Chương 20: Therese

"What in the hells are you doing here?!" asked the thin lizard woman, surprised. Her claw still rested on the flat pommel of the long, slightly curved sword sheath at her hip. Who are you?! I don't know you at all!

"Huh?" The lizard woman stalked forward, until she was right in front of Atzi, peering down at her.

"Wait a second…"

"Quit it!" Atzi pushed her away. The woman stumbled away, before righting herself.

"Hey, hey, sorry. Just thought… clearly you're not her. Your tail's a lot bi- nevermind. Look a lot like her though. Uncanny."

"Like who?" Who could you ever mistake me with?

"I'm from Pomaria. There's a lady there, part of the mage council, Therese. Do you know her?" Atzi coughed.

"You thought I was my mom?!"

"Oh shit! You're her daughter? Didn't you run-""I just- they wouldn't train me as a mage anyway, what was the point in staying?" More banging noises coincided with Atzi's oncoming headache. But I'm going back home now. Great… The lizard woman looked confused.

"But why are you here? You're here at the inn, so you can't have been here a while." What's with this girl? She's all over the place.

"... Things didn't work out in Sostra."

"Ahh shucks." The woman clacked the wooden floor with her claws.

"Another drink. Please." Atzi half-begged Beth. Beth nodded and poured it for her. Atzi drank it fast.

"What about you? What are you doing here?" Atzi asked.

"I'm heading to Mediolanum. Was gonna take a crack at the crypt here-""S'good you didn't," Beth chimed in.

"But I hear some group already took it out from under me, so I'm going to hunt a rogue demon instead." Atzi was surprised to hear that. She didn't know anything about demons other than they were dangerous.

"Oh, uh, good luck there, um…" The lizard woman looked excited, before tempering her expression. She struck a pose, which Atzi thought was probably meant to look cool, but didn't. At all.

"Call me… the Blood Wind Blade." Never heard of her.

"Never heard of you."

"Well now you have. And when I slay that demon, you can tell people you knew me before I was famous." Atzi rolled her eyes.

"Sure, I'll drink to that." Or you'll die like an idiot. Not my problem. The Blood Wind Blade smiled earnestly.

"A drink for me too, then!" She set some bronze on the counter. Beth made her one.

"Do people really talk about me back home? I mean, mom's long lost daughter or whatever?" The awkward woman took a measured sip of her drink, like she was testing the taste.

"Well, I was drinking in the tavern one night and overheard her complaining really loudly about it with- I guess he'd be your dad?" Atzi gritted her teeth, frustrated. I'm gone and she's still putting me down! The Blood Wind Blade slapped down a few more coins on the counter.

"Room for the night." She finished her drink in one go.

"Anyway, I'm gonna do some supply shopping. See ya!" Atzi was alone with Beth once more. - Atzi wasn't in the mood for any more chatting. She just smoked and drank the whole evening away, then got half a dozen bottles of wine so she could keep drinking all night long in her room, until she entered a precious state of unconsciousness just as the sun began to rise. She woke up some time later and left her room.

In the main room of the inn, there was some woman wearing expensive looking armor, draining an entire mug of alcohol. Several more such mugs lay over the table, empty. She was deep in her cups early in the day. Seems like everyone's trying to drink their troubles away these days. Atzi paid out a second day of rent to an insistent Beth, before leaving the inn. She overheard two passing serpent-blooded.

"-with the birthday party on the 15th?"

"... could you get an invite?"

"No."

"Then how would I?"

"Damn. But they have the best food!" Nothing to do with me. Not like I'm sticking around. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. She was going to leave straight away, but her stomach grumbled. And she had a hangover. Some food would help… So instead, she followed signposts to the central market of Artaxta. Unlike Sostra, it wasn't a street, but a rectangular wooden dock that overlooked much of the surrounding swamp.

Atzi noticed all kinds of people - serpent-blooded maids buying goods for whichever family they served, off duty guards clinking cups, and farmers haggling over whatever they needed to supplement their own supplies. Atzi had only planned for a quick meal - really! - but ended up sampling a bunch of local delicacies. Like duck legs, ground pork sausages, and spicy wine. She stayed away from other 'delicacies' she'd been served in the Serpent's temple.

When she realized it was several hours later, she decided she would leave for home. This is it. I… couldn't make it in Sostra. Not even with those visions helping me. And now I need to go back home. Atzi weaved her way back over to the gator-rancher she remembered passing by on her way to the inn. She noticed a few carts with harnesses for the creatures. She'd never ridden in a cart before, but she knew it was a popular form of travel between cities.

"Hey, can I get a cart to Pomaria?"

"Sure thing, miss, one of my sons will take ya," the serpent-blooded man in charge replied, and tipped his hat with a smile. - The evening road was uneventful, passing only a single cart going the other direction, with two guards. Must be a trader. She didn't bother to speak to the cart driver at all, even as bored as she was. She was too busy replaying the events with Cory in her mind. I guess this is really the end. It was night when she saw the distant lights of Pomaria.

It was built in the middle of a large marsh, specifically atop the various islands that dotted it, though some of the village also extended along the edges of the nearby river. A delightful warmth laid over the large village, combined with a heavy humidity, the only things Atzi had missed while she had been gone. Atzi gritted her teeth. Time to head for my parents'. She traveled by the bridges between the islands.

There was also the option for small, self-paddled boats - some islands didn't even have any choice but that - but she was too upset to bother. The lights came from treated wooden torch-posts, casting the too-small 'city' in brushstrokes of illumination. Atzi didn't feel like it was a proper city at all, even if it was the only one in the province. There were no walls, no cart-busy streets, no stone buildings or ongoing parties.

Half the places there didn't even have doors - she'd always felt being apprenticed to a locksmith was such a waste. Nobody was out but Atzi, and a single guard who looked at her briefly before going back to patrolling. She finally reached her parents' place. It's just like I remember it. Four straw shacks, each essentially a 'room' in the house, plus a large wooden building that served as a kitchen and dining room. Atzi approached the rectangular shack she remembered her parents slept in.

It's going to be really embarrassing if no-one's home. She wandered up, taking a moment to breathe deeply. The straw shack was a building without a door, beads hung in the entryway instead. You can do this, you can do this… it's better to get this over with. Atzi rattled the beads. She could hear a shifting noise from inside, but no response. Atzi rattled them again.

"What?!" came an annoyed voice. The voice of Atzi's mother. Urgh.

"Hi," Atzi meekly called in. A heavy thump. The beads opened. Atzi's mother stared at her. She had the same colored scales, the same height, the same red hair. Therese looked very tired as she mutely regarded her daughter. Atzi had always been told growing up that she looked just like her mom. Only thing she got from her dad was her tail. How could anyone mistake me for her? She looks so… spent.

"Hey?" Finally, Therese spoke.

"I'm busy. Do you need something?" Busy? Not sleeping? You don't even have a light on inside!

"Well, uh, can I come in?" Therese stared at her some more. Not a word.

"I-""Why did you leave?" Atzi threw her claws into the air.

"Are we really gonna do this now? I've been here less than a minute!"

"I'm busy." Therese ran a claw through the beads.

"I'm working or sleeping, no time." She stared at Atzi a moment longer.

"So we're doing this quickly so I can go back to sleeping." She's always like this! She cares more about her work than me!

"Fine. You wouldn't train me in magic, so I didn't want to stay. Sostra had" - Atzi searched for a good euphemism - "opportunities. What was there for me here?" Therese pointed a clawed finger at her.

"We got you that apprenticeship you threw away." Atzi winced.

"I just… thought I could do better…" Her mother sighed.

"Look, Atzi. If you had come any other week, I'd maybe have time for this. What's the reason you're here?" Atzi gulped.

"I can't stay in Sostra anymore. I'll- I'll work! I just got here, I don't have anywhere else to stay yet. I mean maybe the inn, but-" Therese waved a claw.

"Fine. You'll clean every room. Except mine. Don't go in my room. Your room is where it always was. Good night." With that, she closed the beads, retreating inside. Atzi stood there, emotions warring inside her. She wanted to yell at her mom. She wanted to cry. She wanted to yell at her mom some more. So really, it was more like her emotions signed a truce with her desire to not get kicked out. She trudged over to her old room, the circular straw shack much smaller than her parents'.

Wait, why didn't dad come talk to me? That surprised her, because he was a lot more affectionate than mom, even if he did go along with whatever she said. But perhaps he was at a shaman gathering. Or something. The small cot in her room was barely big enough for her still, mainly because she didn't grow much after she left home nine years ago. She really kept it around, huh? There wasn't much in the room besides that, just a small chest for clothes and a table beside the bed.

Atzi sat on the bed- immediately releasing a cloud of dust. She coughed and waved the dust away, then curled up onto it. She was home. It felt to her the future, once so filled with possibility, was now closed off. Cory, the book, V, the job; none of it mattered anymore. She'd be lucky if she could get any real job, even though she hated the idea of working. And it wasn't like she could go around stealing stuff, either, it'd be too obvious even if she wasn't directly caught.

She wasn't sure who would still be here from when she left, either. Growing up, she'd only really had one real friend, who'd probably moved onto bigger and better things. Just like Atzi had tried to. Maybe she would need to become a real volunteer at the Water's temple - the real one, where her prophet resided - just to feed herself. She let out a short, sad laugh at the irony. It's better than dying, I guess. Atzi slept, and didn't dream.