Chapter 38: Together Alone (Part 1!)
She knew that this in its base form was a transitory place. Much like Vein Xinyuai, Jinmai, Fort Jao, and even the great city of Core Civitus, she knew it wouldn’t last.
The scarecrow wouldn’t be happy staying in one place, especially when she doesn’t know who the Voice is and the mysteries behind the name Kaliber.
“~For now, I will hold that determination in my heart. To push on!~”
“~You sound really lame.~” Ren told her, spinning her focus out of control.
“~I’ll make your ass lame.~”
“~I don’t have an ass.~”
“~I’ll make your ass ass!~” This verbal sparring kept both of them on their toes. Well, technically they both didn’t have toes but- oh whatever. For the past hours, the two kept good company. And you can trust me on this, their conversations were as profoundly dysfunctional.
At least it had spurred speculative thought such as…
“~Why is a grilled cheese called a grilled cheese?~” Ren asked, never having tried dry lander food before.
“~You do know I’m a-a scarecrow, right?~”
“~Y-yeah, but you should know. Have you never heard or seen a grilled cheese before?~”
“~Sure-sure. I guess its just a nickname? Like, ya have a nick-nick name. Ya family has one for you?~” Vega pieced her thinking together with even faster efficiency than before.
“~Maybe it isn’t because ya are grilling cheese, it's just convenient.~” Picking up knowledge had always been her strong suit, and yet now, she was dispensing it, in a very very very primate form.
“~Ah, you’re right. Using that logic, it makes sense.~” The fact Ren was making any sense from this is either discouraging or mildly amusing. “~My dad calls me ‘crab skin’ for fun.~”
“~Haha. Do you have any nick names for food?~” Shifting her feet so she can better face Ren, she gestured the umbrella towards him. He scratched his cheek for a moment as he wondered.
“~I mean, ya guys eat-eat barnacles, right?~”
“~One, that’s a racist assumption. Two, you’re correct.~”
“~What’s a racist? Can I-I touch it?~”
You might be shaking your head at their stupidity, and rightfully so. However, this is where it all begins. Where simple curiosity becomes supreme intelligence. GIve it enough time, and watch out!
“~I wonder what a racist feels like…~”
Well… maybe we should wait. Trotting around this great forest, the feelings of fear that so often lurk behind in such lonely places became ever more distant for the scarecrow.
Yellow clouds became a soft pink mist, spewing out from a beautiful species of shroom. You might have seen me sing praise of it, the Stardust Mushroom. Existing as a color not comprehensible to most sentient beings, but instead as a natural emotion. If described in words, the emotion is most similar to cosmic awe, like viewing stars drifting in the heavens.
“~What color is that?~” Having his eyes open to take in the elegant splendor, Ren wished to come closer to discovering the real exact expression the shroom takes. Luckily for him, Vega was one such person that can describe the true look of the shroom.
“~I think… I think it’s coffee mug.~”
“~What?~”
“~I didn’t say that! I said coffee mug. No! Why-why can’t I say coffee mug?!~”
Furthermore, any attempt to describe the actual color, even in writing or drawing, always results in describing it as a coffee mug. Even though it is closer to a coffee mug in tone and coffee mug in shade, there is no denying it is the color coffee mug.
See?
“~Whatever, let’s keep moving. We shouldn’t be far now.~” Ren was correct, as even in this dense part of the forest, drifting bits of rubbish came steadily into the river.
“He’s right-right.” Kaliba chirped despite the obvious language barrier.
“How did ya understand him?”
“Royal.”
“Ah, right-right.” Enjoying the brief silence, Vega considered what she should talk about next. The word royal stuck in her head, and the bargaining Skaldi had for magic stuff did seem promising.
“~Can ya show me the catalog? Of the stuff-stuff we can get from ya?~”
“~Well, well no. My dad has it, and its a couple miles back.~” He spoke with a singsong voice. “~But I can tell you about the general stuff.~”
“~Proceed please.~” Putting her fist together in suspenseful eagerness, Vega bowed forward to Ren’s face. He yelped slightly but soon collected his composure.
“~There's lots of things. We got coins, most of them eroded. There’s plenty of waterlogged armor pieces and weaponry. Cool to look at if a bit useless.~”
“~Not quite what we’re looking for. Plus, what am I allowed to get?~” She demanded, pressing him for more info. The future of her friends were at stake for his people, and she knew Skaldi would want some grant prize as proper compensation.
“~Well, I’m not the one technically granting you the stuff.~”
“Well who? Is it ya-ya dad or something?~” Vega asked. Ren rubbed the back of his head, as if considering what he should say.
Stolen novel; please report.
“~Sort of? My mother's side, if that answers the question. As for the amount of stuff, we work all the main details back home. But I know she’s willing to give you three things.~”
“~We get three stuff? Sweet.~” Vega cheered, fist pumping as she did.
“~No. YOU get three things. The elf guy gets two. Everyone else gets one.~”
“~What? Why?~”
“~Because you did the most work and you looked after me. In your own weird way.~” Ren wished to clarify and reward Vega for her deeds. He knew interaction meant a lot to her, so he felt that receiving the gifts would be the main event for her.
“~Okay.~” Taken aback by all this, Vega didn’t feel as happy as before. Not that she didn’t appreciate, but she felt it was unfair to everyone else. “~Keep-keep going. Ya haven’t said the rest of the stuff!~”
“~Right! We offer foods and delicacies. Capes made from the finest fish leather. Uhhhh, oh! There’s pufferfish wine-~”
“~That, again, seems more like-like stuff other folk want. I need more… strategy?~”
“~Strategic benefit?~” He offered a clarifying phrase.
“~Yeah that!~”
“~Alright. Then there’s specially made masks to breathe underwater. A master crafted spear made a whale’s fin. Precious pearls and sea gems. Also, there’s a shark jaw that can spit blood if you press them together.~” Ren talked about such great artifacts as if they were simple nicknacks and baubles.
And they were for the mermaids. No real magic items or real world changing trinkets existed for them. For Vega, a lingering question was yet to be put to rest.
“~What about Soul Gems?~”
“~Well, what’s a soul gem?~” Ren asked genuinely. His reaction hit her pretty hard, like a realization about species as a whole.
“~Oh. Well, it's a soul.~”
“~Yeah?~” Ren leaned forward, hoping for an explanation.
“~In a gem.~”
“~...And?~”
“~That’s… that’s it.~” Vega clapped her hands together, feeling that her response was satisfactory.
“~...Okay.~” And it was!
Typically if a species’s population is small enough, Soul Gems are statistically impossible to be created. At most, there might be a singular one for a people a hundred thousand strong.
The reason why humans often produce soul gems is not an intrinsic magical latent ability in them. There’s just more of them and the community formed by humans is massive. That idea stirred together in Vega, but she continued.
“~None of what ya offered seems like something I’d need. Then again-gain, I’m not your average lady.~” She pushed up her hay hair to play into her vague feminine charm.
“~Uhh, there’s seamen?~”
“~No thanks, I can just ask Skaldi for that.~” She said without thinking of the implications. Ren didn’t want to bother but came up with another line of gifts that might better fit Vega.
“~Tell me where you guys are going. Maybe that can help you.~’
“~Oh! We’re heading to Uvi Jantok!~”
“~Cool! I’ve never been to their coast. What are you planning to do there?~”
“~... not steal from it. Just… vacation. Yeah… vacation.~”
“~Okay? I don’t know why you’re-nevermind. Why not some gifts that will help you around the city?~” The moment Ren finished, Vega nodded several times. “~How about an Oligarch badge? We have a couple of those and that’ll be sure to impress on some folks you mean business.~”
“~Business. And nothing else…~” Vega tried to look the part of a stoic merchant, forming a triangle with her hands. “~ That sounds good. What else?~”
“~Maybe… a map of the city? An Iozian from there came in one time and forgot it.~” Ren offered and was immediately received with another nod. “~ And.. huh.~”
“~What? Why did ya stop-stop?~”
“~That’s kind of all of the stuff that might help you there. Sorry, but I think my mind’s exhausted from trying to come up with cool stuff to get you guys.~” He said with real disappointment in himself.
“~It’s okay. We can work the rest of it lat-~”
“~ No.~” Putting a hand to her mouth, Ren wished to speak the truth to her, uninterrupted. “~Vega, there is something I’ve been keeping from you. Specifically, two things.~”
“~What is it?~” A faint, chained up part of her wrestled out in her voice.
“~ We do have two gifts we can grant you. But, my mother felt it would depend on how this mission goes. If you want, I’ll tell them to you.~” Ren answered, with a vague regal intrigue. This mystery was too much for her to handle without asking. But before, she wished to respect Ren’s secret.
“~Would it help us? Would it help you if you didn’t tell?~”
“~I don’t know. Your choice.~” He gave her a pretty compromising choice without realizing it. Ren had a playfulness in his answer.
“~...Okay. Tell me.~”
“~... We may not have whatever those Soul Gem things are, but we do have something we can marvel at.~” Pausing before beginning his sentence, he enjoyed seeing Vega’s intent on listening to every word. “~ There is a necklace given to us by the Spirit Triton. Holding rainbow shark tooths tied by the hair of the very Spirit~”
“~Really?~” Her religious fervor shot out as she asked.
“~Absolutely. Swear to Recor it is a real legend. In the hands of merfolk, it does nothing but collect dust. But, we suspect, in the hands of a magic being, it’ll be powered.~”
“~Wait. Why haven’t ya given it to a nymph or other spirit?~”
“~We did already, but no matter who we gave it to, it didn't work. You know why?~” Vega shook her head no.
“~Because the necklace won’t work if the person in question, ‘hasn’t earned it’. We weren’t told its abilities, but we know it has power yet obtained. Potential, yet unleashed.~”
Everything that Vega had heard was verbal gold. An almost magical necklace if earned would perhaps bring her and her friends favor. She immediately started giggling, believing that nothing else could top such a boon.
“~Haha! Okay, well let’s get-get this over with. What’s the second one?~”
“~You… you ever hear the name of Kaliber before?~”
Well… almost nothing else. Standing back up and looking down at Ren with a mixture of worry and need, Vega didn’t know how to feel. Was he a clairvoyant, how did he discover the name?
“~If you’re wondering, I managed to piece out during one of the sessions you were practicing songs with the blonde lady.~” His very mundane telling of events put her concerns to rest. And the smile came back to Vega once more.
“~Oh! Haha, that makes sense. But yeah-yeah, I know the name Kaliber.~” She tasted the name in her soul. Kaliber. For some unknown reason, that name meant something. Not just to herself, but the Voice.
“~Lucky thing is, I mentioned the name to my mother and she suggested something. She told me it was something that belonged to a Kaliber.~” Lowering his voice so that the severity of the discovery, Ren communicated this finding much to Vega’s burning curiosity.
She’s willing to let go of either but not both.
“~I can’t ask for both? What if someone else asks for it?~”
“~No chance Vega. She’ll only grant you one or the other. Everything else we offer is fair game, but these two are special for you.~”
A game of judging played out in Vega’s head. The only dice she was playing with was loaded with the question ‘which will help her friends the most’? Her thinking wasn’t one track, but her reasoning was, sweeping away any illustrious sounding things and taking note of anything of utility.
Mentally stacking them like cards, she shuffled them and drew two final ones.
Here there was a lull in her decision. She had already chosen the first two, but these last ones became somewhat personal. Would she take the necklace of hidden magics or would she take the item that was owned by Kaliber.
Sure, it could possibly be a toothbrush, but the image painted in her mind moved her like a pebble in a flood. If obtained, she would be transported back in the cave overflowing with emotion, now capable of understanding what was wrong with her. Kaliber and all questions surrounding the name were within her grasp, only he she reached out.
In contrast, the staff had to have tremendous influence even if she didn’t get it to work. A holy relic would certainly lead her friends to safety and legitimize them in the face of those who reject them. In the brightest future imaginable, Vega could bring happiness and aid so many if the necklace truly functioned.
What future would she choose?
“~You don’t need to make your choice now. Just take in account what’s at stake here.~”.