Chapter 3
Siblings and Suitors Part 1
After Yevgeny left, Raistlin tried to do as suggested and get his thoughts fully in order as he busied himself getting the breakfast dishes done to occupy himself. He didn't like being so frequently blindsided as he had been over the last several days. The blows to his sense of confidence and capability, having it brought to his attention so irrefutably that despite all his talent for magic he was still such a small figure in the grand scheme of things that could be shifted and moved like a pawn- these were all things he didn't appreciate in the least. The aspiring mage set about looking at some of the cracks that had appeared in his mental armor and filling them in so future blows wouldn't be able to harm him.
As Raistlin filtered through his thoughts, he first convinced himself that he did himself a disservice by comparing himself to a pawn. He was to be a legendary war mage who successfully played a major part in a war against this evil goddess he was brought here to thwart again. His control of his magic might be in a less experienced state, but he could wield it effectively, he could channel more than other mages his age, and he had absorbed his years of studies thoroughly enough to craft his own fledgling spells. Most mages didn't attempt spellcrafting until they were a decade or two older than himself, being too afraid of potential mistakes or their own lacking skills. According to 'Geny, he had the capability to spontaneously craft powerful magics to protect himself when threatened. That was something that most mages couldn't accomplish, no matter how experienced they became. He was far from powerless, even if he hadn't reached the heights he aimed for yet. Whatever his opposition was, he needed to stop letting himself feel so diminished by the unorthodox circumstances he was in. He was adapting, but he needed to start pushing to do more than adapt.
As for the opposition… He had no idea what was to come in his own world, in his proper future. As he thought on it, though, he realized he shouldn't have been quite so surprised to hear the news Yevgeny had relayed. He blamed the disorienting week he had, or perhaps just the abrupt nature of things coming to a head as they were, but it wasn't as though there weren't hints already that what Yevgeny told him as being true were happening. There were rumors of armies gathering, especially up north.
Kitiara was mingling with decidedly unfriendly people these days. He had the not so fond memory of having a knife pulled on him the night he stumbled across Kit with her mercenary friend; the same night he had stumbled across Miranda with his brother. That had been a bad night all-around of him being in all the wrong places at all the wrong times. Or, depending on how one thought of it, all the right places if the aim was to discover things he wasn't meant to know. When he thought of that night, his thoughts gravitated to the earlier part of the evening, the betrayal he had discovered. But there was the conversation he had stumbled on, with the man she called "Balif". The man who swore in the name of the evil goddess, who was serving some Lord who was gathering both information on the elves and troops under his banner. The man who had paid Kit with coins marked with the image of that evil queen in her guise as the five headed dragon, and who had asked her how she felt about dragons.
The events that had happened on the boardwalk had happened so quickly and in the wake of other upsets. He hadn't stopped to actually consider the full potential of what he had heard. But then, just before he had been taken from his world, at his Day of Life Gift party, hadn't they all been discussing the potential for various gods to exist, for dragons to perhaps once have existed? One of the few things he and Sturm could agree on, from their differing reasons, was it seemed likely dragons had once existed but had probably been killed off in the old wars of legend.
He knew the mother of dragons was real now. It seemed perhaps some of her destructive children just might be in hiding somewhere or she was creating new ones. After all, Ivan had said the books of his world were called "Dragonlance". Maybe that hadn't been some metaphor from this world, but something relating to the war against the evil goddess. It was seeming more possible this Lord of Kitara's friend wasn't just some new bloviating commander with grand aspirations that wouldn't last past a few battles. There was serious danger forming in the north and his sister was getting herself mixed up in it.
Raistlin supposed he shouldn't be surprised, but he wondered just how much Kit really knew about what she was getting herself entangled in. Did she think this was just some new random Lord to maybe join up with later for a few more bags of coins? Or did she know she was flirting with aligning herself with true evil? Given Kit's nature, Raistlin honestly could see the answer swinging either way if the pay was high enough. Kit wanted to rise to power, to surpass her disgraced father in battle skills. If this commander was bent on taking over in the name of his evil goddess and didn't care if a talented warrior was a woman, that would be a ripe opportunity for Kit that he knew she would be hard pressed to resist.
It was one of the few things he and his half-sister had in common- they both wanted power. The difference between them lay in what their weapons of choice would be and what means they were willing to take to get their power. She was willing to serve the ambitions of others if it also served her own. Raistlin wasn't. He served his Gods, yes, but they were his patrons who blessed him with magic. That was the only true allegiance he had ever held, or would ever hold, as that was the bargain he struck for his power. Serving petty commanders held no appeal; he resented the idea of being constrained by the wills of others. He had been considering becoming a war mage, but that was to make money and to hone his skills as he gained them. He had no designs like Kit to spend his life enmeshed in such battles; he intended to move on to serving his own interests in magic once he had the capability to do so.
And, given everything he could piece together, it seemed he was successful in his aims. He had won the war against the evil goddess whose name he was trying to avoid so much as thinking. He knew from Ria he survived the war, he hadn't had to make some sacrifice of his life to accomplish that win…
A war that might put him in opposition to his sister if she continued her moonlighting as an informant or warrior for the commander. He'd have to continue keeping an eye on her when he returned, without arousing her suspicions. He didn't want to be pitted against his own family if it could be helped, but his intuition that he couldn't ever turn his back on her seemed more founded now. If, with the foreknowledge he had, he could pick up anything that might be of use later, it'd be prudent to have such information. He was going to survive the future war one way or other, he was going to master magic as far as he possibly could, and then he was finding a way back here to Ria.
The details of what that war might entail were a worry for another day, Raistlin thought with a sigh as he drained the dishwater. If he thought too much on that, it would start driving him to distraction on his current mission. He had to defeat these minions of the evil goddess first, protect Ria from them, before he could face whatever war was waiting for him in his world.
Hopefully he could do so without his enemies here realizing who he was. He didn't know what would take place in Krynn; but even if, as Yevgeny stated, he had been successful in his espionage and subversions, his final acts against the goddess must have surely brought to her attention who had been working against her. He didn't know how much time had passed between then in Krynn and now in this world, but he doubted she'd forget that defeat.
Raistlin wasn't sure how much influence she had here. Yevgeny said it was less than she was described as having in Krynn. If he had been able to keep from her awareness even where she held more power, that seemed to indicate even an elder goddess wasn't all powerful, all seeing. The mentors seemed to think if they avoided drawing her notice with careless words, she wouldn't be aware of them. She needed some sort of alert to know where in the vast universe, or even amongst the masses on each world, to turn her attention. And if her servants here weren't clerics or mages, if they were limited in divination capabilities as Maggie seemed to be, that might mean that if he was careful, he might also avoid them having forewarning of him being here. His enemies thought their plots were going according to their original plans, before the divine intervention that brought him here. If he and the mentors were reasoning things out properly, especially given the means the Gods and Ferdinand had taken to prepare for his arrival, their hope to maintain the element of surprise to leverage against the overwhelming numbers wasn't unfounded. As long as he continued to blend in as best as he could, he should be in place to act when the time came.
A glance at the clock on Ria's coffee maker told him it was only 11:23 in the morning. He had most of the day left to himself. Maggie's shop was closing in an hour and a half and Ria would be spending the afternoon with her.
After some thought on the matter, Raistlin decided to take a short walk to the grocery store he had seen via the bus route. The buses didn't run today, Ria had been picked up by Maggie this morning, but the store was only a mile or so away. He really didn't want to exercise, he had gotten quite enough all week, but it was a short walk and after being ill earlier he could use some fresh air. He'd pick up a few things to go with dinner tonight and surprise Ria with another meal she didn't have to cook, along with some promised fish for the familiar. While he was out, he could puzzle through a bit more of his spellcrafting options for a better levitation spell and wielding ice magic. When he got back home and was less distracted, he could start seriously considering Yevgeny's suggestion for the potential to construct some sort of proper magical shield.
Raistlin gave a definitive nod to himself. That was about the best use he could put this free afternoon to, so that was what he'd do. Hopefully, come Tuesday, he might have a few ideas worked out enough to start experimenting on levitation spells at the warehouse.
After lacing up his boots and checking that he had his wallet and phone, he called out, "Gabby! I'm going out for a walk to the grocery store. Do you want to go outside for a few hours?"
The little familiar came trotting out of the bedroom and waited expectantly by the door for him to open it. When the door was open, she gave a few insistent meows at him.
"Yes, I remember I promised you salmon. I won't forget."
Gabby gave a pleased tail twitch to that and darted down the stairs for the front door.
The mage rolled his eyes, but he was relieved she was being less hostile. That would make Ria happy to discover, and it hopefully meant he wouldn't have to worry about any more scratches.
.
.
.
Argyria walked through her apartment door and was greeted by the smell of baked salmon, garlic, wild rice and squash, and the sounds of Raistlin arguing quietly with Gabby.
"No, you need to wait for it to cool!" she could hear him chastising. "Stop that before you burn yourself!"
A small thump and an annoyed meow could be heard.
Argyria walked into the kitchen to see a glass cooking dish levitating above the stove and the mage pointing at the cat sternly. "Well now," she said in amusement, drawing both their attentions. "I suppose I should be glad the house is still in order, but what's all this?"
Raistlin gave an irritated sigh as Gabby went back to circling his feet. "Your cat is more fluff than brains. She'd rather risk burning her mouth and paws than wait for dinner to cool."
Gabby gave him a small hiss.
He gave her a cross glare. "I can just not give you any if you're going to be so ridiculous."
Gabby's ears flattened but she turned her head and went to her mistress to beg for food.
Argyria laughed at her cat's antics. "You made her favorite food, she's bound to act up. Especially because that smells so yummy. I've got to say, I'm impressed. Thank you for cooking tonight!"
Raistlin lowered the dish back to the stove. "You're welcome. How was your afternoon with Maggie?"
"It went well!" Argyria said, depositing her knitted satchel on the table and the box inside made a dull thud. "We spent a bunch of time going over the new tarot deck Maggie gave me for my birthday so I understand how it works. I've got to concentrate on my exams this week, but she wants me to start spending a little time studying it each day once exams are over. If I can get familiar enough with it, she wants me to try doing a practice reading come next new moon."
Raistlin nodded to that. "So how exactly does this form of divination work? From what little you had time to mention this morning, it's some sort of augury?"
They ended up spending most of dinner with Argyria explaining not only tarot, but other common forms of divination in her world, to the mage. After dinner, she did the dishes as he got to work on some of her Sihir lessons, then set about baking up batches of cookies, brownies and a pan of muffins for tomorrow. While things were in the oven, she got in some last minute studying for the first of her exams on Tuesday because she knew she wouldn't have time on Monday. When Argyria couldn't stand anymore studying for exams, the words starting to become a jumble on the page, she asked Raistlin to go over some new sounds for Sihir, and that occupied the rest of their evening as they sampled some of each batch of treats she made.
.
.
.
It was a good thing Raistlin was an early bird, because Ria ended up forgetting to set her alarm for the morning. He woke her up for breakfast and they had a bit of a rush to get ready before her friends arrived to pick them up for the Sky Show.
To Raistlin's inquiry about why they'd be leaving so early when the concert wasn't until the afternoon and the fireworks weren't until nightfall, Argyria explained as she tossed a few essentials for the day into her hastily emptied backpack, "Seating, mostly. There's no tickets or assigned places because it's at the park. If we want to have a good spot to watch the shows, without being down with the crowd in front of the stage, we want to be there before the vendors are fully set up. The park is downhill from the main road, and if we can set up our picnic stuff on the embankment between before other people do, we can spend the day lounging in between joining in on the festivities."
"And besides the concert and these 'fireworks', what other festivities are there going to be?" Raistlin asked. She had given him a brief explanation of fireworks over breakfast.
"Um, down in the main area, it's usually food booths, band merchandise booths, and various little sales booths for trinkets or jewelry or snap crackers and sparklers. On the farther side of the park, they usually have a small carnival set up with amusement park rides and game booths and prize stalls."
Raistlin didn't have the chance to ask what "snap crackers", "sparklers" or "amusement park rides" were, because there was a series of taps on the door and then the sound of keys turning in the locks.
"Good morning!" Darlene called out. "Who's ready for some fun in the sun?"
"Almost ready!" Argyria called back. She handed Raistlin the picnic basket that had the baked snacks in it and their picnic blanket. "See if Lexi can help you find room for that in the car?"
Raistlin nodded and left the kitchen, almost bumping into Darlene. "Oh, good morning."
"Morning," Darlene said, dark blue gaze sweeping him briefly. "Well, at least you're ready to go." Her gaze went to Ria, "You're not, though! What do you need help with?"
"I heard Ria mention that's for the car?" Lexi asked helpfully from where she was by the door. "I think that can fit in the trunk, come on."
Raistlin followed her downstairs. It turned out there was not enough room in the tiny trunk of the car for the basket, so Lexi set it in the middle of the back seat and said it'd be fine there. Ria and Darlene joined them a couple minutes later, as Lexi was engaging him in polite small talk about how he was adjusting to living in the city and working with Ivan.
The drive to the park passed in less than an hour, and Darlene had music from the "rock station" that was hosting the event playing along the way. They parked in a three story tall parking garage down the street from the park, then split up the contents of the trunk amongst themselves. The large blue box with a long white handle he had seen had wheels and was apparently a portable storage unit for drinks, that Darlene called a "cooler" when she asked him to help her pull it out from the trunk to the side walk. Lexi handed him two large but lightweight parasols of some kind to carry, then took a couple small bags for herself.
The walk to the park took almost twenty minutes, but half the time spent was waiting for lights to cross streets to get where they needed. When they arrived at the top of the hill that looked down at the park, they could see activity on the stage on the end closest to them. About three dozen tented booths were already set up, and the people inside were preparing for the day. There were five small groups already setting up picnic spots on the long embankment like Ria's friends planned, and thirty or forty early arrivals milling around the park.
Raistlin could recognize those hallmarks of a faire from the Spring Dawning festival in Solace, but this looked like it was preparing to be a much larger scale and that was where the similarities ended. Behind the stage was a gated area with gigantic blue tents they could see from their current vantage points, and what looked like perhaps extraordinarily long buses of some kind. At the far end opposite, he saw another metal gate surrounding a secondary area. Giant looming contraptions moving about on tracks could be seen within; and what looked like a titanic wheel dangling cages of some kind as it slowly turned. There were several tops of booths and tents that could be seen between the machines, and various strains of merry sounding music coming from that direction. A massive bridge spanned the two sides of the park behind the secondary area. They were heading away from that area, closer to the stage, so he was unable to get a better sense of what was going on over there.
One of the groups they passed were older patrons, looking of age with Ria's mentors. They had some folding chairs set out and a large device that looked a bit like Ria's "CD player" set up, and it was blaring an advertisement for today's concert from the local rock station Raistlin recognized from the drive over. One of them was setting up what looked like some sort of standing cooking oven with cooking coals inside.
Ria's friends picked out a spot that was semi level for a stretch about a third of the way down the hill. They started setting up the blankets, using the bags, basket and cooler to hold down the edges. Ria helped him drive the umbrellas into the ground and popped them open to provide shade. They had about five minutes to pass around water bottles and sit quietly, enjoying what felt like a well-earned break, before the rest of Ria's childhood friends showed up.
"There they are!" Evan's voice drew their attention behind them, towards the top of the embankment. He had a couple heavy blankets over one arm and three bags slung over the other.
Brian was behind him with another umbrella in one arm and a few bags hanging off each arm, as well as a backpack slung over one shoulder. Victor brought up the rear with a heavy looking sack over his shoulders and he was lifting up a cooler that was easily twice the size of Darlene's, and piled with more blankets, to bring it safely down the hill.
"Awesome spot, girls!" Brian said with a grin. "Great job!" Then he added, gaze squinting behind his glasses and sounding chagrined, "Oh, and Race! Sorry, man. Not used to there being an extra dude with them."
"That's alright," Raistlin said, choosing not to take offense where there clearly wasn't any meant. Ria and the other girls were getting up now, and he followed their lead.
The guys set up the third umbrella and one of their blankets, and then the other blankets were rolled up and distributed among the line of blankets as makeshift lounge pillows for people. Victor drove the other two umbrellas more deeply into the ground. Discussion ensued between Darlene and Evan about what refreshments they collectively had to ensure they'd have enough for the day.
Victor and Brian started pulling things from the sac the former had been carrying, including what looked like a music player similar to the one the group of older people had.
"So how was the drive up from Mass?" Ria asked as they busied themselves, taking back up a seat on the blankets and giving a nod for Raistlin to join her.
"Busier than the southbound, but we made sure to leave early," Victor said, passing small boxes with wires coming from them to Brian. "Getting into Manchester was a bit of a bitch, but a lot of the traffic was continuing north for the mountains and we beat the worst rush coming here. I don't envy everyone showing up in an hour or two."
"They snooze, they lose," Lexi said, settling in on Ria's other side. "You can't expect to show up late for an anniversary show and the biggest line up they've had yet and expect things not to be crazy."
"Too true," Victor agreed with a grin. "Not everyone thinks ahead, though. Which worked out well for us at least." His gaze turned to Ria, who was now rifling through her backpack and pulling out sketching supplies. "Hey, Ria? You going to be buried in your drawings today, or do you think you might want to head to the carnival later?"
"I'm going to want to see what's going on over there," Ria said in good humor. "I don't know how much inspiration I'm going to have today to draw, but I wanted my stuff out just in case something catches my attention."
"Rematch for the Balloon Pops?" Victor challenged.
"You're going to kick my butt again, but sure, maybe I'll get lucky this time," Ria agreed with a cheery smile forming.
Raistlin didn't know what "Balloon Pops" were, but he was already not liking this agreement between the two. His gaze turned towards the crowd below, reminding himself that he really needed to keep his jealousy stamped out. He couldn't expect Ria to ignore her friends entirely when they were out as a group. Besides, he told himself with some reassurance, Ria didn't have that sort of interest in her male friends, even before his arrival to this world. They also weren't magic users, so it's not like he had to worry about them being potential consorts for her to someday pick from. This wasn't a threat to what was between himself and Ria in any fashion, she wasn't so fickle as that. Feeling jealousy was ridiculous right now.
"Well, even if I win the games, it's not like I'm going to keep the prizes, so you still win," Victor said, sitting across from them now.
"If you want a real challenge, Vic," Brian said from where he was connecting the boxes to the music player and distributing them around one side of the blankets, "I'll join in."
"There goes your prizes, Ria," Victor said, pretending to wave goodbye to an invisible prize floating away.
Ria giggled at that and said to Brian, "Well, I don't know about that. Bri, do you have any use for a new teddy bear or whatever little plastic tchotchkes they have?"
"Hm…" Brian said with feigned thoughtfulness, pausing his work. "You know, I don't think I do."
"Well, if you kick Vic's ass, perhaps you can share your winnings?"
"You bake your brownies?"
"I did!" Ria exclaimed in dramatic encouragement. "Extra chocolatey, double fudge brownies at that!"
"Then I may be bribable to share," Brian said with a teasing grin before turning back to his work.
Ria stuck her tongue out at Victor, who was chuckling at the exchange. "I win however this goes. Unless…" her gaze went back to Brian. "Hey, Bri…"
"Yea, Ria?" he sounded a little distracted now, fiddling with a wire not wanting to connect to the speaker.
"Janet is showing up later…" Ria said with a hint of teasing, causing his hands to still their work.
"Oh?" Brian sounded like he was trying to seem uninterested, but a blush started to form under the rim of his glasses as he glanced over with an eyebrow raised in question.
"She loves teddy bears," Ria gave a not so subtle nudge, sunny smile growing. "I might be willing to forego my claims to your prizes if you wanted to maybe share with her…"
Brian's blush grew and he went back to what he was doing. He cleared his throat and then said with a hint of embarrassment in his voice, "Very generous of you, my dragony princess. I'll keep that in mind."
Ria, Lexi and Victor exchanged grins behind his back.
The conversation shifted with Evan and Darlene joining them. Evan asked if he could have one of the muffins Darlene had told him Ria had made; they had skipped breakfast to leave on time. The group shifted to being a rough oval along the three blankets with Ria's basket in the middle. Muffins and some fruit the males had packed got passed around for those that wanted them.
When Darlene offered the plate across to Raistlin, he shook his head. "We ate before you arrived. Thank you, though."
"Oh," Darlene said, blinking in surprise. Then she glanced over to Ria in question, who was nibbling on a muffin. "Just how early did Ivan drop Race off this morning?"
"Hm?" Ria asked; trying, unconvincingly, to pretend like she didn't hear the question. Darlene raised an eyebrow, and the question got glances from their other friends. Ria said as casually as she could manage, "Oh… Um. Race spent the night to help with baking and make sure he was ready to go with us today."
"Oh really?" Darlene's eyebrows hiked up and she turned her gaze back to the young man in question.
Raistlin gave a faintly irritated glance back, but tried to say passively so as to hopefully not damage his chances for further invites to events the group partook in, "Is there a problem with that? Ria had quite a lot of baking to get done after a long weekend working with Maggie and getting ready for her exams. I had the evening free."
"Nope, not a problem," Lexi said from between the other two girls, cutting off her girlfriend's response. "An extra hand in the kitchen is always helpful, especially when they know what they're doing. Muffins came out as yummy as always, so I'd say it was a good thing you were there to help."
"Thanks, Lexi," Ria said with a smile for her cousin.
Lexi gave an encouraging nod and took an especially big bite of her muffin to show her approval of the food.
"So… Race?" Brian said, trying to break up the silence that followed before it could get too awkward. "You work with Ivan now, and you can dance and cook. That's about all we know about you so far. Want to share with the class a bit more about yourself, break up the mysterious new guy vibe a bit?"
Raistlin gave a small shrug. "There's not much to share. My options were rather limited back home, so I moved here. Ivan and Maggie have been helping me explore my new career options and Ivan's keeping me busy at the warehouse with 'Geny during the week."
"'Geny said something about looking into history or literature degrees?" Lexi prompted.
"That's what my father wanted me to look at, yes," Raistlin said with an indifferent tone. "My interests lay elsewhere, however, in herbal medicine and healing. Ivan and Maggie are working on convincing my father such a career can be just as stable, especially with the growing public interest in alternative natural medicine, and would be worth allowing me to pursue."
Evan gave a nod to that and said with passing approval, "Every party needs a good healer. Applies to real life too. Maggie and Ivan are probably the best people for batting for you on that one."
Raistlin had no idea what Evan meant by his first comment, but he could reason out what "batting for him" meant. He gave a small nod in agreement and then sipped from his water bottle to cover for not responding otherwise.
"Any hobbies?" Lexi asked, still clearly trying to help break the ice, which he appreciated. "Or are you more of an "all work and no play" kind of guy?"
Raistlin gave a glance over to Ria, who was giggling at her cousin's question for some reason. He raised an eyebrow and said, "It seems Ria has some thoughts on that matter, so let's ask her. What do you think, Ria?" He flicked a wrist and gave a curl of the fingers, back of his hand to her friends and conjuring a small white rose out of thin air, knowing they'd think he pulled it from his sleeve. He offered her the rose, causing her giggles to increase. "Would you say 'work' or 'play' for my summer activities?"
"I'd say a bit of both in the best of ways," Ria said, accepting the rose. The mischievously knowing look in her eyes told him that she caught it wasn't just sleight of hand. "Thank you, Race."
Raistlin gave her a small nod, then turned his gaze back to her friends. Lexi and Brian looked somewhere between amused and impressed. Darlene had a hiked eyebrow again and he wasn't certain if she was trying to figure out how he had kept the rose hidden in his jacket and uncrushed, or if she was trying to decipher just what was going on between him and Ria. Probably the latter. Victor and Evan looked displeased, and that was putting it nicely.
"I slipped off to New York the last few summers to do street acts in advertisement for some local magicians' bigger shows, in exchange for lodgings and learning some of their trade," Raistlin offered a small piece of the cover story he and Ivan had worked out. "My father didn't approve. I believe he's hoping sending me here would provide more structured options of study to contemplate and keep me from heading back to New York to try my fortunes a third summer."
"And what are your thoughts on being shipped off like this?" Victor asked, tone entirely suspicious.
Raistlin gave a smirk to the older young man and said with complete honesty, "I wasn't pleased with the sudden changes to my plans when they first happened. However," his gaze went back to Ria, who was sniffing the rose in delight, "I'm finding things here far more tolerable than one might have previously expected and, even if I'm brought back home, I know where I'll be returning just as soon as I'm able."
Ria's smile was at full brilliance with that comment, blush creeping over her cheeks now as she glanced back up at him. She asked teasingly, "New York, right?"
"Of course," Raistlin agreed wryly.
Lexi caught the glowers from Victor and Evan, and abruptly asked with excessive enthusiasm how everyone was feeling about exams they had just had or were about to have. Victor and Evan voiced confidence for how theirs had gone. Brian and Ria mentioned concerns they had for their exams yet to happen, which Lexi commiserated with, and then the three were giving encouragement to one another and griping about teachers.
Raistlin went back to people watching, not having anything to contribute to the conversation. Another small group of people about their age was setting up a similar makeshift encampment further along the grassy embankment. An irregular trickle of people were making their way into the park, the number of people in the clear area having more than tripled in less than an hour. Many of the people were dressed in darker colored clothing, despite the warmth of the morning promising a hotter day, but that seemed to be some sort of unofficial dress code for an event like this. Ria's male friends were dressed in various dark colors, as was Darlene. He had taken Ria's suggestion to wear the black "t shirt" with a dragon and guitar on it and the black jeans for this music concert, and that seemed to blend with much of what he was seeing. Lexi and Ria were among the few not dressed entirely in darker clothes. Lexi was wearing a pink blouse with her black pants, and Ria was wearing a lacey pale blue dress with a hem that fell just beneath her knees and showed off her legs. Something he was doing his best to ignore.
The conversation around him shifted to discussion of some of the bands playing before the "headliner". Raistlin listened half-heartedly so he could at least pick up the names and know what was being referenced later if needed.
As that conversation started dying down, Evan said, "Hey, Ria. It looks like the vendors are done setting up. Want to go see what the snap crackers tent has before the kids get here and end up raiding all the good stuff?"
Ria nodded to that with a grin. "Definitely! I also want to swing by the merchandise tent and see if the new Lacuna Coil CD is up for sale to save me a trip to F.Y.E.."
Raistlin was trying not to let his aggravation leak out that Ria was agreeing to go wandering among the booths with her former suitor. Ria was just agreeing to look at things of mutual interest at an event everyone was at. It's not as though she was going somewhere private with him, and no one else was seeming to think it an odd thing for the two. There was still potential threats to worry about, though, even if that attack was supposed to be some time off. Perhaps he could find a way to invite himself along? The thought was entirely for protecting her, it wasn't because of any hypothetical spikes of jealousy.
"Sounds good," Evan said, making to stand.
Ria turned her gaze to Raistlin. "Hey, Race? This is your first Sky Show. You going to sit here all day, or would you like to join us and see some of the stuff up for sale?"
Raistlin turned his gaze from the crowd and saw her giving him that smile he was addicted to. He also saw a brief flicker of irritation on Evan's face from the corner of his eye. Oh, there was no chance he was trusting that one alone with her, even if she had broken their informal courtship off. That decision had nothing to do with trusting Ria or not; it was a matter of his gut telling him that the other young man was perhaps attempting to marshal some courage he had been previously lacking when there was less perceived competition for Ria's attentions.
Raistlin wasn't about to give Evan such an easy opening, and he was glad he was more adept at masking his own jealousies to the other two young men. He gave a nod to Ria, doing his best to let her smile work its own kind of magic on his mood, and said as pleasantly as he could, "That sounds entertaining. Thank you, Ria."
Ria nodded and as he stood she fetched her usual little woven purse from her backpack and slipped his conjured rose inside. She accepted his hand to help her stand from where she was kneeling next to him. She asked her friends staying behind, "If Janet and Norm show up while I'm gone, let them know where I'm off to?"
"Can do," Lexi said with a salute. "Let me know if the CD is out at the merch tent. I want to pick up a copy too when we go browsing if it is."
"Sure thing!" Ria looped her arm around the mage's and led him to where Evan was waiting. The latter was now noticeably less excited to leave. "Ready, Evan? Or are you forgetting something?"
"Nope. Not forgetting anything." Evan gave a shake of his head and turned to the activities below. He looped his thumbs in his pants' belt loops and said as he started walking, "Let's go see what they've got this year."
"Probably the usual," Ria said, following him down the hill. "I'd at least like to stock up on Silly String while we're down there."
Raistlin could make out Darlene was saying something behind them as he let Ria lead him away, but he couldn't catch the actual words over Ria's chatter. He could, however, just hear Vic's deeper voice saying in clear frustration, "No kidding! Where the fuck did Ivan import him from? Dude is a smooth operator."
"How's our supply of water balloons doing?" Evan asked as they reached the pavement of the clearing at the bottom of the embankment.
"We definitely need more before summer break and going camping," Ria said after a few seconds thought, "but it'd be cheaper to buy them from the kids' section of one of the dollar stores."
"Good point."
They weaved through the crowd, passing various stalls, until they came across the one Ria and Evan were looking for. There was a horseshoe of tables laid out with various products Raistlin couldn't even begin to identify in boxes and crates. Ria began selecting dark blue metal canisters of some kind with various colored tops as Evan started picking out various shaped small red boxes. When they were in agreement they had enough for whatever their entertainment purposes were, they paid the vendor and walked away with a stuffed bag each.
Their walk to the merchandise tent was sidelined by Ria, who spotted a tent full of jewelry, various trinkets made of gemstones, and polished cabochons of gems. "Ooo, yay! New Age vendors!" she exclaimed with excitement, unhooking her arm from Raistlin's to point to the tent.
"Detour?" Evan asked rhetorically from ahead of her, turning on a heel.
Ria nodded enthusiastically, bee lining for the section of the tent that held the gemstones.
Raistlin followed behind less reluctantly this time, curious to see what wares were in offering here. He was pleasantly surprised to see the little compartments of gemstones held medium to higher quality common gemstones, most of which he recognized almost instantly.
"Can I help you?" an older vendor with long fiery red hair streaked with grey and bright green eyes asked them.
"Just seeing what you have," Ria said with a smile for the woman. "We'll let you know when we're checking out."
The vendor nodded to that without further attempt to engage in sales pitches, going to check with other potential patrons a little further down the table and looking at some jewelry.
Raistlin and Ria started browsing the selections as Evan stood to one side, now the one to appear bored. He eventually wandered further down the tables, trying to seem vaguely interested in the wares and not like he was hovering.
Raistlin saw a pile of small blue stones that could have been one of a couple stones he had heard of. The mage asked Ria if she knew what they were. She informed him they were turquoise, but these ones shown were far too uniform in color for the price asked which indicated they were synthetic, not natural, so those were strictly decorative. Raistlin nodded to that and continued looking over the other stones, selecting a few that might be useful in some of his upcoming spell tests. That included some highly polished pieces of lapis that had small swirls of white and only small scatterings of pyrite. Ornamentally it would be considered less preferred due to the mixed coloration and less shiny nature, but for a mage it was ideal for ice magic.
"Oh wow…" Ria suddenly said, leaving the collections of plain gemstones with a handful already selected.
Raistlin glanced over to her and saw she was setting her picks down on the table. Among small plastic stands holding up various small gemstone disks with engraved designs, there was the vibrant banded green of malachite. Ria picked one up that was about the size of a steel coin. He couldn't see the design from where he was that drew her attention, her hand blocking his view. He walked over to glance over her shoulder to see what had caught her attention. The gemstone had an ornate sun symbol carved on the front and lined with some sort of gold or pyrite paint. The same design was on other varieties of stones displayed, but this looked to be the only malachite and sun combination.
"What made this one catch your eye?" Raistlin asked. Even if he recognized its unmistakable coloration, he didn't know the specific significance of it or a sun symbol for this world. In Krynn, malachite was useful in healing spells or certain warding magic, but sun symbols were usually reserved for fire or light spells.
Ria looked up at him and explained quietly, voice almost giddy. "Malachite was used by ancient Egyptians and Greeks in protective magic. One of the most common, but now often forgotten, amulets was inscribing malachite with a sun, drawing together the power of The Mother and Dark God represented by the bands in the stone with the power of the Lord of Light. It's a combination meant to ward against all manners of evil. It and amethysts with a different symbol were considered the most powerful amulets for such purposes. Unlike amethyst, however, malachite amulets couldn't be created for oneself. They had to be gifted to someone whose safety you wanted to ensure."
"Interesting bit of lore behind that stone's design," Raistlin said, more than a little impressed she could give such a ready, thorough answer to his question. "I can see why you're so excited."
Ria nodded as she continued looking at it. "Also, malachite is getting harder to obtain these days. A few different mines for it seem to be running out of ores, there's a demand for it in cosmetics that's eating up supplies, and prices have been starting to rise. 'Geny thinks they'll find new places to mine, but until then it's not a bad idea to stash what can be found." She flipped it over, checked the price on the sticker briefly, then flipped it back over. "Worth it," she said definitively, moving to put some of her other selections of non-decorated stones back.
"If you wanted those, I don't mind purchasing them with mine," Raistlin offered. "Ivan's keeping me more than well enough paid and I don't have obligations to my funds like you do."
Ria shook her head a little to that. "That's your money; I know 'Geny is working you for it."
"And I can spend it how I like," Raistlin said with a smirk, holding out a hand for her gems. "I can hardly think of a better use than encouraging a mutual interest of ours. Consider it my thanks for you helping make sure I can keep up with 'Geny's demands at the warehouse."
Ria sighed at that, but a small smile was forming and she gave a nod. "Alright, Sir Mage, I'll accept your generous offer."
"Wise choice, Lady Ria," Raistlin said, accepting the stones from her. "I wanted to look at a few more collections they have, if you want to make your purchases now."
Ria nodded to that and leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Sounds like a plan. Thank you again."
"You're welcome, Ria," Raistlin said, returning her reappearing sunny smile with a small smile of his own. As she moved around the table to where a cash register was, Raistlin saw Evan further down glaring in his direction, presumably because of his cozy exchange with Ria. He knew he shouldn't aggravate the situation further, but he couldn't help letting his smile curl into a smirk with silent acknowledgement that they both knew who was sharing closer interests with Ria. Evan might share whatever childish frivolities Ria also indulged in, but the mage and the future priestess shared similar callings to pursue magic.
Raistlin gave a small nod to the other young man and went back to his browsing. He could almost feel the heat of the would-be rival's glare on him. It was petty, but he had to admit privately to himself that he enjoyed being so clearly favored by Ria. He selected two tiny polished garnet spheres, each housed in a small white box and sitting on a bed of cotton to protect the fragile gems, that he hoped might be utilized in attempts at a proper fire spell if he had time to get to those experiments. Tallying up the prices quickly in his head, he decided to end the purchases there for today. Before 'Geny had left yesterday, he had left the mage with his pay for the coming week. It had seemed unnecessary at the time because Raistlin had barely touched his first set of funds from Ivan with the mentors so frequently paying for everything from clothing to food. Now he was glad for it as it gave him more than enough to cover the purchases without worrying about not having much left. He had enough stones in hand to get him through more trials than he probably had time for, and if these proved not enough, he could ask Yevgeny to track down more for him.
Ria was finishing her purchase and another person was behind her to buy a pair of earrings. She waited for him to make his purchases, chatting with Evan about some of the music that could now be heard coming from the direction of the stage.
Raistlin didn't mind the diverted attention so much this time; nothing in her body language indicated the same interests in Evan that she showed around himself. When his stones were wrapped in protective paper and packed away, Ria turned that cheerful smile of hers to him at his approach.
"Merchandise tent, I believe you said next?" Raistlin asked pleasantly, pretending to not notice the displeased glance Evan gave from behind Ria as she moved away to accept the arm he offered.
Ria nodded to that. "If you don't mind?"
Raistlin shook his head and said, "Not at all. We can stop at as many stalls as you like. We have all day."
Evan turned to hide his displeasure from Ria, heading out from the current tent.
"Thanks for being such a good sport about coming out today," Ria said as she followed behind Evan.
"Of course, Ria," Raistlin said, smile shifting to a smirk of amusement because he knew he wasn't being an entirely "good sport" in some regards. Her attention was turned to navigating the crowd, however, and he knew she wouldn't notice.
The merchandise tent ended up having the CD Ria hoped to find and she quickly purchased it. Evan bought a black "logo" sweater and a CD of his own. They made their way back to Ria's friends, through a crowd that had at least doubled in size since they had initially left the group. As they made their way up the embankment, Raistlin saw the childhood friends at their picnic setup, as well as Janet and a large blonde young man.
Ria greeted the new arrivals after they stood and was almost engulfed by her male friend for the hug he gave her. She turned to the mage and said, "Race, you remember my friend, Janet Zapata. And this is another friend of mine from college, Norman Westergaard. Norm, meet Race Dayne."
Norman held out a big hand and said gaily as Raistlin shook it, "I've been hearing bits about you the last week from the girls; it's nice to have a face to go with it."
"Likewise," Raistlin said, trying not to squint as he looked up at the other man, the sun being just over his shoulder. This was easily the tallest man he had ever seen in his life; one would think he somehow had distant giant blood if they were in Krynn. "Ria mentioned you earlier this week after classes."
"Uh oh," Norman said with a broad grin. "Good things, I hope?"
"Indeed," Raistlin agreed. "Ria was telling me how much she enjoyed the cosplay you've been doing with her and Janet."
Thankfully, Norman went to sit, allowing Raistlin's neck and eyes a reprieve, as he said with a chuckle, "Yeah, we have definitely rocked Con with our Slayers costumes. This year ought to be even better if we can fit in our upgrades over the summer. You cosplay?"
Raistlin had to resist the sarcastic urge to say he was at the moment, and instead shook his head. "No, I can't say that I've ever had a chance to be at such events."
"Maybe you should consider it sometime," Janet suggested from the other side of Norman. "You could even join in with our theme; you'd make a hell of a Rezo."
Raistlin had no idea who "Rezo" was, but the suggestion made Ria choke on the water she had just taken a sip of as laughter burst out of her. Even with everyone turning to look at her in surprise, she was too amused by the comment to notice and was too busy fighting a giggle fit off.
"You okay over there, Little Lina?" Norman asked, a bemused smile on his face.
Ria waved his question off and said between giggles, "I'm good, Gourry. I swear." She started taking measured breaths to get her laughter under control.
"Okay then…" Darlene said from further down, sounding a little worried. "So, how was the shopping?"
When Ria could talk properly, she said, "CDs are available in the merch tent. Looks like there's a number of good vendors this year, including a New Age tent we stopped at."
"Oh?" Darlene sounded more interested now. "What are they selling?"
"Usual jewelry you'd see at shops," Ria told her. "Some pendulums and figurines. But they have a whole bunch of tumbled stones and pocket talismans. They actually have a pretty amazing selection of those for a pop up vendor and the prices they're asking are super reasonable."
Darlene and Lexi exchanged interested looks and then the latter said, "I think we're claiming the next wave of browsing, yes?"
Darlene gave an immediate nod to that, "Definitely." She looked to Ria, "Where are they at?"
Ria looked over to the crowded area and then pointed in the right direction. "Two-thirds of the way down on this side, green and brown striped tent. Merch tent is closer to the stage but on the other side."
The two girls were off without further discussion needed, going down the embankment at an angle to avoid most of the crowd below to reach the tented booth with stones for sale.
Janet laughed as they left so quickly, shaking her head. "You three and your stone collections. You guys spend so much money on them."
Ria shrugged to that. "We all have our interests, and a few extra good vibes around the house never hurt."
"Definitely not," Norman agreed. "Some of the stuff said about stones seem a bit hinky, but there's been some studies mormor was referencing on minerals in general that aren't old wives' tales like mom thought when they were arguing over how to treat her arthritis. Some of the bracelets she's been wearing seem to be helping."
"Really?" Janet asked, sounding curious now.
Norman nodded and said, "Yeah. They're these little copper and magnetic bands with some stones imbedded into them. Swelling in her joints have gone down a bit, more than her meds have been able to accomplish, and her hands aren't so shaky anymore."
"Huh," Janet said, expression considering. "I suppose I should look into that a bit more before being such a Debbie Downer."
Ria and Norman laughed at that and Ria pointed to the band on Janet's wrist. "Just remember the magic power of your own little bracelet before you wonder at what others put their faith in."
Janet glanced down at the little white band and chuckled at that. "I suppose you're not wrong, but WWJD has clearly been failing me lately."
"Eh, like anything, it's only as strong as you give it the ability to be," Ria said encouragingly. "Got to remember it's there and give it a good charge once and awhile."
"That's fair," Janet said with a nod of agreement. "I've been a bit overwhelmed with exam crunches and trying to fit in a social life, I haven't had much time for praying outside Sunday morning with the fam."
"Squeeze in twenty minutes in the evenings?" Ria suggested. "Sometimes that's all I can get in after work, but every little bit helps."
Janet nodded again, saying more assuredly, "Yeah, I should try to work in that much at least before bedtime." Her gaze turned to Raistlin and she asked, voice curious now, "You've been pretty quiet over there. Mind if I ask where on the spiritual scale you fall? Atheist bored by such religious talk to true believer trying not to pick a fight over who might be right"
The future red robed mage traded a look with Ria. He gave her a fleeting wink, then said with evasive humor, "Let's just say Ria and I share similar views on a number of interests related to 'New Age' practices and acknowledge the same Gods with an equal devotion, but we recognize them and accept their blessings in different ways."
That caused the future priestess of Lunitari to start giggling again, as expected. Neither of them would say anything further on the matter, however, much to the bafflement of the rest of the group as to what private joke they were sharing.
.
.
.
Hey all. My migraine is gone, the weekend rush is done, and I have a new chapter. I'm splitting this chapter up for ease of reading and because it's taking a higher word count than expected to cover everything I wanted to. I don't want to sacrifice story telling by rushing the day at the Sky Show.
Also, if you're wondering why Ria broke into giggles at the mention of Rezo- Google "Raistlin Rezo Picture" and you'll see a hilarious little crack cartoon picture by a Lady-Narven on DA. It's circa a couple years after when I have this set, 2009 I believe, but I'm allowing the anachronism because it fits so well here. Janet's comment brought to Ria's mind that picture, and also other passing similarities between the two characters.
