Outlaws | An Eclipse | [Vol.1]

Chapter Six - "Slow Minded"

Sitting up straight in a comfy arm chair, Alexis held her hands on her lap. Her clothes had changed from a brown shirt and light brown trousers to black pants and a pale yellow tank-top with a white T-shirt underneath. Her hair was no longer hanging by her shoulders, but put into a low ponytail.
          Though the chair she was in was cushioned, she shifted nervously as if uncomfortable. A full day has passed since her meeting with the ruler of Crow. Now, she was sitting and waiting for the man in the robe to return from an errand.
          Alexis allowed her eyes to wander the room. It was quite cozy. A fire was lit and crackling next to a small, round, wood table that stood between her and an identical chair to her own that remained empty. There was a curtained window to her right, and a class of some kind of liquid in front of her on the table.
          "Quomodo possibile est iam habere responsum quaestionibus nostris?" A raspy voice crocked out from beyond the room.
          Alexis' head jerked toward the wooden door with curiosity, hands moving to the arms of her chair.
          "Bene, nondum omnia figuravi," Responded a calm, deep voice.
          After a moment of listening to the silence that followed, the door opened and the man in the robe stood in the door way. When he saw Alexis he smiled warmly, and walked in. "Sorry for the long wait," He apologized. "But we have a guest."
          Just then, a shorter man with gray hair and hollow looking eyes stepped into the room. He wore an unsatisfied frown on his face, and he look like a dried grape that was set out to shrivel away in the sun. He hunched over a black cane and eyed Alexis skeptically.
          "Quis es!?" Explained the wrinkled man.
           Alexis raised an eyebrow and glanced at the man in the robe.
          "He is asking who you are," He said, sensing the girl's confusion.
          "Oh," Alexis said, shifting in her seat. "I'm Alexis..."
          The robed man gestured for her to go on.
          "... Alexis Clayton. I'm from Crows Cry City."
          The short man huffed like he was expecting to hear what she said, and wasn't satisfied with it. He mumble off more words Alexis didn't understand, and then sat down in the chair across from her.
          Alexis tried to hold herself back, but couldn't help it, and made a face. The moment the man walked into the room, she couldn't help but notice out displeased he looked when his eyes landed on her. What was his problem? The guy looked like he had never smiled in his life! Maybe all the saggy wrinkles on his face made it impossible. The thought of that made Alexis hold back a chuckle.
          "Well..." The man in the robe started, stretching out the word. "That was a quick interdiction."
          You don't say? Alexis thought sarcastically. At least she didn't have to try and decipher anything the wrinkly shorty said.
          "This man's name is Mr. Bowmen, by the way," Said the robbed man. "And you already know my name is Mr. Crux, so let's get to the important stuff."
          Alexis nodded. She had wondered what all this was about. After her confusing run in with the High Priest, Mr. Crux had aided her in getting away from the creepy woman. Alexis still didn't know why she had been in the presents of the ruler of Crow in the first place, nor did she know what the woman had done to her. All Alexis had to go after was, well, nothing.
          Her mind would still flash back to the unbearable pain she had felt, and the confusion that was never cleared. One thing was for sure; She was never going near that crazy woman again, and Mr. Crux had agreed that it would be a good idea to stay away.
          She still had some questions she wanted answers to, but every time she had tried to address them, Mr. Crux had told her to wait. Hopefully today would be more fruitful than the day before.
          "Now, you must have many questions you've been waiting to ask," Mr. Crux said as if reading her mind. "Though, now isn't the best time for the questions I'm sure you have been wanted to ask, we may ask questions about our conversation as it goes on."
          Alexis slouched a little. What? Why not?
          "First things first," The man continued. "Let's start with where we are, shall we?"
          "Yes, please," Alexis said sheepishly. Before arriving to wherever she was, Mr. Crux had blindfolded her. At the time, she had fought back and called him nuts, but he had convinced her that it was for her safety, and she let it slide because of how weak she was.
          "We are in a small cottage just a few miles away from the mountain Crow's City stands on." Mr. Crux said with a smile. "To you, the walk may have felt like a maybe an hour, but for me it was much longer."
           Alexis scrunched her nose. "Well that doesn't make sense."
          "Maybe not, but so magic does," Mr. Crux said casually.
          Alexis almost laughed. "Magic? Oh, so now you're a magician?"
          Mr. Crux eyes looked deeply into hers. "I'm serious, Alexis," He said solemnly.
          "Ya' know, normally in story books they don't jump to the magic thing so fast," Alexis stated, leaning back in her chair. Not taking Mr. Crux very seriously, she folded her arms and waited for more.
          "Well, this isn't a story book," He explained. "And we can't just wait around for it to play out like one."
          "Prove it."
          "Prove what?"
          "The magic stuff," Alexis said, feeling a small bit of pride in her. She thought that Mr. Crux was nice, but now he was acting like a wack-head. Things weren't adding up too well, and there was a lot left out. But jumping straight to 'magic is real' was just full on ludicrous. She also didn't really believe that they were away from the city. Sure, Mr. Crux had been able to convince the ruler to let them leave without charge, but that didn't mean they were free to leave the city. Leaving the city was charged with a death penalty.
          Mr. Crux eyed her rather exhaustingly, but Mr. Bowmen looked as if he had predicted this. One hand on his hip, Mr. Crux sighed and kept looking at the teenager. Maybe leading straight to magic wasn't the best idea. After all, he can't just show her. There's a delicate prosses in magic, and only few can wield it at all. The only way to show Alexis that he was serious, was to have her do the magic herself. But in order to do that, she would have to take him seriously.
          Alexis raised an eyebrow. "Well?" She said. "Where's the magic?"
          Mr. Crux frowned. "I'm afraid I can't show you quite yet."
          She snickered. Of course he couldn't. Though the reckless side of her wanted to taunt him, she decided to just play along. This was much more entertaining than stealing things everyday and running from guards. Who knows, maybe she could swipe something on her way out when she leaves. "Fine, whatever."
          Mr. Bowmen let out a half laugh that sounded his a choking raven trying to sing.
          "Okay, this is going to be harder than I thought," Mr. Crux muttered.
          "What do you mean?" Alexis asks.
          "I mean; I underestimated my assignment,"
          "To kidnap me and make me think magic is real?" Alexis said flatly.
          Mr. Crux's eyebrows rose. "Kidnap? Oh, no, Alexis I didn't-"
          "Then help me out here," Alexis interrupted, feeling the frustration of her confusing override her confidence slowly. Before she hadn't really cared where she was because home wasn't really anywhere for her, and Mr. Crux had saved her from the Ruler of Crow. But now, after seeing that he was crazy and he had brought some fossil with him, she noticed that maybe she wasn't playing this very smart. She needed to get out.
          "Well, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do this. I thought kids were into all the magic stuff," Mr. Crux admitted.
          "Yeah, when they're five," Alexis spat.
          The man shifted uncomfortable. Whatever he had thought about, he hadn't thought about it nearly as much as he should have.
          "Why don't you just start from the beginning," Alexis suggested. "Before I book it outta here."
         Mr. Bowmen laughed again, but wholeheartedly this time.
         "The beginning, aye?" Mr. Crux said, mostly to himself. "Well, that might be a long story."
        "Well, then maybe just summarize-" Alexis said hastily. Sitting and listening to some long speech wasn't something was willing to sit and do. She just wanted basics. Maybe she can report them when she gets out. As long as the ruler doesn't want her anymore, that is.
         "I can try," Said Mr. Crux "Alright, get comfy. Even as a summery, this take a while."