Ravela woke up early the next morning. She skipped her morning run because she had missed dinner the day before. Breakfast did never disappoint Ravela. Ravela had doubts it ever could.
Breakfast is better than magic. Ravela chuckled at her irrational attachment to something as mundane as a morning meal. But to her, it was the taste of freedom.
She went out at the same time as any other day to study in the library. Outside, a police car parked outside of her most holy place of learning.
The car was empty. Ravela walked past and made for the library, fully aware that her arrival was expected. Inside, Sheriff Thorn stood waiting with two other people.
One was the librarian, an older Asian woman. Her usually stone-faced expression was more open and friendly. Sheriff Thorn had filled her in on his situation, Ravela assumed.
Last in the trio was a man in a peculiar garb, a long robe-like multicolored piece. It was predominantly orange with different patterns and symbols on it. Atop his head sat a similarly colored cap. A man in his prime, taller than Ravela by at least half a head.
Ravela joined the trio with the customary greeting.
Sheriff Thorn replied:
“Ah, blessed day, Ramiel Roice.” He pointed toward the Asian woman with an open palm. “This here is librarian Ayna Vin.” He waited a moment, then turned to the tall man. “And he is Keeper Namon.”
Sheriff Thorn introduced Keeper Namon with such weight that he either was the local major or a religious leader, brought here by Sheriff Thorn to help a lost soul.
She smiled apologetically at both and said: “Blessed day, I am Ramiel Roice.”
Ravela could taste the bewilderment about her accent in the air, even though both of her new acquaintances hid it well.
Keeper Namon stepped forward and shook her hand with vigor smiling and relaxed. Ravela smiled back. Her efforts would be much more fruitful from now on. Ravela could just feel the confidence rise in her.
----------------------------------------
Three months later
Ravela was on her way to the library. For her morning meeting with Keeper Namon. Who, like every other day, sat on a bench just outside of the building in his familiar garb and manner.
Ravela sat down beside him.
“Blessed day, Keeper Namon. What a fine day for learning, isn’t it?”, Ravela opened up.
The spiritual leader of Gradjia displayed his infectious signature smile.
“And blessed day to you, Ramiel. It is hard to believe that just three months ago, you weren’t able to form sentences beyond: ‘Hello, I am Ramiel Roice.’ A remarkable recovery.”
Ravela never knew whether Namon was prodding her, or just joking lightheartedly. He was a very layered man that could dissect one's soul if given an opening.
Ravela laughed, nodded, and leaned back, relaxing a bit. “On my own, I could have never hoped to regain the gift of speech so fast. For that, I have you to thank, Keeper Namon.”
“Well, why don’t we get inside and press on then? I believe we were up for my favorite literature. We’ve been putting off your spiritual education for far too long. A man needs to be strong in spirit to make the world a better place, after all.”, Namon quipped.
Ravela waited till her tutor stood fully before moving. She wanted to respect the man’s faith and felt terrible that he would try to save her soul in vain. ‘You and I will have very different destinations in the afterlife, I’m afraid.’
The thought itself stung, and her mind became clouded. A grey cloud loomed over her this sunny day.
They sat down in a small side room where Namon prepared the book for the day.
Namon picked up the book with the tender touch of reverence. It was clear that it held a special place in Namon’s heart.
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
“This book is called The Path to Heaven. It teaches us about love and cares for each other. Community, service, and justice.”
Namon and Ravela spent a long time talking about the life of the Messiah and the action he took during his life to protect humanity.
Wonders they were called, in Namon’s Golden Path. To Ravela, they just sounded like the deeds of a gifted being. Much like the Protector fights crime, the Messiah used his gifts to lessen the impact of a catastrophe, convincing an invading general to turn his army around and go home, stopping evil, protecting the weak, and enforcing his law.
Namon told her of a religious figure, but Ravela only heard about a powerful man using his gifts to change the world in his image.
Of course, Ravela didn’t openly state her perspective. She didn’t want to hurt Namon’s convictions.
“What about those superhumans in society? How do they fit in?” Ravela instead inquired.
Namon was an understanding man. For someone without memory, it was hard to see the difference. He nodded.
“I get that a lot these days. Maybe, they’re truly the same. It would speak to humanity entering a time of strife, the return of saviors and great evils alike. I don’t claim we have all the answers to every current event. We only strive to do our best, as is taught by The Golden Path.”
Ravela leaned back in her chair. Thinking about the things she’d just learned. She knew a religion much like that in her world. She wondered how close these parallels went but at the same time, she didn’t want to spend her time delving into the religious route.
“Well, I can’t say that I am interested to go deeper into this, at least right now.”, Ravela admitted. Namon’s eyes showed that he had hoped for a lot more interest after they had talked about it for hours.
“I understand that finding your way is difficult, and your specific situation is very different from most people. I realize it is not something one would focus on out of intuition. I can’t say that I am not disappointed but your circumstances are difficult, Ramiel.” Namon took a deep breath and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a well-used version of The Golden Path it had many markers sticking out from it. Namon pushed the book over to him.
“Take this. I don’t expect you to read it front to back or anything, but if you ever find yourself in a position where you feel lost in a wide ocean and need a guiding light, promise me to use those markers to at least look for guidance.”
Ravela looked down at this old book. Justice, love, anger, compassion, grief, and forgiveness. There were dozens upon dozens of markers sticking out promising help to a myriad of topics. She felt something she hadn’t felt in a long time. Kinship with another soul.
“Namon, thank you. I-I will make good use of this whenever I feel adrift. This means a lot to me, truly.”, Ravela replied.
Namon grinned his big signature smile. Then he clapped his hands and said: “That about concludes today's training, I believe.”
Ravela had lost track of time somewhere in their conversation. Looked confused at the clock which indicated that it was indeed almost dinner time. She had severely misjudged the passage of time.
“Well then, have a wonderful evening. I wouldn’t want to keep yer, Namon.” Ravela said with a smirk.
Namon made a face as if he had just bitten into a lemon. “I liked you better when you didn’t do that, Ramiel.”
Ravela innocently replied while getting up: “When I didn’t do what, Namon?”
Namon walked to the door opened it and looked back with a stern look on his face and said: “Talk.” Then he vanished out of the door frame. leaving a stunned Ravela behind.
“D-did you just?” Ravela stammered and could hear roaring laughter that slowly gained distance.
Ravela was dumbfounded. She didn’t expect a ripost to her stupid humor. It took her a while to leave the room.
On her way out she was shaking her head and chuckled. Who knew Keeper Namon had it in him?
Ravela always wondered about the empty library. She expected at least some students here. But it was always empty except for the odd customer lending a book. It felt weird that such a well-equipped library should be vacant most of the time.
Ravela spent months in here and by now had a good idea about its true state of desertion.
Mulling it over she left for her dinner appointment in her temporary home.
Ravela entered the hostel of Ma Stone as she was called in town. The one that took her in when she wasn’t even able to say hello. Sure it was for the money, but Ravela strongly felt that most other people would have shown her the door before it ever got to that point.
Ma Stone was still busy in the kitchen. Ravela could hear Ma Stone's work.
She went up to her room and put the book on the nightstand beside her bed. Ravela sat down on her bed and took a moment to reflect on her current situation.
It’s been four months since she’d arrived in this dimension. Yet she still couldn’t shake the irksome feeling of being watched, the fear of going to sleep and waking up to a whole new waking nightmare.
Ravela sighed, it was not easy to gain the confidence and security of being safe in a world when you’ve spent so long being flung from one dimension to another.
Shaking her head, she pulled out the suitcase that contained her secrets and treasures.
Rummaging through the backpack inside the suitcase she pulled out the small casket with all the flasks in them. She had forgotten about these up until just now.
Opening the small box her finger wandered over each of the flasks until she reached the one she filled with knowledge. Her body shivered a little when she slowly pulled out the flask that contained what Ravela assumed to be a delightful amount of knowledge that would open possibilities she couldn’t yet imagine.
Her thighs began to quiver, goosebumps wandered up her arms and her stomach felt numb as memories of her last dose haunted her body. No sooner had she opened the bottle than her hands began to tremble. Ravela’s body unconsciously dreaded another dose of the potions she had drunk months ago.
After a few deep breaths, she drank the potion and waited for the inevitable side effects.
Ravela braced for the pain, but her neck and head tingling peculiarly was the only thing she could feel. She sat on the bed, frozen in place, not trusting the peace.
The sparkling feeling spread through her body, and Ravela now relaxed. It was similar to the sensation of her first potion.
She got up her mind positively buzzing with ideas and information much more intense and noticeable than the language potion.
She looked into the hallway outside of her room. The time for dinner was finally here.
Ravela walked down to the dinner table. “Blessed evening, Ma Stone.”
Ma Stone looked up from her riddle on the backside of her newspaper.
“Ramiel, I didn’t notice that you were back already. How did the studies with Keeper Namon go?” While asking, she put away the newspaper. A sign that Ma Stone fully paid attention to a conversation. Ravela appreciated the gesture.
“Talked with him about The Golden Path for hours. It went well. I feel like I am finally fluent. Thanks for asking, Ma Stone.”
The tableware was set up on the table, and after the short exchange between them, Ma Stone got up and got the dinner out of the kitchen.
Ravela enjoyed the silent dinner with Ma Stone a lot. It was not Ma Stones' nature to talk during the meal. But Ravela could feel that she enjoyed having a meal with other people present. She understood to some extent the loneliness that came with old age. Having company is worth a lot to a person that suffered on their own for some time.
Ravela could relate to that all too well.