Ravela woke up as Ramiel. Sunday was off to a bad start. In the next room over sat a journalist. She had bought her a train ticket for noon today. Ravela had spent last night getting all her “research” over to her room. Still, it would be an unpleasant breakfast for her.
She got up and put on clothes. Switching Ramiel’s ring for a silver band without any gems. The breakfast was already waiting outside in the living room as per her instructions.
Knocking on the side bedroom, Ravela let Atla Jaest know that it was okay to come out. Atla came out like a thunderstorm, her hair a mess her mood bad and hungry.
“Mrs. Jaest, I hope you’ve slept well. Your ticket out of this city. As promised to the other side of the country.”
Atla snapped back around and took the ticket from his hand. “Akasha Ulundi? I know an old friend in the biggest newspaper on the east coast. Maybe he’ll print my story. Would be a start for a new life at least.”
“Whatever suits you, Mrs. Jaest,” Ravela responded neutrally.
“Will you accompany me to the train station, Mr….what was your name again?” Atla probed her not for the first time.
“I didn’t offer my name and you don’t need it either. Please, just stop there.” Ravela tried to directly end these attempts.
“Your boss gave me his name. I don’t see why you shouldn’t give me your name.”
“You see, Mrs. Jaest. The devil does as the devil pleases, but this one does as this one pleases.” Ravela ended the conversation once again.
“I’ve seen you before you were gambling over in Cernunnos’ too. What were you people doing over there?”
Ravela’s eye twitched. “How very perceptive of you. But let me be very direct here. You already have a story. Your story is way more interesting than what is happening here and you’ve already made a deal to not make us a story. I need not remind you about that tiny little detail, right? But just in case feel reminded we’re helping you out. Please, have the good grace not to go through our laundry while we’re saving your life.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t want to know.”
“Doesn’t mean you get to know. Look your train is going around noon. How about you confirm, that we got all the documents you need? For your new start and all your troubles Michael elected to give you a gift for an easier start.” Ravela pulled out 10,000 dollars of her new clean cash.
“Is that for the new start or to shut me up?” Atla asked.
“As you know, we already agreed on your silence on our part. You're after all party to that agreement. This is purely out of sympathy. We know how hard it is to establish a new life.”
Ravela helped herself to a plate full of scrambled eggs. She ate looking out of the window. This time she decided that the conversation was indeed over.
*Meanwhile in Gradjia*
Safora lay on the floor frustrated.
“997” She pushed the release of the suitcase. “Wrong again! This is ridiculous. How is it one of the last three numbers? I should have started from the back!”
“Wait you’re at 997 and still no luck? Try 999 next, just in case.” Laena interjected suddenly interested.
Safora pouted. “Fine, 999.” *Chunk* “No cigar. I’ve been through almost every number from 100 to 999. How can it be the last number?”
Laena jumped up from her chair startling Safora.
“Wait! Did you just say from 100 to 999?!”
Safora frowned. “Yeah, I tried every combination starting low. Why?”
“Oh my…” Laena put her hands on her face and mumbled something into them.
Safora got up. “What?”
“I said: What about 000?” Laena said while throwing a pillow at Safora.
Safora stood there and took the hit. Her face turned beet red. She stomped her foot embarrassed. “T-This wouldn’t have happened if you’d helped me. I am not stupid. Stop throwing pillows at me! Shaddup!”
Laena couldn’t believe she had wasted her weekend sitting here trusting in her friend’s math skills. She felt stupid. Not as stupid as Safora though. Her ears were still glowing red when she went back to dialing combinations.
“000” *Chunk*
“001” *Chunk*
“002” *Chunk* “Stop laughing, Laena I swear!”
“003” *Chunk*
“004” *Chunk*
“005” *Chunk* “I am gonna kick myself if it’s one of the low numbers”
“006” *Chunk* “998 Just to be safe.” *Chunk*
“007” *Click* “I-It worked. Two days wasted. You know what? Doesn’t matter!”
Safora shook a spaced-out Laena. “It worked! It is open. Come on we’re opening it together.”
Laena and Safora opened the suitcase together. Inside was some kind of armor. The dull metal of a dark grey color with plenty of scratches on it. A helmet without looking slits.
“Wicked! He’s an alien! Help me lift that glove, Laena.”
Laena was still studying the chinks in the armor. the breastplate and helmet were marred by plenty of marks. She wouldn’t consider the deflected bullets or blades. To her, some of them looked like claw- or teeth marks.
“Hello, this glove is heavy. Help me put it on. Come on, sleepy head.”
Safora and Laena got the glove onto the bed and Safora carefully wiggled her fingers into the glove.
“Hm, too big for me. But not by much. Certainly too small for Ramiel’s hands, I think.”
“Cause you’re the expert in all things numbers.”
“Shaddup, this is clothing….that is so not the same! And besides, I was right. This Mr. Roice guy hid something. He’s an alien. No! Time traveler. No! A dragon slayer straight from the legends!”
“Wasn’t he a pirate?”
“Laena, darling, please. That is so yesterday's gossip. Dear do go with the times.”
Safora tried moving her fingers in that glove on the bed. Safora made a face. The fingers were too heavy to move a lot. However, they wiggled just enough to prove that they could be moved when worn.
Pulling her hand out of the glove, Safora grinned at her friend. “Let’s see what else we have in here.”
Laena by this time was finally on board with their mission and had found a backpack inside. They dumped the contents on the bed and started riffling through it.
Safora spotted the golden laurels and put them on her head. “Pirate,” she said while looking at Laena. Her friend groaned in response and rolled her eyes.
“So what else do we have here? Some flasks. Weird. Some gemstones, glowing weirdly. Jewelry boxes?” Laena changed the topic.
Safora picked up some of the jewelry boxes and opened them.
“Uh shiny!” Safora said.
Laena stopped her. “Safora enough. Those aren’t yours.”
Safora pulled a pouty face. “But look one of the boxes is empty.”
Laena responded, “So what?”
“The ring Ramiel wears all the time came out of this box right here.”
Laena crossed her arms as Safora continued on. “The box that was inside this locked suitcase. A suitcase to which he thanks to his memory loss had no access.”
Laena simply shattered her theory by saying. “Unless he was wearing that ring ever since he came here. That would blow your theory out of the water, right?”
“W-Well yes, b-but you see um. You’re no fun at all. Help me put that glove back inside the suitcase.”
Laena laughed as they put the glove back into the suitcase. Safora took off the golden laurel. Laena didn’t notice her sweeping two of the crystals as they put everything back into place.
“So what do you think all these things are?” Safora questioned her friend.
“Don’t know. Maybe it is a military research project or something.”
“Maybe he is from the old lands some ancient Super who is trying to retire or an ancient Villain in hiding.” Safora let her fantasy run wild.
Laena rolled her eyes. “I think….He might be a Super. I think he may have been down at the lakeside when our bus crashed. But did he help us? I don’t know that. All I know is this all looks suspicious. Maybe we should tell our parents.”
Safora stopped her friend. “No. Nononono. He was definitely down there. I don’t know how he did it, but we shouldn’t have survived that crash. But was it heroism or a spontaneous good act of a villain? We have to find that out!”
“And how would we do that? Going from here.” Laena inquired.
Safora shrugged. “Oh, I bet there will be a chance to find out down the line.”
Laena didn’t like the sound of that at all.
Ravela had escorted Atla the journalist to her train. The woman had been a pain till the end. Badgering Ravela with questions all the way to the train.
Now she was gambling against the clock. Lost a bunch of money in different disguises in an attempt to get all her old money out and win the rest of it back with one last bet at the end of the day. It stressed her out. She had been sidetracked by her own laziness and desire to help a person in need.
At the same time, Ravela was somehow furious with herself. If she hadn’t eaten that dessert and had followed those gangsters immediately the man in the trunk might have lived. Her heart clenched at the thought. Was it guilt? What for? She wasn’t the one who did the crime.
Ravela left the Roulette table once again 50,000 dollars lighter and with a sour taste in her mouth. This was bothering her a lot. Was he a good man? Would her intervention have saved his life?
‘And what did this make me? A bad person? A good person with bad timing?’
Ravela wanted to go back to Gradjia. Keeper Namon would have just the words to help her. Probably. Maybe. She felt he would understand her struggle.
Her thoughts went in circles as she went to and from the casinos in a hurry. The last 10,000 dollars of the old money changed their form into chips and Ravela made sure she won with these 10,000 once again.
After dallying a while longer in the casino, Ravela exchanged the chips for money. Ravela now had 840,000 dollars in clean money to return to Gradjia with.
Up in her suite, Ravela started packing her things. She wouldn’t miss this city. It left a bitter taste in her mouth and darkened her mood.
Ravela sat on the train on the way home. The nighttime landscape was so different from the daytime ride, as were the occupants. Sleeping snores all around Ravela reminded her that she was staying awake for no reason other than her guilty consciousness.
She didn’t want the nightmare of being late standing over the trunk staring at the dead man inside.
Ravela caught herself from drifting off just in time to see the sunrise. The promise of her hometown Gradjia coming closer. She had emptied one of her traveling bags of the clothes and shoes Ramiels couldn’t wear. Now both bags held a lot of money to give them the illusion of still being as full as they were when she left.
She had to talk with the keeper upon her return. He had been right, Ravela regretted that journey somewhat. If not for the young journalist she’d saved, Ravela would have been deeply conflicted about calling her trip a success.
Another hour passed before the train stopped in Gradjia. ‘Home sweet home.’
Ravela got off the train. The morning sun threw its heat over the valley below. Soon the summer heat would arrive on the streets. Ravela hurried to Ma Stone’s house to make it in time for breakfast.
Knocking on the door, she was greeted by Laena who gave her the usual skeptical side-eye. ‘Or was it more skeptical than usual?’
She followed the teenager inside. “I am back. Could I please have my keys? I’d like to put away my bags before breakfast.”
“Sure. So how was your trip to…where exactly did you go?”
Ravela laughed. “Still working on being subtle, I see. It was a mixed trip, to be honest. Helped a stranger, failed to help a stranger…won some, lost some. How was your weekend?”
Laena thought about the non-answer she just got, shrugged, and just handed him his keys.
Ravela took the keys and was off to her room. Once inside she noticed instantly the small wave on the carpet by her bed.
‘Somebody, teenagers, messed with my suitcase.’
Ravela pulled out the suitcase. The numbers still were on 007. Her eyes grew big. She opened the suitcase and put the armor suit on her bed. She was relieved that it was still complete. Her golden laurel was also still there. Ravela suddenly was very glad that she had not left the pistol in the suitcase.
She checked all the ring cases. They were still all there. If they put them on, those girls now knew that her rings changed her appearance.
Ravela banished that thought. If they found out about that they’d surely tell authorities about their findings. She checked her flasks. They all seemed to still be there.
Ravela relax and breathed a sigh of relief. She sat on the floor for a moment taking deep breaths, calming down.
Then her eyes flew open. She emptied her backpack. There was only one amber crystal left inside the backpack. Ravela panicked.
She started shaking the parts of the armor suit and checked the suitcase itself.
“Oh, oh no!” Ravela said.
She put everything back into her backpack. The traveling bags flew into the closet without a second thought. ‘Of all the things these brats could have taken!’
Sitting on the bed she tried to piece it together.
‘How long did they have them for? Were they carrying them around? Did they hide them somewhere? Of course, they carried them around. Maybe I wasn’t too late. I had to get them back right now.’
Ravela jumped up from the bed and hurried down the stairs. Laena now sat by her grandmother's side eating breakfast.
Ravela looked at them Ma Stone reading her newspaper didn’t notice the look on his face, but Laena saw. The urgency and anger in his eyes. She also saw it vanish completely when she addressed her grandmother.
“Good morning, Mrs. Stone. I am back, just as promised.”
Ravela sat down directly opposite Laena staring her down directly.
“Well, Ramiel. How was your journey?”
Ravela cleared her throat with a fake cough. “Could I get some tea, please? The journey was quite long and those trains are so very barren of any refreshments.”
Ma Stone put down her newspaper and said. “Of course, I’ll make you a fruit tea. You must have had such a long journey.”
“Thank you, that is so very kind of-” The moment the door closed behind Ma Stone, Ravela snapped around to Laena and hissed under her breath. “You stole from me. Where are they?”
Laena looked nervous.
“So it was your friend, Safora? Yes? Well, she stole something dangerous and you helped her. I need it back yesterday. You and I are goi-” Ravela stopped herself just in time for Ma Stone’s return.
“The water is going to need a moment.”
“Thanks again. I sure hope I got the minutes to spare.” Ravela said while intensely staring at Laena.
“Um, Ma I just remembered that I got to give Safora something back. She forgot her thing and I just gonna go out a bit early today. Love ya, Ma. See you later, Mr. Roice. Gotta go.” Laena left in her sports uniform.
Ravela felt a vein on her temple throb. ‘Yeah, you better run, you thieving little…’
Ravela took a moment to consider why these crystals were so dangerous. Mutations! Ravela remembered. If they spent too much time close to those crystals they’d change, and Ravela couldn’t guarantee the outcome of that change. ‘Not like this. If the girl is lucky she’d be only hideous for the rest of her life.’
Eating a bit and drinking her tea, Ravela painfully tried to avoid the impression of being on the clock. After she finished her tea, she got up and wished Ma Stone a relaxing rest of the day.
She had to find these thieves and get her crystals back before they hurt themselves. Ravela stepped outside her eyes darting around.
‘If I were a moron, where would I hide?’
Ravela first checked out the gym of the school. It was empty so she got out and looked for an open-air training field.
She spotted the open field close to the forest a bit behind the school. Plenty of students were training, running, and jumping all around. Her eyes darted around.
‘Where are you, you thieving, busybody, good-for-nothing, teenagers?’
She spotted two girls arguing away from the other students, one wildly gesturing the other clearly looking defensive.
Ravela started crossing the field b-lining for them. Walking as slowly as the urgent situation allowed. The coach noticed her and called her out.
“Sorry, coach. Didn’t mean to intrude. I will be out of your hair in a minute.” Ravela kept walking but her voice led Safora and Laena to turn around.
Safora saw Ravela walking towards them and made a squeaking noise and ran.
‘Seriously!? You’re running away. Do you know how bad this makes me look!? What am I to do now, hunt after a teenager through the woods!?’
Ravela reached Laena who looked like she wanted to disappear into the ground.
“Is she serious? What am I to do now?! Chase a young woman through the woods? Did you explain the situation? You did tell her that those crystals are dangerous, right?”
Laena looked down at the ground. “I was trying to but you showed up and scared her.”
Ravela recoiled at those words. “Oh, did my urgency inconvenience you? I’m sorry. Come on, lead the way if anyone knows where she is going it has to be you.”
Laena crossed her arms. “If you think I enter the woods with a man lying to an entire town to help him find my friend without telling anyone where I am going, you have another thing coming, Ramiel. If that is even your real name, Ramiel.”
Ravela put her hand over her eyes and slowly pulled it down her face. She had about enough of this nonsense.
“Okay, when did you open my suitcase and how long has it been since she took my stuff? Depending on the answer, your friend may just have the time left for this circus.” Ravela crossed her arms. She was over this.
