Sophie truly did have a million questions for Acacia, and since the cooking lesson was at the ‘wait until the food is done’ stage it was a perfect time to ask them.

“Okay, so – I don't even know where to begin,” she said as they sat down at the small dining table just off the kitchen. “I guess let's start with the dates. I found some letters in the shrine… The last one seemed to be dated Caspian 28, and something about flower petals. What does that even mean? Is that the year? What’s up with the petals?”

Acacia laughed out loud at the question. “Caspian 28 would be the year, yes. Are you talking about the Month of Falling Petals? That was last month, actually. It’s the fourth month in the calendar year. You don’t have the same terminology?”

Sophie shook her head. “No, I suppose we just have different names for the months that don’t make much sense either. The fourth month would be April where I come from.”

Acacia frowned slightly at the reply. “But – wait – if you are from somewhere else, how do you even know our language to begin with? There are several different languages in the known world, and ours is merely one of them.”

“Ah, that…” Sophie said. “Um, I don’t think I’m supposed to tell anyone, but it has to do with a blessing that Elowen gave me.”

Acacia looked thoughtful. “Hmmm, okay,” she said. “A blessing makes sense. But… Caspian 28? Are you sure that’s what the letter said?”

Sophie nodded. “Some of them had earlier dates – Caspian 27 and so on.”

Acacia’s eyes widened in surprise. “Earlier even? That was so long ago…” she breathed.

“How long?” Sophie asked, her stomach sinking. Just how long had Elowen been alone for?

“Well, I suppose that would be around 80 years ago,” Acacia replied. “Right at the beginning of the Mage Wars. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, Caspian 28 would have been the year they started. Or maybe 29? I learned about it in school…” She chewed on her lip thoughtfully as if trying to recall what she had learned.

Sophie stared at Acacia as the other woman trailed off. Eighty years? Nearly a century, the librarian had said. Elowen…

What had Elowen been doing during that time? Did Rosalie die at the beginning of the Mage Wars, or perhaps later? Either way, it seemed that Elowen had been alone for a much longer time than Sophie had expected.

“The Mage Wars…” Sophie repeated. “If the letters ended before they began, does that mean Rosalie was involved?”

“Who’s Rosalie?” Acacia asked as she got up to check on the soup. She poked at a few of the vegetables and then came to sit back down at the dining table with Sophie.

“Oh, she’s the former shrine priestess. I finally learned her name – through the letters, of course.”

“Hmmm,” Acacia replied. “I doubt she would have been involved directly. The wars had something to do with Caspian’s sister, Adriane. She tried to take over the territory to the south, and – well, I honestly don’t remember who all would have been involved from Caulis. I just know it was a terrible time for the town back then. My grandparents helped with rebuilding after all of the earthquakes.”

“Earthquakes?!” Sophie asked. Could the earthquakes have been the cause of the shrine’s mana problem? Sophie wasn’t sure if the timeline matched up exactly.

Acacia nodded. “Yeah, I guess you really don’t know anything about the history here, do you? Caulis was nearly entirely destroyed. When mages fight…” she shook her head. “Well, the results are unpredictable to say the least. Especially Earth Mages. It’s a dangerous class.” She frowned. “Linden’s family really didn’t like his choice when the shrine spirit gave him the option to become an Earth Mage, but they’ve grown to live with it.”

“So Earth Mages caused the earthquakes that nearly destroyed the town?” Sophie asked, trying to follow the thread of the conversation.

Acacia looked a little uncertain at the question, though. “I guess you could say that. It’s complicated. It might be better to talk with a Historian. I honestly didn’t pay much attention in history class.”

Sophie laughed. “That’s okay,” she reassured Acacia. “I was planning on talking with a historian about the shrine, anyway, so I’ll save those questions for him. I still don’t even know what year it is now.”

“Well now we’re in Blythe 3,” Acacia replied easily. “The Month of Blooming Flowers.”

“Wait, why does the Month of Blooming Flowers come after the Month of Falling Petals? How does that make any sense?”

Acacia laughed. “I suppose I never thought of it that way. But the petals refer to flowering trees, I believe.” She shook her head, still chuckling. “There are some inconsistencies in the calendar, for certain. For example, we have the months of Midwinter, Midsummer, and Midautumn, but then the third month is simply called Spring.”

“Wait, the month of Spring? Isn’t it a whole season?”

“Well, yes, but the month is named as such because it’s the beginning of the season. I suppose it is a little odd. It’s just been that way for centuries.”

“Are there more months?” Sophie asked, her head already spinning. “Do you at least have twelve?”

“Yep,” Acacia said, cheerfully. “Twelve months to the year, starting with the Month of New Beginnings.”

Sophie held up her hand. “Okay, let’s put aside months for now maybe. The names are just too much for me to remember, and I still have a lot of other things to ask.”

Acacia laughed again, obviously delighted at Sophie’s ignorance of such simple things. “Alright,” she agreed. “Lay it on me. What other questions do you have?”

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Sophie tried to think of everything she could possibly ask while the soup continued to cook. She learned that the names of the years – like Blythe 3 and Caspian 28 – were based on the current ruler, and the country itself was called Duille. The continent they lived on was split into three main territories – two countries and one mostly ungoverned wilderness. In the wilderness, there was an area called the Corrupted Lands that developed during the Mage Wars and still caused problems to this day. There were two other continents – one to the west and one to the south – and a bunch of islands. Mana was present everywhere, although in varying amounts it seemed.

Seeing the map at the Adventurer’s Guild hadn’t given Sophie the full picture of the sheer scale of the world that she had found herself in. Namely that it was an entire world. Somehow, Sophie’s entire universe up until this point had been Caulis, with the occasional mention of somewhere called Sentus that was “outside of Caulis” and that had been it.

But this was, indeed, an entirely different world than her own, and she simply felt overwhelmed at her own lack of knowledge.

Acacia occasionally tested the potatoes for doneness in between answering Sophie’s questions, and on the fourth or fifth test, she finally nodded, seeming pleased with the results.

She held the wooden spoon out to Sophie. “Here – try it.”

Sophie took the spoon and cautiously got her own sampling of the soup. She was surprised. It was a huge improvement on her own soup efforts. And somehow she had been directly involved in this one! And it hadn’t been that difficult. She might even be able to do it herself.

“We'll add some cream to finish it,” Acacia explained as she went over to a chill box and pulled out a little glass container. “You don’t have to do this part, but it gives it a little bit more body. You can also add cheese or other things, if you have them.”

She let the soup cook a few more minutes, and then served them both bowls. It was well into the afternoon by the time they finished eating and chatting, and Sophie was reluctant to leave, if not for her promise to try Elowen’s shrine stone.

“Will you make it there okay with all of those bags?” Acacia asked, as Sophie began to get ready to go.

Sophie nodded. “I should be fine.” She hefted the bags from the market and the tailor, along with the Tailored bag full of books that still felt lighter than it really should have. “Thanks for all of your help today.”

“No problem at all,” Acacia insisted. “Oh, actually, let me give you something –”

Acacia skipped back over to her frost box and opened it, digging through it for a moment before pulling out a small, paper-wrapped bundle no larger than her hand. “Here.” She held it out to Sophie. “Some more mana bread. Knowing you, you’ll need it.”

“Acacia, you really shouldn’t –” Sophie tried, but Acacia slipped the mana bread into one of Sophie’s many bags before Sophie could stop her.

“Just let it thaw on the counter or wherever and eat it over a few days when your mana gets low. Don’t eat it all at once!”

“I know – you warned me well enough. But thank you. I’ll really need to repay you for all of your help, soon.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s basically community service since you’re our new shrine priestess, right?” Acacia winked and Sophie couldn’t help but laugh.

“Either way, I’ll find some actually useful thing to do for you in return,” Sophie replied. She supposed Acacia was sort of right in a weird sense, but she couldn’t help but feel that just being the shrine priestess wasn’t really enough.

Acacia finally ushered her out of the apartment with stern reminders to practice making the soup. Sophie promised she would, and then made her way back down to the first floor of the bakery. She stopped at the counter on her way out to say goodbye to Hollis and grab some more of those delicious chocolate croissants along with a few other pastries, and then she started the long walk back to the shrine.

***

Sophie was pretty sure more of the little markers were lit up than when she had left the path, but there were still plenty of unlit markers for her to work on another day. She thought back to the little dragon creature that had been following her and was glad he seemed to be off doing his own thing elsewhere. After her long detour at Acacia’s, it would have been really sad had the poor thing still been waiting for her.

She only realized she had forgotten to stop by the florist by the time she was already walking up the stone steps to the shrine. Drat. That would have to wait for another day.

Elowen must have sensed her arrival, since she immediately floated out of the shrine to greet her. “You’re back! And you’re wearing something different!”

“I am,” Sophie replied. “I’m sorry it took a little longer than expected. I didn’t actually get to ask about our plant, but I finally got my cooking lessons from Acacia.”

Elowen nodded politely at the explanation, but she seemed intrigued by Sophie’s clothing more than anything. Her hand hovered over the fabric, and Sophie felt the warm almost tingle that she was pretty sure meant Elowen was doing something with mana. “These are very fine quality,” Elowen mused. “I am impressed. I had thought – well, regardless, it seems you found a good Tailor after all.”

Sophie grinned, glad Elowen approved. “I have two other outfits as well, but these are getting really heavy,” she lifted one of the bags up to demonstrate. “Do you mind if we head into the shrine?”

“Oh!” Elowen reached out again as if to touch one of the many bags. “I do so wish I could help you with those,” she complained.

“It’s okay,” Sophie insisted. She led Elowen back into the shrine. “In fact, after we get some of the stuff put away, I think we should get started on working on some of that. I know you’re worried that it’s too soon, but I’d really like to try the shrine stone.”

Elowen still looked slightly reluctant, but she eventually nodded. “Okay,” she relented. “But you have to promise me you’re not going to faint again like you did last time with the fire.”

Sophie felt her face heat. There was one of those pesky promises that she wasn’t sure if she could keep. “I’ll do my best,” she said. At least now she had a better idea of what to expect. Before, when she had only been working with the mana lamps, she had no idea that channeling could even feel like that. But now, she’d be even more on guard in the future.

She filled the new chill box with some of the items from the market and placed others in the cabinet. Some of the cabinets were still quite bare, but it was starting to feel a little more like home in here. She also put away her new tailored clothes, and she finally pulled the three books she had gotten from the library out of her little tailored bag and set them on the desk for later.

“What are those?” Elowen asked, hovering curiously.

“Just some light reading,” Sophie replied. “All of the books here are about plants, and I wanted to get something a little more fun to read when I have time.”

Elowen blinked at the books, as if she wanted to investigate them further, but now that Sophie had finished putting everything away, she wanted to make good on her promise earlier.

“Okay,” she announced. “I think I’m ready to try the shrine stone.”

Elowen glanced up at her, nodding cautiously. “Okay,” she agreed.

Sophie hoped she knew what she was getting herself into.