Alexandrian Conspiracy

Food Fight

Markus knew something bad had happened seemingly before I even stepped foot in his study.

"Siena...how was your trip to the mail?"

"Let's just say today didn't deliver."

"What do you mean, trade routes should be cleared, it's not monsoon season."

"Thanks for the thought, Markus, it's not that though, the money you gave me is gone and I have to find out why."

"Whoa, hold up, the money is taken, but whoever took it must have already spent it, I doubt you can get it back."

I gesture with my fists and give a mean mug. Markus stares at me and awkwardly throws a hook in the air. Supportive, I think.

"Look, the guy is a broke asshole, assholes exist everywhere, bummer but it's true. But if you wanted to get back at every asshole that's every walked the Earth, you'd be so exhausted you'd fall on your ass and die. That or I'd have to baby you for the rest of your life and that doesn't sound appealing to me or your father."

"Look, I'm not saying I'd fight every asshole, but I'm going to fight regardless, and there happens to be another reason why I need to fight."

"And that reason is?" 

"I'm as responsible for my money being stolen as he is, I let my guard down because I was so eager to talk to someone. Not only did he take advantage of my feelings, but he did it in a way that's left me questioning grasping for straws__-"

Markus cuts me off. " Now you know how it's like talking to a woman." He laughs but I think it's pretty telling of Markus's dating life. 

"I mean it, the whole thing is giving me a headache, I don't understand, and I want too."

Markus stopped paying attention at this point and started getting ready for bed and was actively slipping into his bed.

"Fine then, I'll just do it anyway."

"....Z..Z..z.." I can't tell if he was paying attention or was half asleep just enjoying the company.

Lucky him. I stare at the wall, and I don't feel tired in the slightest. I feel restless, excited. I look at the kitchen Markus is trying to start, and it reminds me. I can be a real bitch when I'm hungry, and I don't like being hungry. Time to try a recipe.

I open the book and turn through the pages all dusty with that dry old book smell. I wish there was a recipe to taste the food form of that book smell.  I see a recipe for *strength pie*, *seduction soup*, *builders brew* I guess Wiles is more creative than we gave him credit, some of these names are marvelous. I almost lose all composure when I read *Wiles whipem ups* and it's the grossest recipe I've ever read. I laugh my head off when I remember the worst thing I ate as a kid and it's this. My dad used to punish me with this bread seemingly normal but filled with melted nasty goat cheese. Finally, something that sounds appetizing, and I have all the ingredients, *Solar side up eggs*. Easy, I just grab an egg and mix in some milk and... a bronze coin? That can't be right. This has to be some nonsense; did he lose his sense of taste?

You know how every recipe book has those long prefaces before the actual recipe.  The prologue nobody wants to read, about the chef's life and every plant grown and every sacrifice made to the harvest. Well yeah, my dad has the same thing, for every single recipe in this book. Except his are strange, not just in title. They sound like instructions disguised cleverly like a story. 

A golden egg from a Chicken lit on fire is the only beast needed for this breakfast. You must milk the trees for your second ingredient. Like all things you must pay for them in a price. You get what you pay for in this spell.

The recipes sound like my dad. 

I finally go to sleep after trying to make any sense of my dad's riddles, when I wake up, I find a scholarly Markus hunched over the book, examining it like a madman. 

"Siena! did you know your dad wrote a book!" 

"Yes, but why did he write it is the question?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out myself, it's all a bunch of weird recipes, some of them sound rancid and inedible. But they are interesting, however. Is it ok If I borrow it for a while...? I want to study it some more."

"Sure, no problem, Markus, just don't ruin it, he would kill me."

"It could be worse; he might make us both eat one of these recipes."

He takes a big swig from a hot cup of chai and goes back to reading. Leaving me to learn some more about my enemy. My stick braking fool that thought he could get away with robbing me. 

Over the hills and deeper into the city you see pits, surrounding these pits are small arenas, that warp around the pit for whatever size they are. The one I believe he is there on is divided into three rings. on the stages are the entertainers, the fighters dedicated to a craft, their art. They fight and people pay to spectate. So, it worries me when I see the man, I'm determined to beat surrounded in coins in the very center of all three rings. I see the clumsy stick like man shovel the coins into his arms and walk away from the audience. The fiend, stealing my money when he already has more than enough. How to get to him I wonder. If I announce myself as a fighter, they are going to treat me like I'm stupid, which might be the case but I'm not going to give up. I decide that the best course of action would be to get trained by someone. Running at an experienced fighter with no experience is a surefire way of getting killed. I need find someone who can train me well enough to beat him. I look around the Arena looking closer at people trying to find someone who could offer any training, or even just some wisdom. But as the hours passed and the fighters left, I saw no such person.

Maybe I am making an unreasonable fuss over some loose change, maybe I'm just upset with not being able to write to my dad. What if I'm worried, he's gone and this cook - book is all I have left of him. I will fight, but first It's got to be with my mental health. The best state of mind is a clear one, and mines pretty dirty right now.