I did as I was asked, shutting the squeaky door behind me. “Needs oiling, I know!” the woman yelled ahead of me, forcing a small smile onto my lips as well. She sure knew how to egg her husband on to finally do all the things, and he sure knew how to agree without ever promising anything.
Quickly, I slipped off my shoes, and headed over polished wooden floors, until I made it into a small kitchen and living room. I’d had to shuffle past a couple figurines, careful to not knock anything off shelves, but once I was seated, I felt calm.
The house smelled old, mostly of wood, but in the kitchen there was an ever present aroma of caramel. It made my mouth water a bit, and the old woman quickly determined it. “Do they not feed you anything anymore these days, Fio? Good grace, you seem like you’re starving. I was just finishing up today’s cake, I insist you eat with us!”
“I’d love to, Mrs. Mullner,” I said, immediately receiving a click of her tongue.
“That’s Ingrid to you, Fio. Please, you’re gonna make me feel old,” she chided with a chuckle, and I couldn't help but smile with her.
“Of course, Ingrid,” I nodded along happily. Usually, I hoped for my old master to open the door, but when his wife was in this good a mood, who was I to refuse? “Is your husband home?”
She smirked, rinsing a cup for my usage and setting it down next to the others she’s prepared for herself and the aforementioned husband. Currently, a coffee machine was already whirring, but she knew that I preferred sweet tea to go with cake, so she set a kettle on the stove.
“Yes, darling. He’ll be here soon, still sleeping off some of yesterday night. Could hardly keep an eye closed.”
That surprised me. “Oh? What happened?”
“Ah, something silly. He heard of some sword school and went to watch. Then he hyperfocused on it and watched videos on swordsmanship online all night. One of his flash obsessions, I’d bet,” she explained.
“I see,” I nodded along. “Well, hopefully he’ll sleep better today.”
“As he always does when you come visit, Fio,” Ingrid said, leaning on the kitchen counter as we waited on the oven timer. “But yes, he should be here any moment. If he’s not in time, I’ll drag him out of bed lickety-split!” She grinned a bit as she finished, seeming happy about the prospect of bothering her husband.
The two of them were a bit of an odd couple to Fio. They’d had a complicated relationship, getting together no less than three separate times, and usually splitting up for multiple years. It was all in their youth, though. The third time, they committed fully, deciding to marry not more than a month into the relationship.
Ever since then, Ingrid and her husband had been living in nothing but begrudging harmony. They would step on each others’ toes on purpose, trying to provoke a reaction, but neither ever really played into the others’ pranks. And when no one was looking, the two were as sweet as could be together.
They tried to share interests. Do gardening, go for walks, and see the ducks at the pond. Not that those ponds or ducks still existed, all animals were kept inside indoor zoos at this point.
I shook off the thought as I watched Ingrid work, pulling out the cake with practiced motions and setting it down on some padding. It looked delicious, a square form covered in a chocolate coating, with a thin layer of pudding beneath. There also seemed to be jam in between the two parts of cake, and finally there were tiny pockets of caramel baked into the thing.
It probably had enough calories to last an adult for a full day, but it would also be incredibly tasty, and I was more than looking forward to it. The same apparently went for my master, since I began to hear footsteps once the smell had properly spread.
Sure enough, the door to the kitchen opened a few minutes later, giving way to a kindly old gentleman. He wore a buttoned up shirt, neatly tucked into his pants, his salt and pepper hair brushed back. He was neither tall nor short, but his blue eyes held an intensity that always made him look larger than life.
That same set of eyes took in the cake at first, already bright as a smile made its way to his lips, then brushed over his wife and found me. He’d been in the process of thanking his wife for the marvellous cake, when he stopped and looked at me. His eyes turned from bright to radiant, and his smile grew wide enough for his entire face, the laugh lines around his eyes growing deeper.
“Fio! Good to see you, girl! It’s been ages!” he greeted me, almost stumbling over his own feet as he rushed in for a hug and patted me on the back.
“Hey gramps,” I remarked slyly, hearing a small chuckle. “It’s good to see you as well.”
“Not just good,” he said, pulling away but having a hand still resting on my shoulder. “It’s great getting to see you.”
“This fool waits for people to come by, day in and day out,” Ingrid remarked, but she couldn’t keep the mirth from her voice. “Yet he still just gets like this when you visit.”
“Bah, can’t an old man enjoy seeing his best pupil?” he asked, giving me a small wink with a grin.
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“You don’t even remember what you taught her, Rae,” Ingrid countered, not even half-heartedly. “But it doesn’t change that she’s welcome here.”
Once my old master had taken his seat, Ingrid very quickly decked the table. She gave me a much bigger slice of cake than her husband, and he eyed my plate with some envy. I pointedly ignored it, sipping some sweet chamomile tea.
The cake was delicious. I got lost in the atmosphere a little bit, I have to admit. The two of them were just… too lovely to be around. When Ingrid wasn’t feeling snippy, at least. But that day seemed like I got there at a good time.
We chatted about the little things over the table. The summer heat wasn’t loved by some of her flowers, but others thrived, so Ingrid had done some repotting. The result was the rows of blooming pink I’d seen on the outside. I assured her the garden looked more than lovely.
Rae chatted a bit about the sword stuff he’d seen. Much of it had reminded him of me, apparently, which I acted very surprised about. I assured him I’d never even touched a weapon, and he gave me a calm smile.
He knew, of course, that I never touched a weapon. Hadn’t been trying to accuse me of wanting to wield one, either. We could be glad we lived in times with less violence than when weapons like that were needed in everyday life, and I nodded along.
It was the cover story, and I stuck to it. He and I had discussed it before his retirement, and it was the best we could come up with. As far as he knew, I was a complete pacifist. Never wanted to wield anything more dangerous than a kitchen knife in my entire life.
Luckily, there was more than enough of that established in his memories. Since we lived in the same city, I saw him many times outside of Eden. I’d known Ingrid for quite some time before he retired already, and we’d already told her that he taught me calligraphy. It was one of his favourite pastimes, with many of his pieces hanging on the upper floor.
Of course, I was not nearly as good as he was, and most of the things he’d taught me were actually all about wielding a spear, but there were more than a few life lessons in there. That was also the reason I’d come to visit.
And so, after having the cake, and chatting about the small things, I asked to talk to him in private. Ingrid looked at us with understanding, and quickly excused herself to the living room. She respected the bond I had to her husband very much, no matter how many little things she nagged about, and I would always respect that.
Rae’s eyes turned calm when he looked at me then, the mirth in them replaced with the secure glint of wisdom. He knew I’d ask him questions, many of them hypothetical, and he’d do his best to answer. I could feel how him being in a thinking mood weighed down the whole room; even after his retirement, he hadn’t lost his presence in the slightest.
“What is it, Fio? Everything alright?”
“I’m okay, Rey. For now. I just… how do I best put this. There’s currently a problem, and I have three options. Say there’s someone you work really closely with, but they want something from you. Except you don’t want to give that something up, right?”
“Mhm.”
“So then, how do you get that someone to leave you alone with the something?” I almost bit my tongue at how clumsy I sounded.
My once-mentor scratched his beard and thought for a few minutes. “Well, on one hand, you could ensure that you always carry the thing with you. Never let it out of sight, ensure they can’t take it away. On the other, you could find colleagues to help you out and talk out the issue. Or you could never interact with them again.”
He literally almost laid out the same options as Cass. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised. “So what’s the best choice?”
“None of them,” Rae calmly replied. “You could look for another job, but given your face, I don’t think that option’s for you. Finding coworkers willing and able to solve the issue is time and energy consuming, and of course, so is always carrying something around with you. Honestly, you might wanna go for a mix.”
“A mix?” I asked.
“Yep. If you have some help, just until you figure out a more permanent solution of how to store the thing, and also make sure to interact with the weird coworker as little as possible, you might have an easier time than hard committing to any of the routes,” he explained.
I thought it over for a second. It wasn’t a horrible idea for sure. First getting some help, just until I could get things settled to a comfortable point. And avoid the keepers, though I was unsure how to go about that. Rey saw me thinking, and added some more advice.
“You also don’t need to decide right now, Fio. If it stresses you out too much, take some time off. See family, see friends. Practice some calligraphy again,” he shot me a smile when he suggested it. “You’re young. Most of your life is still ahead of you! Don’t just throw it all aside by doing things in a hurry.”
He was right, as always. I shook my head a bit, then met his eyes. “Thank, master,” I said, clasping my fist in my palm and bowing slightly.
Rae chuckled at the gesture. “Stop, stop, Fio. You don’t bow to me, come on. Relax, ease up. No need to be so formal, please.”
I grinned a little at his flustered look. Ever since his retirement he’d been much less formal than he used to be. Maybe the extra time with Ingrid mellowed him, or it was all the gardening.
Whatever the case, I quickly straightened my back again. “Thank you for the advice, Rae. Seriously, I mean it.” The fact that he was willing to answer my very cryptic questions already meant a lot.
“It’s no problem at all,” he waved me off. “If you’re really sorry, you should come visit more often. You wouldn’t believe how much Ingrid talks about you.”
The mood was lighting visibly, and I decided to just go along with it. Rey had a habit of making me focus on the important things. And right now, I wasn’t under threat. The gateway was damaged, and would be for a while. So, I focused on eating the cake I was provided, drinking some more tea, and chatting with the old couple about nothing, and nothing yet again.
Eventually, evening came around, and I headed back home. There were a few texts, mainly my mom getting upset I didn’t answer immediately. She could wait a bit more.
Once home, I laid down in bed and kinda dozed off for a bit. Daydreaming of mirrors and gateways and open fields. It was all just so… unimportant, at the end of the day. If I died by stepping through a mirror, I couldn’t help it anyway. If I lived, well, good on me.
A small smile found its way onto my face. I’d stared down a dozen more horrid deaths. Getting eaten by some silly mirror people wasn’t that terrible, really, and highly unlikely for now.
With my resolve made, I fell asleep, and early next morning, I sent out all the texts, saying I’d be unavailable. Then, I stepped through the mirror back into Eden.