Chapter 3: Bacon n Eggs

Two figures stroll their way down a grand corridor. The corridor was adorned with flags and paintings, presumably of the country they were currently in. Contrasting with the dark steel look of the throne in the room prior. The hall was filled with bright vibrant colors. A bright cyan and white flooded the eyes of the two persons. The hallway felt like a giant room. It could easily hold hundreds of people if need be. Yet the only people within this vast expanse were the two shadows; one large and one small; a young girl and an older boy, Moraine and Rhea. The two made decent conversation on their way to the library. Moraine was very inquisitive as he was essentially in the dark when it came to his current location. Rhea, simply happy to finally have someone to talk to, was happy to respond to any question Moraine asked, provided she had the answer.

“So what did you say the name of this place was again?”, Moraine asked calmly.

“Neveshaven. How do you not know about one of the largest cities in Cylovan? Even if it isn’t the nicest city, it’s still a really really big city in the empire.”

Cylovan and Neveshaven, two places Moraine had never heard of in his life. He thought maybe it was a foreign country, but he could understand Rhea just fine. Even if she was an exception, he found it very unlikely that wherever he was had anything to do with the Earth he knew so well. While the architecture in this place was phenomenal, the lights didn’t seem to be electric, but rather powered by something else. Another thing he took note of was his bedroom he had woken up in. There hadn’t been a bathroom in sight. It is one thing to be obsessed with medieval architecture, but not a single part about this place felt modern. It felt almost entirely foreign to him. Rhea knew a bit of general knowledge, having spent her time reading about the world. Besides that, though, there was little else she could tell him regarding the intricacies of the situation. Many of the things she did know about were related to her role in the castle, and she was rarely given information from her caregivers. The most important piece of information he was given was the purpose of the black throne. The black steel on the throne was made of Calcite, one of the most important commodities in the country that is harvested en masse. Moraine, deciding that was enough questions, switched the conversation to something Rhea would be more knowledgeable on. Perhaps he could finally get some answers on that weird oathesmark.

“So Rhea, about that oathesmark thing you mentioned”, he began.

“Yeah, what about it? Honestly, I don’t know very much on oathesmarks aside from the fact that they are like promises between to people, oh and that they stir up your mana.”, Rhea replied diligently.

“I see, what do you mean by mana?”

Moraine wasn’t unfamiliar with the concept of mana, but it wasn’t exactly a common concept for those on Earth, so he was still skeptical. Going from one day working a 9-5 to put food on the table for your family to suddenly waking up in a castle and hearing about mana was jarring to say the least. Moraine was a bit too accepting of it, however. Perhaps because he hadn’t accepted it? His current situation felt so foreign to his normal life that it was difficult for him to even process it as real. The notion that this all might be his life now hadn’t yet set in for him. Once it did, if it did, he knew it wouldn’t be easy for him to take in. For now though, he’d spend his time collecting as much information as possible in the hopes that it would allow him to better integrate himself into whatever or wherever this was.

While all this was going through his head, Rhea was busy thinking on how to respond to Moraine’s question. She once again felt puzzled by his questions. Things that were common knowledge to her, he had never heard of. On top of that, he would frequently mix phrases into his speech that she had never heard before.

“Mana is kinda like air”, she began.

“It’s everywhere and it takes all sorts of forms and stuff. There are also spirits which like mana and cling to it. You can also make an oathesmark with a spirit and that will…”

Rhea paused. A loud rumbling could be heard from her stomach. It seemed that she had not eaten for quite a while. Moraine took note of this and decided the best course of action would be to get some food before finally going to the library as planned.

“Hey Rhea, is there a kitchen anywhere in here?”, Moraine asked.

“There is one, I don’t go to it often as most meals are brought to my room, but I know where it is I think”, she replied.

“Perfect let’s go grab a bite”, Moraine added

“Grab a bite?”, Rhea asked.

Rhea seemingly didn’t quite understand the expression. This was just one of the many phrases Moraine had to once again explain to her.

“Basically I’m going to cook for us, see what there is to eat”

Rhea looked at Moraine with awe.

“You can cook?”, she said with her mouth open from surprise.

“Yea, is that so surprising? I used to cook for my younger siblings all the time.” Moraine replied.

Rhea was simply shocked to find out someone in the castle could cook who wasn’t a servant. Usually servants would do all the cooking and deliver it to the lord’s chambers, or the dining hall in the case of an event.

“Really Moraine, You just surprise me more and more.”

***

After making their way through the hallways for what felt like another 15 minutes, the two finally arrived at the kitchen. Much like the rest of the establishment, the kitchen was grandiose in nature. The ingredients were plentiful; the cutlery shined a brilliant silver, and each plate was adorned with a lovely gold pattern. The ingredients were even cooled via some sort of magic cooling device, the likes of which Moraine had never seen. When Moraine checked one of the cabinets for spices, he found an abundance of options, many of which he had never even heard of. The boy thought it best to stick to what he knew and go for something relatively simple. Though, that didn’t mean he couldn’t show off a little. He decided to go for a classic scrambled egg with a side of bacon. In part because it would be relatively simple, but also because his body was telling him he had just woken up not too long ago and it was breakfast time. Once he had his recipe, all he had to do was begin cooking it. He set the fire to a nice medium and got started on his way. Moraine often liked to add a bit of cheese to his eggs. So he did just that. The scrambled eggs came out very nice and fluffy and had a soft cheesy flavor to them. Curious of what Rhea would think, he decided to give her a small taste.

“Here Rhea, Try this”

“If’z weewyh goohf” she replied with her mouth full.

It seemed the taste had made her forget her manners, which meant it was a mission successful for Moraine. He laughed at Rhea’s attempt to talk with a mouth full of scrambled egg and soon Rhea began laughing too. The two laughed as they enjoyed cooking for the next few minutes. Then suddenly, tears came flowing from Moraine.

“Moraine, What’s wrong?”

“Ah no, sorry it’s just… I haven’t gotten to cook like this, just have fun even in a long time. It really does remind me of when I used to eat with my younger siblings and I just got a bit emotional.”

Rhea didn’t really understand fully what Moraine was feeling, but she could comprehend that he was genuinely happy cooking together like this and decided that there was nothing to be concerned about. Once the bacon was finished the two readied their plates, sat down and had a nice meal. Moraine kept crying while smiling the whole way and the two couldn’t help but laugh as Moraine shared stories of his time on Earth. He made sure to omit things that would be difficult to explain like advanced technology and certain slang, which proved fairly difficult. If one were to look at them, it would seem like the best of friends sharing a meal together. Or perhaps two siblings in a family spending time together. If Moraine knew one thing for sure, he wouldn’t be leaving Rhea anytime soon.

Once the two finished their meal, they made sure to wash their plates and clean the kitchen. After all, it was just common courtesy. Moraine handled washing the dishes while Rhea tidied the cupboards. After a few minutes, the two were done and their

bellies were full.

“Moraine, Can you cook for me again sometime soon?” Rhea asked.

“Sure, anytime Rhea”, he replied happily.

Rhea held the biggest grin on her face as she skipped to the kitchen door happily.

With that, all that remained was to get back on track to the library they had set their sights on. And so the two made their way to the library once again. 

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Author's Note: From this point on I'm probably going to switch the way in which I do dialogue from a "he noted" "she replied" style to a simple "Moraine:" as I feel it will just be easier to format and I won't get as hung up on things. I still may describe their speech just a bit less frequently and in a slightly different fashion. Anyways, let me know what you think and thank you for reading <3.