Gifts

Chapter Ten: A Place to Stay

When I walked out of the cave, Marcus started bombarding me with questions.

"What was he like? Was he crazyyyyy? What did he say about the Aari? Did you ask about Eska?"

I was still in shock that the Seer was my father. It hadn't completely sunk in yet. I had just met my father who I hadn't seen since I was a little baby. I met my father in a dirty cave while he was chained to the wall, he hasn't showered in what seemed like years, and we talked about crazy people trying to take over the throne of a magical kingdom.

And then that's when I lost it.

I started giggling. And then it turned into a full out laugh. I was laughing so hard my sides hurt and I could barely breathe. Marcus was looking at me curiously.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"I- don't- even- know." I managed to get out. "I- just- need- to- be-happy- for - a- few minutes."

"Oh, ok." Marcus said, before he started laughing with me.

We finally calmed down and realized it would be getting dark soon, so we would need to get a move on. As we were walking, I told Marcus everything the Seer had said and shown to me. I almost didn't tell him about the Seer being my father, but I decided he deserved to know. "Marcus," I started, "the Seer is my father."

Marcus looked stunned for a moment and then gasped. "Oh my fairy-droplets, how did I not figure this out sooner!" He explained.

I didn't bother asking what a fairy-droplet was, but I did ask what he meant by "figuring it out".

"Well, it makes perfect sense! For one, your dad's Gift was visions, so he can see things that most people can't. If he would've passed away, someone in your family would've received his Gift, but clearly no one has. And," Marcus paused for effect, " the Seer 'started' right after your father's disappearance!"

"Hmmm," I said, "Why is he chained up in there?"

"I'm guessing one of the Aari captured him and then made him work or something like that."

"Oh, do you think at some point we could set him free?" I asked, wanting to see my father again even though he is a bit loony.

"Jaya, I don't think that is a good idea. Your father is a bit- erm- well, he is a bit crazy." Marcus said quietly.

"But how can you blame him? He has been through so much! He just needs a little help!" I defended my dad, even though he was kinda crazy and I did get Marcus's point.

"Maybe, then. Ya know, if we survive." Even though Marcus said this jokingly, his statement brought this situation back to reality. The Aari were going to attack and we were not prepared.

Marcus saw the look on my face and started talking again, "oh, Jaya, I was just joking. You know that, right? Everything will be ok, I promise."

I nodded, not real paying attention. I was trying to get myself together, but all my thoughts were just one big jumble of random things.

I saw that the trees were getting more spread out as we kept walking and soon enough we were out of the forest. We still had about an hour or two before dark, so we went to find a place to stay.

We came across a late wooden building that said The Dream Boat Inn in faded black paint.

Marcus told me to go in and I shrugged as I walked through the door. The place wasn't too dirty but it wasn't too clean, either. We walked to the front desk and asked if there were any rooms left. The woman nodded and handed us a long, rusted key and pointed for us to go left.

"Do you think she could talk?" I asked Marcus, when we were out of earshot.

"From the looks of it she can, but I think someone put a non-verbal jinx on her that prevents her from talking for at least twenty-four hours."

"Well, this trip just keeps getting nicer and nicer doesn't it?" I said half-jokingly.

After a few moments of silence, we reached our room number 142. I unlocked the door and I walked in, holding Marcus. It was a pretty small room, only consisting of a lumpy bed and a small desk in the corner. Above the bed was a dusty window that faced a lovely brick wall. The desk had a small beige lamp that was covered in a thick layer of dust. There was a door leading to an even smaller bathroom. The toilet was unclean, but it was still better than what I had been used to for the past few days...yuck. There was no sink because the bath tub filled up the rest of the space.

My stomach growled as I sat on the edge of the bed. I was about to eat something from my backpack, but Marcus interfered.

"No, no, no! I will not let you eat that, if I can help it! I'm sure there is a restaurant somewhere, after all you are a princess you need some proper food!"

My stomach growled again, even louder this time, which made it really hard to say no to his restaurant offer.

"Ok, let's go." I finally said.

Marcus smiled as we walked out of our room and across the street to a restaurant called Three Turtles and A Bullfrog.

"What a strange name." I said to Marcus, who was thinking the same thing. I completely forgot the strange name, though, as we walked in. The smell of mashed potatoes and grilled chicken filled my nostrils. I saw steamed vegetables on people's plates, along with tall glasses of a red, fizzing drink. Overall, the place was pretty crowded. Waiters and waitresses rushed about, taking orders and delivering food.

Marcus and I sat at a table in the back, by a somewhat dusty window. I sat in a chair, while Marcus was propped up on the table. Today they were serving mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, and either a ham sandwich or grilled chicken. I decided to have the grilled chicken and Marcus decided on the sandwich. Our waitress came back with two of the fizzing red drinks (which we hadn't even asked for) and asked for our order. Before she left, I asked her what the drinks were and she said they were called Fluttering Fizzers and they tasted like any drink you could think of! I tried it out. I first thought of Coke and then Sprite and then Sweet Tea. Wow,this really did work!

When out food came, had to stop myself from jumping for joy. Food, food, food. I chanted in my head. I eagerly dug into my food and had eaten about half of it before I realized that Marcus hadn't even touched his food.

"Uhh Marcus? How do you eat? " I asked with a mouthful of potatoes.

"Well, someone has to give the food to me first."

"Umm ok, how do I do that?" I asked.

"Just put the food through my mirror, please."

I tried to act as this was a very normal thing to do, but it was very awkward.

First I put the Fluttering Fizzer through the mirror. Then I picked up the plate with the food, even though it did not appear like it would fit through the mirror. I pushed the round plate in and as it went into the mirror, I saw it bend into an oval shape. Then, it returned to the original round shape. Marcus said thanks and then started devouring his meal. I guess mirrors get hungry, too.

After we ate, the waitress gave us our bill.

I looked around nervously. "All I have is a dollar!" I exclaimed to Marcus, pulling out a wadded up dollar bill from my jean pockets.

Marcus laughed. "That's human money," he said, "For most of the other realms you have to have Blulettes." He pulled out a wallet from somewhere in the mirror.

He passed me some Blulettes and I looked at them curiously. They were a little bigger than the size of a quarter and they were a blue-gray color with a golden trim. They had a picture of a dragon on one side and a bunch of foreign words on the other.

"Cool." I said , giving the money to the waitress.

When we got back to the inn, I took a semi-warm bath and then changed back into my ripped up, dirty clothes. It felt good to at least be half clean.

I put Marcus on the pillow next to me and tucked him into the pillowcase. For him, the pillow was a plenty big bed.

I pulled my hair into a braid as I listened to Marcus snore. I got into bed and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.