His big brother usually put a swift end to it, but he wasn't as good with words. He couldn't convince Eric that he didn't deserve this treatment. So Eric stayed in lockers so he wouldn't get shoved into another one. He hid from everyone. Who would want to be friends with a loser?
Redstreak landed on a street lamp. “Hold up, Otherworlder.”
Traffic was obstructed by a giant lying in the middle of the road. A middle-aged woman in a tunic, pants, and white cloak examined the fallen giant with a younger man at her side. He wore a white belt. The woman jumped onto the giant's stomach in a single leap and sniffed his mouth. She made a face and fanned the air.
“He's only drunk!” she shouted to the gathered crowd. She looked to the left, to the right, and then pulled a vial out of her sleeve.
“Captain!” She froze. “Is that one of your concoctions?”
“Of course not . . .” the woman replied shiftily. “ . . .I bought it at the medicine man's house.” The man joined her on the giant's stomach and held out his hand.
“May I see it, Captain?”
The woman clutched the vial to her chest and turned away. “No, it's too powerful. The fumes will knock you out.”
The man crossed his arms. “It's Paticion urine, isn't it?”
“Whatever gave you that idea?”
The man sighed. “Captain, that stuff is dangerous.”
“In any other case . . .yes it would, but it's useful for flushing alcohol out of a system.”
“Yes, as well as everything else in the system. You could make him bleed out.”
“That could only happen to a human. Giants have too much blood and too much weight.”
“No, you think they have too much blood and weight.” The tone of the young man puzzled Eric. If she was his superior, why was he scolding her like a little girl with her hand in the cookie jar? “You're experimenting again.” The woman shifted uneasily. “Captain, you can't do these things.”
“Well if I'm not getting paid to help him, I should get something out of this!”
“Captain, it's NOT ethical,” the man said, his voice firm.
The woman rolled her eyes. “Ethical, semathical. Was the Tasi-palics crisis ethical?” The man rubbed his forehead. She continued as if she hadn't noticed. “No, but we discovered how to cure Manastina Reticos intoxiscous, saving countless lives!”
Redstreak hawed in impatience. “Oh, are we holding you up?” she asked. Redstreak nodded. The woman hunched over the giant. “Lieutenant, please explain the situation to Mr. . . .”
“Chief Redstreak of the Rose Forest Colony of Red-tailed Hawks . . .and an Otherworlder.”
The woman's eyes lit up. “An Otherworlder, you say?”
“Captain!” the young man shouted. “The giant.”
“Oh, right.” The woman stood up to her full height. “Lieutenant, explain the situation to Chief Breadbeak and the Otherworlder while I handle the giant.” The man didn't move.
“Captain, the vial please.” The woman was thoroughly disgruntled, but she handed over the vial. Eric almost laughed; she looked like she was returning stolen cookies!
The man pocketed the vial, jumped off the giant, and made a little bow of his head before Redstreak and Eric. “I am Dragon's Lair Squad Two Lieutenant Jemas Wotan. Captain Hasina and I came across the giant on our way home from Green Garden Herbs.” Eric noticed Hasina pull a second vial out of her sleeve and hand a sheet of paper to the giant. He sloppily signed it and she emptied the vial into his mouth. Just as Eric opened his own, Hasina flashed him a look that chilled his insides and his mouth shut with a click. “The giant blocked our path and so we stopped to assist him,” Jemas continued. “We apologize if we caused you any inconvenience.”
“You could make up for it by taking this human to the Silver Dragon dorms.”
“I would be glad to,” Jemas said and Redstreak spread his wings. “But I will have to ask my captain first.” Redstreak dropped his wings with an air of frustration.
The giant yawned and stretched, pounding the street. As he stood up, Eric saw a large smelly puddle where he lay.
“Hey, he's up!” Hasina cried. “I guess he didn't have as much in him as we thought.”
Jemas slapped his forehead, muttering about looking for a second vial. Hasina looked up from the giant and towards Eric, grinning. What could she see in me . . .to make her smile like that?
“Otherworlder, how would you like to be a vital member of a groundbreaking research project?”
“Uh . . .” Eric didn't know what to make of the strange lady's offer. He did need a job but the last time he did research, it didn't end well. Besides, the woman scared him.
“Say no,” Jemas advised. “You'll be the subject of research. Hence 'vital'.”
“Lieutenant Jemas!”
“Captain,” Jemas began, unaffected by her reprimand. “Do you remember what happened the last time you used a sapient as a guinea pig?”
“I got permission from them!” Hasina protested. “And 'guinea pig' is such a leading phrase; I didn't do anything cruel!” Eric noticed that she omitted “unusual.” Jemas stared expectantly at his captain. “Leader got mad,” Hasina said reluctantly.
“And you got the guild in trouble,” Jemas pointed out.
“Excuse me!” Redstreak shouted. “Could one of you take this human to the Silver Dragon Dorms? I have a colony to get back to.”
“I'm sorry, Chief Tedteek.” Eric thought he saw a vein poke out of Redstreak's forehead. “But both the lieutenant and I are busy.” Hasina lifted a vial containing a liquid that looked suspiciously like the waste on the street. “Come along, Lieutenant.”
“Coming, Captain,” Jemas said wearily. “My apologies.” He bowed and followed his captain.
The rest of the journey was uneventful, but Eric was far from bored. From the talking animals to the monsters and magic and the existence of monarchy, he felt like he was in a medieval fantasy novel.
Other signs said otherwise. The streets he walked through were cleaner than the streets he drove through in his own world, and he saw manholes and storm drains. An unemployment office meant the state aided private employment. A school system meant large numbers of people were being educated. Glass being commonly used in windows meant the population could afford it. Add to that the diplomatic relations animals had with humans and it was some kind of mix between an old-fashioned “magical world” and his own modern world.
Modern Magic . . .Or maybe “magical real world.”
“We're here.” Redstreak stopped in front of a large brick and mortar building. The lobby contained somewhat comfortable-looking chairs and pictures of landscapes on the walls.
“Hello,” Redstreak said to the man at the lobby. “I've brought an Otherworlder.” The man looked up at Redstreak with sleepy eyes
“Papers?” he said in a monotone. Eric handed them to the dorm keeper and waited in silence as they were evaluated. “You can sit down if you want.”
There was nothing for Eric to do but sit and think. I'm in a world where fairytale creatures walk among humans like it's normal and plants eat people. I'm a teenager again AND I have nothing in the world except the clothes on my back. Is this Tasio's idea of helping me!?
Finally, the man spoke up. “You will be staying in Room 137 until you get a job. Your roommate will be able to guide you to the school.” He handed Eric a hemp string that held two crystals: a small clear crystal and another bigger bronze one.
“The clear one is your room key and the bronze is your meal pass,” the dorm keeper said. “Don't lose either of them.”
Instead of putting it on, Eric felt compelled to examine the crystals. He looked at them from every angle and felt the polished surface. Both were slightly chipped at one end and other random areas. Without thinking, he asked, “How's it work? Is it by runes? I see a few on here . . . or maybe by the refraction of light or . . .” The man's eyes opened wider as if he had been jolted. “I-I didn't mean to sound stupid or ungra
teful or . . .” Redstreak laughed. Eric's cheeks burned and he hid the necklace.
“You're hahahaa, pretty sharp, hahahaha, for ahah an Otherworlder,” the hawk said. “I trust everything is taken care of? Good, now I can finally return to my colony.” To Eric, he said, “I wish you good luck on adjusting to our world.” He bobbed his head and flew out of the lobby.
“Umm. Where is room?” Eric asked
“Down that corridor and third door on the left.”
Eric opened the door and walked down the hall. Despite his earlier fears about the strangeness of this world, his present fears about his roommate and future fears about what would become of him, he couldn't resist taking the crystals out and examining them once more.
Room keys made of crystal instead of metal and working by runes and refraction of the light instead of gears . . . . .Different keys means different locks. The make of it will be different and locksmiths here will be different then . . .So absorbed was he that he bumped into someone.
“I-I'm sorry! I didn't look where—” He spoke to a human face mounted on a horse's body. Not a centaur; a horse with a human head.
“Watch where you're going,” the human face said. A snake slithered over his haunches and hissed. The chimera walked past him and Eric saw the snake's body poking out where the tail should have been. For a while, he just stood there, stunned. 'Good luck adjusting' he says. I'm going to need it.
Three doors down, Eric found his temporary home. He took out the clear crystal and inserted it into the hole just below the knob; assuming this was the lock. It flashed. He assumed the door was unlocked and tried the knob, but the door wouldn't open. He pushed the door, thinking it was stuck, but the door remained firmly shut. Eric tried the lock again with similar success. He was so frustrated he started banging on the door. It abruptly opened and Eric bashed a face, which made the body attached fall backwards and clutch a bleeding nose. Eric stammered apologies but—
“Nice hit.”
Eric could only stare. “You're not mad?”
“Of course not. It was an accident. In fact, I'm very happy.” Talking animals and a chimera were one thing, but a guy that gets happy when he's punched?
“You see, there's a strong unidentifiable funk in the room and, being unsuccessful in getting rid of it, I've been trying to block my nose. This break should do the trick.” He set the cartilage in his nose so it would heal properly and stood up. The boy had long white hair, pink eyes, and wore a tunic and pants. All of which had seen better days.
“Have trouble with the lock?”
“Yeah.”
“I did too. Apparently, Mr. Monotone forgets to tell people that these locks work in the opposite fashion of normal ones.” Eric was about to ask how normal ones worked, but the guy kept rambling. “Oh, where are my manners? I haven't introduced myself. I am Aio Ricse, formerly of Latrot.” He spat on his hand and held it out. “Pleased to meet you, Roomy!” Eric stared at the spit soaked hand. When in Rome . . . He spat on his own hand.
“Eric Watley . . .uhh formerly of Earth.” They shook hands. “The pleasure's all mine.”
“Here, it's called ‘Threa,’” Aio said. “Scholars decided upon that name for your world ever since they discovered Noitaerc.”
Eric backed up and put a hand to his aching forehead. Threa? Noitaerc? The last confusing straw on a very large pile of confusing straws. “I suppose it is a lot to take in for two days. Take a rest.” The buzzing in Eric's mind was too great for him to wonder how Aio knew he'd arrived yesterday.
“Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” A voice shouted. Eric sleepily swatted at the shaker.
“Go away . . .sleep,” he said and curled back under his blanket. The blanket was yanked away and he shivered. He opened his eyes to see Aio's smiling face.
“Good morning!”
Eric rubbed his eyes. “What time is it?”
“Oh, about 6.”
“SIX IN THE MORNING?!”
Aio rang his ears out. “Yeah, six in the morning.” Eric slumped back into bed, but sleep evaded him without a blanket.
“Why . . . you wake me . . .early?”
“To see the sunrise, of course.”
“Don't . . . wanna see sunrise,” Eric mumbled and curled into a ball.
“Oh, come on.”Aio pulled him out of bed by his ankles and dragged him across the floor. Eric resigned himself to his fate and let himself be dragged. Outside, he was dropped on a rock formation. He screamed when he was doused with cold water.
“Wakey! Wakey!” Aio cheered as he put down his bucket. “You're missing one of nature's most beautiful wonders!” Eric was most definitely awake now and most definitely cold and wet. Aio plopped down on his own rock and said, “Did you like living in your home world?”
“Yes of . . .” His response was automatic, not true. Even before Tasio showed up, his life was awful. His family was non-existent. He didn't make ends meet. He was picked on at work. His neighbor was the guy-who-wouldn't-go-away. “No.”
“Ohh. That's too bad . . . ” Aio said sadly. He perked up instantly. “But you can make a new life here. A better life! Just like me!”
“Oh yeah. You said you were 'Formerly of Latrot.' What happened?”
“Oh, you know, stuff happens.” Aio shrugged. “Had to leave or more stuff would happen.”
“Any family?”
“Oh, yeah. I got family all over the place, but we don't really get along; sibling rivalry, ya know?”
Eric would have questioned further, but the sun was rising and it was indeed beautiful. It almost made him forget he was cold and wet. “All right, now let's get you into some dry clothes,” Aio said. “You should know better than to sit in wet ones.”
You're the one who got me wet. Dripping back to the room, Eric dried off and looked for new clothes. He found an earth-brown tunic and dark pants, and changed into them. Aio tossed his soaking wet business suit into a dark corner and left it there.
“That's better, isn't it?” Aio asked.
“Yeah . . .” Eric said. He suddenly felt lighter. “Yeah! A lot better.”
“Good! Let's go eat.”
At the cafeteria entrance, Aio inserted his bronze crystal into a brown cube on the greeter's desk. The crystal glowed slightly and the guy waved Aio in.
Eric recognized some items on the line: lettuce, strawberries, and some kind of pasta. Other things he had no idea what they were; like a meaty-looking thing with a green band around the middle and yellow zigzag. As he reached for it, its middle opened and the yellow zigzag teeth snapped down on his fingers. He yelped. Aio laughed and rapped the thing's top. It let go and fell on Aio's tray.
“Roomy, a little advice,” Aio said. “Don't eat anything that looks like teeth.”
“Then why are you eating it?”
“It tastes good if know how to deal with it.”
The pair sat down and Eric eagerly dug in. Once again, he was amazed at the food's incredible taste. Just like the berries and water from the forest, it was like eating energy itself. He felt good enough to run up ten flights of stairs and back again.
“Never tasted food like that, have you?” Aio asked. “That's mana-rich food.”
For the second time Eric asked, “Isn't mana the same stuff that makes monsters?”
“Yep! Mana is the source of all life.”
“There you are,” a sleepy voice drawled.
Aio turned and pointed. “Oh, look! It's Mr. Monotone!” The dorm keeper became slightly annoyed. “Mr. Watley, you have an appointment at the Heleti General Hospital.”
“That doesn't sound like a good idea, Roomy,” Aio said cautiously.
“Why not?”
Aio pulled Eric close and whispered in his ear, “What if . . .” he began, sneaking glances at the dorm keeper as if he were eavesdropping. “What if . . . it's a ruse?”
“A ruse?” Eric asked.
“Yes!” Aio said urgently, “To turn you into an emotionless zombie like him!!”
The dorm keeper became a little more annoyed, even mildly disgruntled. “We have a schedule to keep, Mr. Watley. Please follow me.”
It was a long walk and gave Eric another chance to study the city. The streets were split into a road, made of compacted earth, and sidewalks of stone on either side. He didn't see any cars, motorcycles, or anything else motorized, but every now and then, a machine would fly overhead. They didn't look like the airplanes of his world and didn't make as much noise.
They must function differently . . .I wonder . . .
The Heleti General Hospital was a tall and sprawling building made of wood, stone, metal, and other materials Eric didn't recognize. There were as many kinds of entrances as there were branches of medicine: holes in the ground for moles, windows for birds, hatches on the roof—all in addition to the standard door for earth walkers and even those varied depending on the earth walker's stature. The griffin motif decorating the building was more noticeable than anything. They were in the sidewalk, on the doors, and standing guard in the lobby. Eric was about to ask what they were for when he spotted a familiar face.
“Jemas . . .Wotan. You're from Squad Two, right?”
“Yes. I'm honored you remember me.”
“Mercenary, what are you doing here?” Monotone man asked.
Eric wondered why he called Jemas “Mercenary,” when he had just said Jemas' name. Jemas himself seemed to take no offense, so Eric let it go.
“The Captain has been hired for an emergency, and being her lieutenant, I came along.”
A bell dinged and an intercom announced, “To the person passing out experimental cough syrup, please identify yourself.”
Jemas paled. “Oh no . . .Oh, please no.” He put a smile on his face and bowed before Eric and Monotone. “Excuse me. I have business to attend to.” With that, he ran off.
“Mercenaries . . .” Monotone muttered. “Come, Mr. Watley.” Eric was led through a number of doors and hallways until Monotone spotted a particular room.
“This is the examining room. Please cooperate with the healer. I will be waiting outside.”
Eric was anxious to see what a Tariatlan doctor looked like. Where they human or some other creature? The person that arrived was more terrifying than either: long blonde hair and a white doctor's coat, a staff in one appendage and a notepad in the other. She locked the door behind her.
A Mage's Power (Journey to Chaos) Page 5