Chapter 5: The City I Once Knew
Chapter 5: The City I Once Knew
What is this humming I hear? I slowly opened my eyes. Ugh, the light is shining into my eyes.
「Good morning, sleepyhead. How are you feeling?」
What happened? I remember talking to Tiana about something, and the next thing I knew, my head was on her lap while she caressed my head. Ugh, my body feels a bit heavy, and I feel like
I have a bad headache. I slowly got up, holding my head and trying to rub the pain away.
「I feel … a bit heavy」
「Sorry about that. I forgot to mention that when you run out of energy, those energy balls will leave you twice as exhausted as when you initially took them. You crashed out pretty badly.」
So that’s what happened; I just passed out. Maybe a bit of rest and water will do the trick. I grabbed the water bottle from the fridge and started chugging it.
「Oh yeah, I also did some cleaning while you were gone. I placed the leftovers in the fridge.」
「 What time is it right now, Tiana?」
「 1 pm 」
「 1 pm? Is it already 1 pm?」
「I mean, you seemed sleep-deprived when I first met you. I’m surprised you didn’t sleep longer.」
「fair. By the way, you said before that you needed to do something here.」
「Yeah, I want to confirm something in the city.」
「Ok then, Give me 30 minutes to recover, and I should be ready to go.」
「You sure, you look damn tired. Wouldn’t it be better to leave it for tomorrow? 」
「It’s fine, I’m used to it.」
I looked at her; she seemed surprised. Did I say something wrong? Why is she looking at me like that?
「 What’s wrong?」
「Oh, sorry, you just reminded me of someone I know.」
「A good way or bad way?」
「 Neither, it’s just …. Never mind, forget what I said. 」
「Ok. I will just get ready to head out.」
She felt a bit uncomfortable mentioning whoever that person was. I’m curious who that person was, but it’s better to leave it than dive deeper for her sake. I can’t think straight anymore. I have been dropped into a hole filled with fragments of information that feel connected in some way I can't understand. And the worst part is that I have to go to the main city. I hate the people there but I will do it for her. My headache isn’t even helping me; I guess I will clear it off by showering. I need one anyway. I feel sticky from all my sweat, and I need to brush my teeth as well. I hate when my teeth feel grimy and speaking of grimy. I also need to change my clothes, I haven't changed in a couple of days. I’m surprised I don’t smell bad. I guess I got to get to it. I walked into the bathroom with my spare change of clothes to finally clean myself for the first time in days.
************************************************************
「Are you ready to head out?」
「 Yeah, but are you sure about wearing this?」.
「Unfortunately, these are the only clothes I have. I can say that to you as well, Tiana.」
「touché. But it’s not like anyone is gonna see me anyway since I’m gonna be hiding in your shadow. Oh, and don’t worry about it. I can see through your eyes when I am in your shadow. It’s also better for me to be there as well since I don’t want people to see me at all especially with you. I have a feeling that it would be bad.」
She took words out of my mouth. I wouldn't expect less from someone who controls time. She hopped into my shadow before leaving the ship and heading towards the CBD.
「Have you been to Karmen before?」
「 Only once to meet up with a friend.」
「How was the city?」
「It was nice. I like how they kept their old buildings; it makes them stand out. I remember many different cities are trying to just make their city look modern with samey buildings, its damn boring.」
「From what I know, not much has changed. They refuse to get rid of the old building, they only added more buildings like my company for the past 50 years. But I think that goes to most planets. Almost every single planet hasn’t changed for a long time. There are some developments here and there but we are at a time where everything is stagnant.」
She stayed silent. I can never tell what she is thinking. From what I could tell, this doesn’t sound good.
「By the way, Tiana, he arrived at Karmen CBD.」
The city is lively as usual with many old and younger people walking around the city hub. Many different old-style buildings are everywhere. Magic crystals power each technology from transportation to the lampost. At the very back is the tallest part of our continent, the mountain that reaches the clouds, it is located at the center of this continent. It towers over every building in the city. But the star of the show is the main church located in the middle of the main street. The church of Karma is one of four big churches in Galdor with the sole purpose of worshiping and praising our saviour Karma, one of the four Maidens of Galdor.
Their legend is famous on our planet. It is said over 3000 years ago there were 4 sisters, Harmony, Karma, Tanmaya, and Dizzy who were born with unique magic. They were referred to as The Four Maidens of Galdor, the ones who helped save and build up this planet ultimately betrayed by their people. All we know is that they are cursed, forever stuck being a grimoire. Each grimoire is separated in its continent's main church. This church contains Karma, the one that possesses the greatest strength. It was said she was the one to split the continents into four. If anyone visits this city, the very first place they go is to see Karma. Unfortunately, that place gives me bad memories.
This city gives me bad memories in general. Looking around I already see people looking at me in disgust. I can even hear whispering while looking in my direction.
「So, Tiana. This is the city. Is there any place you want to go?」
「I know you gonna hate this but we going to that church.」
「Really?」
「I did tell you I have something to do here and this is one of them. I want to confirm something.」
「Fine, can we keep it short?」
「That’s fine, Just go straight to the grimoire. I will warn you when he arrives.」
I guess we have to, I walked into the church. The deacons at the front who usually welcome people in looked at me in disgust and stayed silent when I went in. At least inside the church looks nice. It is like any other cathedral, with many different tinted glasses of the 4 maidens and their stories, rows of wooden pew chairs, and a big stage for the priest to spread their teachings. And right at the back of it all is a display pillar holding the grimoire, Karma. It is encased in a magical transparent barrier powered by magic crystals with guards around the pillar.
「 So here it is the grimoire of Karma. I got to say, it looks ….」
「It’s a fake.」
「Huh?」
「It’s a fake. I know what she looks like. This is 100% a fake. 」
「Wait wait wait wait. How do you know? We have been told that the real grimoire was placed here to bring us protection.」
「I can tell, the mana levels are not the same. I have seen her in person. From the betrayal of the sisters to now have all been a lie. I know you are a bit hesitant and you trust me fully, but I can say this is not Karma.」
「If you saying that then you would even suggest that the other 3 grimoires might be fake?」
「 Yes, especially Harmony. She told me directly she would never set foot on this planet ever again.」
I don't know. I don’t know who to trust. Should I trust her, someone frozen for 300 years or what I have known for years? But I do want to trust Tiana due to one single factor. Why does my job even exist? Karmen was known for producing high-quality magic crystals. Back then, miners go inside the mountains to mine those crystals. But no matter how much they mine, the magic crystals kept returning giving our city an infinite amount of crystals.
Unfortunately in the past 200 years, the mountains produce fewer and fewer magical crystals eventually running out. This led to roles like mine where we had to go out on expeditions to find magic crystals in inhabitable planets or through trading. And those mountains that miners used to go to are no longer accessible for anyone to enter. Forever locked up away from the public. I have never seen the mountain up front. Tall metal fences fully block off the forest surrounding the highest peak's bottom.
「Karma was the reason why the mountains produced an infinite amount of magic crystals. Due to her mana, the rocks around her absorbed her mana creating what you see today.」
「Oh right you can hear my thoughts.」
「That should be the least of your worries, he is coming soon..」
I’m not surprised, I will think about that later. I have a bigger problem if I stay here any longer. I ran out of the church and settled on stopping by the biggest shopping arcade in the city.
