Adelfried

Later that day, Adelfried, now with his beard trimmed to just a few inches, but with his hair still long, was dressed in an Astros shirt Ying had picked up for him. For the first time since he had been in this world, he found himself excited about something. He tried to tell himself that maybe a break would help clear his mind, but guilt still ate at him for doing something almost purely for enjoyment. All that was left to do was to secure the Root. As he closed the door to the basement, he held his hand up to put a strong shield around it that would prevent anyone from entering. A soft glow formed around the door and faded away.

“What, is that like a magic lock or something?” Evan said with that same excitement that was always in his voice when they discussed magic.

“Yes, if anyone tries to get through, they will, as Jim says, have a bad day.”

They all piled into Ying’s large oversized maroon SUV, Adelfried in the passenger seat, Kae and Kyle in the second row, and Evan in the third row.

“Kyle, you remember Adelfried right?” Ying said, as she backed the car out of the driveway. “He’s Jim’s distant cousin from his...mother’s side. He uh, wasn’t feeling well when he got here, but he’s better now.”

“Glad you’re feeling…better,” Kyle replied, his voice trailing off like he was unsure of the whole situation.

“Me too.” Adelfried replied, just as unsure.

“This is Adelfried’s first baseball game, he’s from Germany,” Evan added attempting to be helpful.

Kyle said, “oh yeah, are you a big soccer fan?”

“Yes,” Adelfried tried to go with the flow of the conversation. He knew what soccer was at least, thanks to Evan.

“Do you think Germany has a shot at the World Cup?”

Adelfried guessed as to a valid response. “Yes…they will shoot the cup.”

Evan jumped in, “Of course they have a shot.”

Kyle continued, “But aren’t you worried about your defense after that friendly with France?”

There was a whole slew of words now floating in the conversation Adelfried was unsure of: fan, world cup, shot, friendly, France. He started to sweat a little. Better to stick to one-word answers. “No.”

Kyle persisted. “Oh really? Three goals in the second half and you have two of your starting backs out. How do you fix that?”

“Defense,” Adelfried said, with fake confidence.

Kyle hesitated in his response but finally responded with, “Yeah…that is what you need to fix.”

Ying shot Kae a glance in the rear-view mirror, resulting in Kae grabbing Kyle and shaking her head for him to drop it, which he did.

The rest of the drive passed with little conversation. As they approached what Ying referred to as ‘Downtown Houston’ and the ballpark, Adelfried’s mouth fell open. The sheer scale of this metropolis was difficult to behold. The mass of buildings encased in metal and glass towered to dizzying heights. Below them roadways and walkways were laid out in a massive grid. A large box with glass windows full of people glided smoothly along metal lines blaring a synthetic horn as it passed. Roads, vehicles, and people crisscrossed each other in a dizzying dance. He couldn’t take it all in. It was too much. How was all this possible without magic?

The car they were in came to a stop, jerking Adelfried out of his wonder. They would have to walk several blocks to get to the park, which allowed him the opportunity to see several buildings up close. He turned to Evan. “How? How was all of this done without magic?”

“What?” Kyle said, walking behind them.

“Oh, Uncle Alfy just thinks the stadium is magical,” Kae said, grabbing Kyle’s arm and pulling him ahead.

“No, you told me there was no magic,” Adelfried responded, even more perplexed than before. “I am trying to figure out how they did it without—”

“Here’s the gate,” Ying announced, loudly. Kae dragged Kyle away to their seats while Ying and Evan stayed with Adelfried so he could soak up every detail of the park.

The escalators especially amazed him, with such a simple—yet perfect—design to move people up a level. Maybe this could be built for the basement. He stopped right at the foot of the escalator and marveled as the mesh steps appeared out of the ground magically. A tall man in a blue cap with a white T on it yelled, “Hey c’mon, let's move it along, the game is about to start.”

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Ying tugged him onto the first step. “Adelfried, don’t stop here.”

The steps magically whisked them upwards. “Woah!” he said, as he grabbed the handrail and stumbled to gain his balance. His stomach lurched. This world was truly amazing.

“First time, Moses?” the man with the blue hat quipped.

Adelfried turned to face him, careful in his foot placement so he didn’t fall. “I think you have me mistaken for someone else, my name is not Moses.”

“Yeah, okay.” Blue Hat laughed. “Better turn around Moses, you’re almost out of runway.”

“Sir, my name is not Moses, it is—”

Ying spun him around as they reached the top of the escalator ensuring he wouldn’t fall.

“Ignore him.” Ying held out the tickets to the usher as they entered the club level. “This is us.”

“Wow, Mom. Nice tickets!” Evan skipped down the concourse. “Can we get popcorn?”

“Yeah, you two go to your seats, and sit Adelfried on the end away from Kyle, okay? We don’t need any more soccer talk to blow our cover.” She grabbed his shoulder. “Don’t even say the word magic. Remember?

He nodded, his face warming with embarrassment.

Ying cocked her head. “Do you want a beer?”

Adelfried’s heart jumped. “They have beer? Here?”

A warm smile crossed Ying’s face. “Yes.”

“Yes, please, that would be wonderful.”

“What kind of beer do you…you know what, dumb question, go get your seats.”

Adelfried got his first chance to take in the immense open space and full structure of the park. His pace slowed as he descended the stairs. The grandeur was like nothing he had seen before. Thousands of people’s chatter became a roar. The stadium was alive, a living breathing entity baying with life. It was almost too much to take. The closest comparison were the large-scale battles from his time, but hardly the same since these people weren’t trying to murder each other. And they weren’t screaming in death or agony, but happy. His eyes grew heavy before he wiped a tear away. “I only wish Minna could be here, she would—”

“Does Minna know the way to your seats, Moses?” Blue Hat scoffed from behind them. “Because mine are right there and I sure would like to get to them before the game is over.”

Adelfried started to turn, but Evan pulled his arm. “Come on.”

Now in their row, where Kae and Kyle were already seated, Evan sat on the end next to Adelfried. In the row just below them, Blue Hat and a woman wearing a similar hat sat down right in front of them.

“Great,” Evan said, in a hushed voice to Adelfried.

“Wait, is that sarcasm again? Where you mean the opposite of what you say?”

“Yep.”

As the game proceeded, they discussed how baseball was played and Adelfried started to pick up on the rhythm of the game. He could feel the emotional highs when the crowd cheered for a hit and lows when the other team hit a ball over the far fence. Even after just a couple innings, he felt a camaraderie with this massive group of strangers he had never met. On top of this, Ying brought him the first beer he had since he had been in this world. He was not sure what a craft beer was, just that it was amazing.

“So why did the runner not run when the ball was hit?” Adelfried continued to go through the rules with Evan.

“Oh, come on, Moses,” Blue Hat said, turning around clearly annoyed, interrupting their basic baseball conversation that had been going on for a while now. “Are you stupid?” The lady sitting next to him grabbed his shirt, urging him to turn around.

Adelfried paused to consider the man before his response. “Yes, it is true. I do not fully understand baseball.”

Blue Hat bobbed his head. “Well that much is—”

“But!” Adelfried cut him off, raising his voice. “I do understand that the team colors I am wearing are currently beating the team colors you are wearing. Did I get that right?”

The people around them started to chuckle as the man turned back around. “For now.”

After a while, the snacks were gone and with thirsts rising, Ying gave Evan and Adelfried cash and sent them foraging for food and drinks. While they were out, Adelfried made a quick trip to the men’s rest room. Everything about this place was odd. Metal cubicles surrounded the toilets supposedly designed for privacy. But they did not extend all the way to the floor or block the view from the top. The lightning-powered wind makers for drying your hands were quite pleasant but were too loud and took too long. All they seemed good at doing was making the air heavy and thick, but then he realized it wasn’t the hair dryers. It was magic. For the first time since he arrived, Evan was not nearby to absorb the magic within him. It flowed freely like when he had first arrived. It was amazing how he had already gotten so comfortable around this family and this world.

Red

Red dunked his fried shrimp into tartar sauce as he took in the green water of the Gulf of Mexico. The white tips of the waves sparkling in the setting sun. The bustle of the restaurant muted the sound of the ocean waves crashing down on the long golden-brown beach. Nina, opposite him in the booth, tapped at her phone sipping on her fountain drink while picking at her French fries. With her wireless earplugs she listened to the conversation Harriett was having at a table at the far side of the restaurant. One good thing about having a partner at least was you could make them do the tedious work.

Nina and Red had been tracking Harriett ever since Red had tagged her with a tracer. They hadn’t learned much they didn’t already know, other than she had an almost unhealthy obsession with her potted plants, she had a husband who worked at a club, and she had a grown son, who she was now having dinner with.

Nina grabbed a French fry and tossed it at Red and he dragged his eyes from the rolling ocean. “She doesn’t know anything. They’re just talking about the asshole who beat her up.”

“Just think, if I hadn’t put that trace on her, we’d miss all this quality time together.” Red placed the errant fry back on Nina’s plate.

Nina put the phone down. “Being violent only helps the Sovs.”

Red rolled his eyes as he went for another shrimp. “She wasn’t going to help us, so I did what needed to be done. What if she is a Sov? What if she knows something? The answers are never simple, you have to find information anyway you can. If that means I have to rough her up a little to plant a tag on her, so be it. You don’t know the Sovs like I do. And trust me, you don’t want to.”

“Just admit it, you lost your cool.”

“You want me to go over and apologize? Give her a cuddle?”

An alert dinged on Nina’s phone. She turned the screen to him.

Level 10 Passive ESH source detected, Minute Maid Park, downtown Houston. Multiple units dispatched.

Nina cocked an eyebrow. “You think it’s our Wizard?”

Red stood and tossed a wad of cash on the table. “Let’s go.”