Chapter 2: Good Samaritan
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What the heck? I've been kidnapped by a freakin' monarch butterfly!
Okay, not really, but he looked like one. Probably had something to do with the gigantic wings on his back. Yeah. Big orange wings dotted and streaked with black. I'm not the only one who would make this connection, I'm sure.
This impression was reinforced by how he was dressed in gold, black, orange, and even a bit of red here and there. Fine, gentlemanly looking clothes (you know? Shirt, vest, jacket, nice dress pants and mirror-shiny black shoes), but awful flashy and set off the warning bells in my head. The ones that detect potentially narcissistic people.
Right, so, with the evidence I had at my disposal I could draw two conclusions. Either one: I had fallen asleep somewhere down the line and was having one of my more interesting dreams (before long I'd probably start going all ninja on someone or break out Indiana Jones caliber temple raiding skills) or two: my (childish/slightly nerdy) dreams had been answered, fairies were real, and one was getting steadily more ticked off at me.
When faced with those two options, it's only logical you should proceed as if the second is true. Why? Because if it's a dream after all then no harm done, but if it's real and you're caught up in denial from step one you might not live to step two. Especially if you've pissed off a fairy. Seriously, don't do that, old legends agree that they're temperamental and unpredictable even when they're in a good mood.
And I'm rambling, because roughly all of this, and a little more besides, ran through my head while I stared down (still thinking hey, I'm like five inches taller! in some weirdly detached corner of my brain) at the fairy. In all of two or three seconds during which I probably looked like an idiot. It was pretty much condensed to something more like Ho Shit, I've pissed off a fairy, I'm so screwed now.
After blinking at his smug expression for another moment I tried to regain at least some control over the situation. "All right, you've got my attention. Is there something you wanted to ask me?" Careful with your words now, don't want to accidentally leave an opening he can twist to use against you. Like 'can I help you?' just now would have definitely turned me into a slave for life or something.
"Indeed, my associates and I have found ourselves in a rather difficult position. A particularly delicate situation that requires discretion, so as not to overly concern the court over something that really is quite trivial when you think about it. To our consternation this selfsame need for discretion makes it quite difficult to straighten out the affair on our own, and therefor requires the assistance of human mortals." I blinked again. Umm, so basically, Butterfly here and his friends messed up, and to keep from getting egg on their faces in front of other fairies aka rival court members they need to outsource for help.
Hoping I really was on the same page I tried to politely keep up my side of the conversation. "I...see. And what kind of situation is this that you have to get help from humans? That is to say, why me specifically?" I held my breath, suddenly uneasy. I couldn't figure out what exactly, but something I said had probably been a mistake... I really didn't like the glint in Butterfly's purple eyes (did I mention that they were purple? I don't think I did. He also had platinum blond hair, about chin length, that looked very well cared for) or the way that smug little smile grew a fraction.
"In all honesty, you are not the ideal help we would have liked, but with our particular needs the options are fairly limited. This little exchange of ours, however, has raised my opinion of your value to us as you are demonstrating a fair ability to adapt to unconventional situations." That, I was positive, was a dig at how I had about faced from rude to mannerly. Least you could do is stop insulting me...wait, since I can adapt to weirdness I'm a good choice? So I'm actually making things worse for myself?
"As for the nature of our present difficulty and the aid we require... A certain important heirloom was, you could say, misplaced recently." Recent for a fairy, as some of you may realize, could be fully a hundred years ago, "While it is of quite significant value to us, this heirloom is not particularly vital to any functions, and so is kept safeguarded away from the everyday bustle. That my associates and I even discovered that it was st-had been misplaced," Ha! Didn't cover yourself fast enough, it was stolen! "was by pure coincidence. As of yet, no one else is aware of the situation and likely will not be for quite awhile. Rather than let the court excite itself over a small mistake, we will simply locate and quietly retrieve the heirloom."
If I hadn't caught the gist of where this was going by now, I'd have to give up my aspirations as a writer. "So you're, um, enlisting the help of humans to go track this heirloom down, right? That means it's somewhere, uh, difficult for you guys to blend in or something?" I inwardly kicked myself for twice almost slipping and saying something he might take offense at. "So what does this heirloom look like?"
Oh God, that smile is not a good sign, is it? I totally screwed up! Butterflies can apparently smile like sharks, or like an attorney that finally caught you in a loop hole. "If you're so interested in the matter, my dear, you can help us with our search." The little guy reached forward and caught my left hand in both of his before I could jump away, and dammit that's a lot harder to break free from than a one handed grip like before!
I yelped at the sudden pain in my hand, a feeling like when I had accidentally spilled melted wax on my hand when I was younger, but it spread out from the center to my knuckles and my wrist. His grip loosened and I yanked my hand away. "Sonuva-what did you do?" I held my shaking hand up to look for a burn mark or knife wound or something. Instead my skin was now imprinted with a tattoo.
I gaped at it for a moment, some traitorous part of my mind commenting hey, that looks kinda cool. The style reminded me of Celtic knot-work, though more simplified, and it looked like it could be either a butterfly or a flower.
"This mark is an invaluable tool for your search. Not only will it provide me with an easy means of locating and contacting you, but it will indicate when the heirloom is nearby." He smiled brightly, as if he'd just given me coupons for a free day at the spa or something. I really wanted to smack him, I really did. I swear, he had a gift for bringing out my violent side.
"Dammit, Butterflyhead, why the hell did you pick me? Do your own work!" Yeah, dropping the etiquette was a bad idea, but I was even more angry at people in general (including short, fairy winged people) than I had been two hours before. So I didn't care enough when he went kind of rigid and stared at me as if I'd sprouted some unpleasant smelling fungus from my head.
"Butterfly...head..."
"That's you, you Flutterbrain, so tell me what gives!"
"Flutter- I'll have you know my name is Nevys, and if you dare address me by any other such ridiculous name again you can forget about those answers you want!"
I lost it there, "Nevys? Are you kidding me? What kinda name is that? It sounds like that annoying little fairy in Zelda! From now on, you shall be called NEVI and run around yelling 'hey, listen!' at little boys dressed in green!" I'm thankful I didn't tack on the terrible Michael Jackson joke that popped into mind after that. Nevi probably would have killed me, even if he didn't know the first thing about twentieth century music artists. But it was worth the horrified look on his face. Just barely.
My left hand began to sting again, like pins and needles this time, and even though everything was dark and featureless I had the impression that the world was spinning around the two of us. As I clutched my hand and looked around with a dawning sense of I've-done-something-stupid Nevi fixed me with a glare.
"You'll have to thank the Fates that you are neither a boy nor wearing green. It shall be trying enough to deal with a new world without having to eat your own words." I think you're gonna make me eat them anyway, "I'll even be generous and tell you that one of the reasons you were selected was by virtue of having some prior knowledge, even if fairly minimal, of the world you will be in charge of searching."
Then it felt like the floor (...ground?) lurched under my feet and dropped me through an invisible trap door that had just been opened.
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I landed on my back and lay still for a painfully long moment before my body remembered how to breathe again. "Ugh, that's worse than practicing hard falls..." Part of my mind vaguely thought it would be a good idea to at least sit up to recover, but somehow the memo to move didn't get much farther than that.
I'm not sure how long I stayed like that, trying to convince myself that I wanted to stand up when my body stubbornly insisted it wanted to stay down. My stalemate with myself was broken when large, calloused hands pulled me into an upright position and something wrapped around my shoulders to give me support.
"Hey now, missy, are you alright?" Hmm, rumbling baritone from behind me...so some nice Samaritan is holding me in his arms. Must resist urge-to elbow in the ribs- When I opened my eyes to prove I was not actually dead or comatose, I could see the voice belonged to a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair and short trimmed beard.
"Uh, yeah, I'll be fine in a moment..." I winced at the strain in my voice, as if it had been forced past a lump somewhere in my throat. I swallowed and concentrated on taking deep, calm breaths to make that lump go away. Focusing like this cleared my mind some, and I noticed how awkwardly the man was holding me. It reminded me most of how careful Mark, a professor who occasionally joined Aikido practice, would be when practicing with me. Like he was torn between being gentlemanly when practicing with a younger woman and firm like is proper courtesy to your partner.
Aww, poor guy must be too polite for his own good. No elbow in the ribs then. Out loud I just asked him if I could have some water, to cover any inappropriate (and ill-advised) urge to laugh. He took it as an opportunity to let go of me (I could sit up under my own power now) and put a more comfortable amount of space between us.
"Can you tell me what a young lady like you is doing out past the barriers all alone like this, miss?" He handed me a rather tarnished and dented canteen, which I accepted eagerly when I heard the water sloshing inside. So what could I tell him? 'I was kidnapped by an egotistical fairy who I proceeded to piss off, and he apparently threw a black hole or something at me while yelling something about worlds...' oh snap. Taking a longer drink from the canteen for an excuse to look around, I tried to get my bearings.
Before I had assumed I was still by Ontario Lake, maybe just further up the bank and in one of the areas with more trees. Now that I was paying more attention this was clearly a mistaken impression. Instead of a spreading expanse of water lined by pine trees, oaks, maples, ( and assorted other deciduous trees, I think some might have been poplars and sumacs) and enough seagulls to invade a water theme park milling around, I found myself apparently stuck in the middle of a forest. (Similar trees, but a whole lot more of them.) One that looked fairly untouched by humans, with thick trunks and heavy undergrowth threatening to choke off the dirt path I was sitting in.
And my Good Samaritan was still waiting expectantly for an answer. Or for me to jump up and rant crazy nonsense, or just pass out I guess.
So my working assumption was that Nevi had sent me somewhere and worst case scenario was that 'somewhere' was another world. Until I had a better feel for where I was and what's normal here the best story I could give was- "I can't seem to remember very well..." Good old amnesia excuse! "My memory's kinda blurry, and I really can't remember what I was doing last..." I looked around again, being a bit more obvious about it this time. "Can you tell me where we are?"
"We're in a small forest near the Shaikos Ruins. I keep a cottage here so I can study the ruins at my convenience." Shaikos...haven't I heard that name recently? "Not many have a reason to come out here, though, so I rarely see other people. And certainly not young ladies in wet clothing."
"Huh?" Oh right, I'd slipped and fallen in the lake earlier. I must be dazzling him with my sharp conversational skills right now. "Um, I must have fallen into a stream before..."
"There aren't any streams or such within a day's walk." Strike one. Or does that count as two, since I couldn't answer the 'what are you doing here' question?
"I'm sorry, I just can't seem to remember..." I lowered my head, hoping this would be interpreted as me getting emotional over my failure rather than a touch guilty.
"Ah! Don't worry about it, it'll come back to you. For now, you should probably come rest at my place until you're well enough to safely reach the nearest town."
"Nearest town?" Handing back his canteen I made the first attempt to stand up. I staggered a bit, but caught myself before falling down again. The man held my arm to help keep me on my feet.
"That would be Aspio, the City of Scholars." If he hadn't been holding me up I would have fallen down at that. Hearing the name Aspio felt like it froze my blood and wiped all other thoughts from my mind. I knew I recognized that name, and I could remember where I'd heard it now. Aspio was a city in the game Tales of Vesperia, and the Shaikos Ruins were from the same game.
Oh, jeez, I'd bitten off more than I could chew.
But-but even if fairies were involved, they couldn't really have sent me into a fictional world could they? And if they had, then did that mean the characters and plot would continue like in the game? Hell, I didn't even know if I'd shown up years before or after the main story!
Pushing away Good Samaritan's hand, I took a few shaky steps down the path even though I wasn't entirely sure where I meant to go. "Aspio! If I go there..!" I interrupted myself when a wave of vertigo hit me, and I curled up on the ground again. "Ugh."
"Hey, are you okay? You really should rest before going anywhere."
Good Samaritan? Uh, nice as he'd been I couldn't just say "Yeah, let's go back to your place, stranger!" and at the moment I could only think of getting to Aspio and finding familiar ground.
Speaking of ground, why was my face pressed into the dirt. Though it felt nice and cool...but breathing kinda hurt again. I tried to push myself back up, but my body felt so heavy.
I couldn't help but think it was funny how I was blacking out so long after crash landing on Terca Lumireis.
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Well, made it to Vesperia now, but still haven't gotten around to introducing any of the characters. Next chapter maybe? Or the one after that? And yes, I realize my character doesn't even have a name yet.
Bear with me please?