OtH 1.02 - Rosetta Stone is for Wimps

Couldn't get to sleep, so I decided to write instead. One interesting thing I do, and I don't know it anyone else does this, is set myself into imaginary situations when I am trying to fall asleep. It used to be I would explore forest, walk by the beach, that kind of thing in my head while I was trying to get to sleep. Nowadays, i.e. for quite a few years now I set myself into locations in my books, or even play out parts of the chapters I intend to write. 

That was happening tonight. The contents of the chapter after this one, which still hasn't been written, was what was going through my head.

Aarick followed the man in yellow through the hallway and into another. After leaving his initial hallway, the individual rooms had doors. A series of other hallways followed, and he occasionally say other men and women. Each of them was dressed in the same style of robes, a deep yellow with grey trim, and all of them were at least six inches shorter than he was. Some of them were colors he was not expecting, with shades of pink, green, and orange seen just among the limited amount he had seen.

Not sure what is up with the different colors. I’m guessing the yellow and grey robe is important, though. Some kind of uniform, I guess?

The hallways were paved with polished stone. The stone was a deep brown with streaks of emerald green. Plush rugs in many colors broke up the stone, soft underfoot. Intricate geometric designs were woven into the cloth. An occasional tapestry hung on the walls, stylized scenes of different idyllic scenes were the main feature.

The one he was passing now was of a man meditating in a green garden, faint threads of light seemed to be emanating off the man.

Is that supposed to be some kind of energy, or is it something like holiness?

Art was never his strong point. The only thing that he could tell about the tapestry is that the art style felt unfamiliar. It felt a little Asian, though but also strangely curved with exaggerated angles, plus it didn’t have the ultra pale skin of a lot of Chinese art.

The tendency toward strong angles and exaggerated curves was present in other art, too. He had passed sculptures and vases with flowers that bore that pattern, already. Even the wood and paper shutters covering the windows had similar designs. None of the windows were open at the moment.

Eventually, Aarick followed the man into a large office.

The room was large, but he was struck most by the person inside it.

Behind a large wooden desk sat a woman. She too, wore the omnipresent yellow robes, though hers bore a green border, and were of a more individual cut. For all that the style of her robes emphasized her figure, that was not what drew my attention. Her skin was… gray, for lack of a better word. That word failed to capture the intensity of her vitality. She was like living stone, smooth and perfect. Her nose was long from top to bottom, combining with her delicate brows to frame her eyes. And her eyes, looked like they were almost all pupil. On a closer look, hecould tell that she actually had enormous irises, each a blue so dark it was almost black. Her hair reminded himof metal, something between spun copper and beaten gold. It was kept contained around her head, almost providing a halo.

Beyond all her appearance, both alien and familiar, hecould feel a presence. She drew hiseyes toward her. Aarickcould barely notice the rest of room, only noting the large covered window behind her, and the scripts the were glowing around the edges of the frame.

Wait, what?

That pulled his attention away for a moment. On the outside of the windows edge, before the shutters, was characters and lines glowing with a pale white light. He looked at it more closely, leaning forward, but he couldn’t make out anything that he recognized.

Some kind of magic?

A cough interrupted his staring, and he jolted.

The man he had followed into the room was long gone, and he was alone with the woman. She was smiling in bemusement, looking at him like a pet that had done something cute and unexpected.

“Ah, sorry…” He said, before trailing off.

Right, she won’t understand me.

The woman stood up from behind the desk, and he was struck by how short she was. Everyone he had seen here was shorter than him, but her presence made her feel like she ought to tower over him. She wasn’t the shortest person he had seen so far, at a little less than a foot shorter. Still, she was not stout by any means, her body was willowy and graceful. She seemed to float as she took each step, gliding through the world rather than doing anything so mundane as merely walking.

Once she made her way around the desk she opened a door in one of the walls and beckoned for him to follow, which he did.

She led him into a short hallway, which had a door at the far end and a few doors along the length. After they passed two doors, they took one of the doors on the left.

The room they entered was already occupied, a man sat on a chair, out of the way of the elaborate diagram carved into the floor. It glowed faintly with the same light Aarick had seen around the window.

The man stood up and bowed as we entered, though it was obvious he was not bowing toward Aarick.

“Taravec na Lurona. Hakenta shie en suraskis parosa?” he said.

He couldn’t tell what he said, but it was obvious there was a question mixed in. The woman answered him in, he presumed, the same language. Giving a short and clear answer.

The man came over and gently dragged him into the circle. In the middle was a clear space and the man directed him to sit through pantomime. He obliged, even if he was a little worried. Still, if they wanted to kill him they had more than ample opportunity. He just wished he knew what the hell this was for. He could vaguely remember a flash of seeing another, much larger diagram when he first fell between… whatever it was.

Here to hoping this one isn’t so fucking painful.

For now, he watched the man as he fiddled with the diagram. Small clear stones were added in various places, each one causing the light to intensify.

I would be much more eager to see magic performed if I wasn’t the target.

Despite his uneasiness, he stayed where he was. He couldn’t really go anywhere on his own, and the gray woman definitely gave the impression of someone not to be crossed.

Finally the man was done, and bowing, he took a small green rectangle with golden edges from the woman. Then the man joined him in the circle.

Aarick didn’t see anything to signal the change, but the light started to glow more intensely. The man reached out and touched his forehead with the rectangle.

The world lost focus for a moment, and time stopped mattering. Before he could form another thought the circle had gone dark, the man had stepped away, and rectangle had broken into fragments. Also, his head now hurt like it was being pounded on an anvil.

He reached up to cradle his head, even as the man bowed to the woman again.

“Agent Lurona, it is finished.” he said.

I whipped my head around to stare at him, and immediately regretted it when my head swam with pain and tears popped into my eyes.

Gah! Fuck that hurts.

The woman, Lurona, turned towards him and spoke.

“I am sure you have questions, for the moment stay silent. Doctor, give him something to help with the pain.”

“Yes, Agent, it would be my honor to serve,” the doctor said.

He turned towards him and pulled out a small vial of clear fluid from somewhere he didn’t see.

“Drink this, sir.” he said, his voice neutral.

Aarick drank it down eagerly, the pain more than sufficient inducement. A moment later the pain was swept away like it had never arrived. He heaved a great sigh of relief.

“Ah, um, thank you Doctor,” He said.

He smiled at me with a perfunctory grace that spoke of practiced, but not enthusiastic, bedside manner.

Before he had a chance to reply, Lurona spoke again.

“You are dismissed Doctor.”

He bowed and left the room, not wasting a moment.

Lurona looked himover critically, her gaze sharp.

“Well, I am glad that seems to have worked out reasonably well.” She said, her voice crisp. “No doubt there will still be many gaps left in just your linguistic knowledge. Not to mention all the practical everyday knowledge you will need to be taught.”

In a mutter Aarick almost didn’t catch, he heard her mutter an addition.

“At least he arrived clean, so I won’t have to teach him how to bathe.”

His skin pinked a little bit, as her could feel a faint blush in his cheeks.

“Ah, and he has sharp ears.” She said, while arching one of her eyebrows. “Of course, to gain any real advantage of that you don’t want to let on that you heard anything. I recommend working to control that blush.”

She sighed.

“Follow me,” she said, even as she strode out of the room, her feet making no sound on the stone below.

He followed.

It wasn’t a long journey, merely taking them down the hall to another room on the opposite side.

This room was spacious, with a large covered window letting light into the room through the translucent paper. Several couches and chairs, each overstuffed, were scattered about the room. A small nook in one corner had a small table between three chairs, another section had a couple of couches facing each other. Other comfortable arrangements were arranged almost haphazardly.

Compared the almost perfectionhe had seen throughout the building so far, it was a striking contrast. It also made the room even more appealing. There was art in this room, too, but it seemed less polished. He would have bet these pieces had more sentimental value, rather than being valued for their pure artistry.

She led him over towards two comfortable looking chairs, each almostfacing the other. Between the two chairs was a delicate wooden table, set with a steaming pot of tea. A delicate note of some flowery scent blossomed into the air.

She sat down in one of the chairs and he followed suit by sitting in the other chair.

“I know you are not from around here,” Her voice said wryly. “However, in the future you should only sit when given permission if the other person is superior to you. Or if you are in their home, even if they have already sat down. In this case, it is both.”

He bolted upright out of the chair. It took a moment, he had already started to sink into it, and it was absurdly comfortable. It was coated in some kind of ultra soft leather, with thick padding beneath.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t know.” He said, trying not to stutter.

“Yes, I know,” she said. “You may sit.”

He sat.

“I am sure all of this is truly overwhelming,” She said. “However, it is my job to learn about and deal with any unusual events. You,” She paused. “certainly count. I have already deal with the cause of your arrival.”

She must have seen him about to ask a question, because she interrupted him.

“Yes, yes, I will tell you about all of that later. You should be aware that many will not appreciate you interrupting them to ask questions, no matter how well intentioned. This is especially true with anyone who is superior to you.”

He held his tongue.

“As I said,” She fixed him with a slight glare, “we will get to the many questions I am sure you have soon enough. Good job on restraining yourself. However, for the moment, I need you to tell me everything that happened to you. Start with leaving your former location.”

Haltingly Aarick explained what had happened.