The Living Curse

Chapter Seven: New Experiences





The girl walked purposefully down the sidewalk, her friend bobbing up and down in an attempt to keep up. Max trailed behind a few steps, not sure how he would fit into their dynamic. It was something he wasn’t used to, being out of the loop.

After he had gotten over the initial shock of meeting women with such strong personalities, he began to enjoy their company. He had been raised in a world where women were proper and soft spoken, but this had often bothered him. He found the games that they played and their fickle emotions extremely irritating.

He was lost in thought and recollection of years past when he realized that they were both glancing back at him expectantly. He parted his lips slightly, not sure what to say. They caught his misstep, and laughed silently, enjoying the joke at his expense.

“What?” he asked, not sure he wanted to know.

“I was just saying, ‘If you’re lost in thought, don’t say anything.’ Which worked out much better than I had hoped.” she turned to her friend, “I wonder what he was thinking about.” she said.

“You know, I am still standing right here.” he said. He shot them both a look that was as familiar to his face as the features themselves. He cocked his head slightly and furrowed his brow. He narrowed his eyes, and the corners of his lips curled upward like the edge of a paper in flames. The taller girl in front of him gave a reaction he hadn’t expected; most girls either giggled or ignored him in frustration. Her eyes flicked across his face, studying and analyzing the action in a split second. Had he not been paying close attention, he would have missed it all together, for at the next moment, the look passed and she resumed her earlier sense of bemusement.

“Of course, I never talk about people behind their backs, only to their face.” she said in earnest. As an after thought, she added, “Or, if I do, I tell them about it later.” She seemed utterly unconcerned about this, as if she thought this were a normal social habit. Her friend only smiled, and turned back toward him.

“It’s true, you know. She’s not joking.” she said with a glimmer in her eyes that he thought came from memories, now rushing to the front of her mind.

“So, are you going to walk with us, or just straggle behind like a lost puppy?” she asked with her characteristic sarcastic twinge. His eyes looked upward, as he pondered the statement for a moment.

“Definitely lost puppy.” he replied at last. With a fluid motion, she turned to face forward, giving a small shrug. They walked on in silence for a few moments longer, until the taller of the girls turned on her heels suddenly, and walked toward a small restaurant. The look of the place puzzled him: it seemed like a completely ordinary and human restaurant, and he could sense no magic about it. The windows had a strange film over them from years of poor cleaning, and the walls were crumbling at the corners. The lines in the parking lot that they now crossed were hopelessly faded, and cracks splintered out from the edges, creating several large fissures in the ground. A faint smile came to his face as he thought about what his mother’s impression of a place like this would be.

“Is this…” he began the question that formed in his mind, trailing off.

“It’s just a restaurant.” she said simply, “They have great fries.” she finished. Clearly, she hadn’t realized that his question hadn’t been related to fries at all, but to why there seemed to be completely clean of magic.

“No, I meant…Isn’t this just a human place? I can’t sense any magic, so unless they have really strong shields, it must be.” he said with a hint of uneasiness in his voice.

“What, you only eat at magical restaurants?” she asked with a laugh. “The humans have mastered the magic of fat, sugar, and salt. That’s something that even the best of the Upperworlders simply neglect.”

“Actually, I’ve only ever eaten at Upperworld restaurants.” he said, almost embarrassed now of something he could have been proud of in another situation. He instantly saw the surprise on their faces; it seemed that this was not an abnormal practice for them. He had heard rumors of the very different food humans ate. The food of Upperworlders consisted of many exotic things, which were easily exchanged through magic, and were nourishing to the mind, and the body. Although he had always been intrigued by the differences in culture, his mother had always been very strict about staying away from the humans.

“So, you’ve never had…like a burger?” asked the shorter of the girls, a mix of surprise and pity on her face.

“No, I haven’t.” he replied, amused at their mock-horror.

“Well, we’ll just have to fix that right now.” said the other girl in a tone that was not to be argued with. They reached the restaurant, and to his surprise, passed the door. The first of the girls approached a line of cars that snaked around the side of the building. Although he had never eaten at a human restaurant, he was relatively familiar with the idea of a drive through, and this action confused him.

“Isn’t this the-” he began, a quizzical look on his face.

“Yeah, it’s the drive through.” began the shorter girl with a sigh, “It’s something she likes to do. Almost every time. We walk through, and usually, they serve us anyway.” she finished. The look on her face was wrought with disapproval, but there were clear undertones of enjoyment that had been suppressed. He wondered if she always thought she had to act so non-condoning.

“Why live by pointless rules that other people lay down?” she asked, with genuine belief in her words. After this, he was silent, afraid to ask any more questions. They waited in line behind the other cars, and more approached them from behind. He was now self-conscious, glancing at the drivers of the cars and wincing at the attention being drawn to them. They inched slowly toward the window, watching colorful bags and cups being handed through it to people in the cars ahead.

They reached the window, and the taller girl ordered for herself and her friend. She ordered a salad and fries for each of them, a strange combination for what he knew of human food. No stranger than walking through the drive through, he supposed. She turned to him next, her dark eyes catching the strange light from the window.

“You want a burger, then right?” she asked.

“Sure, I guess.” he said, with his hands in his pockets.

“Alright, so he’ll have a burger and fries.” she conveyed to the girl on the other side of the strange wall. “Oh, and a coke.” she added. They waited to approach the next window, as instructed. When they reached it, the girl handed the cashier a ten dollar bill before he could say anything to object. She handed the food through the window with no great courtesy, closing it promptly afterward.

“I could have paid for my food.” he said more defensively than he had intended.

“No way.” she said, “I’m totally buying you your first human meal. Stick with us, and it won’t be your last.” she said. Her voice held a likeable charm to it, and a sincerity that convinced him that he probably would stick with them. They crossed the old parking lot again, bright with mid-morning sunlight. Sitting down at a picnic table with peeling red paint, they unwrapped their impromptu brunch. He was slightly uncomfortable at how intently they watched him eat the first bite of his meal, but he enjoyed it nonetheless. He now believed what she had said about the humans and their use of fat, sugar, and salt. The food was delicious, but sat very heavily with him. Obviously seeing this on his face, the girls next told him that this was why Guardians didn’t endorse fast food. It wasn’t the best pre-battle choice, they told him.

“By the way,” said the shorter of the girls, “I don’t think we’ve actually introduced ourselves. I’m Mira.”

“Nameh.” said the other girl, sparing the formalities. “Oh, and just so that you know, we don’t usually eat fast food.” she said, indicating the salads. “But every now and then, you just need some French fries.” She said this almost poetically, as if her words had been deeper than they actually were. The conversation evolved, and changed subjects, flowing more easily than he anticipated. They began to discuss Guardian training, and how long they had been fighting off the record. Nameh told him that she had been ‘vigilante fighting’, as the Guardians called it, for several years, and that Mira joined her on some occasions. He admitted that he had only begun about a year ago, shortly after receiving his mark. At the mention of the Shask, a pensive look crossed Nameh’s face, deepening her features.

“So, just to clarify this one more time, you want us to join the Vine to help them find the Relic, right?” she said, staring off into space.

“Yes, that’s basically it.” he said, confused by her expression.

“This may seem like a stupid question, but do you have any idea where it is?” she asked. He thought about this for a moment, before responding.

“It could really be anywhere in the world. Travel isn’t a problem for warlocks, especially the Great Warlock. They say that he traveled often, always to different places. Not to mention the fact that those places have changed greatly since his time, what was once a city may now be a wild, uncharted jungle. Where we stand right now was probably a forest or an open field in his time.” he looked up at the buildings towering above them, imagining powerful trees in their stead.

“Then there’s no way of tracking it?” Nameh started, “Magically, I mean.”

“We’ve tried, but he went to great lengths to hide it, and keep it hidden. He also designed it to be found only when magic declines, which means we can’t use modern magic to find it.” said Max. He referred to the magic developed after the Warlock’s death, often called modern magic, even if it was hundreds of years old.

“Is magic really in that much of a decline?” asked Mira. Max’s eyes searched her face before he responded.

“Although the Vine is gaining more and more magic through absorption, we’ve lost a lot of our spells and techniques through time. There have been a lot of raids on our libraries, and books were burned. The same has happened to the Guild, although they have access to a greater wealth of magic. The Guardians have been a major problem; they’ve got a lot of ulterior motives behind the ‘Protection of Humans’ that they front. They’ve been secretly killing warlocks by the drove.” Nameh picked at her nails, tiring of the conversation about corruption. Corruption was just another reason that she was leaving.

“Isn’t one of your friends a warlock?” asked Mira. A smile crossed the boy’s face that emanated pure amusement.

“You mean, isn’t he in danger?” he asked, still looking entertained. “First off, he’s a member of the Vine, so killing him could start a war. Second, anyone that tried to touch him, that didn’t take him off guard with hand to hand combat, would immediately be very sorry. He’s not really a fighter, that’s why he hangs out with us, but he’s a hell of a warlock.” he finished his explanation with a final smirk. He clearly had a lot of kinship and respect for his friend.

“So, will we get to meet this ‘wonderful warlock’ when we go to the Vine? And your oath brother?” she asked with a smile.

“Yeah, we all room together…” he said, and trailed off. The conversation took a slightly awkward pause, something that had always entertained Nameh. She enjoyed seeing people socially uncomfortable, and she never understood why. It wasn’t as if she enjoyed seeing people in pain, perhaps she just enjoyed having a reminder that even the most eloquent and quick-witted people are still human. She broke the pause with an extremely blunt question that would have likely shocked the words from many.

“So, besides the warlock, are the other two of you human?” she asked casually. She saw Mira hide a smile as best she could, she was clearly used to her lack of care at offending people. Race was a sensitive issue in the Upperworld, much as it was in the human world. The problem was not simply color of skin in the Upperworld, though. The tension came from the core group of people within the Vine, the Guild, and even the Guardians, who thought that only pure humans should be protectors. Most people, though, were quite tolerant. She had heard of many instances when vampires and werewolves could get along with half-harpies and humans. She herself didn’t care in the least what race the person was, but had always been fascinated by the many groups of people that made up the world. She thought that half-harpies were beautiful, although they have terrible tempers, and werewolves were fierce and powerful, while vampires had power with more grace. She had also always had great respect for warlocks, though she had met few, growing up as a Guardian child.

“I am 100% human,” he began with a playful look of arrogance on his face, “but my oath brother is a werewolf.” he finished. For a moment, Nameh was surprised. In the Guardians, werewolves were accepted, though slightly looked down upon. She had known several at the school, but most went to great lengths to keep it a secret. The fact that he had casually dropped this into a conversation had at first been confusing, but as she thought about it, she saw no reason for a member of the Vine to be ashamed of it. If anything, she realized, it was an advantage. Werewolves had superior strength, even in human form, and were more resistant to offensive magic than humans. She nearly laughed as she thought of the time she had nearly sought out a werewolf in order to become one. She finally decided that she would wait until she was older, in case she changed her mind, an uncharacteristically reasonable choice.

“Awesome.” said Mira simply in a soft voice. Having finished eating, they began to crinkle up the paper left behind from the food. They tossed it into the large metal can by the side of the building, and headed for the subway station down the street. Now, Max walked next to the girls, feeling more comfortable. Suddenly, he stopped walking. The girls turned to face him with questioning looks.

“Before we go back,” he started, “let’s get her marked.”