The Path Home closed?

"What is this Midver like?" Heidi asked. 

"It's mostly a town of goblins and trolls," Elaine answered. "But the Celestials keep a garrison there. So, keep your head down and don't make a scene. If a trio of them stops us, just let me do the talking."

"Shouldn't we be more worried about you since you're a part of the rebellion?" Heidi wondered. 

"One nondescript dark elf is a lot more difficult to positively identify than a human out of her world," Elaine said. "Besides, I mostly stay in the background taking care of the situation from behind the scenes. Not that I can't fight if I have to. I'm just more of a schemer. We'll meet my contact, Micarnel. He's a bit gruff and may come across as rude but he'll help us get the materials I need for a scroll of dimensional travel." 

"I see," Heidi muttered. She wondered if this was the same contact who had gotten the scrolls together to send Moricia to her world in the first place.

"Oh, and Human," Elaine began her statement very matter-of-factly "don't say anything about his eye. Don't stare at his eye. Don't even glance too long in the direction of his eye. Unless you want to listen to an unreasonably long lecture." 

"Oh, okay," Heidi agreed. She heard the words but she was pre-occupied. It felt like something was just on the edge of her grasp. A power she had but wasn't quite fully aware of. She just couldn't find the proper words to describe it.

*****

It took a day and a half to reach Midver. They stopped to build a fire and eat once but Elaine barely spoke a word to Heidi and Heidi felt far too awkward to try and make light conversation. Besides, she was preoccupied with this strangely familiar sensation. 

The city seemed to be thriving with merchants selling their wares and travellers going through. There were celestial soldiers patrolling. All in groups of three. They weren't stopped at the gate nor did the celestials pay them much attention. 

Elaine led Heidi past the bustling merchants that had their wares set up near the gate and deep into a dingy, grimy section of the city. Goblin children glanced up at them curiously but didn't approach. They looked overly thin. 

Heidi had only seen places like this in charity adverts talking about children starving and needing sponsors. She made an effort to not look at them. After all, what could she do? She didn't have anything to use to help them. Did she?

"Unless your much touted magic can make food or clean water, there isn't anything you can do," Elaine pointed out. "Besides, we're almost to my contact." 

"The... the city seemed so nice at first," Heidi muttered. 

"Of course it did," Elaine stated. "Those are the good merchants," She practically spat out the word 'good' making her contempt very clear. "They're the ones who obediently serve and support their celestial overlords, help quash any dissent and pay... extra taxes. They're the socially acceptable mask of a people thriving under this system. But you remove that mask and this is the reality for most of the citizens." 

"And you're sure I shouldn't stay and help?" Heidi asked. 

Elaine sighed. "Hum... Heidi. I understand that your heart is in the right place and your desire to make a positive impact is very genuine. However, you can't beat an army by yourself and a rebellion with eight soldiers is hardly a threat to a system this powerful. No matter how much you or I might wish otherwise." She gestured towards a ramshackle little shop. "We'll find my contact here." 

They entered without Heidi offering any further arguments. It was dimly lit with jars full of animal parts and strange looking plants. One jar seemed to be a combination of the two with something that looked like eyeballs sprouting from branches like fruit. 

"Hey, Old Man!" Elaine called out. There was no response. "Old Timer!" she cried out louder. She walked briskly to the backroom. "Not good," she muttered. "He almost never leaves this dump." 

Heidi spotted something shining near the counter. She knelt to pick it up. Elaine didn't miss the gesture. "What's that?" 

"A cracked monocle," Heidi answered, looking it over. "I think..."

Elaine snatched it. "Really, really not good," she stated. "Shit." She noticed Heidi's confusion. "Micarnel can't see out of his left eye at all and he can't see anything out of his right without this. Even if he had to leave, he wouldn't leave it behind. It being cracked is also a bad sign. He was always so careful with it." She checked the floor near where Heidi had found it. "Blood... And I can guess who it belongs to. It's dried so it's been here for a while."

"Ma... maybe if we ask someone, they'll know what happened," Heidi suggested. 

"Possibly," Elaine said. "But getting any real answers out of anyone will be difficult in this area." 

"We have to try, right?" Heidi said. "Besides, isn't he your friend?"

Elaine turned the cracked monocle over in her fingers for a moment. "It will be difficult to get the materials I need without him," she conceded. "But I think you under-estimate how difficult it will be to find someone willing to help us." 

"We can always start by narrowing it down," Heidi suggested. "Who are the suspects?"

"Celestials, merchants from the commerce quarter trying to eliminate a competitor who got too big, someone from the area desperate for coins or an old enemy from his military days." Elaine listed them with no hesitation. "I suppose his ex wife is also an option though I doubt she could have done it herself with her arthritis and she definitely doesn't have the coin to hire anyone. Not unless things have changed drastically."

"Does he really have that many enemies?" Heidi asked. 

Elaine shrugged. "He's old and has had an interesting life." 

They left the store. Elaine pocketed the monocle and carefully locked the building behind them. "Won't necessarily keep anyone out but it might make them more hesitant at least. So, Miss Detective, where do we begin?" 

"I..." Heidi looked around. There were a lot of goblins loitering around the area. Perhaps... That was when her attention was drawn to a goblin girl who was pointedly trying not to look at them. She looked barely pubescent. Maybe twelve or thirteen years old if goblins grew at about the same rate as humans. 

Heidi went directly to her and knelt down to look her in the eyes. "Hello, my name is Heidi," she said, putting on her best customer service voice. "What's yours?" 

"I didn't do nothing," the girl practically screamed. 

Heidi felt a hand on her shoulder and Elaine moved in front of her. "Child, we're looking for whoever attacked the old man who ran that apothecary," her voice was chilling. "Maybe you had nothing to do with it. But unless we find out who did..." Elaine drew a miniature crossbow and fired a bolt directly over the head of a goblin sitting nearby. The unsuspecting child shrieked and ran away. "We're going to assume everyone in the area is guilty." 

"Elaine, stop. You're terrifying her," Heidi protested. 

Elaine held a hand up and knelt closer to the scared girl. 

"It wasn't us," the girl persisted. "It was the celestials, I swear! They said he was a rebel and took him away. They... They said he's going to be made an example of. I liked the old man, honest. He used to give me food to do errands."

"How long ago did they take him?" Elaine demanded. 

"Two days," the frightened girl answered. 

Elaine stood back up and retrieved her bolt. "Let's get out of here," she said. 

"But what about your friend?" Heidi asked. 

"He'll be executed tomorrow," Elaine said. "Nothing we can do. We'll just have to find another way to return you home... somehow."