Three months had passed, as far as Emily could tell, since she'd arrived and essentially been taken in by the people who lived in an almost hidden community outside the city. She'd finally started making headway in being able to communicate with the people. She'd gotten them to understand her name was Emily, though she was still having trouble learning their names. Partly because she was having a hard time understanding them and partly because she couldn't always tell where the name started and where it ended.
The days almost had started blending together, though Emily couldn't be sure when exactly it was that she'd started keeping track of the days. She was pretty sure that it was about a week after she'd been here, but it could easily have been a few weeks. She couldn't really remember, which is why she could only be pretty sure that it had been three months, almost four, since she'd arrived and essentially joined this small community.
Occasionally a new person would show up, though most of them looked rather ragged, but in the last week, someone who didn't look so ragged showed up. She had dark blue hair, bright pink eyes, and deeply tanned skin. She was quiet, looked like she was around seventeen, although Emily still thought of her as just a girl, and didn't seem to say much, though she at first looked like she was ready to run when Emily used her magic to create a net to catch some fish. However, after seeing her do that a few times, she calmed down a lot. Although, now occasionally she would look at Emily in odd manner. Whenever she did that, Emily got a weird feeling that she couldn't quite place. The girl also didn't say much, at least that Emily had heard, but her voice was a bit deep, more of a tenor in Emily's mind.
The few names that she'd been able to pick up were: Eddra, Vaelis, and Kaelys. Eddra was skin that was a black that made her think of charcoal, her hair was black and incredibly curly, and her eyes were a bright blue turquoise, and was the one who seemed to be in charge, although Emily had a feeling she was merely there to settle disputes that everyone else respected. Vaelis was a boy that looked to be about three and Emily had a suspicion was Eddra's son, even though she didn't have any evidence to that fact, aside from the fact that his features were almost identical to Eddra's, only his eyes were more of a green turquoise. Kaelys was a girl that had bright blue hair with aqua blue eyes and skin was a rich brown, and she looked to be around five and had essentially either adopted Eddra and Vaelis as her family or was a very good friend of Vaelis and Eddra was willing to take care of her.
Those three were also the ones that Emily spent the most time with. Because of that, she was able to understand them the best. Despite Vaelis being too young to talk properly. As in abbreviating words that didn't make sense when they were abbreviated. Yet, she didn't have as much trouble understanding him as she did some of the other teens around there.
Another thing that struck her as odd was that Eddra was one of the oldest people there. While she wouldn't be all that surprised if maybe a disease came through and killed all the people over a certain age or something, but she seriously doubted that something like that would have occurred. It almost felt like it was a camp of some kind where the people were thrown in as children or something and left to survive as best as they could. Yet, she felt there was more to it that she just couldn't put her finger on.
Something told her that the girl who had appeared recently was part of whatever was going on with this place, but Emily did her best to not dwell on it. She was working on learning the language so she could communicate others when she decided to leave this place.
She wasn't sure what the rest of the world was like, but she was certain that she first needed to know the language. Otherwise no matter what, she wouldn't be able to trust anyone, since she wouldn't know what a person was saying. Kind of like what she'd seen on a few movies where subtitles were used.
She wasn't sure if anything like that would occur to her when she left, but she didn't want to let the chance of that occur. Especially with what happened when she'd first gotten to this world.
She hoped that she'd be able to figure out why she and the rest of her team had been attacked like that and what it was about. She suspected that the culture of this world was going to turn out much different from the culture she was used to. Likely in more ways than one.
Earlier that morning, when she was bringing in the first catch of fish that day, she had been close to a bridge that crossed the river and headed into the forest of giant trees across the river. When she was bringing in the first few fish, she noticed that what looked like a caravan of sorts was leaving.
One of the carts had a cage, with iron bars, over the back. It didn't seem that strange to Emily, given how antiquated the technology of this world seemed to be, but what caught her eye was the fact that she saw Rick in the back. While she couldn't see clearly, especially with him sitting down, she suspected he didn't have any clothing on.
As she watched him disappear into the distance, she couldn't help but feel her stomach turn at seeing Rick like that. She didn't know what it was about, but she had a bad feeling about what happened to the others in their team. She couldn't say if he was being sent to a prison or something else. The iron bars definitely said it wasn't as a guest of honor or anything.
Yet, even though she knew that she should save him, she couldn't help but feel that it was a lost cause at the moment. Not only did she not know where he was going, but she didn't have any means to catch up to him if she did try. She could only assume at the moment that the others of their team were still in the city and she should at least try to help them if she even got in a position to try. Maybe she could search for Rick down the road, but she couldn't help but feel like she should put her energy to something she could achieve at the moment. Such as seeing what she could find out about the others first. If she could find a safe way to enter the city without a repeat of her previous 'visit' to the city.
The only real problem was her mastery of the language. While she knew that it would come with time, the longer she waited, the farther she felt Rick getting. Plus, she wasn't sure how she'd be able to break it to Eddra. Maybe Eddra and the children she was looking after would be willing to accompany her, but maybe not. Emily just knew that she didn't want to leave without letting Eddra know.
Emily spent the day talking with the people of the encampment, primarily to work on her language skills, as well as maybe to pick up more words, despite the conversations being rather dull. She couldn't say why, but these people didn't seem to have much of an imagination when it came to conversation.
"You're really not from around here, are you?" the newest girl asked Emily when she was walking towards the river in the late afternoon to catch some more fish for everyone.
"Not really," Emily replied, not sure where this girl was going with her question.
"At first I just thought you were putting on an act," she remarked. "But now you're either really committed or you're better than I thought."
Emily merely rolled her eyes. She wasn't going to deal with this girl if she was going to disregard Emily's answer to her question.
"Yet, no one who's come to this place had magic before, so where'd you learn it from?" the girl asked, startling Emily with the fact that she was following her. Even though the girl hadn't been there long, she hadn't done this before.
"So what?" Emily asked after a minute of walking further up the river. "There's a first time for everything, right?"
"Ah, there's another piece that just doesn't fit," the girl commented, like she was working on solving a difficult puzzle.
"There's what?" Emily asked, confident she was going to regret asking, but unable to keep herself from opening her mouth at the moment. Maybe it was just how little there was to do here, but she couldn't help but feel rather bored.
"You said something that's not anything anyone around here would say," the girl answered after another minute or two, letting Emily know that she could listen if she really wanted to.
"You know, you could start off by telling me your name," Emily remarked, as she moved to the riverbank, determining that to be a good spot to catch fish.
"Huh? I haven't?" the girl asked, sounding like she had forgotten.
Emily didn't care enough to say anything more, but she had a suspicion that the girl knew that she hadn't revealed her name. Part of that suspicion was with how the girl had mentioned a few minutes ago about that Emily really was from somewhere else or that she was better than the girl had thought. If she was telling the truth with that, then that meant that she was probably capable of being a good actress herself.
Emily shook her head as she muttered the words she always used when she summoned her net for fishing. When she was done, she cast the net in the water before turning to the girl. "Nope, you haven't," she said before returning to gaze to the river, as she started pulling it in, hoping for at least one fish in it.
The girl sighed, looking like she was thinking. Then after looking around, as if she was afraid someone else might hear, she whispered to Emily, "My name's Emphris. Please don't tell anyone. There's someone in the city that they say the Duchess that lives there has an assassin who has the same name." The girl paused, looking like she was debating whether to say more or not for a minute. "When I tell others my name, they tend to react like I'm that assassin."
Emily nodded. She couldn't say if that story was true or not, but it certainly sounded plausible. Although, it wasn't like she could verify that story. If it was true, then merely asking about the name 'Emphris' could lead others as to guessing where Emily heard the name from and treat Emphris in exactly the way that she said she was afraid of other reacting.
"That certainly sucks," Emily remarked as she pulled the net out of the water, a branch or root inside the net, but no fish. So, she cast it out over the water again. "What can you tell me about this city? I mean, as you've figured out, I'm not from around here."
Emphris nodded. "Well, it's ruled by Duchess Versith, who is said to also run the underworld in the city too, but no one knows for sure. Some even say that she isn't sure herself," Emphris replied.
Emily nodded as she began pulling the net in again and waited for Emphris to continue. When she was quiet for a few minutes, Emily was sure she wasn't going to say more without prompting. "Well, can you tell me what the primary items for trade in the city are?" Emily asked. "I mean, while that's good to know about Duchess Versith, that doesn't mean that's all there is to know about the city.
Emphris sighed. "Well, slaves are one of the common commodities in this city," she said. "There's a few specialties in the city that you can't find anywhere else, but those tend to be priced more for nobles rather than people like us." Emphris paused and as Emily pulled the net out, happy to have caught three fish in it, she glanced at Emphris who looked like she was just looking rather thoughtful. "Though, occasionally some can find small pieces of Aluthium ore will show up. That always causes a stir, and unless you can get it before anyone else is aware of it, it tends to be sold out faster than bread in a famine."
"What's 'Aluthium?" Emily asked as she killed the fish with a nearby rock.
"Seriously?" Emphris asked. "It's the rarest metal. It's as strong as iron, but perfectly clear. Only expert smiths can work with it and even then they often have difficulty. Even if they're used to working with it."
Emily nodded again. "Well, where I come from, not one's heard of that metal," she said, looking out over the water, debating if she should try to catch more fish here or not.
"It's not easily found," Emphris remarked. "Some only find they have some in their area by accident."
"Well, what's the nearest city to this one then?" Emily asked as she cast her net out one more time. If there wasn't anything that she could work with in this city as far as finding a way to earn a living, aside from catching fish like this, then she might as well go somewhere else.
"The nearest city? You're really not from around here," Emphris remarked. "Otherwise you'd know this is the only city that matters in this area."
Emily sighed. She didn't care if she caught more fish this time, but she thought she should at least see what comes out of it.
"I don't care which city matters or not," she replied. "I was just wanting to know what the nearest city was. Whether it's an important city or not."
"Alright, the nearest city is on the other side of the city and is called Ohbids," Emphris said, sounding rather bored.
"And what's on the other side of the forest?" Emily asked.
"The rest of the queendom," Emphris replied casually.
Queendom? Emily asked silently, feeling a twinge of uneasiness beginning to form in her chest. Shouldn't it be 'kingdom?'
"What countries border the queendom?" Emily asked instead. "I mean, this can't be the only country on this world, right?"
Emphris looked at Emily oddly. "You make it sound like you're not from this world. Like you're from…" Emphris trailed off, as she was clearly searching for a word. "…from another world itself. Like you're not from Telekario."
Emily shrugged as she started pulling her net back in. "Take what you will from it," she merely remarked. "I stand by what I said."
Emphris merely shook her head. "Well, I can't say I know much outside the queendom, but you might be able to find out if you ask the right person, maybe a merchant or something, you can learn what you're wanting to know," Emphris said, starting to sound like she was done talking with Emily.
Emily was happy to have pulled up a couple more fish when the net finally returned to the surface. "No matter," she said as she pulled the fish out, one at a time to kill them so they could be used for dinner. "Just thought I'd ask."
"By the way, where'd you learn to use magic?" Emphris asked, clearly trying to make it sound casual, but her tone made Emily know this was something she really wanted to know.
"Yeah, I can tell you his name, but that's not going to mean much," Emily replied as she started cleaning her fish, using her magic to cut the fish open so she could remove what she needed to. "But he's helped guide me in what direction to take my magical studies. If he hadn't shown me about my magic, I can't say what I'd have done in my life. I'd probably still be in school now rather than here."
"You make it sound like you're happy with being here," Emphris remarked. "Almost like you don't mind not being around the wealth the family you come from had."
Emily sighed. Yeah, maybe she could be termed to have 'wealth,' but at the same time, she still went to public school. It didn't require that much money to attend.
"Let's just say that my academic studies have nothing to do with my magical studies," Emily replied as she continued pulling her fish net back up.
"Well, if it doesn't matter, then tell me the name of who taught you to use your magic?" she asked.
"Heathcliff Roberts," Emily answered. "He's the one who unsealed my magic and helped me learn how to shape it."
"'Unsealed?'" Emphris echoed, sounding somewhere between shocked and confused. "Why was it sealed in the first place?"
Emily shrugged. "You'd have to ask the one who put the seal on it," she answered calmly. "It was a generational seal."
Emphris didn't say anything, though when Emily glanced at where she'd last seen Emphris, she saw the girl watching Emily, looking like she was trying to decide something, not that Emily could tell what that something might be.
She wasn't sure what to make of it, but she wasn't going to push the matter. She was happy with the fish she'd caught, though she wished she had something else to go with the fish. Even if it was something simple, like lemon juice or some vegetables.