Inter Mundos (Between Worlds)

Ten: Lucard And Maria

I had been living on Montressor for two weeks now. I hardly saw Jim; everyone was so busy with news about Stickler being in town. Yes, word eventually got out and it wasn't because of me. Apparently a few others had seen him too, but no real evidence was ever found.
I spent most of my days at the inn helping Sarah. When I wasn't doing that I was either keeping myself cooped up in my room reading or taking a walk. Montressor was pretty safe for the most part. With all the robotic men hovering over everyone's head it was hard for any real crime to happen.
Today, though, it was sunny and I took this opportunity to take a walk into town. The market was busy as usual and I continued to be fascinated by everything the merchants were selling. Of course I had no money to buy anything, and that alchemy book was still sitting in the window of that book store, taunting me.
Wait a minute, I thought. Where was the book? That damn book was gone! I ran into the book store in a hurry and looked on the shelf I had last seen it on. I scanned it high and low, moving other books aside to see if it might have been misplaced. I found nothing.
I began my search then. I checked every shelf high and low and found nothing. I was devastated!
I had wanted that book to mine...and it was gone. Some idiot had taken it from me. I sighed then. At least I still had my old one.

I walked out of the store with my head down feeling defeated.
Just then, someone bumped into me, knocking me over and I was forced to look up. A kid about sixteen stood a few inches taller than me stood in my way. He had dark brown hair blue eyes. His skin was a little tan from getting too much sun and he wore a neatly pressed school uniform with the words Space Academy embroidered on it. It was obvious he was a student there.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, miss. Here, let me help you up." He offered me his hand and I took it slowly. The poor kid looked nervous now.
It then dawned on me that this kid was a human. I almost screamed I was so excited, but I remained calm. "It's fine," I told him. "I've got some extra cushion in the back to help soften my falls." I joked.
Just when I thought he wasn't going to understand my joke he started laughing. "That's funny." He smiled.
I looked over his shoulder then and saw a girl running up to us wearing the same uniform. She was human too.
"Lucard! Don't run off like that! It's so hard keeping up with you." She took a few deep breathes. Her long blonde hair was done up in a ponytail and her green eyes looked friendly. She then saw me and gasped. "Oh!"
Oh? I thought. What was so interesting?
She laughed nervously. "Hi," she said to me. "Did my friend do something silly again?" she giggled nervously.
I raised a brow. This had officially been one of the weirdest days for me here yet. "No," I told her. "Your friend is fine."
She said nothing more about it and pushed her friend to the side to get closer to me. She held her hand out. "My name is Maria."
"And my name is Lucard." Said the boy.
I shook both of their hands. "Nice to meet you, Lucard, Maria. My name is Briar."
"I'm sorry about knocking you over." Lucard said.
I waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it. I should look where I'm going."
He laughed again. I didn't think I was being funny, but oh well.
"Where are you headed off to?" He asked me.
I shrugged. "No where. I just wanted to stretch my legs."
Lucard nodded to this. "Same for us, well sort of."
"We're on our way to the academy. We just started." Maria's eyes beamed with delight.
"We're hoping to be a part of Captain James Hawkins crew when we graduate." Lucard looked so hopeful.
Ah, I thought. To be that young again and so determined. What was I thinking? I was only twenty-three!
Maria grabbed Lucard's hand. "We should get going. We don't want to be late, now do we?" She said, dragging him away.
But Lucard seemed reluctant to leave. "Ah wait," he said. "Briar, right? I hope we see each other again. Bye!"
What a weird boy, I thought.
I rested my hands on my hips, looking this way and that. It was time to head back. I had had my share of walking and running into strange people. Still, I was glad to see other humans. It made me not feel so lonely in the world.

When I returned to the inn all of the customers were gone and Sarah was in her garden harvesting some vegetables. She looked busy so I didn't bother her and went inside. There I saw Jim sitting at the table farthest across the room. It was near a window and he flipped a switch on the holoblinds to view an ocean scenery.
"That looks pretty." I said taking a seat across from him.
He looked surprised to see me. "Huh? Oh, yeah. The holoblinds have always been a nice touch to the inn." He looked tired as he stared into his cup of coffee.
I felt bad for me and I was hoping I wasn't bothering him. "How is everything?" I asked him.
Jim took a drink from his coffee before answering me. He sighed. "Busy as all hell." He told me. "A new semester at the academy is about to start. When those students graduate all the major captains, including myself, must take on three new students and test them on their first voyage."
I smiled a little, trying to lighten the mood. "That sounds exciting." I told him. So those kids I saw earlier were talking about this, I thought to myself.
This time Jim laughed a little. "You would think so, huh?"
"Is it not then?" I asked.
"It can be, don't get me wrong, but with all this news about Stickler, I don't think its a good idea to let those kids be out in space." He had a point.
"Maybe Stickler will be caught by then..." I said.
Jim finished the last of his coffee. "Let's hope." He looked directly at me now. "I'm glad you're here, Briar."
I felt my face getting warm. "T-thanks. I'm glad I'm here, too."
"It's too bad once the semester ends. I'll be gone for six months."
"Six months?!" I said that louder than I should have, surprising myself. "That long?" I asked, calming down.
Jim smirked and nodded. "Yeah, that long. I know my mom will miss me."
I'll miss you, too, I thought.
Sarah walked through the door then and that's when Jim stood up. He walked over to her, taking the basket of vegetables and kissed her forehead. "I'll wash and cut up the vegetables." He told her and vanished behind the kitchen door.
Sarah wiped her face with a handkerchief and sat in Jim's spot. "How was your walk?" she asked me.
"Oh, it was fine." I felt bad for leaving her to do all the work. "Is there anything I can do to help?" I wanted to make it up to her.
Sarah seemed pleasantly surprised. "Oh, well only if you want to."
I nodded, eager to help out.
She chuckled softly. "Alright then. Why not help Jim in the kitchen? I'm sure he can find something for you to do."

I was more than happy to follow after Jim. "Anything I can help with?" I asked.
Jim smiled, glad to see me back here. "Yeah, why don't you start peeling these potatoes. When I finish rising them I'll help you peel the rest. Sound good?"
I nodded and grabbed my first potato.
We stood side-by-side, prepping our food for supper. It felt nice being so close to him. The silence didn't bother me at all. I enjoyed our quiet moment together.
Maybe I can join the academy, too. I wondered this quietly to myself. Would such a thing be possible? Would I be too old to join? It never hurt to ask, and besides, I didn't want to be away from Jim for six months. That was too long. And for the first time the thought of earth and alchemy, Stickler and all that applied, left my mind. For that moment I was only thinking about spending time with the captain.

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