NOVEL WEB Chapter/Interlude 25 (A problem of Perspective)
Mariam’s day could have gone better, though she didn’t think it could get any more bizarre. From the moment that Irys had appeared in her shop, she could tell the days ahead were going to be complicated. It just started much sooner than she could have ever guessed. After those men that her brother had managed to piss off stormed into the shop (This time she really would have to get her grandpa involved, sigh), she thought that she feared the worst and had hoped that she could draw their attention long enough for Irys to escape. However, the following events quickly derailed that plan. At the moment she had expected her fate, Irys stepped in and managed to block the blow. A serious achievement for a small girl like that, but Mariam knew that was no ordinary man. The shock had been too great, and despite her hard-earned resolution, it crumbled, leaving her to pitifully run away, leaving Irys behind to face the three alone. In a panic, she made her way through the alleys, the buildup of rainwater making each hurried step a treacherous one. It didn’t take long before she found herself butt-first in a puddle. It was too much to bear, and her burst of emotion streamed out as tears through her eyes. Yet, she knew that sitting here wasn’t going to do her any good. Wiping away the tears, she rose to her feet, but what met her eyes as she stumbled out of the alley onto the street was not the dim orange light of the streetlights. A rainbow light had covered the place where her shop was. It couldn’t be said whether the light came from above or below; it simply existed there in an uncanny opposition to common sense. As quickly as it appeared, the light faded away, as though the world could only tolerate its existence for so long. The only thing left in its place was a small tear about the size of a man that hung in the air. Everyone knew what these signs meant, and Mariam was no different. A rift. Her legs locked in place on the sidewalk as she looked on in disbelief.
After the rift appeared, it took only an hour for members of the military and association to swarm the scene like moths to flame. Not that Mariam cared much; she had spent most of the time sheltering in a clothing store whose clerk tried his best to comfort her, but it fell on deaf ears, far too taken up in considering the momentous events than to have time to consider the emotions of others. Nodding her head in response, she looked out the window to see a pair of men in suits walk up to the shop's door before pulling bags out of their coats and pointing to the door handle. The clerk's hands fiddled under the shop counter before a buzzing sound came from the door, and it swung open. The two men walked over, their leather boots squeaking on the floor, and walked over to the clerk, half-heartedly asking if he had seen the owner of the shop, which was the center point of the rift. Their bored expressions quickly changed to ones of surprise as he hastily pointed at the girl huddled over her head, cupped in her hands.
They approached her, giving Mariam a better look at the hilts emerging out of the scabbard on their hips. The first man's lips moved a little slowly as the other bent over and lightly grabbed her wrist while nodding down at his watch before letting go.
Man in suit “We’re with the guild. We’d like to ask you a few questions to ensure the safety of this area.”
The man had a smile on his face, but his tone didn’t leave any room for refusals, so she resigned herself and let the man lead her to a tent set up in the middle of the street. Inside, a muscular gray-haired man in casual attire was barking orders to another man in a suit. His voice was steady, but it had a smoldering intensity to it that seemed as if it wanted to burst into fiery passion.
[The guy in charge]: “If you’re telling me that damn rift is already ready to collapse, then what the hell are you standing here for? Go stabilize the exact area; I’m not going to have my men end up lost somewhere like that idiot Salline.” To punctuate his words, the man swung his arm down onto a nearby plastic table, causing an almost imperceptible amount of heat to radiate into the room.
The man in the suit bowed his head before hurriedly exiting the tent, nearly pushing Mariam to the ground in his haste. Without looking her way, he pointed to a pair of foldable chairs by the canvas walls of the tent.
[The guy in charge]: “Have a seat.”
Feeling a little indignant at this man's tone, she nevertheless acquiesced. As she sat down, one of her guys left the building while the one who grabbed her wrist earlier walked to the white-haired man and bent his close, voicing something in a whisper. This caused the white-haired man to nod his head before patting the whispering man on the shoulder and walking over to Mariam, a grin playing over his face.
[The guy in charge] “So, I hear you’re the owner of the shop that rift took a liking to. Must have had some pretty good cakes?” Hearing this the indignation in her heart boiled, causing her to open her mouth, but before she could get a word out, the man, as if he had been waiting for this, waved his hand to cut her off and continued speaking.
[The guy in charge] “Well, I don’t have too much time; tell me about what led up to the rift opening.”
Hearing this, Mariam wanted to ignore his request, but as she saw the other man in the suit walk away, leaving the two of them alone, she realized that she might not have that choice. Grumbling internally, she reluctantly recounted the day's events, limiting any mention of Irys. When she got to the point where the three broke into her shop, the silver-haired man’s face fell, causing her to stutter a bit under the pressure, but he didn’t interrupt; instead, he motioned for her to continue. After she finished, he stood up without a word and motioned for her to leave. For the first time, his requests she gladly accepted.
Watching the girl leave the tent, the man sighed to himself while lifting up his sleeve to look down at the seven flames tattooed over it and sighed to himself.
“How many times did I tell you, cousin, that these are troubling times? Even a grade seven like me can’t do whatever they want now.” Shaking his head to dispel the bad feeling that had been growing in his heart, a confident smile returned to his face.
“Well, cousin, you may need a little bit of discipline, but managing to clear that rift before the backup team could even see your coat tails, ha, that’s the stuff the roaring flame guild is made of!” Even while roaring in laughter to himself, the disquiet in his heart wouldn’t go away.
When Mariam pushed through the tent flap, a woman waiting nearby looked her up and down before explaining that the rift had been dealt with and that it was safe to return. Mariam returned to the shop, the flashing lights of police vehicles still haunting her figure. Grabbing hold of the door handle, the realization that she was finally safe hit her, but with it came another creeping thought that Irys had gotten sucked into a rift because of her. When she thought of the way she had fought back against the three punks, she could feel no fear for the girl, only resignation for her own part in it. These thoughts accidentally slipped out of her mouth as she struggled to close the door, inwardly dreading the costs of the repairs. At that moment, she heard a thud behind her, but thinking that it was yet more damage to the shop, she was in no hurry to examine it. With a click, the door closed, taking away her last distraction. With a sigh, she turned around to walk to her bed, planning to deal with her problems in the morning. Yet, as she swung her around, what met her was a familiar cold-faced girl standing unnaturally, as if she had just eaten a bad meal, her long black hair matted, and her clothes torn the shreds, yet she looked uninjured which came as a relief. Even though the clothes she had just given her that morning were stained green and red entirely ruined. In that instant, none of that mattered to Mariam.
Running towards the girl, she wanted to grab her despite the state she was in.
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While I was still thinking of what to say first, Mariam bolted towards me, reaching out her arms as if to grab hold of me. Whoa, doesn’t this seem a bit out of order? Shouldn’t you only want to grab me after you’ve heard my terrible explanation? Seeing her lunge towards me, I lightly stepped out of the way, causing her to stumble past me while shouting.
[Mariam] “I’m sorry!!, please continue to work for meeeee!”
After this reunion, my next days were a blur.