by Oxford, Rain
“Igno koyota mir anta---” Edward’s hand slapped over my mouth and he pulled me away from Hiroku, who suddenly looked like he was going to attack me. I loved it. Divina started outright laughing and Akia’s face was pink.
“Moshi ite. Moshi ite,” Edward said, but no one paid him any attention.
He growled and I felt as if it would be much safer in Hiroku’s grasp than my mentor’s. I tried to pull Edward’s hand away so I could breathe, but the more I tried, the harder it became. Divina said something to him that I didn’t catch and he let me go. I gasped for air and Hiroku’s grin returned, though it looked more strained than before.
Say, kada mido sagata kotaki muda aito setsai muda genjiya yabe kiyo tabato,” Divina said.
“Don’t say whatever Divina is telling you to say,” Edward said before I could start.
I was conflicted. I could listen to Divina; the woman who I was starving to get a kiss from, or listen to Edward; the man I was going to live with and learn magic from. I opened my mouth to speak when Hiroku beat me to it with something harsh and guttural.
Edward sighed. “Now say it.”
I said it and Hiroku’s face turned red. I was really enjoying myself.
Hiroku smoldered as his brain rushed to think passed his anger, but Akia, frightened that her son would retaliate, said “Naoka hanu.” Hiroku glanced from me to Edward before he turned and went inside.
“Moshi ite,” I said sincerely to Akia.
She smiled at me and said, “Gojenai. Bedo.” She hugged Divina, and then me.
While the woman was undeniably beautiful, hugging her was as platonic as hugging an older sister, not that I had an older sister to compare it to. Then she went to Edward and they shared another long kiss. We said our goodbyes and started down the street.
As soon as Akia shut the door, Edward patted Divina on the back. “That was very good, Divina.”
She grinned and wrapped her arm around my waist. Since she had done this several times already, I felt safe enough to put my arm around her, so I did, cautiously. She didn’t object. She was very warm and fit really well against my side. I knew touchy-feely women, but I didn’t think Divina was like that.
“He did all the work. He did it well, too,” she praised.
Edward nodded his agreement.
“Nice son you have, Edward,” I said sarcastically.
He frowned. “I really don’t know what got into him. He never acts like that.”
“It was father jealousy,” Divina said. We both looked at her and she smirked. “He misses you, Kiro, and when he discovered you were with Dylan, here, he assumed Dylan was your son and you were spending far more time with him than with your poor little Hiroku. What’d you expect would happen? You’ve had enough kids to know how they act.”
“How many kids have you had, Edward?”
“Um… Some of them I don’t believe were mine, so I’m not sure.”
“More like he lost count.”
“What was it that…” I stopped myself from insulting Edward’s son at the last second. “Hiroku said to me?”
“Well, he asked you if you were a lawyer or something because you were clearly not into physical work; your skin is too pale. You said that you weren’t; that you were light skinned because of your mother and then you asked where he got the artificial tan. Then he said you had a funny accent and you said he had a funny outfit.”
“Did he?”
“Of course; it was his school uniform. Didn’t you see it?” Divina asked.
I shook my head; I hadn’t noticed. I didn’t mention that I noticed Akia’s outfit extensively. I may not have felt anything when she hugged me, and Divina was more my type, but Akia was still an attractive woman. Divina was a lot more my type.
“Okay, well, when Kiro told you to apologize, I told you what to say twice. Why didn’t you say what I told you to?”
“I couldn’t. I knew what you wanted me to say because that was what Mordon said when we crashed into each other. I couldn’t say it.”
Edward laughed. “Good thing, too. It would have been unfortunate if you had; even Akia wanted you to put him in his place,” he said. I was glad I made the right decision. “It’s funny that you two almost got into a physical fight because he wanted my attention and you wanted Divina’s.”
It wasn’t that funny.
“After you refused to apologize to him, you told him that your mother told you never to apologize to a---”
“You don’t need to clarify that, Divina,” Edward warned.
“I want to know,” I argued.
“Kiro’s right, sweetie. It was a little too malicious. I thought I did a little too much, there. Then he told you that he didn’t expect anything more from a mother’s boy who was home-schooled. You said you weren’t home-schooled by your mother; you were home-schooled by Kiro and that Kiro taught you so much magic that you could blow up his ridiculously small brain without even trying. You emphasized his ridiculously small brain, but most effective was that the word you called Kiro was one used for very close family relations. I’m very impressed that you were able to repeat all that.”
“You both did very well. So well that I’ll need to visit them later and apologize. I really had hoped you two would get along.”
“I wanted to,” I said.
“I know. He insulted you and you had to retaliate. It was not your fault. If anything, it’s mine. I really should visit him more.”
We turned the corner and I saw a large iron gate at the end of the street, which divided the neighborhood and city. The buildings in the city were very different from the houses; they were all tall, made with strong-looking wood and rock skirting, and had huge wooden doors that opened inward.
Most of the buildings were stores and people were already putting things out on display to make their shops more attractive. This was nothing like the Mijii outdoor markets, where cheap, interesting merchandise was presented from tightly packed stalls.
Within ten minutes, we had reached a different section of town, where shops were smaller and closer together, and selected samples of merchandise were artfully displayed in windows and in front of stores. There was everything from book stores to magic shops. We passed the most fascinating candy store I’d ever seen with amazing sweets, from little candy animals that walked, hopped, and flew, to suckers that changed color. A young girl walked out with a cup of bright purple ice-cream that changed to dark green as she licked it.
It wasn’t long before people began their morning shopping and when they did, the shops reached out for them. The streets were suddenly crowded and shop employees were showing off their products. People wore everything from t-shirts to tunics (like Edward wore). There were some that very much resembled business suits and even some ancient Greek and Roman style dresses. Some people, not to my surprise, wore outfits that were similar to kimonos.
New smells assaulted me at every step, from smoky aromas of cooking meat, to sweet fragrances of fruits, to complicated perfumes of incense. Sounds were overwhelming as well; sounds of people talking, stores advertising, music playing, as well as the occasional odd sounds lost in the crowd. Everything was so colorful.
One man passed me with a little glass ball of what looked like dark clouds. Lightning lit it from the inside. Edward laughed at my wonder. “A child’s toy. All the really interesting objects are inside.”
I looked around to see if anyone was reacting to the English, but no one noticed. I tried to hang back to watch, but Edward and Divina kept a brisk pace. I passed a little girl holding a tiny representation of a dragon. I didn’t get a good look at it and thought it was just a little statue- until a stream of fire erupted from its mouth and almost fried the young boy beside her.
There was a group of boys about eight years old, all in uniform that included black dress pants, tan, long-sleeved dress shirts, and black vests. They were carrying books and avoiding eye contact with everyone as a very strict-looking woman hurried them on. The majority of th
e shoppers were women who were in a hurry. Most of the scarce children were excited about everything. The few men were never alone; they were either chaperoning children or their wives, which usually meant carrying the bags and boxes.
I got so distracted that I almost ran into a poor old man who was two feet shorter than me with a head of long white hair. I quickly regained my balance and my blood froze; I was at an intersection and Divina and Edward were nowhere in sight.
After looking around for a minute, the streets became even more crowded and I was in the way of busy people. I continued straight, almost at a run, but I didn’t find them. I was lost on an alien world and I couldn’t speak the inhabitants’ language. Trying to act normal only made me stress until I was hyperventilating. I had a two in three chance of getting further and further from Edward and Divina. Even if they realized I was missing, they wouldn’t know where to find me, and if I wasn’t going the right way, I was making it harder.
After a lot of thought, I found a narrow alleyway between two shops, sat down against one of the walls, and watched for Edward or Divina. About twenty minutes later, I was really starting to panic. It’s one thing to be lost in a strange place where I don’t know the language, it’s another when people will do experiments on me for not knowing the language. Edward never actually told me what sago would do if they discovered I wasn’t from Duran, but I could only assume it would make the Salem witch trials seem like child’s play.
A very light hissing made me jump. I looked all around me before I had the sense to look down. Sitting there was an animal a person couldn’t fear. It resembled a sugar glider with smaller ears and more of a feline face. The fur was long and dark brown. It turned its tiny head on its side and reached a front paw toward me. The paws consisted of four tiny, webbed fingers with tiny claws.
“Hey, there,” I cooed. It slowly turned its head on its other side before skittering forward. Its sides bent almost like a reptile’s when walking. The tail was twice as long as the rest of the body and was very bushy. From back to ground it was only about six inches tall. “Are you going to eat me?” I asked gently. It stopped at my crossed legs and I reached out my hand. It lifted its front paws and braced them against my palm. After a few seconds of sniffing me, it opened its mouth wide to reveal many razor teeth.
Okay, so maybe that wasn’t my smartest move.
I didn’t take my hand back because I didn’t want it to freak out and attack. To my surprise, the little creature stuck out its tiny tongue in an unmistakable yawn before closing its mouth and hopping up onto my hand. It hardly weighed anything. We just stared at each other for a few moments before it took a few hesitant steps up my arm. Then it froze and looked back at my face as if to see that that was okay. After a few seconds, it hurried up my arm to perch on my left shoulder. Its claws were sharp, but they didn’t hurt because the creature was so light. It reached out slowly and placed its paw on my cheek.
“Hi,” I said.
It made a sound somewhere between hissing and breathing and then to my shock, it opened its mouth and licked its lips. “Hi,” it repeated. Its voice was small and high-pitched, almost like a bark. My eyes grew wide and its large eyes widened, too.
I opened my mouth to say something else, but then realized that I shouldn’t teach it any English that it could repeat to people. Humans had parrots, so I figured a talking squirrel-kitten wasn’t that big a deal. It then removed its hand and its bushy tail wrapped around my neck. I made a mental note to never tick the little creature off.
“I guess you’re going to wait here with me for a while.” It seemed to understand because it settled its head down on my shoulder. “I’m going to give you a name, okay? Are you a boy or girl?” It didn’t answer, and I didn’t want to look. “I’ll just call you a girl. What’s a good Duranian name? Well, I once had a Japanese kid in my class named Shinobu, so it’s got to be fairly realistic here. So, I’ll name you Shinobu… Unless you tell me otherwise.” She glanced up at me with her eyes, but didn’t lift her head or say anything. “Okay, Shinobu it is.” She closed her eyes and I leaned my head back.
“What a surprise to see you here. Your head is looking better.”
Startled, I jerked to my feet to see a man standing in the alley entrance. Shinobu looked up for a few seconds before concluding that she couldn’t care less, and laid her head back down. It took a few seconds to recognize the man as Nano. The features that were so menacing in the creepy house were open and friendly in the light of day. He was smiling, and it seemed genuine enough.
The guy looked a few years older than me, a few inches taller than me, and a few pounds heavier than me. His hair was dark brown with light gold highlights and his eyes matched exactly; deep brown with gold flakes. He wore a cream colored tunic with maroon slacks and black boots. What drew my attention was the odd, bright, off-orange purse with a strap wrapped snuggly around his thin waist.
“You’re Nano,” I said, dragging my eyes from the shrill orange.
“Yes, I am. And you’re Dylan.”
“How do you know who I am?”
“I know what you are, too. I am Hioji Nano, the Guardian of Dios. I was a friend of Ronez, and now of yours, if you want one.”
“Is that a Guardian version of ‘I come in peace’? Because it needs some work.”
He laughed. “I can see the resemblance. Let’s go for a walk.” He was walking away, deeper into the alley, before I could even give an answer. I predicted a lot of that from him.
“How do you know Divina?” I asked, following.
“She is a friend of mine. Kiro introduced me to her not long after they met… It wasn’t his idea, she sort of showed up. Anyway, she told me that Ronez died and you are the new Guardian. It’s difficult to believe. I used to visit Earth all the time, which is why I speak English.”
“Why did you come looking for me? How did you even find me?”
“Are you hungry?” he asked. I nodded. “How about lunch?” he asked without waiting for an answer. Again.
We emerged from the alley into another crowded street, so I followed in silence. It was difficult not to speak in front of these people; I wanted to ask questions, but I didn’t know if he would hide it like Divina and Edward did.
The small shops were intriguing, and I really wanted to check them out, but Nano seemed to be very hungry. At the end of the street was a large stall offering platters of steaming meat kabobs, each with a different sauce.
The cook was a thin man around my age in appearance with dark blue hair and vivid copper eyes. From afar, it looked like a good dye job, but his eyebrows matched. He had on a long-sleeved, cream shirt. There were large grills behind the cook, and above those was a large glass pane. To the far right on the counter was a small metal machine that looked like a cash register.
The cook asked Nano something, who glanced at me before ordering. “Do you have a check card?” After hearing Edward and Divina’s voices in my head, I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear Nano’s, but it was still weird.
I didn’t know what a check card was, but the first thing that popped into my head was the restaurant card I got from Divina. I pulled it out of the coin sack around my neck and handed it to him. He took it and slid it through a slot on the register. The glass pane above the grills became black with white Sudo symbols.
Nano handed me my card while the cook gathered different kabobs into a small white box, which Nano took in exchange for several silver coins. The cook gave him his change and they said their farewells. We left and took a deserted little street with closed, shabby shops. At the end of the street was a large lake, currently visited by several families. Once we found a spot far enough away that we wouldn’t be overheard, we sat down and Nano opened the box. He grabbed a kabob and took a bite while I sat there, waiting.
“You like to talk, don’t you?”
“Very much. I plan to learn enough Sudo to have Edward groaning in no time. Now… You didn’t find me on accident.”
“No, of course not. You are the new Guardian of Earth. I wanted to meet you, especially since I heard so much about you.”
“From Divina?”
“Do you know why the gods use the books?”
Subject change much? “No.”
“Do you know why signing the books gives you power?”
“No,” I said, feeling like the poor kid in class who’s been missing for several days and got way behind.
He frowned. “How much do you know about the books and their gods? How much do you understand?”
I shrugged. “Not much,” I admitted.
“That’s one of the reasons I wanted to meet you.” He looked at me and sighed, letting me know it would be a long talk. “Do you know what magic is?”
“Nominal energy.”
“There are many different terms for Guardians, magic, nominal energy, etc… But do you know what nominal energy is?”
“Energy that isn’t physical energy, but it affects physical energy.”
“Among other things. Nominal energy cannot directly affect physical objects, but it can manipulate physical energy. It can, however, change non-physical subjects of the universe, such as the spirit and mind. Now, normal people have to learn to manipulate the energy, while Guardians and, to a lesser degree, their descendants can manipulate it naturally.”
“All right, so what does it have to do with the books? Why do the Guardian’s need the books if they can just draw power from the worlds?”
“The books are the power of the worlds. They are almost a physical manifestation of the energy. People can draw power out of the world, but by signing your name in the book, you have a much more potent draw. Think of it as people sucking water through a filter. When you sign the book, you’re poking a straw through the filter. You not only get the magic much easier and faster, but it’s much more potent. But as you do, the power is also using you. The universe is balanced, and not even the gods can overcome this balance. I believe the phrase you are familiar with is, ‘For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.’ This is true even in magic. And that brings us to you.”