"Embarrassingly, I'm lost."
Amran eyed him with amusement. "I'll take you to your dormitory."
"You don't need to bother-
"Please. I'm doing this of my own volition. You're not in any position to deny me that, unless you'd want to walk ten steps away from me, do you?" Amran's green eyes scanned him when she finished speaking.
"No, Lady Amran."
The power dynamic between the two was clear from the start. The strong(?) Otherworlder could afford to control his speech, guide his decisions and influence him whereas he, a weak Earthling, could only pull on the leverage of his meager connections.
Tragic.
…
As it turned out, Amran was keen on displaying their unbalanced power dynamic. In one step of hers, she walked at his jogging pace, and that was only her usual walking speed. As they climbed down the narrow alleys and circumnavigated the architectural nightmare of this quarter, Amran tilted her head to face him every time he lagged behind her, mocking, "Not tired yet, are you?"
David recovered his breath with haste and flashed her a smile, "No, not really, Lady Amran, I'm only appreciating Gomorrah."
"Good."
'How can she walk that quickly with those togas?' David sneered, his eyes rolling to one side.
He caught up to her, and soon enough, the bustle of the main boulevards of Gomorrah greeted the two.
Amran halted her steps and turned her body sideways to face him. First gauging his fatigue through his facial expressions, a futile endeavor if David had to say so himself. Then when she saw no hint of tiredness within his obvious body language, she said, "It's up to you now."
"Be my guide, Earthling."
"Gladly."
David scrolled through his sigil to access Gomorrah's map, and a pin in the shape of a mattress on the northern side of the tower provided him his destination.
"There," David pointed one of his fingers at the approximate direction of his living facilities and resumed pacing. Amran slowed down her pace to match his, a strange decision on her part and an embarrassment to the unfit David.
It didn't take too long for the latter, however, to quicken his steps. Looking around, fixed stares landed on the two of them. They weren't just momentary stares either, David noticed onlookers fixing them a street away.
Perhaps he should correct himself. They weren't fixing him, but the lady behind him. Not that it mattered, but Amran was quite the attractive lady. Seemingly in her 30s, broad shoulders and somewhat prominent muscles bulged out of her togas and gave her an air of vigor and youth. Though, the peeps held on for too long, either enamored by the lady's beauty or another variable he did not know of.
Either way, he accelerated, a change Amran gladly took him upon, and let his mind drift off to its usual contemplations.
"Lady Amran, may I ask a somewhat informal question?"
"You may ask what you wish. Whether you receive an answer or not, however, is more paramount, "Again with her vaguely menacing language…
"Pretentious," David coughed and continued, "How old are you, Lady Amran?"
"63." For all of her earlier reluctance, her answer was rather direct and quick.
David could have gasped in shock, but instead remained silent.
"Do Otherworlders-…Megiddans age slower?" That was the more appropriate and mature way to answer.
"Nothing exclusive to the Megiddans. As you evolve, you'll also look younger and live younger."
Amran raised her eyebrows and added, "If you think I'm old for my looks, you should see the old fogeys from the Pentalogy…"
There was another terminology he did not know of. Instead, David compared what he knew. The old wizard, Sahul, seemed to be powerful. Yet he was a pile of bones.
'How old should be? Hundred-fifty years? Two hundred? Three centuries?' And Earthlings considered a hundred years of age to be the ultimate age…
"Halt."
Amran pointed in front of them. A tall ivory tower scraped the…sky was not the right word. Anyways, it was tall and constructed of pristine white bricks.
"Check your map. This is one of the residential facilities."
David assented, and checked his map to verify if it was indeed true. "It's here."
"It's decided then. I'll meet you tomorrow at sunrise."
Without engaging in pleasantries, they each parted ways, David inwards and Amran outwards. Not wasting any second, he paced inside and searched for his room.
The layout of the tower was simple, consisting of symmetrical corridors and labeled doors on either side of the passages. "3 – 12"
This was his room.
There was no keyhole on the wooden door. Fortunately, David had a brain and tried holding up his sigil to the door.
With a click, the door opened and he went inside. Austere decorations, a simple bathroom, and a bed. More than enough. More than enough.
At least they were generous enough to provide hygienic supplies and clothing. It would be a hassle to hoard forty-nine days' worth of supplies otherwise.
Hot water dripped down his nude body. David crouched down on the marble bench. The water was too hot and turned his skin red. Burning pain traveled through his nerves. The pain never lessened, nor did it get worse. It would not go away, David thought. However, at the very least, the pain told him he was not dreaming. Unfortunately, he was not a human, not yet.
"One is not born a human; one becomes a human."
Thanks, father.
David shut off his senses and the dripping showerhead. He found his eyelids to be heavy, as they fought back against his eager attempts to remain awake. Going with the flow was not a philosophy his late father maintained, but mental fatigue had kicked in.
Hastily, he dressed up and dropped down on the large mattress.
'Comfortable indeed.'
There were two wooden crates by the bedside that looked out of place. David tried to stand up to prod at them, but his tired being retreated into consciousness long before then.
…
Waking up, David stretched his body and the curtains concealing the windows. Gomorrah was still dark and empty. It was not the time for his meeting yet.
Leaving the tower, he reconciled to exploring Gomorrah before he'd meet with Amran. Even now, he wasn't interested in the louder and more…debaucherous locations. As if fate was within his favor, a large signboard read 'Gomorrah's Upside-Down Library' in front of his tower.
Rows and rows of books and documents, along with the musky smell of paper, greeted him when he entered the library. A single librarian fidgeted a book in her head, seemingly in a bored stupor.
On the tables of the library, David saw someone he did not expect.
The old wizard, Sahul. The man buried himself in a scroll and periodically scribbled notes on a yellowed-out notebook near his side.
David would not have expected this much sobriety from the old man he saw burying himself in liquor earlier, but this was maybe a lesson not to judge people too early.
"Sir Sahul, Good morning."
A glint of annoyance passed through the old wizard's eyes for a flash before his wrinkles displayed the best smile they could, "Oh, good morning, boy…"
"David."
"What brings you here? This old man rarely sees Earthlings within this sacred place."
"Frankly, I just wanted somewhere quiet to rest in."
Sahul flashed him a smile and nodded, "Good choice. I've been responsible for the book collection here for the past five years, and I can attest to the quality of our documents. It'd do good for this old man if you gave anything a read, alright?"
David waved his hands and acquiesced, "I'd like to know more about Megiddo…maybe the women of Kasdim, first."
Sahul's smile disappeared. "What do you need to know, boy?"
"My sponsor led me to this woman. How do I say this? She's not very…pleasant. I want to understand why I'd possibly require her help, Sir Sahul."
The old wizard slowly took off his reading glasses and cleared his throat.
"Back in the day, I used to teach at a school of the Pentalogy, the Sultan Institute. One of my students was Malam bin Tamluk, now one of the rising mages of our world."
"Oh…he was a star student, a youngster who humbled the wise and old."
A sober Sahul was surprisingly interesting to listen to. David nodded periodically to affirm he was listening.
Sahul smiled and continued, "In one of his theses, he explained the importance of the women of Kasdim."
"The women of Kasdim have long been the child-bearers of Megiddo. Of course, in women, they bore children, but that is not all. For the women of Kasdim bore ideas in the philosopher, symphonies in the musician, truth from the future, and talent within warriors and mages."
Sahul made a dramatic pause, and concluded, "And that was why their loss was so devastating."
'Fewer answers and more questions to ask.'
"What do you m-
"Boy, the calamity from forty years ago shook our world. What was once the prominent empire of women is nowadays a scattered diaspora known only for their rebellion against the Guild. You are lucky to be trained by such a woman but cursed at the same time. This old man would advise you to be careful, word has already spread of an Earthling mingling with Lady Amran of Kasdim, and the Guild and its associates will be less than happy to deal with you if you continue."
David rubbed his glabella. So that was why they kept receiving stares earlier!
'Why had she been so eager to accompany me, then?' Several conjectures formed inside his brain.
In the face of the most logical conclusion, David flashed a bitter smile.
Amran was a smart woman. By displaying her association with him, she tried to discourage him from following through with her training. Seeing that he would be ostracized if he affiliated himself with her, she thought he would give up.
David snickered. If there was anyone who could bear solitude and exclusion, it was David Bergstein. His mother made sure to teach him that with words, and resort to other means when words failed. He grimaced.
"Not all is lost, boy. Play your cards right. You have a sponsor who's by default associated with the Guild. Maintain ambivalent relationships with Amran and your Sponsor, keeping fragile neutrality that may save you from the greatest calamity of all, Megiddan politics."
"Thank you, Sir Sahul. You've been of great help to this Earthling."
"No problem. This old man would even be glad to teach you some magic if you'd come and converse some other time. At my age, not many come to keep company to this old man…hehe…"