The Written Works: Noticeable Differences

As for the first day that Jordini had entered Euthawal, it had forever shifted the world. She had never noticed it, but others had. Her very presence had affected the continuum that they were in. No one noticed the changes more than the very characters she was chasing after.

Since they were the object of her attention, the world began to shift around them. They were treated less like raggedy vagabonds and more like the main characters of some fourteen year old’s power trip fantasy novel. 

At just past noon that first day, there was a particularly noticeable shift. They were traveling to the nearest city, Entesea, when there was a great rumbling in the ground and a beam of light shot from the southeast. They all looked up and clung to the trees (Magnolia clung to Kayne instead, since he was a mammoth of a man and was not fazed by the shaking.)

“Woah! What was that?!” Evanora asked once the shaking stopped.

“And you all saw that beam in the sky?” Azia said, looking up through the canopy.

“Think it was just someone practicing their magic?” suggested Staerrlingg.
“No, it was way too far to affect us.” Kayne responded.

“Should we begin traveling that way to know what it was?” Magnolia pondered quietly to herself.

“No, it’s best to keep on going. Wherever that was seems really far away. You guys don’t wanna do more walking, do you?” Kayne said.

“Right,” Evanora started walking once again, rushing ahead of the others.

The five of them began walking again, but they were still affected by what they had just seen. Each one of them had their own idea of what it was, but none of them were truly right. Of course, it would be very hard for any of them to guess that their creator had just entered their world. Most of them did not even believe in creators. For them to assume such a thing would be nearly impossible.

In about seven hours, after the sun had set and the moon and its children had risen to guard the night, the five of them finally came to Entesea. It was a moderately sized Psychic Kingdom village. Just big enough that everyone would at least know of everyone else, and just small enough that it would never be the target of any important battles anytime soon. 

They entered a small inn just after they passed the gate and asked the receptionist for a room key. She looked moderately shocked at their coming, and handed them a key.

“What’s it cost?” Kayne asked.

“Oh, well, there’s a half off sale tonight, so that would be two… coins.”
“You don’t accept the national currency here?” Staerrlingg asked, very familiar with the Psychic Kingdom and its policies, since he was from there.

“Oh, we do, but we accept other things as well!” the receptionist cheered.

This confused them all, as outside the door there was a sign posted that read, “Cognos only. We do not accept other currencies.” Nonetheless, Magnolia took out a small satchel of Scorias, and they were in their room quite shortly.

Now, they all excused that odd interaction thinking she was nice to everyone. After all, she seemed quite kind in their eyes. But that was only the start of the differences caused by Jordini’s arrival. 

The next day, they were trying to make up their mind whether to stay in the city one more day or to get moving. They did not often stay in cities for longer than a day most times, but this city was an exception for some unknown reason.

Of course, if they were to stay in this city, they might as well get some supplies for their journey. A bit of food for when they were in the wilderness would be crucial for them in the long run. They came into a small general store, but that was when the differences really began to show.

The shop owner sat in the corner, stacking barrels that were likely filled with all manner of goods, while an assistant sat at the counter. Now, they most definitely did not expect that they could get anything. None of them had any Cognos, and the interaction from last night barely crossed their minds. But they had to see what they did have, and see if they could strike a deal.

As they entered, everyone in the store stopped to watch them enter. The store owner seemed just as surprised as the receptionist did from the previous day, but none of them took note of this. Whispers began filling the room, but most were too quiet to hear. The store owner walked to them before they could reach the counter and began talking to them.

“I’ve never seen you around here before! You’re outta town or somethin’?”
“Uh, yeah-” Kayne began to say, but the store owner was far too intrigued with their arrival.

“Hm! You guys look like some proper vagabonds! You need supplies, don’cha?”

All of them nodded in great confusion.

“Here, take some! Carius!”
The receptionist, who had been mesmerized by them as well, sat up and paid close attention.

“Get them some stuff they’ll need! Make sure it’s not the bad stuff!”
“Yes, sir, on it.”

The five of them stood dumbfounded. The people around them grumbled to themselves, both out of jealousy and a grudging respect.

“Does anyone know what’s going on?” Evanora whispered.

“No clue,” Staerrlingg responded.

Soon enough, Carius came out with an entire wagon full of stuff! They counted two cuts of lamb, two sacks of flour, six bottles of milk, a block of cheese, a dozen eggs, three loaves of bread, one sack of sugar, a sack of dried oatmeal, a glass jar of molasses, and two packages of crackers. They watched Carius bring it to them with a mix of shock, horror, and amazement.

“We cannot take all this!” Magnolia exclaimed to no one in particular.

“Oh, of course you can! Please, we insist!”
The five of them looked at each other quizzically for a long time, wondering if they were dreaming. After quite a long while, they folded under their expectations and began separating the things between them.

The people in the hotel lobby seemed quite confused why they were all carrying so many goods. Though the trip from the general store to the hotel was quite a long one, none of them had gotten tired at all.

“With all of this, we can make just about anything.” Staerrlingg said once they were in their hotel room, looking over the supplies.

“Yes! If you wish, I could even make you all pizza! We have nearly all of the ingredients.” Azia suggested.

“If it’s the best way to use the perishables. We need to use up the milk, cheese, and bread, since it goes bad quick.” Kayne stated.
“But, can you guys believe they just gave us all this?” Evanora asked.

“No, but do you believe it has something to do with the flash we saw yesterday?” said Magnolia.
They were satisfied with this outcome, but it was quite a shock. As the five of them pondered, only more differences were beginning. Of course, what was different was hard to tell. They would only have to explore more to find out.