Growing Lilies

What the hell did that mean? Class? Level? Her mind went to video games first, but that would be a hell of a leap to make if this girl was actually talking about being licensed for trapping by the local city or something.

“What exactly do you mean?”

Sunica was looking at her with a look of complete bewilderment on her face.

“Like, your level. Your class. What is it? I know it’s rude to ask, but if you have the [Sorcerer] class and someone might see it, I need to know. I don’t want to get you killed by bringing you into the city.”

They stared at each other.

“Uh…? Do you mean like, a paperwork sort of thing, because I don’t have anything like that?”

“No! Like, your class. I’ve met humans before, I know you have them. Or do you just call it something different where you’re from? In either case, I have the [Trapper] class. Level 9, like I said. Now, you?”

“I uh. Wait. Wait wait wait wait. Are you talking about the voice in my head? I could have sworn I dreamed that when I passed out.”

Sunica looked thoughtful for a few seconds, and then continued in her most trying to be gentle with the damaged girl voice.

“Okay, even if you don’t remember what you had before that, what did it say?”

“Uh. I think, [Fragment] Level 1. I got a skill. [Heretical Mana].”

The balaur girl bit her lip.

“I’ve never heard of either of those things. Wait, level one? How did you not already have levels?”

Lily shrugged.

“We don’t get them where I’m from. Honestly, I’m not sure why I’d get one just from being here. That’s so weird. Is it some kind of persistent magical effect on the whole area? Or is it something else?”

“It’s not a spell or something! Everyone gets levels. I don’t think there’s anywhere in the world people don’t! Except for monsters.”

“Wait, does that mean I get some kind of stat ups too? Can I grind exp? Go out and fight a deer or something, and get plus two strength and one agility?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Aww man.”

Sunica took a deep breath, and tried again.

“Look, Miss Lily.”

“Just Lily is fine.”

“Look, Lily. I don’t want to be rude, but are you lying to me?”

“No! I swear.”

“Then, is your head messed up?”

“No! I really don’t know this stuff. Listen, whether you believe me or not, the place I came from really didn’t have anything like this.”

“Oh yeah? Where’s that?”

“I– I’m not sure I should be more specific than that.”

“Lily. I want to help you. But, I’m telling you that most other people in the city would be turning you over to the authorities as a [Sorcerer]. Please, just tell me everything so I can help?”

That sounded very reasonable. Lily had seen enough media where someone comes from another world though, and nothing good ever comes of telling people without really thinking about it. Still, it’s not like she had anywhere else to go. Besides, Sunica had already saved her life. At cost to herself.

“I… I think I come from another world.”

Silence took over for another couple tense seconds. Then, Sunica broke. She laughed. She laughed hard. She doubled over. Lily just stared, and got mildly offended.

“Hey! I’m serious you know! It’s totally different where I come from.”

“That’s the best you could come up with? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh. I really really shouldn’t. Maybe you really did hit your head.”

“Hey! Hey! I’m not making anything up, and I’m not crazy! Here! Let me show you!”

Lily marched over to her backpack and started digging around. But, that was strange…

“Huh? My phone is missing! Where the heck did it get to? Oh no, don’t tell me I lost it in the snow! That’s like, the most valuable thing I own!”

Sunica had finished laughing and was now looking over Lily’s shoulder.

“You ah, do have a lot of strange things in there. What’re those?”

She pointed to the twinkies. Lily handed her one.

“Food! Sweets. They’re famous where I’m from, because they basically don’t go bad.”

Sunica perked up.

“Woah, magical food? That’s intense. How rich is this place you come from?”

“No no no. Not magic. Just– It’s complicated. But it’s not magic. Go ahead, eat one. It’ll be the sweetest thing you’ve ever tasted or your money back.”

“But I didn’t– oh.”

Sunica stared at the twinkie with an expression Lily couldn’t quite place. Her tail flicked around.

“Really? Are you sure? Isn’t this rare? Assuming I believe you of course.”

“I have more of them. Plus, convincing you is worth a couple treats. Because I’m telling the truth, and I could really use your help.”

It was true. Now that Lily had gotten moving she felt like her mind was coming alive. She needed Sunica. An ally would go a long way. There was no way she was going to figure out a spell to find Star without any help at all. Not to mention, she wasn’t sure she could even leave this cabin safely without help.

“Um. Okay. If you say so…”

Sunica went to take a bite. Through the plastic. Lily gasped, and then stopped her.

“No no! You have to unwrap it. I’m sorry. I should have said. Here, lemme help you.”

She took the twinkie back and pulled open the wrapper, then handed her the treat. The scaled girl took a bite of the treat. A look of surrene pleasure crossed her face.

“Mmmmm. Oh hells that’s so good. What is this thing made of? You’re right! I’ve never tasted something so sweet. What IS that stuff on the outside of it? Is it poison?”

Lily laughed.

“No, not poison. It’s just meant to keep it safe until you eat it. It’s not edible. Keeps bugs away and stuff.”

Sunica made to hand the rest of the small pastry back to Lily, but Lily shook her head.

“No, you have it. I’ve had a bunch in my life, and you deserve something for all the help you’ve given me. Hopefully I’ll be able to repay it back a thousand fold. I just wish I could find my stupid phone!”

She was emptying the bag entirely now. The laptop tumbled out, which would be fine for convincing Sunica, but where was her phone? She really hoped she hadn’t dropped it. Sunica was looking at the pile with wide eyes. Meds, bandaids, fresh clothes, bottles of water. Fine. The laptop would have to do. She could find her phone later. Maybe she could make a variant of her mana tracking spell? But how would she target the phone without having it first? Problems for later.

Lily sat on the floor and popped the laptop open and… nothing.

“Aw crap! It must be out of power. I think that spell drained the electricity from everything. Or maybe I did that so the house wouldn’t burn down? Honestly it’s such a blur. I’m sorry, I can’t show… you…”

Lily stopped. Sunica was staring at her laptop with eyes nearly bulging out of her skull.

“What IS that?”

“Huh? Well, it’s not even on right now. But it’s a laptop. A kind of computer. Uh. It. Can do a lot of things?”

“I’ve never seen something with such craftsmanship! This is like– an artifact?”

She knelt down next to it, and looked at it closely, being careful not to touch it. Lily couldn’t help but laugh a little. She typed a little on the keyboard, just to show off how it worked.

“It’s really not something so special. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it's pretty cool. I wanted to show you a game or a movie or something, but I’ll have to charge it first. I can probably do it with a spell if you give me enough time to fine tune it.”

“What? You’re going to cast on it? Isn’t that dangerous? What if it breaks!?”

“I’ve done it before. Don’t worry about it. Besides, if I can get home I have a bunch of them.”

“A BUNCH?”

“Yeah, like, four more, and a number of other devices. So does this mean you believe me?”

“I– Okay. Yes. I mean. Sorta? You’re either telling the truth or you are a very rich and powerful person with a very scrambled mind. But, I’m leaning towards the truth right now.”

Lily smiled. She was starting to feel it. That frantic, manic energy that started to build when she was embroiled in something difficult. The fear of being around another person was starting to fade into the background.

“Oh thank god. Okay. With that out of the way, I’m going to need to cast some spells. I’m starting to get some ideas. Fair warning, none of this is particularly safe, but I’ll do everything I can to make sure that I’m the only one in danger. I’ll probably need to cast quite a few before I get something working. But I have my notes from the teleportation spell still, so I have a lot of glyphs I can experiment with. The lack of paper is going to be an issue. I don’t suppose there’s like a big flat rock nearby I can use my chal–”

Sunica grabbed Lily by the shoulders and looked directly into her eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“What? Yes, of course. I was just thinking about how I’m going to-”

“No! You’re acting very strange all of a sudden. Danger? Magical experiments that could be dangerous, and you– you’re smiling, but not like before. What is happening?”

“That’s… It’s not…”

Lily looked down at her hands. They were shaking with nerves. Huh. Lily looked back up at Sunica and tried to explain.

“I just. It’s been. Hard. And I usually just… push through…”

Huh? What? It didn’t sound so good when she put it like that. Lily tried to give Sunica a reassuring smile, and realized that she couldn’t see the balaur girl through her tears. When had she started crying? Sunica hugged her tightly. Lily tried to protest for a second, but nothing intelligible came out. She gave up.

The girl, basically a stranger, held Lily in her arms and Lily cried for quite some time.

---

 

“One day, everyone disappeared.”

After a long while, Sunica had laid Lily out on her sofa and gotten some tea brewing. Lily had laid in silence for a long time, just trying to get herself together, but finally she spoke.

“Huh?”

“One day, I woke up and everyone in the world had disappeared. Everyone but me. Even the stars all vanished. I was alone.”

“The stars disappeared? How are those two things related?”

“I don’t know. But that’s what happened. Everyone vanished, and the stars did too. I scavenged and struggled. I’ve always been– I’ve always been useless. Before it happened, I hadn’t left my house in years. I was too afraid.”

Sunica frowned.

“How did you live? Didn’t you need food?”

Lily shook her head.

“We had ways of doing that without ever seeing another person. I’ll explain sometime.”

“So, you lived in your home and never left? Wasn’t it boring?”

“Yeah. But I couldn’t leave. It was like a prison. I used to think I was living in the stomach of a monster. That it fed on my fear. That the outside only existed to make me more afraid, so the monster could eat better.”

She expected Sunica to laugh, but the girl closed her eyes and nodded.

“A fearsome monster indeed. How did you know everyone had disappeared?”

Lily laughed.

“I got a message. I don’t know from who. The same person who left me the spell, I think. Then I checked. It’s complicated, but there are usually things I could see from my house that people worked on. Nothing. So I left. They were all gone. I didn’t have the skills to do… anything. I barely lived. Time and time again, I only lived because apparently I am good in an emergency. When my life is on the line. I get like- like you saw. And it just works out. But it costs me every time.”

Lily held up her hand and looked over her scars. Sunica put a mug of warm tea into it.

“What about your friend?”

The human girl grimaced.

“I found Star after everyone vanished. I think the magic affected him. Grew him into more than just a dog. I don’t really understand how. But, he’s probably the reason I survived. More than once he saved my life, and more than thatI think he gave me a reason to not give up. And I–”

Tears welled up in her eyes again.

“I cast the spell. And now I can’t find him. If he’s hurt, or dead I– I don’t know what I’ll do. If someone had to die it should have been me. He was always there for me and I messed up and now he’s–”

Sunica knelt down to be on face level with Lily, and grabbed her free hand.

“Don’t assume the worst. There’s no evidence for that. You are separated. Let’s find him.”

“Okay. But how?”

“First, let’s ask in the city.”