I suppose I should mention that Carlie Go Home (the prequel) can be found at childofmana.tripod.com, but because the webmistress is taking it down, you can also go to my website (yes, the Pixie has a site...) and read it there, complete with all its horrible spelling errors - cookiepixie.tripod.com.
Despite their wounds and their orders, Hawk and Riesz made their ways to Wendel, although Hawk had been forced to sneak out while Riesz sedated Eliza. Both of them had heard from Heath of something he had discovered, and they were quite anxious on an explanation.
"Hawk, Riesz," Heath said, acknowledging them with a quirked eyebrow - the rogue had a few bandages visible underneath his clothes and Riesz's arm was in a sling. A wave of the hand, and he had healed them.
Heath wasted no time leading Hawk and Riesz to Carlie's former room. Nothing had changed since the quake.
"Carlie was either kidnapped, possessed or both by some spirit," he said. "We don't know if she tried to kill the two of you, but it's our best guess."
"And somehow this doesn't surprise me," Hawk remarked dryly. "But why would she go through the trouble of of making it look like suicide? I mean, it just looks all the more suspicious."
Heath shrugged. "I don't know. To be honest, it doesn't make sense."
"How do you know she was spirited away?" Riesz asked. [Pun intended. Nice movie too.]
"Here." Heath waved his hands, and the mirror on the dresser glowed.
Hawk looked at Heath suspiciously. "Mana? I thought it had disappeared."
"It's a bit of a story."
"For those of us not well-versed in Mana."
"Exactly."
"Will you clowns be quiet?" snapped Riesz.
In front of the dresser, in the centre of the room, an illusion swirled, building on itself. When it was done, it had formed Carlie, only that she had aged slightly and wore black clothes.
"I take it this didn't happen last time," Hawk said, taking in Heath's shocked look.
"Rvea u'v ug na xea," the girl said, her voice lilting on a word or two like an accent.
"HUH?" Hawk and Riesz stared.
Heath paused for a moment, trying to think up the words. "Xjev esi au' buomf?"
Carlie cocked her head to one side curiously. "Au's eryimv erm muv vjev deb," she said thoughtfully.
Then she lowered her head. "Au' lem sieb, lemyuv au'? Qkieri 'mbisrvemb, au' esi bieb. Au' esi eky bieb."
The girl turned and disappeared, and a moment later the mirror shattered.
"Right - a few questions," Riesz said as they sat down in the library.
"Just a few," Hawk muttered.
"What were you speaking?" demanded the Dragon Master.
Heath was holding his head in his hands, leaning on the table. "Demon script."
"And I bet there's a history lesson with that too."
"What did she say?"
"She told me, or us, to stay out of her way. I asked her why, and she said that I could read."
"Is that what she repeated at the end? 'You can read, you can read?'"
Heath shook his head.
"'Please understand, you're dead. You're all dead.'"
There was some silence, then Hawk asked, "What did she mean about being able to read?"
From his pocket Heath took out the crumpled note and some items. Smoothing it out, he put the note on the table.
Om usbis vu r'stoti, eky kotomf vjomfr om vjor xuskb gofjv birqisevika emb bitu's vjuri vjia bigiev.
"It reads like utter nonsense," Riesz complained.
N'rv umi loky uvjis kotomf vjomfr em usbis vu r'stoti?
N'rv umi birvsua emuvjis xuskb em usbis vu ekyux "umi uxm xuskb vu lumvom'i?
"That's what I thought too," Hawk agreed.
Vji xu'mbib om v'sm xu'mb emb vusnimv vjuri xielis vjem vjinriktir esi...
Vjisi esi umka vji lokyisr emb vji lokyib...
Vji romyisr, xju esi h'bfib, emb vji tolvonr vjev bu vji h'bfomf...
Xjev niemomf or vjisi vu r'rj e xuskb?
"Demon script," Heath said. "It's common language, only coded."
"Can you read it?" asked Riesz.
"Yes, even though I've been out of practice," Heath answered. "It's a translated poem - I can show you the original in another book."
"Is this her writing?"
"Yes, but it's likely that whatever's controlling her made her write it."
"What were we supposed to see? In the mirror," asked Hawk.
Heath paused, trying to remember.
"Carlie was wearing her white clothes, and she was brushing her hair when the quake struck. She fell onto the floor, and her clothes changed colour. Then she sat up and pointed at the dresser, which suddenly became whole, and a note appeared on it. After the next quake struck, she made some things fly over to the table with the note, then climbed into the mirror and disappeared."
There was a pause of silence, then Hawk asked, "And what's demon script?"
Heath smiled thinly. "It's a dead language, but it was once used by supernatural beings to communicate. You could only pray to the Goddess in it, so they called it the holy tongue. But then people found out that it didn't matter what language you used, so everyone switched to common."
"So...'demon script'?"
"It's the only way to talk to demons, and it's so much easier to write."
Riesz groaned, leaning her head back. "This doesn't make sense."
"Oh yes it does," Hawk said, getting up. "Can you show me that translation?"
It's rather difficult to spell-check 'demon script' when it doesn't really exist. If you do find a spelling mistake in it, please tell me.
Despite their wounds and their orders, Hawk and Riesz made their ways to Wendel, although Hawk had been forced to sneak out while Riesz sedated Eliza. Both of them had heard from Heath of something he had discovered, and they were quite anxious on an explanation.
"Hawk, Riesz," Heath said, acknowledging them with a quirked eyebrow - the rogue had a few bandages visible underneath his clothes and Riesz's arm was in a sling. A wave of the hand, and he had healed them.
Heath wasted no time leading Hawk and Riesz to Carlie's former room. Nothing had changed since the quake.
"Carlie was either kidnapped, possessed or both by some spirit," he said. "We don't know if she tried to kill the two of you, but it's our best guess."
"And somehow this doesn't surprise me," Hawk remarked dryly. "But why would she go through the trouble of of making it look like suicide? I mean, it just looks all the more suspicious."
Heath shrugged. "I don't know. To be honest, it doesn't make sense."
"How do you know she was spirited away?" Riesz asked. [Pun intended. Nice movie too.]
"Here." Heath waved his hands, and the mirror on the dresser glowed.
Hawk looked at Heath suspiciously. "Mana? I thought it had disappeared."
"It's a bit of a story."
"For those of us not well-versed in Mana."
"Exactly."
"Will you clowns be quiet?" snapped Riesz.
In front of the dresser, in the centre of the room, an illusion swirled, building on itself. When it was done, it had formed Carlie, only that she had aged slightly and wore black clothes.
"I take it this didn't happen last time," Hawk said, taking in Heath's shocked look.
"Rvea u'v ug na xea," the girl said, her voice lilting on a word or two like an accent.
"HUH?" Hawk and Riesz stared.
Heath paused for a moment, trying to think up the words. "Xjev esi au' buomf?"
Carlie cocked her head to one side curiously. "Au's eryimv erm muv vjev deb," she said thoughtfully.
Then she lowered her head. "Au' lem sieb, lemyuv au'? Qkieri 'mbisrvemb, au' esi bieb. Au' esi eky bieb."
The girl turned and disappeared, and a moment later the mirror shattered.
"Right - a few questions," Riesz said as they sat down in the library.
"Just a few," Hawk muttered.
"What were you speaking?" demanded the Dragon Master.
Heath was holding his head in his hands, leaning on the table. "Demon script."
"And I bet there's a history lesson with that too."
"What did she say?"
"She told me, or us, to stay out of her way. I asked her why, and she said that I could read."
"Is that what she repeated at the end? 'You can read, you can read?'"
Heath shook his head.
"'Please understand, you're dead. You're all dead.'"
There was some silence, then Hawk asked, "What did she mean about being able to read?"
From his pocket Heath took out the crumpled note and some items. Smoothing it out, he put the note on the table.
Om usbis vu r'stoti, eky kotomf vjomfr om vjor xuskb gofjv birqisevika emb bitu's vjuri vjia bigiev.
"It reads like utter nonsense," Riesz complained.
N'rv umi loky uvjis kotomf vjomfr em usbis vu r'stoti?
N'rv umi birvsua emuvjis xuskb em usbis vu ekyux "umi uxm xuskb vu lumvom'i?
"That's what I thought too," Hawk agreed.
Vji xu'mbib om v'sm xu'mb emb vusnimv vjuri xielis vjem vjinriktir esi...
Vjisi esi umka vji lokyisr emb vji lokyib...
Vji romyisr, xju esi h'bfib, emb vji tolvonr vjev bu vji h'bfomf...
Xjev niemomf or vjisi vu r'rj e xuskb?
"Demon script," Heath said. "It's common language, only coded."
"Can you read it?" asked Riesz.
"Yes, even though I've been out of practice," Heath answered. "It's a translated poem - I can show you the original in another book."
"Is this her writing?"
"Yes, but it's likely that whatever's controlling her made her write it."
"What were we supposed to see? In the mirror," asked Hawk.
Heath paused, trying to remember.
"Carlie was wearing her white clothes, and she was brushing her hair when the quake struck. She fell onto the floor, and her clothes changed colour. Then she sat up and pointed at the dresser, which suddenly became whole, and a note appeared on it. After the next quake struck, she made some things fly over to the table with the note, then climbed into the mirror and disappeared."
There was a pause of silence, then Hawk asked, "And what's demon script?"
Heath smiled thinly. "It's a dead language, but it was once used by supernatural beings to communicate. You could only pray to the Goddess in it, so they called it the holy tongue. But then people found out that it didn't matter what language you used, so everyone switched to common."
"So...'demon script'?"
"It's the only way to talk to demons, and it's so much easier to write."
Riesz groaned, leaning her head back. "This doesn't make sense."
"Oh yes it does," Hawk said, getting up. "Can you show me that translation?"
It's rather difficult to spell-check 'demon script' when it doesn't really exist. If you do find a spelling mistake in it, please tell me.