Upon the Flying Ship: Rewritten Records of the Illiterate Author

Chapter 1

Shuffling papers. A male voice. A female voice. Golden light filters through the shades tacked on top of planks of wood haphazardly blocking the window.

The papers shuffle back into view.

"The princess of West Northleans ran. Nobody can find her, and her maids have all vanished."

"The heir, or one of the younger-"

"The heir." interrupts the male voice. "Gone. Poof."

"Ha, running from all that oppression. I'd love to succeed in such a task."

"Isn't she going to be doing that oppressing? I'd love to have that power."

"Ha, power. There's always a catch when it comes to power. There's a reason she fled those dusty halls. And I bet it's not because she didn't want the power."

"Whatever. What's your article going to be about?"

"A story from the border of South Northleans."

"Which border?"

"The one with East 'Leans."

"...Go on. This might even be interesting."

"A girl, around five-six years old, was... maybe not captured, but stolen. She was found six months later, with iron whorls embedded in her skin, and only bare flickers of her magic left. A DeSSer had vanished searching for her, and finally-"

The male voice interrupts again. "Wait, this isn't recent. How long ago was this?"

"Twelve years. Anyway, the recent stuff is that the DeSSer was found, in a perfectly preserved condition, with iron in his blood, an iron knife in his forehead, and cuts everywhere."

"Iron Cultists." the male voice snarls. "Magic-stealing scum."

"It was the East 'Leans border. I'm not sure what they expected."

"...Fine. You can write your article about that."

"Anything else? Most of my group is free."

"Well... The recent DSS Ruler, Klynelle, retired, after having served twenty-five years on the ship and five more as a Ruler. There's not much to write about, but a short notice-"

"Front page, though, since the DSS is important to everybody in the country."

"Fine. Front page, and also, the new one is a blood-mage."

"WHAT?!" the female voice screeches. "Why?! How could anyone want a blood Mage in charge of anything?"

"It wasn't my choice to make. Her name is Liblie, nickname 'Liberty'."

"They even made a joke out of it..." the female, disgusted, changes the topic. "Whatever. Anything else?"

"Well, Northleans has begun another war..."

"...Why am I not surprised? If anything interesting ever happens in Northleans, it's always a new war. Who's fighting?"

"Ldinok and Condor. Condor's in the mountains, so it's probably going to win because of the strategic placing - but Ldinok is neighbors with Garma, which is Condor's food supplicant - since Condor is mostly mines, nothing ever grows there, it heavily trades with Garma." The male reports.

"I'll have someone investigate. When does the DSS arrive next?"

"Soon, soon. Matter of days." the male flips through a messy calendar, and "Oh, actually, tomorrow."

"Wonderful. I'll be sure to interview someone, hopefully from the council."

"Sure. What other news could they bring?"

"Well, East 'Leans is building a new and bigger church to the Book Goddess."

"Isn't She the one who probably doesn't exist?"

"That doesn't matter. As long as they can convince their citizens to pay taxes, the crown can do anything it wants."

The male jots it down. "Anything else?"

"This one is based on unreliable news: there are rumors about other humans coming to the continent. The rumors speak of war."

"Quit trying to base your articles on rumors and whispers. If it wasn't the grapevine, it probably isn't real. Come on, give me some actual news."

"Fine. This one's our own kingdom. The West Northleans' gold Mage has escaped."

"Why is everyone running away from West 'Leans?"

"Why are you surprised? I myself am debating running away into South 'Leans and tending to a small garden with my grandchildren."

"You don't have grandchildren. You don't even have your own children!"

"I can always fix that." the female smirks.

"And about South 'Leans - they lost a humongous crop of apples to the Ice Queen. Apparently someone said they "liked winter because of the snow and fun" - so She created a snow day in the middle of the orchard."

"This is only more evidence for the fact that that goddess is absolutely crazy."

"Just think about it! No apples this fall!"

"No good apples, you mean."

"That's the equivalent of no apples!"

"Island apples aren't that bad."

"They aren't good, either!"

"You big baby." the female looks up, into the darker rafters. The ticking of the clock up there had been getting louder and it began to ring.

"Four. We can go home."

"Finally."

The papers go shuffling again, and soon the room looks as abandoned as it was before.

Dust motes and sunlight float through the boarded-up windows, and outside, an ex-princess and a wanted gold Mage run through the market; noise, smells, and people covering up their path.