Chapter Text
It had been a while since getting up, and your transportation...here, wherever here was. You'd hung around the edge of the beach area near the coastline you found yourself at, and besides some wild plants you hadn't had much food to eat. You hadn't met anyone else yet, but upon taking a look around the coastline you could see it stretching for quite some distance, meaning that you weren't on a small island at all.
So today, after clearing your mind and getting a final look at your starting destination, you set off inwards, determined to find some civilization somewhere within the heart of the land. There were some hills in the way, but there was a clear pathway leading to who knows where that was relatively easy to follow.
You trod through the sandy pathway, coarse sand slowly merging into soil. A lizard scurried out of a bush as you walked by, and you moved forward. Surrounded by cliffs on both sides, the wind through the canyon you were at was very strong, breezes playing with your hair and clothing. You passed by a tree, two pale off-white eggs sitting atop a bird nest. A funny little animal dashed by, and you barely managed to catch a glimpse of its brown and beige fur, and two long ears and tail.
You moved forward, the crashing water from a small waterfall just next to you. You tentatively took a lick of the water, and found that it was fresh. A lone flower sat on the edge of the water, and you took a look at its gentle orange tips of its petals. It was smooth, and it looked really healthy. A tree growing a strange sunset coloured fruit sat on the side of the path way.
As you approached, that same furry creature from earlier, albeit likely a different one, scurried away from the fallen fruit. You picked the fallen fruit up, leaving aside the half eaten one. It looked fresh, and it smelled much like a mango. The fruit certainly looked beautiful, and the ones on the trees remained with the remnants of the flower from before, still growing to full size. You broke it open, juice spilling out and the inside looking orange. Seeing that a wild animal had eaten it, it was likely not very poisonous, and you took a bite.
It was refreshing, certainly, sweet and tart all the same. You munched on it a little, before leaving the remnants of the seed and whatever that was left near the tree. It was a nice taste to leave on the tongue, and you gave your hands a quick wash in the waterfall before continuing toward inland.
You slowly walked toward a clearing, spotting a mushroom and passing by a bright blue flower on a thin stem, which was what you thought to be minty smelling. You weren't a big fan, and didn't pay much attention to it.
The path stopped at the edge of a small cliff, where grass had grown over it, overlooking grassy lands and a small patch of land surrounded by water. That small patch of land in fact had a statue of sorts, glowing bright blue in the early morning light. And in the distance, what you were looking for awaited you: civilization.
You got excited for the first time since arriving here. You tried not to trip as you made your way down the hill and passed by yet another plant that you were unfamiliar with, growing some yellow berries. They looked like raspberries, but yellow. Yet another furry animal was taking a whiff of them, and this one scurried away just as fast as the others had when you approached them. It ran into the distance.
You picked a berry and kept it in hand while you walked. A sweet smelling flower grew on the edge of the cliff, white petals and a big yellow center, almost looking like an egg yolk, you thought. You didn't pay much mind and focused back on your task, going to those houses you'd seen earlier. You took a while to admire all the different trees around you, some yellow and some green. Shrubs and bushes lined the edge of the path, and some gentle looking birds rested near the reeds facing the pond with the statue.
The statue was huge, for sure, pristine in condition and gold lining the front of it. However, you weren't going to get wet just to swim to it, and as much as you wanted to get a closer look, you sure didn't want to have to dry yourself off. The figure on the statue held a ball, wings embracing its silouhuette. It looked very much like the statues back at home near those portals...-
Right, home. You were getting nostalgic.
You walked forward, and strangely enough, a creature with a humanoid appearance stood in front of you. It had a sort of wooden club in its hand, and its face was a mask, over a layer of...fur? Hair? You weren't sure. It noticed you, and let out a cry.
"YA!"
It ran toward you, waving its club aggressively. You tried summoning your powers to-
No glow came from the palms of your hand. You let out a curse and fell to the floor with a grunt it knocked you down, dropping the berry you held in hand. You pushed it off you, and a flaming arrow whooshed past your head, hitting the strange creature square on its face (mask?) and it disappeared into dust. You immediately turned your head to see who shot the arrow, afraid if he or she was a threat.
A human, dressed in all red with white. Long brown hair, two small bags and some goggles above her head, with a cute red ribbon, almost like a head band on her head. She jumped off from the ledge she was at, landing right in front of you. A little startled, you stepped back a little.
"𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲?"
You tilted your head. Of course, there just had to be a language barrier. You shook your head, putting your hand on your chest and expressing your thoughts.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand you," you said.
"𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲? 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠?" The human said. You remained silent at this, not sure what to say.
"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐲𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬...𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧? 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧? 𝐇𝐮𝐡, 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰." The human scratched their head, thinking.
You pointed to yourself. "I am Evanescence." You then pointed to the human. "Your name?" you asked.
The human seemed to take the cue and spoke. "𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫, 𝚶𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬! 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 'Evanescence'."
𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 made an action with her hand. Maybe that was a signal or salute for the symbol for whatever country she was part of or something. you thought to yourself.
"𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫," you said, pronouncing the name.
She nodded, and asked. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞? 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐭, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐞𝐲𝐯𝐚𝐭."
Well that was a long sentence, you thought to yourself. You pointed toward the houses you saw across the stone bridge. "I wanted to get to there, civilisation," you said, slowly.
"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐭?" 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 said. She pointed to where you were pointing. "𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐭."
"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐭?" You repeated, trying to replicate the way she was saying it.
"𝐍𝐨 𝐧𝐨 𝐧𝐨, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 '𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐭'," she made an action with her hands like quotation marks, when saying that word 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐭 again.
You repeated it more firmly this time, "𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐭?"
"𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞?" 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 said, gesturing to the two of them and then pointing back at 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐭.
You hoped you understood what she said, and nodded, at least to what sounded like a question.
"𝐋𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐨," 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 said, calling for you to follow. You trailed behind her, following her and the path to the bridge entrance. The walk was awfully quiet, having not much to say.
"𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞." 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 muttered, and finally you reached the bridge. The ground shifted to stones, and lone pigeons flew away as you walked past. Two flags adorned the arched entrance, as well as two men with armor and sword standing at the entrance. You gave a curious look to them, and 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 gave them a little wave and they did that same salute she had done.
You could hear the sounds of people talking and the lively atmosphere around the air. 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 turned around just as the two entered into 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐭. "𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦. Evanescence, 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐭!"
She sounded cheery, and was gesturing to the place around you. You supposed she was introducing this place, and nodded and smiled.
"𝐈 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞..." 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 put a hand on her chin. You waited in silence as you watched her think.
"𝐀𝐡𝐚! 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥." 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 said aloud, happy that she seemingly has thought of an idea. "𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞, 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬."
𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 once again gestured for your to follow, and you followed her. Some of the citizens gave you some looks, but you tried not to pay any mind. You followed her past the sounds of people eating from a nice looking woman and past a small fountain, before going up some stairs. This place wasn't very huge, but the city of 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐭 looked very peaceful and cozy overall.
There was a big empty area where some gathered around a large statue, a much, much bigger one than the one on the statue you saw earlier. That same person had their hands outstretched, wings spread. A little water surrounded the statue, plants at its base. Some people held their hands in prayer, facing a nun in front of the statue. Some others strolled around, chatting in that same language 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 spoke.
𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 noticed you looking at it, and spoke to you, pointing at the statue. "𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝚩𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐨 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐧!"
"𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝚩𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐬?" You asked, hoping you'd picked the correct words to repeat.
"𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲! 𝚩𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐨, 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦. 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬." 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 seemed happy at your response, so you supposed you were right. This '𝚩𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐬' seems really important, you would keep that in mind, based on the tone 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 was speaking about 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝚩𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐬.
"𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐨 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐧," 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 continued, speaking as the two of you walked toward a bigger building than the others around.
"𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲." There was that word again, '𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬'. And '𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐚' as well.
You tried testing out what you understood so far. Pointing at 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 and then the building, you spoke. "𝐘𝐨𝐮, 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫, 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬? 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬, 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐚?"
𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 definitely looked happy at your meager attempt to speak her language, and nodded her head. "𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧."
"𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧?" you said, and 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 laughed. "𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈'𝐦 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭."
The two entered, 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬 once again lining the entrance and hallways. 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 pushed open a door, and inside was a library. A tall woman with green eyes and purple-white clothing and a witch hat of sorts stood at the shelves, seemingly picking up books.
"𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐚." 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 gestured to the library, and then the woman in front. You strode up to '𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐚', and said in the best imitation of how Amber greeted you.
The woman turned around, and talked to you in a sweet and almost flirty manner. "𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞?" It sounded like a question, a cue for you to introduce yourself.
"𝐈'𝐦 Evanescence, 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧." You barely fumbled with the words, hoping you'd gotten the message across. You were almost sure that your accent wasn't on point, but it was good enough.
Her green eyes stared back at yours, and smiled. "𝚶𝐡, 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮?" 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐚 said, and 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 stepped in to help you answer.
"𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐭 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐓𝐞𝐲𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧, 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐓𝐞𝐲𝐯𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐲𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧." 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 said, and you listened silently, now recognising 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 and 𝐓𝐞𝐲𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 as likely languages, seeming that 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐭 was part of 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 and what you assumed to be 𝐓𝐞𝐲𝐯𝐚𝐭 having the 𝐓𝐞𝐲𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 language.
"𝚶𝐡? 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬." 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐚 said, and turned to you. You paid extra attention now.
"𝐇𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭." the woman said, and you tilted your head a little. What was she asking you to do?
Then, 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 gestured to a book on the table, and said "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞? 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐲𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧."
You pointed at it and asked. "𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤?"
"𝐍𝐨, 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠." 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐚 said. Your brain started to connect the dots and you spoke again. "This is a book, 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤." You said, gesturing to yourself and the book, then the two of them and the book.
"𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐞." 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 seemed a little disappointed when 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐚 said that, and you watched silently yet again.
"I can learn your language," you said, and the two turned to you again. You put your hand to your chest and pointed to the book. "𝐓𝐞𝐲𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤."
𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 looked at the other woman, and spoke. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲?"
"𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐲𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧."