by EJ Wozniak
“Yeah, why would anyone live here?”
“It’s not that bad here. The people are all like us. There are a lot of different people here that you will meet, all with different stories.”
“No, I mean why would the Eauge people choose to live here?”
“Look around, there is water all around us. We thrive here. We are more protected here. Yeah, it’s really cold, and is a bit rugged looking, but we are all protected and at full strength here.”
“You mean you aren’t able to do your water tricks outside of this town?” Lumen asked.
“You saw me do something in the school bathroom, remember?”
“Oh right . . . thanks again for that.”
“Anyways, there are just some places we are less powerful, more vulnerable. For example, if we were in Incendious we would have a harder time as opposed to here.”
“Incendious? Where’s that?”
“You remember almost dying in the quicksand? The desert? That’s where the Ignous people live. They flourish in dry environments, and, conversely, would have a difficult time here in Entropolis...”
Lumen squinted his eyes and nodded his head as if he were starting to understand this new world.
“So, are the Oosh people and Ignous, like, enemies? Fire vs. Water? Is that who you fight or battle?”
At that moment, a man walking barefoot in what appeared to be a thin, tan loincloth passed by them. Lumen looked at the man’s feet and noticed a small puddle of steaming water where a footprint should’ve been.
“No, Lumen. We are at peace with the other three tribes. We all trade with one another and work together to limit the rebels who cause chaos on Earth.”
“There was a time when we were at war though,” Alec continued, “The Ignous once had a leader come to power that led the people to rally against the rest of us. They believed that we all deserved to reign over Earth and were determined to, well, destroy the people of Earth. As you can see, he was defeated and removed from power, and we have been at peace since.”
“What happened? Did you guys go to war? Did he die?” Lumen asked curiously.
All of the sudden, a window opened up beside them. Slightly taken aback, Lumen tried to make out the two figures stepping through the white light. It was Allister and Janis, of course.
“Hello boys! We need to pick up some materials for classes starting next week. Thought we would say hello.”
Lumen waved.
“Hey, Al. I was just telling Lumen a little bit about the Eauge history,” Alec was giddy.
“Oh, no need to go over anymore now! Let the boy take in this new world. Show him around a little bit! There will be plenty of learning next week.”
“Oi Alec, don’t overwhelm the boy. You talking about war and the bloody battles of the past? Don’t worry Lumen, we have been at peace for some time now. Alec has never experienced those things first hand. Just what he has heard.” Janis shook his head at Alec. Lumen forgot that there was a talking cat named Janis who wore a little red vest and goggles on top of his head. Of all things in this new world, this is what made Lumen question his sanity.
“I think I have experienced enough to talk about it, Janis . . .”
Allister spoke up before Janis could say anything else.
“Give the boy a break, Janis, you know very well he has every right to talk about the past. Just don’t overwhelm Lumen. We will be on our way now. Good day boys, see you soon.”
Allister turned the other way, followed by Janis. Allister looked down at Janis, saying something as they walked away. Lumen couldn’t hear what he said to the cat but caught that Allister was speaking about Alec. Janis put his paw over his heart and put his head down momentarily, seemingly apologizing.
Lumen thought they looked weird together. Allister was well over six feet tall, had long grayish/white hair with goggles holding his hair back, wearing a long green trench coat. Janis only went up to Allister’s knees when standing on his hind two paws.
“Why do they wear goggles?” Lumen asked.
Alec seemed a little flustered about the conversation with Janis. His face was red and he muttered something under his breath.
“Oh, the goggles? I’m not really sure. Allister is a master of all, so maybe he is always testing stuff. Nobody knows really. We think Janis tries to be like Allister sometimes. Just a poser. Probably why he wears the goggles,” Alec said bitterly.
Lumen figured out then that Alec and Janis don’t necessarily get along. He was curious as to why.
“Well alright, what now?”
“Right, well let’s take a look around for a little while and pick up what we came for,” Alec replied.
Lumen scratched his head as he tried to remember what they came for.
“Right, and we are here for . . .”
“Your luxem, you know, so you can hold lights . . .”
“Duh, my luxem . . .”
“I thought we talked about this?”
“Maybe. . .I doubt it.”
“Your personal luxem will hold lights. So wherever you are, you can open a window. Most people use it to save lights that take them home, or a safe place. My luxem takes me to Allister’s cabin.”
“Where is your luxem?”
Alec held his wrist out.
“This bracelet is my luxem.”
Lumen looked at the bracelet and saw “Mom, Dad, and Marty.”
“Marty? I thought you had multiple siblings?”
Alec pulled his wrist back quickly and covered it with his other hand. He kept his head down while answering.
“No, just the one. It’s a gift from Al when I first got here . . . Let’s go.”
Why would you lie about your siblings? Why haven’t I have ever met them? What are you hiding? Lumen immediately thought to himself
He decided not to push him for any more.
“So will I be getting a bracelet as well? How does that even work? I didn’t see any buttons or anything on it. How does it hold light?”
“It just does, not really sure how it works either. The person who invented them was a genius apparently. . . Anyway, when you need the lights, they are there.”
Lumen didn’t understand but decided not to question it.
They continued walking through the village. Lumen was very observant, and the two didn’t say much to each other while walking. Lumen was distracted by the new world, and Alec seemed to have a lot on his mind. Wrigley stayed close to Lumen.
Lumen noticed that almost everyone from here looked similar. Most of the men and women had long hair. He figured it was to help them stay warm. There was a plethora of shops and markets selling all sorts of things. One shop, with a hanging wooden sign that read “Cibus Mart”, seemed to be filled with people. He looked in and saw rows of shelves filled with what appeared to be fruits and vegetables. He figured it was like a grocery store. They walked by another shop called “Licor”, and inside were some men and women sitting at a bar with large mugs. Lumen guessed that this was where the adults hung out.
Most of the buildings were hard to tell apart as they were all covered in snow and icicles. They were all made of wood, and almost all of them were without doors as he could see right into each shop. He noticed there weren’t any street lights or stop lights. They must not have electricity here, he thought.
They walked by people playing music, which sounded much like that on Earth. A girl sang, a man strummed a makeshift guitar, and another played the drums. The instruments looked like they had been put together on the spot; the drummer used what appeared to be trash cans and the guitar was composed of some wood nailed together and had only three strings. Nonetheless, Lumen thought they sounded nice. The girl had a good voice. It was soothing. She winked at Lumen as they walked by. Lumen blushed.
They passed another lady that appeared to be preaching to people while standing on top of a wooden box. Her clothes were more ragged than the rest of the people there, and her hair seemed to have not been combed in quite som
e time. She wasn’t wearing shoes either. Nobody was around her. She was yelling things to people as they passed, and her voice sounded hoarse, as if she had been there for hours. She pointed at Lumen and yelled, “You, come here!”
Lumen hesitated but walked over to the lady.
“Yes?”
“I can see you are new here.”
She placed her hand on Lumen’s shoulder. Her eyes rolled back until only the whites were showing.
“Oh my, oh no . . . “ she opened her eyes and looked wide-eyed at Lumen, her grip tightening. “Leave now while you can. No. . .no this can’t be right. Leave now, child.”
Lumen was confused. The woman’s grip started to hurt Lumen’s shoulder and he tried to step away. The woman wouldn’t let go.
“Your future is short if you stay. All of us have limited time, but yours is particularly short. Stay away from him!” She warned while glaring wide-eyed at Lumen.
She pulled her hand away and held it with the other as if Lumen’s shoulder had hurt it. She appeared to be shaken and stepped off of the box and walked away quickly. Wrigley barked at her as she left.
“Oh, don’t listen to that nonsense, Lu. She says that stuff all the time,” Alec said.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“She still practices magic. The Opperes have kind of disappeared and are now frowned upon. That's why no one listens to her. She has been spewing that stuff ever since I’ve been here, and who knows for how long before that. She used to be respected until the war. Everything changed after that. I think she lost her mind when everyone lost respect for her kind. She couldn’t handle it . . . At least that’s what I heard.”
“Is that the war you mentioned before?” Lumen wanted to hear more.
“Yeah. The Opperes sided with the wrong team. Let’s just say most were exiled...most.”
Lumen wanted to know more about the “guy” who led the charge.
“Is that who the lady was talking about when she told me to stay away from ‘him’?”
“Who knows man; he is dead anyway. Nothing to worry about if it was.”
Lumen wasn’t sure why but that news brought him some relief.
“How’d it end?”
“Well apparently the Ignous leader and Allister got into an intense battle. It was huge, like really big. Obviously Al came out on top. Best there is around.”
“What about—” Alec cut him off.
“Look, I don’t know everything that happened. You can ask questions when you have class or are with Allister, though he is pretty hush hush about the past. Now that I think about it... I don’t know anything about his past...” Alec trailed off again as if he were in deep thought.
Lumen had a lot of questions but they would have to wait.
They continued walking and finally approached a shop with a lot of younger people inside. Some of the people were dressed like him, bringing him a bit of comfort.
“What is this place?”
“This, my friend, is where you get your luxem. This is where all Eauge come to get their luxem. Nemo will help you get what you need. He is right up there.” Alec pointed toward the back of the store where an older man stood with several people surrounding him, all asking him questions. The man wore a top hat, made of the same material as the Eauge’s clothing. He had a very thick, white mustache that matched his enormous eyebrows and wore glasses on the tip of his nose. His coat was almost like a dress as it went all the way down to his boots. The man was hunched over just a bit. Lumen wondered how old he was.
The store was filled with random items from bracelets, like the one Alec owned, shoes, necklaces, hats, gloves, and much more. The items laid somewhat scattered throughout the store. There were people all over looking through the shelves and racks. Lumen wasn’t sure if these were all supposed to be luxems.
Lumen walked over to the man who was surrounded by young people. Nemo turned as he approached and took his glasses off.
“Well hello, Lumen. I see you have finally made it. I’ve been waiting to give this to you for a long time.”
Lumen didn’t have any time to say anything before Nemo reached behind a counter with shelves loaded with random boxes. He grabbed one particular box that had Lumen’s name written over the front. Nemo set the box down on the counter and opened it.
There, in the box, was what appeared to be a long, black ring. Engraved on it were four small symbols. Lumen only recognized one of them. It was the same symbol on all of the flags he had seen in Entropolis: a circle with three wavy lines in the middle. The other three symbols were unfamiliar but they looked sort of similar to him.
Nemo took the item out of the box and held it out to Lumen.
“This belongs to you.”
Lumen took the item from Nemo and held it out himself, hesitant. He looked up. “Uh, do I just put it on?”
“Yes of course, my boy. Here.”
Nemo took the ring and grabbed Lumen’s hand. Before he placed it on one of his fingers he observed Lumen’s hand, wiggling each finger.
“Ah, this one will do.”
Nemo grabbed Lumen’s index finger on his left hand and slid the black ring over it. It went all the way down and covered the entire area between his knuckle and where his finger first bent. It fit perfectly and felt cold on his skin.
“Perfect. I knew it would be perfect for you.”
Lumen held his hand out. He thought it looked cool. He had never worn any accessories before. He touched it with his other hand, and the ring felt matte. The two edges were ridged all the way around, and the four engravings were on the top of his finger.
Lumen held his hand out to look at it and saw Nemo smiling at him.
“How’d you know who I was? And how’d you know this would work for me?”
“Oh, we have been waiting for you for some time, Lumen. I always know what will work for the Eauges.” Nemo smiled at Lumen. He put back on his glasses, patted Lumen on the back and went back to talking with the others there, helping them figure out what luxem to use.
Lumen walked out of the store, feeling the luxem with his other hand on the way out. He walked up to Alec and Wrigley, who were talking to a woman selling pockets. Alec handed her something and she handed him three steaming pockets.
“Wow, that was fast. Let’s see whatcha got . . .”
Lumen held out a fist so that Alec could see the black ring.
“Whoa, I’ve never seen anything like this. Did you pick this? I’ve never seen this in there.”
“Uh no . . . he pulled it out of some box. Behind the counter. He said he has been waiting to give this to me.”
“Lucky. Everyone usually gets a bracelet or necklace. This, you got here, is unique.”
Alec’s smile faded.
“How does it work?”
Alec reluctantly handed him a pocket and bit into his own. Alec held the third pocket behind his back for Wrigley to take. Wrigley grabbed the whole pocket and swallowed it all in a couple of bites.
“I saw that, Alec.”
“Huh, what are you talking about?” Alec smirked at Lumen as Wrigley licked his lips.
“Anyway, when you know where you want your safe place to be, we will open a window. The ring will know it’s your safe place and will save the window.”
Lumen scratched his head in confusion.
“Wait, what? It just knows? That doesn’t make sense. Where do the lights go?”
Alec rolled his eyes and took a bite out of the pocket. He spoke with his mouth full.
“Du, it just wors tha way. You’ll see. To man questins Lu. Your curiosity kils me sumtims.”
Lumen could hardly understand Alec but picked up that he may have asked one too many questions. He decided to drop it.
“Thanks for the pocket. What did you hand the lady for them?”
Alec swallowed his food before speaking this time.
“Another question? Sheesh, I gave her five smoots. It’s basically money here.”
“Oh okay . .
. how do I get smoots?”
“Last one I’m answering for at least five minutes, Lu. There are people here who value American money. You can exchange dollars for smoots. I’ll show you next time we are here.”
Lumen nodded to say okay.
Alec took off back in the direction they came from.
Lumen yelled after him.
“Hey, where are we going now?”
“What did I say, Lumen? Five minutes.” Alec held up his hand to show the number five.
Lumen looked at Wrigley and rolled his eyes. They both started walking behind Alec, back into the heart of Entropolis.
Lumen looked down at Wrigley.
“You know I saw you eat that pocket. You’re lucky we are in a new world. You’d be in timeout if we were at home.”
Wrigley put his ears back as if he were ashamed and knew what “timeout” meant.
“I’ll let that one slide,” Lumen smiled at Wrigley and his ears perked back up. They looked ahead and kept walking.
Chapter 8 – Hot Date
Lumen, Alec, and Wrigley walked for a few minutes to look around the village. After asking a few more questions, Alec became more and more agitated, and Lumen thought he should get back home.
“Alright, well I’ll bring you back here the day before you start to pick up a few more things. Like I said, we’ll work on some things this week. Oh, and we’ll set up your ring. Think about where you want your safe place to be. Don’t lose that thing.”
“I won’t.” Lumen looked at the ring on his finger. He liked the look of it.
“Okay, well off you go.” Alec moved his hands together as if he were putting something together, and a window popped open.
Lumen realized he hadn’t seen the lights as often. He worried he may be losing his capabilities to jump between worlds.
“Hey, how come I’m not seeing the lights as often? Does it mean I’m unable to . . .”
“Had to get one more question in, didn’t you? Let me stop you there before you really start thinking crazy. Now that you know what they are for, they will only be present when you need them. . . Don’t worry, they are always there when you need them. See ya later!”