System Escape, page 18
“You know you can get most of those seeds from the shop, right?” Jeff asked.
“Only if we have a budget to do so,” Alex replied with a disgusted tone.
“I'll see if I can put in a good word for that,” Marc said. “You could probably even sell some of the ones you've grown to subsidize getting new seeds.”
“If we'd finished growing any yet, this is our first attempt at an herb garden, so we aren't that far along,” Alex replied. “Anyhow, let's go see if we can find Maya for you.”
* * *
It took virtually no time at all for Alex to find out where she was. He just asked the first farmer, who told him Maya was scheduled to work the greenhouses today.
“So, she's constantly scheduled for this stuff?” Marc asked.
Alex shrugged.
“She's been busy every time I've seen her recently, but that's no guarantee she's busy all the time.”
He led them to a small bank of three greenhouses, about the size of the first one Marc had put in.
“There she is,” Alex said, pointing through the glass of a greenhouse. “Now I'm heading back to my herbs. I'll tell your friend where you are when I get there.”
“Derrick, would you do the honors? She might recognize you, she won't know me from Adam.”
“Okay, I don't know how she's going to take this. A lot of people have been trying to forget their old life completely, so cut her some slack if that's the case?” Derrick said.
“Don't worry, I'll be gentle,” Marc said.
“You aren't who I'm worried about,” Derrick said, glancing at Jeff.
“It's kind of tight in there, isn't it?” Marc said, “How about you and I go in and you can introduce me. Or you could just tell her all of it yourself.”
Derrick shook his head.
“Not without someone to back me up. She'd think I'm insane and was snooping to find things out about her.”
“Alright, the two of us then,” Marc replied.
Derrick stepped forward and opened the door, Jeff was fuming at being excluded, but just looking at the greenhouses told him that there wasn't that much room inside of them, so he stayed put.
“Hey, Maya,” Derrick said, “I've got someone I'd like you to meet.”
She turned and Marc's first impression was of the quiet, girl next door type. At least that's how she looked. The first words out of her mouth made him reconsider.
“What the fuck, Derrick? I'm trying to work here.”
“Yeah, well, it's important, or I wouldn't have interrupted you. I know better.”
“Fine, give me a minute or two, then I'll need to regen my mana anyhow and you can talk to me while I do.”
Marc watched with interest as Maya focused in on a plant. Apparently she was casting or something, although he couldn't tell exactly when she started, he noticed when it started affecting the plant though. It grew several inches in as many minutes before she stopped, breathing heavily.
Maya dropped onto the ground, leaning against the wall holding the soil for the plants.
“What is it, then?” she asked.
“Well, this is Marc, and he's got something to tell you. I promise it's all true, but I don't know how you'll take this, so I'm out of here,” Derrick said, heading for the door.
Maya's attention snapped over to Marc and he wondered how he could ever have thought she was the type he had. Her stare was hard and penetrating, leaving him with difficulty formulating what he was trying to say.
“Derrick put it best to me recently. A lot of things changed when the System showed up,” Marc started.
“No shit, now stop wasting my time.”
“Okay, do you remember someone, actually something might be better, from before the System's arrival?” Marc asked, about to continue, but she jumped in instead.
“Of course I do, I remember lots of someones and somethings from before, now spit it out.”
“There's something that remembers you from then also, and it wants to reconnect.”
This time when he paused, Maya stayed quiet, staring at him.
“We just found out this morning, and he, I mean it, asked us to contact you and let you know that he's looking for you.”
“Who, or what, is it?” she asked, intensely. “Will this explain the weird dreams I've had?”
“What dreams?” Marc asked, eager to get away from what he had to tell her that he was worried she'd disbelieve.
“The ocean, making creatures that swim in it, and crawl along the bottom of it. The call of the cold, dark waters. All of that, and more.”
“Huh, he did say that he knew you were still alive, so maybe that connection goes both ways,” Marc said, as much to himself as to her.
“Who?” she asked.
“Do you remember an Octavius? Assuming he was named the same before.”
“You mean Cutie-pie? Of course I remember him. I spent hours hanging around in front of his tank. Whenever I talked to him, he'd stay pressed against the glass like he was listening. What about him?”
“I'm guessing he was just an octopus then?” Marc said.
“What do you mean then? Yeah, he's an octopus.”
“Not any more,” Marc said, “and he seems to be fixated on you. He even had a picture of you, looks a few years younger than you are now and labels you as doing Cephalopod studies.”
“Yeah, I know that one. It was in the work directory at the zoo. What do you mean not any more?”
“I'm not exactly sure how to say this tactfully, so I'm just going to tell you all of it. Octavius is not just an octopus any more, he's also a Dungeon Master of that dungeon with the tentacled creatures.”
“Those mutant squid things?” Maya asked.
Marc nodded.
“Yeah, he's vaguely humanoid now, and he's looking for you. He said he knew you were still alive and nearby then told us he wanted to reconnect with you.”
A disembodied voice came from near the door.
“Tell her the rest of it, Marc. How he called her his mate and all that.”
“Jeff, you asshole. What the fuck are you doing?” Marc asked, looking over and noticing the door open a crack.
“His mate? What the hell do you mean by that?” Maya asked.
“He learned English like two minutes before that, and not well either, only about a tenth of the way to being fluent. He stumbled over several other words before settling for mate, but he wasn't happy with that one, either.”
“What other words?” Maya snapped.
“Um, mother first, then sister, then he thought and settled on mate. I think it's just a lack of vocabulary, nothing like my asshole group mate is insinuating.”
“I heard that,” Jeff's disembodied voice said.
Marc got up and closed the door before continuing.
“Just come see the guy and we can clear it all up,” Marc said. “He's dangerous, or has the potential for it, but he was very peaceful with us.”
Maya shook her head.
“I don't believe it. Mother, maybe, I was there when he was born, but sister or mate? No, I don't believe you. Why are you trying to yank my chain like this, what do you think you're doing?”
“Derrick told you what I was going to say was true. Don't you believe him?” Marc asked.
“I'm not sure, I was sure Cutie-pie was gone. I figured my dreams of the ocean were my trying to deal with him being gone. I don't know what to believe now. Since Derrick vouched for you though, I'll give you a chance. Bring me proof and I'll believe you enough to go see if what you're saying is true, otherwise stay the fuck away from me,” Maya said, before standing and storming out of the room.
She ended up bumping into Jeff, who was still in Stealth, but the contact knocked him right out of it, so when Marc came out of the greenhouse and saw Maya storming away, he cuffed Jeff on the back of the head.
“Great job, asshole. Now she wants us to bring her proof before she'll even consider going to meet him,” Marc said.
“What's her problem? It's not like I was trying to kink shame her or anything,” Jeff said.
No-one even even gave him an answer, almost in unison the rest of the group turned and left, heading back towards where they'd left Felicia. Even Ella didn't give him a single backward glance as they left Jeff standing there, staring after them.
* * *
Chapter Fourteen
“What is wrong with him?” Marc said. “I thought he'd gotten over this, but now he's starting to act like his dad.”
Ella stopped suddenly, the rest of the group following suit when they realized that she had.
“He's acting like his dad?” she asked.
“Yes,” Marc said. “His dad was always trying to sow dissension and strife between people. He'd go out of his way to do that even.”
“Which is a lot like what Jeff just did. I may be able to work with this,” Ella said. “Damn it! I thought he and I were making more progress on this, but it's like two steps forward, one step back, every single time.”
“Sorry, some of these have been more like one step forward and two steps back,” Rob interjected. “Most of the time he doesn't go out of his way to be nasty, but there have been a few times recently when he's definitely done that.”
“It almost makes sense to me,” Marc said. “Bey, in some strange way, kind of reminded me of Jeff's dad. He was doing the power trip thing and I think Jeff's dad did that all the time too, at least trying to hold power over Jeff. With Bey doing the same thing, only trying to hold power over the whole Safe Zone, not just Jeff, maybe that triggered something. I would've thought getting to stab Bey would've gotten him through that though.”
Ella shook her head.
“Don't try to read into his motivations. Jeff has never even been willing to tell me about his father, so this is all news to me. The only thing I know about the guy is what the rest of you have dropped when I've been around. Does anyone want to fill me in on him, since it seems like it might be pertinent now?” she asked.
“I only met him a few times,” Marc said, “but I got to listen to Jeff bitch about him for years. Here's what I know firsthand and what Jeff told me secondhand...”
Marc spent the few minutes it took them to get back to Felicia telling Ella about Jeff's dad. When he was finished she was shaking her head.
“That goes beyond dysfunctional and borders on abuse. It goes well over the line for abuse in at least a couple of the things you mentioned. It explains a lot, too,” Ella said.
Marc shrugged.
“Like I said, most of that is secondhand information I got from Jeff, so it may need to be taken with a grain of salt. I know some of it is true though, so you'll have to figure out how to sort the wheat from the chaff. And on that note, there's Felicia. I wonder where Jeff went? I sure as hell hope he hasn't been following us in Stealth and listening in.”
“I think he would've said something if he were,” Ella said. “You get Felicia. I'm going back to my room and I'll wait for Jeff there. He and I will have a good heart to heart when he gets back. He should open up once he knows I've already found out on my own, although that may make him even madder at you, Marc. Sorry.”
“Why is he mad at me in the first place?” Marc asked. “He just got level thirteen before I did and got to stab Bey, he even said all of that.”
“Because he knows that you would've beat him if you'd been paying attention? Because no-one liked his idea of turning Bey out with a sword? It's Jeff, who knows? I can only guess,” she said. “Alright, I'm off. Are you heading back to the dungeon right away?”
Marc shook his head.
“I'll wait for tomorrow morning, that way I can trigger E.S.L. again and give Octavius some more English. That might make things easier when Maya shows up, plus I might be able to clear up that mate thing.”
Ella nodded.
“I think part of the whole mess there was you not letting Jeff exercise his adolescent humor and him being irritated by that. So, clearing that up should help also, assuming Jeff is actually wrong.”
“I talked to Maya,” Marc said. “Even with that brief span of time talking to her I'm pretty sure that Jeff is wrong.”
“I didn't think he wasn't,” Ella said, smirking. “That was just my own puerile humor peeking out. That's one of the reasons Jeff and I make a good pair. Later.”
Ella turned and headed back to the building they'd been given rooms in and Marc shook his head.
I sure hope she's actually helping Jeff, because he's definitely rubbing off on her a little too, he thought.
When he and Rob got back to Felicia, she begged off leaving right away. Evidently, some of the herbalists here in the Uni Safe Zone had different skills than hers and they were trying to figure out a way to teach each other their skills.
“That's actually a good idea. I'll see if I can find Todd. He can get me in touch with the other Mages here and maybe I can teach them a spell or two that they don't have,” Marc said.
Rob looked from Felicia to Marc, then back.
“If you don't need me, I'm going to look up Chris and Brian. Maybe I'll try to get to know these kids a little bit. If they're going to come back with us, it'll help if they know one of us from Any Port well first, right?”
Marc could see that Rob just wanted to spend time with the kids and was trying to justify it, but even with that, it was still a valid point.
“Actually, that's a great idea, Rob. Go do that. We can all meet up at their catfish fry thing later on.”
Rob grinned and spun, heading straight for the spot where they'd been told the children spent most of their time. Marc collected a quick kiss from Felicia, then went hunting for Todd.
* * *
When Marc found Todd, he'd apparently just finished meeting with Dayton and Nick. Nick was still there and he and Todd were bullshitting with each other.
“Hey Todd, got plans for the rest of today?”
“Well, there's the catfish fry. They decided to do it because they wanted to celebrate the dungeons being destroyed. I told these two that the second one might not have to be destroyed and we might be able to have an envoy to it if the thing with Maya worked out. How'd that go?”
Marc shook his head.
“It wasn't going well, and then Jeff poked his head in and contributed, making it worse. Now I need proof that it's actually the same octopus she used to take care of before she'll even go see. I'll go down and ask Octavius if he's got anything like that, but not until tomorrow morning. Then I'll be able to give him some more English and make communication easier.”
Todd groaned.
“Not today?”
“Nope, my E.S.L. skill is only usable once a day per person or creature.”
“Can you teach that to anyone?”
Marc shook his head.
“Not as far as I know. It's a special class skill.”
“I thought you said you were an Arcane Bulwark. That doesn't sound like they'd be associated.”
Marc glanced around. Nick had left the room, so he spoke softly.
“I've got a second, hidden class in addition to Arcane Bulwark.”
Todd's eyes shown.
“How the hell did you manage that? Can anyone do it? Some sort of special quest or something?”
Marc held out a hand to slow Todd down.
“No, it was an award for something else. Remember how crappy the help was at the start of all this?”
Todd nodded.
“Remember how it cleared up overnight?”
Todd kept nodding.
“Well, let's just say the System is always in my head now, to some degree, using my brain to translate. I used to minor in English before all this happened, so it's using me to translate so it's more easily understandable. My reward for that was the hidden class.”
“What is the class?”
Marc blushed.
“Um, the System has a funny sense of humor. It called the class English Major.”
Todd burst out laughing.
“No wonder you got a skill for teaching English, that's just funny.”
“Yeah, laugh it up Mage boy. Maybe I'll forget that I wanted to see if you'd gather the rest of your Mages from here so I could teach them some new spells.”
Todd cut off mid-laugh, replacing it with a brief cough.
“Now?”
Marc nodded.
“I figure we've got a few hours. I could easily teach the Fireball or Flamethrower spells in that amount of time, assuming you all choose to learn the same one. I can do it lecture style and teach you all at once.”
Todd's face beamed, a grin spreading across it.
“We'll agree on something, I promise. Give me fifteen minutes to track down the others and we'll meet you in the main auditorium.”
Marc's hand went up.
“Remember, I'm not from here. Where is that?”
“Oh, I'll show you on the way, follow me.”
Marc settled into the auditorium while Todd went to get the other Mages. When he returned there were four others with him, one woman and three men.
“That's it, for a Safe Zone with around two hundred people?” Marc said, before remembering the problems they would've faced in a Safe Zone that tried to deny that magic existed.
Todd winced.
“Yeah, we lost a couple, Arnie was one of them and another lady. They both died taking out that first dungeon. I don't know why Arnie was so eager for it, the only part of the treasure he wanted was this weird glowing gem. He never even got to see it, since it was a prize for destroying the dungeon.”
Remembering that he still hadn't checked out the dungeon core from the End Zone dungeon, Marc pulled it out.
“Does it look a little like this? I mean, just in general, the color is probably different and all that,” Marc said.
Todd nodded.
“It's a dungeon core,” Marc said. “I don't remember if you told me or not, is this Safe Zone made from tokens or cores?”
Todd shrugged.
“I don't know. There wasn't a lot we could do with the place when we got it from Arnie, so we haven't explored anything but the build screens.”
