The World Walkers: Quiar: The Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments (part 8, eleventh continuation)

[k_a_webb]

Part 1

Part 8, tenth continuation

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Peric looked at Lucille, thinking about how, if Riordan really had travelled through time, he could prove who he was. It seemed impossible, because there had been so much written about him that anything he said to prove it was him could easily have been taken from one of the books. Unless they’d planned for the possibility. Tegan was a natural Moonjumper, so maybe she knew enough about the doors to worry that one or other of them might end up travelling to the future and made them some sort of code word that got passed down in the family. Or it was possible that Peric was over thinking things again. He knew he did that, probably more of the time than he realised, but thankfully he always had Bertram there to stop him.

“Have you ever travelled through time, Lucille?” Peric asked, fascinated by the different ways the doors worked. He’d never be able to use one, because he knew for fact he wasn’t a Moonjumper, but he could learn from someone who was. “It sounds like something that would be fascinating and terrifying at the same time.”

“I haven’t, but I know people who have.” Lucille smiled at him and he smiled back, grateful that she had as excuse to stay with them for longer. “It was different for all of them, because they travelled to different times. Some were lucky enough to meet people who could help them while they were out of time, while others…” She shook her head. “They weren’t as lucky. To be honest it can be just as hard for people who travel to another world, because the natural doors do have a habit of thinking they know where people should be living.”

“Are they sentient?”

“No one really knows, but personally I think either the doors, the worlds, or both of them are sentient. Have you ever heard of Taithmarin?”

Peric shook his head, his paw dipping into a bowl of nuts, hoping that Lucille was about to tell another of her stories. “It’s not something I think any of us have heard of.”

Both Sini and Bertram also shook their heads. “The Web isn’t something we’re taught a lot about,” Sini said. “We’ve always felt disconnected and I know that many of the Council Moonjumpers see us as lesser races because we’re nothing more than animals to them.”

Lucille nodded, looking sad. “When I get back there are some people I’m going to talk to, because not all the Council Moonjumpers view you the same way and I want to show you some evidence of that.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I might see if I can get Carver here as well. He was born here, so he has the same love for this world that I do, and that’s why Kaito visited Quiar in the first place. When he was studying he didn’t chose Quiar, but then he stepped onto the world and connected with it in the same way I did.” Smiling, she sipped her drink. “Anyway I was going to tell you about Taithmarin, wasn’t I?”

Nodding, Peric nibbled another nut. “You were.”

“Taithmarin was created in the same way all the others were. It was one of the less experimental worlds, especially when you compare it to somewhere like this, and as with all of the newly created worlds a group of the fae went to make certain that nothing was going wrong. Less than a season into their stay they found that the door no longer existed, which did happen occasionally, so they weren’t too worried until they realised they couldn’t make another one. Well… actually they could, but not one that would take them to any of the worlds the fae created.” Lucille smiled. “Their only option was to travel through a number of other worlds, which wasn’t always safe, but eventually they got back to Athare and told their story. Taithmarin is still a part of the Web, even though no one can travel there.”

“At all?” Sini asked, sounding as though she didn’t believe Lucille.

“A couple of the natural doors do occasionally lead to Taithmarin, but it doesn’t happen very often, and if Taithmarin decides it doesn’t want you there it will stop you from travelling there. You’ll end up on a different world, wondering what happened.”

“How do you know so much about the doors?” Bertram asked. “As a Council Moonjumper shouldn’t you only know about the created doors.”

“Most Council Moonjumpers won’t bother to learn about the natural doors, because they only use the Council doors, but one of the things the Council doesn’t know is that the tattoos work for both types of door. I learnt about them for two reasons: it gives me other options if I’m on a world and want to get back to Athare quickly, and I like learning about everything I can when it comes to the Web.”

“Lucille,” Peric said, keeping his voice as emotionless as he could, “do you know any natural Moonjumpers?”

There was a long silence before Lucille nodded and replied, “I know a few. As a Council Moonjumper I should tell the Council everything I know about the natural Moonjumpers, but I don’t because it’s not the right thing to do. Maybe there are natural Moonjumpers who want to change the worlds of the Web, but that isn’t always a bad thing, and I’ve seen evidence of that. There was a war on Beshaki that the Council wouldn’t have done anything about, because they believe the right thing is to let the races of the worlds act the way they want, even if they’re acting in a way that may lead to the extinction of one of the other races. One of the natural Moonjumpers stepped in and put an end to the war before the Arctus managed to destroy the Umbra.”

“How did they stop the war?” Bertram asked.

“She created a barrier that the Arctus can’t cross, so they can’t travel easily into the Umbra’s land, although they could go around the barrier if they wanted.” Lucille sighed. “It might happen, but the Arctus are still a little scared of the Umbra because they believe it was the Umbra who created the barrier so I don’t think it will be any time soon.”

“How do you know it was a she?” Peric asked, picking out a nut he’d never seen before and nibbling carefully on it.

“I’ve met her.”

After another long silence, one caused by surprise that Peric could feel even wearing the charm Kaito had given him, Sini asked, “When was the war?”

“About five hundred years ago.”

“How could you meet a Moonjumper who ended a war five hundred years ago?”

“Some of the races live longer than others and, as I said before, there are some immortal races that the fae created entirely by accident. The Moonjumper who ended the war had a lifespan of around a thousand years and when I met her she’d lived about half that.”

“Are you friends with her?”

“I wouldn’t say we’re friends, but we do try to get together every couple of years and talk about what we’ve learnt about the Web, the worlds, the races, and the magics. She’s connected with Beshaki too, which was why she chose to step in when she probably wouldn’t have done on any of the other worlds.”

Peric looked at Bertram and they smiled at each other. “You definitely aren’t what I’d call a normal Council Moonjumper,” Bertram said, as he turned his head to look at Lucille.

“Sometimes life doesn’t turn out the way we planned. When I started studying to become a Moonjumper I never believed I’d end up being friends with natural Moonjumpers or even know that I could connect with the worlds, because the Council have a specific idea of what a Moonjumper should know and what they should do. They have no idea about half the things I’ve learnt in the last few years, thankfully, because if they did they realise that the magic they used to make the tattoos is no longer under their control.” Lucille sipped her juice again, before picking up a couple of the nuts that Peric had been nibbling on. “It’s possible it never was, but back then no one dared to break the rules the Council set.”

“What’s changed?” Peric put one of his favourite nuts next to Lucille’s glass for her to try. “Other than the fact the tattoos don’t work the way the Council want them to.”

“The Council no longer execute natural Moonjumpers, so there’s less fear of what will happen if they get caught. At the very worst they’ll be given a tattoo that probably won’t work. In general the Council is seen as more of an irritation that anything and it’s the Moonjumpers who have to deal with that, especially when they’re following rules that seem utterly stupid to anyone who isn’t a part of the Council.” Lucille picked up the nut Peric had given her and tried it, smiling after a few chews. “I understand why they have the first rule and there are situations when we shouldn’t get involved, but I think that decision should be up to the Moonjumper who is in the situation, rather than feeling like our only choice is to keep out of things even when we can be useful. It’s entirely possible that if I wasn’t on the Council I wouldn’t have been given permission to help you, because I’m one of the youngest Moonjumpers, I only graduated three years ago, and that means to them that I don’t know enough to be able to make certain decisions. However I am on the Council and I have allies who wouldn’t have been happy if they had of said no to my request.”

“What would you have done?” Sini asked.

“I would have still helped with the investigation, but it would mean that I’d have an arrest warrant out for me and if I decided to return home through any of the known doors I’d have been arrested.”

“You really would have done that, for us?” Peric passed Lucille another nut. “Given up everything?”

Lucille nodded. “It’s not just for you, though. There is still a record book somewhere out there that could be used in some way.” She sighed. “I wish I knew why the record book was stolen, because I really do think it’s an important part of the case but I can’t work out why.”

“We’ve heard rumours that whoever’s in charge of the counterfeiting ring wants to expand to other worlds,” Peric said, thinking things through as he said them, “so we have two real possibilities. They either want to get rid of any Moonjumpers who have been here for some reason, which doesn’t really make a lot of sense, or they think they can convince a Moonjumper to help them with what they’re doing.”

“None of the Moonjumpers who have been here are the type to help a criminal do anything, because they wouldn’t have come here in the first place if they hadn’t been ordered to by the Council. They follow all the rules, they believe in the Council, and if they knew that someone was attempting to export a magical item without permission they’d attempt to stop whoever it was. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d turn in their own children if they believed for a second they were doing something that illegal.”

“Maybe there’s a third option,” Sini said, her head titled to one side. “You have tattoos that give you the ability to travel through the doors and if someone could duplicate it…” The chimera shook her head as Peric felt a shiver of fear go down his spine. “It would give the criminal the ability to travel through the doors and his minions, who wouldn’t have a problem with taking dangerous magical items to other worlds.”

“That sounds scarily possible,” Lucille replied, “even though I don’t think anyone could duplicate them. They might be able to create their own form of the same thing though, once they have the design, because it’s the design that’s the important part. If I didn’t have a tattoo I wouldn’t be able to travel through any of the doors, but it’s not something I have enough of an understanding of to know why it works the way it does.” She bit her lip. “There are people I could talk to about it, who know more than I do, but right now I don’t have that option because I’m not on Athare.”

“Do you think there might be others who would want to do the same thing?” Peric asked.

“Yes, because the Council have total control right now over who uses the doors, unless you’re lucky enough to have been born with the ability. There are numerous groups who believe that’s wrong and want the tattoos to be available to anyone.” Lucille sighed. “That’s the problem with having control of something that other people want.”

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.

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[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>“As a Council Moonjumper shouldn’t you only know about the created doors.”<<

That needs a question mark.

>>because if they did they realise that the magic they used to make the tattoos is no longer under their control.”<<

That should say "they might realise" or "they would realise" above.

>>“None of the Moonjumpers who have been here are the type to help a criminal do anything<<

... willingly. There are other ways though.

Excellent tension building up here!