,” Elvethor said, “It’ll crush everyone’s spirits. They’ll have watched you die.”
“Yeah, for stealing apples I didn’t steal. Some of them will feel the same here, and they won’t stand to be oppressed and murdered for cursed crap,” Noa huffed. “At least, I hope.”
“How about, you do them one better?”
“What’s that?”
“Prove that you didn’t steal apples. Find this lock you keep talking about,” Elvethor advised, and it was solid. Proof would go a long way━it would provide redemption for at least one of them, shining a light on some of the corruption.
“Good point,” Noa nodded. “Okay, I’ll start planting seeds of a strike, but in the meantime, build reputation and find the lock. If I can, I’ll also figure out what Yana is really up to.”
Eliaz nodded approvingly, then fished two aether stones from his pockets. “Let’s heal some people then. After this, I’ll talk to Olwen to see what we can do to trade for some of his aether stones.”
“Good idea. My hope is we give everyone a good enough healing that they don’t have to worry about needing too much more,” he said.
“So... you going to start this thing?”
Oh, right, he was in charge. Hm, I’ve never led a group of people before, Noa thought, nerves tingling in his stomach. How hard could it be? He opened his mouth, and while he could imagine the words he wanted to say, he couldn’t quite get them to come out. Properly, that was. “Hello people━everyone, uh... you guuuys...” Sweat dripped from his brow. Everyone was so quiet now, staring. Oh, that was a lot of eyes! Imagine everyone in their underwear, he tried to tell himself. He blushed. Yeah, that didn’t work. Okay, just, get to the point. “You all have come for a healing, which you need, which I can give, and I need...”
Elvethor placed a hand on Noa’s shoulder, and pointed to Black Panther, who’d risen from the first pew. He stepped up, patting Noa’s other shoulder, each one firm and reassuring. “What my friend is saying,” he started, his voice clear, traveling through the church with ease. Definitely a Black Panther kind of guy. “Is that he needs information. In exchange, he and his friend promise to heal you.”
“And we will start with the most severe injuries first,” Elvethor mentioned, “Breaks, fractures, and deep lacerations will likely be at the top of the list. When we run out of Aether, the rest of you can come tomorrow.”
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Someone in the audience, a young man with a hot farmer’s tan, raised his hand and asked, “What sort of information?”
“Zahur already told you, didn’t he?” another in the crowd mentioned━a woman.
“We will make it clear for everyone now,” Zahur said, raising a hand. Damn, he was good at this stuff. Noa would definitely be keeping Black Panther around for a while. “Many of us are here for varying reasons━Noa Kai wishes to know why. He would also like any information on what you know about Yana and the farm.”
“Deal!” said a kid who looked barely past puberty.
“But just to be clear,” a woman in the second pew stood up. “The healings are free?” she asked.
“Yes,” Noa said, which was probably his firmest sounding word yet. Certainly the easiest to say.
How come I could negotiate with and for trolls, and yet can’t talk to a large group of my own peers? he thought, then sighed. Crowds were just different, he concluded.
“Great. Those of you willing to this agreement, lineup and present me your injuries so I can assess them. Those of you that aren’t are welcome to go do whatever it is you do at this time,” Elvethor said, and people stood, starting to shuffle around.
A few hours, four examinations, and eight mends later, Noa had leveled [Lesser Examination] to 21 and [Lesser Mend] to 27. Announcing that they were officially out of aether, the two of them having healed only a handful of the crowd, everyone left, save for Black Panther. He’d been next to Noa nearly the entire time, which honestly helped with Noa’s nerves.
The information he’d gained was also profound. Of the six people Noa healed, only one of them admitted to committing an actual crime, and a petty one at that. He’d been caught, and sentenced to work on She-monstrosity’s apple farm for as much time as Conagan The blond. Two of the others were accused of crimes they didn’t commit, one was plucked off the street and promised food, but hasn’t been able to get out of it, and the last two were from poor families like Enora was. The thing they all had in common was that they were caught either by She-monstrosity or her brutish husband. Apparently the constable was known for sitting in his “office” all day long.
“Noa,” Eliaz said, concern painting his face. “That farm is a scam,” he hissed, the concern contorting into a sneer.
Giving a knowing smile, Noa nodded. “And what have I been saying all along?”
“That you didn’t steal apples,” Elvethor rolled his eyes.
“Well, yes. I mean more in between the lines,” Noa said, and when his friend just looked confused, he went on, “you know, suggesting something was afoot.”
“Oh, that.”
“Anyways, what did you learn?”
“That all of them are indentured servants for various reasons that just don’t make sense. It’s like Yana’s not offering any real jobs on that farm of hers, which would be bad. A farm that big should be providing plenty of jobs for the locals, and maybe that’s why she got so big in the first place, particularly with this scam. What I can’t put my finger on is that other farms are getting robbed of apples too, not just Yana’s,” Eliaz said.
“I got that hint this morning, talking to Zahur,” Noa nodded, looking at the large man. He sat, somber.
“I cannot believe this has all been going on under my nose,” Black Panther sighed. “I believe you will have your strike much sooner than you think. You may not be able to stop it now that the idea has been planted in Conagan’s and Enora’s heads. Talking will have opened up among everyone. This is a good thing, so long as you do not end up dead.”
“So... I need to prove my innocence sooner than later,” Noa said, running a hand down his face. “If I prove it, then there’d be outrage if I died.”
“If you died publicly,” Elvethor cringed. “Noa, there’s not a policing force here to protect you, or anyone in this cursed town for that matter. Lila has the biggest army around, and it consists of only two squadrons!”
“Then it is up to the rest of us to protect him,” Zahur said, and punched his fist into his other hand, grasping it and flexing. Wow. What. A. Big man! He’d make a good policing force all by himself.
“Thanks,” Noa said. “As for the apple thieving, is it possible that there is an actual thief?”
“It’s very coincidental. It could be related to Yana, or not. Maybe you can find out when you go snooping for your lock,” Elvethor said.
Noa groaned, running both hands down his face.
“You seem to do that everytime you get stressed,” Zahur pointed out. “Does it help?”
“No,” Noa sighed wistfully. “I have to go snooping through Yana’s farmhouse, and in the parts we can’t access. I bet Waroc snatched it after breaking my arm, and now they’ll be hiding it somewhere.”
“Or they buried it,” Eliaz said.
“Damnit, Eliaz, one thing at a time! How about you think about what I do if they buried the damn lock, and I go looking for it?” Noa suggested.
“So much damning,” Eliaz smiled.
“And I’m the damndest of it all if I can’t figure this out!” Noa pulled at his hair.
He looked at Black Panther when he felt the large man’s hand on his shoulder, firm in its grasp. “We will curse your damndest,” he said.
What a bizarre statement of curses.
Noa sighed, and leaned back in the pew he sat in. He looked up at the stained glass behind the altar. It depicted a man with gold eyes. He held a red sphere in his right hand, a yellow sphere in his left, and over his head was a blue sphere, the glass sparkling around each one in the dim limelighting of the opalescent aether stone sconces.
If you’re real, Elorn, help me find this lock, Noa thought, then jolted and whipped his head around when he suddenly felt a sharp invisible pull, pointing him in the direction of the farm.