After Childhood's End

[yinyangwizard]

All childhoods must, at some point, come to an end. Magically induced ones end more abruptly than the regular kind.

Abe no Seimei wakes with a start. Not that he was sleeping until now. He was...what exactly was he doing before he found himself here? And where is here, anyway? Who is that person off to his left?

He leaps back from the stranger, leaves crunching under his feet, and gets a defensive spell into place - all before he quite realizes that he's done it, or that the stranger he's reacting to is just as startled as he is.

Comments

[yinyangwizard]

"Is that a world you've visited?" Seimei asks. "Or, perhaps, one you've seen on the television here?"

They have some interesting programs in Milliways. Like the soap opera with the giant squid.

[margolotta]

"Neither," Margolotta says. "There used to be a few people here from that world."

[yinyangwizard]

"Goodness. It must have been a while ago."

Lady Margolotta, it seems, has been a regular at Milliways for longer than Seimei.

[margolotta]

"Yes, a few years," Margolotta says. "This place is very persistent."

[yinyangwizard]

Seimei chuckles. "I gather that for you, Milliways turns up frequently and by surprise."

[margolotta]

"Not so frequently, but often surprisingly, yes," she says.

[yinyangwizard]

"That's not the case for me, but I understand that my situation is by no means typical," Seimei says. He would venture to guess that Lady Margolotta's situation is more common as far as Milliways guests are concerned.

"Actually...the last thing I recall, before we found ourselves in the woods, was sitting down by the fireplace with a cigar and some Scotch." He remembers that he hadn't lit the cigar yet. Beyond that, things get very murky. "What is the last thing you recall, lady Margolotta?"

[margolotta]

"I was coming in with a book," Margolotta says. "I wonder where that got to; I am rather fond of it."

[yinyangwizard]

Seimei surpresses a chuckle. It's not that Lady Margolotta's concern over a lost book seems silly to him. Just the opposite: it's the sort of thing he'd be worried about too.

"What is it called, and what color is the cover?" Seimei asks. "If I see it lying about, I can make sure it gets back to you."

[margolotta]

"It's a brown leather cover with faded gold ornamentation," Margolotta says. "The title on the spine is just TotBSS-IV, which stands for 'Transactions of the Bonk Science Society Volume Four', which was too long for the spine."

[yinyangwizard]

"Are you a member?" Seimei asks. "Of the Bonk Science Society, I mean."

[margolotta]

"A non-contributing patron," she says. "The members are mostly Igors."

[yinyangwizard]

After the briefest pause, Seimei says, "Forgive my ignorance, Lady Margolotta, but what are Igors? A clan? A species?"

(Yes, sort of, and also yes, sort of.)

[margolotta]

"Something like that," Margolotta says, "The world's best surgeons on top of that. No science happens in Überwald without them."

[yinyangwizard]

"Hm. Why is that the...Ah!" Seimei turns to Lady Margolotta with a grin. "The edge of the forest is just up ahead."

They make their way across the last dozen meters or so to open ground. Seimei stands at the edge of the forest, looking at the moonlit landscape. The waters of the lake shine, and the inviting lights of the bar proper twinkle in the not-too-far distance.

"It actually looks rather lovely," he says. "I don't think I've seen it from this perspective at night before.

[margolotta]

"Nor have I," Margolotta says. "I would thank you for the lovely walk, except that we both don't really know how we got here in the first place."

[yinyangwizard]

Seimei chuckles. "Hopefully we will figure it out. But even if the cause of our meeting remains a mystery, I must say I am glad that it happened." He grins and bows. "From here the path to the bar is clear - but I shall keep my little scouts on patrol just in case."

Whatever caused their memory loss might still be wandering around, and if it is, Seimei would like some advanced warning.

[margolotta]

"Thank you," Lady Margolotta says. "I do hope to talk to you again later."

[yinyangwizard]

"And you as well, Lady Margolotta." Seimei bows. "I hope you recover your book: I will certainly let you know if I find it."

[margolotta]

"Thank you," Lady Margolotta says, and quietly goes on her way.-