Travellers Trinkets

The tavern gave off a lighthearted atmosphere with nobody other than me, Scarlet, and Diantha inhabiting it. The morning sun grazed our skin as Scarlet furiously wrote down notes on a journal she'd bought and I barely did anything with my single page. On my page were the symbols of the Selukan alphabet, some were nearly identical to English letters while others were completely gibberish. I noticed pretty early on that the letter C didn't make the C sound, it made the ch sound instead. All instances of the soft C were replaced by S and all hard sounds were K's. There was a word for that kind of language that was on the tip of my tongue.

“Scarlet what's that word for languages that uh… they sound how they look.” I couldn't really explain it well but Scarlet who sat next to me seemed to get the gist.

“Phonetic, it seems that Selukan's speak a phonetic version of English. Reading shouldn't be too difficult for us so long as we're able to translate the characters to our versions of English.” Scarlet seemed genuinely excited at the prospect of learning but the only reason I wasn't bored to death was because Diantha was teaching us.

“That's right Scarlet. Throughout history there have been many instances of wayfarers from English speaking worlds understanding and reading Selukan better. In fact this phenomenon is present Ennath-wide. Wayfarers almost always tend to appear in countries and nations that understand them.” Diantha praised Scarlet which made me a little jealous, maybe I should try harder in actually learning.

“Well um, lots of the alphabet actually match some of these characters identically, so it's like a…” There was another word at the tip of my tongue, a word that perfectly described changing one character with another.

“It's a cipher! Since Selukan and English are so close, the characters are nearly one to one.” Scarlet stole my thunder which annoyed me to no end, but I didn't want to get angry in front of Diantha.

“Correct again Scarlet, similar to the phenomenon I described earlier, the languages of Ennath and those of wayfarer worlds are eerily similar.” Diantha praised Scarlet again, I was starting to regret letting her learn with me.

When Diantha came to me saying that I should learn to read Selukan I obviously agreed. I told Scarlet that she should join me since she seemed genuinely interested in this Ennath stuff. She agreed pretty quickly too with an excitement for learning I could never achieve, and I didn't really want to either. We set up our impromptu classroom in the tavern. There were a few other wayfarers here with us who decided that this was the day they finally understood what the sign on the Silver Bell actually meant. Diantha was our impromptu teacher since she was apparently going to teach at the academy next semester.

All of us were given a single sheet of paper, a quill, and a bottle of ink. Diantha also seemed really into the whole teacher thing. Behind Diantha was a table sideways on another table, she was using it as a makeshift chalk board. Using a green gem she had made a piece of chalk she was using to draw. With her blue threads from her fingers she would erase the chalk after. I'd bet that those tables had been the cleanest they have been in their entire existence. On the table now was the Selukan alphabet. Twenty-four characters, X and Q didn't seem to have any equivalents and simply didn't exist. C turned into the ch sound so that stayed.

“Now, what does this word say?” Diantha asked the class as she wrote a word down on the table.

“Silence!” I shouted as I raised my hand up. The C in silence had become an S and all the letters were of course their Selukan counterparts.

“Good job Mikayla.” Diantha's praise was curt but it still made me happy. “Are you able to write it though?”

Diantha beckoned for me to go to the front and spell out silence. I knew from previous words and people that had come up that I was expected to write in Selukan. Exiting my seat and walking up to the sideways table I feel a knot of nervousness fill me. Failing was one thing, failing in front of Diantha and all these people was another. Scarlet gave me a thumbs up as if she hadn't been here half a dozen times and aced all of the questions given to her. Taking the chalk from Diantha I nervously began writing down silence in Selukan. 

My handwriting was poor even on Silt and after not writing anything for over a month it had deteriorated greatly. However what I wrote was passable in my eyes. A seven letter word, the S's were fancy in Selukan with lines down the middle. I looked at it triple checking for any errors but I thankfully didn't see any. But there was this nagging in the back of my head that something was wrong, that I'd messed up somehow despite how good it seemed. That nagging had persisted throughout my entire life but being up here with the prospect of failing in front of Scarlet and Diantha terrified me.

“Almost perfect Mikayla.” Diantha erased the first S and rewrote it into a neater version. “Your S looked like an eight. I'm sure you'll get it next time.”

Sitting back down I felt flustered as Diantha showed me how inadequate I really am. I didn't raise my hand for the entirety of the lesson after that. I let Scarlet or some of the other wayfarers try their hand instead. She was better at this than me, everyone else was better than me, but I still had to try because Diantha would probably get mad at me if I didn't. Soon the lesson was over and Diantha and all of the other wayfarers left. Diantha had put the tables back to where they were supposed to be, I'm sure the barkeep appreciated that.

Scarlet and I sat on a bench in the courtyard, the sun peering through cloudy skies. The weather was beautiful today, it was a sort of melancholic beauty with the upcoming academy semester and my looming admittance. Most of the wayfarers had left to do more important things but it seems that Scarlet and I have nothing to do but sit around. There was an awkward silence brewing between the two of us and since Scarlet didn't seem eager to talk I piped up.

“Why do you want to learn Selukan Scarlet?” I asked her to break the silence while also wanting to know why she wanted to learn. I only learned because Diantha wanted me to.

“Have you heard of the academy in Rosurnan Mikayla?” Scarlet's question immediately brought to mind the academy I saw just before I was kidnapped.

“Diantha told me about it. Apparently someone she knows wants me to learn there. Diantha says it's free.” I didn't want to talk about seeing it that night so I told her about Diantha's offer.

“Free…” Scarlet was stunned as I told her about the offer I'd been given.

“Yeah, I think it's this community college sort of thing. I'm getting a dorm too.” The thought of going to college put a knot in my stomach, I'd never gone on Silt but would going here make a difference?

“Mikayla, do you know how expensive attending Rosurnan Academy is? Much less attending while dorming there?” Scarlet's envious voice made it clear how good I was getting it.

“I didn't know. Maybe I can get Diantha to vouch for you.” I tried to simmer down Scarlet after realizing how much I was getting for free.

“Honestly I need someone to, that academy's too prestigious for some wayfarer to waltz in even if I have enough cash. Even then I'm still going on constant jobs to afford the tuition.” Scarlet seemed desperate for some kind of way to attend the academy.

Thinking about Scarlet's need for money I realized I still had that unspent bag of money gathering dust in my wardrobe. “I can give you my money. I know it's not much but maybe it can make up for the mirror?”

“Really? Thanks Mikayla but from what I remember you only have enough for a good meal at best. Damian and I have been going on jobs from the Guild to make up some scraps.” Her thanks made me remember that time she and Damian had recruited me for a job.

“Is that why you and Damian were on that job to go to that library?” I asked, realizing that Damian and Scarlet didn't go on dangerous jobs for no reason.

“It is. Damian's been nice enough to give me some of his earnings, he says he doesn't need it. He's always so awkward about it though, sometimes I even catch him blushing for some reason.” Scarlet stated with confusion, I also couldn't think of a reason for Damian's blushing.

“I've never seen Damian blush before. Maybe he likes you.” I threw out an absurd idea at Scarlet, Damian just seems to be the kind of guy to be nice for no reason.

“I really doubt it, even though I've never been in a relationship before I'm sure Damian's just being nice.” Scarlet took the words right out of my mouth.

“So what do you do on your jobs?” I switched topics as I was getting bored talking about Damian blushing.

“Usually we search ancient sites for anything valuable. Didn't we do it one time with you, remember that library?” Scarlet asked but I still remembered that library easily.

“Yeah I remember it…” I responded bitterly.

Memories of memories came to mind. That young version of me still living with mom and dad, that Michael who's still happy. If only he knew what he would do, that he would split our family apart just for existing. The dream was nice yet it left me feeling this horrible melancholy within me, an insatiable yearning for my family. Maybe if I went back to that library and touched some of the books I'd be able to relive that dream again and hug my mom. I didn't know where that library was located and it'd be weird if I asked about it, maybe I should just give up on that dream.

“Are you feeling alright Mikayla?” Scarlet suddenly broke me out of my daydreaming with a question.

“I'm fine, just… nervous.” I lied to Scarlet easily, she'd probably think I'm weak for wanting to hug my parents again.

“About the academy?” As Scarlet brought up the academy I actually began feeling nervous about it.

“Honestly I'm not sure I should even go. Diantha should find someone else who actually cares about school. You should be going instead of someone like me.” I've never cared about my education, but there were people out there who'd love an opportunity like this.

“You should go Mikayla, nobody else is going to take your place. Don't feel guilty about something good happening to you.” Scarlet couldn't be more wrong, I didn't deserve to go to the academy but I didn't want to argue with her about it.

“I still feel like you deserve it more than I do, you actually want to go to the academy.” I genuinely believe that Scarlet should go instead of me, she actually cares about this kind of stuff.

“It's alright Mikayla. I'll get in, you don't have to worry about me.” Scarlet reassured me but I wasn't sure she was telling the truth. Colleges back on Silt were always too expensive and the academy seems even more so.

“If you say so. But isn't it weird for someone that looks like a kid to go to the academy?” I asked despite hating that I called myself a kid.

“When I went there there were a bunch of people at different ages, I don't think anybody will think much of it.” Scarlet genuinely seemed to believe herself, maybe she wasn't wrong.

“Well what about the uniform then? I doubt they have any in my size.” I didn't mention the fact that if I did get a uniform it'd be a girl's uniform.

“I'm sure they'll make one for you, besides I think you would look good in one.” Scarlet's compliment caused a small blush to form on my cheeks.

The compliment caused me to remember our conversation before I left, that question that made me break Scarlet's mirror. Did I want to be a girl? Of course I didn't, but since this body is a girl's, since I'm already here, why not wear what's expected of me? It's not like I'd like wearing girl clothes since I'm obviously not a girl despite how I look but I should do what's expected of me. My parents always made me wear clothes I hated especially when we went to church so I should do the same here.

“If I have to wear girl clothes then I'll wear girl clothes.” I said trying to hide how excited I felt at the prospect of wearing clothes not meant for me.

“Nobody is forcing you to do anything Mikayla.” While Scarlet was technically right I couldn't just waltz in wearing the wrong genders uniform.

“But I'm expected to wear the girl's uniform since I look like a girl.” Strangely enough as I said that it felt like a lie, as if I wanted to wear girl clothes for some reason other than doing what I need to.

“Just because you look like a girl doesn't mean you have to be a girl, back on my Earth I knew a ton of guys that looked feminine.” As Scarlet finished her words the idea of a bunch of guys wearing badly done makeup and unfitting dresses came to mind. 

I knew that wasn't what Scarlet meant but I couldn't get the thought out of my head. “I don't want to look stupid in that uniform.”

“I already said you'd look good in it. Trust me.” Scarlet smiled at me with hope inside her eyes. 

“Okay Scarlet.” What else could I do but agree? If she was wrong then she was wrong, but if she was right… The thought of looking good in that feminine uniform gave me a strangely sense of pleasure.

Looking up at the sky I reminisced on that night that Diantha taught me the constellations. She would be at the academy, I wouldn't be alone when I start going there. I knew she'd afford it somehow, maybe if she couldn't I actually would go to Diantha about Scarlet's possible entrance into the academy. The future didn't feel so daunting with people around me, especially people I liked. Inside me a strangely feeling of stillness, like everything was going to be fine. It was this weird feeling of hope, that whatever was going to happen next wouldn't be bad. Whatever this feeling was, I didn't want it to go away.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!