ok Eshaan finished setting up camp, dropping the magic tent and layout out bedrolls. It turned out that a ‘tent’ in this world took the form of a small bead of compressed elemental energy. When released, it expanded into a fairly large dome of four co-mingled colors. It kept rain out and the temperature inside stayed nice and cozy in most any condition.
A pity it can’t do anything about my embarrassment.
Eshaan was scrupulously polite and formal, though that stupid smile stayed plastered on his face.
I can’t believe I said that. I called him cute! I called him cute! Oh god!
Even otherme seemed to have a smile in her voice. And he is. And we’re terrible at lying. So what if we think he’s cute. Lots of people are cute. Soriya is cute.
Right. Right. Soriya. Think of Soriya.
I scooted my bedroll as close to the edge of the dome as I could. That finally made Eshaan’s smile fade.
“Lily, I gave your mother my word that I would keep you from harm.” He said seriously. “That includes me. I take my duties very seriously.” His eyes got a faraway look and he started adjusting his own bedroll. “As Commander Khine knew.” He muttered just on the edge of my hearing.
I smothered otherme before she could demand we comfort Eshaan. No! I refuse! NO! NO! MORE! FLAGS! I shouted at myself mentally.
I wiggled into the bedroll fully clothed, flipping the blanket over me, and pounding angrily at the hard lump of camp pillow.
I heard Eshaan wiggling into his own bedroll, then he said “Goodnight, Lilyanna.” The dome of the magic tent dimmed and swirled but never quite grew dark. It left an uncomfortably long time to think about the fate I was trying to avoid but seemed to steer into every time I opened my mouth. I stared at the wall of swirling color for a very long time before I could finally sleep.
At least there’s no sappy music playing for a 15 second black screen. Was my last clear thought.
The next morning, otherme took me firmly in hand as I was fussing with my hair, trying to get it to look less like a rat’s nest.
You’re going to apologize to him.
I will not!
Yes, we are! Look, you want to know how to do this? I’ll show you how we do this!
“Eshaan, I’m… sorry for last night.” I heard myself say, startled to hear the contriteness in my voice.
“I’ve got a lot on my mind, as you said. I… am sorry that my clumsy mouth may have given offense, and said things that were too forward, things I did not intend to say.”
Eshaan didn’t have the sappy smile on his face, but he wasn’t scowling either.
“So, while I do find you very attractive,-“ Eshaan got that smile on his face again
Hold on, wait, what?!
“-no matter what my personal feelings are I think it’s best if we focus on rescuing my friends first. Things said in the heat of the moment should be studied in the cool of the day first.” I could feel otherme give the most peculiar smile.
What did we just say?! What was that about?
We told him that we’re not thinking clearly, because we’re in the midst of… um… you would say ‘big mood’? And we explained, politely, that sure he’s cute, that doesn’t mean we want him.
Eshaan nodded seriously. “I understand, Miss Lilyanna.” He looked down and up again. “It did make me happy to hear… what you said. I think you’re very pretty too. But you’re right. We’re in the middle of something big and confusing and complex. Best to think through things when we have time to be calm.”
I could feel otherme’s smugness.
Fine. You were right. I don’t know how you do that!
Otherme shared a confused mélange of memories and I suddenly glimpsed the outline of it, the shape of the words and how others felt. I wasn’t sure I could replicate it, but it suddenly seemed a lot less confusing.
Oh.
We ate a bar of dried fruit and tack as we set out hiking. Fantasy energy bars. These are pretty good actually. We’d had them for lunch yesterday on the hike too, but I could see how they’d get boring and old super quick.
“Hey, Eshaan?”
“Hm? What is it Lilyanna?”
“These bar things. Are they like imperial rations?”
He laughed. “Only if you think these taste like old shoe leather! They’re a little like what we eat when we’re on march but…” he took another bite and chewed thoughtfully. “Actually, I’d say that they’re probably what the ration bars are trying to duplicate. They’re food, if you’re not picky. These are a lot better. Still not as good as your cooking last night though!”
Damn it, he got the compliment in anyway! I groused to myself.
The day went forward without any other big surprises. A river ford had us fight a group of flying fish which mother’s journal warned us about. There were several further encounters with wolves and horned rabbits, though the slimes slowly tapered off. We had quite a collection of drops too.
My embarrassment gradually faded, and I dared to hope I might even not spend the rest of my life blushing.
Around late afternoon, the sky clouded over and went gray, and the first fat drops of rain started to fall. I scowled up at the sky. “Do you think we should find shelter?”
Eshaan looked up at the sky, and frowned thoughtfully. “What’s your mother’s journal say?”
“Eh?!” I looked at him in surprise. “Uh…. Well…” I stopped under a tree and opened the journal, leafing through the pages.
“Huh! Ok… Journal says it’s likely to be rainy for sometime.”
“Then I guess we should stop. We’re making really good time thanks to the journal, though it would have been nice to stop at the inn’s along the main road.”
I let out a wistful sigh. “It would have been nice to sleep in a bed and have a bath. We’ll have to wait until we reach Farna.”
Eshaan reached into his pouch and pulled out a magic tent. Shortly, we were both huddled inside, listening to the steady rushing patter of rain bouncing off the elemental dome overhead.
“I suppose I could start cooking…” I pondered out loud. “With this much of the day left, I guess I have enough time to make something more complicated than just curry…”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. Your curry is great!”
I gave him a wry smile. “Just get the fire going please.”
He pulled out a few fire crystals. “We didn’t have time to gather firewood, so we’ll have to rely on crystals.”
I shrugged. “That’s what we bought them for.” I set to work putting together something a little more complex than curry, humming softly to myself.
“What’s that song you’re humming?” Eshaan asked curiously.
I blinked, surprised. “I don’t know. It just came to me. Should I stop?”
“No, it’s nice. It just reminded me of some of the songs in church.”
I scowled. “I don’t think that’s a very good thing then.”
“Why not?”
“Lets just say I’ve had bad experiences with religion.”
“Well, ok, but… that was in your other world, right?”
I laughed. “I suspect this world’s religion isn’t much better.”
He frowned. “I admit, the church doesn’t have my favorite people in it, but they seem like they have their heart in the right place, even if it’s confused.”
I laughed again. “Eshaan, the church is definitely evil.” I pointed my spoon at him. “Let me ask you a question. Is your church run by a pope? Does that person wear a tall pointy hat?”
“Yes?” He said in a puzzled tone.
I nodded firmly. “Definitely evil then.”
His face scrunched up in puzzlement. “So… ok, so this is clearly more of your seer ability. Is it… the hat that makes them evil?”
I laughed. “No. I think that it’s just a symbol.” I poked at the food a bit more. “Actually, I think any large organization tends to grow corrupt under its own weight. You need people who are willing to exercise oversight to stop that.”
He thought about that for a while, clearly unhappy with the notion. “I don’t think that’s right.” He said finally. “The empire might be misguided in some things, but it’s done a lot of good! And the church also has done a lot of good all through its history!”
I turned to him in surprise. “Really? You support the church?”
“No, not as such. They’re real jerks about letting me read their holy scriptures and the Ancient relics they guard for a start! But the priest in my home village was a good man, and the legion chaplain was a decent man as well.”
I raised an eyebrow in surprise. “The imperial legions have their own chaplains?!”
“Well of course!”
“Oh yeah. Definitely evil then.” I popped the lid back on the pot. “Now we wait.”
“What is it?”
“Just a kind of stew. Pasta with a meat sauce and some vegetables. It’s hard to do anything really complicated in the field, I’d need a real kitchen to do something really elaborate.”
He grinned at me. “It smells delicious, better than most stuff at the imperial mess!”
I shook my head. “Honestly, what are they feeding you?! Well, whatever. It’s just food.” I looked up at the dome just overhead, listening to the rain patter on it. “Still, it’s nice that we have time to do this, I’m glad mother’s journal is helping us make good time.”
He nodded again. “Yeah, we should be in Farna this time tomorrow.”
“Mm. Then the hard part starts. We’ll have to figure out where Soriya is being held, and how to avoid Khine’s trap.”
“Well…” Eshaan hesitated. “They think I’m dead, so they probably haven’t revoked my pass. I suppose I could requisition some of the logs, if I could just get into the secured zone. The problem is that’s inside the primary walls, and I know I can’t just walk inside with you!”
I was struck by a sudden thought. “The walls? Is there… perhaps a river or moat nearby?”
Eshaan blinked in surprise. “Well yes, actually. It’s an outflow-“
I grinned broadly. “We get in through the sewers, of course.”
“-for the sewers…. How did you…?”
I brushed my skirts out from under me and sat down. “It’s just how these things go, of course. We’ll have to fight some horrible sewer monster, and I’m not looking forward to smelling it in person, but it’s obvious!”
“I’m not sure I’m ever going to get used to this.” Eshaan said, shaking his head.
I shrugged. “How do you think I feel? This world is surreal to me!”
Eshaan perked up. “Hey, that’s right! I was going to ask you about the Ancients! What do you know about them? What’s the secret behind them!?”
I sighed mentally. Well, it’s not like I could have stopped him. Food and an embarrassed girl’s confession would only keep an obsession out of his mind for a little while.
I thought about it for a second, opening my mouth to say something, then closed it again. I didn’t want to divulge any more of my embarrassing history, and I had suspicions, especially given the talk of the Church but no real truth….
“The stories vary.” I finally said. “Why don’t you tell me what you know about the world’s history, and then I might be able to get a better idea which story is most likely true.”
Eshaan’s face brightened. Ah, we just asked him to talk about himself and about his favorite topic. He’ll be on this for a while. I smiled, and settled back to listen to a very different kind of narration than the typical jrpg intro.
Eshaan cleared his throat and began. “Ah well, if you’re really interested? Most of what I’ve been able to piece together is fragments of lore, Church doctrine and a few scraps from the imperial archives!” He looked at me questioningly to make sure I really did want to hear him talk. I nodded encouragingly, and he began.
“Long ago, in the Age of Gods, all the races dwelled in the gods grace and favor. There were many more races than the three we know today, though their names and history were erased by the wars.”
Ah? Interesting, more than one race in this world? I thought.
“The races ascended the heights of power, building machines and devices that are but fragments of lore to us now. Most of their artifacts, ruins, and proofs of their works are beyond our understanding now, but we can find them all across the world, in every land we’ve visited, including the territories of the Sylvan and Monan. But some of the races of men grew proud and they craved what was the gods right. At least, that’s the word of the Church. I think that most of tension between the church and the empire is because the empire seeks out the ancient knowledge. Anyway! The Sylvan took the side of the god slayers, and the Monan took the side of the god savers. The world was wracked by the Wars of Heresy, and much knowledge was lost. Finally, to end the war, the council of gods, lead by the goddess, defeated the heretics and ensuring that peace would return. But since the races had shown themselves to be weak, the gods withdrew their blessing, and no longer walked the lands as freely as they once did.”
“I’m not entirely sure I believe everything I’ve said, but that’s the story that I’ve put together, at least.” Eshaan finished his tale. “It seems to fit most of the facts, at any rate.”
“Hm. Tell me about the Sylvan and Monan?”
“Urm… what about them?”
“Well for starters what do they look like?” I smiled.
“You really don’t know?!”
“I wouldn’t ask if I did, Eshaan.”
“Ah. Right! Uh, well. Sylvani are a little taller and thinner than humans, they have long pointed ears instead of rounded ones. They typically have blue or green hair. I’ve never seen one, but they’re supposed to be very beautiful.”
I clapped my hands in delight. “Oh wonderful! This world has elves!?”
Eshaan frowned in confusion. “What’s an ‘elf’?”
“Oh! Ah, well never mind. Another word from my world for the same thing, I think. So, the Monani… are they perhaps short and stocky? Short pointed ears? Maybe known for beards?”
Eshaan blinked and then nodded. “Well yeah, that’s them exactly! Their hold the territory of Galgados, in the mountains of Zhoria and The Winds. They’re really good with machines, most of the famous engineers are Monani! The church doesn’t like them, they say that the devices they make are too close to the heretical devices that triggered the Gods War in the first place.” He frowned thoughtfully. “They sure don’t seem to mind using those devices though.”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
I nodded, leaning forward in interest. “So the Sylvani… they like spirits and nature and forests then?”
Eshaan’s eyes widened. “That is so weird how you do that! Are you sure you’ve never heard of them before?”
I smiled. “Well, I told you, stories from my world. So, I wasn’t sure but now I think I know. So. Just to be sure. The Sylvani fought against the gods? And they’re good with magic and spirits?”
Eshaan nodded.
“Right. So… if I had to guess, I’d say…” I tapped my chin thoughtfully. “I’d say that the Gods War destroyed most of civilization. That the dwar… I mean, the Monani! That the Monani hold fragments of ancient tech that they developed. That the tech itself was related to the gods themselves… I’m not sure if there are gods, but if there are, then the Monani probably stole the tech from them. The church is almost definitely suppressing information that the gods were at fault somehow or were responsible for the tech. The war was probably about the misuse or abuse of nature or the spirits in some way. I mean, the church… has it tried to wipe out the Sylvani?”
“Oh yeah, there have been crusades to conquer the Sylvani continent numerous times! The empire never managed it, even when it was at the height of its power!”
My eyes lit up. “The height of its power? So the empire is not as powerful as it once was?”
Eshaan shook his head. “I guess you really must be from another world, not to know this! Yeah, the empire has been in decline for more than 500 years now.”
I nodded. “Then probably what Khine is trying to stop a civil war, or an invasion… Is there a hostile nation nearby?”
Eshaan pulled at his chin. “Weeeeell… I wouldn’t call them hostile exactly…”
I waved my hands. “Alright, say no more. Several nations, former principalities of the empire, surrounding it on all sides, all with an uneasy peace?”
Eshaan nodded. “Yes, exactly. Wow, you could make a fortune as a fortune teller!”
I laughed. “It doesn’t work like that Eshaan. I only know people in the stories. Nations aren’t people. And if they’re not in the script, I wouldn’t be able to tell who they are anyway. Besides. I don’t like lying, and it’s lying to tell somebody you know their future.”
Eshaan frowned, and was silent for a moment, then said “Is Commander Khine right? Is there a civil war coming?”
I scowled and poked at the cookpot. “Probably. That or a major international war. If I had to guess, there’s probably a loose alliance of states making trouble? Maybe allied with the church?”
Eshaan shook his head. “For somebody who’s not supposed to be from this world, you sure seem to know a lot about it!”
I sighed. “Meadowlark... I was hoping I was wrong.” I stirred the food once, then nodded. “This is ready though, so let’s have dinner.”
Eshaan was more than happy to change the subject.
***
Soriya was not having a very good day. Not that the day had been all that exciting in the first place, some girls might enjoy being tied up like a prize pig, but she was most definitely not one of them.
The explosive collar locked around her neck gave her a headache, the low throbbing hum of fire and air spirits swirling in it looking to break free set her teeth on edge, and the threat of decapitation wasn’t the best either.
The Leimoniad had made port a few hours ago, and she’d been excited to see the first real city, but ropes had kept her from getting up, and when the airmen roughly lifted her upright, the airship docks surrounding the ship filled her vision with bland rusty industrial grey and red. It looked like any construction sight she’d ever gotten a glimpse of, grey and red steel gantries and grey brown decks stretching past her line of sight. Even the sight of beautiful gleaming bronzework and swirl of elemental powerstones from the docked airships wasn’t enough to offset the throbbing ache of the collar around her neck.
Commander Khine had left her in the care of Lt Isha, and Lt Isha had quickly delegated her to another airman who hadn’t bothered to inform her of his name.
“Right then, witch.” The airman hauled her erect. “The engineer says that collar will go off if you so much as twitch magic, so don’t go thinking you’ve got an edge.”
Soriya rolled her eyes. After several hours, the threats had grown stale. Commander Khine wanted her alive, and in tolerable condition… Lilyanna bait. She just couldn’t quite take the threat seriously. Somewhere in her mind, this all felt like a story, and the best friend of the heroine didn’t get offed in the first act!
She was hustled out of the airship, and across the dingy grey expanse of the docks. Looks like the empire is evil alright. Look at all this bare metal and technology!
She was rudely yanked out of her meditations by the airman pushing her into the backseat of a low ground car. It was almost relaxing to be treated like baggage, shuffled from one destination to another, paperwork signed. The only break came when she was roughly presented to the garrison commander. “Prisoner to be kept. Orders of Commander Khine.” Paperwork was passed over.
“Spirits, what’s all this?” The garrison commander grumbled. “Take off her gag, I can’t put a prisoner into holding gagged and bound.”
“She’s dangerous! Commander’s orders!”
“She’s wearing a restraint collar! What’s she going to do, blow herself up at me?!”
“I won’t take responsibility for this!”
“Who said you would, you’re shoving her into my jail!”
“Fine!”
Soriya’s bonds and gag were roughly removed, and she was finally able to stretch. She quite enjoyed the way both men stared at her chest when she did so.
“Look, but don’t touch boys. You wouldn’t want me to blow myself up at you in a fit of outrage. The commander would be very unhappy with you!”
Both soldiers grumbled at her, but she could see they were also properly scared of her.
Good. She thought.
“We’ll put her in holding 12. We’ve got a parcel of other prisoners there anyway, waiting for transfer. Over my paygrade, and so’s this. They’ll get along fine.”
Paperwork was signed and exchanged and a lot of meaningless jargon flew past her, but finally the garrison commander grabbed Soriya by the upper arm and hustled her away down another endless grey corridor.
“Aw, don’t you want to give a girl a tour of the place?! Show off the famous imperial guards might?”
The solider snorted. “You really have no idea where you are, do you? This is Farna. The ass end of the empire.” He stopped in front of a pair of doors, which opened revealing an elevator. He pushed her inside, and followed, grunting as he punched a button. “As dull as dishwater, and nothing ever happens here! If you think this is the big city, I can’t imagine how much nowhere surrounds whatever tiny little town you came from.”
“Breezewood.” She said, slightly miffed.
“Breezewood, Pig’s Fart, South Elbow, whatever.”
“Are those actually places?” She asked curiously.
“How should I know, and more importantly why would I care?”
The elevator stopped on a lower level and she was hustled down another series of grey endless corridors, finally coming to a stop in room full of cages, only one of which was occupied.
“Alright, you lot! Got some company for you! Play nice and don’t eat each other. The mess is hard to clean up!” the solider barked, then opened the cage door and shoved Soriya in, slamming it closed behind her. “Maybe air pirates will teach you better manners.” He snarled at her. “Maybe not, it’s not my concern.” And he vanished into the upper corridors again, leaving Soriya alone to examine her new quarters and roommates with interest.
There were eight cells, four on each side of the room, all of them filled with the most stereotypical disreputable kind of men.
Ah, hang on. There’s a girl with them. A girl with… no, it can’t be! Soriya burst out laughing at the sight of a petite black-haired girl with blue eyes, wearing flying leathers and goggles pushed up on top of her head.
“You’re pretty cocky for somebody in your position!” A rough male voice came from behind her.
Uh oh. Time to be serious now!
She spun around facing a group of rough looking air pirates, advancing on her from all sides, wearing a familiar look.
I suppose I could try the seduction route; this body has a few advantages… Soriya pressed her lips together. No. I’ve been reincarnated in another world! I am a heroine in the story, and I refuse to let this stop me. In fact… she started to smile as an idea formed in her head.
They said that spirit action will cause it, but what if…
She whispered softly to the spirits within her collar.
“What’s this?” He grunted in surprise. “I see you understand your situation after all?!”
She smiled up at him, her violet eyes burning. “I think it’s you who doesn’t understand your situation.”
And with a smooth lightning quick motion she reached into the pocket space and pulled out Diaboli, jamming it under the leader’s chin and pushing his head up and back. The crowd of men grouped around her hesitated. She glanced around at them and pressed Diaboli harder into the leader’s chin. “Well?! You want to see his head blown off?! Back off!” Her glare was fire and glee, and she turned it on the leader. “Tell your men to back off!”
In the other cell, a burly dark-skinned man wearing an eye patch laughed loudly. “Ho ho! I’d recommend you listen to the lady! It seems you’ve offended her sensibilities. I told you that women don’t like the rough approach!”
The man she had Diaboli jammed into gave a whimpering fractional nod, and the group of thugs around her slowly backed off. She smiled sweetly and lowered Diaboli enough that he could move his head again. “Now listen to me you slobbering ape.” She said low and quietly. “The weapon under your throat right now is named ‘Diaboli’. I have been refining its damage output to greater heights for years, and if I pull the trigger, it will take your head off. You understand that, don’t you?”
The thug nodded; his eyes wide.
“Good! Just so we’re clear! I can summon Diaboli at any time, from anywhere, and the next time, I won’t be so polite about it. As you can see, I am an {Elementalist.} And I use a gun. So you should already know that you don’t know anything at all about me. So back off!” She snarled, and the group of thugs around her scurried off to the edges of the cage.
Soriya felt her smile stretch into a wide satisfied grin. Oh that felt so good. That felt so amazingly good.
Diaboli vanished into Diaboli space once more, and she smiled politely. “Now! Perhaps some of you gentleman can tell me how such a fine upstanding group of air pirates came to be here?” She turned to the girl in the other cage and stepped closer. “Would you be their captain, perhaps?” Up close, Soriya could see that the girl had a red streak through the middle of her black hair.
The girl’s eyes sparkled. “No, actually. It’s not that we’re not air pirates!” She protested quickly, hands waving in front of her. “We totally are! But they’ve got a mix of crews from five different ships in here with us. I’m Darshana.” She jabbed a thumb at her chest, then at the burly dark-skinned man who had spoken up earlier. “This is my first mate, Daniyal.”
Daniyal bowed to Soriya, his fingers pressed together. “Sweet water and shade to you, Mistress.”
Soriya blinked in surprise. “Oh my! You must be from Salazar.”
He grinned broadly, his white teeth flashing.
Soriya smiled back.
Oh my, he is handsome! Tall and muscular and… mm! Lily would be tied in knots! I wonder if I can get him to help me out?
“I am indeed! Few empire citizens even know of my homeland, I am surprised you do. Would you perhaps be a {Loremaster}?”
“I am!” Soriya replied. “So! Dar and Dan? What an interesting pair you make. May I ask how you came to be in an imperial prison cell in Farna?”
Darshana traded looks with Daniyal, and Soriya could see a quiet discussion flash between them. Darshana turned back and put her hands on her hips, smiling in a challenging fashion. “Well, you see, the imperials wanted my airship. And I didn’t want to give it to them!”
“Oh?” Soriya settled down on the bench next to the bars and smiled encouragingly. “Please tell me more!”
If you are who I think you are, this will be a wonderful story!
***
We reached the outskirts of Farna on the afternoon of the third day, which would make it the 4th of Planting, a Godsday by my reckoning.
I’ll probably want to buy a journal… no, what am I thinking!? I don’t need a journal; I’m not having an adventure!
You know otherme whispered softly. I think we might be.
I gritted my teeth and said nothing, returning my attention to Farna. We’d been catching flashes of it for some time, glimpses of white walls and red brown clay tile roofs through the forest when we crested a rise, but finally the forest faded away to the tilled and smoothed fields around the city and we could make our way to the main road leading to its gates.
Farna, it turned out, was a midsized city by the standards of this world. A good 87,000 people called it home. Eshaan said this as though he expected me to be surprised or a bit in awe. In point of fact, otherme was very much in awe.
So many people!? How do they all live there?!
I smiled quietly to myself You get used to it. It’s nice to have people around. The more people around, the easier it is to find weird or interesting things. But there are bigger cities.
I paused a moment on the hilltop to take in the city, then turned to Eshaan. “Is this a big city by your standards?”
Eshaan looked at me in confusion. “Yes? I mean, the imperial capital has almost 3 million people in it! But that’s Spyre! Farna is certainly a big town!”
I nodded. “Thank you.” I smiled at him. “I just didn’t know, that’s all. Come on, lets get a bath!” I eagerly started down the road. “And a bed!” I called over my shoulder at him.
Eshaan hurried to catch up with me. Eshaan was very pleased with our progress, so I suppose we must have made good time, but all I could think about was a bath and a night’s sleep in an actual bed. Well, that and if Soriya was ok. I was so dreadfully worried about her. I hoped we could rescue her soon.
If we even can. This isn’t like a game, after all.
We will because we have to. Otherme supplied, and I felt a well of courage and strength at her simple declaration. I nodded in agreement.
You’re right. We will!
Farna was laid out in a roughly circular fashion. In point of fact, it looked like most every fantasy anime city I’d seen slowly panned across in the opening. A patchwork of tilled fields surrounded an almost perfectly circular white stone wall, filled with a mix of red roofed tiles and greenery. A river slowly wended its way across the landscape, slipping between the city walls, and I could see the dots of small boats drifting along the water. A beautiful high fantasy castle sat on a slight rise in the middle of the city, and I found myself clapping my hands in excitement and bouncing on my toes as I spotted it.
“Look Eshaan, look! It’s a real castle!”
I felt myself blush as he smiled at what was clearly the reaction he was expecting, the country girl seeing the big city for the first time. But I just couldn’t help it, it was all so perfectly anime and picturesque! And… well… it was just cool. I was actually in an anime adventure!
The only jarring note was the wedge of the airship docks, a mix of steel grey girders and black stone like a knife cut into the white stone walls of the city itself. Streamers of dirty grey smoke slowly curled from what looked like multiple forges or some kind of heavy industry. I scowled as I finally caught sight of the massive beast of a ship that had fired on my village, floating alongside several other smaller more delicate and graceful ships. Their beauty had greatly dulled in my estimation. I suppose attempted mass murder had that impact on me.
“Got you, you meadowlark.” I mumbled. “You didn’t get what you wanted. And now you’ll get even less.”
“Lilyanna? What was that?”
I turned and smiled to Eshaan tiredly. “Nothing important! Lets just get to the city and find an inn to sleep in. I’m so tired of sleeping on hard ground, I’m really looking forward to sleeping in a bed tonight!”
“Ah.” He nodded. “I have to warn you, prices here will probably be a shock!”
I shook my head. “I don’t care, I just want a bath and a bed. I’m sure we can sell some of the drops we got at the market if we really need zeni.”
He nodded. “Yeah. I’d like a good bath too.” He smiled at me and gestured to the road ahead of us. “Ladies first.”
I laughed lightly. “We’ve got a mile to go, I don’t think you can walk that slow.” I shook my head as I walked past him, and we headed towards the grand city gates.
It didn’t take long to cover the last road to the city gates, the road was well paved this close to the city, and we had a wonderful view of expansive fields worked by the farmers as we headed down the road. Now that we were back on the main roads the traffic had picked up, carts and wagons loaded with goods of all kinds. Both halves of me were wide eyed with wonder. The size of the city and the variety of goods was something otherme had never even imagined before, and for myself, the purely archetypical nature of it, the pure platonic ideal of a fantasy city come to life was wonderful. One thing that I did note, the colors were brighter here, much brighter than I was expecting, and it finally clicked. There was no muddy grey brown filter over the camera here. Everything had color to it. It wasn’t a grimdark existence of excrement and filth. Although admittedly, the smell was rather pungent… but no worse than helping Old Man Wither with his stables.
I suddenly grinned, causing Eshaan to look at me in puzzlement.
“Oh, I was just realizing, sewers are really useful things, that’s all!”
“Um… yes?”
I smiled at his confusion. “Don’t worry about it. Small town girl, big city.”
He frowned in confusion but let the matter drop.
At the gate we had to present ourselves to the guards, sign our names, and pay a small entrance fee. I was a bit worried, but Eshaan got us through the gate with practiced ease, and we were soon in the entrance square past the gates.
“Have you been here before?” I asked, clutching my staff to my chest.
Eshaan shrugged. “As part of the imperial detachment. I’ve only been out into the city proper once on leave, so… ah heh. I could-.” He coughed. “I don’t think the parts of the city I’m familiar with are suitable for a lady!”
I felt myself blushing, and nodded tightly. “Right.”
Otherme nudged me gently. Him. She drew my attention to a nearby guard. Go talk to him. I walked over to one of the guards and otherme has us lean forward, holding my staff behind my back. “Excuse me, please? We’re new in town, could you tell us where a good inn is? We’d be everso grateful!” I felt the gentle push of a {Persuade} leave me as I smiled up at the guard.
Oh, this is so low. I swore we wouldn’t do this, and now we’re pulling a Soriya!
If it works, it works…
And to my frustration, it did work. The guard’s eyes locked on my chest, and he grew a bit pink around the cheeks, and shortly Eshaan and I found ourselves in possession of directions to what the guard promised was a modest establishment that wouldn’t try to cheat us.
I looked around curiously, hoping to spot an elf or dwarf, but I didn’t see any. The city streets were still fascinating though. “Do you think we’ll see a dw-… a Monan? Or a Sylvan?”
Eshaan grinned. “Oh is that what you’re looking around for?” He shook his head. “I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed. Monanin aren’t seen outside of Galgados very often, and Empire isn’t very friendly towards Sylvain, they typically keep to the New Continent. I’ve never seen one.”
“Oh.” I pouted in disappointment.
He poked me with an elbow. “Heh, look at you! One glimpse the big city and you want to go travel the world?”
I glared up at him. “It’s not like that!” I clutched at my staff defensively. “Never mind, you wouldn’t understand.”
He tipped his head to the side and said “I wouldn’t? You sure about that? Perhaps a sense of wonder and excitement that the world is so big? A curiosity to see what there is to see in the world now that you’ve seen it’s so large and holds things you’ve only dreamed about? Hope and excitement that you can see these things for yourself?”
I stared at him, eyes wide.
He grinned. “See? I might not be on all the time, but this? I’ve got this nailed, miss seer.”
I followed behind him, lost in thought. He was right. I was excited to see this world that was a manifestation of all those video games I’d played or watched. It was interesting to see them with my own eyes, and not just as sprites dancing on a screen. This world was real, real in a way that made it so much more interesting than just a System and predetermined script would be.
And we’re going to change the script. No more sacrifice! No more stupid heroics!
Oh? Aren’t we going to infiltrate the imperial fortress through the sewers to rescue our best friend?
I gritted my teeth. That. Is different!
Otherme didn’t have to say anything, I’d already lost that argument the minute I tried to pretend otherwise.
The inn was very expensive. I’d been expecting it, but it still stung and left my belt purse very empty indeed. We were definitely going to need to sell things at the market here! But the bed was huge, and I sprawled backwards on it spread eagled.
“Aaah! Oh this is going to be so good!” I exclaimed in happiness as I rolled around on the comforter.
So there is a benefit to being small after all! This normal sized bed feels huge!
We’re not small! Otherme protested
We’re smaller than Eshaan, and Eshaan is the same height as Soriya.
That’s… different.
I didn’t press the issue.
The bath was equally wonderful, and I poured warm sudsy water over my head and body over and over, eager to get rid of the sweat and grime of the trail.
Changing into my nightclothes behind the privacy screen in our room, I asked Eshaan
“So what do you think we should do first?”
“The market. No question. I told you the prices in the big city were outrageous.”
“Ok, that makes sense. After that, we should drop off the packages and letters.”
“Oh that’s right, you’ve got those from your village don’t you?”
“Breezewood. Yes.”
“Right, Breezewood. I’m surprised that anybody in your village knows people in Farna.”
I finished pulling on my nightgown and walked around the divider to glare at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well…” he saw my glare and shook his head. “I didn’t mean anything by it, it’s just such a small village…”
“Eshaan! I am going to slug you if you keep insulting my home! We’re not mud farmers; we have regular contact with the rest of the world!”
“Right, right! I didn’t mean anything by it.” He blushed and ducked his head.
I was too tired to really care, so I let the matter drop. I yawned hugely and crawled into bed, feeling every aching muscle in my body as I wiggled under the sheets of a clean and soft bed.
“Goodnight, Lilyanna.”
“Goodnight, Eshaan.”
I yawned once, and then fell fast asleep.