Oliver Family Reunion
By JDPhoenix
Chapter 2: Destiny
Flowers bloomed, birds sang, a gentle breeze blew, the picnic table was conveniently located beneath a big, shady tree; all in all it was a perfect spot, and Leanbow said so. That was how they ended up sitting around the table, debating what to eat. One of the benefits of magic was that they could conjure food from Rootcore's kitchens, but no one could agree on what to conjure.
"How about pizza?" Nick asked finally, deciding that his parents could pick whatever topping they wanted.
"Mm," Leanbow said, smiling wistfully, "I haven't had pizza in years."
"Ham and pineapple," Udonna said happily.
Leanbow nodded and Nick quickly conjured the food before they could change their minds. Sodas, plates, and a perfectly cooked pizza appeared before them.
"So," Nick said, swallowing a rather large mouthful, "how did you two meet?"
Leanbow tried not to laugh and Udonna hid a smile.
"I'm not sure we have time," she said slowly.
"Sure we do," Nick said. "Charterville's not far, half an hour at most. How long could your story be?"
"All right," Leanbow said. "But you have to promise never to tell Daggeron, I'd prefer my old student kept some respect for me."
"I promise."
"All right, it was twenty-five years ago…."
I grew up in the woods, hearing stories about how evil and dangerous the city was. But I was young and wanted to see for myself. So, one night when my mother and father had fallen asleep, I snuck out and went into the city.
It was amazing. More amazing than when you first found out about the magic in the woods, because at least you had heard stories and considered your world beyond that. For me this was totally alien and for a moment I was terrified. Stone structures tall as giants, strange metal monsters that roared down that strange, black stone river that seemed to be everywhere, serpents that stood on the tips of their tails and shot light from their gaping mouths. It was too much.
I was about to run back to the safety of the woods when I heard someone cry out for help. Instinct took over and I raced across the river, narrowly avoiding one of the metal monsters. What I found sickened me to my core. In the shadow of two of the stone giants was a man, holding a knife on a woman as old as my grandmother.
I pounced on the man, knocked his knife away and fought him fist to fist. We traded blows for several moments before he realized I was better and pulled another knife from his boot. I dove for the one he had lost earlier, rolled to my feet, and faced him. He cut my coat, but got no closer than that. I cut his cheek, from just beneath his eye down beneath his ear. He ran back to the river and mounted a monster smaller than the others. He took it by the ears and twisted. A horrible sound, louder than any of the other monsters had made, came from the creature, and it took off down the river.
I cleaned the knife on a handkerchief and tucked it into my own boot, not wanting to leave it for some other villain to take. I offered the woman my hand.
"Thank you, young man," she said, taking it. "There are not nearly enough like you out here anymore." She shook her head and her gray curls bobbed. She tucked her bag under her shoulder.
"Do you need any assistance?" I asked. "A healer or anyone who you wish to call?"
"No, no," she said, waving me off and walking to the river's edge. "Though, I wouldn't turn down an escort home."
I smiled and offered her my arm. "I would be honored."
"I'm sure you would."
That was how I met Mistress Margaret Auldley. She spent the entire walk complaining about how the world was going downhill and saying that there were not enough nice men like me.
When we reached her house I was stunned. All of the houses leading up to hers were small, squat boxes with a small patch of grass before them. Mistress Auldley's house was something different. It too was small and squat, but there was no grass. Instead there was a garden overflowing with vines and flowers and a path that curved from the gate up to the front door and a bubbling fountain. Even in the pale light from the snakes and the waning moon I was awestruck. In this world filled with stone and metal, here was a piece of true beauty.
"Well, thank you, boy," Mistress Auldley said, pulling her arm out of mine and walking through the gate. "You run along home to your mother, she must be worried sick."
"Y-yes ma'am," I said and slowly walked off, turning back occasionally to look at Mistress Auldley's garden.
The next day I did my chores as quickly as I could and hurried down to the practice ring. Snow Prince required a set amount of time from each of his students, so the sooner I started, the sooner I was done. By the time my friends arrived to train I was almost through.
I raced through the woods and to a place where the city's children played. The younglings were climbing all over a tangle of metal in the middle of a sand pit while their parents looked on from the grass. I considered them for a moment, and realized that in the darkness of the night I had looked over one very important fact: people in the city dressed very differently from people in the forest.
I looked down at my training uniform. I knew the small magic that allowed me to change into it from my normal clothes; perhaps it could work another way. I saw a young man walking across the river from the children and concentrated. Suddenly, I was wearing very odd clothes. The breeches were stiff and the shoes small and bulky at the same time. My shirt felt too loose compared to the other clothes I now wore. I sighed and set off towards Mistress Auldley's house.
I was content to simply lean on the fence and stare at her garden, but Mistress Auldley would not stand for idleness.
"Well, look who it is!" she cried, coming out of the house. "Well, come on. You might as well be useful if you're going to be hanging around."
She set me to watering the plants. Then she had me clean something called gutters and then the windows. By the time I was done with all that it was time to go. I came back the next day and the next. Soon she allowed me into her house and I began fixing things. The fact that I had no idea what a toaster was did not stop me from tinkering with it and soon I managed to get it working, along with many other appliances around the house.
I wasn't sure at first why I kept coming back. Mistress Auldley was not gentle of spirit by any means. These scars on my knuckles are from her. She used to rap them with a cane if I did something wrong. But she was nice in her own way and she needed someone. She talked often and I soon found that her own children had left her years ago and that her husband had been killed in an accident with one of those monsters on the river.
I like helping her too. I got to learn more about this strange world and be of use at the same time. Not to mention, I wanted to undo some of what her children had done to her spirit.
"Come on," Mistress Auldley said one day. I had been coming to see her every day for almost two weeks and this was the first time she had asked me to come anywhere with her.
"Where are we going?" I asked as she put on her straw hat and led the way down what I had learned was called the sidewalk.
"The store. I'm running out of a few things."
I shrugged and followed closely behind.
The store was amazing. Rows upon rows of everything you could ever need, all packaged neatly in boxes. I was so caught up in the wonder of it all that I lost Mistress Auldley twice. The second time I had been looking at cereal. The packages were all so colorful and bright and their contents all looked so different. I wondered if Mistress Auldley would need any, and if she would let me try it. I realized with a start that Mistress Auldley was gone. I turned to race down the aisle and bumped into someone.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"It's okay," a gentle voice answered. I looked up into green eyes. "Need any help?" she asked. Her black hair was in a long braid that hung down her back. She was beautiful.
"I- I-" I was lost for words as we both stood. "I lost Mistress Auldley!" I cried suddenly.
"Lee!" Mistress Auldley snapped from behind me. I turned to see her standing at the end of the aisle. "What are you doing accosting young ladies like that? You should be ashamed. Now apologize and hurry along."
"Yes ma'am," I gulped. I turned sheepishly back to the girl. "Please accept my most humble apologies," I said quietly, bowing my head.
"It's okay," she said. I looked up to see several girls behind her, all giggling at me. "Hey," she said slowly, "there's this party in the park tonight, do you want to come?"
"Party?"
"It's totally free. Just a lot of people getting together. There's this band that's going to play. Nothing major."
"All right," I said slowly.
"Okay, maybe I'll see you there," she said and walked away.
A smile slowly grew on my face. I liked the city.
That night I went home and ate dinner with my parents. My strange absences had taken their toll. My parents were giving me strange looks every time I saw them, but I didn't care. All I could think about were sea green eyes.
It was my first party in the city and it was very odd. People played strange instruments that, despite their alien sounds, I grew to like.
I found the girl surrounded by several of her friends. They were all dancing to the strange music. I had never seen anyone move like that. For a few minutes I was entranced. Just watching her was wonderful. Then, someone pushed through the crowd to her. Several of her friends gasped when they saw him and I heard one say, "She doesn't want to see you." But the man pushed on, grabbing the girl roughly by the arm.
"Ronny!" he yelled. "What are you doing here?" He shook her viciously and I saw her eyes grow wide in the pale light.
"Having fun," she said defiantly, trying to pull away from him, but he held her fast.
"Well let's go have some fun somewhere else." He walked back the way he had come, pulling her behind him.
Several of her friends protested as she tried to scratch him to make him let go.
"We aren't together, Mike," she spat, "we never were. Now let me go!"
He turned back to regard her with an evil glare and I felt the earth beneath me shift. There was a scar running down his cheek and I suddenly knew that I had faced this man before. I stepped up to him and grabbed the arm that held Ronny.
"You will unhand this lady," I said coolly, "or you will deal with me." I tightened my grip on his arm. He tried to stare me down until the ever-growing pressure became too much for him and he let go, stumbling back and clutching the arm.
"You," he hissed. "I'll kill you!" he cried, pulling a knife from somewhere and racing at me.
I dodged to the right and he stumbled over my leg. He turned mid-fall and slashed at my back. The blade sunk into my left side and arm. I cried out and fell. I realized too late that I'd made a mistake. He was on me in an instant and I felt the blade again, this time it went into my right shoulder. I rolled to the side, using my weight to crush him. He let go of the knife and I jumped to my feet. The blade's hilt was small enough that it shouldn't deter me in battle and it was best to leave the blade where it was for the moment. He lunged at me and I grabbed his neck in midair, lifting him up so that his feet were kicking.
I cannot tell you what my face looked like, but it was enough to make the man lose control of himself.
"You will leave this lady alone," I said, the calm, cold tone of my voice frightening even me. "I will never see you again. If I ever even hear that you have assaulted another woman I will hunt you to the ends of the earth. Do you understand?"
He nodded as best he could. His eyes were like a caged animal that knows it is going to be eaten. I am ashamed to say that I took some small pleasure in that. I dropped him and he ran off into the night.
Ronny asked me if I needed any help, but I just shook my head and walked away.
All I remember after that was waking up in my bed at home. My mother was standing over me, cleaning my wounds and asking where I had gotten them. My father was in the corner, giving me a look that clearly meant I was in trouble.
Since I couldn't explain where I had gotten the wounds from I was given a week of punishment work. I had to help one of the nearby villages with the planting season in my spare time. It was hard work and it gave me far too much time to think about things that were green.
When that was done no one could think of an excuse to keep me nearby so I was allowed to go where I wished once more. When I returned to Mistress Auldley's house she was pruning one of the bushes.
"Nice of you to show back up," she said. "From what I hear you're a regular knight in shining armor."
"Huh?" I asked, dumbfounded.
"That Ronny girl has been coming here every day for the past week looking for you," she said. She kept her eyes on her work and her eyes were half lidded, as if even that only deserved half her attention. "She left that too." She threw her head to one side to indicate the small garage. "Said that since that punk left it behind she thought you deserved it."
I walked cautiously through the open door. The light outside was so bright that I couldn't see anything beyond the entrance until I was fully inside. When my eyes finally adjusted I gasped. It was the monster that the "punk" had ridden. Mistress Auldley had implied that these monsters were not monsters at all, but machines like the toaster, but I was still unsure. The toaster made a pleasant ding, but this made a deafening roar.
"Lee?" Mistress Auldley called.
I hurried out of the garage to see what she wanted.
"If the past week was any indication, Ronny'll be here soon. I recommend you go inside and get cleaned up."
I paled. Ronny was coming here? I raced inside and washed my face and hands. I spent ten minutes trying to figure out what to do with my hair before deciding that there was nothing I could do to it and running back out. I raced out the front door so fast that I had just enough time to notice that Ronny was chatting pleasantly with Mistress Auldley before I began sliding on the gravel. I ended up flat on my back.
Ronny rushed to my side.
"Are you okay?" she asked, her eyes wide in concern.
"Fine," I grunted, heaving myself up.
"Good," she said, smiling.
We stood there, smiling at each other, for several minutes before Mistress Auldley got fed up with my stupidity.
"Lee," she called. "I need some flour and sugar. Would you two run down to the store and get some for me?"
I agreed before I realized that she had included Ronny in that request.
"You know where the money is?" Mistress Auldley continued, ignoring my horrified expression.
"Yes'm," I said, quickly ducking back inside. When I emerged once more, Ronny was at the gate, waiting patiently for me.
"Ready?" she asked pleasantly.
I nodded.
Somehow, I managed to carry on a conversation with her without mentioning any specifics. She seemed to prefer it that way. My parents, it seemed, were like any others. They were overprotective and loved me very much, but it was these qualities that were annoying. Don't think we're going to stop doing either, by the way, young man. My training master was easily explained. It seemed several people studied martial arts in special classes. And the farm work was not unheard of. Several farms lay within a day's travel of the city's borders.
By the time we returned with the flour and sugar we were good friends. By the time a week was up we had gone on a date. By the time a month had passed we were "going steady."
It was one of the happiest times of my life.
It did not last.
I was working on the monster. Ronny had introduced me to the library and I had managed to learn enough from the books there to understand how the motorcycle, as I learned it was called, worked. The man who had left it to me had left it in poor condition and I spent at least half of my time at Mistress Auldley's working on it.
"Leanbow," a voice said softly. The voice was strained and full of anger. I turned to face my mother.
I stood quickly and bowed my head in shame. "Mother," I said.
"No, Leanbow," she said. "You will return home with me this instant. You have much to tell your father."
I nodded and followed her out of the garage.
"Lee!" Mistress Auldley called, coming out of the house. "Who is this?"
"This is my mother," I said, trying to sound as if nothing were wrong.
"Ah, well, it's good to finally meet you. You have raised quite a son here."
"Have I?" my mother asked.
Mistress Auldley ignored my mother's tone. "He saved me from a ruffian and has been coming back here almost every day since to help me around the house. Bless his soul, he's a better son than my own. You've done a fine job with him. You should be proud." Mistress Auldley nodded her goodbye and walked back into the house.
My mother simply raised an eyebrow at me and continued walking. We must have made a strange pair. I was dressed in clothes common to the city, while my mother was wearing her training uniform.
No one spoke to us as we left the city and I did not see Ronny, a fact for which I was grateful. I did not wish to explain her to my mother or my mother to her.
When my father returned home that night I told him everything. There was no point in keeping any of it from them and they would have known if I had lied. When I told them about Ronny my mother's face paled.
Two days later a friend of my father's brought his daughter to have dinner with us. The next week another friend came. Then another. Then another.
I did not return to the city during this time. I could only imagine what Ronny and Mistress Auldley thought of me, but I tried not to.
One day, when all of my parents' friends' eligible daughters had been exhausted my parents made up their minds. If I could not fall in love with a respectable woman of the forest, then they would arrange my marriage. I was more than old enough to marry and it is not unheard of among our people for the parents to choose their child's husband or wife.
They managed to find a family who had recently decided to do the same for their own daughter. Neither family asked many questions about the other's sudden change of heart, both were far too desperate. I had not yet met the woman, but I knew that if I was going to find love for her within my heart I needed to say goodbye to my first love. I was sneaking out of my bedroom one afternoon when my mother came in. I had one leg out the window and my hands were gripping the ledge tightly. I was going to fall soon.
"I'm just going to say goodbye," I said desperately.
My mother's eyes softened and she hurried over to give me a kiss on the forehead. "Be gentle with her."
I nodded and hurried off.
"Lee!" Ronny cried when I arrived at Mistress Auldley's house. She had been sitting on the curb outside, arms wrapped around her knees, and watching the road with far too much concentration. She raced to me and I caught her up in my arms. I breathed in her scent and twirled her around.
"I thought I'd never see you again," she whispered when I set her down. There were tears streaming down her cheeks. I wanted to wipe them away, but knew I couldn't, not if I could never do it again.
"I have to tell you something," I said. "I'm leaving."
Her mouth formed a small o of surprise. She looked down at the ground. "Where are you going?"
"Far away," I said, feeling it was best to lie. "I- I don't think I'm coming back."
She nodded, her eyes still on the pavement. "I understand. My parents have been talking about a- move too. Maybe it's best this way. If we just—"
"I love you," I said, unable to stop myself. "I just wanted you to know that."
She looked up at me then, her eyes shining with tears. "I love you too." She ran past me and took off down the road. I watched her until she was out of sight, taking the image of her, with her black braid trailing behind her, running away. It was the last time I would ever see her.
"You know," Mistress Auldley said from one of the windows, "you should probably go after her."
"I can't. She doesn't belong with me."
"Idiot kids," I heard her mutter, "won't even fight for true love."
"I have a duty," I snapped suddenly. "I have sworn an oath to protect—"
"Love is stronger than any oath. But fine, if you really think your oath is so important." She trailed off for a moment. "I'll keep the motorcycle for you, in case you ever do come back."
"You don't have to—"
"Will you stop being so cursed honorable all the time? I'm trying to do something nice for you, so just let me!"
"Yes, ma'am," I said, sufficiently chastised. "I have to go now. I snuck out."
"Have a good life, Lee."
"You too, Mistress Auldley."
I walked home slowly, thinking of my oath to defend the magical world and of Ronny. I snuck back in my window, my father never did know I was gone, and laid on my bed for several hours.
"Leanbow?" my mother called. "They'll be here soon."
I made no answer, but climbed out of bed and got ready to meet the woman who would be my wife.
When I went downstairs the girl's family was already there.
"Ah, Leanbow," my father said, ushering me into the room, "it is time for you to meet your future wife."
The girl's parents stepped aside and I saw a crown of red hair, the girl's eyes were fixed on the floor and I could not see her face.
"Udonna," her mother said, gently taking both of her shoulders and pushing her towards me.
She looked up and I found myself looking into a pair of beautiful green eyes. She gasped and put a hand over her mouth.
"Maybe we should give them some moments alone," my father said and our parents quietly left the room.
Udonna and I fell onto the nearest bench, unable to look away from each other.
"You're-" I began, "you're Ronny?"
She nodded and I could see tears in her eyes. "You're Lee?"
I smiled. "How? Why?"
"A few years ago the sorceress who trained me told me about the world outside the forest. I refused to believe that the whole world was evil based only on thousand-year-old legends, and so I went there one day. I found out that I liked it. I made friends. I just couldn't bring myself to stop. It was fun."
I nodded. "I went for the same reason. That guy who I beat up at the party? He was attacking Mistress Auldley. I stopped him and took her home. Her garden was just so beautiful that I wanted to see it during the day and when I did she gave me work to do. Then, there was you."
She smiled and blushed.
"The next day I went out to begin work on our home. A month later, we were married and moved in."
Nick smiled at his parents. "But," he said, "what happened to Mistress Auldley and the motorcycle?"
Udonna grinned. "Well, once we were married our parents couldn't keep us from visiting the city so we went back to visit Mistress Auldley. After much debate we decided to tell her everything. All of our other friends just heard that we eloped and were living outside the city. Mistress Auldley took the news well. It seemed she had ventured into the forest as a very young girl and had known all along that there was something strange about the two of us. She was not at all surprised to find out who we really were."
"She still lives in the same old house," Leanbow said. "That's where we were while you were saying goodbye to Ma—" Udonna elbowed her husband in the ribs. "The others," he grunted. "We were getting my old bike and the one Udonna later bought from her garage. When we get back, you have to go meet her."
"Sure," Nick said. "Was she at the battle?"
"No, she said she was busy forcing a Hidiac to sweep her driveway. It seems it knocked over one of her potted plants a few weeks ago and she forced it to clean up. The poor creature has been in her service ever since."
Nick laughed. "Okay, I think it's time we get going."
"Does your cousin know we're coming?" Udonna asked.
"Of course. Cousin Josh said he'd love to put me and two of my friends up for the night. His wife is totally cool, you'll like her."
"Do you plan on telling them who we really are?" Leanbow asked.
"Yeah, just- not over the phone."
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