Chapter 10: Emporia

“So, you agreed to the Emporia thing with Otonashi-senpai,” Tsubame said as they walked, summarizing what she learned about the plan. “And Motohara-senpai thinks that Otonashi-sempai knows a way to get back here.”

Shiori nodded. “I’m not a Speaker, so I don’t know how this works. Not really. Motohara-senpai is new to this too. Travel between Kryptopeda and a any other world is difficult. Only Royalty can manage it frequently, and they’re all dead.”

“Except for you.”

Shiori sighed. “Except for me, I guess.”

“Okay, stop,” Tsubame said, rubbing her forehead in thought, “other worlds? There’s not just our world?”

“What?”

“You talked about travel between Kryptopeda and any OTHER world. It’s not just Earth?”

“Humans come to Kryptopeda from Earth. There are non-humans races that can become Speakers. They come from other worlds. The books don’t go into much detail.”

“Whoa, that’s,” Tsubame shook her head, “that’s not the point. So you’re a Princess, but Princesses in Kryptopeda are randomly picked every few decades, by luck?”

“More that it’s unlucky,” Shiori said, remembering the stories. “Speakers can recognize Royalty, something about how their voice sounds. The Royals have access to unique magic.”

“Like traveling between worlds,” Tsubame offered.

“Like that,” Shiori agreed, “and more. Many Princesses meet a dark fate. Almost no one wants a Princess to have children and restart the Royal line. A King or Queen born to a Princess would be far more powerful, and become the center of a new Kryptopedian Civil War.”

Tsubame looked at Shiori with concern, then ahead as their school came into view. “One thing at a time. Motohara-senpai has a plan. Can we get Otonashi-senpai to give us what we need through this Emporia?”

Shiori nodded. “Speakers are lonely, territorial, dangerous people. But even they need to trade secrets or work together occasionally. An Emporia is like a trade. It’s hard to explain.”

“Can’t I be there for it?”

“Just do your part,” Shiori said, taking a deep breath to calm her panic about the plan, “and I’ll do mine.”

Neither girl could focus in morning classes. Each hour felt like a day, yet Shiori was anxious when noon came too soon. She swallowed hard and went to the prearranged corner of the school yard. Otonashi was already waiting. Had he even gone to class today?

He was looking right at her as she rounded the corner, as if he had been following her through the walls of buildings. If he was nervous, he didn’t show it.

“Never participated in an Emporia before, Princess?” Otonashi skipped small talk.

Shiori clasped her hands behind her back. “Until yesterday I didn’t think Kryptopeda was real. I thought it was a story.” Had it been only a day since Motohara-senpai disappeared and this started?

Otonashi extended one hand forward, like for a western-style handshake. Shiori swallowed and put her hand forward. Otonashi likely noticed her trembling.

A story from Kawamura’s books came to her mind, of a Speaker that stabbed another before their Emporia began. Speakers were dangerous and untrustworthy. Her breath caught and her eyes shot to Otonashi’s other hand. No dagger.

Her heart raced. If Motohara was right, some Speaker had been sent to Earth to kill her. She figured that if Otonashi had wanted her dead, he could have killed her by now. Unless he needed something from her first.

“It may be difficult to start since you don’t know how to Speak true words yet,” he said, “let me start.”

He grasped her hand, then said, “Emporia.” The word surged through her like water through a fire hose, or air through a trumpet. Pressure built around her mind.

The spell wanted something from her, so she complied in hope of relieving the pressure. She reached out to that pressure and tried to make it release. “Emporia,” she said with a confusing sense of familiarity, like when one rides a bicycle for the first time after years.

When had she closed her eyes? When she opened them, she and Otonashi stood alone, surrounded and separated by blackness. They stood as if on ground, but there was only perfect airy black beneath their feet.

“You’re a fast learner,” Otonashi said, sounding genuinely impressed. “I’ve never met a Princess before. Are they all like you?”

Shiori surveyed the blackness representing their connection. This was a small pocket of pure thought. No time would pass in the real world during their communication. They were safe from outside threats and could exchange information freely. That’s why Speakers preferred this temporary truce to share information before resuming attempts to kill each other.

“Like me?” Shiori asked, dreamily. She had read about Emporia, but it was different to be part of one. The black around them felt alive, like it had a personality.

“Skilled. Determined. Pretty.” Otonashi said. He closed his mouth and, wait was he blushing? “Capable,” he corrected, coughing into one hand.

Embarrassment emanated from midnight-dark void around them. The blackness wasn’t alive. She was feeling Otonashi’s thoughts.

It was hard for one Speaker to lie to another in Emporia. Not impossible, but this place was created by connecting minds. Shiori could feel the surface layer of Otonashi’s thoughts. She had known this would happen, but it felt more intimate and real than she imagined.

Fear and embarrassment at the emotional exposure flooded over her. Otonashi looked right at her as those emotions ran over her. Their eyes met and she could feel her face reddening at his directness.

“Me first,” she said, struggling to calm down and remember the plan. Tsubame would be secretly going through his locker and desk, looking for his Grimoire.

Practically every Speaker kept a book of secrets, a Grimoire, that was central to their power. Only the most skilled Speakers could use magic without a written Grimoire. Although, supposedly, Royals needed no such crutch. Otonashi’s true name would be inside, a fatal secret that could undo him if revealed. Words had power, especially for the Speakers of Kryptopeda. And names are the ultimate words.

Otonashi was waiting. He suggested the Emporia, so Shiori went first. Motohara needed to know if there was a durable portal or another way to return from Kryptopeda. He came up with a subtle question. She focused, putting energy into the words. “How did you come to Earth?”

The words shook the surrounding blackness. Shiori felt like she was getting the knack of Speaker magic.

“Wow,” Otonashi said, sounding genuinely impressed. “I heard Royals were innately powerful, but you’re something else. How are you learning so quickly, Princess?”

“Is that your question?” Shiori asked.

Otonashi shook his head. She sensed his frustration for getting distracted. “No, Princess, I don’t have a question. I just need you to hear something.” Otonashi focused, and the Emporia magic moved in earnest.

An Emporia was not just a safe, isolated place to share information. It was more than a tight connection between two minds. It was a contract that guaranteed both sides shared their knowledge and that the trade was acceptable to both sides.

Otonashi’s next words were filled with power and shook the blackness. “Will you hear my story?” he asked.

Shiori’s question about Otonashi’s plea for her to listen hung in the air, like humming high tension electrical lines. The Emporia had been loaded with the demands of both parties.

Shiori felt the Emporia probing her mind. Yes, it knew she was willing to listen. The Emporia explored deeper into her mind. She didn’t know Otonashi’s answer to her question, yet, but she knew that it would satisfy her.

The trick to Emporia was that it was nearly impossible for one side to cheat the other, because merging both minds guaranteed that the information exchange would only occur if both parties would be satisfied with the result. Even before Shiori knew Otonashi’s answer, she could be confident that she would find the exchange fair.

“Emporia,” Shiori said, accepting Otonashi’s answer.

“Emporia,” his voice reverberated with the power of a Speaker, shaking Shiori’s chest.

Both sides approved the transaction. Otonashi’s mind was opened to Shiori. His thoughts and memories raced into her.

It had been too easy to get the first question answered. He had only asked for her to hear his side of the story. Motohara’s plan was working, so far.

The black world faded. Otonashi disappeared as Shiori was swept in a torrent of memories from the mysterious Outlander.