An Important Conversation

I feel the energy of the air and world around me, hugging me in its uncaring yet gentle embrace.

“Ingrid?”, I hear my name said far away from me as I let the world continue to embrace me. It was much easier to focus without the rocking of a ship.

“Ingrid!?”, I hear my name again.

“Oh god!”, I hear as I am gently rocked back into the small recovery room by Kelly’s caring grip.

“I’m here.”, I respond so that she stops moving me.

“Good.”, She sighs in relief as she sits down in the chair next to my bed. “So what were you doing then? You looked like you might have lost consciousness again and that had me worried.” I was not aware that my focusing could make anyone feel concern about it. I suppose I should not be surprised though, Kelly has lived in New Yuma her whole life and apparently they do not have anyone who could use magic or even has knowledge about it.

“How are you feeling Ingrid?”, Jose asks me as he leans against the door way, I am not sure if he is annoyed or just trying to lean against the frame.

“Better.”, I answer looking over at Kelly with a smile. The small medic was not looking at me however but at Jose.

“She’s recovered enough that she can go with you for a short time.”, She says to Jose as if she could read his mind.

“Very good.”, He responds as he puts a hand out to me to take as support. I accept his hand as I slowly and weakly rise to my feet. My legs tremble from disuse and I cannot feel my feet but I remain firmly on them thanks to the tree of a man holding on to me.

“Let’s go.”, He says with a smile, it sent a small shiver down my spine which is probably not the intended effect. At least I hope it is not.

-- -- --

Jose opens the door to a small room for me. As I step inside I see an older man sitting at a desk.

“Ah the traveler!”, The old man says as he rises to his feet, “I finally get to meet you.” Jose helps me over to a chair in front of the desk. Once seated, the white haired man gives Jose a nod. Jose merely walks out of the room and closes the door behind him. “Now.”, The man says as he rests his elbows on the desk and clasps his hands together, “I am the mayor of this little town. Franklin Edwin Deacon.” A silence hangs heavy in the air between us before he finally adds, “This is where you introduce yourself miss.”

“Oh!”, I exclaim with a surprised look on my face. I return my face to a more neutral expression before continuing, “I’m Ingrid.”

A quiet chuckle escapes Franklin’s lips before he speaks, “I read Chief Benterro’s report about the mission you performed.” He lowers his elbows and flips open a little thing with paper inside it. “I agree with your decision to destroy both the device and the one who activated it. But the use of magic is against the law here.”, He says slowly as if he thinks I am mentally deficient.

“Why am I here exactly?”, I inquire trying to glean whatever information I could without asking directly.

“Have you ever heard of a place called Mu?”, He asks me, clearly avoiding my question.

“No.”, I answer as I feel a twinge of pain in my left arm.

“It was a small island nation from before the bombs fell.”, He explains as he crosses a leg over the other, “It was a mage haven that moved through out the ocean. Creating havoc wherever it went because it wasn’t exactly predictable for sea routes when an island could or could not just suddenly be in the way.”

This man was crazy. My hand twitches involuntarily. I grab hold of it in my other hand as I speak, “Are you saying the bombs were launched because of this island of mages?”

“I’m saying that if magic didn’t exist we might not have bombed each other to near oblivion!”, Franklin exclaims with fervor in his voice.

“You don’t know that. No one does!”, I retort without thinking, meeting his fury with my own.

“I wandered this wasteland back in my youth. Most of what I saw was disorder and violence.”, Franklin begins. I grab hold of my wrist as I feel my left arm begin to jolt. “I found the old military base here twenty years ago.”, He continues seemingly ignoring my spasms, “At the sight of it I knew what I was meant to do.” He stands up and walks over to the windows of the room and looks out them as if he has practiced this many times before as he still continues to drone on, “I started New Yuma as a safe haven for all who were struggling. Only a few serious laws but the most important one is-”, He turns his gaze to me. His eyes were filled with so much fury I nearly reeled back from my seat as he finishes, “No magic.”

Another mighty pause hangs between the two of us as he walks back to his desk. But at least now I understand why Kelly has no idea about magic.

“If you detest magic so much then why am I still here?”, I finally manage to speak.

“You are still here because we aren’t going to just throw you out there.”, The twig thin old man says as his gaze seems to bore into my very being, an impressive feat from one so frail looking.

“So what do you expect from me then?”, I shakily inquire as I try to steel myself.

“Honestly,”, He answers as he begins to recline slightly in his chair, “I’m not sure.” Another moment of silence befalls us before he speaks up again, “Where are you from?”

“The colony ship.”, I quickly answer without thinking. The mayor looks at me in surprise.

“A colony ship?”, He asks. “I ran into one once before settling here.” He begins as a smile crosses his face, “A surprisingly nice people on it too. Watched a single cannon on it take out multiple raider cars.” I could see he was impressed by the vessel’s weaponry, I assume this is a man thing because while I also found it impressive I would not be giddy about it like he was. “Tell me.”, He continues, “Is there a man named Cedric on the ship?”

I look at him with a dropped jaw as I answer, “You met my dad!?”

“Cedric had a kid!?”, He asks with a loud laugh. “That’s surprising, he was quite the ruffian when I met him.”, He adds for context before I can ask. His expression changes to one of stoicism as his tone becomes serious once again. “The danger out there is getting even worse.”, He says with barely contained venom in his words, “We’ve been getting reports from scouts for several weeks now about raiders becoming more organized. Even possibly looking for magical weapons to use.”

“Why are you telling me this?”, I inquire with a quiver of fear in my voice.

“Because young Ingrid.”, He retorts, “I am against magic but unlike almost everyone else here I have seen it used.” That did not answer my question. But before I could point that out to the elderly man he continues, “I think you can be of use to us like you were with clearing out the second basement of the old base.”

“So I’m just a tool to you then?”, I ask as my left shoulder begins to twitch.

“Everyone is used in some way.”, He responds as I put a hand on my shoulder to stop its involuntary movement. “Are you alright?”, He asks me. “I’ve noticed you’ve been twitching through out our conversation.”, He clarifies for me.

“You’ve read the report.”, I retort. “I didn’t let go of the focus fast enough and some of the lightning surged through my body.”, I inform the mayor as I look at my scarred jittering arm.

A gentle smile like that of a caring parent grows on the man’s face before he speaks, “You’re a strong young lady Ingrid. I don’t think even Jose could withstand pain like that.”

I lower my head looking into my lap as I meekly respond to such high praise, “Thank, thank you sir.” He begins to laugh hardily once again. “What’s so funny!?”, I exclaim as I raise my head and look at him in annoyance.

“My apologies.”, Franklin begins. “From all the reports I’ve read about you I didn’t expect you to have such a normal young person response.”, He explains to me. Before I can respond further he asks me, “How old are you?”

“How is this relevant?”, I ask trying to avoid answering him.

“I suppose I’ll go first.”, He says as he adjusts himself in his chair, “I’m fifty one.” I take a moment to let that sink in. I decide to be honest with him.

“I’m sixteen sir.”, I answer his question.

“Well I’m sorry you’ve gone through all this.”, He says as he opens a draw in his desk and puts something on his desk. “For you.”, Franklin adds as he drops the thing into my hand.

The object is small and has a strange texture to it. I begin to rub the thing between my fingers, it felt almost slick.

“It’s a butterscotch.”, Franklin tells me as he seems to have figured out I have no idea what this thing is. “You have to open the wrapper it’s in and then you eat it.”

I look at the wrapper more closely and slowly untwist it until the near sandy colored edible was free. I cautiously look at the butterscotch and slowly put it into my mouth. It is, chewy, but surprisingly tasty.