Chapter 11 - Meeting

Country of Gemia was a small, quiet and tranquil country. Surrounded by an ocean on the west, plains on the south, forests on the east and mountain range of Lillum on the north. Gemia was located to what some would call end of the world, and while denizens of this country called it their “Gem”, the name itself came from a long dead king – Gemia Min Harcov the second and had nothing to do with actual gems.

He had lived more than a thousand years ago and was one of most ambitious persons in history of Gemia. He was certain, that he was fated to be the ruler of all lands and worked all his life to conquer surrounding territories.

However the King Gemia was not a great general and while he had ambitions he lacked skill to act upon them. At the end of his life all that he had achieved was a new capital which still stood to this day, also named after him – Gemiarna, hundreds of written works about his eminence and an exhausted land. Since then, none of the following rulers had not tried to expand and instead preferred to live quietly.

As a result people of Gemia detested conflicts. They preferred to talk calmly and with reason. They were good people, honest and hard working. The only downside being, when confronted with an outright hostility of unreasonableness they tended to be the ones to consent to demands.

Unfortunately this tranquil peace was not to last for much longer.

--

Mary was exhausted. She was sitting in a cafe in Gemiarna with Sainna and Melita, but the butler/bodyguard/rock, or whatever he was, wasn't here. He was supposed to bring another person, but they were running late. Actually, they were running almost an hour late and she recalled how she had gotten to this place.

It did not take long for Mary to start believing that what Sainna had told her before was truth. When all those predictions on the page Sainna had given to her had started to become true Mary was left speechless, worried and frankly – scared.

Prophecies made by someone who could make perfect calls for next weeks lotteries, biggest news and even what her mother would make for breakfast could not be ignored. Even more if it included something or another about worlds end.

So after Mary had made her mind up she contacted Sainna. After making up lies about where she was going she packed up her belongings and left her home. And now she was here...

But what made her exhausted wasn't the waiting or reproachful looks from waters who, she felt, were judging them for not ordering more than a cup of tea each. It was the chattering of Sainna's.

Now, Mary herself did not think she was bad at making an idle conversation, and she also had an extensive experience with rumor mill that was her school.

That amount of gossip she had to listen to when she spent time with her friends was something she did not miss, but it also did not bother her then. It also had helped that she was a scary elder sister figure in eyes of many, which spared her from many uncomfortable moments back then.

Yes, back then, but not now. That image she had in school, the one she used to shield herself from others digging in her personal life? Not one bit of it was left, or more likely, Sainna just did not care.

Apparently even when she was caught punching some rags in an alley that did not make her scary enough for Sainna to fear angering her, or making her uncomfortable with personal questions, or making inappropriate remarks, or talking about some of the more embarrassing moments of her life.

Actually how the fuck did she even knew about that time when She had slipped and fell into a dog shit? Or the time she called her teacher Mom. Was that where she spent her free time? Huh? Spying on someones past? Looking for compromising shit to blackmail someone with? Some great Seer she was!

Mary was getting more and more pissed, with which her exhaustion did not help with.“OK, she is making fun of me isn't she? She must be thinking I am a B-i-i-g joke doesn't she? Well, how about I punch her in that beautiful face of hers to wipe that smug expression off of it? Huh? Actually, I really, probably should. Why haven't I already anyway?”

As Mary scrunched her brows together to think about it a cold gaze brought her back from her planing. “Oh yea, that...”

As Mary shifted her sight to the women sitting next to Sainna. Somehow she had forgotten about her while she was fuming inside and she knew that it was a big mistake to do so.

Melita practically reeked of bad news to Mary. While Melita did look quite fragile to Mary's eyes at first she could tell that she was not something she wanted to mess with. She moved too purposefully and with almost unnatural grace, and that look she had given to her? It really had chilled her to the bone.

While Mary was contemplating Melita and questioning if she was able to take her in a fight she was interrupted by Sainna poking her cheek.

“So, as I was saying, did you talk with your parents? And you really should do something about your attention span, even speaking with Hall is more fruitful and he is practically a wall most of the time.” Sainna pouted.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Yeah, sorry, did you really ask that before? Because I am quite sure you were speaking about the time I was confessed to by my senior.” Mary glared back at Sainna.

“Did I really, cant say I remember, but speaking of which, why did you broke his nose? Larry, that was his name wasn't it, wasn't he quite good looking?”

And again Mary was left baffled by just how much Sainna knew about her past. “For now I just should let it slide...” Mary sighed to herself before answering.

“Because Lard... I mean Larry was a womanizing ass-hole. And as for my parents I told them that I got a job which would require me to travel around, still have to call them regularly though. By the way, how is this going to work? Will we gather people with superpowers and go to mountains to train? Will we fight the great evil that threatens our peace and the very being?”

“Well, for starters we will wait for Hall to arrive with our last member.” Sainna chided.

“But they are sooo late, and you just keep talking about embarrassing stuff form my life!”

“They are not late, I just asked to come you an hour early so we could chat. Actually there they are, they just arrived.” Sainna pointed outside.

Mary gave Sainna the most venomous glare she could muster before turning to look. What she saw was the man Mary knew as Hall and a teen who was in dire need of sun.

He was white as paper, with skinny body and gray hair. They both crossed the street before entering cafe and after Hall spotted them he came straight to the table they were sitting at.

As they arrived Sainna greeted them.

“Hello, I see that you have arrived timely, I take it that the little problem on the road was taken care of.” She smiled at them before introductions. “This nice lady here is Mary! And this strapping young lad next to Hall is Theodore, you both already know Hall and Melita and I am Sainna! Now please sit down, so we can chat a bit before heading to our next destination!” she happily exclaimed.

Mary gave another annoyed look pointed at Sainna before taking a closer look at Theodore.

Theodore was too pale and you could see that he was not someone who led an active lifestyle. He was skinny and clothes he wore were a bit saggy looking, not fitting well on his body. He had cloudy blue eyes and he seemed to be uncomfortable, as he took quick glances at everyone who had gathered around the table, but not making eye contact, as he sat down next to Mary.

However there was something about Theodore that unsettled Mary. The way he looked was somehow wrong, it was like his body contained something too big for it. Mary could not quite put a finger on it, but the longer she looked at Theodore the more it seemed like he was slipping away, that he did not quite fit into just “being here”.

Mary was pulled out of her contemplation by Sainna.

“Don't worry, Theodore does not do that intentionally. He is just really bad at controlling his magic.”

It looked like Theodore had something to say about Sainna's claims, but he glanced at Hall, who sat next Sainna and in the end chose to stay silent. After another moment he frowned and afterwards it seemed like area around him lightened up.

Mary did not notice before, but the shadows... They were darker around Theodore. Well, darker, and more... substantial, more full. After another moment passed all of the discomfort Mary felt left her and she heard Theodore speak for the first time in a raspy voice.

“Sorry, I, well, I it is not that I am bad at magic, I mean, I am not great or anything! I am learning and, well...” Theodore seemed to panic slightly, his voice becoming a bit higher as he kept rambling, before Sainna interrupted him.

“We get it, please take a deep breath or you will choke to death. Wouldn't that be a glorious way to die for such a peerless mage as yourself.” She sarcastically added. “Can you tell us more about yourself?”

“Ah, yes, so...” Theodore took a deep breath. “My full name is Theodore Michael Savo. I am 18 years old this year. My specialty is Shadow and Mind magic. My hobbies are reading and...”

“And?” Inquired Sainna.

“No, I guess that's all!” Theodore mumbled while slightly blushing.

“Right, now is your turn Mary!” Sainna intoned.

Mary was distracted by what Theodore had said. “Shadow and Mind magic... It sounds sinister. I really hope Sainna knows what she is doing...” She shook her head, to get her focus in order before speaking.

“My name is Mary Rose, I am 19 years old. My power is that, I heal really fast.” she finished lamely.

“No hobbies?” Sainna asked

“None I would like to share with you!” Mary retorted.

“OK, then, as you both gave such a nice summary about yourselves it is only polite for us to do the same. After all, we will most likely work together for quite some time.” Sainna winked at them before continuing.

“This hulking monstrosity here is Hall Mirvo, his specialty is close combat. And don't let his blank look fool you, he is always on vigilant and ready to respond to any threats. He serves as my bodyguard and butler when needed.”

Even thought Sainna said that, Mary was not convinced and when she took a peek at Hall... He was sitting still watching a wall again.

“Vigilant my ass” Mary muttered to herself, but then returned her attention to Sainna.

“And this nice lady here is Melita Gelmina. She is 27 this year, single, her hobbies include watching action movies and spending her time at shooting ranges. She is 1.70 meter tall. Her three sizes are-”

Before Sainna could continue she was silenced by coldest stare from Melita Mary had ever seen. After Sainna coughed in her hand she resumed speaking.

“She is our marksman and my secretary. If you have any demands or are in need of something just ask her and she will do her utmost to help.”

Before Sainna could continue Melita interjected.

“While Young Miss is right, please keep your demands to a minimum, I am too busy to attend to every your every trifle.” She coldly added and left Sainna to speak further.

“And then there is me! Sainna Reki, I am 16 years old, I am a Seer! But please keep in mind, that there are severe limitations of what I can actually see. Such as if someone has awoken his Magic, or if it involves major incident, something that has long in the past or far in the future. These factors severely impact my ability.  So my Magic is not quite as great as it would seem at the first glance. It is useful to see someones intentions in short term though. It is also very difficult for me to share something, that would impact how future would play out.” Sainna gave a bitter smile as she looked up at ceiling, where, as Mary knew, the Ring was located. After few seconds passed Sainna spoke again.

“But if I am wiling I can go past my limitations to gleam further and more deeply, share what I have seen. It always comes with a cost... But, there is one particular event that I can see clearly. Not how or why it will happen, but that it will. And I have invited you both to speak about it and maybe, we can help not only ourselves, but others as well.”