Dust fell down from the ceiling as a rickety wooden staircase slowly descended downwards, revealing what they would soon know to be the top floor of the tower. After she finished her burst of laughter, Mana tapped three of the pedestals in order and this activated the staircase.
“How the hell did you figure this out, I still have no idea,” Kenar commented.
“It’s a puzzle that you can really only solve consistently if you’re from our own world. It’s a reference to a song that’s very iconic in my time.” Her smile faded and a more serious look appeared on her face. “Although this probably means that whoever made this tower is not only someone from my old world, but also someone from around the same time I lived. The song was only a few decades old when I was there and iconic as it was, I doubt it would be a commonly remembered song another hundred or so years later, so I am thinking this person might be from a very similar time as me. Considering this person has been here for seemingly over a hundred years already, that worries me since I don’t know what that says about time.” She sighed. “But let’s worry about that later, for all we know there are more dangers awaiting us.”
She stepped up the rickety staircase and ascended it to the next floor.
Despite their trepidation, it seemed like they had made it past the traps and were now in what was likely the wizard’s room or office. It had a setup like an office, where there was a large curved desk in the center back of the room, facing the door. A leather chair stood behind it, empty but worn out through years of use. There wasn’t much in the way of other furniture, but a few objects stood on the table. One of them was a strange looking box that Cobal had never seen before. In one of the corners was a small pile of clothes while in another were some neatly stacked books. A thick layer of dust covered all of it but when Cobal looked at it closely he saw some footprints through the dust. Although the footprints did have some dust on them as well, they were much more recent than most of the layer of dust in here, probably within a couple of weeks compared to many years.
Mana took the lead in this room, seemingly not able to stop herself from knowing there might be someone from her world that was here. The idea excited Cobal as well, Mana had been such a wellspring of wisdom and friendship over the past year and a half that it excited him that there might be other people from her world here. But he was also worried what sort of people they might be and he hadn’t forgotten what this person did to Kenar and the other ghost pirates, deserved or undeserved. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to happen while they walked around the room, so they all focused their attention on the desk. “What do you think this box is?” Eliana asked.
“It looks like a computer setup, but obviously it isn’t one,” Mana said.
“A computer?”
“One of the most bizarre things my people invented. But to cut a long story short, it’s a very smart machine that allows you to do a number of things, including look up information, communicate with people far away and play games. The box is a monitor, the screen you would see the information on. At least, it is modeled after one, but I think this is mostly a cardboard screen. Next to it is a keyboard, the way you would input the numbers and letters into the computer. Mana absentmindedly moved her finger along the keys, but they didn’t seem to move. “It’s all just made to look like the original, but it tells me everything I need to know about this person.” She trailed off towards the end of the sentence, spotting something. “A note? What does this word mean?”
Metocari. Cobal read it over a few times but just like Eliana and Mana, the word had no meaning to him. “I’ve never heard it before. It was on the flag outside too. I figured it might be something from your world.”
“Perhaps. If it is, it’s not something I’m familiar with.” She took her hand to the keyboard, towards the M key.
Click. It seemed to push in just a little bit.
Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.
The final click was a little bit louder than the others and after a few moments of quiet, something appeared on the screen. At least that’s how it seemed at first, but it was ever so slightly in front of the screen, hovering above the keyboard itself. And on this screen, a face appeared.
“It has been many long years since my master and I left that spell in my tower and it seems my patience is finally rewarded.” The man smiled a wide smile. “Welcome to my old home, Mana the hero.”
Cobal looked at the screen, unsure what was happening. He’d never seen anything like this before. Was this magic of some sort? How was this person here while also not here? He had so many questions.
Mana sat in the chair that was behind the desk and smiled back at the screen. “I’m not sure I appreciate being reminded of video calls for work, but hearing the clicking of a keyboard was almost pleasant. What may I call you?”
The man’s smile grew even wider, which freaked Cobal out a bit, as if this person was impossible to read. His green eyes were piercing and angry and didn’t match the smiling face at all. Despite being from the same world as Mana, he looked quite different. Tanned skin, a muscular build and a big scar running across his face.
“Although it is not the name I was given, you may call me Abu, for that is who I am to my people.”
“Nice to meet you Abu, it seems you already know my name and – if you can see them from where you are – these are Cobal and Eliana.”
“I can, and it is a pleasure to meet the both of you, Prince Cobal and Captain Tidescreecher.”
“You know a lot,” Eliana remarked.
“I’ve been around for a long time. Besides, did you really think you could camp out next to my home for weeks and not ring any alarm bells?” He chuckled. “I spoke with a friend of yours not long ago, an elven fellow named Mirgia. He’s a real figure of importance here after what he did.”
“What? Mirgia is there? Where is he now?”
Abu shrugged, “I think he left already, I’m sure he’ll contact you if it’s important enough.” He crossed his arms. “But enough platitudes, I’d love to hear why you came to my tower and what I can do for you.”
“That’s rather helpful out of nowhere,” Cobal commented.
“I am a helpful person after all. Besides, it’s not every day someone solves my riddles.”
Mana smiled. “The 21st night of December.”
“A wonderful tune, although a bit old by the time of my departure from your world.”
“That is probably the most burning question I have. Where and when are you from? And of course it would be rude for me to not share the same information about myself. I am from Western Europe in the late 2020s.”
“I’m from Egypt, early 2030s.” His smile faded. “Not too far removed, yet so distant at the same time.”
“It is interesting to know there’s someone similar to me in this world though.”
“Similar, yes.” He smiled again.
“I have a million questions for you.”
“I’d like to stop you there. The runic magic that runs this communication is limited and since my master is the one who set it up, I can only operate it for a short time before it ends. I would gladly answer any big questions you have in person, but keep things short and concise for now.”
Mana nodded. “Understood, let me cut to the chase. My first question is, how can we get the pirate crew that you cursed when they tried to rob your tower to be freed from their mortal shackles, so that we can get the villagers of Ravadier back who they possessed.”
Abu thought for a few moments. “They were caught up in an unfortunate experiment that I was running at the time. There is a censer in the attic above you. If they touch this, their souls will be forcefully dissipated and they will pass on to the next life, wherever that may be. It shouldn’t hurt the villagers that are possessed by them. It’s a relic from the church of Owlana, and quite a powerful one. She’s not happy that I have it, but we can’t make everyone happy in life, now can we?”
“Another question then, if we’re pressed for time.”
“Shoot.”
“Where are you now, exactly?”
“I am in the capital city of the Severanti Empire.”
“That’s north of here, right?”
“Most things are, since my tower is at the southern tip of the continent.” He chuckled.
“That’s right, makes sense. I’m still learning the topography of this world, I’ve only been here for a year and a bit. Which brings me to my next question, how long have you been here?”
“About two hundred years.”
This shocked Mana. “You don’t look like you’ve been here two hundred years.”
“Time is interesting for people like us. But that is another conversation I would like to have in person and not over a video call. I can’t know who’s listening in on this after all.” His attention was drawn by something off to the side. A voice spoke to Abu and Abu nodded. Cobal tried really hard to listen in on what was being said, but he could only hear a few words. The words he did hear were interesting though.
The emperor.
Sorda’Thun requests an audience.
The sudden visitors.
Abu waved the person away and returned his attention to the screen. “Sorry about the interruption, my people need my help shortly, which means I need to cut this conversation short. You are free to use the censer to help your people about, I never meant for innocent villagers to get caught up in this trouble after all. But please do put it back and do not touch any of my other treasures I have stored there. You owe me a small favor for this, but you will owe me quite a bit more if you mess with my belongings.” His friendly smile faded and for a second he looked terrifying, before he went back to a neutral face. “I look forward to meeting you in person, we have much to talk about when we do, after all.”
“Thank you for your help with this problem, Abu. I will visit at my earliest convenience for a chat, but I will warn you that it might take some time.”
“That’s quite alright, I look forward to having you as my guest.” The screen flickered.
“It seems the runic magic is running out, so I must go.”
“One last question, if I may,” Cobal interrupted.
“Prince Cobal. Make it a quick one.”
“Runic magic, do you have any connection to the Jasmine Order?”
Abu’s eyes narrowed. “I do not. Well, not in the way you’re asking at least. The person who trained me in runic magic is the same person who trained one of their members in this magic, but that is where the connection ends. It’s another thing we can discuss when you visit.”
The screen flickered again.
“I wish you a good day and hope to see you soon. Goodbye.”
Opal Kaharis 