“Since we can talk now, where are the roads?” I asked the group. Nan responded, though not how I expected.

“That will be part of what I am here to teach you about. But first, care to tell us about you?”

“I have been chosen by Magic to end a threat to the land. I was pulled from my world and it is so fundamentally different from here that there really is no point in describing it to you.”

“Can you do it anyway?” Nan prodded.

“Well, I will begin with the thing most fundamentally different. If you can comprehend it, then I will continue. Magic, in any form, does not exist in the world I came from.”

Silence greeted my revelation. I sat in silence for a bit before continuing.

“This world is so different from where I came from, but the greatest is that there is no overarching will. There is nothing in my world that changes things based on its will. Rather, there are rules that can be bent but never broken, and the civilization I came from did its best to understand those rules. Here, if you push then Magic will punish you. There, if you pushed you learned, and with that knowledge, we could do things people would argue is impossible.” I looked up from the fire. I had been staring into it as I pondered how unique of an opportunity this was, but how restricted we were. I looked at Nan while I continued.

“I would consider curiosity the most important part of our culture. The drive to learn more, do more, experience more. That insatiable hunger to find out more and to answer the ever-elusive why. There is more I could go on about my world, but without that context, you really can’t hope to understand.”

With that, I felt I had said enough. Besides, it did not matter, I was never going back. And the only thing that could come from those memories was pain. Best the fall back into the endless void of the rest of the forgotten.

Silence reigned. I noticed that the wind seemed to have halted, and the fire was not crackling. Instead, it just provided light and warmth, but no sounds emitted with the luminosity. Kwah was the first to break the silence, rising and collecting a spear I did not notice she had.

“Something is coming.” She said, before taking two steps out of the cave and leaping up. Bastar responded more slowly where Heather and Nan remained where they were sitting. I rose with Bastar before he motioned for me to sit back down.

“There’s nothing you can do Vee,” Bastar said. “Best you sit there and let Nan teach you something so that you can be helpful. Perhaps by first fixing your eyes.” With that, he marched into the woods.

“What’s happening?” I asked the only two remaining people. Heather rose at that point and headed after the other two.

“I won’t be any help here,” She began. “Besides, they might need help.” Heather did disappear into the jungle in the weird way I had grown accustomed to, sliding into a tree.

Nan watched her go, eyes never leaving the opening of our small redoubt.

“I can’t imagine your world.” She mumbled.

“That’s fine,” I answered, moving closer to her. “You’ll never go there, and I will never return. Best to let sleeping dogs lie and focus on the important things, such as fixing my eyes?” I titled my voice up at the end, hoping that she understood it for what it was.

“Your eyes are that of a newborn. You look at the world with a sense of wonder and loss. But more importantly, your eyes just look wrong on an adult.”

I nodded in response as I thought about the children I had trained with yesterday. Each of them was not like me in so many ways, but only now did I catch that the older ones had the different eyes that I had seen in all the adults. Thinking of the people I passed, I frowned as I thought of the two who had the closest match to my own.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“The governor had eyes like mine. The emperor didn’t have eyes at all.”

“You met Emperor Bobo?” She broke her gaze outside to stare at me.

“Yes. She looked like the girl of my dreams, only without eyes and a nose.”

“That’s a failure of yours then. It is well known that the Emperor can shift her form into the most pleasing form of the person watching her. I heard that is why she doesn’t use words, as that might break the illusion.”

“She did sort of just…” I grasped the air as if doing so would make the word appear. “willed, I suppose, her message. And it was exclusionary. I was there when she said something to the governor, and I couldn’t make heads or tails of it.”

“Interesting,” Nan responded, eyes moving back to the entrance. “Do you know why I am here?”

The change of topic surprised me. I considered responding with what Andre told me but given how everyone left her with me gave me two options.

“You are here to teach me about the world.” I began. “As to why you are here with me, either you are so weak that you won’t be any help or so strong you can reasonably protect me from whatever is out there.”

She snorted at my response before chuckling lightly to herself.

“Khaw was enough to take out most things that would appear near us. Bastar left because he’s been in a foul mood and hitting things that could fight back will help him. Heather left because she didn’t want to deal with you anymore. I am here because I am old, no other reason.”

I frowned as I processed what she said.

“Heather doesn’t like me?”

“No, I don’t think that. It is more you are like a newborn, requiring so much care that it exhausts her quickly. Even our children are more capable than you are.”

I chuckled at that, nodding. That comment though stirred something in my mind.

“How are babies made?” I asked

“Do you think that is a pertinent question?” Nan responded.

“No, but you mention of newborns and how unique some people looked made me wonder. How does General Andre get his groove on?”

“I have no idea what that means. But since it isn’t important, I won’t answer. I think it would be best, in the first night at least, for you to ask only important questions.”

“No free questions?” I tried to clarify.

“Free questions?” She responded.

“Questions you don’t think are important. Such as if people go to the bathroom in this world, or what is the economic situation of the world, and how does trade occur.”

“You ask questions of a child and a scholar in the same breath.” She mumbled before continuing in a louder voice. “If that is what you consider free questions, then I do not plan on answering any of them. However,” She lifted a finger, eyes still not on me at all, “I may reward you with free questions. And so you are aware, the others have their own duty out here so do not bother them with such dumb questions.”

“If that is the case, how do I change my eyes?”

“I have no idea how to fix your eyes. Children’s eyes naturally change over time as they grow. We do not have that amount of time. And since you haven’t asked the most important question yet, I am going to assume you cannot see mana.”

“You can see mana?” I rose, getting closer. “I only got a glimpse when Heather healed my eye. It is how I learned to cover my body with my mana. I saw the other children using that to stop from falling over.”

She barked a laugh that continued longer than it should.

“Staying upright? That is why you cover yourself as you do? To stand straight?” She looked at me, motioning up and down while smirking.

My excitement died as quickly as it formed. I sheepishly let my mana shield return to wherever it came from before sitting back down. I stared out of the cave, ignoring her.

“I am ignorant of this world,” I stated. “You know what Magic is. You know how to use mana. I felt proud because I figured out how to take my first step with NO GUIDANCE.” I finished with a yell. “I HAVE BEEN STOLEN. I HAVE LOST ALL AUTONOMY AND YOU RIDICULE ME.” I got up in her face. Something was there, something between worry and annoyance. “I do not know how you do anything in this place. Bastar’s method of training is to beat me. Your method seems to ridicule me and hope I learn by myself. Fine.”

Instead of sitting back down, I moved to the cave entrance. I attempted to walk out, only to find something preventing me. It molded to me, pushing me back as I pushed forward. It felt as if I was trying to walk into a giant rubber band and with every step.

“Where are you going?” Nan asked.

“To learn. Since there is not a teacher here, I figure I would be just as effective outside as inside. If I die then hopefully the threat will rip you from your home, from your friends and family, and drop you someplace where no one tells you anything and makes fun of you for figuring the smallest things out themselves.” I stopped and the elastic air pushed me back to the entrance. “Or maybe I will find the threat and end it. Either way, I won’t have to deal with anyone again.”

I felt her hand on my shoulder. I attempted to shake it off, but it did not work.

“Vee, look at me.”

“Screw you.” I tried to move forward again. Instead of elastic, the air had turned solid.

“Vee, I am sorry. Please look at me.”

“Why? So, you can make fun of me more?”

“No. Because I think I know how to fix your eyes.”

I looked at her when she said that. I think she was trying to put me at ease. She had a soft smile that reached up to, but not her eyes. Instead, they were hard. I attempted to open my mouth to find that I was frozen solid. She made a quick motion, and I lost my eyes.