Chapter 31: Admittance

As we amble out of Mareovosa, we stride along the walkways that blend with the setting sun. We reach the border of the campus where a wall of rose quartz covers a layer of earth that elevates the entire campus. The bricks of quartz reflect the sun’s glow creating stripes of coral coloring that cross one another making the edge look like a mosaic of light.

We walk down a series of  glass steps embroidered with trenches in the glass that form images of birds, flowers, and twisting rivers. The twenty foot wide staircase supports milky stone railing that radiates blinding orange and white from the sun. Once we reach the bottom, the wall towers over head shining with palpable wealth and power.

The barricade reaches across the entire townscape that borders Mareovosa. The level of wealth required for such a task defies reason, and I expect Alastair will know the answer for how such feats can be accomplished. I’ll question him next class.

Luke and I chat over our day’s events as the stone buildings of the town stand at our sides. Townsfolk prop their garments over wires that traverse over head as the bustling of the walkways molds into the harmony of a lively city.

Four to five foot Golems walk at the center of the roads carrying assortments of goods like ores or stones. They march vibrating the earth with their endless march, and artwork covers several of them along with the crude illustrations of children. Even birds perch on some of them singing their bright songs. They explain the cities overwhelming prosperity.

However, the variety of minerals within the town amazes me despite the endless labor of the golems. People use crystal knives for slicing their produce or for shaving their beards. The cobble walkways of marble offer rugged playgrounds for laughing children while old men gather around yellow heating lamps similar to the ones on campus.

The town booms with life of all kinds, yet their prosperity emerges from the suffering of souls.

Luke interrupts my thoughts as he points at a restaurant saying, “That’s my favorite place so far. They’ve got a damn good soup.”

I reply, “Then let’s utilize their service. I’m ravenous.”

We enter the store lit by the soul lamps. This particular variety glows an orange-yellow light that eases the mind and eyes of its onlookers giving the restaurant's wooden furniture and patrons a relaxed and at home feel.

As we sit down at a table, a waitress walks up asking, “What do you two gentlemen want tonight?”

Luke says, “I’d like some water with a bowl of choice berock stew.”

I say, “I’ll take two with water as well.”

The chair I sit on creaks under my weight as she replies, “Sure thing hun. Be back in a second.”

I stand up grabbing another chair from an empty table, and as I sit down on both of them to disperse my weight, Luke bursts into laughter saying,

“Since when did you need two chairs?”

“Since I started training. It's ludicrous.”

“That’s gotta be good when you're fighting though.”

“Only if swords or gemchains aren't involved. Otherwise I’m just a bigger target.”

He winces at my saying gemchains, but he still replies, “How do you manage to keep up the training? I heard Petra is even harder than Helfeston, though he disappeared a while back.”

My hair bristles at the mention, but I reply, “Ah...Yea. The training's hard, but practicing suits me more than study.”

“I know. Florence was talking with me the other day about how you left a dent in Joan's armor after you hit her. I've actually heard a lot of rumors about you. Theres one that you walked through campus covered in the blood of some evil creature.”

He leans closer as he continues, “While carrying its arm. Do you remember that?”

I shrug my shoulders saying, “No. People believe the impossible more than the credible.”

He leans backwards crossing his arms as he says, “That’s what I thought you’d say. I actually saw you that day before you walked into the GC.”

I look around asking, “Uh, the what now?”

“People say the gemchaining building, but that's a mouthful. I call it GC for short.” He lifts his open hand saying, “Why’d you lie to me man?”

The assertion pressures me as I say, “I don’t really know...People reject the abnormal. I don’t believe almost anyone would choose to be my friend if they knew about me.”

He snaps, “Well you're sure as hell not going to get many friends thinking that. Have you even tried telling people about that stuff?”

I mumble, “Well...Some events. I evade the finer details. Why do you want to know so badly?”

He says with iron in his voice, “Because I believe you’re a friend, and I’m not going to waste time on someone who doesn't think the same about me.”

The accusation stings with sharp truth, but he tampers with knowledge he shouldn’t touch. I say,

“So much has occurred to me in such a short time, and half of it's unthinkable. I’m still reeling over the implications. If you had only seen what I've seen, you’d understand-”

Luke interrupts, “Whoa, I’m not saying you have to tell me your life story, just let me know when you’d rather not say instead of lying to me...I also doubt I’d be so clueless. ”

I’ll take a leap of faith here. Lying about every single event that occurs to me exhausts me. There exists a wall between me and everyone else. There is the life I share and the life I hide. Unfortunately, the hidden aspects engulf the other shown portion, so the people around me understand little of what happens to me or what I do with my time or passions.

It’s frustrating. My circumstances remind me of my father before he met my mother. He spoke of how his family despised his lack of conformity. He often followed his passions for limited spans of time, and members of his family considered his efforts worthless. My mother accepted his enthusiasms despite their often mysterious meanings.

I will never find someone who will do the same for me unless I take risks, so I say,

“That’s fair...As a compromise,” I lean onto my elbows saying, “I'll tell you about the limb I was carrying.”

He leans the same way saying, “Finally. So how’d it start?”

I scowl as I say, “Do you remember Helfestus?”

“Yeah. Fuck that guy.”

“Indeed. This will sound absurd, but he tried murdering me in my sleep.”

A scoff escapes Luke as he says, “Bah, what? There's no way.”

I raise my eyebrows as I say, “I speak the truth. I awoke before his attack, and I ended up killing him during my defense.”

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Luke pales saying, “Damn...“

I murmur, “I will not force this on you. If you wish for ignorance, I shall grant it.”

He snarls, “I’m not going to ask you to tell me about more stuff then tell you to shutup four words into your story. Just tell me. I can take it.”

I nod my head before I say, “Alright. The story becomes gruesome, so prepare yourself. As no one would've believed me if I told them, I placed his body in a sheet before I  dragged him out into the woods at the dead of night.”

“Why not tell a teacher instead?”

I sigh as I say, “He’s a professor with tenure. I am a new first year. I suppose I should admit this as well...I’m an orphan. My parents passed away many months ago. Now I attend this university under a guise to retain some semblance of normality.”

He shrugs his shoulders saying, “I figured. You're a very poor liar Jack, but I think that’s a good thing. You're also terrible at keeping stuff normal.”   

My lips grow a shallow grin as I reply, “I believe normality evades me rather than I it.”

Luke leans until he's five inches away as he says, “Let’s get back to the story.”

I nod before I say, “I buried him in the ground, but whenever I checked his grave later, animals had tore him from his tomb. Only bones remained. Whenever I disposed of his skeleton, I dropped them inside a cave north of campus.”

My words alter into a ragged whisper as I say, “The cave hosted a tarantula slime. I managed to escape with its arm. The event was one of the worst of my life. It was...awful.”

Luke's expression alternates between extreme skepticism and weary belief as I finish. He says, “That was...intense. I guess he deserved it, but damn. Wow.”

I lift my hands from the table grasping for nothing as I say, “I handled the crisis the best I could. I didn’t know what to do.”

Right before Luke replies the maid walks up setting down three bowls of soup and two glasses of water saying, “Here's your meal gentlemen. That’ll be 3 silver.”

I scramble out three silver coins from my pockets saying, “Thank you. That’ll be all we need for the evening.”

“Sure thing. Just let me know if you need something else.”

After she walks away, I clench my hands saying, “Do you think I’m malevolent now? A freak...A monster?”

He raises his arm in his sling saying, “That bastard’s evil. I don’t hold it against you for a second. I mean, you had your reasons, and it sounds like it was a lot to handle alone.”

I rasp, “Don’t you think my actions are bizarre?”

He scratches the side of his head saying, “I mean...It’s more like what's happening to you is weird rather than you. I hope that makes sense.”

I gasp out a breath while unclasping my hands as relief washes over me like a cooling breeze on a sweltering day. Luke continues, “That must have sucked though. I can’t imagine doing all of that.”

I raise my eyebrows as I say, “You’d be surprised at your own potential.”

“ I guess so...When did all this happen?”

“It all started right after you were maimed. He came when you were at the hospital.”

The veins on Luke's forehead bulge as he seethes, “That mother of shit. Fuck, I’m glad that deceitful piece of fuck’s sitting in hell.”

I bust into laughter at his choice of words despite the somber air, and he joins in after a second of thought. The mood lightens as he continues, “Anyway, did you ever figure out why he tried to kill you?”

“I’ve no idea.”

“Well we’d best find out. I doubt he did it for no reason. Someone else may be after you.”

My tone hardens as I say, “Then let them come. I won’t fall to their ploy. Their trying to bite into a rock, and they might just break their teeth.”

Luke nods before he says, “I can help out if you’d like. Well, after this heals of course.”

He lifts his arm parading his injuries before I relax my expression saying, “Really? You’d assist  me?”

“I said I was your friend right? When a friend needs my help, I help them.”

My throat burns while my voice cracks as I murmur, “Thank you. That means more than I expected.”

“What did you expect me to do, run away screaming?”

I raise my hand lifting fingers as I list, “That, tell a professor or authority about my actions, then for you to never speak to me again.”

He scowls as he says, “Well then, I’m glad you think so much of me.”

I say with sincerity, “I’m glad I was wrong.”

He scratches his head as he says, “Yeah, I’m not quite that shitty....Anyway, let’s eat. I’m starving.”

As we eat, we speak of our different classes. The brown soup’s rich flavor explodes through my mouth like a bomb of flavor. The taste stems from the garlic and basil as well as butter, but the heart of the stew lies within crunchy orange vegetable cores littering the broth.

The cores burst with juice as you bite them, and the beefy broth mixes with the core’s tangy taste reminiscent of parsley if it was sour. Tender beef chunks litter the broth as well offering a peppery aftertaste for the meal while the mild spiciness dances on your tongue as you chew.

When we finish our meal, we walk back to our dorm through the city once more. The torches used for heating earlier in the day offer yellow light during the night. They expose rather unscrupulous prostitutes or even thieves, yet despite the citizens, the city holds an eerie sort of beauty.

The light rumbling of the ever moving golems mixes with the wind creating a soft sound that eases the nerves like a soothing lullaby. Groups of drunken folk stumble along the well lit edges of buildings as we pace across the broad walkways. Shadows shift as our perspective changes, and the hanging wires overhead reflect the yellow light lacing the sky with dozens of yellow lines.

As we pass the fancy entrance for Mareovosa, We reach our dorm passing the auras of the fauna and lamps. The mundane conversation eases me into rest as we both prepare for bed.

I lay down, and I cover myself with sheets full of feathers. As I fall to slumber, Deluge hisses,

“If you shall remain so idle, then I will act on my own.”

I whisper right before I slumber,

“I trust you Deluge. Do what you believe necessary.”

"Gladly."