Beth quickly looked around, confused as the older girl fell backwards on her bottom, her face full of relief. Beth knew that she hadn't generated the barrier. If nothing else, her pride wouldn't have allowed it. Yet, someone had.
Then as Beth glanced at the youngest, she felt the same sensation as she had when she'd made contact with the barrier. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she suddenly realized that the nine year-old girl could use magic. Beth wasn't sure if there were any rules about it or if she and her friends were just abnormally strong with their magic, just that the girl had potential herself with her magic.
"What're you looking at her for!?" the oldest girl snapped at Beth. "She didn't have anything to do with that. I lost fair and square!"
Beth couldn't help but feel like she knew about the younger girl's magical ability, but wanted to keep it hidden. She couldn't say what it was about, but she had a feeling she should keep her mouth shut on the matter. At least for now.
Maybe if she encountered the younger girl by herself she could talk to her about her magic, but at the moment she was sure it would be a mistake. She couldn't say what the problem was. Just that there clearly was one. It might have to do with the culture of this world or it could have to do with something else that was completely unrelated to any of the possibilities that Beth had been considering.
Yet, when Beth turned back to Embris and Cinder, wanting to get back to their house after they'd finished collecting the water, Beth was surprised to see both of them staring at Beth with awe written all over their faces. At first Beth wasn't sure what it was about, but then a moment later realization hit her and she knew she was going to regret having used her magic to avoid the pain. It might not have really been that big of a deal to her, but apparently to Embris and Cinder it was. Even though they both knew that Beth had magic of her own.
–I've figured it out!– Amelia shouted in Beth's mind with her magic, startling her.
Beth glanced at Embris and Cinder and saw that Amelia hadn't spoken to them, so she sighed and looked in the direction they were pulling the handcart. Whatever Amelia had 'figured out' certainly had her excited, or she'd have waited for Beth to return before going on about it. At the very least, it was a welcome distraction to what had just occurred.
–What'd you figure out?– Beth asked her.
–I'll explain when you get back.– Amelia replied, sounding rather distracted.
Beth shook her head in amusement. Whatever she'd come to a conclusion about clearly wasn't especially important, otherwise she'd have been all over the chance to go on about it when asked. However, it was also important enough to her to have announced it in the first place with her magic.
What was Amelia so worked up about? Beth could only imagine at the moment.
_
Hesha watched Embris, her brother and that strange girl leave. She couldn't believe she almost gave herself away like that. Not only that, but she hoped her sister didn't notice, otherwise she'd probably tell their mother and then Hesha would really be in trouble.
She turned and ran to catch up with her sister as her sister and her friends left. Hesha wasn't didn't really feel like her sister's friends like her, but they tolerated her for her sister's sake. Though, Hesha was determined to get them to find her worthy of being part of their group, even if she had to do whatever they told her to do, whenever they told her to do it.
She didn't like it, but her mother had said that doing things you don't like to do can help you build your resentment that you can unleash on the battlefield. Which was where Hesha was determined to be someday, when she was older. After all, her hair was the color of warriors.
As Hesha caught up to her sister, her sister glanced at her with a small smile. "Why'd you do it?" her sister asked quietly.
Hesha looked at the ground as they walked. She knew exactly what her sister meant and that her sister had noticed. "I- I don't know," she admitted. "It just- just came out."
It wasn't like she had any real control over it.
She felt a hand rustle her hair and looked back at her sister. No matter what, her older sister had always looked out for her, even when their mother would get drunk and go on her rages.
"Don't say anything about it to mother and I'll pretend I didn't see anything," her sister said, bringing out a smile from Hesha. "But, don't do it again. I can't be sure, but I think that boyish girl noticed as well. If you do it again, I'll have to tell mother about this time too."
Hesha felt the smile on her face fade away. It wasn't like she tried to do it. The magic just came on its own. Besides, she couldn't understand why her mother forbade her from trying to work with it, not that she knew the first thing about even trying to control the magic. It wasn't like the church forbade using magic. Just that they weren't to rely on it in place of the Lady.
Yet, her mother had expressly forbidden her from even touching her wild magic in the slightest bit. Almost like she herself was scared of Hesha having any kind of magic. Was there something her mother just hadn't told her of why she didn't want Hesha to use magic?
She wished she knew. Maybe it would make it easier to deal with and not touch her magic, even when she was desperate to keep her sister from being hurt by that new girl. She sighed as she walked towards their house.
Normally her sister was working with the smith at her shop, but today the smith had left to get more supplies, so she hadn't had any work. Which meant that Hesha was able to spend more time with her, but with what happened, Hesha wasn't sure what she should do anymore.
She wanted to become a soldier like her mother had been, but no one in the village was willing to teach her how to fight, yet she felt like that's what her mother wanted her to do, even though her mother didn't do much more than drink most of the time.
As they reached the house, It was a decent sized house, just two rooms, but more than most of the other houses in the village. Even though her mother had lost an arm when she was a soldier before Hesha was even born, she seemed to have done well enough to have afforded this house. Either that or she'd been better with building things when she still had her other arm.
Like most of the houses, they had a garden, though Hesha's older brothers tended that, just like boys were supposed to do. It allowed them to grow some food, though they still had to buy some in order to not go hungry. Hesha wished there was another way, even though she couldn't think of one.
As they walked through the door, Hesha couldn't help but wonder, again, just how long it took her mother to build the house. Not only was it one of the biggest in the village, but there was a space under the floor where the entire family hid things from time to time. Mostly their mother hid her liquor there, but Hesha knew her older sister had hidden a sword there. Then her father and brothers had hidden a few keepsakes there, but that hardly took up any room down there or really interested her. What Hesha found most interesting about it was how she could still fit under there, while everyone else in her family were already too big.
As they walked over to where their bed was, Hesha could see their mother sitting at the table. She tried not to pay attention to her mother's drinking, but she couldn't help it when their mother spoke to them.
Then there was the fact that with each step she took, it felt like all her energy was fading away like spilled water drying. She didn't understand why she was so tired all of a sudden, just that she would be happy to get to the bed and lay on the straw for a nap.
"Hey, Inshet, why aren't you at the smithy?" their mother asked Hesha's sister.
"I told you yesterday, My master needed to go get more supplies. She's going to be gone all day," Hesha's older sister said. "I told you this yesterday."
Their mother hiccupped. "Don't tell me that! I would have remembered if you told me that," she snapped. Hesha could never understand why their mother never slurred her words when she got drunk. So many other people did, but their mother's language was always clear when she spoke, although her temper would always get worse the more she drank.
Inshet sighed. It was often this way. Whenever they told their mother something, it was always a toss up if she'd remember it. Even if she was sober, rare as that was. Then if she was reminded of it, then it was always that she hadn't been told and she'd remember if she had.
It always made Hesha a little depressed.
"Hesha, what're you looking away for?" her mother apparently had decided to turn her attention on Hesha.
"Sorry mother," Hesha replied, looking at her mother, not wanting her mother's attention when she was drinking like this. Even though she hadn't been looking away per se, if her mother decided she was, then denying it would only get her angry.
"You better be," her mother mumbled before she took another swig of whatever shew as drinking. If it wasn't for Inshet's work, they probably wouldn't have any money for what they needed, although, sometimes that wasn't enough when their mother needed more to drink.
Hesha turned to head towards the bed she shared with her brothers and sister to take a nap, but stopped when her mother raged at her some more. Apparently she wasn't done with her youngest daughter yet.
"There you go looking away again! What're you-" her mother started to say but then stopped, her eyes going wide. "Oh, I see. You used your wild magic again, didn't you?!"
Hesha winced involuntarily. She knew what was coming. Any effort to resist would just make it worse. Just like if she showed any tears, it would just add fuel to the fire.
"I've told you before! Don't act weak and use that wild magic! Only boys use magic because they're weak!" Hesha's mother roared, throwing the bottle in her hand at her, which glanced off the side of her head before it smashed against the wall, leaving a mess that Hesha knew her mother would expect either one of Hesha's brothers or father to clean up. "Real women use their own strength! Not something that shows just how weak you are!"
What she couldn't understand was why she felt her heart pounding at what had just happened, yet she otherwise felt calm. Almost numb. She couldn't decided if it was because she'd stopped caring what her mother did to her, if she was more tired than she realized, or if there was something else altogether. She felt like she should know, but if she did, it was eluding her like a morning fog before the sun burned it away.
While her thoughts didn't seem to want to work properly, she didn't say anything, she only put her hand to the side of her head where she felt a lump growing. She knew from past experience that if she even asked 'why' that her mother would get even angrier and might even hit her a time or two. Although, those were on times when her mother was extremely drunk and even more enraged than she was now.
What Hesha found more ironic was the fact that out of everyone in their family, only Hesha seemed to have any aptitude for any kind of magic, and she couldn't even control it most of the time when it manifested itself and no one would explain anything to her about it, other than that it was 'wild magic.' Not even why it would manifest itself when she wasn't even trying.
She suspected no one else in the village knew, except maybe her mother and if her mother knew anything, she certainly wasn't saying anything about it, not even on the rare times when she was completely sober.
Even though she was sure that her mother wasn't going to do anything more, so long as she didn't provoke her, Hesha was grateful to her sister when she stepped between Hesha and their mother. Even though her sister often would yell at Hesha sometimes, even when she hadn't done anything to warrant such treatment, if anyone dared attack her, even their mother, Hesha knew her sister would step up to protect her. One reason Hesha wanted to be more like her sister.
"Do that again and we'll see who's weak around here," her sister informed their mother.
Their mother merely chuckled, wiping her mouth with her hand, not that it did anything to remove what Hesha could see in her beard. "If you're gonna hide behind your sister, then you're always gonna be weak," her mother told Hesha, completely ignoring Inshet's challenge.
Hesha didn't say anything or even look at her sister. At that moment, she wanted to disappear. If she could, she would leave the house, but it wasn't like she had anywhere to go. While the house might be one of the biggest in the town, it wasn't like they were one of the more popular people in town. If she left, she'd probably need to go to a city in order to even beg for enough money to just eat.
While she might be able to get a job, very few people were willing to hire anyone as young as her. Especially without any background information for them to go on. Maybe her sister would be able to get her a job at the smithy she was apprenticed at, but Hesha was sure that wouldn't work out. Even if she tried to join a mercenary company, they probably wouldn't care to have someone as young as she was.
In the end, she concluded as she laid on the bed of straw, she was stuck here for at least the time being. Maybe something would change, maybe not. All she was sure of at the moment was the fact that she wasn't going to be able to get out of this situation any time soon.
_
"This better be worth it," Beth said as she returned to their camp after having gotten the water back to Cinder's and Embris' house. "I'm missing some important sleep now."
"Like it'd make a difference for you," Tim replied. "You'd look the same no matter how much sleep you get."
"Don't start on that, Tim," Hannah chimed in. "You wouldn't understand."
"Maybe, but I'm sure it's still true," he retorted.
"Uh, whether its true or not, I can become a big pain in your ass if I get short after the next time I don't get enough sleep," Beth offered sweetly. "We can see how much you like that then if you'd really like me to."
"Now that might actually be a good horror," Ralph remarked. "Just gotta throw in the chase scenes, the unnecessary nudity, and especially the blood and gore."
"Yeah, I'll pass on that," Amelia said, as she entered the camp. Then as she stretched, she continued. "Though, I'm sure we can get on with our search soon, now that we've all learned the language here, so we should be able to get going soon."
"Well, what was it that you wanted to talk with us about?" Wes asked, sitting up from slouching against the tree trunk.
"I was thinking that we could discuss other things first," Amelia suggested. "What I have to talk about can wait a little longer."
"Yeah, spill it," Hannah replied. "If we talk about other things you're probably thinking of, then you prolly won't remember what you called us here for in the first place. So, let's get that over with so we can call it good."
"You're no fun," Amelia replied with a playful pout, as if she really was unhappy about the tide going against her.
"Yeah, we're well aware," Beth remarked. "So, just tell us what you had realized that you wanted to say so we can get on with our day."
Amelia shook her head, looking more amused than anything else. "Alright, fine," she said, then took a deep breath. "First, we all have noticed that pretty much social norms between our world and theirs is switched. Where the guys not only wear dresses and take care of the little children, but the girls also increase in muscle mass and bone density when they enter puberty. They also grow some facial hair, but not the boys.
"The age for them to enter puberty seems to be the same as our world, and like in our world, girls seem to typically be more interested in guys older than them, even if its just a little bit older. Then there's how the girls are also the fighters and a lot more competitive than any of the girls in our world are. Oh, and not to mention the breadwinners for the most part."
"Yeah, is this a review or will you get to the point?" Ralph asked, sounding rather bored. "I thought you'd have gotten to what you called us her for by now."
Amelia sighed. Not looking surprised, which Beth wasn't either. It was Ralph's typical behavior. "Look, I'll get to it when I get to it. Some of this yu might not even know. So, just shut up for now, alright?" Amelia asked, though her tone sounded a little more forceful than Beth usually heard from Amelia.
She much really be tired, Beth thought to herself, feeling a little surprised at that fact.
"Fine," Ralph replied, sounding like he was giving in to torture.
Beth shook her head. Ralph certainly was giving his all with this performance.
"Anyway," Amelia continued, sounding like she was doing her best to put Ralph's behavior out of her mind. "Girls seem to still grow breasts, just without the breast tissue. It's only a fatty deposit. Not sure why, just that's how it is. While boys will develop breast tissue, but not the fatty deposit, which means theirs are hardly noticeable, but some girls also aren't very noticeable either."
"Weird," Hannah remarked.
"Yeah, well, I got the sense that there's a difference between estrogen and testosterone that the people of this world develop. I'm not really sure exactly what the differences are, but I'm going to refer to those hormones as estrogen B and testosterone B, while from our world it's estrogen A and testosterone A."
"Why note the hormones those from our world like that?" Wes asked.
"Well, I have to differentiate them somehow," Amelia answered. "If I mark one as A or B, then there has to be another. If there isn't, then it just gets left as it is without an A or B. Just as if there's more than one, I can't leave one without an additional designation. Otherwise it'll get rather confusing."
Beth looked at Amelia closely. Her response seemed to be a little confusing, though she was able to figure out what she'd said after thinking about it for a moment, but usually Amelia was a lot clearer in the way she phrased things.
Is she even more tired than I thought? Beth wondered.
"So, what else is there?" Wes asked. "I mean, it can't be just that, right?"
"Well, there is one last thing, but I wasn't sure if I should say it," Amelia answered after a moment, her face turning red. Beth's interest perked up at seeing that. Amelia didn't usually get ambarrassed over subjects like this.
Everyone waited, but Amelia didn't seem to be willing to say any more at the moment. Almost like she'd frozen in embarrassment.
"Spit it out already," Tim complained.
Amelia merely sighed and shoo her head. "Alright, fine," she said, her blush deepening. "The last thing is that the foreskin of the boys and men is what marks a virgin."
Beth was a little confused at that, but didn't feel like saying anything. She was sure one of the others would do that soon enough. Which meant she could just sit back and not worry about dealing with it herself.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ralph complained.
Amelia sighed, looking like she'd rather disappear at the moment. "Well, it's that in this world, a girl's hymen is more durable, but a boy's foreskin isn't," Amelia continued, but her blush started to fade and Beth suspected she found a way to explain it in her usual, clinical manner. "Essentially, it's like the foreskin will tear off during the first time they engage in the act of reproduction. However, for a girl, the hymen merely moves with the motions. Although, the hymen can be surgically removed, which essentially is this world's version of a circumcision."
Beth had to admit, that wasn't something she would have expected. Not only was it more detail than she really cared to know, but it also was a little more off the wall than what she had expected as well. As she glanced at her friends, she could tell that they were reeling from this news as well.
However, Beth didn't care enough to stay out for that long. She instead moved her way into her tent with the intention of taking a nap. Maybe this information would haunt her in her dreams, but right now she didn't care. She was just wanting to escape this world by going to the world of dreams.
Although, as she drifted off, she realized Beth hadn't mentioned any of the religion they'd seen in the village. It always seemed to revolve around something that Beth thought might be similar to Christianity, but she couldn't be sure. She wasn't really sure if she wanted to know more about it than she did currently.
Her last thoughts about it were of what Embris and Cinder talking about it earlier that day on their way to get the water. It was more of a friendly discussion rather than debate or argument. Maybe she'd learn more about it whether she wanted to or not, but she suspected Amelia hadn't said anything because she didn't care enough to ask around for more detail about it. Not that Beth would. She figured she'd probably learn more about it down the road whether she wanted to or not.