by Oxford, Rain
“It never stopped my brother. He once engaged me to someone without either of us even meeting her. Turned out she was already married.”
My fair mood soured.
“Don’t,” he said. “I can see the guilt all over you. You’re not a reminder of his death; you’re a reminder that he made the right decision, because Earth is still here. Helping you is keeping what he did from being a waste. That might even be why Divina is trying to help you so badly.”
“There are other wizards out there. Maybe the book came to me just by chance. You could have given it to someone who didn’t need so much protection.”
“No. I do believe the book came to you on purpose. You are a lot like Ronez, and when trained, you’ll be just as powerful. The way you adapt, both physically and mentally, is remarkable. Now, we’re wasting the day,” he said, standing up. He pulled a small sack just like Divina’s out of his bag and poured out a small handful of coins.
There were gold coins, silver coins, black coins, and dark brown coins, all about the size of quarters. He put one gold coin and three silver ones on the table before holding out the rest for me.
“You should have money to keep for emergencies.”
I took it, but held it out hesitantly. “I wouldn’t know how to use it; I don’t know enough Sudo. Plus, Divina already gave me a bunch of the black ones,” I said. His eyes widened. “How much are they worth?” I asked, taking the pouch from around my neck.
“A person in Anoshii with an average job makes about one jue in two weeks.” He held out a small silver coin with a hole in the middle. “This is a klah; almost worthless.” He picked out a silver coin with no hole in it. “This is a dol, worth ten klah.” He held up a larger silver coin. “This is a menso, worth fifteen dol.” He held up a small gold coin with a hole in the middle. “This is Kurol, worth five menso.” He held up a gold coin with no hole. “This is an unlah, worth ten menso.” He held up the black coin. “And this is a jue, worth fifteen unlah.”
I poured the pouch into my palm and counted fifteen. “Do you think she would take these back?”
“Absolutely not. However, if you used that to buy something with, you’d get mugged.”
“That wouldn’t be a problem if you had let me keep Shinobu. She saved me from a gang.”
He sighed. “I didn’t make you get rid of her to be mean. That was a dangerous creature. If I had let you keep her, you would have been arrested for keeping a vicious and poisonous monster. She could have killed you with one bite.”
“She wouldn’t have bitten me. She likes me.”
“She may have tolerated you, but naowen are not pets. She would have gotten angry with you for some reason. After arresting you, they would have put her down. Let her be free to hide in her natural environment.”
I sighed, knowing he was probably right.
“Keep this with you,” he said, handing me a mixture of coins. “If you get separated again and need something like food, there are street markets everywhere on Anoshii. You just give them whatever everyone else is giving them. Food stalls can be found in the covered markets and usually specialize on one food. Find one that smells good and watch what everyone else gives and how much they get for it. Please don’t get lost again.” He opened the door, grabbed his bag, stepped out. After a second, I slipped the coins into the pouch and put it on.
Once outside, Edward decided the first thing I needed was clothes. I followed him for a few minutes before he stopped and turned to me. “What kind of clothes do you want? The kind you’re wearing, the kind I wear, or the kind more like what you wore before?”
I looked around. Most men wore clothes like Edward’s, but several had clothes like mine. “I like this material and style, but whatever works better in the forests.” I was still wearing the outfit Nano gave me, but Dios was a far different environment than the forests of Duran. “I just don’t look good in pastels or white.”
“Don’t focus too much on what everyone else is wearing; people wear what holds up best in the conditions they live and work in. You can tell about where people live and usually what kind of work they do by what they wear. Anoshii is full of people from all over the world.”
We passed a group of five teenage boys in black robes. “Are there magic schools?”
“Yes. They’re usually for rich people who would prefer to pay for lessons than work for them. I taught at one once and couldn’t stand it. I really don’t know how anyone can learn anything at them.”
“Does Hiroku know magic?”
“Very little. He prefers science.”
“I thought Duran was united in science and magic,” I said.
“For the most part; they’re separate, but they coexist. Duran was structured on religion. Each of the great lands once had an entirely individual culture and religion, and worshiped a different form of nature. The Reformation was the first time Duran even attempted to unite. It was a united and unanimous decision that the world would be ruled with politics and science, since religion had pretty much crashed. We now have no real religion, but more of a philosophy that nature is important and everything from the trees to animals have a spirit. Some still believe that nature spirits are minor gods, or are controlled and guided by minor gods.
“However, with religion at a standstill, magic became independent of the gods. Where they once believed that magic was created from the gods, now most sago believe that the gods have magic, which comes from nature. There is a controversy as to if magic should be acknowledged in the world’s search for knowledge, or if only science should. If a question can be answered with magic, is it viable? If politics tries to get involved, people get furious, because magic is considered separated from law, as religion is. But people who believe magic is as reliable as science argue that if science is acknowledged in law, so must magic. This goes on to the degree that most schools of science teach their students that magic is a useless sport and is like learning about fairytales. Most schools of magic, which are far more rare, teach that magic is the reason science works.”
“Your politics sound a lot more interesting than America’s.”
We walked in silence until we arrived at a shop a few minutes later, where Edward paused. “This is Lue’s clothes shop. She’s a little weird, but just remember not to say anything in English.”
When we entered, I was surprised to find that there was only one woman there, who I assumed was Lue. She had short, spiky, light pink hair and her eyes were stone grey. She was about thirty and wore a tight, dark blue, zip-up vest with a matching, pleated miniskirt. Her black boots went to her knees and her black socks went most of the way to her skirt. On her upper arms were two identical symbols that I guessed were words.
The walls were wood, lined with shelves of folded clothes. Below each perfect stack was a small, silver plaque with writing on it. On the bottom shelves were boots that ranged from cow-boy style to black leather combat style. There was a large, round wooden table in the middle of the room with no chairs around it. On the far side of the room was a wooden counter Lue stood in front of. Next to the counter was a large mirror.
Lue hurried forward to greet us with a big smile and a question in Sudo, which Edward responded to and indicated me.
“Dera de tatu ike,” she said to me as she returned to her counter.
“Go and stand by the mirror,” Edward said in my head.
I wondered if he was listening to my thoughts as I went over to the mirror. Lue approached me with a tape measure, which in itself was perfectly normal considering this was a clothing store. After she measured me around the chest, neck, shoulders, arms, and down the back without writing any measurements down, I became uncomfortable. She kept measuring.
Once she was done, she started dashing around the room, gathering garments from different piles while Edward spoke. My assumption was that he was telling her what I needed, and she had some kind of photographic memory for measurements.
Lue piled clothes on the table until it threatened t
o topple over. Finally done, she beckoned me over. To my incredible surprise and horror, she grabbed my shirt and tried pulling it over my head. I showed my displeasure by locking my arms stubbornly to my side.
“Soge hinaide kudanai,” she said, annoyed.
“Just let her do her job,” Edward said.
Lue started slapping my arm. It wasn’t painful, though I had a feeling it could get to be. I let her do what she wanted, but didn’t make it easy. She set the shirt on the table and I crossed my arms, then she picked up a dark green shirt and glared at me until I raised my arms. I hadn’t been forcefully changed since Mother stopped when I was ten, and having a stranger do it was no less aggravating and humiliating.
Lue beamed when the dark green shirt was in place and turned me toward the mirror. The shirt was long-sleeved but thin and light. It was sort of like the material of Edward’s shirt except it was stretchy, like smooth, strong cotton. At least it fit.
“Sakai da?” she asked me.
“Do you like it?” Edward translated.
“Mowa,” I answered. Lue seemed pleased and started removing the shirt. I tensed, but knew I couldn’t dissuade her. She placed the shirt on the table and picked up an Easter-purple one. I quickly crossed my arms. “Laba,” I said.
She glared at me, but as the seconds ticked by, she considered whether or not I could be persuaded. She finally decided I couldn’t and put it down. When she picked up a tan-colored shirt, I uncrossed my arms. I didn’t like the color, but it wasn’t offensive.
After about twenty minutes of changing into clothes, the only ones I refused were the ones of ridiculous colors or the two that itched to high heaven. I didn’t only try on light-weight summer shirts, but also thick winter ones that had me sweating in minutes. Then Lue reached for my pants and I jumped back.
“Soge hinaide kudanai,” she demanded, but Edward came to my defense. She handed me my original shirt, which I quickly put it on, and then started refolding the clothes I turned down.
“Pick out a pair of shoes,” Edward said. I frowned as I looked around. “Those on the right are men’s,” he answered my unasked question.
I hurried over and grabbed a pair of black combat boots, but then hesitated, because I didn’t know if I was supposed to know my size or try them on. I really needed to learn Sudo.
“You can try them on. You need something with room, though.”
After I took off Edward’s boots, Lue handed me a pair of white, thick socks and then resumed her folding.
“Put those on first,” he said.
I nodded and peeled off my sticky socks, to which Edward shuddered. I put the clean socks on, then the boots. They were too big, so I tried on a slightly smaller pair that fit.
We left about twenty minutes later with about fifteen outfits, a bunch of socks, and two pairs of boots. I really didn’t want so many clothes, but Edward insisted that by the time I learned to walk through the forest, I wouldn’t have half of them left, and also that the changing weather can be demanding. I carried the bag half full of the clothes and the other empty bags, which I feared were going to get filled.
“What were those symbols or words on her arms?” I asked.
“What? Oh. Those were protection charms to keep evil spirits out of her. Even though Duran doesn’t have a religion, people usually heed the philosophy enough to keep charms, and there are shrines where people can go to ask the gods of nature for something like a good pregnancy or good crops. When people mix philosophy and magic, they can create some pretty powerful charms. Which reminds me…”
He pulled out two small objects, one red and one blue, and handed them to me. They looked like little, rectangular, silk sacks, about one and a half inch tall and an inch across. On the front of each was a word in gold script. On the back of the red one, in the same gold, was a little pond with two circling fish and a stone lantern. There wasn’t anything on the back of the blue one.
“Is this a protection charm?” I asked.
“Yes, how did you know?”
“I’m not sure. I guess because the fish seem to be protecting each other and the lantern is protection from the darkness. I think I just guessed.”
“Well, you have a great grasp of symbolism. Or maybe you just naturally understand Duran’s philosophy.”
“Psychology is my strong point, and I believe philosophy is very similar. Not math. I don’t like numbers. They’re too contradictory. One number can mean a thousand different things and can be used in infinitely many ways. I like how the brain works.”
“You would have gotten along well with Ronez. Anyway, that’s for you.”
“Thank you. What is the blue one for?”
“Healing.”
“They have their work cut out for them.”
Our next stop was a shop of weapons and farming tools. As dangerous a combination as that sounded, it was made worse by how cramped it was between the ten people already there and the many shelves that divided the room.
Edward focused on a shelf full of daggers, throwing stars, throwing knives, and swords. One of the swords caught his eye and he took it down, but after examining it for a few minutes, he put it back and moved on.
“Pick out a weapon you can keep with you in case you get mugged again.”
Oh, but that would never happen. I checked out the daggers.
There was nothing that wasn’t sharp except for the guns. I really didn’t want to carry a gun around. If I got a sword, maybe people wouldn’t want to mug me and I wouldn’t ever have to use it. Or, it could tell people I had something to defend.
There was a dagger with a black handle which came out over the side with sharp spikes. It was cool, and if struck the right way, could protect my hand. I just couldn’t imagine actually stabbing someone.
Edward was examining an object that had a small handle with a flat metal plate. He looked at me and I showed him the dagger. “You’re definitely related to Ronez. I think I have something at home you may like more. None the matter, they don’t have what we came for.”
I put the dagger back, curious to see what Edward had in mind, and we left. “Do they have light sabers here?”
He frowned at me. “You’re not getting one. They’re too dangerous for someone like you.”
I sulked, but couldn’t argue with that.
We proceeded to several other stores, most of which weren’t very interesting. We went to a store full of many different things, from which I got a bag similar to Edward’s and a headache from many heavy objects falling off a tall shelf onto me.
We then went to a medical supply store where I got just about every medicine Edward could think of. Most of them came in little glass bottles, but some were in boxes or tubes. He also got a large supply of bandages, stitches (I couldn’t believe they sold them), antibiotics, braces, and other things I couldn’t identify. He had to show them some kind of card before he could buy everything.
“Don’t worry,” he said after we left, “most of this stuff is just for you to take care of yourself if I’m not there and you get injured.”
“Um… I’m not sewing myself up.”
“Would you prefer bleeding to death?”
“Yes. Yes, I would.”
Edward was silent for a little while before turning to me. “Where do you want to go? You can’t read so I assume you want something else to keep you entertained.”
“Are you telling me to go find a good toy at the toy store?”
“Pretty much.”
I nodded. “That’s really cool of you, but I would prefer to work on studying Sudo, or magic, or household chores. Without cartoons and sci-fi comics, I really can’t think of anything else to keep me busy. Have you ever played chess?”
“I have, and I would be happy to play a few games, but it isn’t my favorite. Cards are more my thing.”
“What I’d really like is empty notebooks and writing utensils. Maybe some music. Do you have some kind of CDs or something?”
“Something to t
hat effect.”
We went to a book store and I had to wait in the doorway because the shelves looked unstable. Edward came out with a very big magic book for himself and four empty black books of different sizes for me, as well as a sack of pencils. I got to look at the writing in the magic book as we walked. I pointed out one that looked cool. “What’s this spell?” I asked.
“An obedience spell. A good one.” There was writing, probably instructions, and then what was clearly an incantation. I pointed to the first symbol of the chant.
“What’s this word?”
He glanced at it. “Megal.”
I pointed to the next one. “And this?”
“Udgai.” I pointed to the next one and he caught on to my plan. “Would you stop that? You have to do more than say the words to make that work.” I opened my mouth to ask him what else I’d have to do, but he didn’t let me. “Do you think I’m an idiot?”
“No. But I got two words that I can compare to others to try to figure it out.”
“Good luck with that.”
That was cold.
“We’re almost finished, but we need to go by and get your license on the way back.”
“License?”
“Proof of title. That’s why I had to fill out those papers. I hope you like how you wrote your signature.”
“What else do we need?”
“Only a few more yard supplies and bullets. I was thinking about something. I eat mainly meat and fruit, and chew on Wigknot bark. The people of my world are very adaptive. Humans need vegetables, bread, fruit, meat, and calcium stuff.”
“Yeah, well, I never ate that stuff before. Don’t worry about my diet, I got fifty percent of my grub from work, and my home-cooked food consisted of S.O.S. and rock soup.”
“S.O.S?” he asked.
“Shit on a Shingle. It’s toast with ground beef on top and white gravy poured over it. Anything I eat here would be healthier. Are fruits sweet or sour?”
“Some are sweet, some are sour, and most are both. Shomodii and Zendii are the best lands for fruit, but the fruits on Shomodii are bigger and sweeter. Anyway, I thought you may want variety. Why don’t you put your new boots on?” he asked as I stumbled.