by Oxford, Rain
I grinned. “Cool. So all I have to do is play weak and then surprise the hell out of them.” He gave a disapproving stare. “Or I could learn to fight. We don’t have to move to the weapons for a while, do we?”
“Not until the first time you beat me,” he agreed. Divina laughed and I groaned. They both glanced up as they heard something I couldn’t. Edward started for the door. “There is no more time now; the ship is boarding. Go, hurry up to the room and pack your stuff. We’ll catch up.” I darted out the door. “Don’t get lost!” he yelled after me. I didn’t care what they wanted to talk about alone; I was just glad to get out of the arena.
When I got to the room, I quickly put my old clothes in Edward’s big bag. Inside of it were more empty bags, one of which wasn’t completely empty. My shoes were… destroyed. I considered throwing them out the window, but that would have been cruel to the monsters in the ocean, so I hid them under the bed instead.
Edward slammed the door open with anger and Divina brushed passed him. Her shirt was now an orangeish-red; it changed with her mood! “I’m not any happier about it than you are, but I’m not going to wait at some crappy little shack in the middle of the crappy little beach waiting for the crappy little ship. I want to have some fun! East Mijii is so boring,” Divina complained.
“You can do whatever you want. Dylan and I will wait for sunrise at the beach. You’re only asking for trouble going into town.”
“You just say that because you don’t like people.”
“I don’t like Shogo. The people, food, and land are all creepy. They sacrifice people at Shogo. They sacrifice northern Mijii people!”
“Only in theory. And anyway, we are not northern Mijii people, so we should be fine. We don’t have time to go anywhere else and I really like the culture here. It’s quiet and old-fashioned. Besides, Dylan should experience everything he can. Shogo is a very spiritual and beautiful culture,” Divina argued.
“Um… I know you two are speaking English for my sake, but I really have no clue what you’re talking about, so… Can I have a hint?” I interrupted.
“The ship to Anoshii was postponed until sunset tomorrow. We can get through the forest and then stay in one of the many available cabins. Divina wants to take the extra time to explore Shogo, which is the land we’re in,” Edward explained.
Divina wrapped her arm around my waist as if to break something horrible to me gently. “See, once we set off through the forest, there will be no food until dinner time on the ship. I figured that we should have a meal first,” Divina clarified.
“Oh. I want to go with whoever’s getting food,” I said.
Edward sighed. “Alright, we’ll go, but you will not step ten feet out of my reach,” Edward told me. Edward and Divina quickly packed their things and we went up to the deck. Divina’s shirt had become black again, which I guess meant that she was calm.
It looked like every single passenger was on deck, either leaving or giving their farewells, so I did everything in my power to keep my mouth shut and my eyes forward. Edward was delayed by Rhade, supposedly for a goodbye. Divina stopped prodding me to hurry. Obviously deciding we had time for pleasantries, she listened patiently until she could jump into their conversation. Rhade beamed at her. It annoyed me for some reason.
Chapter 6
The position of the sun as well as the slight morning chill suggested it was somewhere around nine in the morning. People were already heading down the beach in a big group. With a subtle shake of his head, Edward told us to wait, so we watched the ship leave for Zendii.
The weather was clear, the wind was calm, and the ocean was the only sound. It was creepy. Far off to one side was a massive forest and there wasn’t another soul on the beach; all I could see was beach, ocean, and forest. It felt like something out of a horror movie. To reinforce my anxiety, Divina’s shirt was turning yellow.
“Let’s go,” Edward said.
Divina wrapped her arm around my waist and we headed away from the ocean. There was no grass and trekking in sand was not easy, but at least I didn’t have roots and branches in my way.
We walked for about fifteen minutes before I suddenly realized with a start that there was a wall ahead of us, ten feet high and made of large, dark stones that fit together perfectly. It worried me that it had appeared out of thin air, only a few minutes away. When we reached the wall, I saw that on each stone was a Sudo word.
Before I could ask him what they meant, Edward started walking along the wall. We strode in silence for about ten minutes before we came to a section which Edward studied carefully. “I really don’t like this,” he said.
He pressed his hand against the wall, closed his eyes, and pushed hard. After several seconds, a cool blue light lit the crevices between the rock slabs, quickly spreading to cover the entire wall while the Sudo words lit yellow like fire. Suddenly the solid stone split in two perfectly straight, vertical lines, five feet apart and the section between the splits began to sink into the sand, revealing a doorway. Divina pushed me forward through the entrance.
I stood on fine-cut grass before many old Japanese-style houses that made up a decent little neighborhood. Some of the houses were fairly small, but a few were quite large, with two stories. Nothing appeared rundown or vandalized, and while there was no apparent danger, the air was stagnant like the calm before the storm. There were no people or sign of life anywhere in sight.
There was something wrong here that made my skin crawl.
Divina and Edward both simultaneously pushed me forward with obvious discomfort. We passed through an alley between two small houses and wound up on a stone, five-foot-wide road lined with houses. Between some of the homes were small dirt roads. Edward led us down one of them, into another, identical street, and then through three more dirt roads before the scene finally changed. I didn’t see or hear anyone the entire way.
We came to a canal lined with a stone wall about three feet high. Heavy grayish-white mist formed over the waterway and concealed everything across from it. There was a bridge of wood and metal, thirty feet to the left of us. I really didn’t want to cross the river, but Edward nudged me towards the bridge. Divina followed behind, her shirt very slowly changing to match the gray the fog.
Divina wrapped her arm around mine and didn’t force me, but Edward went ahead. The chill of the fog made me cringe and pause at the mouth of the bridge. I could smell the water and something like moss. Divina’s warmth and encouragement wasn’t enough to stop shivers from running down my spine, but I was determined to convince her I wasn’t a complete wimp.
No, I much preferred to be called “scaredy-cat” than a wimp.
I stepped forward and she loosened her grip slightly. We entered the fog.
I was blind, heard nothing, and only smelled water. I could have been surrounded by monsters and I wouldn’t know until one was picking me out of his teeth. After a couple of minutes, my anxiety suddenly rocketed for no apparent reason and Divina stopped dead, forcing me to halt. She tugged on me to get down and a second later, something very large flew within a foot above me. It moved slowly but the only part I could see through the fog was the end, which looked like a giant stingray.
When it had passed, Divina motioned for me to get up and we hurried across the river. The mist disappeared suddenly and Edward was there. “Are you alright?” he asked me.
Divina let me go, unfortunately.
“Shiny. Can we go so somewhere else now?” I asked. I peered passed him. We were now in an area filled with very large and very small structures that looked similar to Japanese temples. The configurations were mostly red and gold, and each one was unique. “This really is a Japanese world. You should have found a Japanese Guardian. What are these?”
“The large ones are graves, and the smaller ones are spiritual symbols. The philosophy here and in most of Mijii is that every object, even inanimate ones, has a spirit. These are representative of that. People use them as reminders to be good to nature, as
well as many other things. Maybe I’ve lived too long, but they frustrate me,” Edward said.
“It’s an immortal thing,” Divina said. Her shirt was dark gray, which I hoped was a good sign, since the atmosphere was much less creepy here.
The structures were surrounded by beautiful Japanese gardens with perfectly cut grass, the occasional small pond, and unbelievable flowers that surrounded the ponds. There were flowers with colors I couldn’t even comprehend, flowers that changed colors, and flowers that changed shape! As we were passing a particularly large blossom, about a meter wide with long, thin, spike-tipped, blood colored petals, it suddenly shook and then reached for us.
Divina snapped off a petal that almost touched me. The rest of the petals snapped together in a ball, as if to protect itself. It seemed sad, as if the flower was just reaching for us because it was curious. As we walked, Divina pulled a small jar out of her bag, folded the petal, and slid it inside the bottle before returning the bottle. Then she stopped for a second to pet a translucent blue flower that opened wide and exposed its petals for her.
After passing a large grave, we came upon another river. This one was shallow and wide with crystal clear water and a rock bed, which created many tiny waterfalls. There was a natural bridge of rocks across it.
Across the river was beautiful; it was a market district. There were buildings and stalls, selling everything from food to toys. As far down as I could see was markets and by the looks of it, the entire town was a huge maze. There were people everywhere. The sound of the German-like language was loud and dominant and the smell of all kinds of food made my mouth water.
“Tell us if you smell any food that seems good,” Divina said very quietly.
I nodded. The people on the market were mostly dressed in sand-colored uniforms of tunics and loose pants with odd moccasin boots. There were only a few children, but it was pretty equal between men and women.
Divina seemed almost as excited as I was to see everything as we explored. Her shirt was now dark blue. We kept pointing things out to each other and stopping too long to spectate. There were jewelry stores, clothing stores, candy stores, rock stores… everything I could imagine. Unfortunately, Edward seemed to be in a hurry and rushed us. Divina convinced him to stop at a tiny candy store, so cramped with sweet things there was barely room for two people to pass each other. For most of the brightly colored sweets, there was a little clear box of samples. The majority of the treats were an unusual texture between gooey and gummy.
Everything tasted awesome, except for what I thought to be cherry gummy bears. No, they were wax, for one thing, and they weren’t cherry flavored. I avoided everything red from then on, for that particular flavor was something akin to tomato and cayenne peppers. Divina laughed until she drew every customer’s attention, which didn’t help matters.
“Can I get some?” I asked Edward. I knew it was childish, but I had a sweet tooth and this was a new world full of new things to try.
“It’s not good for you,” he frowned.
“It’ll keep me from complaining about food all the time,” I offered.
“Then by all means, if you like it, get as much as you want. These kinds of sweets are limited to Mijii,” Edward said.
I got a lot. When we left the shop, Edward regained his former unease.
“Kiro,” Divina said with a childish tone, clearly wanting something. He didn’t bother to look at her. “Can I take Dylan to have some fun?”
My eyes went wide and my heart started racing. The idea of running around alone with Divina was too much to hope for. Sure I was safer with Edward and Divina had already used magic against me at least once, but rationalism went out the door when Divina walked in.
Edward sighed and thought about it for a moment. “Alright, but you cannot let him out of your sight. You will protect him like a new baby.”
She smiled. “So I can sacrifice him to the---”
“No! If you can’t keep your eyes on him, hold his hand. If he so much as has to go to the bathroom, you will stand right outside the door. If he gets a scratch, I’m going to blame you.”
He looked like he could go on indefinitely, but Divina interrupted him with her beautiful Sudo. After her argument, he looked at me, nodded, turned, and walked away. Divina beamed at me. “What do you want to do first?” she asked.
“Eat,” I answered.
“I figured as much. How about we get something from a restaurant instead of the street market? Then we can try all kinds of snacks and buy all kinds of souvenirs. Edward probably won’t want to take you traveling until you learn Sudo well and have more training, so I think you should have a fun experience now.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. Someone who wanted me to do nothing but have fun was entirely new to me. She laughed at my uncertainty and went over to one of the stalls. I tried to stay out of everyone’s way, but I wasn’t doing a good job; I ended up tripping over someone’s bag and then people started to trip over me. I should have asked Edward how to apologize. There were various comments, some with an offensive attitude, and some with an apologetic manner.
Divina grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the crowd before taking a minute to read a book she’d just bought at the stall. It was a glossy paperback with picture on the front of a huge blood and gold colored temple/castle-shaped building.
“Is that a travel guide?” I asked.
Divina laughed. “This may be an entirely different world than Earth, but every good idea humans come up with, sago can come up with. We have schools, pets, homes, entertainment, so we have to come up with ways to make our jobs easier. Also, Earth is divided up in regions like Asia and North America, which are very different from each other. On Duran the lands are quite different, but each of the main islands are very consistent. Most all of Shomodii is exactly like Kiro’s territory. There are a few small cities and villages, but that’s it. Because everyone lives the same and the same kinds of food grows and runs throughout the entire island, the culture throughout is very similar.
“On the other hand, there are the lands like Mijii. West Mijii is street markets, easy money, and incredible, cheap inventions. East Mijii is beautiful hot springs, small, old-style villages, amazing food, and scenery to die for. North, south, and central Mijii are a decent mixture.
“Zendii is an island devoted to pleasure. The entire place is gorgeous and the weather is wonderful. Whatever your preferred type of scenery is, there’s a place on Zendii like it. It’s too expensive to live there forever and there are so many people visiting for only one reason, thus there’s very little distinguishable culture.
“Anoshii is a huge cultural stew. The entire land is used for living conveniently, for shopping, and for vacation. Different cultures, food, and products from all over the world are brought into Anoshii.”
“So where do you like?” I asked.
Divina shrugged her bare shoulders. “I love where I live, but I really like to travel; I like diversity. Kiro does, too, the problem is that he’s seen it all. What about you?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen many different environments. I always wanted to go to England, Japan, and Cairo. Not much for the Hawaii beaches or five-hundred dollar per person meals.”
“How about when you learn a bit of Sudo and defensive magic, you and I go traveling?”
“That would be awesome… do you think you would want to visit Earth, too? Duran sounds so much more interesting, but there are still places and cultures on Earth I would like to see,” I said.
“After Duran. We don’t want to dig Kiro a grave too early. Let’s go to a little restaurant, a few fun markets, get a few souvenirs, then go to West Mijii?” she asked.
It sounded perfect. “Do we have the time?” I asked.
She smiled. “Of course. Did you hear me tell Kiro I would return you? I plan to keep you all night and he knows it. We’ll meet up with Kiro in the morning.”
“But it sounds expensive,” I said, against my better judgment. I
really wanted to go with her all night. Her smile never faltered, though, and she wrapped her arm around me.
“Alright. I’ll pay for everything we do together, like lunch and dinner, and I’ll give you a little play money to buy stuff you want.” She pulled out a handful of solid black coins, about the size of quarters, from her pocket. When she tried to hand them to me, I wouldn’t take them. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing much. Besides, I have a lot of money. I never spend money on Shomodii, and I have a very good job.” She took my hand, placed the coins in my palm, and closed my fingers over them.
As uncomfortable as it made me, I knew it would be rude to refuse her. Besides, I could somehow accumulate money and then pay the next time we went somewhere together. “Okay. Thank you. What is your job?” I asked, clutching the coins awkwardly and not sure where to put them.
I understood her expression quite well this time.
“It doesn’t really matter. Here,” she said, pulling a tiny black leather pouch out of her backpack. It had a thin tie to wear it around the neck. “Put your money in here for now.” I did and put it around my neck. “Anyway, the shop runner suggested a little restaurant a few streets down,” she said, wrapping her arm around mine and pulling me with her down a more deserted street.
“Shop runner,” I muttered quietly to myself, wondering what they’re called in Sudo. I hadn’t meant for her to hear me.
“Proprietor, I mean. My English is very good. Ronez said so.”
“So, why are we able to speak English without worrying about others overhearing and freaking out?”
She frowned. “Who’s going to be listening anyway? You’d be surprised what people would pass off,” she said. Her tone bugged me, though.
“You’re using magic.”
She sighed. “Don’t tell Kiro. He worries too much, and you notice too much. You’re too suspicious.”
“Paranoid; not suspicious,” I corrected. We stopped at a little wooden building, consistent with the Japanese look, nestled between two similar shops. There was a sliding wooden door and a sign covered in writing, but the symbols seemed a little odd; they looked slightly more complicated than usual. “Is this Sudo?”