Gardiani In The Forest

Let me tell you a story. It might even be the most interesting tale you’ll hear. One about travel to a different world, fighting monsters, and discovering ourselves. It’s a story about going home.

There was a war that had been going on for centuries, hidden behind what you thought was reality and common sense. If you turned to your neighbor in school and asked them about it, chances were they weren't like you and with that, wouldn't know what you were talking about. It was fought in secret between most of the supernatural world and mortals that hated them, using any means to win. I was vaguely aware of it growing up. My parents moved from Japan when I was a small baby, teaching me to survive as I grew old enough. I learned quickly that they sacrificed teaching me my heritage for this. I don't even know how to write my name in kanji, not to mention write in my home language in the first place. They sacrificed themselves for me when I was seven, sending me off with some friends of theirs, the Montfords. They adopted me as one of their sons, despite knowing what I am. That being a fluid, a sub race of gardiani; people who could bend various elements to their will and event make things out of them. They did their best to treat me like their other two sons, but I never really fit in. Because I was a Fluid, I could manipulate water, so faucets would burst when I was upset or our bathroom would flood when I was excited. My foster brothers were less welcoming and would treat me like an alien.

That all changed when they found me. It was a few days before I turned fourteen, and I had went to the local park that no one visited anymore. I had been testing my fluid abilities for months, getting stronger and better at using them. At that time I was doing target practice. Firing a waterball at a target I had set up, I missed. It hadn't happened in weeks but I missed. Then I heard a laugh behind me. I turned to find four people around my age watching me. Two girls and two boys.

"You still have a lot to learn if you can't control it all the way to the end!" Said one of the girls with a thick Russian accent.

One of the boys put his hands up like he was physically stopping her. He spoke in a different accent. "You don't need to rain on his parade. He's been trying so hard. It's cool if you ask me.”

The second boy stepped forward, extending a hand. "My name is Ogun. We are all the same as you, though also a little different. We were curious when we stumbled upon you. How about you show us what you can do, and we will do the same?"

It was the first time I met other like me besides my parents. I was more excited than nervous from having been caught. Lifting my hand slowly into the air, water coalesced in front of me in a thin line trailing after my hand. After a deep breath I willed the water to fly forward. It impacted with a thick tree branch and blew a chunk out of it. After a couple moments what was left of that section buckled under the weight and the branch broke off, crashing to the ground. I turned around to them. "That's me. I'm Taiyo Montford." I said awkwardly.

Then first girl stepped up. With a confident shout she declared "I'm Yuliya! I'm a pure blooded sedentarid." That meant she could manipulate the rock and minerals of the earth.

The other girl stepped forward, "I-I'm So-Sophi-Sophiya, Yuliya's yo-younger sister. A-along with being a se-sedentarid myself, I am also half gu-gustid." Gustids, a people who could control the wind. According to the group, it was rare to be more than one sub race of gardiani. She held her hand out palm up, and a light breeze brought petals from a nearby flower up from the ground and arranged them in her hand. With a soft spoken voice, she said thank you and stepped back.

Next the other boy stepped forward. Very tall, he seemed like the calm sort at first, but I could feel the energy he was brimming with. Then I realized it was heat. That could mean only one thing, a pyromid. Suddenly he burst into flames for a brief moment, before they immediately extinguished. He coughed a few times. "I'm Abel Thibodeaux. Nice to meet you."

With that, Ogun was last. He was shorter than Abel, and maybe only a couple years older than everyone. "I am from Nigeria, and a member of the proud Igbo people. Allow me to show you what I can do as a nocturnid." He pointed at my feet, and my shadow moved away from them and merged with his. It slid up his legs to the center of his shirt. "This is Peek. He is a shade, and I made him." Creating creatures was an advanced ability. The fact that Ogun could make one was telling of his abilities. He extended his hand once more. "We should be friends. With the hunters out and about, it is smarter to be amongst friends."

I took them all in for a moment. I was the loner at school, so I didn't have a single friend. The Montfords were a safe place for me to live, but they weren’t family. Everyone around me could probably feel I was different, so they kept their distance. But I could feel that these four were different. A breath of fresh air in my dim, boring world. Without thinking, I took Ogun's hand, and from there, the scope of my world widened.

Fast forward a couple years, and the war was over before we even realized it. Apparently the champions from some prophecy defeated the secret hunter group that had been threatening our kind. We didn't feel much of a difference in our part of the world though. The hunters never came to us. The five of us had grown really close, and we decided we weren't going to be limited by anything. Yuliya suggested that we all start practicing with other forms of magic and sorcery, and Ogun agreed that it sounded fun. So we picked some things. Voodoo, Alchemy, some spells found online, and the use of our own gardiani abilities.

Now, at this point you might be thinking by now that this story is moving pretty fast, but frankly the stuff leading up to this moment isn’t that important. Yes we had our fights. We ran into supernatural monsters and beings. Some we had to fight off, some we befriended. But just keep reading, because none of that compares to what I’m about to tell you.

We set a date to do a little experiment with everything we had been studying. It had been about a week and a half since we started studying it all. We figured we would see what happened if we used it all together.

I arrived shortly after Abel did. He was setting up the things he needed for the voodoo aspect of the experiment. “I see you’re just as excited for this as I am.” He said, pointing at my hand.

“I thought I’d add a little from my culture.” I held up the paper in my hand. It was a shikigami. I had begun to study Onmyōdō shortly after we started this endeavor. “You think the others will go for it?”

He laughed. “I mean, this is an experiment to do something never before done. I’m sure they won’t care. Especially Yuliya. She would probably go with the flow anyway.” He brushed his red hair out of his face, then stopped for a moment before taking a hair tie and putting it into a ponytail. “I don’t know why I keep long hair. It catches fire so often.”

“Maybe it’s for our entertainment?” I suggested playfully.

He laughed again. “Maybe. I enjoy it when you guys laugh.”

I helped him continue setting up as the others arrived. We chose a sizeable rock out in the middle of the woods. It was perfectly flat, but the girls said they hadn’t done anything to it. I thought it seemed like a sign.

As everyone wrapped up their preparations, Ogun clapped his hands. “Ok everyone! Let us make a mark in Gardiani history. Most scientific discoveries are accidents, so whatever happens here will be the same. Let us see what we invent with this!”

The others clapped, while I poured some of my gardiani energy and spiritual power into the shikigami. I felt a strange sensation like it was humming with energy and perhaps even a will.

“Alright guys, Sofiya you stand over there, Yuliya there, Ogun there, and Taiyo right here.” Abel gave out directions, while the girls each pulled out a sheet of paper.

“You have yours ready Sofiya?” Her sister smiled with excitement.

“Y-yes. I think it’s done.” Sofiya nodded. Now that she was more comfortable with me, she had lost most of her stutter. I noticed her stutter was tied to how nervous she was. The fact that she still had one at all made me wonder if it really was done, but I decided she was just taken with the energy. She adjusted her glasses. “I did my best.”

Ogun had taken out some ingredients to use in alchemy. I don’t know why he chose it. Our goal was ‘just to see what happens’, so it could have been anything. He was adamant that alchemy be one of the things we did though. He gave one final look around at everyone. “Everyone ready?” We all nodded. “Let us begin then.”

The girls began reading from their papers, while Ogun fiddled with his supplies and Abel extended his hands towards the rock, red, hot and hazy energy flowing into it. For my part, I decided to extend my own fluid energy around us. I don’t know why, but it felt like the right thing to do. Soon, a blue mostly transparent layer of soothing energy enveloped the area around us.

The girls were about halfway through their papers, when we heard a car door slam nearby. A tall woman came marching toward us from the other side of the sisters. “Ogun! I have told you not to do this!”

Ogun’s face pulled into a surprised expression. “Adaeze! What are you doing here?!”

“This is dangerous! You do not know what this will do, and you believe I would not stop you?!”

Because Sofiya and Yuliya were across from me, I noticed immediately when their eyes began to glow. Yuliya’s a solid brown, and Sofiya’s a swirling mix of yellow and brown. I looked over to Abel, and his were glowing red. “Ogun, what is wrong with them?”

Adaeze stepped fully into my layer of gardiani energy as Ogun turned. Immediately, the things he had been working on in his hands and my shikigami flew to each other and became a small ball of light. Ogun’s eyes had turned to solid black. Adaeze let out a pained scream and fell to her knees. Her eyes were solid black as well, but unlike the others she didn’t seem to be fairing too well under whatever this influence was. The world began to pulse with a blue tinge. First normal color. Then a blue hue over everything. Then back to normal. But with every pulse, the return to normal was less colorful than before, until finally it was black and white. The pulsing didn’t stop though, and soon the black and white began to bubble and swirl, like we were getting sucked into a whirlpool. My head felt like it was splitting, and my stomach like it was inside out. Everything was gone, and there was only the pain, the sickness, and Adaeze’s screaming. With one last, bright pulse of blue, the world rapidly returned, color and all. With a sudden release, everyone gasped. Adaeze finally stopped screaming and fell forward into the leaves and dirt. Meanwhile I fell to my own knees. The head pain subsided, but my stomach had decided it was time to empty onto the ground. I violently wretched as Sofiya ran to my side.

“Taiyo!” She began rubbing my back.

“Adaeze!” Ogun had run over to the woman and was cradling her in his arms.

I looked up from one final hurl and scanned Adaeze’s face. “Who…. Is she?”

“She is my older sister. She has been taking care of me since our parents died.”

Everyone looked at each other. This was news to us. We thought he was an only child living on the streets, doing odd jobs for money. He had never told us anything else. But as I thought about I realized he never told us that either. We just made assumptions. We never truly knew Ogun. In a way he was our leader, and we didn’t know anything. As we were settling into silence, save for Adaeze’s pained groans and pants, and my recovering wheezing, the bushes around us began to rustle.

“Is it the voldehgas? I thought they were dead!” Abel shouted.

“Idiot! It doesn’t have to be them. Anyone could have seen what we did and decided we were evil or something!” Yuliya grit her teeth.

At that moment seven creatures lunged from concealment. What we saw was grotesque, to say the least. They had a lithe body, with four legs. Their back feet were hooved, while their front were clawed. They had a large hand with a creepy face in it’s palm where their head should have been, and on the end of their tails were misshapen humanoid heads. All over their bodies were blood red fur. The heads scanned us and then all grinned. They made noises, but no actual words came out.

“W-w-w-w-hat the heck are th-th-those?!” Sofiya fell over behind me. I extended a hand out in front of her, making sure I was in front of her as much as possible.

“Clearly they are monstrous, though I don’t know what race would make those.” I said.

Ogun gently laid his sister down. She was very pale despite her dark skin. Whatever happened to her drained a lot of her vitality.

“My sister must get to a doctor. Peek, please help me.” As he stood up and uttered those words, his shade glided across the ground and merged with the shadow of one of the monsters. It stopped in it’s tracks, but while I had expected it to then turn and attack it’s fellows, all it did was stand in place. Ogun wore a look of shock. “How strong are they?” The other six creatures looked at their comrade in surprise as well.

One of them locked eyes with me and crouched low before leaping toward me. Before it could reach me a blast of fire engulfed it and sent it flying into a tree. It began to shake away the flames. Half of the hand had seemed to have been melted to the bone from the initial blast, and the face on it was barely there anymore, but otherwise it only had singed fur. The face on it’s tail glared at us. Another one charged Yuliya, but a spike of earth shot from the ground in front of her and impaled it. It struggled for a moment before falling limp. The rest of the creatures began to charge, howling in anger. I created a thin disc of water in the air and shot it at the incoming pack, cutting the front leg off of one. The creature that was burnt leapt at me from the side, but a wind blast from Sofiya sent it barreling into two of the others in front of us. Ogun did his best to step through the various shadows of the other two creatures, but when he came out of one’s shadow, another grabbed his arm with it’s hand head. He let out a pained gasp as it clamped down tight. Before it could break bone, a metal on flesh noise rang out, and then a spurt of blood as the body of the creature stepped back, leaving it’s hand to fall to the ground. Standing next to Ogun was a lizard-like man. He had green hair that cascaded down with hints of purple here and there from a high ponytail tied in a red braided cord. He had piercing golden eyes, with red lizard-like pupils. In his hand was a scimitar with a golden guard, blood running down it’s length. He wore green leather armor, a metal shoulder guard, black gloves, black boots, and a green capote with a hood. His armor had light green accents to it. Swirls and lines, suggesting it wasn’t simply armor. The armor, gloves, and boots he wore were trimmed in gold. At his waist on his belt was a small crossbow, but it looked like it was attached to a sheathe. From his dark grey pants sprouted a purple ridged tail. It flicked back and forth calmly. His eyes narrowed as he examined the scene before him. When he opened his mouth to speak, a different language than I had ever heard came out. Our collective confused expressions caused him to become surprised, but only for a moment. The creature that Ogun had dodged attempted to snap the newcomer up with it’s head tail, only for it to be lopped off. The one that was now profusely bleeding roared and swiped at him with it’s clawed legs, but with one movement he sidestepped it and punched into it’s side so hard that his gloved hand pierced it’s skin and sank to the end of his glove, just below the elbow. It squeaked a pained cry before he ripped his hand back out. He was now holding a crystal. The creature dropped, instantly dead.

Ogun returned to his sister’s side, content to let the lizard man deal with the fight. He looked at everyone, until his eyes met mine. His expression looked concerned. With a signal from his eyes, I could tell he was asking me to take care of things so he could focus on his sister. Over the past two years, I knew we had become good friends, but I never expected he’d trust me to lead everyone.

“Yuliya and Sofiya, protect Ogun and Adaeze. Abel, let’s help this guy with these things. If he hasn’t attacked us or let those monsters kill us, then he probably isn’t a danger to us.” The others looked startled with the force that I commanded them, but after a moment moved to carry out their orders. Abel and I pincered the creature that he had burned before. Using water discs I cut it’s front legs, toppling it over long enough for Abel to grab it’s tail and burn through it. The hand attempted to grab at the tail, becoming increasingly weak as it struggled, almost like it was suffocating. We turned to see the lizard man holding his own once again. I shot a water disc at the other leg of the one I amputated earlier, causing it to fall in front of the other and trip it. With one fluid strike, the man rammed his scimitar through both of them, finishing off the last of the creatures.

Using the fur of one of the bodies, he wiped the blood from his scimitar before sheathing it. On his belt behind him behind his capote. The cape came down at an angle, leaving room for the handle and sheathe for be visible. He turned to the spire that Yuliya killed one with and pointed at it, then gestured towards us. The others didn’t know what he was trying to say, but I understood, pointing to Yuliya. The man nodded to me, pulled a stone from a pouch on his belt, and then handed to her before speaking. With shock, Yuliya took a step back, then began talking to him.

“How do I understand you?” He spoke some more words.

“Well I can’t answer that. I don’t think anyone can.” He paused, looking thoughtful, then seemed to ask another question.

“Uh, I guess that would be Ogun. Ogun, he wants to talk to our leader.” Yuliya gestured to hand him the stone, but he shook his head and pointed at me. “Taiyo is in charge now.”

Yuliya looked pained, before walking over to me. “You better live up to his expectations.” She said, slamming the stone into my hand. My head immediately felt tingly.

The lizard man approached me and slightly bowed. “Greetings. My name is Uroko Carter. It is customary for my people to place our family name before our given name. You assisted me with the twisted hands I have been hunting. You may call me Carter.” He looked at the others for a moment, then back to me. “I must say it’s rare for so many people attuned with magic to be gathered in one place. I would be lying if I said I was not curious about your circumstances. If you would like, we could make our way to Belle Reve and you can tell me about it. You must be from an extremely far away land if you cannot understand the common tongue. We could acquire more speech stones for your companions, and seek medical attention for the woman as well.”

I relayed what he said to everyone and after a brief deliberation decided to take him up on his offer. I led on with him, being the only one who could understand him at the moment.

“Your clothes are interesting as well. I can tell they were prepared by a talented tailor.”

I glanced down at my hoodie. It was a simple black hooded sweatshirt. I didn’t think it was that special, but I realized that given what he was wearing we must not be anywhere near a modern civilization. To him we were the unusual ones. I could hear Abel and Yuliya behind me talking about what just happened. I glanced back and saw Ogun was carrying his sister on his back. Just behind him Sofiya was looking around, mumbling to herself. She looked like I did when I had something on the tip of my tongue but couldn't vocalize it. I turned back around just in time to see the view that greeted us just outside the forested area. We hadn’t been walking long so we must not have been very far in the first place.

“Wait, I’ve seen this before.” Sofiya announced. She looked to her left, then her right. She immediately took off at a jog, stepping up onto a large rock. “Oh my god, I was right! The Causse Méjean!” She became increasingly excited.

Ogun grunted from his sister’s weight. “What is that?”

Sofiya ignored him. She pointed out to a city sitting on a strip of land between two rivers. “That must be Le Rozier! It sits on a confluence where the Gorges du Tarn and The Gorges de la Jonte merge! We’re on the Rocher de Capluc!”

She rambled some more before I stopped her. “Sofiya! What are you going on about!”

“She jerked her head to me. A relieved look on her face. “We’re still on Earth! This is the Occitanie region of France! We’re ok!”

I turned to Carter. “So this is France then?”

Sofiya looked a little confused. “Though I don’t remember Le Rozier looking like this in the article I read.”

Carter arched an eyebrow. “What is a France?”

I briefly glanced at Sofiya. I got the feeling that there was more to this town looking different. “A country. According to my friend, this is a region of France, and that town there is Le Rozier.”

Carter looked at Sofiya before meeting my eyes again. “I have never heard of this France, nor of Le Rozier. That town” He pointed to the city “Is Belle Reve. There is no country in this region. Just a handful of powerful cities that govern their surrounding areas.”

My breath hitched. The hope that we had just travelled to another location on Earth was lost and replaced with loss and confusion. “Isn’t this Earth?”

“Earth? Another country?”

“No, the world.”

Carter glared a little. He seemed to be deciding if we were a threat to him after all. “No. Our world is called Gairidan. Who are you people?”

After explaining what happened to us, the lizard man cupped his chin. “While I have never heard a story such as this, there are similarly wild tales all over Gairidan. There is a woman Soothsayer who is consulted about troubling problems. Perhaps she can assist you with this situation. It will have to wait until after we go to town. I am low on supplies, and I have to report to The Collective now that the twisted hands are dealt with. Since you assisted me, your party will receive a portion of the reward, I promise. Once you are settled at an inn and we take care of other affairs, I’ll take you to Soothsayer. Does that sound reasonable?”

I nodded immediately. “Any help you give us is appreciated.” I turned to tell everyone what he said.

“Wait, we’re not on Earth anymore?” Abel asked, worry in his eyes.

Sofiya groaned loudly. “But the land features are the same!”

Yuliya had begun to sweat in panic but stayed silent.

Ogun didn’t say anything either, instead staring at me.

I didn’t understand why he was suddenly deferring to me, but I didn’t want anyone to panic any more than they already were, and I wanted to keep them all safe. “Look, we have no idea what is going on, how to get home, if we can get home, or anything about this world. But Carter here is offering to help us get on our feet, and more importantly, he’s offered us a path to possibly get answers. Right now, we’re not done for, so let’s just keep going, one foot in front of the other.” The others exchanged looks then nodded. I turned back to our new friend. “Lead the way and we’ll follow.”

Carter placed a hand to his chest and bowed slightly.

We began our trek to the town of Belle Reve, all the while I was getting a rundown from our guide about this world. They went by a twelve month system, still had three hundred sixty-five days, and had seven day weeks. But the months had thirty days each. Except for the last month. It had thirty-five, and those last five of the year were considered auspicious days. Noone worked, no one fought. It was said that a flying eyeball creature named Sitoq would abduct those who didn’t adhere to this with it’s tentacle arms and they would never be seen again. There was genuine fear in Carter’s eyes, as if he’d seen it happen himself. When we camped for the night, he drew a rough map of the area in the dirt. Sure enough, it looked similar to a map from our world, which frustrated Sofiya even more.

“But that’s the French coastline! See! That’s Normandy beach!”

Abel shook his head. He looked defeated already, like the world had already ended. “But he says this isn’t Earth.”

They bickered a little as Carter explained that there were no countries for what would equate miles or kilometers from our world. Different regions collectively worked together between their cities, but it was a city-state system, with nearby villages reporting to each one. The only thing that inexplicably tied them all together, and to the countries farther out passed the area on his map was The Collective. It was an organization a savvy and influential merchant established. She saw business in the various peoples of the world’s problems. At first she hired tough people to go around and solve those issues. But as her children and their children inherited it, they instituted rules and regulations that evolved into The Collective, of which Carter was a member. It’s members were known as Hands, probably due to them being hired hands. They have ranks that go into their level of importance. Carter was a Beta rank, and so he was prioritized over those below him, given access to the appropriate level of assistance, and could participate in important Collective meetings. It was essentially like adventurer guilds from anime, even with the formation of parties and clans. One key difference I noticed was that there were no limits to the jobs you could do. The death rate was high due to this, inexperienced people attempting jobs that were out of their depth.

“No matter what, it would be wise of you to join The Collective. It’s a reliable way to make money, and inns usually prioritize giving Hands board over everyone else. It pays to have a Hand in the event there are issues.”

I nodded. “I think we’ll do that.

He shared more, but it was more about the work of a Hand. Soon after we all bedded down for the night. I could hear Yuliya and Sofiya huddled together, crying softly. Abel stayed up with Ogun to keep watch, and Adaeze panted weakly. I didn’t know how I felt overall, but I was worried about everyone. As nice as the Montfords were to me, especially the parents, this group right here was the closest thing I had to family. I wanted to get them home in one piece if I could.

The next morning, we marched on once more, arriving just passed the half mark of the day. At the gate were two guards, eying everyone with suspicion.

“The lord has felt threatened lately and has been increasingly critical of his forces, which has led them to start taking that out on the citizenry. Just stick close to me and say nothing.” He exchanged greetings with one of the guards, showed him a metal plate, and then explained he was taking us to the Collective. The guard obviously wanted to say something, but the other silenced him and gestured for us to pass. He nodded to Carter.

After we were a ways away, I turned to him. “That guard seemed to hold a lot of respect for you. He a friend?”

Carter smirked, however it seemed more like he was being self-depreciative. “No. I am known as the Hand that has completed the most jobs in this city, and I believe I have helped his sister. He stopped questioning me when I leave or enter a month back.”

We wound through some streets, crossed a bridge to the other side of one of the rivers, and then entered a large building with a logo of a hand with coins in it. I looked around and was surprised at how closely it resembled the adventurer guilds of the anime I’ve seen.

Behind me Yuliya let out a sigh of wonder. “This place has an amazing vibe. It’s very adventurous, isn’t it?”

Abel looked around nervously. He was a big guy, but he had a gentle heart. All these tough people were probably making him nervous.

Ogun growled frustratedly. “When are we taking Adaeze to a doctor?”

I looked at him shocked at his aggression, but relayed the question to Carter.

“I must collect the bounty, and then some of that will pay for her care.”

Our previous leader grumbled but accepted the answer. We waited by the entrance as Carter took a pouch from his and placed it on the counter in front of a receptionist. It was a very friendly looking man who had three eyes. All of them were closed in a smiling expression. Soon, the man withdrew a similar pouch from under the counter and handed it to Carter, who secured it to his belt where the other one was. The lizard man said something else and gestured to a basket on a shelf behind him. The man appeared thoughtful for a moment before nodding, reaching in and grabbing whatever was in it. He deposited it in Carter’s hands. He walked back over and began handing stones to everyone. “More speech stones.” He nodded to me. “Let us go now.”

After leaving the Collective building, we crossed back over the bridge and headed to a quieter district. Entering a much smaller building than before, we heard a bell jingle. Before we all had entered yet, a portly old man came bounding out of a back room. “Carter! Who do you bring to my clinic?” His eyes were wide and his smile was beaming. He seemed so jolly, I wondered if he ever experienced crying.

“Some travelers I ran into in the plateau forest. The woman needs attending.”

The doctor gestured for her to be placed onto a table in the back room, and then began looking over her. “I see. Sickened pallor, shaking like a leaf, and” He placed a hand against her head “A high fever!” Adaeze gripped the table she was on. “Also fitful dreams. I wonder…” He pulled Ogun closer. “Does her hair look unusual?”

“Her hair? What does that have to do with this? Wait, actually it does look a lot shorter.”

“As I suspected!” The doctor said excitedly. “Carter you’ve brought me an interesting case!”

Ogun brushed the man’s hands off him, annoyed. “What is wrong with her!?”

“She has time sickness! It doesn’t affect everyone, and it affects those it does to varying degrees. But the one thing that is the same is a transformation to bodily features. The most notable is hair. It will get longer or shorter temporarily based upon which direction in time you go.”

He looked at his sister with worry.

“Oh chin up young man! Your wife will be just fine! She will get better the more she reverts back to her normal state.”

Ogun sighed with relief. She is my sister.” He said quietly.

I scratched my head. “Time sickness and travel through time?”

Sofiya nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, I wonder about that.”

Leaving Adaeze and Ogun at the clinic, we went to find an inn.

“I do have one in mind for your party. It is run by good friends of mine.”

He led us through the streets once again, heading back over the bridge into the main part of the city. Between the shops, restaurants, and the odd performer here and there, I could feel the sense of discontent lingering on everyone’s shoulders. There was a worn paper on a shop here, or a performance over there, or even a whisper somewhere right next to me. People were criticizing the guard and their lord. The performer was grabbed by a guard that happened by and hauled off to who knows where.

“So Carter, why do the people here not like their leader?”

He glanced around, making sure there wasn’t a guard nearby. “Well, he has been fighting with one of the other nearby cities. In order to fund it, he increased taxes. He has also been harsh with his guards because he expects them to perform better at their tasks than the Hands who get hired to do things before they take care of it. We apparently make them look bad in his eyes, which apparently makes him look bad.”

“That’s ridiculous. All of it.” Abel growled.

“Wait,” Sofiya said with a hint of confusion “How do you know some of that?”

“The husband of the pair I’m taking you to is a guard and tells me things. He tries his best to do best and keep the guards around him doing the same, but he’s only one man and he doesn’t have rank to make any of them listen. Often the others take things out on the citizens to vent their frustrations.”

Sofiya responded with an ah. We turned a few more streets, passed what looked like a merchant company, and then stopped in front of a tall building.

“Don’t be alarmed by his wife. She is rare in this region.”

With a jingle once again, Carter opened the door to the inn and we filed in. It looked warm and cozy inside, with chairs by a fireplace. The fire was out, and two old men were playing some board game. To the left of them was a counter, manned by a woman. Or at least, a demi-woman. She had bright pink and yellow plumage all around her neck and head. Her eyes looked like that of a bird, and in place of human arms, she had bird wings that had hands at the ends of them. She looked both pretty and jarring at the same time. The color of her feathers was so bright I had to squint a little.

“Carter! Welcome in! Who do we have here?” She chirped cheerfully.

He gestured towards us. “These people need a place to stay. Do you have some rooms available? I’ll be paying their tab for now.”

The woman referenced a book on her counter. “Hmm, we have four rooms total. Only two of them are next to each other though, so if they are wanting to keep together, they should split between men and women.”

Carter pulled his coin pouch from his belt. “That will do. This is Mel. She will handle anything you need while at the inn.” He glanced to a window at the front for a moment. “It has gotten too late to take you to meet Soothsayer, so you should eat up and rest for the night. I will come fetch you in the morning.”

Mel took a sharp breath. “They need to meet Soothsayer?” Her eyes held concern.

He shook his head. “There business is their own, so do not pry.”

“I wasn’t going to- ” She started.

He cut her off. “I know you Mel. There is a reason Byron doesn’t let you near the guard post.” He was smiling smugly.

She smiled back. “Ok you got me there.” She turned to us. “It’ll be a pleasure having you all here! We serve light breakfast and decent dinner here. You don’t have to pay for it, as it’s included with your room fee, and Carter has already paid that.” Mel reached under the counter and retrieved two keys. At that moment the door opened once more, and a group of people entered.

“Hiya Mel! We just got back from a job and are starved! Is dinner almost ready?” A woman at the head of the party called while waving her hand wildly.

“Perfect timing!” Mel clapped her hands, her feathers ruffling loudly. “I don’t want to leave the counter right now with those two codgers sitting over there.” At that the two old men chuckled knowingly. “So would you be a dear and take them up to the two rooms on your floor?”

The woman slowly put her hand down and scanned our faces. She walked over and stopped in front of us. At about my height, she was shorter than everyone but Yuliya and I. She had long purple hair, all the way down to her waste. It was tied back in two pig tails, with a braid that ran from the front of her hair to the back, wrapping around one pigtail. Her clothes had a mixture of leather and small pieces of metal armor. All along her belt were various knives, pouches, and a canteen. Before she spoke, she took the canteen from her belt and poured it over herself. We were surprised, but then I noticed the webbing between her fingers.

“The names’ Skylar. It’s nice to meet you all!” She stuck her hand out and then looked at each one of us.

I realized she was waiting for someone to shake her hand, so I stepped forward. “Hi, I’m Taiyo. We aren’t from around here, so please forgive us if we seem rude.”

Skylar laughed. “Oh don’t worry! I’m used to people looking at me like that! It’s been like that since the first day I left Atlantia. Land dwellers aren’t too accustomed to seafolk.”

“Seafolk?” Sofiya asked. I could tell she was massively intrigued. I’d also noticed her stutter had been gone for a while. I wondered if our current situation brought something out of her that was under the surface. Some level of confidence.

“Yes, like mermaids and mermen, sirens, dagons, and many others. I’m a dailon. We are kind of an offshoot of dagons. We are even more suited to living on land if we need to than they are. Can’t go without water for as long as you humans though!” She laughed again.

Yuliya stepped forward. “I like you energy! You said your name is Skylar. Skylar what?”

The group behind her exchanged worried looks. Skylar kept a smile, but I could tell it was tinged with sadness. “Just Skylar. Dailons don’t get a second name from our parents until we reach our ascension year. I left home before then.”

Yuliya’s face broke into a frown. “That is sad, but you are free to do what you want, yes? Choose one for yourself.”

Skylar’s eyes widened. “Choose one for myself?” After a couple of moments she laughed her hardest since we met her. Even her companions looked surprised at her reaction. “Well,” She forced her laughter down and wiped a tear from her eye. “Could you tell me your second name? So that I have a reference?”

Yuliya put her fists on her hips. “I am Yuliya Zaitsev!” She announced. “This is my sister Sofiya, and our other friends Abel and Ogun.” She introduced the others.

Skylar turned to me again, looking me up and down. “It’s been a while since anyone with so much energy has come to this region, let alone this town. Your clothes tell me you come from very far away indeed. At least as far as I do. Follow us upstairs and I’ll show you guys to your rooms. Maybe later we can eat together and you guys can tell your story?”

Mel attempted to warn her away from the topic like Carter did to her, but Skylar wasn’t paying attention anymore and was heading up the staircase in the back of the room with her party.

After we were shown to our rooms, were shown to wash rooms that used various magical appliances to produce the same effect as faucets and toilets from regular Earth, and sitting down for dinner, we explained our predicament. By that point the tables were full of people eating and conversating, so no one but those at the table could hear the topic being talked about, much to Mel’s disappointment.

“Wow. The way you can’t go home is just like me, but on a grander scale.” Skylar mused.

“You don’t know that. We could be able to go home.” Abel said firmly.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” She quickly took a drink of her ale and nearly choked, seemingly remembering something. “Oh yeah! I never introduced you to my party!”

I breathed a sigh of relief, afraid they were just going to be “You” and “Them” for the rest of our time knowing them.

“So this big guy right her is Gesperow. If we ever need to fight, he’s the guy that stays up front and keeps our enemy from attacking everyone else.”

Gesperow waved meekly. He appeared in his early twenties, but he was big just like she said.

Next she clapped the shoulder of the woman next to her. “This is Tatiana. She is our sword wielder, and also our herbalist. She can help us with supply jobs for clinics our sometimes those technologists.”

Ogun raised his hand. “I am sorry. What is a technologist?”

“Oh that’s right, you’re not from here, so you may call them something else.” She picked up something that looked like a coaster from the table. Flipping it over, she revealed runes etched into it on the bottom. “See these? They are runes of cold. They turn things they are on cold. This can be used in many ways when it comes to jobs, but a technologist somewhere realized that if you add them to a drake scale like this, it becomes just cold enough to-” She paused as she set her ale on top of it. “Keep your drinks cold!”

Ogun cupped his chin. “So they think about and invent things that help with regular tasks or make life easier.”

Skylar nodded. “Yup! Just like that!”

He looked at me. “So they are essentially scientists.”

“Sounds like it.” I replied. “What about him?” I pointed at the last man in her party. “What is that he has on his back?”

“This is Zeke. He is our shooter. It’s another thing made by a technologist.”

Zeke took his weapon off his back and placed it on the table. “This is a break stick, made of treant wood, two types of filpher bones, and borst stomach. The treant wood is strong against the forces caused by the bones and stomach. You place a male filpher bone in this slot her and then pull this slide back. It will position it near another bone built into the break stick about here.” He pointed at and described the weapon in great detail. “Male filphers repel each other. The technologist that made this is actually my cousin. He discovered that an energy is created if you forcibly keep them together. The borst stomach collects massive amounts of energy, so using this to collect the energy created, it’s built up until you pull this trigger. Once you do, a part of the slide widens, letting the bone through, sent flying by the energy built up in the stomach. It makes a sound as if the weapon is breaking, so it’s called a break stick.”

We all gave him a round of applause for the presentation. Tatiana snickered. “He sounds all cool describing it, but you should see him in a fight. If something gets close to him, he falls all over himself.”

“I can’t help it! I’m not made for up close fighting!” The rest of the party laughed.

Skylar took control of the conversation once more. “So anyway, we’re the Miscasts. We all have a story, and none of them are the best. We’ve come together in this little family in the end though, so it’s not all bad.”

I looked at my friends. “I know the feeling.” Skylar smiled wide at me.

We continued chatting away for a while after that, then retired to our rooms. I could see Ogun already falling fast asleep as I got up to blow out the candles, but Abel looked troubled as he lay there.

I sat down on my bed facing him. “What’s wrong man?”

He didn’t answer at first. “I’m just worried. I want to go home so bad. My mom and dad are probably worried, and Lisa has probably cried her eyes out by now. My little sister always gets upset when I stay over your house. This is so much worse.”

I laid back in my bed. “I’m sure Stacy and Jack are worried about me, but I think their sons are just relieved.”

“Don’t be surprised if they don’t actually hate you.” He warned.

I reached my hand up, staring at it, as if I could see something in the creases of my palm. “I never thought they hated me. I think they are actually just kind of scared of me. I don’t blame them either. Here I am with this power that they don’t have, and can’t understand. I think that’s why that war happened in the first place.”

Abel grunted. “Whatever their feelings about your abilities, I’m sure they will still miss you. We have to get home soon.”

We fell into silence, until I could hear him snoring.

Yeah, soon.

The next day, Skylar knocked on our door. When I answered, Sofiya and Yuliya were already groggily standing in the hall behind her. “Carter is here for you guys. I told him I’d get you all downstairs to him. I didn’t know you all were acquainted with him!”

I sleepily nodded, then closed the door. Abel had fallen out of his bed and was laying on the floor. I gave him a kick to the leg as I shuffled by.

“Guuuh.” He moaned.

I trudged over to Ogun and shook him.

“Adaeze no…” He mumbled. A second later he shot up, hyper alert. “Adaeze!” He looked around with a wild look in his eyes.

All of my grogginess was blasted away with that reaction. “She’s still at the clinic. Carter is asking for us so get ready.”

“A-ah.” He choked out.

We all got ready and then met the girls in the hall so that we could go downstairs together. Sitting at one of the benches was our lizard man friend.

“It is good to see you all well. Are you ready to go speak with Soothsayer?”

Anyone who was still sleepy before woke up completely at that. I nodded to him.

With no further words, he led us out onto the street. In front of the building was a coach large enough to fit three people on each of three benches facing each other. Carter sat up front with the driver. We all sat in silence as we watched the streets pass by from the back of the wagon. Eventually we could see a come into view and I realized we were now outside of the city. I thought of the hand monsters we met when we first got here. I wished we wouldn’t come across them this time as the city began to receded from view. We followed along one of the rivers as we made our way along, different creatures making their way around in the wild. A two-headed deer looking animal came up to the river to drink, one head staying alert, when the water erupted. A half humanoid half octopus monster came out, wrapping it with a couple of it’s tentacles and dragging it into the water. Not even bubbles came to the surface, as the water returned to it’s normal river appearance. Everyone but Sofiya was horrified by that.

After a while longer we came off of the main road and began to rumble along on a much bumpier dirt path through the woods. Carter leaned into the back from the driver’s bench. “We are arriving now.” After another minute we came to a full stop.

I was the first to step down from the coach and see the cottage we pulled up to. Sitting on the porch was a shriveled looking old lady with bones and feathers strung through her hair. Working in a garden was a far younger woman. She looked up a few times as she harvested vegetables before finally standing up and approaching.

“Carter, you never come here. This feels a little auspicious.” She said.

He bowed to her. “It is an honor to be in your presence here at your home.”

She bowed her head and then looked to us. “If you are here and these people are with you, may I assume you wish to consult Soothsayer on their behalf?”

“Yes indeed. Taiyo, if you would be so kind.”

I had no idea what I was supposed to say here, so I started with greetings. “Hi, my name is Taiyo, and you are?”

“I am simply Apprentice. I forsake my name to care for Soothsayer and one day become Soothsayer myself.” The woman had a sharp look in her eyes. “What have you come for?”

Everyone was looking at me, which told me I couldn’t get any help at this part of our little trip. “Uh, we want to figure out how to get home.”

“Guidance it is then. Very well. Follow me.” She led us onto the porch and to the old woman. She whispered in here ear, and the elder turned sharply towards me.

Her mouth opened and a voice came out, but it seemed as if it was echoing from the depths of her very existence. “You seek to return home? Come closer and let me look at you.” I did as I was asked even though every part of my body screamed for me to do the opposite. “Hmm, I see… That you are of this world, and yet not. You are not of this time or place. I see careless magic, woven together hastily and without any thought. It is woven by sheer luck and coincidence as well.” She was wracked with a bad fit of coughing. Assistant wiped her mouth with a cloth. “I see a paper glowing with blue light. It was with you, but was separated during the journey here.”

“That must be the shikigami I made.” I said, intrigued by it’s mention.

“This, shikigami as you say, it holds the key for travel home. It is shrouded however. I am afraid I cannot tell you more without much time and effort.” She experience another coughing attack. “I will send for you when I have more to share.” With that, her head turned back until she was once more observing her garden.

Assistant stepped away from her. “You have heard the words of Soothsayer. I will fetch you when she is ready.” After speaking those words, her dealings with us were apparently done as well, since she resumed her work on the garden.

“Come.” Carter urged us. We returned to the coach, which the driver promptly directed the horses to pull us back to the city.

After a while of silence, Abel spoke. “So we can in fact go home.”

“That means we can see our family again.” Sofiya murmured.

I clapped my hands together. “She needs more time to give us more information though. We have to make a living in this world while we wait, so I say we go ahead and join the Collective and make some money.”

Ogun hummed thoughtfully. “We could also learn to fight a bit too. I imagine in an environment like this, bandits are common.”

“Indeed they are.” Carter confirmed from the front.

“So we should be prepared to fight them.”

“Maybe Carter could train us a little?” Yuliya suggested.

He looked back at us. “I supposed I could, and in exchange you assist me on jobs as payment.”

After some shared looks, I nodded. “I think we all agree to that.”

It was at this point that we had a clear goal and path in front of us. What came next however, threw all that out of the window.