“Driver was a frickin’ thief,” Gabriel muttered to himself, shaking his nearly-empty coinpurse. “I swear, prices these days…”
A heavy backpack slung over his shoulder, Gabriel surveyed his surroundings. Elsequaire was almost as alive at night as it was during the day, and he kept a wary eye out for pickpockets even as he yawned. Sleep first, he decided, something tells me Era will still be in the city in the morning.
“It’s… my name is missing,” Era whispered incredulously.
“Hmm?” Tarrgus looked up at him, annoyed to have his concentration broken. “Pfeh. You’ve probably got the wrong one, then.”
“That’s impossible, it… look, there’s a gap!” He lugged the book over to the headmaster, scattering papers. “Look, right there—”
“What are you going on about, boy?!” he angrily demanded, “there’s no ‘gap!’”
“But… right after Erauldin…”
“Is Eravitral. I don’t see any ‘gap,’ but I imagine there’s a rather large one where your brain should be.”
“That’s… impossible, I…”
“Are you quite finished?” he asked disinterestedly. “I do have work to get back to. It’s not my concern if your sight is faulty.”
Stunned into silence, Era took one last look at the book. The gap where his name should have been had not disappeared. But he doesn’t see it. Why am I the only one who sees it?
Sighing in defeat, he shut the book quietly. “Thank you for your time, sir,” he whispered.
Tarrgus grunted, his attention entirely on his paperwork. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
The center square was bustling with crowds of people and the noise of society. It was difficult, if not impossible, to make it through the middle without bumping into several other people along the way.
And yet, as Era sat on the brim of the city fountain, he felt profoundly alone.
How was it gone? he asked himself over and over, How was I the only one who even noticed?
He lowered his face into his hands. And now I have nothing… no name, no leads, no contacts… What am I going to do? His vision fogged as he fought tears. I’m lost.
A hand gently grabbed his shoulder. Gasping, he whipped his head up and prepared to run… before he saw the face of the person next to him.
“Hey kid,” Gabriel said warmly, “I think we have some catching up to do.”
“I can’t believe the kind of filth the guards will let in our academy nowadays,” Tarrgus complained. “Especially the last nut, what a headcase that one was…”
“Really,” the other man in the room said apathetically. He brushed a strand of greasy brown hair behind his ear, forehead furrowed in concentration.
“Oh, yes, really,” Tarrgus continued, “insisted he went to the academy. Had a sigil and everything, but it couldn’t have been one of ours.” He lowered himself into a plush chair just wide enough to fit him. “Not in the records or anything. Seemed a little befuddled, that one… ‘Era’ was his name, I think?”
The other man’s head whipped up unexpectedly. “Did you say ‘Era?’”
Tarrgus blinked in confusion. “Erm, yes, sir. Era… last name started with a ‘D,’ I think—”
“I don’t care about his last name,” the man said ferociously. “What was his Mage-Name?”
“Era… vista? ‘Eravista’ or something like that.”
“Eravisté,” the man chuckled, the crow’s feet along his eyes deepening as he grinned. “I knew he’d be back.”
“You knew him?” he asked incredulously. “That street urchin?”
“From the way you describe him, he sounds like he’s changed quite a bit since we were acquainted,” the man said, shutting his book with a snap. “We have a lot to talk about, him and I.”
“Oh?” Tarrgus inquired. “Doesn’t sound like he’s going to enjoy the ‘talk’ you have in store for him very much.”
“I can assure you,” the man said flatly, “he won’t.”
“So it wasn’t in there? At all?” asked Gabriel, arching an eyebrow.
“No, it was,” Era corrected, “but it there was a gap where it should have been, like it had been erased.” His brow furrowed. “Except the headmaster couldn’t see it… only I did.”
“You realize that if I didn’t know you like I do, I’d think you’re crazy,” he joked.
Era chuckled. “And I wouldn’t blame you a bit. Sometimes I wonder myself.”
They sat in thoughtful silence a while, each pondering the situation. Gabriel leaned back on his palms, tapping a foot on the stone as he stared up at the clouds, while Era hunched over, tapping a finger to his chin as his eyes followed the cracks in the brick street.
At last, Gabriel broke the silence. “Well,” he asked quietly, “what will you do now?”
Era shut his eyes and sighed. “I don’t know.”
He hesitated. “Do you just… want to go home? I have the money to get us back by carriage,” Gabriel offered.
“I suppose… I suppose we could,” he gave in, “though it seems like a waste, coming all the way out here just to return empty-handed.”
“Hey, I was only suggesting it. If you want to stay, we could work something out.”
“Really?” Era asked incredulously.
“Sure,” he replied, shrugging. “I haven’t visited this city in a while anyway. And I’ve needed a vacation for a while.”
“Thank you.” Grateful from the bottom of his heart, Era beamed at Gabriel. “I don’t really know where to turn now, but I feel much better knowing you’ll be here too.”
“No problem, kid,” he said, shrugging. “You know I’m here for you if you need me. Besides, it’s not like I had anything better to do.”
“Then I’ll do my best to find a meaningful way for us to waste time.” Smiling wide, he gave Gabriel a one-armed hug and popped to his feet. “For now, let’s discuss plans over lunch.”
Gabriel half-smiled and followed suit. “My treat, I guess.”
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