💾 Archived View for emisocks.com › stories › echo › 2i.gmi captured on 2023-11-04 at 11:41:18. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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"Are you sure you're okay?"
Ian nodded and sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. We can keep going."
"You're looking kind of pale. If you need to rest..."
"I said I'm fine. Look, we're almost back to town."
"Alright, alright. Geez." Echo shook her head.
"Sorry. I just... I think I didn't sleep well."
"I could tell. You were tossing and turning all night. Bad dreams?"
"Not bad, just... weird. I don't even know how to begin to describe them."
"That weird world with all the machines again, huh?"
Ian nodded. "Yeah. Pretty much every night. I only remember sometimes, though." He sighed. "It's a pain. You're very fortunate you don't have to sleep."
Echo looked down.
"Um. Sorry. I guess that was insensitive."
She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I just wish I knew why I'm the only one in town who doesn't sleep."
"Maybe the transcripts we got will finally give you some answers, huh?" Ian tapped his pouch.
"Yeah, maybe."
---
Ian and Echo entered the tavern together. It was really loud, like always; Ian grimaced, wishing to himself that he had something to drown out the noise with.
"Oh, there you are!"
A woman who was sitting at the counter turned towards the kids, got up and waved towards them. The moment she stood up, her stature was made obvious to anyone in the establishment; she towered at least two full heads over everyone else, and her wolf ears poked up even higher on top of her head.
They walked closer to the woman. The bartender looked down at them.
"These are your kids, right, Lena? Been a while since I last saw them. They've grown so much."
"They sure have." The imposing woman smiled down at them and ruffled Ian's hair. "Hey, you two. Had a good trip?"
"It was alright", Echo responded while Ian grumbled and fixed his hair. "I didn't really remember anything, but, well..."
Ian took out the papers inside his pouch and showed them to Lena.
"Hmmm. That's the writing on the walls of the chamber, right? I remember seeing something like that."
"Yeah. We didn't find anything else, so this is the only lead we have."
"A bit of a long shot, but..." Lena tilted her head, thinking. "Yeah, I guess there could be something useful in here. Good job, you two."
The teens looked at each other, both smiling proudly. Ian looked back up at her.
"Do you know what language it is? I'm kind of at a loss."
"Hah. If you don't know, then I can't hope to know either. I'm an explorer, not a linguist."
"Yeah, that's what we figured. But you don't happen to know anyone who might be able to read it, right?"
"Hmmmmmmm..." Lena rubbed her chin with her hand. "Sorry, I have no clue. I've seen symbols like this in temples all over the place, but I never thought to ask anyone what they mean."
"Right. Makes sense." Ian took the papers back into his pouch.
"Sorry I can't be more help. Maybe ask around?"
The teens looked at each other, nodded, then turned around and walked out of the tavern.
"Don't be home too late though!!", Lena yelled out just as they were coming out the door, before sitting back down and continuing her chat.
---
"No problem, thanks anyways!" Echo waved behind her as she left the building. Once she was outside, she sighed. "Well, no luck there either..." She looked at the paper on her hand. Nobody could recognize these symbols. It was getting more than a little frustrating. She wanted to crumple the paper into a ball and throw it away, but then she would truly be out of leads.
Suddenly, a familiar voice rang in her ears.
"Echo, can you come to Miss Milliden's house?"
She put one hand on her ear. She was more than used to Ian contacting her by a remote voice spell.
"Your magic teacher? Sure, I'm only a couple minutes away. Does she know something?"
"Well, not exactly. But I have a plan, and I need a bit of help."
"Right. I'll be there in a moment."
Sprinting down the street, it only took a moment before Echo found herself in front of the sorceress' house. Ian was sitting beside the door, and beside him was a tome almost as large as his torso. He waved at her.
"Hey, that was fast!"
"What's with the book?" She pointed at it. "Does that have something to do with your plan?"
"That IS my plan. It's a tome on ancient languages. I asked Miss Milliden to borrow it for research purposes."
"Research, huh? Don't tell me you're planning to translate this whole mess of symbols yourself."
"Well." Ian smiled. "You never know until you try, right?"
Echo shrugged. "I'd tell you that this is a job for a scholar with decades of experience, but I know you well enough to know that you won't listen."
"Right you are. Now, about that help I needed..."
She crossed her arms. "You want me to help you carry the book home?"
"Well, uh." Ian looked down at the tome, then back at Echo. "... Yes."
"Give me that."
She bent down and picked up the heavy book like it was as light as air, carrying it under her arm.
"Yeah, that's not too bad."
"Heh. I figured if you could swing around a greatsword that's almost as big as you, you wouldn't have trouble with this. Should we head home?"
She nodded, and they started walking home together.
"... hey, Ian?" He turned his head to look at Echo. "You think this text will explain why I'm... like this?"
"Why you're so strong, you mean?"
"That, and the whole... not being able to sleep."
"I really can't say. Maybe it will, but... does it matter? Do you really want to know why?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I have unusual things about me too. Maybe not AS unusual, but you know. I'm really good at sorcery, and really, really bad at all other academic things. I can't talk to people very easily, unless it's about something I really like. And there's also, well..." He took out a small vial from his pouch and showed it to her.
"Weird comparison, but sure."
"My point is. If there was a reason that I'm the way I am... I don't think I would care."
"Huh."
She looked up at the sky, thinking. Did she want to know? Would that make her feel better?