by Oxford, Rain
One platter had pieces of meat in a blood-red sauce with noticeable seasonings, which looked really good, while the other had strips of fish decoratively surrounded by leafy vegetables and two small wooden dishes. Each of the dishes had three sections filled with a red sauce, a black sauce, and a yellow sauce. She handed one of the dishes to me and used her chopsticks to put some of the fish on my plate and some on hers. I used the serving spoon to put the red stuff on my plate.
“I assume that the fish is fugan?” I asked.
“Yeah. Try it first alone, then try it with the sauces to see what you like.”
I used my chopsticks to get a piece of the fish. It tasted a lot like regular fish, maybe a bit buttery and sweet, with a hint of something I couldn’t identify. I tried the fish with the black sauce; it was a lot like a spicy teriyaki and soy sauce. The red sauce was sweet and sour with a great aftertaste and the white sauce tasted very similar to jasmine and green tea. I liked the red sauce the most.
The yoksu had a sauce similar to the red stuff, but it had a much stronger flavor. The meat was like really good, tender beef, and was even better mixed in with the leafy vegetables.
”You know a bit about the gods, right?” I asked.
Divina looked slightly startled. “A bit, I guess. Why?”
“If all of the worlds have human-like beings that originated on their own worlds, what does that do to the theory of evolution?”
“Nothing at all. It takes mutation to sustain it. Think of it like this. Humans and apes have a common ancestor. A mutated gene changed one aspect that led to apes, and a better mutated gene led to humans. Isn’t it amazing how so many subtle mutations can create such perfect beings in the world?”
“Perfect?”
“The shark. How can they be any more perfect? The cockroach is another example, even if you don’t like them. And there are many more still being perfected, though most of them will never make it because they serve no purpose.”
“So the gods push evolution? What happens if it doesn’t work right, or a god changes his mind?” I asked.
She shrugged. “They die. What do you think happened to the dinosaurs?”
“So Tiamat just killed all those creatures because they didn’t work?”
“More likely, they didn’t work the way she wanted them to. Maybe she didn’t see a real future for them.”
“That’s so cruel.”
“Is it? If she hadn’t killed them, there would be no humans,” she said.
I thought about it for a few minutes. It was a harsh truth, especially seeing as how humans have brought many creatures to extinction.
“How are you feeling?” Divina asked.
“Good. All my soreness is gone.”
“How is the gravity, your book, and your energy flow?”
I felt the energy inside me, and it was surprisingly low. I pulled in energy easily and it felt really good; the energy felt pleasantly warm. “I forgot all about the gravity, I’m not worried about the books right now, and the energy feels different.”
“The energy is reflecting your relaxed, happy mood. Also, when we leave, I need to run an errand.”
That sounded perfectly innocent in my distracted, relaxed state.
“Okay. What were you like as a child? What was your childhood like?” I asked. I knew immediately the question was unwelcome.
“Why does my childhood matter? It was a long time ago and has little to do with now,” she said.
“But your childhood helped shape who you are today. I take it, it wasn’t a happy time?”
“No, not really. We survived and sometimes wished we hadn’t. I was the youngest left.”
“I don’t get it. Survived what? Youngest of what?”
“I had many older siblings. We didn’t get along. Back then I didn’t care about anything and had nothing. I was constantly ridiculed by the others. Except for my oldest brother. He was kind to me and no one else. He was the strongest of us, in many ways, but he was different than us.”
The sadness in her voice was different than Edward’s when he spoke of Ronez, and felt stronger than I could comprehend. It sent chills down my spine. Her mood-shirt didn’t change, as if it couldn’t grasp her sorrow either.
“I don’t want to talk about it. It wasn’t a happy childhood and I made a new life for myself out of the shadows of my siblings.”
We finished our food about half an hour later without talking. Luckily her mood lightened back up during that time. Divina slid the card into the slot and a few seconds later, the waiter knocked on the door. She opened the shutters, said something and handed him one of the black coins. He handed her back several coins I couldn’t see clearly.
We left after that. “One of the black coins could pay for that whole meal? It isn’t pocket change, is it?”
She shrugged. “To me it is.”
We walked down the street and the further we went, the more deserted the markets were. There were empty stalls and spaces where stalls used to be. The few people we passed by either looked scared, lost, or like they were up to no good.
“Are there mafias on Duran?” I asked.
Divina patted me on the back. “Of course there are. Don’t worry; we’re not far from the place,” she said cheerfully.
Yeah, that was what I was worried about.
“Also, do you think we can---”
“Keep this between us?” I interrupted.
“You read my mind,” she grinned.
Fortunately for her I was still feeling really good from the drink and dinner, so I was in a corporative mood. Or perhaps that was her intention in the first place.
I was not too relaxed to shriek like a girl when a massive bark startled me. About ten feet away was a huge animal. With short, pure white fur, it had the lean, long shape of a Great Dane, but was the size of a horse. “Holy Hell, what is that thing?”
“Shh. Don’t scare him,” Divina said.
“Me scare him?!”
The animal pounced from his ambush spot between two decaying buildings and halted just a foot from us. Since dogs on Earth had always had a problem with me, I assumed this dog-shaped beast would, too.
But he wasn’t growling or snarling. While he had the narrow snout and sharp teeth of a dog, he didn’t appear vicious. His ears were back slightly, but not all the way flattened against his head like Dorian did when he was mad. He leaned towards me, as skittish as I was, so I tentatively reached out. He sniffed my hand before nudging it aside and bumping his head against my chest. It appeared to be an affectionate action, but it hurt because he was so big. I rubbed his ears, hoping that was a universal sign of friendship and would encourage him not to eat me.
“What is it?” I asked. I was further relieved when I saw the saddle strapped to the animal; I figured that if people rode them, they couldn’t be that bad.
On the other hand… some people rode bulls.
“A Tokuami. They are a domesticated mammal mostly confined to Mokii. Rich people who are too lazy to walk or carry their supplies keep them for trips or even chores. However, they are not entirely domestic; they only obey those who are truly powerful.”
The animal turned away from me and started sniffing Divina. I was almost whacked with its long, whip-like tail. Divina laughed and reached into her bag, then pulled out a clump of dried meat sticks and fed them to the Tokuami.
“You normally carry dog food in your bag?” I asked.
“I normally carry meat in my bag. If a predator attacks, nine times out of ten I can dissuade it with food.”
“And for the other one time out of ten?”
She looked at me with more seriousness than I had yet seen from her. “I kill it.”
We left the Tokuami to his business. Soon, we came to a large, old Japanese-style house with boarded windows and crumbling wood. As much as I silently begged that we would pass on by, Divina stopped in front and turned to me. “You want me to wait outside, don’t you?” I asked.
“Yes. Bu
t whatever you do, don’t run off. And don’t look so depressed, I’m not doing anything wrong.”
As stupid as it was, I felt like I could believe her. She went in and closed the door quietly behind her. I turned away and looked down the street just as a raincloud hid the sun and it became quite dark.
“Great.” The few people in the street cleared out and the wind picked up. I was sure the sky had been clear just half an hour before, but I tried not to worry about horror movies I’d seen that started with the same exact scene.
I leaned my back against the wall so nothing could sneak up on me. It wasn’t a few minutes later that rain started to fall heavily, and since there was no protection from the rain, I was immediately soaked with the freezing water. For some reason, my clothes (Edward’s clothes) were water-resilient, which provided a small comfort.
There was suddenly a hackling in the distance, sort of like a hyena’s laugh. It didn’t bother me too much… What did bother me was the quick yelp before everything went silent. I preferred the silence to the blood-curdling, unearthly howl that replaced it. More howls erupted. It was definitely not from a wolf; it was a much more frightening sound, and it was coming closer.
Surely Divina hadn’t accounted for me being attacked and wouldn’t expect me to stay outside. Fully anticipating what was inside to be more dangerous than what was outside, I opened the door and stumbled through it. The room was old and crumbling with just enough light to show the decomposition. The door suddenly slammed shut with a gust of wind and plunged the room into darkness.
I waited for a few minutes, listening for any sound other than the rain pounding against the roof and the wind making the house creak. There were voices in another room, so I followed the sound until I came to the wall and felt my way to the doorknob. Opening it just a little allowed me to see Divina sitting in a large leather chair, across from a man in a larger chair. They were talking in front of a bright fireplace with a strangely red fire. Divina was buried in shadow but the man was visible. He was a creepy person, which fit in well with the house, with black hair, dark eyes, and a baleful expression.
It was none of my business, but I was extremely nosy by nature, so I listened for a few minutes. They were speaking another language, which didn’t sound like Sudo, and I didn’t want them to notice me, so I closed the door and retreated to the front door. While I wasn’t going back outside to be eaten, I had the commonsense not to explore the decrepit building. I was more than a little interested in Divina’s business here, though.
There was no warning; the wood beneath my feet gave way and I fell into the dark.
I could see the misshaped hole many feet above me become blurry. For a couple of minutes all I could hear and feel was my frantic heartbeat, then my head started to throb with a dull pain and I could feel warm liquid seeping down my scalp. My leg suddenly burned, but I wasn’t sure which one it was. My vision became blurrier and faded as I passed out.
* * *
When I woke, I knew I had been out for a long time. I also knew my head should have hurt, but my whole body felt great. There was a gentle, cool wet cloth on my forehead. “How do you feel?” The most beautiful, glorious sound in the world softly broke the silence.
“Amazing,” I purred. I didn’t want anything to burst my peaceful bubble, but my eyes opened of their own accord. Divina was next to me, combing her fingers through my hair, her face so close I could feel her warmth.
The room was dim with and I was in a bed that felt like it was made of feathers with satin sheets. I tried to sit up, but Divina stopped me with a gentle hand on my chest.
“Rest a little more. You hurt your head very badly.”
Damn, her voice is beautiful. “Am I on drugs?” I asked.
“No, you’re under a healing spell. You should be healed now, but there’s no sense in rushing it. Just relax,” she said soothingly. My body obeyed.
In all my life, I never once became addicted to pain meds, but it sure felt like I was on my way to becoming addicted to her. “Where are we?”
“We’re at a hotel in West Mijii. You’ve been unconscious for about six hours. We’ll head out about five hours until dawn. That gives you plenty of time to use the bath and enjoy the hotel. Don’t think; just enjoy everything as much as you can.”
“Who was that man you were talking to?” I asked.
She sighed. “It doesn’t matter right now,” she said.
“Tell me anyway.” I tried to focus on her, but my eyes wouldn’t cooperate.
“His name is Nano. We had some business to discuss. I needed to give him some information on where and when to meet someone. Further details are his business and it would be inappropriate to tell you.”
“You people need phones,” I said, closing my eyes again. “Does that have something to do with your job?”
“It is my job. I find and relay information, make appointments, and advise people on who to trust or distrust. I overhear things. Sometimes the job involves making potions. Sometimes it involves playing arm candy until someone blurts out their evil plans.”
“So you’re like a spy. A hired spy. That’s pretty cool.” That was my last thought as I fell asleep.
I woke again not long later. Divina was asleep next to me on her stomach, facing me, relaxed, and gorgeous as always. I felt like I could lay there all day just watching her, but that would have been creepy.
The room was dim and warm and the only sound was from a small waterfall. I sat up slowly. There was one bed, low to the ground, with black satin sheets, four very plushy pillows, and a thick, soft, blood red blanket. Several feet to the right of the bed was a small, four-foot-wide, square, glass table in a mahogany wood frame.
On the table was a two-foot-tall rock statue of a dog-like creature, standing on a bed of small, black rocks that were neatly placed inside a shallow pot. The creature had glass eyes. The most interesting aspect of it, though, was that its mouth was open and water streamed from it into the rocks. I wanted to touch it, but it could have been a religious or philosophical item where it would have been rude to do so.
Sitting next to the statue was what looked like a large, translucent butterfly, about five inches wide with about eight sectors on each wing. Each sector was slightly a different color with tiny, glowing lines throughout the wings. It flapped its illuminated wings several times before fluttering away. There were five more, providing most of the light in the room.
The rest of the light was supplied by three globes, each about a foot wide. One sat on either side of the bed, towards the pillows, and the other was in the far corner of the room. The one on my side of the bed was slowing red and black like lava and it looked like it was moving. The one on Divina’s side was light green with a dark red, thick, long ribbon inside that slowly moved around like a snake. On the other side of the room, the globe was clear with what looked like a sphere of yellow and red fire in the middle.
I pulled the covers off of me and put my feet on the floor. It was a very flexible and soft wood, which seemed to contrast with rock walls. I tested my strength and my legs felt fine, so I slipped out of bed, trying not to wake Divina.
After standing for a moment, making sure I didn’t just pass out, I made slowly for the paper, Japanese-style door. I slid it open to reveal a hallway, with three doors. The closest one opened to a room that was barely bigger than a bathroom stall, but I was thrilled to see a toilet with indoor plumbing. In fact, it looked just like any American one. I went to the next door and found a sink and bathtub. The sink was built in a black marble table with a silver nozzle above it. I didn’t see and knobs, so I stuck my hands under it. Warm water poured out and when I removed my hands, it stopped. Above the sink was a round mirror, about two feet in diameter.
Wrapped around my head was a white bandage. I took it off slowly, wondering if it would be stuck to an open wound and hurt. It didn’t. My forehead was fine and so was the back of my head when I touched it, though I could feel dried blood and a long scab. Whatever
healing powers Divina had, they would have really helped during my childhood on Earth.
The black bathtub beside it was built low into the floor, but was deep and had nozzles in the sides like a hot tub. Inside the tub was lined with a seat. On the far rim of the tub was a set of silver buttons with words written beside them and a small indent for a round bar of green soap.
There was no use talking myself out of it. I stripped off the little clothes I was wearing; my boxers, and stepped in. Hot water started flowing from the nozzles automatically, so I sat on the seat and let my feet soak in the rising water. I expected the seat and back to be hard, but they were cushioned. When the water reached my navel, I pushed all the buttons. The pouring water became scented and the mixed scents from the different buttons were wonderful, but girly, so I pushed the buttons again until they stopped. I picked up the soap and, not to my surprise, it smelled slightly of mint and green tea.
I washed my hair out very carefully. The water shut off automatically when it reached my chest. After washing myself, I put my arms on the rim to keep my fingers from shriveling and laid my head back.
The next thing I knew, Divina was shaking me awake and I felt like I had slept for a few hours.
Divina had changed her outfit; she was wearing a black, skintight, long-sleeved shirt with fishnet mesh on her shoulders and gold writing across her stomach. Her pants were tight, black, and shiny.
I stared at her, confused for a minute, before I realized I was naked in a bath.
“Relax, I’ve seen everything a man has,” she said when I quickly tried to cover myself. “Hurry up and get dressed; we have to go as soon as possible.” She left me pondering how well her pants framed her curves. The water in the tub started to drain as soon as I stepped out of it.