It wasn’t quite yet dinnertime once we reached the inn, so we made a brief stop by the stables to visit Mille. Perched on her stable door, she gave a mournful cry at the sight of Sera, who reached up to stroke Millie’s neck, unbothered and unburned by the flames. Ani, jealous of our attention, released a pitiful meow from inside my arms, leaping down to freedom. Millie turned an irritated glare at him before a pat from Sera redirected her attention. As could be expected, Ani was displeased by the turn of events and turned to bother Millie for attention. Under Sera’s watchful eye, Millie ignored him. Unwilling to count on her goodwill, I scooped Ani back up in my arms and excused myself from the barn, waiting patiently outside in the dusty courtyard. They walked back out after a few minutes, and we made our way into Sera and Helia’s room to talk while waiting for their acquaintances. Helia had ensured I’d gotten a separate room, which I was grateful for, as I was uncomfortable with the idea of sharing with strangers.

Sera sat daintily on the freshly made bed, leaving space for Helia to sit military-style beside her. I sat on a rickety old three-legged stool and leaned my back against the wall to face them, Ani jumping on my lap for the briefing.

“We should visit the library the shopkeep mentioned tomorrow. We might be able to discover how you arrived here.” Sera started without a preamble.

“Hopefully, once we discover what happened to you, it will lead us to the disappeared individuals.” Helia agreed, glancing at me.

I nodded my agreement. Tomorrow already sounded like the best day of my time here so far–surrounded by books instead of their ancestors. Sera frowned, fingers clenching the sheets at her side.

“Perhaps.” She stated. Helia and I wanted a bit for her to explain.

When no answer was forthcoming, I shifted, causing Ani to look up at me. “What do you mean?”

“The shopkeeper mentioned you and Ani had a rare ability and didn’t know much about your magic. We know you should be able to tell the future, explaining the uneasy feeling you had before your disappearance. Can we be certain that your ability isn’t tied to your disappearance?”

“You think I did this?”

Sera shrugged. “Perhaps. We don’t know much about your brand of magic, obviously, but if you can teleport, that might be an easy explanation for everything. If we’re lucky, the rumored disappearances are caused by mages who don’t know how to control their own magic yet, disappearing themselves from their beds and reappearing elsewhere.”

“If we’re not?” I asked.

“If we’re not, then you’re unrelated.”

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Helia jabbed a finger in my direction. “But isn’t that why we picked him up?”

“Yes.” Sera shrugged again. “There are many possibilities. We just don’t know.”

“Which is why we need to go to the library.”

“Which is why we need to go to the library.” She confirmed.

We shifted the conversation to lighter topics for a bit. The sunlight began to fade, and the air began to cool. The smells, too, faded–or perhaps I started to get used to it. Before it got too dark, and with a pointed look, Sera suggested I take a bath at the nearest public bathhouse, claiming ‘they recycle the water most frequently.’

The bathhouse was easy to find, people filing into the large, almost temple-like building in droves. Men and women split to different entrances, and I followed the men in through the elaborate doors and muraled floors into what was essentially an antiquated locker room. Men of all colors meandered about, and I hastily undressed, deliberately not paying attention to the skin around me according to typical locker room etiquette. Once finished there, I followed a group of men out of the room, past a courtyard, and into the bath. There was no soap available, but a glance around showed people using various provided oils and a scraping device to the same effect.

Gratefully, I followed suit, taking the provided change to rid myself of the accumulated dirt and grime. My fingers wrinkled in the warm water as light-hearted conversations flowed around me, the mood nearly as pleasant as the soothing warmth.

Snippets occasionally drifted over to me.

“You know how Atticus was having trouble finding a job after he lost his leg?”

“Yeah? What of it?”

“Well, his brother said he’s all cured now! Has a recruiting job, or so he said.”

“Sounds like a load of crap to me. My cousin–the one who used to be a blacksmith–got his hand smashed. It’s not exactly something you can be ‘cured’ of.”

“I dunno. He seemed pretty excited. Said this group of people approached them about it.”

“Probably just another one of those ‘cure-all’ schemes. Like that elixir from last year.”

“I suppose…”

With my eyes closed, it almost felt as though I was home, listening to someone talk about the newest cure for cancer. You know, the ones that would disappear off the face of the earth as people realized they were scams. It was almost amazing how similar the people and the schemes were to the modern day.

I found public restrooms next door to the bathhouse, which did, to my joy, have running water, although what was used instead of toilet paper was best left unmentioned and left me both wishing for another bath while being simultaneously disgusted by it. It was strange, being in a place with so many innovations close to the modern day, yet so, so far.

I trudged back inside the inn, missing modern marvels of technology like toilet paper, air conditioning, comfortable clothes, the internet….everything. Helia and Ani were waiting for me in Sera and Helia’s shared room. Attempting to be friendly, I greeted her with a wave and a friendly smile as I entered the room. As unfriendly as ever, she ignored the greeting, motioning me over to sit on the bed. She shoved a poultice in my hands, instructing me to slather it on the injuries. It smelled weirdly fruity and stung like antiseptic at first before dulling the pain to a much more manageable level. Once finished, she took some off-white cloth out of her bag, bandaging my feet without a word. I rolled my ankles, testing the sturdiness of the bandaging job. They held tight, but not uncomfortably so. When she was finished, I felt more like myself than I had in days.

I went to hand the poultice back to her, but she refused. “It’s a gift from the pr-from Sera.”

Extra bandages were placed on my surprised hands. “Redo this at least once a day. More, if you get them dirty.”

“Thank you,” I said with utmost sincerity. Helia looked up at me, frowning.

“Don’t mention it.” She said, standing up and dusting herself off. “Go put those away, and I’ll take you to Sera and the others.”

Once my shoes were slipped back on, I did as instructed, dumping them gently onto the bed, where Ani curled up next to them.

From the door, Helia motioned me out. “Let’s not keep everyone waiting.”