The veiled woman stood in front of me, hands pressed against my chest. She had a puzzled look on her face and would search the area with the tip of her finger. I simply watched her, trying to formulate in my head, what she looked like, a question I had yet to get an answer for.  

One hand fell to her side and the other rubbed her forehead. 

“Even after death, even after reincarnation, even after the filth is cleansed, and memories purged. It remembers the arcanum once held within. This is worrying….”

“You have only been exposed for a few moments and yet…

She bit her lip and her left leg shifted back and forth. 

“Maybe I was too hasty.”

…

 

I stared at the white ceiling after waking up. The brief encounter with the veiled woman replayed in my head. I thought I had gotten used to her visits, but this one left me scratching my head. Her words were even more cryptic than the time she gave me the wolf and I couldn’t help but feel anxious.

I tried to forget about it and return to sleep, but my mind only wandered.

Our time in the ruins.

My condition.

Lyria’s past.

The necklace in my possession.

A culmination of all what has happened flickered in and out of my mind

I lay down flat on the floor, a mattress with an untidy bed sheet beneath me. 

A weight I had not noticed until that point pressed down on my chest. I looked down to see Lyria, arms strewn across me. Sound asleep, her chest rose and fell with each breath and her pink hair covered most of her face.

I squinted as her warm breath hit my face. 

It reeked of alcohol.

Senna was on the opposite side, albeit in an even more precarious posture, with her body sprawled out as if her joints had dislocated. Her cheeks were flushed red, and she had a satisfied grin on her face, as if she was having the best dream of her life.

I recalled the night prior, after Lyria revealed so much about her past. 

Senna managed to find a bottle of wine Lyria had stashed in the back of the cabinet. They both took several glances at me before Lyria sighed, took the bottle, and poured a drink for both of them. The intention was to have one glass, but they ended up emptying two bottles.

The two of them became best friends. They spoke to each other without restraint, hysterically laughing at things that sounded funny to them and crying profusely when their complaints sounded even a little sad.

It didn’t all surprise me that Lyria had that side to her, but it didn’t make it any less interesting. 

“I’m sorry, Atsumi, I didn’t want you to be around such things.” She said, her words dripping from her mouth like molasses. “But you seem cool with it… thanks, you’re…*hiccup*such a good friend.”

She then wagged her index finger at me.

“None for you though, oh no no no. You’re still just too young.” She giggled. “Just barely.”

She then passed out in my lap, which was the whole reason I had to drag both our mattresses onto the floor. 

I understood her sentiments, but I was used to seeing alcohol being thrown around. Shrine maidens often had to deal with government officials or rowdy martial artists that visited the shrine. 

The academy obviously had rules about alcohol in dorms, but the staff didn’t seem all that interested in enforcing it. Most people at the academy were already adults, and those magically enhanced can keep themselves somewhat tamed.

I took in the sight of the two girls and grinned. 

I guess they deserve at least that much.

I licked my lips after the thought and I recalled all the times when alcohol had been consumed in my presence. The fumes they emitted had a peculiar smell, but I didn’t quite know how to explain it.

I wonder what it tastes like. I hope it’s not too bitter.

I shook my head and flushed that thought out.

After several minutes, I felt myself getting sleepy once again, and my eyes closed. I wanted to forget all the thoughts I just experienced and go back to sleep but, no matter how much I wanted it, something felt off. It was as if I was forgetting a very important thing. 

I sat up and thought about it for several seconds.

The image of a black-haired girl appeared in my thoughts, and I jumped up from the makeshift bed.

What time is it?

I looked at the clock and realized that I was thirty minutes late for my meetup with Allana. I bolted out of bed and knocked on the door to her room. No answer. 

She didn’t come back to the dorm last night, which wasn’t unusual. She often slept at the orphanage where she worked part time. 

I ran into my room, nearly tripping over Senna, and hitting my knee quite hard. She didn’t even react and continued snoozing her daytime hours away.

I prepared myself, left a written note on the table for the two sleeping girls, and sprinted out the front door.

 

It took another thirty minutes to find her stall and, as expected, she had already started unpacking her supplies. I approached the stall with measured steps as I spotted a face I hadn’t seen before, a human man with spiky blonde hair. He helped her carry the heavier boxes, while also placing potions on shelves too high for Allana to reach. 

“Hey, sorry I’m late.” I said.

The boy frowned as he looked at me and then turned to Allana.

“That her?”

She nodded.

I somewhat panicked after seeing their expressions. 

“I’m really sorry. I woke up late.”

The man waved his hands and showed a toothy grin. 

“It’s alright, stranger.” Just grab a few potions and stack them down there.”

He pointed at the half cut wooden box on the floor and turned to reach up to a top shelf. 

With little more to say, we both got to work preparing Allana’s stall. It took about fifteen minutes to get everything in place.

Satisfied with his work, the man wiped the sweat off his brow and stretched. 

“Alright, that seems to be all. Time to head back.” 

He then gave me a thumbs up. 

“The name’s Jason, by the way. Thanks for checking on Allana.”

“I’m Atsumi. Nice to meet you.”

He then left, leaving the two of us to tend to the remaining tasks. A task that entailed us trying to sell as many potions and reagents as I could, a dauntless endeavor, especially for Allana.

I tried my best during that time. Putting on a smile, recommending potions for specific problems, as well as maintaining my composure while interacting with hagglers that didn’t see the value in Allana’s potions. 

The sun rose and fell, taking with it the deep blue and leaving a cloudy crimson mess over our heads.

I handed an elderly dwarven man a single large portion, and he returned to me our payment and a wrinkly yet gentle smile. 

“Thank you, lassie, this should help this rickety old back.” 

“Thank you, sir. Enjoy.”

I waved him off and turned to Allana, who sat quietly across from me. She massaged her foot, trying to rub away the day’s fatigue.

“The same few customers as usual,” I said. 

She nodded before reaching into the box next to her and pulling out two apples. She offered me one, and I accepted without a thought. We then sat next to each other in silence. The only sound coming from our stall was the crunching of apples between our teeth.

This is how my day with Allana usually went. Either work or silence. An awkward routine the two of us had trained ourselves into. 

I wanted to change that.

“I didn’t see you last night. Did you sleep at the orphanage again?” I asked.

She nodded. 

“I see.”

I pushed my hand into my satchel and then handed her a slice of cake wrapped in tinfoil. 

“We had a party last night… It was nice and… I thought since you missed it, I could bring you some cake.”

Another moment of awkward silence.

“Where did you live before you enrolled?” I then asked. 

She took a while to process the question and then took her notebook. I perked up in my chair, as this usually meant she would give a proper response. 

“I stayed at the orphanage.” She wrote. 

I didn’t expect that answer. 

“Wait, you used to live at your part-time job?”

She nodded

“I thought you said you were from Castel.”

“I am, just before the orphanage.”

“Oh.”

I realized what would need to happen for her to end up in an orphanage halfway across Gaia. I wanted to ask about her parents, but I was afraid she would retreat back into her shell. 

“What kind of place is Castel? Is it similar to Atlantis?” I asked. 

She looked around for a moment before writing again.

“It’s nice, but Atlantis is more developed, materials are also more expensive here and harder to find.”

“Do you guys have an emperor? Well, I guess for you guys it would be a king.”

She frowned and shook her head

“We don’t really have a king, we have a Council of Governors and The Grand Clergy. I don’t know much about the two, but that’s what we have.”

This was the first time I had even heard of such organizations, and my curiosity surfaced. 

“What do they do?” 

“Like I said, I don’t know. They mostly just take orders from Hameia.” 

I frowned, not sure why a nation from Theia would have anything to do with Castel. 

“I’m not sure what you mean. Are we still talking about Castel?”

Her eyes shot open, and she seemed to nod in understanding. She then scribbled into the book as if in a hurry. 

“Oh, I guess you didn’t know. Castel is a protectorate of Hameia. Which, if you might not know, is one of two nations on Theia.” 

I froze up after hearing that a nation an entire planet away, is under the protection of another. It didn’t quite make sense to me. 

I parted my lips to challenge what I had just heard when a loud bang ripped my attention away from the girl. 

Annoyed, I turned to face a tall blue haired kitsune, a man with a smug expression. Behind him were three others. A beastfolk woman, with black hair and way too much makeup. A giant of an elf, a brutish man that looked more like an oversized dwarf than anything else. Then a white-haired tengu woman, tall and with a nose resembling a jewelry rack. Long and filled with piercings. 

They all wore a blue and black uniform and each looked just as absurd as the other. 

“Who’s the new chick?” the tengu said with a grin. 

Allan’s face dropped, and she scrambled to get something out of her pocket. A brown sack that rang with coins. 

The kitsuné took it and his smile grew wider. 

“Oh, you’re rather eager today. That’s what I like to see.” 

He then held out his one hand and spun the sack around with the other. 

“But the price has changed. You owe us ten more copper… inflation and that kinda jazz. Not only that, it seems that you make enough money to pay for a worker now. You know how the tax laws work, right? I would have to check your ledgers to determine how much more you owe now, but that’s a hassle. Let’s make this simple and bump it up three copper.”

I watched the entire interaction play out. The sheer absurdity of it all left me speechless. 

Allana then wrote in her note book, a panicked look on face. 

“I can’t afford that much, and she’s just a friend. Not a worker”

The kitsune sneered. 

“I’m not an idiot girl. Who in this shithole works for free?” 

He sighed and then shrugged. 

“Very well then, as usual, you will have to pay in goods then.”

He then reached a hand over the counter and grabbed a large red potion.

It was there I snapped out of my shock induced trance and grabbed his arm. 

“What are you doing?”

I then pushed his hand away and stood in front of the counter. 

“Don’t interfere, she owes us tax.”

“Under what law?” I rebutted “From my understanding city officials don’t go around collecting tax at stall fronts”

He grinned and strolled towards me. 

“Oh, but that’s from registered vendors. This little girl right here is unregistered. This stall she has set up is an illegal structure. Which means, by right, we have authorization to confiscate everything in it. But we understand things are tough. Not everyone can pay such a hefty fee every month, so we allow people like here to set up shop while we keep our mouths shut. She pays a discounted tax and we all go home happy. A win-win, as some may say.”

I turned to look at Allana and she stood defeated.

“Allana, is this true?”

She looked away and didn’t respond. 

I found myself in a dilemma. I didn’t want them to keep taking Allana’s hard earned money, but I also didn’t want them to confiscate her things. This was definitely a sketchy group, but it’s not like I had the means currently to deal with them. Reporting them would only bring light to Allana’s misdoings, which could also result in her losing her stall and getting reprimanded. 

I did the only thing that made sense to me at the time and activated my storage rune. I then pulled out my coin pouch and handed them one silver coin. 

“Here, this should cover her expenses for a while. Now leave us alone.” 

His eyes lingered on the pouch before he clicked his tongue and took the coin. 

“Fine.”

He then gestured something to his entourage, and they all left. Although he seemed a lot more irritated than before. 

I paid it no mind and followed Allana to the back of the stall. 

“Allana, are you ok?”

She nodded.

“Why are you paying these people? If you need help with funds, I don’t mind helping you.”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she packed several potions into a box. 

“Seriously, who are these people?” I then asked.

She shook her head in response.

I stood in front of her and pleaded for her to answer and she did, but not how I was expecting. 

She took her notebook and slammed it on the desk,

“I’m closing up now.”

My words caught in my throat and I watched as she hastily piled everything into boxes. She had shut me out and there was nothing I could do to get her to talk. 

At least not yet. 

Hopeful that she would eventually open up. I went to the other self and gathered up the herbs on display.