Issue 10-The More You Learn...[Part 1]
It had been a few days’ trip from their start at Dodge Junction, and were they any other type of species it would have probably taken them much longer to get here. However, these three broad and hardy individuals had the benefits of being Minotaurs. They had the advantage of being able to travel with these wagons full of junk at a steady pace across this desert climate like an afternoon jog. Due to their immense strength and stamina, it was ideal to have a team such as them pull such a heavy load a long distance. It was a really substantial cargo indeed for word had reached the town that Clutter Coulee was more than willing to triple the usual scrap load sent their way. Being so eager to have a place willing to deposit the refuge from their developing town, they eagerly hired the Minotaur team to deliver it posthaste.
For the three minotaurs pulling it, this meant having two full wagons that two would pull while the third pushed. The distance and heft of the loads gave them some leeway for breaks, which they were only so earnest to take their time with. They were in no hurry, for they knew the junkyard dog who owned the place and how much of a patsy she was since it was just her and that pup most of the time. What’s the worse she could do? Sit on them?
When they finally arrived to their destination, their leader couldn’t help put to raise an eye at the state of the place. Sure Clutter Coulee was a dump, but it looked like it had gone through a tornado, explosion, and Ursa Major Rampage at the same time. The walls were nearly threadbare and missing gaps, while the shacks he could see inside had hastily hammered over coverings that where plain to see. Even the piles of junk looked like they had been placed in the ringer. There was no gate at the entrance so they didn’t bother announcing themselves; not like they ever did before.
Normally their jobs entailed ensuring the junk pile they carried was properly organized as a part of their service. But that was more work than they were willing to bother with, so why start the trend now?
“This place looks more like a dump than usual!” The lead Minotaur said as he tugged on the straps of his overalls as he surveyed the greater mess the place of refuse was. He then looked to his similarly dressed companions and gave his orders. “Let’s hurry it up fellas! The sooner we dump this lot, the sooner we can enjoy our time off while heading home!”
The rest cheered at that news as they just began dumping the wagon’s load haphazardly at the busted gates of Clutter Coulee. That is until their whooping and hollering caught the attention of its owner who rushed to meet them as fast as her shorter paws could carry her steps.
“Oh no! Like I told you dunderheads many times before, you dump that there junk into its proper piles!” Bo barked as she saw that once again these junk delivers were making a mess that would make more work for herself and her crew.
The head Minotaur just waved her away uncaringly. He had a good couple heads of height over the junkyard dog, so he knew she wasn’t much of a threat to him and his teammates. “Oh stow it! Just be glad we are even giving you this scrap to work with for your cruddy place.”
The others nodded in agreement with one even vocalizing, “Yeah, so quit your yapping and just let us do our job so you can get on with yours!”
That did nothing to get Bo to back down. Instead it made her angrier. “I’m warning y’all, the three fools I sees better be busy fixing their mistake or else!”
The lead bullheaded lummox laughed at the threat instead of taking it seriously. “Or else, what? You gonna sic your sister on us?”
“Or some skinny armed pony that you tired out?” The third jeered with the full innuendo intended.
The three of them laughed at that, which only further shortened the fuse of Bo’s temper. Before she could even take a step to prepare a swing at them, business practices be dammed, another voice spoke out.
“You wish she would. Unfortunately, both are currently busy, so I shall have to suffice.”
The minotaurs stopped their guffawing as a new face steeped into her view.
This was someone they had never seen as part of Bo’s crew nor expecting to encounter in their lives. Dressed up in a similar set of overalls as the Diamond dog and a buttoned up shirt to match. She didn’t fill them out a fully as Bo so she didn’t have the stoutness of her figure, but she certainly had her beat in height and presence due to the other details of her form: greenish scales, leathery wings, and a long rigid tail. Everything was prominently at display as she crossed her arms and stared displeased at her similarly dressed companion. Clearly she wasn’t amused at these junk suppliers’ attitude toward Clutter Coulee’s owner.
“What was that? Sorry, it’s a bit hard to hear you over my friend’s stomach rumbling. It’s been some time since she ates a decent meal in these parts besides my tasty Beef chili.” Bo sardonically asked with a paw raised to her ear. “So woulds you care to rephrase that?”
Seeing the dragoness lick her lips and give a glint of her teeth at that, the minotaurs immediately blanched and changed their tune into one with more frantic humility.
“We meant to say we would be happy to get it in order!” said the head of the trio. “Right fellas?”
The other minotaurs were quick to nod their heads.
Bo seemed to perk her mood up at that as she spryly replied, “Well good! See that you gets those piles done before I change my minds about whats I’m cooking today! Take care now!”
Bo then walked away wiith a pertly sway to her steps. The dragoness moved to follow, but not before making a ‘watching you’ gesture with her clawed fingers before joining her friend in a stern conversation. When they reached out of earshot of the now frenzied workers the pair of them finally let go of their austerity and laughed at how much of a joke they played on the rude minotaurs!
On a nearby roof of one of the shacks, Ethan saw the two amused at the hastily working junk crew and how they were now busy pointing out their mistakes which they were all too eager to correct under the gaze of the Owner and her new draconic friend.
“So woulds Miss Tsavorite really eats them?” Asked Norah who was looking at them as well while messing with a couple of stuffed animals.
“Of course not!” Ethan said, but thought, ‘At least I hope not!’
Normally he wouldn't doubt his friend and servant, but just recently he found a startling secret about her.
[}0{]
It was after the battle against the Desert Ash Pack. Evening was approaching and everyone was doing their part to get dinner ready knowing they would need the meal to refresh themselves after quite the auspicious day. While the duties of food preparation mostly fell on Bo, with the assistance of Norah and Trixie, the actual setting of the cooking pots and utensils came to Ethan and Tsavorite.
Ethan, who was outside his Mysterio suit (much to the shock and stares of his compatriots of how he looked in simple clothes), was busy setting up the wood for the pile. Unfortunately, Bo could not find the matches she used the night before as Clutter Coulee was still a bit of a mess from the raiders’ earlier assault. He was gazing about in hoping of finding something to light it up until it occurred to him that he was struggling at setting up a cooking fire with a dragon! A dragon who he could not recall breathing fire the entire time he’s known her! Suspicious of that factoid, he eased the question to her. “Say Tsavorite, couldn't you simply light this pile with just a breath?”
The dragoness stumbled a bit at the pots and stands she carried as the question was asked of her. “Um…well, Lord Mysterio, there is an issue with that…”
“Now that you mention it, Trixie can't recall you breathing one bout of flame while we were getting captured earlier!” Trixie stopped her task of chopping vegetables as she too realized that one of her new acquaintances was supposed to be a fire spewing dragon. “Did you forget you could breathe flame?!”
“No! I didn't forget!”
“Then what's the problem? A few bursts of fire could have made this whole problem be solved faster without ya boss’ mumbo jumbo!” Bo asked with a bit of bite. She was vigorously chopping meat (which Ethan hoped was domestic and not sapient now that he considered it) as she also realized that the battle could have gone a bit easier.
Tsavorite took that comment personally. It might not have been intended, but it implied that she forced Mysterio to act because she was very unwilling to dirty her own claws as it were.
“It wasn't as if I wouldn't have used them in the end! The breath I create takes a great deal of strength out of me and I had already spent it facing a good number of those brutes. Also they muzzled me before I could let it lose! Had I even been given the chance, it would still be too great a risk for us all even with that pack taking the brunt of it. My flames are too hungry to consider who’s in the crossfire!”
“Are they that hot?” Ethan pondered aloud at that choice of description. For he recalled many instances in fantasy of super-hot flames that could consume all they touched because they burned at such an intense heat.
“Not quite the way I would describe it. Perhaps a demonstration…” She glanced about before finding a suitable target to test her ability upon. “Miss Bo, which pile is stuff you want to get rid of for good?”
Bo quickly made a decision seeing the glint in the dragoness’ eye on the many remaining piles of scrap and refuge nearby. “The one on the left. Over yonder!”
“Watch carefully, everyone!” Tsavorite cautioned as she took a deep breath. When she swallowed enough air she opened her jaws and a glint of light emitted from her throat before she exhaled an outbreak of greenish flames. When they covered the pile it was like a greenish cascade of tongues over the rubbishy surface. The dragoness then ceased her attack as she started to catch her breath again as it seemed the outburst took a bit out of her. Ethan could almost swear she looked a bit leaner after utilizing her flames, but before he could consider that, Tsavorite pointed to the pile, “See how my flames react to what they touch?”
Everyone looked at how the pile of refuse was burning away. Only it wasn’t burning away as one would expect. It was rather dissolving like it was under the duress of something corrosive instead of burning hot. It took a few minutes but when the pile was fully melted, it left a still burning mist like moss as the only remains.
“Ain't never seen no fire eats junk like that! It even took away part of the nearby stones!” Bo remarked as she was astonished at the fire Tsavorite conjured.
“Uh-uh!” Norah agreed as she stared in awe at the way the scrap pile dissolved in the light.
Trixie said nothing, but her wide eyed stare was enough convey how she would reconsider her plans to deal with her rival for Mysterio’s attention.
‘Have I?’ Ethan thought as he felt there was a sense of something familiar about the green flames eating the pile as it did. But where could he had possibly seen a dragon breathing acidic flames before in his life? It was impossible to consider, so he let the matter go for now. Besides, it seemed the dragoness wasn’t done with her demonstration as she leaned down until she was at eye level with the remains and did something even more unexpected: She began to suck them up!
It was practically a green pond of brilliant emerald tongues in a misty cloud that appeared toxic to breathe in let alone touch. Yet Tsavorite drank and drank until it was all gone from the eye and down her gullet. When she was finally done, she wiped her mouth as she addressed all the wide eyed stares at what she just did.
“Pardon me! It’s the only way to keep them from spreading wild that I know of. Plus, I would hate to waste food like that!” She bashfully covered her mouth as she stifled a hiccup.
“So Miss Dragon Lady can eats garbage, just like that’s?!” Norah gaped with a wince. Even one who grew up with junk found the idea of eating garbage disgusting.
“Well no, I do not eat trash…but I can break down things like I do gems. Although I would much prefer a good amount of them like I keep in my hoard, I suppose I can make do with this useless metal. These scraps are basically minerals anyways, so I get the full nutritional value from them as well as killing off any bacteria.” She nodded as if that made more sense. “I hope that is not a rude request that I ask to partake more in these piles later?”
Everyone could only blink owlishly at that. It seemed that any counter argument was either pointless due to the little sense it made to refuse, or that they dared not to admit the logic in what she just asked and make sense of it.
So Bo broke the silence with a hesitant, “I suppose it woulds be rude to makes certain one of my guests was nots being fed properly. So longs as you asks first, I can allows it.”
“Most splendid!” Tsavorite grinned as she went to work on a similarly discarded pile and began cooking it for her feast. Seemed she would be enjoying her meal a little earlier than the rest of them.
“Of course you better note I’ll be watching the fine silverwares from nows on!” Bo sharpely addressed to Ethan before muttering, “And consider this going into your tabs for all the headaches y’alls been givings me!”
Ethan was too transfixed by the sight of his draconic companion converting garbage into an edible plasma. What concerned him the most was the look on her face when she completed the task of eating the entire flaming substance. It was only for a moment, but he could tell it was not satisfaction one would have after consuming such a substantial amount. It was more than lingering hunger, too. It was a hungry gaze that called for something, but what it demanded was something more primal that she feared to satiate and that fear was felt by Ethan as well.
[}0{]
Ethan shook his wandering thoughts as he felt they weren't that necessary or wanted right now. At any rate, he at least felt Tsavorite seem to be eating well enough now. Bo was surprisingly more open to the idea of Tsavorite consuming the unwanted scrap metal as part of her daily intake seeing that some of this metal was just too junky and broken down to be of any other use than to make bigger piles. Instead, he joked to himself, that it was going into making a bigger dragoness! Already he could tell that she was slowly beginning to fit better in Bo’s discarded hand-me-downs and was now another foot taller. Clearly she was being well fed like he swore to her, so he doubted he really had much to worry about her in that regard. Right?
Anyhow, Tsavorite seemed to becoming pretty close friends with Bo. While he didn’t pay much attentions to their discussions, albeit overhearing them seemed to indicate some talk over purities and uses of certain metals and the best ways to find gemstones, he felt happy that they seemed to be getting along pretty well. The dragoness seemed to be getting along fine with her pup sister as well. Young Norah kept asking for flying lessons, and details for how big her hoard was and its location, which she swore was for curiosities sake and definitely not for stealing reasons!
He wished it could be said the same for Trixie, but despite their polite conversations, they didn’t seem to get along that well at times. In particular, the dragoness gave a smoky snort at how his new apprentice too regarded him as ‘Master Mysterio’.
New apprentice. Now that was another thing to add to his list of unexpected events in his life. Sure, that list included a great deal of content of things he had also learned about his comrades, but having a Blue unicorn-woman ask him of all beings to teach magic was a gold star on the spreadsheet. Trixie was eager to learn from him, yet impatient to how he taught. To be fair, she immediately assumed that the ‘great sorcerer’ would be imparting to her a multitude of spells to add to her magical repertoire. The day after she made her oath of apprenticeship, she got up bright and early at the crack of dawn thinking she would be utilizing her spell work to its fullest potential. She was prepared to cast spells that would conjure great beasts, or unleash devastating occurrences upon her enemies!
Instead, she discovered that her teacher was starting her from beyond a beginner’s level, and would not be using magic until, as he put it, “properly prepared to perform his type of conjurations”. So here she was, sitting at a table with his deck of playing cards trying to succeed in naming each card she would draw without an iota of magic being used. To a unicorn this was nearly demeaning if not infuriating!
“3 of Diamonds!” She called out with her eyes clenched, hoping to finally achieve a streak of five cards in a row! Her teacher promised an actual spell to practice if she could achieve fifteen, but considering the days she spent doing this, she'd never get it at this rate! Opening her eyes, she looked at the card,
“Dammit!”
And saw it was the 4 of Hearts!
She slammed it onto the table as she crossed her arms and pouted, “This is impossible! What this has to do with magic, Trixie doesn't know, but she is certainly feeling more foalish with every attempt at this!”
Ethan saw how annoyed she was, so he came down from his perch and headed to his apprentice (still strange as it was to call her that in his head, but considering his life now!) and figured it was time to get her to understand why he was making her do this for reasons beyond hiding his current nonexistent magical abilities.
“So is my apprentice really going to give up?” He asked to garner her attention and trying not to laugh at how embarrassed she looked at realizing he was watching her efforts. “Or are you just going to give up believing that you are learning anything?”
“Trixie doesn't want to give up! But this is ridiculous! Trixie already knows cards tricks! She could make any card she wants to appear in her hands!” she said as she used her magic to levitate the cards to her hands to shuffle them. Only to have Ethan swipe them from the air and start going through them to be certain all 52 were there.
“That's not the point, Trixie! The point is you must learn one of the most fundamental aspects of magic.” He lectured as he shuffled them intricately, while noting for himself their order.
“Which do you refer to?” She asked as she noted how well he shuffled cards with his hands despite having an extra digit on each more than her. The young man tilted his head as if pondering to give her the answer before deciding to hand her the deck back to prove his point.
“How about a test to see if you pick it up?” He said as he crossed his arms and patiently stood still. “Here they are, now shuffle them in your hands, without magic.”
It almost made her blush, were his look not so determined seeing him watch her shuffle the cards. Each motion she made was carefully played before her audience of one. For even though this wasn’t a stage, she felt that she was performing and under great scrutiny for her ability to captivate her audience. It was a fleeting sensation, and one that she felt was over too soon when finally, she finished and held out that deck in her palm and readied herself for the next step.
“Now draw the one on top without showing me, and I will call it.” Ethan directed as she motioned to do what she was told. He could not see the card with its back facing him, but he declared its depiction as if he knew for certain. “The card you are holding is the 7 of Clubs.”
‘Lucky guess.’ Trixie thought as she looked and saw that it was in fact that card.
Ethan didn’t hesitate as he commanded her to draw again. “Now the next one. That one is the 9 of Hearts.”
Trixie drew it and saw that the call was right, too.
“Again! 3 of Spades.”
So was that one.
“Jack of Diamonds.”
And that one.
“5 of Spades.”
And that one!
“4 of hearts.”
And that one!!
“10 of hearts.”
And THAT ONE!!!
“8 of clubs.” Ethan widened a grin at how Trixie was looking more flustered with every card he called correctly without giving any indication as to how he knew. “I can keep going, if you want.”
Trixie dropped the deck onto the table as she stared intently at her teacher. “How? Are you using magic to read my mind? Is there an illusion you cast on the deck when Trixie wasn’t looking? Did you hypnotize me into thinking I am seeing what you are saying?”
Ethan blew a raspberry at those accusations. As childish as it was to do, it was enough to snap the near frenzied mare out of her state. Plus, as much as he could have done those things (being Mysterio after all), that wasn’t the key to this trick and more importantly the lesson.
“Hardly! A magician never reveals his secrets, but this one is something you need the train in: memorization!” He started picking up the cards that were dropped and shuffled them, only now being more piercing with how he was glancing over each one as he shuffled. “In that one instance of shuffling, I memorized the order and paid attention to the motions of the cards shifting. At my level, it is a breeze to know what every card in that deck is and where each one stands at any given time.”
“Any card?” Trixie asked. Ethan leaned the new deck to her so she could draw the top one, which she did.
“You just drew the Ace of Hearts, didn't you?” He smirked as if it was really a question.
“…Yes!” Trixie stammered as she recognized that the gap between her and her new master’s level of skill was fathoms more than she previously thought. Seeing her dejected look, he decided to provide some words of comfort to make her less discouraged.
“Trixie, I am not trying to to baby you. What I am showing you is how I learned things like control and tactics. Things that I am certain are expected to be picked on during your own personal exploration than practical magic, which I promise we will get to eventually! You just have to be patient and trust me, you’ll get it!” He patted a hand on her shoulder as he let out a light laugh. “I can tell because you wouldn't find it so boring if it was too difficult to understand, right?”
The unicorn looked brighter at that acknowledgement. “Right!”
“Good! Now just keep at it! Your goal is to know 10 cards as you draw them. If you can do this, I will begin teaching you more sleight of hand. Maybe even a few card tricks of my own that you probably never heard of!”
The apprentice’s good mood faltered a bit at that news. “But..!”
Only to have her complaint stopped by a raised pointer of Ethan’s. “And what did we agree on?”
Trixie huffed as she tried not to pout after being given recognition by her teacher. “You're teaching Trixie magic as you were taught!”
“Correct! Like I said, my magical knowledge is different than yours. But trust that what you will learn will help you become the ‘Great and Powerful’ Trixie you claim to be!” He handed her back the deck. “Remember, sometimes it isn’t so much what cards you are dealt, but ensuring you can control what’s being played. Keep at it, you’re doing fine!”
He decided to part away from Trixie, seeing as she was now looking more determined to meet her quota. Hopefully he pulled enough of a charade that she actually learned things from him. He would hate to disappoint her too with how he wasn’t quite the spell caster she thought he was.
“Seems that there is more to magic than simple chanting and expanding energy.” A voice interrupted his musings. He turned to see Tsavorite standing nearby, apparently watching his interactions with his apprentice. “Although I suppose there must be otherwise everyone could perform it with no hesitation.”
“I suppose some are better at it than others, but there are some things than should be learned before further deepening into the studies. As with most things.” He unintentionally had been avoiding her lately, Ethan realized. Perhaps it was an indirect sense of caution he felt with learning a bit more about her; knowing that even now she still had more secrets. But how could he consider her his friend if he wasn’t even willing to make small talk with her? “So, you have an ability that lets you get away with eating a lot more than gems, huh?”
“Yes. Does that worry you, Master Mysterio?”
‘Yes, I actually does!’ He thought, but instead waved his hand in dismissal, “No, no! Of course not! It’s a very impressive ability! Although, there goes my plans of having a barbecue over dragon fire, lest you’d be the only one dining!”
He joked, hoping she wouldn’t take that as an insult, but she took it in stride as she felt more comfortable speaking to him once more. “Surely a great sorcerer such as yourself could cook a grander meal than I ever could with his magical skill?”
“Bah! Consider one of my weaknesses reveled; I can’t use kitchen magic to save my life! I am stuck using the cookware like any mortal man!” He dramatically sighed as he ruminated on how at most he could cook pastas and flip burgers, but fine dining would forever elude his comprehension. He changed topics to hide his perceptible embarrassment. “I don’t suppose dragons can use magic, can they?”
Tsavorite chewed a lip at the question, mulling it over at first on how to properly convey the words. “Dragons have a magic of their own since were are considered by many to be living forces of nature. Albeit, I personally will never be able to cast spells like the unicorns and other naturally proficient species could. Still, I suppose it is not that hard to pick up on things to at least understand them especially with how much experience I have gained in my lifetime.”
“Sounds like you might know some interesting skills to practice from years of observation.” Before he could stop himself, the question popped out from his lips. “Dare I ask, how old are you?”
He was expecting her to reveal a birthday not far from his own. What he got made him rethink another bit about how he saw Tsavorite and her draconic nature, as well as dragons in general!
“I am not that far from the first half of my first century. Perhaps a decade more, give or take a summer?” She seemed most unsure of the specifics, as if it was no big deal to forget perhaps a decade of time!
‘She’s fifty or sixty?! But she seems my age, or only a year or two older than I am at most!’ To think she spoke of it like it was not that far from turning twenty-one. Ethan himself wasn't even old enough to drink, yet this female friend was old enough to share drinks with his grandparents!
A burst of laughter interrupted their conversation as the two came to realize that their conversation was being overheard by others. Trixie in particular was still shuffling her cards, but seemed to find Tsavorite’s age particularly humorous.
“Well, I suppose we should respect our elders!” Trixie smirked. “You are probably filled with wisdom, And Trixie being a mere twenty-two summers old will have much more time to learn!”
Tsavorite seemed to flush a bit at that as a tick developed in her eye. But before she could quip back at the mare, Bo decided to make her presence known by doing it for her.
“That still makes you just an upstart, Trixie! Though I don't like pointing it out, I may as wells. I’m around 26 summers, not that much older than yous, dumb mare. Not sure if that’s the same as our Doggie calendars, though.” Bo sighed. ‘After all, No one wants to hear how their maiden days are goings aways!’
Norah just heard a mention of ages and thought it had to do with preparing a birthday party! So she leapt from her place on the roof of a shack as if it was no big deal, and hurried to tell her own age in hopes that maybe it would lead to so good treats when the time came.
“I’m 9 and a half summers!” She proudly declared to everyone, before pointing dramatically at the other females present. “When I am 10s, I will finally gets to be respected like you older ladies!”
‘Older?!’ The other three twitched at the child’s choice of wording. It seemed to draw the knife in further when she spoke it with such chipper youthfulness.
“What about you, Boss Mysterio?” Norah asked with blissful ignorance to the sour mood she caused. “As a Sorcery guy, you must be very old to be as powerful as you are!”
‘What does age have to do with being powerful in magic?’ He thought before considering all the prime example of magic users that were impressive in fantasy: Gandalf, Dumbledore, Yen Sid...it seemed they all were well into their maturity as he concluded with, ‘Then again, how many powerful sorcerers gave in to the long bearded look?’
“Sadly, that is not very true. I am still in the youthful phase of my life. Not quite sure if our calendars match up, but I am twenty years old.”
Everyone else just stared at him. Norah looked at him in childish wonderment at how he was twice as old as her, while the others had their own reasons for being incredulous at that tidbit of information.
‘He’s even younger than I and still a Master of the craft!’ Trixie thought before internally gasping. ‘Wait! Does this mean that…it is Trixie who is …the mature one in this matchup?!’
‘Goodness! To achieve much in such a short amount of time! I will have to work harder to match his impressive standards!’ Tsavorite thought with determination after the shock of how much younger her chosen lord was than her. ‘I will have to double my efforts to show him I am more than capable of meeting them!’
‘This young chump is going to be in charge?’ Bo was heatedly flummoxed. ‘Well, tan my fur, he better be real smart or so help me I’m taking Norah and just boltin’ for the nearest proper settlement!’
Norah however was just amazed at the revelation for other reasons. ‘Wow! He’s twice as old as me! Like are all magic uses at least that older?’
‘Wow, they all seemed so surprised to hear that. Maybe I should’ve lied and said twenty-five?’ Ethan thought as he took noticed the looks he was receiving for such an admission. ‘Still is it really that surprising?’
Oh if only he knew!
[}0{]
Much later from that awkward situation, Ethan was busing himself with another important item on his agenda. For after the debacle with the Desert Ash pack, he had been trying to figure a way to head back to base camp. Even if he were to get more supplies to make the journey with Tsavorite across the skies once again, and assuming he would even risk flight again, he still had to factor in three new traveling companions. Even just taking Trixie wouldn’t be an option any more, for Bo adamantly informed him how despite saving her life and that of her dear sister, he still had a tab to pay.
So naturally, the first step was to establish what kind of working affiliation he had with the Dog sisters. To do that, he spent the day formulating a contract. Using parchment and ink, he spent the past few days in his spare time drafting and writing one that would benefit the both of them working together. It wasn’t as wordy as the ones he knew of back home, and since he was not a lawyer, he doubted it was airtight. But at the very least it was a sign that he treated them like proper business associates which seemed to be more than what most of this world’s inhabitants were willing to do. Hopefully they took it well that he worded the terms that he did.
Surprisingly they didn’t, but not for what was written but how it was written as he came to discover another secret about himself.
“What in Tartarus are you tryin’ to pulls here!?” Bo barked after perusing the documents for a good minute. She had first been astonished to see Mysterio come up with such a thing as a matter of respect, but after seeing it with a spot for her and Norah to sign, she felt angered at being treated like a poor sucker!
“Well I understand the wording might be a bit complex, but I tried to present it plainly so-”
“Then why’d you write it in this confounded script!? Why not something that can actually be read so I can knows you aint trying a double-cross or three on us!?”
“I’m sorry?” Ethan pursed his mouth closed at that before going over it in his head. “Wait! You can’t read this?”
“You’re darn right better be!” Bo simmered incessant at the contract. “And to think you would try such a low down scam as to write it in some unknown script-”
But Ethan interrupted as he firmly gathered the contract. “This writing here! You can’t read this?”
Bo was about to extend her tirade, but seeing the serious look Ethan was giving at the question she stopped and cooled off her fury. “Well, no, I can’t read it.”
“Tsavorite, Trixie, come over here for a moment!” Ethan called out, not caring that the two were eavesdropping the whole time to watch this business unfold. The two rushed to his request as he held out the contract towards the two of them. “I want you to tell me what this paper says.”
The two skimmed the pages as best as they could, but it only was a minute into it that Trixie was the first to break the silence. “Trixie can’t understand it! It’s not in Equestrian, and not in any old magical script she recognizes.”
“I am afraid I cannot read it either. It’s not any form of Draconian script or other language I’ve encountered.” Tsavorite sighed as well, disappointed that she too was not much help.
“Well it certainly aint Doggie Script! So what’s going on here!?” Bo asked.
Ethan just brooded over the contract as he took it into his own hands. The words were to him plain as day in plainer English. Suddenly, it occurred to him what may have been happening, but he needed to test it.
“Ok, I need each of you to write this sentence in every language you know: ‘Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs’. Can each of you do that for me?” He asked as he gave each of them a back of a page to work with as he hurried to acquire the writing utensils he worked with.
“But what does that-” Trixie started to ask.
“Trust me! I hope to God I am wrong!” He shouted back as he went to get the ink to work with.
When he came back he found four individuals giving worried glances, but willing to do his request and so each of them took turns writing that sentence. What he hoped to find was that there would be a collection of glyphs and letters he had never seen before.
Instead he found a collection of sentences, albeit in different sized fonts, but all written the same:
Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.
Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.
Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.
Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.
Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.
Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.
Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.
“GOD DAMMIT!!” Ethan roared as he ripped the papers in furious anger. It was more than adequately expressed for the others flinched in fear at him doing something worse with his magic. But instead he just slammed his head down onto the table and mumbled furiously at himself.
Seeing that he may not conjure something in his anger, Tsavorite braced herself as the first to approach the human, hoping her dragon genetics would be enough to withstand his potential lashing out. “Master-”
“Please don’t start with that now, Tsavorite!” Ethan lifted his head to look at her. “I just came to realize that I am cursed!”
“Cursed?” Trixie asked as she kept behind Tsavorite as a shield.
“Yes, cursed! For you see, everything you all write and say is plan to understand for me, and that should be good.” He flippantly waved his arms before slamming them on the tabletop again. “Except nothing besides the words from my own mouth can be understood by others!”
He recalled as he was looking over the documents, the time he sent flying and hearing Tsavorite hum the words to the song ‘Fly in the Freedom’ and how she said:
“I am not sure of its name. Only that it was playing on that ‘eye-fone’ of yours when you lent it to me last. I really enjoy it if it is.”
The song has its title written on the iPhone screen, and the lyrics themselves are part of the refrain! How would she not know it was that if she was clearly singing it…Unless the words she was singing were not some that she herself usually spoke!
“Let me guess, right now we are all speaking some foreign tongue that pertains mostly to the ponies or something, right?” Ethan rubbed his temples as everyone looked incredulously at him.
“Of course! We are speaking normal Equestrian right now!” Trixie stated. “It is the primary language of the realm after all!”
“So if I asked Bo and Tsavorite to say something in their native tongues, because I doubt they grew up on speaking the language of ponies their entire lives, what would happen?” He pointed a finger at the two. “Go on, try it?”
The two were hesitant to do as asked, but seeing the glare Ethan was starting to give, they both complied posthaste.
“What would you like me to say, my lord?” Tsavorite said, only this time her voice came out in a hardier tone than her usual vocal pitch.
“This is too crazy for me to deal with!” Bo replied, only it seemed her lips were not matching the sounds she was making. “I swear, if you can understand this, then I am most impressed with your capabilities at linguistics!”
“Then be impressed, Bo!” Ethan gave a sarcastic laugh at seeing the Diamond Collie’s eyes widen and Tsavorite looking worried as he met her gaze. “And really, Tsavorite, you can say whatever you want so long as you don’t mind that I can hear it!”
He laid his head down as he tried not to break down further. “Because I can understand everyone and everything, but it looks like nothing in this world can understand me!”
[}0{]
The Quidam closed the book he had been reading as he thought long and hard about that last line read. Even he a being as grand and nearly infinite as he felt a little iota of sorrow due to his empathy for the displaced young man.
<Is that what you really think? That there is nothing in that world that can understand you?> The headless one pondered as he looked at the table set for tea. Only this time, in this inner world he appeared to get the gist of something not seen before. For it was a study room set up for a nice luncheon after a study session in this chamber with walls the color green. Thus far only he was present and he was but an entity intruding upon the scene. Where were the guests? Where was the host? Not here that’s for sure!
<This place could use a bit more enlivening up. You could use more livening up!> He twiddled his blue bowler hat. <Well, I considered you ready to take the next step! So if nothing in This World can understand you, then perhaps Something from Another? Perhaps that will help you cheer up from this depressing down turn?>
He gazed at the crack in space that was set over the table. Only instead of being in a tea cup, the Quidam set it on a tea pot. He then picked up said pot and seeing it stick to the vessel, poured himself a few cup of tea and set them at different spots.
Yet with each pour, instead of hot water, out came a different object from another place in time and space.
<I normally am not one to boast, but I think this time I can be a most welcoming host!> He grabbed a cup at random, not really caring about the token that was in it at tossed it into his bowler hat where it disappeared into a glowing portal. <Now shall we see, what our dear Mysterio does when another Displaced comes for tea?>
[}0{]
Ethan just wanted to be alone. He would apologize to his companions in time, but for now he just wanted to take a bit of a stroll away from it all. He wouldn’t wander the desert on his own without proper protection, so once again he was Mysterio! The Master of Arcane Disaster!
‘Even that title is too pompous for me!’ he thought as he looked up at the sky. Night was approaching. Soon the stars would be blinking into view almost instantaneously. ‘And another thing, Kingdom Hearts hard it wrong! This sky looks nothing like the one back home at all!’
The first one appeared, slowly followed by others in a sequence. Ethan jokingly focused on the first as he hammily went into a soliloquy.
“Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have this wish I wish tonight.”
'I wish I had a way to get off this crazy train!' He wanted to shout, but knew nothing would come of it. Except for that star to suddenly come crashing down in front of him…wait, what!?
“Mother FU-!!!” He dove out of the way as the thing impacted the surface. It was a fiery shockwave that gave off an earsplitting shatter. Mysterio 's cloak was wrapped tightly around Ethan like a cocoon, before it unraveled to reveal him panting in the domed helmet. As he was sprawled on the ground, he gave himself a minute to compose himself before standing up and dusting his outfit. “Way to answer that request, Universe!"
The young man in a super villain's facade tirade ended as his attention was drawn to the object in the crater. Whatever it was, it gave off a hum as if calling out to him.
“Well now, I suppose I better see what insanity fate has decided to present me with this time!” He murmured as he approached the object, not fully comprehending just what had been sent his way: A gamble for salvation, or another hazard to his sanity!
[}0{]
[TO BE CONTINUED…]
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Right. Didn't they turn him into a necrophiliac pedophile demon (!) or something, because a glory hound prepared to kill for fame and wealth just wasn't 'edgy' enough during the nineties?
Still, color me intrigued. I've had some serious LoHAV fatigue lately, but that one line made me curious enough to give this a whirl.
sweet job, glad to see you around again, cant wait for the next chapter
Okay, loved this chapter. It was nice to see Bo and Tsavorite become friends and learning about Tsavorite's corrosive fire was amazing. The tidbit about Ethan teaching Trixie card trick was entertaining, but the best part was the girls' reactions to learning Ethan's age and that Norah considers the rest of the girls to be old. Ethan discovering that nobody can understand his language was sad, but I do feel happy that he's going to be visited by a Displaced. Question, is the Displaced that's going to visit be a crossover one or another OC you created? If it's an OC, I recommend Harry Dresden.
Oh, I guess mine is next then huh?
Another great chapter
I can think of one other displaced with similar linguistics issues. Was the author Flutter is shy or Flutterpriest? I know he did stories with 'Nemo King of Slumberland' and their displaced take on the Manga 'The Gamer.'
7577017 Yes he is.
7577017
7577189
Pffffttt! Only because he lacks superpowers of his own! And that Spider-man's rogues gallery includes high powers(Sandman, Electro,Doctor Doom), maniac muderers( Green Gonlin, Carnage), and crime bosses(Kingpin, Tombstone, Silvermane). Mysterio is one of the Trickster class Villains like Chameleon and Tinkerer.
Still to this day, very underatted, in my opinion!
7577421 I agree. I didn't mean to make it sound like he's a bad villain, I personally like him. It's just that he isn't utilized as much as other non-powered Spidey villains like Dr. Octopus, Vulture, Scorpion, Shocker, Kraven the Hunter, Chameleon, etc. Then there's the fact that last I checked Quentin Beck is dead and no one picked up his mantel.
So the Dragoness can make things to go and eat it? That's kinda handy, a bit gross, but handy.
7571564
Not yet, but I am getting there...eventually!
7577635
No worries! Glad you and everyone else seems to like the story so far.
Trixie being the mature one in their relationship? That I have to see!
corrections
I have been really enjoying this so far, here to hoping the quality of this fic continues.
8409556
Well thank you!
8409556
It's truly universal !
had.