Destiny's Call: The tales of a foreigner in a familiar land

by Zenith Starwalker

Chapter 2: A somewhat average day in the Krystal Kingdom

Having caught up with Crystal, we continued onwards to what I assumed would be the local market place along the most immaculate and shiny crystalline streets I had ever seen. Of course, they were the only crystal paved streets I've ever seen. We walked about town in an almost painfully slow pace, at least in my opinion. I tend to fast walk wherever I go and due to my above average height, I have a pretty long stride as well. Add in my usual mantra of ‘Walk with purpose’ and I always make good time whenever I walk somewhere, but I digress.

I used the tranquil lull to ask my companion a question, “Crystal, what are those tattoos on the back of your hands called?”

‘As if I don’t know’

She looked at them and then to me “They are called Mana marks, Zenith”

‘Oh, in that case I stand corrected’

“What do they represent?” I asked, despite knowing the answer full well.

“They are something every Arcanian obtains once they come of age, or more specifically once they realize what their special talent or calling in life is” she paused for a moment, “For instance, my Mana Mark represents my keen perception into the nature of those around me” she explained.

“I see… would that make me a bland hand then?” I asked in a humored tone as I showed her my spotless backhand.
She laughed “Heavens no!” she exclaimed between chuckles, “Men don’t get their Mana Marks on their hands”

“Where do they get them then?” I curiously inquired.

“Your Mana Mark would be on your shoulder sides dear” she said as we drew closer to the marketplace.

I made a personal mental note to see if I had one of these Mana Marks later. I also noticed that I was garnering some poorly hidden stares from the locals wandering about the place. I was guessing it had something to do with me being a Valkyrian with visually distinguishable wings, which therefore made me a rarity (I mentally chuckled) compared to the general populace. Speaking of which, pretty much everybody I’ve seen so far seemed to look like normal humans; the rather exquisite array of hair colors and styles notwithstanding. I decided to ask Crystal about that.

“Hey Crystal?” She looked at me with the same cheery smile.

“What are the Arcanians without wings or the ability to cast magic called?”

“We are simply referred to as Agrarians” She replied.

“Agrarians?” She nodded to me.

“Mind telling me the etymology of that term?” I asked.

“Well… back in the times before Arcania was founded, our people were the most agriculturally gifted of the three clans due to our special connection to nature and all things that grow. In exchange for proper lighting and ideal weather conditions most conducive to growing crops, we made agreements with the skyborn and mage born clans to provide them with a good share of our harvests. Agreements that persist to this very day, although the royal sisters have taken up the role of raising and lowering the heavenly bodies” we finally reached the market right as she finished her little lecture.

“I can’t imagine that all Agrarians take up agronomic oriented duties” I spoke with a doubtful tone.

“Of course not! The name is simply a part of our heritage and therefore stayed the official designation of our clan” she explained.

“Anything else that differentiates Agrarians from the other two clans?” I asked as my final question.

“Yes… of the three, we Agrarians are the hardiest” she said with some pride in her voice.

“How so?” I asked with some intrigue.

“Generally our kind is physically the strongest and the most enduring of the three, capable of dealing with great adversity and hardship through steadfast determination and conviction” she finished as we approached one of the stands.

The marketplace itself was what you’d typically expect to see at a renaissance fair, medieval style tents with triangular flags billowing at their tips and small banners suspended on strings connecting them to other tents. The marketplace stands were set up with wooden counters at their entrances being manned by vendors selling all sorts of goods. I even spotted vendors selling the crystal berries and crystal corn on the cob from the show (why it would be called that when it looks like ordinary corn is beyond me).

However, to my slight disappointment we did not stop at any of those stands, instead we opted to visit the more practical stands selling vegetables, fruits, and even *mental gasp* meat! Something I noticed was that the market prices weren’t set (laissez-faire anyone?) and that bartering was the order of business, another thing I noticed was that Crystal had some commendable bargaining skills; understandable given her special talent, and was able to tell when someone was charging too much and even called them out on their bluffs when they claimed to have limited time offers or that they were the only vendor selling that particular product. Once a fair price was agreed upon, Crystal dispensed currency in the form of bits from a large pouch suspended at her side like some kind of medieval purse. All in all, we got a pretty good haul of groceries at a decent price in about an hour and a half of shopping and were heading back to Crystal’s while I carried the paper bags for her (apparently they don’t have plastic bags here).

"That was some pragmatic and efficient bartering you did back there, you’re a natural!” I praised Crystal to which she smiled and blushed slightly.

“Thank you Zenith, that’s very kind of you to say” she responded as we walked back to her home.

“What are the markets like back in your home?” Crystal decided to ask me.

“Well… for one there is no bargaining that has to be done” to which she looked at me in minor incomprehension.

“It’s true. In fact, the market prices are set almost uniformly throughout the nation. You simply pay the price on the tag, excluding any sales taxes or whatnot and that’s that” I finished explaining to her.

“The more you tell me about your homeland Zenith, the more fascinating it becomes to me” she said with a captivated tone.

“I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface Crystal” I looked at her with a smug expression, knowing full well just how incredible the world I originated from was.

As soon as I finished that thought though, it finally dawned on me that I was essentially in another universe and about as far away from home as I could possibly get. My cheerful expression sagged a little bit and I did my best to hide it from Crystal, thankfully she didn’t notice or if she did, realized that it would be best to not bring it up. It was about mid-afternoon by the time we reached Crystal’s house and for the most part I quelled any negative thoughts about home or how my parents were probably freaking out right now and… ‘Gah! I’m doing it again!’ We dropped off the groceries in the kitchen and Crystal went to work sorting them into either the pantry or an icebox for all the items that needed to be chilled. When she was finished, she decided to ask me something.

“Zenith?” I looked at her from my position at the kitchen table.

“Have you ever been to a jousting match?” to which I shook my head.

“Can’t say I have” I responded.

“Well I intend to change that, come with me!” she exclaimed as she grabbed my hand and led us out of the house once more.

After about ten minutes of dragging me about the kingdom, Crystal and I finally arrived at the jousting field. It was about a hundred feet in length and covered in dirt with a gem themed ‘big surprise’ wooden divider in the middle separating the tracks. There were only bleachers on one side of the field which were about eight tiers high and could probably hold a good eighty or so people. They were close to half capacity at that moment, plus a dozen or so bystanders watching from the sidelines. Crystal and I sat midway up the bleachers and spectated while the opposing knights readied their somewhat Romanesque looking armor and blunted spears before mounting their steeds to face off against another.
Feeling a little bored, I leaned towards Crystal and spoke in a conspiratorial manner.

“Hey Crystal?”

“Yes Zenith?”
“Want to liven up the event and start a chant?” I grinned at her.

She considered me for a moment before nodding.

“Then follow my lead” I told her.

I stomped twice before clapping and repeating the pattern again which Crystal soon copied, the other bystanders looked curiously at us and some even joined in. I took that moment to sing one of my favorite rock anthems.

At this point our little chant had the whole crowd pumped up and even brought in some more people who wanted to see what the hubbub was all about. The knights looked thoroughly amused by our display and put on a great show for their part, knocking each other off their horses using their blunted lances. People were blowing profusely on their crystal flugelhorns (still better than those damn vuvuzelas!) and cheering as the knights jousted against each other. And I was actually enjoying myself too, which I found odd since I rarely attended sporting events in the first place. As we left the jousting field, Crystal asked me about the chant I started, to which I replied “I saw it in a movie once” and continued walking; ignoring her confused look.

By the time we returned to Crystal’s, it was late evening and I had mostly forgotten about my earlier homesick problems ‘I’ll worry about that later’ and filed it away on my handy mental to do list. Crystal was in the kitchen setting it up to make supper when I decided to join in. I offered to prepare tonight’s dinner which surprised Crystal more than it should have in my honest opinion.

“You can cook Zenith?” She asked in a puzzled tone.

“Uhm.. yeah I know how to prepare a good number of meals” I responded.

“I just find that so odd. Since most Valkyrian males; especially men of your age don’t usually cook for themselves” She told me.

I scoffed slightly “Crystal, you’ve forgotten that I wasn’t a Valkyrian before arriving here” to which she adopted a look of remembrance on her face.

“You should also know the belief that men of any kind cannot cook for themselves is a dirty stereotype where I come from” I chided her with a smirk, to which she had the good grace to look a little embarrassed.

“Besides, I was only going to make a chicken salad. Nothing terribly complicated” I said as I shrugged and walked into the kitchen to get chopping.

Ten minutes of preparation later and we were chomping down happily on our chicken salads. I was very pleased to discover that they actually had spicy ranch sauce in Arcania which I drenched my salad with heavily while Crystal settled for balsamic vinaigrette on her salad. Both of us spent most of the meal making the usual dinnertime small talk. Crystal asking for more tidbits about home which I answered to the best of my ability while also enjoying my food. We finished our meals and I put the dishes in the sink and washed them, despite Crystal’s insistence that I was her guest and therefore should let her do them. She capitulated when I told that it was tradition where I come from for the guests to pull their own weight while staying under the roof of another. Once I was finished, I asked Crystal if she wanted to see what I was talking about earlier when I said movie to which she agreed. I ran upstairs to the guest bedroom to grab my laptop out my backpack and returned to Crystal who was sitting on the guest couch in the living room.

“What is that?” She said pointing to the object in my possession.

“This” I tapped the cover “Is my laptop computer”

She stared in awe as I flipped it open and turned it on, the screen lighting up and the accompanying welcome chime greeting us. Crystal visibly flinched at the unexpected noise which caused me to chuckle, ‘It’s like I’m in Amish country’

“What does this… laptop do?” She enquired, her eyes wide with wonder.

“A lot of things, but right now it’s going to be tonight’s entertainment” I said with a slight grin on my face, as I scrolled over to my iTunes movie list and selected ‘A Knight’s Tale’.

For the next two hours, Crystal was riveted as she watched William’s struggle against the unscrupulous Adhemar for the hand of Jocelyn and the jousting tournament championship. When our little movie session was over, she asked more about the movie itself and what kind of magic must have powered my device to be able to see into the lives of other people in such a manner. I shook my head and told her that it was merely the magic of cinematic movie making. She seemed skeptical as always but didn’t question me further. (Now for those of you who are thinking, dinner and a movie? What’s your angle? I am reminding you that I am most definitely NOT flirting with a woman who’s probably more than ten years my senior)

It was getting pretty late so Crystal and I decided to retire for the night, I used that moment before we entered our separate rooms to thank her for looking after me while I was incapacitated. She responded by hugging me (much to my awkward discomfort) and said she would have done it for anybody who needed help before heading into her room and leaving me standing there in the hall with a perplexed look on my face. I shrugged to myself before entering my room and collapsing into my comfy bed, out like a light.