CHAPTER 11 - INTRODUCTIONS
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When Monomia finished telling his story, everyone watched him with surprised expressions. A bit of curious silence filled the room. Out of all of them, Natirra was the most surprised.
However, Riaca had doubts on his face. «"Nice story, but... What kind of name is Algalunga? That can't be a real name. I don't believe it, are pirates really that eccentric?"»
Monomia kept a sincere smile; from the tone of his voice and the way he kept talking, it seemed clear he was telling the truth, or maybe he was just very good at lying.
«"Oh yeah, they’re strange folk."»
Natirra felt a little guilty, wondering how Monomia could stay so positive after all that. She had doubted him at first, but now she was completely convinced that he was a good person.
«"You’ve had a stroke of luck."» Riaca declared, tying her hair up again, having left it loose all day. «"But I suppose you’ll run into them again, soon enough."»
«"Exactly."» There was confidence in that statement. Monomia clenched his fist, getting up from the bed. He positioned that same fist in front of his face, his uncovered eye shaded by his hair.
«"Actually, I’ve been training. To get my friends back."» Then, releasing his fist, he flashed his smile again. «"And this expedition is the perfect chance. From that day on, I promised... I would destroy every pirate in my way and save my friends."»
“He’s far more motivated than me, but... I’m glad he told us all this.”
Hearing that made Natirra feel much better; she knew Monomia trusted them, and that story raised the respect she had for him, and convinced her too that even if he was such a weirdo, he wasn’t a bad person.
Monomia looked around, «"So, do any of you have a story to share?"»
Poor Eneas, who had been covering her ears the whole time, suddenly exclaimed,
«"Can you stop covering my ears now?"» Feeling guilty, they released her from the arms that had blocked her hearing, and the poor girl, who had just regained her hearing, took a step forward, only to fall off the bed and lay down on the floor once again.
Everyone watched her with quick pity in their eyes; she seemed like a child, essentially blind.
«"Poor thing, I’m sorry we took her glasses."» said Natirra.
«"It was the only way, she would’ve screamed for hours."» replied Igre, a little cruelly.
Eneas raised her head from the floor. «"I can still hear you! I want to see, give me back my glasses!"»
Riaca scratched her head thoughtfully. «"We should get her glasses back as soon as possible and take her to a doctor. I’m pretty sure this sudden memory loss and that punch Igre threw did more than just break her glasses."»
Monomia drew everyone’s attention again. «"In the meantime, does anyone have a new story to tell?"» They all looked around, thinking.
Igre smiled confidently, as if he too needed to jump in. Both I and Riaca noticed it.
«"Oh well, what can I say, I’m a genius."» He also flashed a curious smirk. «"My father is part of the island’s council of intellectuals."»
«"And what’s that supposed to be?"» asked Riaca, annoyed by his vanity. Igre turned, equally annoyed. «"It’s obvious you’re from the lower class, you don’t even know these basics..."»
«"Natirra, hold me back, I’m close to killing him."»
«"Well, allow me to introduce myself."» Once again, he struck another pose. It seemed he enjoyed showing off. After licking his hand, he slicked back his hair. «"My name is Igre, son of the inventor Igregorio, lord of the island’s council of intellectuals, the congregation of the greatest inventors in Amelis."»
«"But what does your father’s title have to do with you?"» asked Monomia, curious.
«"Don’t you see?! His intelligence has been passed down to me, I am his disciple. After this expedition is over, you’ll see, you’ll see, I’ve already been aiming to become his successor on the council for some time, and the cards are in my favor, but... But… I kind of have to finish the starting exam, it’s the rite to be admitted to the engineers’ academy."»
They all looked at each other, not quite sure what they were hearing. Igre laughed. «"Ha! You plebeians... I’m not surprised you don’t know about such a path. But I’ll make it simple for you: I have to go to school to become head of the council. The problem is, It’s harder than any of you can imagine, I still have to finish the test..."»
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«"You’ll have time to think about it. You’ll be here a while."» said Riaca. «"And I hope the pirates get you."» she whispered.
«"Mh, I’ll make sure to use my position to try and escape. But for now... I’ll stay here. If you behave, I might even help you get a place outside!"»
The idea actually intrigued Natirra a little, but the pride with which it was presented left a bitter taste. Still, she was happy that the boy had revealed himself to be just a spoiled kid and not a lunatic.
At that point, it was Riaca’s turn. She let out a relaxed laugh. «"Unlike you all, I have nothing to tell, except that Natirra and I are good friends. That’s about it."»
Monomia protested. «"Hey! She’s my friend now too! Right, Natirra?"»
Riaca narrowed her eyes and shot a suspicious glance at Natirra, hiding traces of jealousy. Natirra, lost in her thoughts, was startled by the sudden call and anxiously replied, «"Oh, y-yes, yes... Of course!"»
Riaca huffed quietly, throwing another glance at Monomia.
"Mpfh... He better not think he can just steal my friend like that..."
But neither Monomia nor anyone else heard anything; he kept a peaceful smile. That made Riaca even more annoyed, and she threw another confident smile. «"If you really must know, I’m not one to be underestimated. I may be a plebeian like Igre says, but I’m really strong. You’ll see."»
Monomia turned, surprised. «"Wow! Really?"»
With an irritated look, Riaca muttered to herself, «"Don’t go playing the nice guy now, you cheeky little..."»
An event of far greater importance grabbed the attention of everyone in the room—or at least, those who weren’t busy trying to figure out where they were due to their lack of vision.
A senior soldier opened the tent, and they all realized that most of the soldiers from other sections of the tent were mobilizing outside, moved by something. The guard announced the reason:
«"You are summoned by the general, who needs you to sign some documents regarding the draft you’ll be undergoing and your personal information."»
Natirra, who had remained silent the longest, went unnoticed. She was sorry to be interrupted, as she too wanted to add something. But she decided that maybe she could introduce herself better later.
No one asked any real questions, and they all stood up, left, and followed the guard. Before leaving, though, Natirra turned around and, seeing Eneas confused and motionless in the room, picked her up to bring her along.
«"Waaa! Let go of me! Where are you taking me?!"»
«"To sign some documents..."»
«"But I can’t see! Give me back my glasses!"»
Unable to tell her that they were gone, Natirra remained silent.
"I’ll sign them for her at this point." And, watching Igre scratching his head jokingly with Monomia ahead of her, she felt a headache coming on.
"Dammit, you four-eyed narwhal. Look at what your genius is making me do."
...
Inevitably, they all marched toward the designated area, accompanied by Eneas, who was carried by Natirra. They walked in silence, not exchanging a word with each other. Monomia approached Natirra.
«"Ha! You look like a mom."»
«"She doesn’t seem that small, come on..."»
«"She literally reaches your leg. Have you ever asked why she’s so small?"»
Eneas, who had heard him, decided to answer.
«"I hatched prematurely from my egg, at least that’s what my mom always tells me, so I ended up with this deformity. I’m a dwarf, that’s all."»
Natirra was surprised; it was the first time she had heard Eneas speak coherently instead of whining like a child.
«"On top of that, I have vision problems, but... Now I can’t see anything."»
«"Why are you so afraid of pirates?"» Upon hearing that, Eneas jumped, looked around, and clung to Natirra’s leg. «"Pirates?! Pirates?! Where?! Where?! Waa!!!"»
After an hysterical exclamation, she let go of Natirra's leg, running in another direction.
Natirra called out, trying to stop her, while Monomia watched her go, laughing cheerfully.
«”Ah, she'll get herself in trouble. But they'll find her.”»
«”I don’t understand how she works…”»
…
«”Pirates! Pirates! Pirat-”» Eneas had started to sprint, keeping her alarm going. The truth was that, after losing her sight not long ago, she had relied more on her hearing, afraid of being caught by pirates due to her blindness. But at that moment, she bumped into a wall.
She used the wall to guide herself and walked to its end. What Eneas didn’t realize at that moment was that she had accidentally wandered into the official militia offices without knowing.
She quickly walked, almost running, through the corridors. The lack of noise caused by entering the office area had confused her, but for some reason, she didn’t realize she had entered a building.
She calmed down, thinking she had outrun the pirates.
«”Sigh... Where... where am I?”» She walked on, using her hands to avoid bumping into walls. She went through several corridors, confused.
«”Damn, I must have gotten between some buildings, that's why they can't find me. Waaa! I want to go back to my friends! Waaa!”» Eneas kept walking through the corridors, going deeper.
All of a sudden, without even realizing it, she reached the door of the militia captain’s office, the same general who had greeted each of them a few hours before.
Before she could figure out that she had suddenly bumped into a door and realized that she had entered the office area, a voice came from inside the room, which Eneas had just realized she was next to, having bumped into the handle of the door.
«”It's a dangerous idea, but if the pirates demand it, then it’s our duty for our safety; we must make this sacrifice.”»
Upon hearing the word ‘pirates,’ Eneas felt an urgent instinct to run. But for the first time in her life, as if she was no longer in control of herself, her curiosity about what the militia captain was talking about took over. She understood she had mistakenly found her way into the offices and had reached his room, but in her total blindness, she remained there, listening.