What Can I Do For You?
Suggested Theme:
Main Theme- Rebel Rebel by David Bowie
Reggie is wandering around Broken Edge. He's not looking for anything in particular unlike his last scan quest. This Location is nowhere near as dangerous, or sun burning, as the Kashere Driftlands, but it does require caution. This is the borderland between the Mipedians and the OverWorlders. This place has been fought over for solons between the two Tribes, but it is considered neutral territory depending on who's in charge.
The Location reflects the conflict between the Mipedians and the OverWorlders. The place is like a battlefield between the desert and the forest. In between the yellow sands and green trees is a sorry contingent of dead trees that look ready to be used as kindle. The sun, well the setting sun, isn't as harsh as the midday sun of the desert. However, he's walking through the shady parts of the forest section because the sun is a little harsh on his skin.
Again, he's not here for a particular scan. He's trying something new this time around. He purposely ported to this Location by random without looking up any information on it. He wants to have one of those spontaneous adventures like when someone decides to go on a road trip across a foreign country without any actual knowledge about the country. However, he can't really do that on Earth, so he decides that Perim would be the best place to try his latest whim.
Unfortunately, the forest is littered with annoying branches that you have to push away in order to get by. However, once the branch is pushed away, it recoils and snaps at your back like a whip. His hair is a mess with some leaves sticking out thanks to those branches. He comes across another branch and sighs; he knows that he's not quick enough to get away from the recoil. He might as well get this minor annoyance over with again. He pushes back the branch and gets by. Then, he lets go and prepares for the stinging slap.
"Ow." Reggie immediately turns around to see Crown Prince Iflar clutching his "nose".
"I am so sorry, are you okay?" Reggie now feels a bit silly for asking. The branch isn't poisonous and Iflar is a Creature. If he can take on some scorpion monster with no effort, then what can a slap from a branch do?
"Yes, I'm just surprised by the recoil. I thought ducking would help me dodge that branch." Iflar straightens himself. Reggie notices that Iflar is about thirty or so centimeters taller than him. The Crown Prince is actually quite short in comparison to a lot of Creatures. Reggie didn't notice the height difference during their last encounter since he was too busy trying to find feeling in his body.
"Have you been following me this whole time?" Reggie knows full well that Mipedians can turn invisible most of the time. He also knows that Iflar can hide in light from their last encounter. So Iflar probably has mastery over his invisibility amongst other things.
"No, I heard some noises a few minutes ago and thought maybe there was an OverWorld soldier or some neutral Creature around. I decided to turn invisible to investigate. Happily, it just turned out to be you." Reggie couldn't help but smile. Most Creatures find humans to be nuisances like fleas on a pet. Iflar didn't find him annoying or even inconvenient. He's actually happy that I'm here like a friend, Reggie almost could blush but calms himself. It wouldn't do to act like a flustered child before the Crown Prince of the Mipedians.
"Oh, are you scouting the area?" There might be another battle to take place between the OverWorlders and the Mipedians for this Location. Reggie doesn't know exactly when the last battle between the two Tribes took place here, but it's probably overdue. He is almost tempted to smack himself in the head for asking. Iflar isn't going to talk about some important scouting mission to a human. Even if he's different from other Creatures, he wouldn't be so irresponsible to leak information to a human. Especially a human who could have connections to Maxxor, which Reggie doesn't have.
"No, I'm on a treasure hunt. Would you like to join me?" Reggie blinks like he saw someone bending the laws of physics. He did not expect that to say the least. He thought Iflar was going to give a polite but stern version of "none of your business, human" like many Creatures would. He knows that plenty of royals, well Earth ones, throughout history had some weird hobby or habit. For example, Charles VI of France, or more famously known as Charles the Mad, sometimes thought he was made of glass and would refuse to be touched. Then again, he was probably suffering from some mental illness, Reggie inwardly corrected himself. He highly doubts that Iflar is suffering from some mental illness. But he can hide in light, so he could practically hide anything else if he wanted to. Like madness.
"I would love to." It wasn't like he was doing anything else today. He didn't have a Drome match or a challenge match scheduled for today, which is why he was on this impromptu exploration today. Iflar pulls out a "leather" bound book and flips it open. There is a jumble of Creature pictographs on the ancient, yellow pages with more pictographs, freshly inked, in the margins.
"Well, the area I was in yielded nothing, so let's start looking over there." Iflar and Reggie head into the contingent of dead trees. Reggie is quite thankful that the sun isn't burning him at this time of the day. Although, his cheeks feel a bit warm.
"Are you looking for the Cothica?" Reggie knows that the Tribes commonly feud over one thing: the Cothica. It's the greatest source of power in Perim; and if one Tribe were to have it, that Tribe would be able to conquer the other Tribes and rule Perim. Allegedly.
"Why would I search for something that isn't real?" Iflar counters coolly. Reggie is once again surprised by Iflar. He presumed that all Creatures, especially the Tribal Leaders, believe in the Cothica. Why else would there be constant war between the four Tribes? Yet, it seems like the Cothica is just a bunch of nonsense to Iflar.
"Well, I thought the Cothica belonged to the Mipedians and then became lost." Actually, there are several versions of which Tribe had the Cothica, but Reggie chooses the Mipedian version for fairly obvious reasons. Iflar flicks out a slightly forked tongue; Reggie presumes this is the Crown Prince's dignified way of snorting.
"My cousin and every other Mipedian believes that, but I most certainly don't. I think that the Cothica was just some mystical item that may have done something 'miraculous'once, which caused people to create a legend around it. However, like all legends, it became more and more exaggerated with each retelling until it became so fantastical and 'sensible' that it must exist somewhere. Do your people have something like that?" Immediately, God, gods, goddesses, and other all-powerful deities came to Reggie's mind. He has never had much stock in religion, and his family (including his grandparents) didn't see the point of wasting their Sunday to go to church. They had more important things to do like sleep or eat. However, Reggie doesn't want to accidently "poison" Iflar with misinformation, so he settles on something definitive.
"Well, we have something called the Holy Grail which is similar to the Cothica. It can provide eternal youth, happiness, and infinite abundance of food. Considering the time it was made, it could be argued that the Grail was the source of all power because there were many famines then and the king who kept his people fed was revered. However, there are so many versions of it that's it actually hard for me to believe that it still exists." Reggie knows he just butchered one of the most important items in Arthurian legend, but he's trying to be concise. If his mom was here, she would've gone on an hour-long lecture to correct him. Personally, Reggie has found more enjoyment in watching "Merlin" over reading the actual Arthurian legends themselves.
"I take it there are great wars for it like for the Cothica." In fiction, Reggie is tempted to reply with.
"Well, maybe in the Dark Ages and before that. Also, the Holy Grail legend only exists in a few Tribes on Earth. There are hundreds of Tribes that have never even heard about it." Reggie feels like he's exaggerating, but he doesn't know the exact approximation of countries that have some sort of Arthurian legend in their culture. The UK and France are the only countries that come to mind when it comes to Arthurian lore.
"Perim can barely handle the four that exist now. Your Earth must be very hardy and fruitful." Reggie almost wants to laugh nervously at Iflar's remark. The Earth is riddled with pollution, climate change, idiotic politicians, and secret wars; he sincerely doubts the planet is going to be habitable in a thousand years.
"Since you're not looking for the Cothica, then what are you looking for?" Treasure hunts imply chests of gold or priceless artifacts. But Iflar is the Crown Prince; he probably has a vault filled with gold. So if it isn't for the Cothica, maybe it's for Mugic or Battlegear? Reggie theorizes inwardly and almost trips over a rock for not paying attention to his environment.
"Well, if I translated these ancient-written fairytales right, I am supposed to find a key. I hope it's a book. I already have enough keys…" Thrice, Reggie is surprised by Iflar. All this time, Iflar has been relying on fairytales as his map to the so-called treasure. However, it's not like this method hasn't been used before. His mother has used stories to piece together relative locations of medieval battles. Also, a colleague of hers practically relied on Latin American myths to find lost civilizations. What was his name again? Lazarus? Majors? Lazarus Majors? Reggie isn't the type to memorize his mother's list of friends.
"So are these fairytales just common parables to tell children?" Reggie has experience reading fairytales that are clearly tailored for adults. Granted, most of those fairytales saturate themselves with blood and crudity, but they are designed for adults in mind. Or at least for adults who act like punkish kids.
"Perhaps they were when they were first written in this book. Some of the modern fairytales are derived from this book and made politically correct. You've seen Creature writing before. This book's writing is quite different from the modern ones." Iflar hands the book to Reggie. The book smells like centuries-old dust and a bit like sulfur; his eyes water a bit from the smell. The letters look so thick and sloppy like this book could've been written when writing was first introduced. Iflar is right of course; the pictographs aren't as streamlined and symmetrical as the modern ones.
"Yes, it does look quite different. Where did you find the book?" Reggie hands the book back to Iflar. There's a good chance it's just a random book from the royal library.
"Allegedly, it's my mother's." At first, Reggie thinks that Iflar's mother just gave to him as some sort of present as a child. However, the "allegedly" throws a wrench in that thought.
"What do you mean by 'allegedly'?" Either, the book is hers or not.
"I mean that I don't know if this book is really hers. Some servants claim that she brought the book with her when she arrived. Others told me that it was her favorite book from the library." The proverbial lightbulb goes off in Reggie's head. Iflar doesn't know because his mother is dead. His mother most likely died when he was too young to remember anything or after giving birth to him. Either way, it is apparent that his mother is dead.
"Did you decipher the book to get to know her?" Reggie doesn't know if Iflar's father or cousin told the Crown Prince anything about her. In fiction, dead mothers are usually gushed about like they are alive or purposely forgotten to avoid pain and inspire the hero to go on a quest for answers. None of his friends' mothers are dead, so Reggie can only rely on what fiction has taught him.
"No. There is no point in obsessing over someone who is never coming back." Iflar sounds crisp like he's just reciting a fact. Reggie feels somewhat sad for Iflar. The Crown Princes are the ones who run the Mipedian Tribe until they become kings and go into exile. I bet his father had to go into exile when he was just a child and his father might as well be dead as far as he's concerned, he frowns at the thought of Iflar being abandon by his own father because of tradition. The Cothica is also part of tradition, so perhaps Iflar's atheism stems from how tradition likes to be unfair to Iflar.
"Oh, she didn't leave you anything? Not even a letter?" Reggie feels silly for suggesting the last part. He knows letters exist in Perim, but why would a dying mother leave her son just a letter? She would've probably written her autobiography so her son would know her. Reggie knows that his mother would do that if she were dying, but she's alive and fit as a fiddle.
"Aside from some genetic traits, no. She didn't leave me anything. I've only heard how she was either the most beautiful Mipedian in the desert, or she was a wicked enchantress, or both. But that's mostly from eavesdropping on servants and snippy relatives. My father didn't tell me a thing about her except that he was there when she died. I don't even know how she died…" Reggie expects Iflar to sound sad like he longs for both his parents. Instead, Iflar sounds mildly annoyed like Sherlock being robbed of a mystery.
"Oh, I think this might be where the treasure is." They come across the most gnarled tree that Reggie has ever seen. It's like the dead tree is suffering from scoliosis and kyphosis. There is a small hole in the tree; Iflar immediately drops his book and sticks his hand into the hole. Reggie's heart begins to pound wildly because he was afraid this tree was some sort of elaborate trap and it would take Iflar's hand. However, Iflar pulls out his hand to reveal a scroll in his enclosed hand.
"At least it's not a literal key, let's unroll it." The scroll is unrolled to reveal drawings of Locations and a compass. Reggie realizes that this scroll is a map. The map has a clearly drawn path that ends at some sort of lake with a forest. Above, the lake is something that looks like a cross between a sun and a yellow moon.
"It's the map to the Cothica." WHAT! Reggie almost screeches out but clamps his mouth shut with his hands. Iflar only yawns in response.
"You see that thing hovering above the lake, it's the Tribal symbol for the Cothica. It's one of the few things that the Tribes have in common. I must admit the author of the fairytales is quite clever to hide the key to the Cothica in his fairytales. Here, it's yours now." Iflar tosses the map to the Cothica to Reggie like he was throwing a ball.
"But you were the one who found it! You were the one who deciphered those fairytales for who knows how long! It should be yours!" Reggie feels like his mother at this moment. It's like when she would launch into a lecture about the finer details of Charlemagne's reign. And Iflar responds exactly like Reggie does during his mother's lectures, he has an expression of polite indifference.
"Well, you did say it was mine, but I choose to give it to you. It's my gift to you." Even if Iflar is an atheist, he's not an idiot. He's able to hide in light and decipher ancient Creature writing; he's not stupid. His Tribe believes in the Cothica; he would at least go and find the Cothica for his Tribe.
"How do you know that I won't pawn this to the highest bidder? I know that other Tribe leaders, like Chaor and Maxxor, believe in the Cothica and would do anything to get their hands on it. I could just give the map to either of them and then that Tribe will be the dominant one in Perim!" Reggie is hoping that Iflar will come to his senses and take back the map. Oh dear God, he's mad! Reggie sighs inwardly.
"And I hope you do. I wouldn't recommend selling it to the other Tribal leaders or Mudeenu; it would just start the war that would finally destroy Perim. I do recommend selling it to a Creature that doesn't have much wisdom like Frafdo. Do you have scan of him for your game? No? Then, sell it to him. Actually, try to just sell half the map to him." Reggie should chastise Iflar for being this inconsiderate to his Tribe, but he does find the thought of getting a scan from Frafdo rather appealing. He could also sell the other half of the map to some other Creature for another scan…
"I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but why are you doing this? Surely, your Tribe will benefit from obtaining the Cothica. Perhaps, it could even end the tradition of kings going into exile." Iflar's teal eyes brighten like lightning striking the ocean. He looks surprised. Did I just surprise Iflar? Reggie is astounded by Iflar's surprised expression.
"Perhaps, but it's not real. The Cothica isn't real. This map is most likely not the only map to the so-called Cothica. I bet each Tribes' fairytales leads to a map just like this one. If there really was a map that led to the Cothica, then the author would've burned it a long time ago and hoarded the Cothica to himself. However, Creatures like Frafdo don't know that, so the least you can do is take advantage of his dimness." Reggie frowns. He believes what Iflar was saying is true and logical. But it still doesn't explain why Iflar would entrust the map to him.
"I trust you, Reggie. You haven't even bothered to try and scan me, which means that you listened to me. You listen, Reggie, so I trust you." Reggie unconsciously tightens his grip around the map. He has never even heard of a player earning the trust of a Creature. Maybe their respect, but not trust. Trust is putting your faith in someone, not knowing if that person will hurt you. Trust is the foundation of…..friendship.
"Thank you, Iflar. I'll cherish this gift until I sell it to Frafdo." I won't break your trust; I'll listen and you can continue trust me. Reggie smiles so hard that he feels his slightly burnt cheeks ache. It's a good thing that he had just won a scan of Castle Bodhran from Bruiser; he can go and see Frafdo tomorrow. However, he'll make a quick stop at Mipedim Oasis and hide the other half of the map there. Just to be safe. Right now, he'll enjoy the sunset with Iflar and bask in their newfound friendship.
Author's Comments- It may seem far too "lucky" that these two meet again months later, but I consider it a happy coincidence. I would say it was the divine will of the Cothica, but Iflar would be offended. Also, I'm going to say David Bowie's music is the official music of Iflar and Reggie, at least in my stories. I actually sort of modeled Iflar after the lyrics in David Bowie's music. Also, I happen to listen to David Bowie while I write these stories about the pair. The title also doubles as a reference to one of the lyrics in David Bowie's song and to the song that Rose and Greg share together in Steven Universe.
I don't think Iflar has many friends. Considering his high rank in the royal family, I think he privately has a lot of political rivals, even within his own doesn't help that there are divided opinions on his mother and he was born looking weak. I like to think that he's lonely, even amongst his large family. He's sort of like Akito from Fruits Basket.
On the other hand, Reggie has more friends than Iflar. He isn't a royal like Iflar, but he comes from quite a wealthy family which presents its own dilemmas. He loves his mother but feels burdened by her expectations of him. I'll get into the rest of his immediate family in one of my other stories later. He's really not like any other fictional character I've come across and he's most certainly not like Shigure from Fruits Basket. Well, I guess if I have to compare him to a fictional character I would say he's sort of like Ganymede from Olympos.
Together, Iflar and Reggie just click. It's like light between the two. It's odd because in the show they have never even shared an episode together. When I write them, it feels like I'm just writing about two friends that understand each other. They can't know everything about each other; no can know a 100% of another person. However, the fact doesn't make them obsessive or sad, but they simply accept it and just go on with their lives. I have another one-shot planned for them and it's probably going to be my favorite out of all of my one-shots.