Chapter 37: Chapter 35: Dreaming Memories

The Hero Became a Mousegirl
Chapter 35 - Dreaming Memories

After night fell Cesarina… no Rina, she’d insisted on the shortened version enough that I was getting the feeling she was abandoning her former self. Rina and I were sent to bed while Aivi and Bobbie stepped outside to chat. 

Too curious to sleep I slipped out of the window and crept close enough to listen to their conversation. Given the power of Bobbie’s eye, I worried she’d spot me in seconds, luckily her eyepatch was still in place. Though, I wasn’t exactly sold on the idea that a piece of leather and cloth could cancel out ancient magic. 

“Does rum suit you?” Bobbie asked Aivi, placing a small bottle of amber liquid and two glasses on the table between them. 

“I can’t say I’ve ever had it.” 

“Then this will be an experience,” Bobbie laughed. “Perhaps it’ll loosen your tongue enough to speak freely. Your little group is quite peculiar, I can’t help but want to know more.” 

“If you wanted I’m sure you could learn a great deal by reading our minds.”  

Bobbie poured rum into Aivi’s glass before sighing. “You learn a lot you don’t want to know when looking into the minds of others. Our thoughts are unfiltered, savage, beastial. The path between thought and speech is where our humanity lives. Mind reading removes that, it only lets you see the monster under the surface.” 

“I guess there is a story there?” 

“Many stories. I suffered many heartbreaks to learn that lesson. Perhaps in time, I’ll share some with you. For now, you wish to learn about the legend that keeps the beast-ears away don’t you Aivi dear?” 

“Yes.” 

“Centuries ago, this land was ruled by tribes of beast-ears. During this time there was apparently a great turtle, as large and powerful as a dragon, living just beneath the waters here. It’s favorite food was the beast-eared people. They apparently tried to slay it many times, only to see entire legions of warriors consumed. Eventually the beast-ears abandoned this place, and told stories to their children so that no generation would ever return.” 

“Then humans came?” 

“Yes. The first human settlers were told the legend of course, but the turtle was nowhere to be seen. Even when humans swam in our coastal waters, they were unharmed. To the humans of the time, this was proof that the turtle the beast-ears feared was long gone. To the beast-ears… well they just assumed humans smelled bad to the turtle.” 

Bobbie cackled. “I’d love to believe that’s true. That humans just smell like old shoe-leather and aren’t worth eating. But with my eye… if such a creature existed I should’ve seen something. Which is why I didn’t want to tell the children, there’s no reason to scare them over some long-dead beast from a bygone era.” 

“Neither Caelan, nor Rina are truly kids. Caelan may be only nineteen, but she was raised in human society and has the maturity expected in such. Rina… well she’s the same age as me. We had a bit of an unexplainable magical mishap which regressed her to her present self.” 

“Is that the truth?” 

“You’re free to use your eye to verify my words, but I have no need to lie to you. Especially knowing I cannot hide anything from you if you wish to know it.” 

“Hmm…” Bobbie took a sip of her rum before running her finger just beneath her eyepatch. “Magic is truly terrifying isn’t it.” 

“I’d say it’s a gift.” 

“The line between a gift and a curse is not so wide. Fire magic can bring warmth and comfort, it can also cause untold pain and suffering. That’s not to say I wish it didn’t exist, I too rely on magic to better my own life, it’s just… the things it can do to us. Aivi dear, you know a lot for someone with so little mana. Was your mother a historian perhaps?” 

“My creator is fond of books, especially those that detail the magic and innovations of past civilizations. Though I regard her as a mother in my heart, I doubt she’d like to hear that I think of her as such.” 

“Is your mother, little Rina, perhaps?” 

“Did your eye tell you such a thing?” 

“You both reacted the same when I revealed it. As long as I’ve been alive, today was the first time someone has recognized my eye for what it is. For you both to have identical reactions, and the fact that you call your mother, your creator, it gives weight to such an assumption. Especially now that you’ve revealed her true age to me.” 

“Is that so?  Well it is true, I was created as Rina’s clone, from before her transformation.” 

“But you’re human?” 

“She was too…” 

“I’m at a loss for words, Aivi dear,” Bobbie gave Aivi a motherly smile and sighed. “It’ll be hard to treat little Rina as an adult, given her looks.” 

“I don’t think you have to treat her any differently. It is true that her present body is that of a child. We’d look quite weird to those around us if we deferred to her as if she were someone of equal standing.” 

“That’s true. Well, Aivi dear, what is your opinion on rum?” 

“It burns the throat and doesn’t taste very good. But I could see myself growing to enjoy it in time.” 

“I have quite the stockpile on my ship. You’ll have many opportunities to enjoy it.” 

“I just might. In moderation of course. If you don’t mind, I had another question about your eye.”  

“Go ahead.” 

“How did you learn to utilize your eye, if you remained here in Turtle Cove? It’s rare to learn magic without any kind of instructor or tome.” 

“Hmm,” Bobbie gazed up at the stars. “I woke up with everything I needed to know, implanted into me.”

“Sounds like you were truly blessed.” 

“That I was.”  

“I appreciate you sharing so much with me. Now then, I think I’m going to lay down.” 

“Aivi dear,” Bobbie turned and for a moment it looked as thought she was staring directly at me. “My eye… is a gift I’m capable of passing on. At my age I’ve been thinking it is about time I start looking for a successor. I think you’d make a fine inheritor.” 

“I think Rina or Caelan would make better candidates than me. You should consider them.”

“I’m sure they’re both worthy, but my ol’ heart says you’re the one I want. Consider it an old woman’s intuition.” 

“I’ll give it some thought.” 

“Take your time, I’m not planning to die anytime soon.” 

Aivi nodded and said goodnight again before slipping into the cabin. Once she was gone, Bobbie sighed and motioned for me to come over to her. “I know you’re there Caelan dear, come out.” 

“I knew it… you can use your eye through the eyepatch.”

“Or I noticed my bush had grown a pair of ears. Come on, let’s have a little chat.” 

“About what?” 

“You of course. Come on, I don’t bite.” 

I hesitated for a moment before wandering over to where Bobbie was waiting. She waved toward the chair Aivi had been sitting in as if telling me to take a seat, and so I did. 

You are reading story The Hero Became a Mousegirl at novel35.com

“You know eavesdropping on others is bad.” 

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Actually I’ve been curious about something since I saw the three of you in the village. Caelan dear… you have two different kinds of mana flowing through you. Have you contracted with a spirit by chance?” 

“Yes…” 

“Amazing. I know it’s not rare for beast-ears and elves to have spirit contracts, but you’re only the second contractor I’ve ever met in all my years.” 

“Who was the first?” 

“A young elven girl who came to Turtle Cove about twenty years ago,” Bobbie smiled as she spoke, as if recalling a fond memory. “She’d come at the request of her spirit companion, looking for a relic of some kind. I can’t say if she found it or not, but she made for pleasant company. Her spirit was such a cutie too, it took the form of a little golden squirrel. Does your spirit ever come out?” 

“I… dunno. She hasn’t spoken to me much in a week.” 

“Did the two of you have a fight?” 

“No. I guess she’s just sleepy?” 

“Well that’s fine then. I just wanted you to know, it’s okay for her to come out while we travel. I’ve seen spirits before, it won’t surprise me.” 

“You’re weird Bobbie.” 

“Oh?” Bobbie chuckled. “A bit of weirdness comes with age. The more you see, the more people you meet, the less you’ll be able to cling to false notions of what normal is.” 

“Is that so?” 

“I’d like to believe so. Before I met the three of you I didn’t know magic could change one’s physical age and race. I’ve known you for only a day and already my understanding of the world has changed forever. I truly cherish experiences like this.” 

Nodding I gazed at the bottle of rum Bobbie had left sitting on the table between us. “Mind if I try some?” 

“Be my guest.” 

Stretching forward I grabbed the bottle and poured a bit into the glass Aivi was using then took a sip. It burned my tongue and throat as I swallowed. All along my throat and down into my belly I felt a warmth flowing through me. It was a pleasant feeling, even if the drink itself tasted kind of terrible. 

“What do you think Caelan dear?” 

“I’d like to drink this when it’s cold outside.” 

“It does make a winter’s day more bearable. Now then, I guess I’ll go to bed as well. I have preparations to make tomorrow before we sail for Orvost.” 

“Umm… wait Bobbie!”  

“Yes, Caelan dear?” 

“If you give your eye to Aivi, what happens to you?” 

“Hmm… I live out the rest of my life without it. My eye isn’t maintaining my life, nor is it fueling my magic. It simply grants me abilities that I would otherwise not have. There’s no need to fear for my wellbeing hon.” 

“Ah, okay.” 

“It’ll actually be better if I give it up soon though. If I die before I pass it on, it’ll be lost until some other lucky soul obtains a similar one on their own.” 

 “Do you think you might die soon?” 

Bobbie smiled sadly. “I’m almost fifty-eight years old. I’ve been very lucky in life, but even if I remain lucky I can only honestly expect another twenty years. If I’m unlucky, I might be down to my last two or three.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“Now that’s a terrible thing to say Caelan dear,” Bobbie crouched down and gave my forehead a flick. “Don’t be sorry that someone has reached the end of a long life. Be sorry that someone young died before they could experience all that was waiting for them. Even though I stayed here in a little village in the middle of nowhere, I’ve been blessed with so many wonderful encounters. It’s been a worthwhile life. When it’s my turn I’ll go to the grave with a smile.” 

“Ah,” I held my forehead and struggled to figure out how to reply. No matter how hard I tried, however, nothing came to mind. 

“Come on, we should both be in bed.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Firearms are pretty simple to use,” A lithe blue-haired goblin said as she handed me a pistol. She was the same goblin I’d dreamed of before, the one who’d been feeding me a pastry. Now she was teaching me how to shoot. 

“First you’re going to need this cord. We’ll fit it onto the arm on the side of your pistol and light it. When you pull the trigger it’ll drop down into some powder and ignite the pistol, causing it to fire.” 

The cord confused me. The goblin, her firearm didn’t have such a thing. Unwilling to remain ignorant I decided to pose the question. “Your blunderbuss doesn’t have a cord?” 

The goblin– Myra, smiled. “I replaced it with a burlap wrapped stone enchanted to produce a small amount of heat and fire when it strikes the pan.”

I nodded. Once she explained the modification she’d made, it made sense. I couldn’t help but think I wanted such a stone for my own, but then… I wasn’t actually going to use it. With everything else I was capable of, the pistol just wasn’t needed. 

After Myra finished teaching me how to load the pistol, I aimed at a tree not far ahead of us and pulled the trigger. The barrel roared and coughed up black smoke while a metal ball launched into the tree, sending bits of bark and wood everywhere. 

“Very good,” Myra clapped. “Did you hit the tree you were aiming for?” 

“Caelan,” Rina shook me awake, her face contorted in a expression of concern. “Are you okay?” 

“Huh?”

“You were crying in your sleep. Is everything okay? Bad dreams?” 

“I’m fine… sorry for worrying you.” 

“It’s okay. I know I’m not the best person to say this, but I’m hear if you want someone to talk to, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks Rina.” 

Sitting up I placed my face in my palms and sighed. It’d been a week since the last dream, the one I’d had in the forest. At the time I was hesitant to believe it was a memory. I’d already been told my lover was a goblin, so it was possible my mind simply manufactured a scene that made sense with the information I’d been given. 

Now, I knew they weren’t dreams. It was too real, too full of emotion, I felt it too keenly. Taking a few deep breaths I lowered my hand down to my chest and clenched the fabric of my shirt. My heart hurt… I missed Myra. Even if I’d lost nearly all of my memories of her, my love for her remained.