Descendants of the Ida Dynasty - 7. Chapter 7: Elementalist Hotel

I flew for sometime before traveling on ground. The air was heavier in these parts, weighed down by humidity. I was curious to be an observer of these people instead of acting on my duties as a soldier of the Royal Army. I’d ground myself in a place they call Orion.

Many of the townsfolk looked upon me with peculiarity, probably having never seen a Neku unclothed and unarmed. A few managed to recognize me, judging by their looks of anger and fear. Maybe that’s how they looked at all of us.

Royal Soldiers marched along the grounds, each of them greeting me with a “Morning to you, our star and light,” kneeling at their feet as uncomfortable as it would’ve been with their heavy armor. I detested the pleasantries. It was foolish to think I could roam anywhere without being acknowledged. There were many questions asked of me, some showing far more concern than warranted, others seeming to come from nowhere:

“I heard what happened in Tygrus, Princess. Are you well?”

“Where’s your armor and scepter?! You’re in enemy territory!”

“Princess, may I consult with Deko about a change in work positions? This armor we’re given is far too overbearing…”

Orion was a humble town. Citizens were intimate with one another, going about their lives so carefree. Children laughed from deep within their bellies. Fathers scolded them for their recklessness. Mothers held babies to their chests. It was only when Royal soldiers or myself were in view did the atmosphere change: grandchildren pulled in close by their grandparents, crowds dispersing, smiles wiped from faces. I had seen two descendants conversing animatedly, then stopping abruptly as I walked by.

An argument between a Royal Soldier and two descendants grabbed my attention. I attempted to move past them but was struck by the descendants’ familiarness, like I had known them for some time: A warrior woman with mauve skin and two long braids, along with a clairsentient with closely cut hair, also a woman. In the midst of the argument, the soldier raised his scepter at them. Both women flinched. The scepter came down on them and…

SWOOSH!

It took some time to register what I had done. All three seemed stunned. In my palm was the scepter held firmly in place, prevented from making contact with the two descendants.

“Wh-what are you doing, Princess,” the soldier asked, unsure if he even had the right to ask.

“I know these two,” I lied. The two women looked at each other, then at me, showing the same befuddled faces. The guard eyed me suspiciously, hesitantly pulling the scepter away. “What’s the issue?”

The guard sighed, hoisting the scepter onto his shoulder. “These two were asking about the golden-eyed descendant and that mutt we keep having problems with around here.”

The golden-eyed descendant… “Were they now? I’ll take it from here, soldier. Thank you.”

The soldier bowed and moved on. It was amazing what little was needed for these soldiers to harm these people. Could I be feeling...pity? Once the soldier was out of earshot, I turned back to the two women. All descendants were far shorter than us neku, but the warrior woman was distinctly taller than most of her kind. The clairsentient had an interesting look as she stared at me.

“So, you two know of this golden-eyed descendant?” I asked. “I’m trying to find him too. It seems you two know a great deal about him.”

The two women grew noticeably guarded. The warrior woman put her hand on the clairsentient, motioning her to move behind her.

“What are you speaking of?” the warrior spoke accusingly. “We have no information to give you!” She spoke with venom spewing from her, angry eyes that I could only attribute to hate. “What do you know? Why do you come to us?!”

I had no reason to be withholding. They seemed trustworthy and greatly concerned by the descendant’s well-being. They had no reason to accept my word, my being a neku was reason enough.

“This descendant...he saved my life,” I said. “Faint memories of his still linger, some not so clear. But something tells me that he cares for you both, very much.”

The warrior’s hand slowly dropped away from the clairsentient, gaping at me. The clairsentient, holding her two hands to her mouth, had tears running down her cheeks. She moved up to me, boldly, catching her partner and me off guard.

“I can feel his essence coming off you,” she said. “Is he alive? Please, tell us he’s alive!”

I nodded. “I will tell you what I know, but let us speak where others can’t listen in. What can I call you two?”

“You can call me Bebe, and this would be my other, Zuri.”

5 days earlier…

The land was nothing like we’ve seen before. I followed Rosco’s vague directions to head west, cutting through desert and steppe for what seemed like half the night. Eventually, we would find ourselves on the border of this place with many trees, the inside of it covering the starlit sky. The ground tickled our feet as it had grown massive greenery that wrapped itself around everything near it. Vines caressed tree trunks and hung down like ropes. The sounds of hooting birds and noisy insects fluctuated throughout, an odd phenomenon we were never exposed to in Orion, at least to this degree. I expected a restless sleep that night, laying on top of these scratchy, itchy bladed plants, crawled on by critters and insects roaming about. Morning couldn’t come soon enough.

As I awoke, all around me was darkly tinted, cast with shadows. The leaves only allowed for minimal rays of the sun to shine through. I yawned and rose myself up. Barken wasn’t near, so I sniffed for his scent. With it came the smell of damp vegetation and sweetness. I followed his scent, pushing through the shrubbery with spiked bush occasionally poking at my arms. Colors of blues, reds, yellows, and purples appeared along the way, resembling some of the produce and flowers Sapphire made. Thinking of her babbling about the medicinal and herbal remedies of each of them was somewhat enduring.

When I found Barken, he had found a spot that glowed miraculously, an open space in the canopy. His legs were knee-high in a river as he bathed, his yellow tattoo glistening on his back. His copper bracelets and loincloth were laid gently on the bank. He turned around to find me watching.

“You’re up so soon,” he said. “I left you to rest, I know it was a long night for you.” My Barken acclimated to his surroundings with such ease. He looked more at peace than I’d seen him for what seems like days. Something about this place, teeming with life, must’ve provided him his own healing.

“I’ll get rest when I can,” I said. I looked around us. This place being unfamiliar, I couldn’t help but notice the lack of prey to feast on. Large-sized beasts were nowhere to be found. My stomach grumbled.

That’s when I noticed the creatures swimming around Barken. Weird looking things, but they appeared meaty enough…

“What are you doing, Diego? Oh-!”

I grabbed at this slippery creature that wiggled in my hand and began analyzing it. Without thinking, I took a bite into it. Crunchy, chewy, yet soft inside.

“I think I’ve found us some breakfast,” I said, the creature’s juices spilling down my chin.

Barken grinned. “You could use a bath while you’re at it.”

I retrieved a few more fish for us to eat. Barken and I didn’t find them too appetizing, but we would discover more, trying the different tastes each species had. Some that were a strange pink or purple, orange like the sands we’ve traveled on, or silver like metal. We tried the fruit we could find, enjoying the ones that were safe and spitting out the ones that weren’t.

Nothing disturbed us. We didn’t feel hunted. It was a point in our journey where we truly felt no worry. A conversation about making this place our new home came up.

“There’s no one else here, Diego,” he said. “Who will we be in commune with?”

“Why not make friends with the slithery creatures in the river or on the forest floor? Or maybe the feathery ones on the treetops?” He wasn’t amused. And there was still the issue of this strange food...

At one end of the river, we’d find water cascading off a large cliff made of thick, curved rocks, some covered in heavy moss. Barken was eager; he descended into the large pond, swimming towards the waterfall’s end where the mist was thick. He motioned me over. We’d go inside it, feeling the water cascading off our heads. I’d break through the surface, laughing and wading in the pond. I couldn’t find Barken, my senses overwhelmed by the freshwater. Then, something grabbed me from underneath, pulling me into its depth. When I turned around, it turned out to be him. I grabbed him, lifted him to the surface, and we played while the sun rose higher into the sky. This place could’ve been a utopia. Almost.

We laid on the bank to rest, basking in the warmth. He massaged and soothed my head while his fingers grazed my ears. I noticed him pull back some, his marigold aura not quite as prominent as usual. When he was done, I began caressing his arms.

“I dreamt about Bebe and Zuri,” he said, looking contemplative. Zuri… It felt like a lifetime since I heard that name, yet it had only been a couple of days since we’d left our home. “But I wasn’t myself. It had to have been the Princess.”

“Why do you think that?” I asked.

“Because in my dream, I was looking down at them. When I saw my hands, they were the skin color of a neku.” Birds sang beautifully while they glided through the air, heard alongside the waterfall. Small, furry creatures took sips from the pond and climbed up tree trunks. One creature with its curling tail took a whiff of us before scurrying away.

“Are you saying they could be in danger!?”

“No, I don’t think so. She showed no ill-will towards them. Remember when I told you she’s searching for me? I think she’s on our trail...” Barken’s hands brushed along the deep green, itchy plants beneath us. I saw his palms glow again and he pulled them back. “Diego, what do you think of fighting against Deko and the Royal Soldiers? Fighting for our people?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. My only goal has been to protect you and keep you out of the Royal Soldiers’ hands.”

“...And if I chose to go against them?”

“I would follow you.” He looked at me for a while, trying to gauge how serious I was. But Barken knew better: I say what I mean.

Then he asked, “Even if it means to kill?”

“Without a second thought! These beings are our tormentors. Wouldn’t you?” He didn’t answer and turned away. He had this faraway look in his eyes, trying to be anywhere but here. “Barken, don’t tell me you’d hesitate to kill them where they stand?!” He continued not speaking, and my agitation got the best of me. “Barken-”

“I-I don’t know!” My eyes widened. I didn’t understand. “I’m not used to this, I wasn’t meant to fight like you, to mentally preparing myself to take a life. Fighting for our livelihoods like this, it’s jarring, completely contrary to what we as clairsentients are put here to do.”

I had the impression the attack and escape from Tygrus weighed heavily on him.

“I feel somehow my killing of that neku has changed me in ways I can’t even fathom. Didn’t you feel the same, after your kill?”

I tried to consider the thought, what is necessary when you’re fighting for your life. It didn’t take me long before answering, “No.” He stared at me for a long time, trying to make sense of it. “We kill to live. Is that not true?”

He sighed, seemingly sad. He didn’t consider that fighting against the neku means to go to war. And every war is not without harm and death.

He dropped his hands to his side when he said, “...I don’t want to kill, Diego.” And he appeared pained as he said it.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.

The water beyond the waterfall and near the center of the pond began to bubble gently. Barken and I looked at with awe. We’ve certainly never seen water fluctuate in such a way.

“Hmm.” My curiosity got the best of me as I stepped forward to analyze, the bubbling intensifying and making ripples.

Plop, plop, plop.

The water began to lift itself higher. Even if something were underneath, the disruption we were seeing on the surface was far too unordinary, nothing like we’ve seen.

“Diego?” I could barely hear Barken behind me, the water’s sound intensifying. And still, it rose…

“I don’t know about this. I think we should-”

Boom!

A powerful sound wave blasted itself at us. I shut my ears, it was so unbearable. The water became a tower rising above Barken and I, taking over a good portion of the lake and still increasing with size. The water illuminated, a pure cyan blue and white light. I was able to uncover my ears once the sound died down. Only the sound of the gurgling water remained.

My arm was grabbed by Barken. “We need to go. This doesn’t seem right.”

Screech!

The terrible sound came again, and our skulls must’ve shaken in response. As I watched, the water slowly started to descend, and as the sound faded with it, two figures began to appear. Barken and I didn’t move.

The creatures before us stood very tall, with scale-like skin that I had seen on the small creatures we ate. They were silver with mauve-colored crystals sticking from them. Though they wore no armor, they had a heavy build. So large they appeared, it looked as though their torsos were hunched forward. It was unnatural, these creatures that looked like nothing we’d seen before. When their silver eyelids opened, you could see their blue irises surrounded by black. They looked right at us.

The two creatures stood on the surface of the water, unmoving, their focus unwavering as they watched. Within no time, they took steps forward and ripples ceased to appear beneath their feet as though they were floating atop the water.

Barken started pulling me. “Diego, let’s go!”

And as my head was turned towards him, I heard the air slice beside me. Swoosh! A mauve crystal the size of our heads flew passed us and bore into a tree. It sliced clean through, its back end sticking out. I looked back at the creatures and noticed one of them had their arm up. It appeared that the hole that was its hand was a makeshift cannon, its projectiles being these sharp crystals.

“Are you ok-” I turned to find Barken walking towards the crystal. He was right, we needed to get out of here. I could hear a humming sound. As I moved towards him, he stopped abruptly.

I heard him yell, “Move!” The humming became a screeching sound. Barken yanked me towards him and away from the crystal which started to vibrate and shine wildly within the tree’s trunk. As we ran, I heard a shriek and the sound of shattering bark. We looked above us and the tree that had been pierced began to tip, curve, then fall atop the forest. A crash was heard.

“Gods!” I exclaimed. “What the hell are those things?”

We had little time to process when the creatures started advancing our way. Their feet ripped the earth asunder as though they’re bodies were metallic, gliding speedily toward us. We dodged trees and bushes trying to run away, yet these beings simply crashed passed them effortlessly.

“Ahh!” Barken’s scream coincided with two other crystals slicing through the air. Close calls as they shot passed us and into the trunks of other trees.

“This way!” I pulled him to the side, trying to anticipate where the trees would fall. I could hear them falling and rocking the forest floor around us.

Barken yelled, “What do they want?! Why are they doing this?!”

“We might’ve unknowingly invaded their territory,” I said, breathing heavily. “Maybe it was the creatures we ate. Who knows, we need to keep moving west and find a way out of here.”

The two of us struggled to get through the brush, terrain we weren’t used to. These creatures were relentless and wouldn’t stop giving chase. We found an opening without trees and bush surrounding us, a large clearing with soil terrain. It turned out to be a dead-end as we ran ourselves to the front of a boulder taller than any trees in this forest.

I yelled, “Dammit! This is the direction we're supposed to go!”

Barken looked around. “We just need to find a way around it and-”

Swoosh!

A crystal jammed itself inside the boulder. Barken and I watched as the creatures closed their distance on us.

“We’re trapped,” Barken panicked.

If you can’t run, you have to fight. I pulled out my daggers, let the power within me rise. The creature was ready to blast at us again. I charged forward, hearing the crystal lodged in the boulder shatter. The creature shot at me, and I dodged its attack, using a tree to hurriedly climb on. I bounced off it forcefully and aimed my blades at one of the sea creatures’ heads. It struck, yet my blades bounced off the enemy’s skin and I landed in the bush.

“Argh!”

Their skin was like metal. I rolled and recovered onto the forest floor, hearing the creature approach me. I privately thanked Gage for improving my speed and balance.

“Why do you attack us?!” I heard Barken say. The creatures seemed not to hear him. Or were ignoring him.. I tried to find him, only to have the enemy quickly catch up to me, it’s blaster at the ready.

It was too quick.

As it shot at me, I felt myself being suddenly pushed to the ground.

“Barken-”

“AHHHH!”

We both landed on the forest floor. Barken was on top of me, and I watched the crystal having lodged itself in another tree. Amidst this, the feeling of liquid was spilling on my chest. It was the color of crimson.

“Ida! Barken, are you hurt?!”

Stupid question. The crystal sliced through the skin of his back. The wound was deep and I could hear him groan. The creatures gave us no time as they advanced toward us. I tried to lift Barken up, though I could tell his injury was searing and hurt him immensely.

“It’s okay, I got you.” And as I got us to our feet, the creatures were already on top of us.

“Diego,” Barken struggled to speak. “The crystal, by the tree, take us near it.”

“What are you saying?! We’ll be killed!”

“Don’t worry, I have a plan.”

I tried my best to pull him there. The metallic beings sliced through the trees, us two barely able to get away. Their destructiveness was wide-reaching and the forest was becoming hardly recognizable from before. When we approached the crystal, it began to hum.

“Barken, it’s going to explode!”

Barken moaned, looking exhausted. “Diego, listen carefully: They’re like a sharp blade. Simply touching it will cut through skin. Hit it gently, and I can heal you.”

“Are you crazy?!”

“Please, trust me. We don’t have a lot of options!” What the hell was on his mind? Why was he asking me to harm myself?

We moved toward the crystal and I could see it shake. I couldn’t believe what he was asking me.

“AHHHH!” Barken screamed and let go of his grip on me. I saw a crystal shoot passed into the forest floor. It cut at his leg and brought him to the ground. They weren’t stopping. “DIEGO, JUST LEAVE ME AND HURRY!!”

The crystal lodged in the tree rattled and seemed ready to explode. I feared what it might do to me. I shoved my hand into it.

“ARGH!”

The pain was unimaginable. Blood dripped from my hand and spilled down my arm. I could feel my entire arm burning within me.

“Come to me!”

I did as I was told, right as the creatures were ready to come down on him. When I reached him, he grabbed ahold of me, and a beam of light began to envelop him. The creatures were ready to blast us at point-blank range, and the crystals around us were moments away from shattering.

“BARKEN!!!!”

The crystals shattered, and everything took on a mauve color amidst Barken’s light. The normal sound of crystals slicing through the air didn’t come this time. Instead, it was a roar, the same awful sound we heard when the water was lifting itself into the air. I couldn’t see a thing except for Barken’s eyes, having taken on a marigold color, and the overwhelming shine of mauve all around us. I could hear trees crashing, the ground beneath us shaking, and that agonizing roar that seemed to last for minutes. As he held onto me, I held onto him tighter, praying to Ida we’d make it out of this.

Then, the sounds faded to quiet. Barken’s eyes returned to normal, and his shine started to fade along with the all-encompassing color of the mauve crystals. He breathed heavy and smiled weakly at me, tears coming down in his eyes.

“So much for...not wanting to kill, huh?” Then, his eyes started to close and he fell into me.

“Barken!” I held on to him and felt his chest. His heart was still beating, he only needed sleep. I looked around us and saw large shards of the mauve crystals scattered onto the scorched forest floor. There were craters on the ground and the trees were down around us. The bush was incinerated. The only remnants of the sea creatures were the large crystals on their bodies, also shattered and spread onto the ground with their bodies seemingly disintegrated into thin air by the blasts.

I looked at my hand. Barken healed me, and it was all making sense. His healing barrier reflected their attacks, causing the chain reaction I saw before us. But when I looked at his body, his state hadn’t changed and his back and legs were still bleeding.

“Oh no…” I should’ve known better. It was a blessing and a curse for clairsentients everywhere: They could heal the ones around them, but they couldn’t heal themselves. If he continued to bleed like this...

I hoisted him on my back and looked around. We left our bag of herbs and flowers Sapphire packed for us on the bank near the pond, and there was no going back. I had to make due and searched for materials around us.

“Come on, come on. You can get through this, Barken, Please hang in there.” Droplets of his blood spilled onto me, enhancing my anxiety. Fortunately, my search wasn’t for naught. “Found some…”

My arrogance disallowed me from paying heed to Sapphire’s teachings of healing with the use of herbs and flowers. It all seemed like nonsense, especially when I always had Barken to restore me to health. They didn’t serve a purpose in my eyes, though Barken always attested to their healing qualities. I managed to find some aloe vera, yarrow, pepper vine, pine sap, whatever might be useful. We weren’t too far from the desert fields, allowing me to slice open a cactus and use pieces to cover his deep wounds. The bleeding had finally stopped. I saw why Sapphire and Barken believed so much in their power.

He was knocked out and didn’t appear to be waking anytime soon. I hoisted him on my back and started traveling. We weren’t safe here. Finally finding an opening at the far edge of the boulder that halted our movement, I was able to travel further west. Any sign of rushing water had me constantly changing course. I couldn’t face those sea creatures again. Admittedly, I was out of my league without Barken aiding me. The forest began to irritate my skin, climbing up my legs and onto my arms and shoulders that pushed the bush away from my face. It seemed endless, and the night was approaching.

I was tempted to rest. I didn’t know how long I could go on foot. As I trod on with the number of trees starting to lessen, the bush less thick, and the sky starting to appear above me, it seemed as though I reached the forest’s edge. The moon was full and lightened the scenery. We eventually found ourselves back into the desert, but there was hope. In the distance, there were large structures before me, its windows illuminating. It was nothing like I’d seen before, though it appeared teeming with life. Maybe there was a place Barken and I could rest. I boldly trudged forward, my sights set on one of the larger structures of the settlement.

Within it, I would notice neku casually moving about. Was nowhere teeming with these disgusting creatures? To my surprise, hardly any wore armor or carried weaponry. They blended with the setting, moved about wherever without concern. Were they in search of something? They didn’t appear to be forcing their way into anyone’s homes, and they met no resistance from my brethren. Shockingly, the descendants and neku moved about with one another, indifferent to their presence. Where the hell were we?!

I didn’t let my guard down. I hid in the shadows avoiding the neku that moved about in every corner. The buildings were wide, thick structures that stood as tall as the trees in the canopy, and even higher than that. But my focus was still on the structure I’d seen in the distance...the one with the name Elementalist Hotel. Hopefully ally area.

As I neared it, I’d seen a group of neku come out of a building acting strangely. There was laughter, stumbling, clumsiness, yelling. It was behavior I’d hardly seen of these creatures. In fact, they strangely mimicked the behaviors of a descendant in crisis, moving wildly about and being out of one’s mind. I wonder if neku went into crisis as we do. But if they were in a broken state, why were they so giddy?

I waited for the laughing buffoons to pass before finding my way to the entrance of the Elementalist Hotel, where a tall staircase with living and breathing plants decorated the rails, growing and moving without an elementalist in sight. It was like being in Sapphire’s cottage, teeming with life. Water fell from the rails onto the stairs, spilling out onto the streets and disappearing into nowhere. I placed my feet onto the steps. And even with Barken on my back, I didn’t have an urge to slip. The water posed no danger, even as it washed across my feet. The itching and aching of my legs had vanished.

I climbed up the stairwell and was met with a seemingly transparent gate the shade of fuchsia. It swung slowly open for me without me having to touch it. Inside, everything seemed to light up. The walls and ceiling had that same fuchsia coloring, appearing transparent and looking like endless mirrors. I jumped at my own reflection staring back at me. This place was too strange.

Not a soul was in sight as I traversed the interior. Before long the path became narrower and to our sides was rushing rivers of water, clear and reflective of the pink hues. I thirsted for it but didn’t know what to make of it all. I couldn’t trust what I was seeing as real or safe.

Then, the interior took on a cobalt blue tint, like we were in the interior of the ocean. The light reflected off the water, and you could see it bouncing across the walls that took on a more solid tone, not as transparent as it had been at the entrance. And at the end of the path, I would see a young descendant woman of umber skin seated at a desk facing me.

“Welcome to the Elementalist Hotel!”

She had on a wide smile as I approached. I was still in awe and nearly ignored her. My eyes scanned the surroundings and approached cautiously.

“Hello,” I said, finally approaching the counter. “Miss, I need your help. My other is badly hurt. Can you help him?”

Her smile faded as she lifted herself from the desk. “Oh my! Please, let’s enter the office here.” She opened a door behind the desk and motioned me inside as she walked in. I moved around the desk cautiously, trying to peer inside. The door led into a hallway with a different tone from the rest of the hotel, with ordinary pale yellow walls and lights. She opened a door on the left side of the hall and mouthed the words, “In here.” I stepped towards the door by the desk, which seemingly widened spontaneously as though trying to accommodate my size and Barken’s. I passed through the walls and looked into the doorway the young descendant led me into. There were a couch and makeshift bed, tea that was seemingly brewing itself. This young woman must’ve been an elementalist.

“Please, put him on the bed.” I did as I was told, my poor Barken still unconscious from our horrific ordeal. The young Elementalist looked at his injuries and a pained expression was on her face. She grabbed a wooden bucket and dunked it into the rushing water that seemed to exist throughout the building.

“He shouldn’t need much. Our water is a healing tonic.” I remember how the water on the stairwells healed me of the wounds on my legs and feet. I trusted she knew what she was doing.

She felt the cacti bandages on his wounds and attempted to take them off.

“Don’t-”

“It’s okay,” she assured me. Removing them showed the wounds on his leg and back, still deep and seemingly painful. “Were you the one who treated him when he was first harmed?”

I shook my head. “I was.”

She had a stilted laugh. “You must know an elementalist. Using ancient, traditional medicines like this, you didn’t learn this from just anyone.” She put her hands in the wooden pale, cupping them and bringing water out, pouring it onto his wounds.

I heard a low groan. “Ahh…”

“What’s happening? Why is he making that sound? Are you hurting him?!” My hands trembled, ready to grab at my weapons.

I nearly lifted myself from the seat when she put her hand up to me, “No, just wait…”

My heart was racing, looking hard at Barken. If I didn’t know any better, it looked like his wounds appeared less irritated and painful, even closing to some degree. His breathing was becoming normal, and I was seeing his body come alive, stretching itself out.

“Barken?”

He looked right at me with half-closed eyes. “Diego, where are we?”

My breathing slowed, looking into his face. I was able to calm myself and moved towards him, felt his head and kissed it. I turned and remembered the young elementalist beside me.

“I’m sorry I questioned you. Thank you. You may have saved his life.”

She smiled. “Of course! We here at the Elementalist Hotel try to be as accommodating as possible to our guests!”

She sounded almost robotic as she spoke to me. Maybe it was the descendant way, to look out for each other like this without a second thought.

“What is going on here?!”

I turned behind me and saw a towering, descendant woman look angrily at us. Her midnight black hair was wrapped in a multi-layer bun above her head, held together with golden bands. She wore a fine dress of unspeakable complexity, black with twinkling stars as though she plucked it from the night sky. I couldn’t help but stare at its majesticness, spilling across the floor like a puddle. It lived, even with a slow-moving shooting star flying across. The dress moved naturally with the movement of her body.

The young elementalist lifted herself from her seat. “Amelia,” the tall, imposing woman spoke, “why aren’t you upfront attending to customers? And who are these men?!”

“I’m sorry, Madam Callista,” said the young woman named Amelia, bowing. “You see, one of these men were injured and I-”

“Brought them into our offices?! You know better than this, this is completely outrageous!”

Amelia had no retort and bowed again. She said, “I’m sorry, Madam Callista. It won’t happen again.”

“Let’s make sure of that. And who are you two?!”

Callista seemed to pay no mind to Barken’s injured state. I looked over her, noticing how her height strangely matched that of a neku’s.

“I came for help to heal my other. We...we traveled here from afar, a long distance from this place.”

Callista eyed Barken, her eyes locked on his injuries. They were narrowed, frowning. “And how was he hurt? Any injury like that comes from fighting, and you seem unharmed yourself. Were you two out looking for danger? I don’t want you bringing trouble here.”

Amelia said, “Madam Callista, they-”

“Didn’t I tell you to watch the desk?”

Amelia opened her mouth, but held her tongue and returned upright, moving passed the towering woman. Callista moved forward into the room, her tall frame blocking the door. It was beginning to feel as though we were being cornered and I became acutely aware of my heightened defenses.

“Well?” she said. “You didn’t answer my question.” I didn’t trust the situation and wished I had a way out. Barken was hurt, and I couldn’t very well have us outdoors with neku infesting this place.

I nodded. “I wouldn’t call it a fight, more of an attack on us that we were fortunate to get out of alive... My other saved us and healed me to perfect health.” I looked down on Barken who had his eyes on me. He looked drained of energy, didn’t even have the strength to speak for himself. When I watched Callista, I noticed her eyelids were low, looking down as though meditating over something. There was black makeup covering her eyes and curving out to her temples, her skin that almost seemed violet as opposed to mauve, an abnormal skin tone for our people. No descendant looked like this. None. Racing thoughts came to mind, and I had the unsettling feeling I was talking to an enemy.

“I’m seeing the way you look at me,” Callista said suddenly. My breathing stopped. “No, you two certainly aren’t from around here, and judging by your guardedness, you must be fugitives.” She turned from me and walked towards the door. She looked ready to shut it.

“Hold on!” I said. Her hand held the knob, though she didn’t turn around. “How would you know that?! What concern is that of yours?”

“You don’t need to be alarmed. Besides, where else could you go when you know nothing of this place you found yourself in?” Dammit! This lady knew too much without me saying anything of substance. We were in a bad position, powerless. Callista shut the door and walked towards me, finding a seat nearby. She crossed her legs, and I couldn’t help but watch the stars on her dress.

She was smiling. “Positively magnificent, isn’t it?” Her bragging and smiling were odd and seemingly unprovoked. She seemed to show some form of trust towards us without any reason to. “I imagine you’ll need somewhere to stay while this one rests?”

I slowly nodded. “It would help us greatly.”

“Lucky for you, you’ve come to the perfect place. We always have open rooms here. How many nights do you plan on staying and how do you plan on paying for them?”

“Open rooms? Payment?”

“Yes. These rooms for our guests to rest in are not free of charge. Are you saying you have nothing to give me?” I was silent. Had we been in Orion or Tygrus, I’d find a beast to kill and bring it to the woman. But here, we had nothing. What could I find in a place I knew nothing about?

She chuckled. “Well, I couldn’t very well put you onto the streets. Let’s make a deal: You work for me while you’re here, securing this place of any undesirables that come around starting tomorrow first thing in the morning. In addition…” She was eyeing Barken behind me with interest. “Your partner can offer me his clairsentient abilities.”

“What would you need with his abilities?” I asked.

She smiled, leaning towards me. “I seek to...find out something for myself, and your other may be the only one who can do that for me. Is this a deal? Or do you plan on bearing it outdoors?”

Damn this woman! What protection was she expecting, and why from me? I didn’t want her using Barken for anything, especially in his state. I looked back at him, trying to gauge his thoughts, wondering if he was aware of what this was about. I felt bad for making a decision without his input, but our options were limited. If anything seems funny, I needed to get us out of here. For now, we had no choice.

“Alright, you have yourself a deal.”