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The World Walkers: Quiar: The Case of the Counterfeit Enchantments (part 9, 105th continuation)
Peric thought about that for a moment, feeling almost insulted, but then he realised she was right. Sheepshank was Sheepshank. It was a little town, meant to be safe from any problems that the bigger cities had to deal with, and if he’d stayed there he never would have learnt anything more about himself than he already knew. Before Seahorse Port, and the counterfeiters, that hadn’t been a problem, but it would have ended up being, eventually. He’d have realised how little he knew about his abilities, how little he could learn from the people he had grown up with… or maybe he wouldn’t, if he’d never come across Lucille, but with what he’d learnt about her that seemed impossible. Quiar was one of her worlds. She was going to be spending a lot of her time there and they were bound to meet at some point, although when that point would have been if she hadn’t been attacked by those horses.
The choices everyone made had an effect on what would happen in the future, on who would meet who and when, and Peric was only beginning to realise how much, thanks to Quiar and Lucille. On another Quiar he wouldn’t have met Lucille, but he was lucky enough to be the one who did meet her, if lucky was the right term to use, considering the circumstances. Would he still have ended up in Seahorse if he’d never met Lucille? Was that a question he should ask Quiar? There was so much he wanted to learn, especially as it helped to take his mind off everything that had happened, but he wasn’t certain he wanted the answer to all the questions that popped into his mind.
‘Quiar…’ he started, before trailing off. He was doing his best not to make the conversation he was having too obvious to anyone else, so he told himself not to start biting his lip, especially as he had no idea what the others were talking about. “Are there certain questions I shouldn’t ask?”
Her laughter wasn’t entirely unexpected. ‘Of course there are, Peric, but that’s not going to stop you from asking them. I just won’t be able to answer them.’
‘I don’t want to ask the wrong questions. I don’t want to make things harder for you and I feel like asking questions you can’t answer does cause you problems.’
‘Not in the way you’re thinking, though. I find that different people as different questions, so I get to learn about them, about what they think of as important, and they react differently when I tell them there are certain questions that I can’t answer. Most people accept that, understanding that we have to be careful about what we do say, as there are some things we’ve changed accidentally – often by not being careful enough. We want to answer all the questions that we’ve been asked, no matter how much we shouldn’t, and in the end it is down to us to decide who we tell what. Sometimes we do make mistakes because we don’t know everything.
‘We do our best to know as much as we can, for situations like that, but every future will be different. How different depends on the choices of everyone involved, no matter how large or small that involvement is, because there are some people who are only a part of this because family members are, or because they’ve been affected by the counterfeits, or because they’ve had no choice but to help the counterfeiters.’ Quiar sighed. ‘I don’t know all of them, because that is impossible, even for a sentient world. I can feel their pain, or their confusion, or their hatred of the position they’ve found themselves in, but without them opening their minds to me I can’t talk to them. There are several that I want to talk to, that I know I could help, at least in some small way, and I wish that want was enough. If it was I would have been in contact with as many people as I could to find out the path that the counterfeits took and how close they are to finding their way to another world.’
‘You think that’s possible?’
‘This isn’t the first time something like this has happened, Peric, but it is the first time things have got this bad. I think there have always been people looking to counterfeit charms, as charms are the most used magic in the Web, because they can be used by anyone, and I know there are plenty of people who use them to supplement their own abilities – even if they don’t have any magic themselves. Having magic, although it sometimes seems to be, is not the only way of being able to do things. At the training schools of Gaelom a number of magicless people have shown themselves to be much better with the weapons that they’re taught to use, as the others have always relied on their powers. Personally I think it’s important to hone both your physical and magical abilities, if you can, and if you have no magic then the best way to get around that is charms.’
‘Until the counterfeits started coming through I didn’t realise quite how important charms actually were, even though I’ve used them myself, supplementing my own skills.’ Peric touched the charm he still wore, the charm that stopped him from going mad because of everything he could feel in Seahorse Port, unable to stop himself. ‘If Kaito hadn’t made me this I wouldn’t be in the position I am now.’ He thought for a moment. ‘Kaito might not have been here. If Kaito hadn’t found himself on Quiar what sort of state would I be in now?’
‘Three of the Perics left the same night they arrived, unable to cope with it; one Peric stuck it out and ended up going mad, the way you said you would have done if you hadn’t received Kaito’s charm, but he did get help in the end; and another… well, he didn’t get any help and became one of Seahorse Ports serial killers. He was only killing people who needed to be killed, so no one was really that bothered with finding him, until he started killing people who were in pain for one reason or another.’
‘He killed Bertram.’
‘Yes, and several others who’d been affected by the counterfeiters in some way, including a mother who’d recently lost her only daughter. In the end the guards asked Lucille for help, because they had no idea where he was, and thanks to that Lucille’s close relationship with that Peric it was simple enough for her to find him, with one of the spells Meriwether helped her to create. She hated doing it, but once he killed Bertram she realised that he really wasn’t the mouse she’d once known. That Web, now, is dealing with an influx of counterfeits to four other worlds, because Lucille couldn’t finish following the path that you three, I believe, will.’
‘I need to start writing a list of all the other Webs you’ve talked about and all the other Perics, because I think they’ll have stories to tell, the same way I do.’
‘Everyone has a story to tell, Peric, and if you think that would be a good idea then go for it. I have nothing against it. If I get a chance I’ll talk to some of the other Quiars, as I’m sure they’ll have plenty of stories to tell too, and we have all been through so much that being able to talk to someone about what’s happened really does help.’
‘Whenever I talk to someone it helps me, so I’m sure it’s the same for you.’ Peric found himself smiling. ‘Thank you.’
‘For what?’
‘Taking the time to talk to me, even when I ask questions you probably shouldn’t answer. I really do enjoy our conversations. They help, as much as anything can, and I think that’s why Lucille has never complained about us asking her questions. She knows we need the time out, to stop thinking about the counterfeiters for a little while, to learn more about the worlds we’ve never seen and might never see.’
‘If Lucille can get you to the other worlds she will.’
‘I never doubted that, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy, and, honestly, I’m not entirely sure I want to travel the Web. I’m going to wait until we’ve brought an end to the counterfeit ring before I make a decision, because then I’ll know who I am for certain.’
‘Peric, I already know who you are and I’m certain that you will travel the Web. It’s something you’ve always wanted to do.’
‘You’re dropping hints again.’
Quiat laughed. ‘Sorry, sometimes I can’t help it. I don’t mean to drop too many, but I do think you should learn more about your past selves, and your other selves, and everything you can about the Web.’
Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.
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I think there's a phrase missing, something like "although there's no telling when" above.
>> I find that different people as different questions, <<
That should say "ask" above.