Chapter Twenty-Seven

Turns out this world has some nice traditions. I woke up in the morning to find the sun streaming through the window and realized, ‘I forgot to check to see if there was a moon!’ I smacked my face with the palm of my hand. How could I forget something so… ’Oh what the hell. If it’s there, it’s not going anywhere.’ I laughed at myself and sprang out of bed, threw on my clothes… she hadn’t mentioned a bath to me and I doubted this place had a bath house, even that fancy hotel didn’t have a different room for washing up, so there was no help for it.

I could already hear the others up and chattering away, so I hastily got my shoes on and went to join them. I half walked, half hopped as I tugged at the top of my boot and found myself in their presence.

“Good morning, little sister!” Dwarguy and Loysa cried and raised cups of hot tea in greeting, a small wooden plate held butter laden bread that looked not unlike muffins, albeit a bit crispier, lay in front of each of them.

“Good morning.” I yawned and no sooner than I’d sat down than our mother of the stay lay down a plate and a cup for me as well.

I really did feel like a child who had overslept and dreaded a scolding that was never to come.

“So you’ll be off today then. Back out into the world, my children are all grown up.” Moira looked at us sadly when she joined us at the table, Randir put his hand over the back of her own.

“They’ll be fine, there’s nothing to worry about. They’re good ones, smart and strong, they’ll be as safe as anyone can be out there.” He promised and puffed gently on his pipe with a twinkle in his eye. “Just eat your fill before you leave, no sense traveling on an empty stomach.” Randir added his hint of fatherly wisdom, and we abided by his wishes, eating a second and third helping of these little flat muffin things.

“Aye, we’ll do that, father.” Dwarguy answered for us.

“Before we go,” I said to Loysa, “I’d like to try a little magic out, you know, before we go meet whoever this is.”

“Why not?” She said after a moment’s thought, “We’re on the outskirts of town, there’s not much damage you can do beyond putting a hole in the ground. And I could use a laugh before a long flight.”

I had no idea what she meant by ‘a laugh’.

Until fifteen minutes later when I was howling because I’d lit my hair on fire for the third time.

“Put it out! Put it out! Put it out!” I yowled as I patted my head as fast as I could until Dwarguy threw water over my head… again.

“I keep telling you,” Loysa said, “it comes from within, and you have to take it out.”

“And I don’t know what that means!” I exclaimed while water dripped down my body.

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“Yes, I know, she’s hilarious, My Lady.” Loysa said to her Goddess, I tried to picture a Goddess in hysterics, and it was honestly harder than I thought it would be. What did her Goddess look like? Do they even have a physical form?

I whipped my hand out, casting water droplets off my fingers which splashed across Loysa’s face.

“Feel better?” She asked as she wiped it away.

“A little bit.” I nodded.

“I told you, your own magic will not do any lasting damage to you.” Loysa said and tapped her staff on the ground while putting her free hand defiantly on her hip.

“You say that, but then, you’re not the one on fire!” I snapped. I felt my feet squelch against the inside padding of my boots when I bobbed up and down on my feet.

“If you’re that worried, try a different spell.” She said and pointed to a spot of ground, “Look, I don’t know much about nondivinity magic, but what about you try to hit that spot with some snow.”

I leveled my hand, and called on the mana of my body, like activating any other muscle. I howled with shock and jumped three feet in the air. “You said it wouldn’t hurt!”

“No,” Loysa corrected me, “I said it wouldn’t do any lasting damage. A little frostbite on your ass doesn’t count.”

I rubbed my ass just below my tails and glared at her while she gave up holding in her laughter and held her gut while she guffawed. Even Dwarguy’s serious expression was breaking up and his puffy lips began to part as laughter threatened to break through.

“Easy for you to say, it’s not your ass on the line.” I said.

We tried for the better part of a few hours, and other than singed hair around my ears and a half frozen ass, I got nowhere before we had to go for our flight.

We stopped one more time at the Hideaway Inn to return the yellow scarves, but before I took mine off, and Moira and Randir made to say goodbye, I said, “Bye mom, bye dad, wish us luck out there.”

“Good luck!” Moira Mellon said while I unwound my scarf of yellow and Randir added…

“Come back safe.”

Then my scarf was off and I held the three out to the couple and left the inn behind.

Strange as it sounds, I was a whole lot more upset to leave the Hideaway Inn and its charming keepers behind than I was to leave my whole world, after all, there I was leaving behind experiences…things I still wanted to see and do that I never would.

But this was leaving behind people.

Oh sure, sure, I know, it’s possible that it was all just an act, and they’ve probably played the role of parents to thousands of strangers over the years who have never come back again and been forgotten completely within a day or three.

But I honestly don’t believe anyone can act that well. I wonder if they were doing that because their own children had gone out and never come back? For the first time, I wondered about those three rooms…

I turned a lingering look behind me to see the couple at the door waving goodbye to us, and like they knew to expect it, Loysa and Dwarguy turned to wave back, the same as I did.

We rounded the corner and were out of sight, never to go back again.

But, even though I wouldn’t be seeing that couple again, I would think of them often, and wish them well, them and everyone they bade farewell too. It seemed the least I could do, for such a wonderful, if too brief stay.