63

--TheirWorld--

After Stella left, Dassah and Bahena squirmed in silence for a bit before they decided to head out themselves. Dassah felt as if she should say something, but she didn’t know quite what. It was all getting too complicated for her liking.

“Was I… too hard on her?” Bahena asked in a quiet voice as they left the cafe. The little bell of the door chimed as Dassah considered.

“If it were anyone else, maybe,” she said. “But I understand. Of course,” she went on, “I feel like, knowing both of you now, I understand where you’ve been coming from a little better.

As they walked toward the central park hex of the hex-block to get to the monorail station, the garule woman’s face fell. “Sathuren… I know he doesn’t need me to be involved in his life,” she confided. “Even if Stella did approach him in… that… way, I know he’d deal with it himself. I just.. For me… I…”

Dassah bit her lip. “... He’s your brother,” she said. “That’s what family does.”

Bahena’s eyes lit up a little as she met Dassah’s. “Thank you,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dassah answered, trying to reassure her. “Just don’t get me involved in your sibling squabbles and everything is good!”

“I’ll try,” Bahena chuckled. “And if Sav attacks you again, I’ll beat him up!”

“Maybe I should just have you teach me how to beat him up myself,” Dassah grumbled. “I wasn’t so great at using my claws in the game. I guess having some close combat training won’t help me too much against a caster like him, but maybe it’s the experience I lack.”

Laughing, the garule flexed the muscles in her arm. “I can’t do much to combat his magic, but he’s not that physically strong. You could take him, with a little practice!” She paused. “What class did you see him in?”

“Hm?”

“You mentioned before that you saw him in a class.”

“Oh,” Dassah said. “I registered for a self defence class. I think he was one of the instructors there.”

“Oh,” Bahena nodded. “I think he does do some meditation training, of sorts…” A light ringing sound came from Bahena’s smart watch. Glancing at it, she said, “Sorry, I have to take this.”

Dassah nodded and walked over to the edge of the hex. Blue leaves from the Yidarian trees floated around, carried by a light breeze as she leaned over the railing and looked out over the golden waters that lapped gently in between the hexes and connecting spans. Gulls cried all around her, outstretched wings casting shadows over the waves. There would be no Avalon in these waters, she knew, yet her dream had given her some sense of expectation. Who was the girl that named the animals? Why did she dream of her? Why did she dream of the girl’s father, or the white and purple garule?

There were too many questions that she was unlikely to have any answers for.

The buildings across the the water surrounding the central hex glinted in the dying light as they reflected in the surface of the calm sea. The park felt like it was floating on a lake, held up by narrow stretches of path that led it. Sunlight warming her skin, she wondered what the girl really felt like, standing in the sun, speaking the words, ‘...I’m going to die.’

“You’re looking rather pensive, aren’t you?” a warm voice carried over to her. Dassah looked up to see an unfamiliar dark haired man with a briefcase smirking over at her. He had warm, brown eyes that glittered like the sea — and yet, Dassah noticed, there was something distinctly… different, about them. About him. “Are you coming or going?” he asked.

“S-Sorry?” Dassah blinked as she asked him.

His smirk turned into a smile, causing little crow’s feet to crinkle around his eyes. Brown eyes, yes, but they were odd; ringed like an old tree. She could see his mouth moving; hear sounds that resemble words, but she lost herself, counting the rings in his eyes as if there was some mystery to be solved in them.

They made her feel strange. Off. Floating, but shackled as her mind spun, losing count a hundred times in a moment. But what was it? What was it about his eyes that stunned her? Did she know this man? Did she not? What was it that made her… fear?

The man cleared his throat, and Dassah snapped back into reality. “I have the very unfortunate impression that you didn’t hear a word that I said, just now,” he chuckled. “It’s quite rude to stare, you know.”

“S-Sorry,” Dassah mumbled, blushing. She searched his face for recognition. She found none, but she did see a set of four green mystriks in a diamond pattern on his neck and chin. “Do I… Know you?”

He laughed. “So I was correct!” he went, leaning over. “I was just explaining — we have met, but only just briefly. We bumped into each other the other day,” he said, lifting his briefcase up so she could see it more clearly. “Well,” he went, shrugging, “You bumped into me really.”

“O-Oh,” Dassah managed to say with only vague recollection informing her that he was correct. “Oh. Sorry about that…” She looked back into the park, finding Bahena to be pacing on the phone a good ways away.

“Don’t worry about it!” he said, shaking his head. “I was just thinking, you certainly seem to like coffee.”

“Y-Yeah,” she chuckled, wishing Bahena would look her way.

“What’s your name?” he asked, a grin spreading across his face.

“U-Uhm,” she went, feeling more than a little uncomfortable. “Guin,” she lied, fiddling with her hands.

“Guin!” He repeated. “That’s an interesting name!”

“I… get that alot,” Dassah went, looking down.

“I’m Merlyn,” he told her, holding out his hand. Dassah took it lightly as he continued, “Merlyn Jace.” Freezing, she looked up at him, studying his face. She went to pull her hand back, but he grabbed it more firmly and tugged her closer to him. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Guin,” he purred.

His eyes with all their rings of gold smiled at her — but they smiled in a way that made her feel like she had been caught. Like he was a hunter and she the prey. The were filled with wisdom and knowledge and all the intent to use those powers in whatever ways suited him, and him alone, and in her mind, the name ‘Jace’ swam and echoed.

Tugging her hand back, she attempted to laugh.

“N-Nice to meet you,” she bowed. “Um, sorry, but my friend is waiting for me…”

“Oh, go ahead, please!” Jace said, putting his hands in the air. “I hope we meet again soon!”

Dassah gave a light nod before she started to walk away. Her whole body convulsed as she left the presence of the man. She couldn’t help looking behind her, to check if he was still following her. Though she couldn’t see him, she still felt watched.

Bahena was still on the phone, speaking garuli in what seemed like a very fast pace compared to what she was used to hearing from Ibraxis. When her eyes fell on Dassah, however, she hung up and furrowed her brow.

“Dassah?” the bronze garule asked. “Dassah, are you alright? You look like a ghost!”

“Mph,” Dassah went, rubbing her arms. She thought about telling Bahena about her encounter with the man, but her conviction failed her when she saw the look on Bahena’s face. She didn’t want to cause people worry. After all, it was probably nothing. Her dream had probably spooked her. “I-It’s just the sea breeze,” she lied. “It was a little chilly by the water.”

Looking her over, Bahena gave a a very unconvinced, “I see,” before flicking her tail. “Well, it’s another ten minutes to the monorail. I am going to meet Sathuren for dinner. If there’s anything you need…”

“No!” Dassah said, waving her hands in the air. “No. I just need to get home and get some rest, I think. But…” she went, wincing as she looked behind her again. “Mind walking with me to the monorail?”

Bahena laughed. “Of course not,” she said. “I always intended to. I have to take it myself anyway!”

Smiling, Dassah nodded as they started toward the station again, talking about all manner of things as Dassah did her best to forget Merlyn Jace.