11.

Tony.

Smack. The man’s fist struck my face. I saw him wince, but he hid it well. “Get out of here, filth, you don’t belong.” He closed the distance between us again, ready at strike another punch. “Leave” he said, mustering as much authority as he could in his voice. I eyed him. He wore nothing that said he was a mage, but he must have been one, to know I’m human. In any case, racism was still a thing anywhere I went. And it was funny the amount of scorn they had for my kind. Hell, we don’t even know you exist. I smirked and turned back to what I was doing and grabbed the sack filled with fruits. “I’ll be gone as soon as I get what I came here to do.”, I said, acting indifferent to the man, knowing he would get angry and try to hit me again. Well, he would try... “How much is all this?”, I asked the shocked girl that had handed me the bag and flushed when I smiled at her.

“I... it’s four Jorn.”, She blurted out. I studied her as I took out the pouch X had given me. She had full, rosy cheeks, a pair of blood red lips that contrasted against her almost pale white skin. I couldn’t see her hair, buy I saw wisps of jet black hair from under her scarf. Her eyes were golden brown, like two twin suns. Two shy twin suns, anyways, cause she kept fluttering her eyelids. She was slim, I noticed, but not too slim, cause I saw the hint of a well rounded backside. Her waist was thin, I could see that from the way she tied a cord around her waist.

My eyes moved up to her boobs and they were just the right size, from what I could see. I took her in as I reached into the bag and brought about a circular metallic object. It had intricate runes carved into it manually and it glowed when she brought out a similar object. She tapped the rune and it latched onto mine, as if pulled magnetically. A few moments later, it released it and she told me I had paid.

“So..like a POS then?” I joked, but she didn’t get it. Well duh. I turned to leave and saw that the man that punched me had some friends now. Great, more alien racists. I walked towards them and paused a few feet away. I could fly away and avoid trouble, but no way I was going to be chased away by some bearded drunks. I opened my portal and threw the sack in. “Listen, we can do this in two ways, the painful way, or the less painful way, where only your pride is hurt, your choice.” I continued to walk past them and was shoved back. It felt like nothing, but I allowed them push me back. The painful way it is. I removed my first limiter and was about to slam my foot into the first man’s face when something pulled him away. A tan, slender hand. I followed the hand to a face that looked at me with annoyance. And green eyes, deep green eyes.

“Oh hey, Míriel”, I said, my foot inches away from the man’s face. She wasn’t wearing her cloak today, but a skin-tight jumpsuit. Her red hair was packed neatly in a bun and I was already imagining her in glasses. Focus. She tossed the man towards his friends and told them to leave. I tore my gaze away from her body and to her face. “Don’t call me that”, she shit me a dirty look. “Always looking for someone to annoy, I see”, she said cynically. “I missed you too” I grinned. She didn’t reply, but started walking in the opposite direction.

“Stay out of trouble, human” I jogged after her. “I have a name, you know?” No response. We walked through the streets of Le’uthara in silence and I took in the sights. There were weird little men shouting something incomprehensible at the customers that flocked to see them perform. A man sold different weapons forged from a metal that melted at will. There were cannons the size of a building that shrunk into another man's palm. I was soon lost, gawking at everything new I hadn’t seen before, when she broke the silence, surprising me.

“Why are you following me?” She finally stopped, those green eyes tore into me. I really didn’t know why I did myself. So I just winged it. “I wanted to check on you. Last time I saw you, you were pretty shook up.” She paused. Then she continued walking. “As you can see, I’m fine. You can leave now” I started as she left me behind, not turning back once. Oh no you don’t. I jogged after her again.

“Where are you going?”, I asked, finally catching up with her. “None of your business, Tony” Fair enough. “Hey! You remembered my name!”, I said enthusiastically. This might not be a lost cause after all. “ The Halit, my unit all have photographic memories.” She paused,. Letting that sink in. “Don’t get cocky”. I shrank back into my shell and only managed an ”Oh”. More awkward silence.

“Get your readings here! Fortunes told here!” A scrawny man with only one eye suddenly grabbed Míriel and dragged her to his table. “Little girl, mind getting your fortune told?” I saw her trying to worm her way out of his hand, but his grip was steel. “I don’t believe in such nonsense. And I’m not a little girl.”, She said outrightly, a haughty tone in her voice. The man chuckled softly and sat down, releasing her hand finally. I caught up to them after a while. For a scrawny old man, he sure was fast.

“You don’t believe in fortunes?”, he asked , with a mocking tone in her voice. “ I don’t believe any being can tell another’s fortune, we are the makers of our fates.” She said indignantly. “In that case, prove me wrong” The old man threw the cloth that revealed something that looked like a star chart, but I didn’t recognise any of the constellations. And I was pretty sure star charts didn’t move. This one was almost alive, making a low humming sound as the man placed his hand on it and told Míriel to do the same.

The chart lit up almost instantaneously as she did, light from the table shooting up into the sky. The old man fell silent as he closed his one good eye. He entered a chant in a language I couldn’t recognise. Then the his voice sounded, although his lips weren’t moving. I realized he was speaking into our minds. Then he started chanting again, but this time I understood everything he said.

Child born of pain, filled with hate,

The love of a father lost,

Meant for more things great.

As this world falls into rust,

You will find love and a mate.

But beware of the one you trust,

He holds truths, if revealed, would cause you to break.

Míriel rose and pushed the table down, and ran away. I saw the streaks of tears run down her eyes. The man grinned and I hesitated, thinking of whether to punch him. But then I ran after her, weaving through the crowds I caught glances of her. Soon we left the noise and heat of the market behind. She kept running. I screamed her name over and over. She didn’t reply and ran faster. I eventually removed a limiter and dived at her feet and fell on top of her. She started screaming and hitting my chest, telling me to let go of her. I did and instantaneously blocked her leg. Then a punch, and then another. The tears were more now, I noticed. She kept swinging kicks and punches at me, and I kept weaving and dodging.

“Calm down, Míriel.” I said softly, as softly as possible. “It’s just a dumb fortune teller...its not like what he said was true.” She paused. “You wouldn’t understand” She said, trying and failing to get her icy tone back. I closed the space between us, unsure of what I was doing. Warning signs blared in my head. I held her shoulder and stopped. “Make me.” She looked up at me, her face lit by the accretion disk. “Why? Why won’t you go away?” Her lips looked pale under the light. Kiss them, My stupid side screamed. “Honestly, I have no idea”, I said with a slight laugh. She rested her head on my chest. “I lied, I don’t have photographic memory.”, she said, her head still on my chest. I chuckled silently, supressing my grin.

“You don’t say...”