Saving Mimi : Rise of the All-Mother Scions

Something Happened

3rd POV

Where once a home had stood, the stone hearth and chimney remained in a frame, the crestfallen home fell inward and the roof had been blown off harshly by wind, all the trees had fallen, rocks buried by the dead trees, a fence post or two decayed and nearly rotten stood in what had been a fence, when had this been a home? What had happened here? He had walked there from where he had been, his silent foot falls drew him to his place. 

He had been to this place once before--he remembered visiting his grandparents at this small woodland location, it had once been an elven village--the only remains were this house, the forest and lands had reclaimed main parts of the village long ago, this one was in the open where his grandmother could "Get more air." As she often put it, but to him the dwelling seemed more like that of the humans than of the elves, yet his grandmother never bothered to care about that.

He had to go, but where, there was nothing for him here any longer. He was not sad, nor was he happy about the idea. His family, his grandparents, and even his own parents had lived well with happy productive lives. He missed his grandparents in a way that would never dull or be satisfied, yet he was content with that missing. It had been many years.

He glanced about once more and decided to portal away from this place. 

"Thank you for everything...It is time to move on," he spoke to the decaying house in a soft reverent tone, his rich voice carried on the wind over the little dwelling. 

He turned from the decay waving his right hand in the air causing a silvery pool to form vertically in the air before him.

Stepping through the portal, he had set no destination, which was foolish of him. He had given the magic no directive and had no intention of making a clear connection. This was a fool hearty thing for him to do at the least, but he was making a gamble hoping that it would send him far from the known to the unknown. He had lived years wondering and had been to say goodbye to what he called home, the portal could tear him apart or land him in hell, but he needed something new, he needed a change. He shrugged it off as the magic took hold of him.

He found himself standing on what looked to him like tar laid out and painted, lights flashed and blinked in and out, he was startled by the light drizzling rain that came down, there was noise everywhere. It was loud, crowded and off putting, the air stank of something that he could not identify, but smelled also of burning, the place he stood was crowned by brightly colored creatures with massive round black legs, but they seemed to be sleeping. He heard in the distance some beings speaking what he had known as a common tongue. He understood the words to an extent but not the meaning. He reached up and pulled his cowl over his face. Where had the magic dropped him? Ahead he saw a green, yellow, and white awning, he read the common letters but raised a silver brow at them. The scent on the air was that of pastry with some other rank smell, but he followed the pastry hoping that it might lead him to some answers.  He found the scent took him to a door. Certain that he should not remove his cowl, he whispered a few small words to give him a bit of a glamor, making his red eyes brown and his hair brown as well, hiding his ears, but did nothing for his build or his clothes. He pushed back his cowl, entering the door glancing about more curious than concerned.

Walking a few steps forward, he ducked down missing the light that had been irresponsibly hung over far too close to the door for those not paying attention. He sniffed the air, it smelled of humans and food, but also of a bit of oldness, this place had stood for some time, yet not to the extent of many of the places that he had been. Most human places were so transient, lasting only a few hundred years or more, he was certain that this place had not reached anywhere near that age. He made a quick sweep of the place ensuring his exits and the entrance, how best to defend this place, realizing almost at once that it was far from necessary to have his guard up so strongly. He was aware of the lax nature of the location the magic had dropped him.

There was a woman behind a counter. She was tall for a human woman, 5' 9". She had white blonde hair that framed her heart-shaped face. Dazzling eyes that shifted between blue and green in the artificial lights.  She smiled and greeted him.

"Hello! Welcome to Perkin's. Table for one, sir?" She said in a dulcet tone.

He inclined his head to her with a slight bow. "Good Evening, My Lady. Might I inquire as to the location of this Perkins, I fear that my currency might not be that which is required." He spoke slowly in what he felt was simple common, unsure if he had said anything that would make sense. He offered a half smile to the young woman greeting him.

She giggled, and quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

Great, a foreign Cosplayer, she thought to herself.  Well, I can indulge him, it may be fun to join in a LARP. 

She considered her words carefully, then she spoke, "Good sir, this Perkin’s is in Montana. Which is in the United States of America.  Our currency is the US Dollar. I am sure that I can figure out the proper exchange rate for whatever currency you have. Are you wanting to dine, or are you here for the inn?"

He chuckled shaking his head as he spoke in a whisper mostly to himself. "At least it's not hell."

"Reserve judgement on that until you have experienced the unpredictable weather here," the blonde woman said with a mischievous grin. 

He raised a brow thinking for a moment, he took a deep breath reaching into his cloak drawing out a coin, the coin appeared to be silver, nearly pure silver and perhaps weighing about half an ounce. There was writing that didn't look like anything that she had seen before. When he placed it down on the counter, he gestured to the coin. He reached in an pulled out a gold coin that was slightly smaller than the silver coin about one third of an ounce of gold, this coin had unknown writing on it, while the one side had a crown and cross. The two coins together glinted in the light. 

"These are the two that I could get in hand first," he spoke quietly, not embarrassed but sure that they would not give him the desired result of food and a room. 

"I do not wish to cheat you; if these coins are of little use here, I do not want you to buy that which you cannot use." He responded thoughtfully while watching her reaction. "I am rather immune to cold even at its most frigid temperatures, but I will defer to you as the local."

"No, please. Didn't mean to imply you were attempting to cheat me. I am interested in these coins; it would be something my grandfather doesn't possess in his collection. Please let me get an accurate weight and I will give you a fair market price for the coins. It would be more fair than the coin shop up the street. They are closed at this hour and they are closed on the morrow, " she replied with an earnest look.

He inclined his head to her with a relieved calm look on his face. 

"I am indebted to you. Please bring the ledger of your market, I will accept your aid. Thank you," he said after he thought over his words carefully, common was not his practiced tongue, but the young lady before him spoke it well with little effort. 

He wanted to ensure that his lack of skill did not get him into any trouble. He knew words could be tricky and if one said the wrong thing in a new place that could mean untold horrors. More or less destroying his social standing before he could acquire one. 

"You're most welcome, sir, I will be back in a moment, " she said with a shallow bow. 

She walked back to the prep kitchen.

"Rob, hand me the scale, please," she said to one of the cooks.

He pulled a confused face, but handed her the digital scale.

Just as she suspected, the silver coin was a half-ounce while the gold coin was a third of an ounce.  She quickly Googled the commodities and found that an ounce of silver is currently valued at $16. So, half that $8, not bad. The gold, however, goes for $1,580.00 per ounce, so a third would be just under $530. 

Yikes! She thought to herself.  

She wrote a check with her mouth her pocket book could not cash right now. Lucky for her, she thought of a way to work it to everyone's mutual satisfaction. She walked back up to the front of the restaurant and got back behind her counter.  She looked at the very tall man. He had an alluring, ethereal charm. Very attractive in the young woman's opinion.  English clearly wasn't his first language, but he spoke it better than some native speakers she knew.

"Sir, the silver coin is valued at $8, however, the value of this gold coin is $530. I don't have enough to purchase it out right today. However, how long did you want to rent a room for? Because I could get you a deal on the room, since I work for the innkeeper, and if you can wait three days, I can pay you then, what do you think?" she asked not wanting to offend him by renegotiating the terms of their agreement.

He considered her words for a moment holding up his hand he appeared to be counting something reasoning out what he would do. "I will start with three days here, but the inn keeper might not be pleased, it is customary in most inns to pay for the stay upfront." He closed his eyes as he spoke thinking back to several of the inns he had resided in in his time.

"Oh, I can cover that cost, the Innkeeper gives me a special rate, only $33 per night, I have that, but in three days I get paid and I can give you the difference.  I can even let you charge meals to the room, then we can settle up when I have sufficient cash to exchange.  What do you say?" she said using her salesperson tone.

"You are most kind to a lost traveler. I am most certainly in your debt, aside from the fact that hunting here would prove fruitless. I would require sustenance from another source. Thank you." He offered her a smile feeling reassured of at least the next three days and where he would lay his head in this strange land.

"Oh, thank you, sir! Let's get you set up in a room in the inn. So, I will need your name, please. Do you have a photo I.D. that I can see?" she asked.

There was an awkward pause. 

Oh, right, need to phrase it in LARP jargon. 

"You know, passport or travel papers? " she said.

He raised an eyebrow with a curious questioning expression.

"Photo ID? Passport?" he asked in a clueless tone, "Travel papers...hmmm?" 

He spoke again while removing his pack, he reached deep into the pack as if digging something off the bottom, he withdrew what looked like a a folded papyrus sheet, there was a golden crest and seal, a golden dragon holding a sun touching a moon held in the claw of a silvery looking dragon. The writing was strange sweeping characters elegantly written, it looked like a work of art, but looked and felt too real, it smelled of spice and forest coming from the pack. He placed the item before her.  

"This is my clan agreement with the nations," he said quietly.

"Oh. My. Goodness.  You know what?  It's fine. I will just put the room in my name. You don’t look like you're going to destroy the room or burn the place to the ground. Plus, the value of the coins would cover any damages or incidental costs..." she trailed off muttering incoherently.  

Well I can tell my boss he's a friend from Germany.  He lost his passport, his luggage etc., and I am helping him out until he can resolve the issue, he’s not going to burn me like that homeless man I tried to help when it was -35 degrees and he started the stairwell on fire.

She set up the room in the computer and took care if the paper work. She got him the key and a cookie. It was slow so she decided to escort him to the room and show him the amenities.

The desk clerk was in the middle of checking in an unusual guest.

"Here is your complimentary cookie. And I have you in room 201. It's just at the top of the stairs, let me show you to your room," she said as she came around to meet him on the other side of the counter.

He accepted the cookie, tucking it away in his cloak.  

"Please follow me, sir," she said holding the lobby door for him.

"By the way, I didn't understand the writing, so I never got your name. Can you tell me what I should call you?" she asked in embarrassment.

He sighed softly glancing to the page on the counter, it had been a long time since that document had seen the light, there was a glint of something crystalline in his eye, a hint of sadness. He shook his head lightly, nodding once to the matter at hand taking the page off the desk placing it back in his pack.  

"In my native tongue, my name is Vaylerix (vay)-ler-ix (icks) (the elvish sounds were like music of another worldly kind) of the Hirithyn - Hi (Ri) Thy (n) - Clan...in the common tongue it is said, Vayleric (Val-er-ik)  of the Hirithyn (Here-rith-in) Clan," He informed her as he followed behind her. 

"I am in your debt; I will not make a nuisance of myself so that I do not bring dishonor to your kindness," he said.

She lead him to room 201 and opened the door for him, and showed him in.

"Thank you, Vaylerix of Hirithyn. I am Belinda Halloway.  You may call me Belinda.  It's been a pleasure meeting you. I hope that you enjoy your stay here at the Midtown Motel. I will be here working in the afternoon and evening during your stay. If you need anything, just ask me. Come down to the restaurant and order meals and just charge it to your room, I will take care of it. Here you are. This is your bathroom.  Over here is the bed. The thermostat is over here, if you get too cold just turn up the heat by adjusting thus dial here.  There is the TV here is the remote control and on this card is the channel guide. Is there anything you need? " she asked with genuine concern.