Chapter 4

A visit to the market has some odd, chance encounters happening.

Chapter 4

   

    AA woke up in a fret the next morning, both about her continued presence in Other Realm and the dream which spelled complete disruption within her mind. However as she looked around her room her focus forgot about both facts as she rather cover to analyze the present as opposed to that which she could not even comprehend. She looked across the room from her bed to see the dresser although there was a closet to her left which was redundant for such a small room. Next to the bed on its right there was a nightstand with a lamp and the books AA had selected.

    She stood from bed and walked to the dresser only to recall she had no clothes beyond what she wore. Sighing and resolving it best to ask Anthesus to purchase some AA walked out of her room and looked at the blank slate on the wall, which still confused her, before journeying downstairs.

    Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs AA saw Anthesus out of his lab which was surprising despite she hardly knew Anthesus at all. He appeared to be setting the table regardless of it being early in the morning, and he appeared to be rather keen on his task. It crossed AA’s mind to ask once more about the language from the night before but she was unsure if it was an inappropriate time and she was quite unhappy in her dirtied dress so waited a moment.

    After a few seconds had past in her observation of his absurdity, AA approached hoping not to interrupt something potentially important, “Um Anthesus,” she tapped his shoulder to pull his attention, “why are you setting the table?”

    “Oh I'm setting it in preparation of what may come unknowingly to my doorstep,” Anthesus spoke whilst turned from AA as he made no break in his task, “Caution can never be found in excess.”

    “Even when it’s seemingly bizarre?” Because setting the table early in the morning for no apparent reason seems odd, even for you.” AA was torn between turning it into a joke or a legitimate curiosity but she couldn’t decide before completing the statement.

    “AA you are not knowledgeable if I’m the subject matter, do not presuppose what is odd for me to do,” Anthesus ceased his action to turn to AA, “yes it is bizarre but I felt obliged to act as such.” once looking upon AA he adopted his gentle disposition as he tended to the present, “was there something you needed?”

    “Yes actually,” it was here that she was sure she could ask of the symbols once more but it did not come out from her lips instead speaking of the more vain issue apparent, “I don’t have clothes besides this dress which, as you can see,” AA looked down at her dress and splayed it to the both of them, “is rather filthy. I was curious if there were a way I can get more clothes? And possibly something to eat too?”
    “Ah yes, basic needs are still necessary,” Anthesus walked out of her visibility momentarily and returned adorning his black lab coat once more, “indeed there are methods of acquiring such in Other Realm, if you would like to go?”

    A smirk painted itself across AA’s face as she imagined how filthy it must be if he wears it daily as it appeared, “yes I would like to go, also do you wear that lab coat everywhere?”

    Anthesus stopped and looked at the coat he wore, “firstly, is it incoherent for me to don my dearest coat to all destinations?” He looked at AA with a serious look which made it difficult to discern its purpose. “And secondly, it is egregious to assume otherwise from it appearing consummate on my person.”

    AA looked down and smiled in slight whilst looking back up, “you know I still can’t understand you when you speak right? I’m not on the same intelligence level that you are.” The deprecation buried in her statement did not, to her fortune, invoke any further questions from Anthesus.

    Anthesus started towards the front door, “If I must simplify- my coat is beautiful and there’s nothing wrong with me always wearing it.” He turned around and smiled, posing as though figuring himself the victor of the conversation, “and I do hope you know that is the truth.”

    He walked out of the residence and proceeded to wait for AA who decided it better not to continue that conversation if the lab coat were the centerpiece. They walked in rather slow pace to their destination, but finding it difficult to talk of anything for a notable volley of sentences. AA maintained her gaze on the other citizens which they passed, the citizens seemed to come in various appearance but in few categories. There appeared to be those which were being cared for which most commonly expressed traits of their apparent caretakers. Then there appeared the caretakers which seemed to fall into one of four noticeable categories: insect-like humanoids, combinations between various mammals with a humanoid posture, those such as Anthesus which appeared to vary in skin color from pale blue to deep maroon, and the least common was one which appeared to be albino and never expressed any ‘demonic’ traits such as horns or wings which all of the others seemed to possess at random. As they walked AA regarded some things about society as well, particularly that it seemed the residents still required basic needs such as nourishment. She also noticed that despite the clear and vast differences between its people the society did not show any symptoms of prejudice or a racial hierarchy.

    After a short while of discerning such from her setting AA increased her pace to keep with Anthesus who had furthered the distance between the two since departure. Turning to him AA attempted once more to start conversation, “so you said you were working on interdimensional travel?” AA rose the inquiry both to Anthesus’ delight and surprise.
    “Yes I am, why do you inquire such?” Anthesus glanced down with his eyes looking upon her with a mixture of intrigue, surprise, and utmost joy.

    “Well I just got curious about how that kind of stuff works.” AA nervously held her arm and looked away from Anthesus in anxiety that her lack of knowledge may be seen as a fault deserving of deprecation.

    Anthesus smiled at the opportunity to speak of his research, yet it was out of AA’s peripheral and could not serve to tranquilize her anxiety, “Well the research has not gotten far as of yet, however I’ve hypothesized that it will work with similarity to the wormholes I’ve already discovered how to create. Which, in themselves, work by magically removing the distance between any two points.”

    In a slow gesture of surprise and trust, AA looked towards Anthesus once more as he explained the workings of his inventions which fascinated her as much as it seemed to fascinate him, although she understood the matter far less. The invocation of her curiosity was inescapable and delightful all the same as AA could not refute smiling at the conversation, “okay so how does that work? Removing distance sounds like some physics breaking stuff.”

    Anthesus nodded in an instantaneous reaction to the question as if prepared from conversations ere to this one. He began to run on a tangent of quantum physical and mechanical jargon that AA could not understand yet she adored it all the same. Smiling and nodding along she attempted her best to stay along but found it difficult at times and questioned him to explain or repeat which she was unsure if it was an annoyance or not. Regardless Anthesus was overjoyed in his talk of research that is did not seem to even scratch the visage he had as he detailed more and more about the endless complexities of his research.

    The topic of complexities made AA think to herself once more about the unnecessary complexity of life, specifically her own as it seemed to tangle further and further. Existence was a gordian knot of tangling problems, theories, and interactions that was never meant to be untied yet all will yearn to do just that. It was a beautiful picture but a spurning one to AA as it made her ever the more curious as to the implications of such concept and how to solve such a mystery. She was not one to surrender in the face of unlikelihood yet she knew life was mystery never meant to be solved. Perhaps it was a better inquiry to ask why life was so complex to begin with; to inquire what event had caused the infinite roots to contort around one another in such a tempting yet impossible manner.

    The thought was enticing yet painful to AA as it seemed to weigh down her spirit in a manner she could not grasp, nor did she want to. In a short matter of time she had begun to ignore Anthesus’ blatant tangent of incomprehensible sciences and invest her focus upon her incessant curiosity which both infuriated and depressed her. Burying herself in it, AA wrapped the confusion around her and shur herself in with such deprecation and memory of past pains to worsen her condition ever the more until she stopped walking entirely to focus on her thoughts alone. The tangle of emotions and reality seemed to constrict AA as she felt her chest heave with the weight of her sudden emotion.

    Anthesus stopped the moment AA did, his words and his stride, in an attempt at the expression of sympathy. She was numb to such expression however as she did not even notice Anthesus had stopped at all while her views were consisting of the incomprehensible mysteries and realities of life. A simple hand is all it took though as AA flinched out of her trance in a reflexive motion of evasion from Anthesus’ hand. Her eyes darted over Anthesus and her surroundings as if she was in immediate danger, as if there were a threat posed to here amidst her personal burial.

    AA sighed and prompted Anthesus to keep walking which he followed. She continued to look around at her unfamiliar setting as if to dismiss her previous moment, the steady river of fascination was slow to sway her from her depression but it made progress still. The town they were in resembled AA’s previous hometown of Llyn. She was told it had excessive influence from German culture but she never received confirmation of such for herself. The architecture had a significant relation to her hometown which was coincidental to help AA feel comforted in such a foreign environment. Despite few of the buildings were unnatural in height on occasion; she assumed it was normal for Other Realm since Anthesus paid no mind regardless of there being no presence of such in AA’s prior residence.

    Her comparison of Other Realm to her home was interrupted when Anthesus stopped and directed AA’s attention to a building which was not far now. “This is the general store. I hope that you may find something which you like here while I purchase the nutrition half of necessities. If you need anything,” Anthesus stopped and searched through his lab coat to find two minute earpieces. “Just tap the button on this and it will contact me.”

    AA perplexed her expression with such obviousness that Anthesus reflected it, “what other crazy things do you have?” AA looked up at Anthesus as she put the piece into her ear. Her eyes said countless words more than she did as her buried confusion and depression screamed to be noticed through the windows in her eyes.

    “I have a lot of crazy contraptions, perhaps one day I’ll explain them all to you.” Anthesus put his into his ear as well and opened the door for AA. After entering himself he smiled at AA, “but for now just look for things you might like.”

    AA made a subtle nod and they parted ways leaving AA to explore once more in a location she was unfamiliar with. However fortune did befall upon her in this moment as she was able to read the signs which served to direct customers, like herself, but it was more so misused when her childlike nature forgot the purpose of coming here as there were so many things to discover.

    The adventurous mood she found herself in led her, first, to the pet aisle. It did not seem conventional in a store like this but it was not a simple matter to deny her will to be as much as a child as she pleased. The pets seemed to contain all manner of creatures, some alien to her and others familiar, which enticed her even further from her primary objective in coming to the store. A particular creature caught her eye, it appeared to be a dog but lacking fur and appearing more reptilian in appearance than mammalian. It was scrawny in figure and it was probable it was young as well. AA was overjoyed at this particular creature and did her finest to play with it between it’s cage. It was adorable, irresistible even and it entranced AA in a state which she could not escape; not that she wanted to. Nothing else seemed to catch her preference either so there she remained with the reptilian dog for a time she was not paying attention to. More so she was intrigued by it’s grey hide and beige underside which it delighted in being rubbed over and AA was even further interested in giving so than it was in receiving. Absorbed in the act AA forgot her objective in entirety, forgot her anxieties and fears all at once in favor of this being.

It was inevitable that AA would be interrupted during her time with the pets. After all she was taking a portion of the aisle which it was probably to assume it was blocking others without intention. In a pleasant and soft voice a lady referred to AA, “Excuse me, but you are blocking the aisle. I’m no stranger to loving animals but you should probably move along.” The sound of her foot tapping impatiently obliged AA to speak choked with anxiety, “Sorry I just get caught up easily with these kinds of things,” a quick motion to turn to her brought something else to AA’s attention: that she could not keep her head out of the clouds today. The lady appeared to be just the height as AA and her curled, white hair covered half of her soft, gentle face which mirrored the voice AA was presented with. Her visible eye was crimson in color and her skin looked to be made of the same pigment of snow. All of which was diverting from the outstanding feature which appeared to be a crooked halo which was covered in part by her hair as well. She embodied a more well built physique than that of AA’s but it weren’t noticeable unless possessing the level of negative self image AA has up to this point. Bearing a dress not much different from AA’s, and having such a look, astonished AA to the highest degree and she was reluctant to even believe she’d been swept off her feet in such a manner with such swift as she never was one for love at first sight.

    Stammering for words AA worked something out of her vocation, “Oh, well I’m AA and- and your are?” Her hand extended out in hopes the standard greeting would reward the possibility that AA could receive something which she had wanted today.

    It seemed successful as the handshake was returned by this unfamiliar lady, “it’s alright, I know many people who can get caught up with things. I’m Amalasuintha but people just call me Amala for short.” A subtle grin emerged from her.
    AA was not sure how to continue the conversation, she wished it not to end but was unsure how to persist. She began to fret with her hair once more which was noticed by Amala who, unnecessarily, addressed it, “I take it you’re not a good conversationalist then?” Mustering as much as she could, all AA could express was a nod and a slight turn away. Breath flushed into her as AA attempted to continue the talk regardless despite being unsure, “would it be appropriate to ask where you came from?” AA glanced over at Amala who smiled.

    “It wouldn’t always be appropriate but I’m fine with answering it.” She cleared her throat and adjusted her halo to ensure her one visible eye was not obscured any significant amount. “I come from a world called Pelettis and since I’m sure you’re going to ask about my halo I’ll just answer preemptively.” A smirk went across AA’s face as she made a slow turn to looking at Amala without anxiety, or at least a lack of anxiety significant enough to obligate AA to abide simple societal rules. “In Pelettis there is a brutal class system, or at least there was when I was there a few years ago. Regardless our class was represented by our halo, as you might assume the closer to gold it was the higher you were and as you can see,” she paused to take her halo out of her mass of hair which took more effort than might be expected. “I was among the furthest from gold.” Amala emphasized the dark, almost rust like, shade of her halo before putting it on once more. “I just wear it around because I feel like it’s a part of my look.” AA wished to compliment her look as it seemed like an appropriate time but could only work out a smile, but the point was made clear regardless as Amala grinned back. “So what about you AA? Where do you come from?”

    AA somehow did not expect to have the question returned to her, even though it was the basic structure of conversations similar to this. It required excessive effort to accumulate the ability to speak above a stutter but AA managed, “I come from a world called Earth, I’m not really sure if anything special really comes with that but it’s my home. Or old one rather.” AA shook her head at her own awkwardness, “sorry I’ve only been here one day now.”

    Amala giggled and covered her mouth with a hand as if to hide it, “sorry I’ve just never met anyone that new to Other Realm.” She moved her hair away from her eye and removed her hand from the vicinity of her face. “So I’m assuming you’re out of the loop on a lot of things then?” AA nodded once more and spoke with a level of confidence she was not even sure she had prior to now, “I hardly know anything honestly, only that some things are intangible and this whole caretaker business.” Amala hummed a sound that helped conveyed her newfound understanding but could it could not be summarized through a single tone.

    “Speaking of, who’s yours? Your caretaker I mean?” Amala spoke every sentence as though it were scripted, to much great impression of AA. It was of a strange relation to Anthesus as she wondered how it was that all others she spoke with seemed to be confident.

    AA was not sure what tone to take, but she settled with the sound of belittled delight by pure accident, “I’m being cared for by Anthesus in that big manor several blocks away.” The gasp which Amala produced surprised AA once more and evoked a string of her curiosity she did not expect that day.

    Amala struggled to speak for a moment as she kept her hand in front of her mouth and over what was apparent shock, “you’re being cared for by Anthesus? Are you just playing some joke on me?” AA was beyond perplexed and clarified with a firm shake of her head. “So you mean you don’t know about all the crazy things Anthesus has done?” Similar to the last question AA shook her head again with not an idea of what she were referencing but intriguing her ever the more.

    “The most I know about Anthesus is he’s tried very hard to accommodate me and he’s invented a lot of things, like his wormhole technology.” AA brushed her fingers through her hair hoping it did not appear as a sign of anxiety as she made great pains to hide it in hopes of making a better impression.

    Amala, once again, hummed her understanding to AA, “he must not have told you much then. Weird I thought he was one to brag.” AA shook her head with the swiftest reaction she’d had in her life as she rushed to clarify while she raced with lament over the concept of Anthesus not being as complementary to AA as he was.
    “No Anthesus is actually rather humble, his most defining trait is he’s very inquisitive but he certainly doesn’t boast unless it as humor.” AA almost spoke with a layer of rage but hid her offense to the notion of Anthesus being so egocentric.

    “Well alright then. Sorry he isolates himself on most days so not a lot of people know him very well.” Amala looked around for a moment, “since you’re new I’m assuming you wouldn’t know my caretaker, but her name is Firosa.” AA felt awkward with her continued shaking of her head, she felt like she was coming of as unintelligible with her lack of responses but there was nothing to be done when she could hardly remove her stutter for even a second’s time.

    Only upon looking down did AA recall her reason of coming here in the first place and a blush creeped across her cheeks. She was not vain in the slightest but wearing a filthy dress during this conversation triggered the same reaction regardless. Allowing herself to stammer, AA attempted to speak with enough annunciation to be understood, “Um, sorry I got distracted from the fact that my dress isn’t really clean which is why I’m even here; to get more clothes so,” AA looked around to find the direction of which to journey, “I’m going to go do that now, if you want to talk more you can come to the manor. Though I’m not sure how difficult it might be to convince Anthesus to allow someone else in.” Part of a nervous laugh escaped her as she found which way she needed to go.

    Amala grinned at AA, “well alright then, maybe I’ll drop by if I’m not doing anything.” AA nodded in silence and set off to her newfound destination, “well goodbye then AA.”

    Turning around only to wave to Amala, AA went to her objective at last, wondering to herself many things but namely the thought of how much time must have been spent in that aisle given she was stuck in daydreams not only with Amala but with the beast before that. She had to be content with what daydreams she had, however, as she knew that the possibility of getting what she wished for was slim. Still, it could not stop her from hoping it would happen.

    She did not focus on the selection of her clothing, it did not matter much to her in comparison to the other things she desired. Colors were never picked twice however, and she had some bias to dresses but it was not of any significance. Her mind could not resist drifting back to the thought of Amala, and on occasion to the creature she’d observed, of which she knew it were improbable for either to become her’s at any point. AA was more than uncertain how to feel and what to think, her mind was in, more or less, a blur of her desires and her anxieties. It was difficult for either position to find ground as her loathing undermined her hopes of her desires, and her desires undermined her irrational fears. It was odd to AA that within less than forty-eight hours of being in Other Realm she’s been forced to question a lot of things, even seldom inquiring of herself, such as now with her faith renewed to fall in love.

    AA took a deep breath and cleared her thoughts and tapped the earpiece Anthesus had given her earlier, hearing Anthesus’ voice come through with a tone of hurrying, “Ah yes, I take it you are done now then?”

    AA looked around somewhat confused and spoke at a low volume, nervous of bringing attention to her, “yeah, why do you sound like you’re in a rush?”

    “It’s a story I’ll have to tell later, but for now we should reconvene at the anterior of the building.”

    “Alright, I’ll meet you there. Don’t get yourself into trouble.” AA chortled, almost peaking her volume to an interest level she did not wish for, and started walking to the front desk of the store.

    “Oh how the tables have turned.” Anthesus snickered and presumably stopped the call shortly thereafter as no more audition came from the piece.

    It took much more time waiting for Anthesus at the front as opposed to AA getting there. It was unclear what was going on with Anthesus but it appeared that he would take longer than expected. AA proceeded to lean onto a wall and leave this reality behind once more, her thoughts of what she wanted were overwhelming her and she could not prevail over thinking of them in full. It was difficult for her not to fancy the things she could not have, it was an instinct that was impossible to cease. Perhaps the dreams would one day be realized but it was unclear, and AA could not help but have faith in such although she never knew she had such. However she was satisfied to let herself feel such as being so anxious and dim has taken a toll on her which was unbeknownst until now and pleasing to dismiss for even a moment.

    Her daydreams were interrupted by Anthesus coming to her and making a great effort to take his coat off and appear as, presumably, a different person. By the time another man came by Anthesus was not familiar whatsoever and AA could not help but smirk at her caretaker’s sudden and odd actions. “What did you do Anthesus?”

    “Oh, nothing. Just, from now on, I’m Anthesus in public no longer. Too many people recognize me I suppose.” Anthesus took off and cleaned his glasses while groaning, “which I suppose any scientist wants to be appreciated for their work but I’m not just any scientist.”

    AA laughed in slight, “yeah, you have to be the most introverted scientist ever.” She looked at him without his coat on to confirm he was thin as she was which was comforting in a sense; bearing relation to someone you aim to trust is sought by most.

    Anthesus looked around and after a moment put his coat back on along with a sullen expression, “I suppose so,” he took off his glasses once more to wipe his face, “never mind that, did you find everything you wanted.”

    AA looked up with such inexplicable hope beaming from her face and smiled, almost a bright one at that, “No I didn’t, but a girl can dream about what she didn’t get.”

Author's Note

Same as the other chapters. Grammar is bound to have mistakes. Please give feedback on basically anything else that makes the text feel awkward or outright wrong.