Chapter 13 part 3: Field Trip

 Eye closed, a delectable hum sounded past a mouthful. Jun stilled as the taste washed over him. Sweet as honey, familiar as apples from earth, yet soft and juicy. A dribble slid down his cheek and he wiped it off.

“Delicious.”

Mei chewed on her lip. She had been hesitant, always was when it came to trying new foods. However hearing his praises and watching his reaction coaxed her out of her detest. He could understand it. The fruit didn’t look appealing, at least not to earthly standards, but this was a different world, and it was Amalie who had picked these for them. He was grateful he had gone past looks and tried it.

“Well then,” Amalie put her fingers together as Mei slowly lowered her mask. Her eyes lit up as she sampled a morsel. “I’m glad you enjoy them. They are in season now and I prefer to enjoy them with friends.” She too bit into one, downing the fruit in a few bites. Jun found that a waste. As delectable as this was, one should savor it.

“So, you asked about contacting Solara?”

He nodded. “You and Arnold have other responsibilities. I can’t rely on you two to relay all the information.” Jun was practical.

“True. Arnold?”

The apparition appeared with a grandiose display. Amalie cringed, despite not seeing it.

‘Already in contact. Though, you are right, Jun... Amalie, my spark, care to explain?’

Amalie let out a sigh. Jun noted that she was more open with her expressions of late. “I was going to bring it up. After the festival ends tomorrow, I will be leaving to find more Chosen for next year’s classes.

“When does the year start?” Mei asked after swallowing. Amalie grabbed another fruit before answering.

“In three months.”

“That far out?” Jun bit into his fruit. He was beginning to see the gluttons eat through the pile and grabbed a few to reserve for himself.

“Hmm. What was the school schedule for you on your home world?”

“Each year signaled in the next school year.”

“Interesting. We do one full year of school and then three months off. The next year starts later.”

Jun nodded slowly. He could understand that. It was different of course. “But three months isn’t enough time to get out to where you found us.”

“No. And we don’t need to go out there again. Not for a while. This time we will be circling to another area.”

“I see.” Jun was begining to realize how lucky they were that Amalie had come when she did. He offered a small prayer of gratitude. “And you will be gone for the full three months?”

“Yes. Which is why I wanted to find out what your motives and goals were for the next few months. I need a way to keep you two safe.”

Her eyes held a motherly warmth. Jun raised a brow in response. She laughed.

‘Solara asks if we could arrange this quickly. She has a class to attend.’

“There are still classes going on?” Mei whined.

“More like private tutoring.” Amalie answered, then her hand moved to her chin.

‘By the way Jun, Solara and Serena are asking if your faith has been increasing. Do you want to answer that?’

Jun was grateful that Arnold didn’t just tell them. He still didn’t know why or how they had discovered his faith crisis.

“It’s… improved a little.” He answered. Arnold was silent and then nodded, off in a conversation of their own.

‘Oh good.’ Arnold spoke for the staff. ‘If you want to keep growing your faith, then find things to be grateful for. Even the hard things.’

Jun stayed still, eyes towards the ground. He was finding things to be grateful for, but the hard things? Were they referring to Ellen wanting him dead and Mei being engaged to him. He shook his head. That was impossible.

‘I’m sure you’re wondering how gratitude affects faith.’

Jun stiffened, eyes darting to Arnold who smiled. ‘Solara says that gratitude is like a river. Prayer is the water that flows through it. If you are more grateful, then you can receive more water. Your faith will overflow, like a dam being broken and your body will build one that holds more. Conversely, if the prayer’s flow diminishes or is blocked, then the faith decreases and a smaller dam is all that is needed.’ Arnold chuckled. ‘At least that is what the priests taught her.’

Jun nodded along. It made sense. Gratitude was the pipe. A large pipe could let more water through. If you weren’t grateful, your pipe would be small. While it could increase the pressure, it would limit how fast your vessel could fill.

In short, if he wasn’t grateful, then he couldn’t receive prayer, and that in turn was a reflection of his faith. Amalie’s description fit into this as well. Fuel and flame. One without the other would be useless.

“That is the core doctrine of her church.”

“What do you mean?” Jun sat up straight. Mei eyed the fruit beside him but he shook his head. She frowned but held back.

‘I’m not from the Nauthire religion. It’s more like a branch. It's a different way to interpret the words of the prophet.’ Arnold’s words sounded like Solara was speaking. Jun raised his brow again. So it was more like the Catholics and Protestants? At least that was his understanding of the two. He had wondered if this world would have one faith, or multiple.

As he mulled over the concepts, his lips twisted. He had received two lessons if not three now.

“Why are you two helping me?” Jun looked to Arnold who fidgeted before answering.

‘You are an Alinta, and a healer.’ Jun frowned. So they were aware. ‘For an Alinta to be so low on faith, that is in and of itself a problem.’

“And?” He didn’t buy that they were doing this just because he was an Alinta.

Arnold’s mouth dropped and then he tilted it before speaking ‘Please, teach me.’

Jun blinked slowly, trying to understand what sort of answer that was.

‘It’s Solara who is asking… Oh, and Serena as well.’

“Serena…” Jun hummed. That was the staff’s name. Amalie confirmed it.

“Teach you what?” he asked. He imagined the two were present as the conversation continued, though Arnold’s changing expressions as he relayed the words made it hard to keep up the mental illusion.

It boiled down to two simple things. They had observed him dispel the spellbind, or rather paralysis, and heal the injured during the ‘field trip’ incident. Since that was not possible with healing magic as it was currently understood, there had to be something he knew from his past life that made the difference and they wanted to learn.

Jun’s eyes remained closed as he listened, brow furrowed. Amalie voiced her surprise and asked for confirmation. Jun nodded to her questions. He really needed to address his faith issue. Since his common sense was out of touch with reality, he would likely make more mistakes like this and give himself away again. And that would lead to danger.

“Hmmm. Speaking of field trips, we could…” Amalie groaned, her words cut off. Jun waited. Mei was about to speak, but he handed her a fruit and signaled for her to wait. She shrugged and devoured the delectable.

“Solara, when do your classes end?”

‘In three weeks.’

“That should work then. How about while I’m away I arrange a field trip for my disciples. Of course, we have no healers, so we would invite Solara to accompany. On top of that, I will have a trusted friend make sure to keep you all safe. I’d even allow Arvad to join so you don’t have to worry about him.”

Mei brightened at this. Jun thought on it. If possible… he opened his mouth to speak his thoughts.

“Could we invite Zain and Christopher?”

Amalie offered a wan smile. “I figured you might ask about Zain.” She shook her head. Then grinned mischievously. “Though Christopher? A friend of yours?” Jun ignored the jab. He was aware of his lack of friends. Some of it by choice, and some by circumstance. Though it did lead to his lack of common sense. He didn’t have enough interactions to observe what was normal and common in this world.

“Perhaps I should invite them too. It is about time to replace…” Amalie mumbled, off in her own world. Jun looked to Arnold.

“Does that work for you two?”

‘Absolutely.’ Arnold winked, catching who the message was for. Jun nodded his thanks.