(Mark Nicholson)
"There it is! Why the fools gotta have pointy ears, Mark?"
The words of entrapment sprung to life off of the tongue of Bonner. His gaze shifted to meet my own with his smug smile presenting itself onto his face. I couldn't help myself from smiling as the elven bastard attempted to weaponize my own words against me. I scoffed at his attempt, then began formulating my own response.
"Dafuq kind of question is that, Bonner?", I spat harshly towards the male.
My eyebrow raised, challenging the intentions of the male from the start. Allowing Bonner any leeway in a clash of minds will undoubtedly result in an unpleasant outcome for me. I couldn't help by command my fingers of my dominant hand to trace the length of my goatee. Measuring it with each second taken before they ultimately rested upon the stray hairs of my bushy mustache.
"They're elves. Damn near everyone we have met up to this point has been an elf or a human. Mostly elves, hence the pointy ears.", I added.
My words seemed to strike a chord with the man. In typical Bonner fashion, he seemed to just shrug it off at first, but I could tell by his lack of an immediate response that my words might have gotten to him a bit. It seemed that I had emerged victorious on this encounter. Rightfully so, if you were to ask me.
"How about you calm down your racist tirade against the elves instead, bud?", Bonner says, breaking his silence.
"How am I going on a tirade against the elves?", I questioned him sternly.
Our struggle for verbal supremacy was soon interrupted by the sudden outburst from Claire. Frankly, I kind of forgot that the elven woman was there at the moment, opting to prove my mental superiority over Bonner instead of further pressing her for answers. Her word choices were rather strange to be honest.
"That language."
Our language…
Just what did she mean by that? From my knowledge, Bonner and I were speaking the exact same language that we were before with no change. When I looked at Claire, she wore this intrigued, yet confused expression upon her pale face. It was quite the fascinating thing to see.
Her finger pointed directly towards me indicating that she had selected me to confront on the matter. I was just as confused as she was, and looking towards Q, it appeared he didn't notice a difference in our language either.
"Huh? What language?", the male says, confronting Claire.
When Q spoke up Claire's expression quickly shifted and she appeared more confused than before. Her gaze sharpened as if she was sizing us up and crudely analyzing us. I began doing the same, reflecting back upon the encounters with the other elves that we've encountered prior.
Now that I think about it, Vanya and her merry band did not seem to house that same expression that Claire presented just then. That was genuine shock and subsequent confusion painting her face similar to that of a person seeing or in this case hearing something completely outlandish.
"That language that you two conversed in…what was it?", Claire asks immediately after.
My brow naturally found itself wrinkled at her question. Damn. Somehow I feel that we might have made a critical error in this situation. My eyes shifted to Q and then onto Bonner, gauging their expressions to see how to proceed forward. I only know one language really.
One that I specialize in really. English is the language that I can wield in formal and informal conversation, but I did know some Spanish and Japanese words and phrases. I wasn't utilizing either of that now, but my thoughts soon aligned.
I pointed to her back further, throwing the woman into confusion at my gesture.
"Foxish?"
My words were more of a question than a direct answer, but I did so to test whether or not Foxish is an actual language in this world. Based on her annoyed expression, Foxish was not an actual thing.
"Foxelnese? Kitsuneic?"
"None of those are real, so do not continue to lie to me.", Claire says, scolding me for my obvious attempt to deceive her.
"It is English.", Bonner conceded.
Claire kind of frowned towards me before giving the speaking elven male the attention that she gave me. She was now more interested in hearing about the language that Bonner informed her of the existence of. I suppose lying wouldn't be such a smart thing to do within the situation anyway. If we are to gather information on our situation, then the proper thing will be to be honest.
"English?", She repeated before moving to the counter of the bar.
Stepping behind it, Claire would take little time to use it as a prop to lean against. She gazed at us, giving me the sense that she wanted to know more about it.
"It is our mother tongue. The language that we grew up on. Extremely common in our homeland.", I start off.
I could tell by the way that she was looking at me that she was skeptical of my words, but I can't really blame her.
"Mark and Bonner here likely got too excited and unknowingly began speaking in it. Seeing that you aren't from our…homeland, then it makes sense that you didn't know it.", Q added promptly.
"Ah- I suppose that makes sense. It is just that I have never heard such a language before. It reminded me of something… from a while ago.", Claire responds.
I couldn't help my eyes from narrowing onto the smaller elven woman when she uttered that. Thoughts of what could have happened to her during her past clouded my mind, but I knew that this isn't the proper moment to dig into such things. That is right, my verbal collision with Bonner had revealed us to the real thing.
A future issue if we were careless like we were a few minutes ago. Although I had just learned that my verbal language could swap on a dime depending on who I am talking to, so that is quick the thing that needed to be addressed. Though I did wonder about one thing.
"Claire."
My words brought the attention of the woman standing behind the counter to land squarely on me. We managed to lock eyes briefly before I would continue to speak. Although doing this may give up more information about us and further debunk our stories thus far, I believe that it was a necessary sacrifice.
"What language are we currently speaking in?"
Thinking back to the fork in the road upon our route to arrive at Astana, I remember seeing the foreign words translate themselves right before our eyes. Perhaps the three of us didn't notice since we did nothing, but converse amongst ourselves to that point.
The fact remains that I failed to see the bigger picture in this regard, and frankly I am a bit ashamed about that. I found myself clenching my fist and raising it right above my waist, which no doubt brought about a confused expression from those around me.
"Tenumi Common", She says plainly.
Tenumi Common…A language that also did not exist within the realm of Infinity Unleashed. It has been several centuries by my estimation with the information that I have now, so it isn't uncommon for something as fluid and versatile as language to change and adapt with the times.I believe that we managed to find ourselves in a place where much of my knowledge of this world's lore is relatively obsolete.
"Judging by your faces, it appears that you three have not heard of it until now."
Claire would be correct in her judgment, so there was no point in even trying to deny it at that point.
"I believe that we all have much more to discuss with each other once again. There is quite a bit that we are not telling each other.", Claire added.
"You require our strength for righting the wrong going on within Astana's back channel. I am going out on the limb, and considering that we met Mordred, then I suppose your desires have some merit."
I would step towards the woman's location before turning to face my two comrades as they soaked in the conversation. My turn was a reason for them to voice their two cents on the matter.
"Well I personally don't got anything against it really.", Q says first.
"It does seem like a hassle to deal with. Very well. Count me in.", Bonner added as well.
I turned to face Claire once again, and stroked my luscious goatee.
"There you have it. We confirm that going forward today, you can rely on us as an ally as long as you stand by your word from earlier. Aid us in obtaining knowledge of magic and knowledge of this world. Do those things and we will stand by your side as your stren-"
As I spoke, a sudden shift transpired on the back wall of the building. My eyes widened in response as a huge opening became clear for the room to see. A secret passage in this building had been revealed to us.